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# Shawn Smith, Athlete Manager
- URL: https://www.grantgiles.com.au/interview-with-shawn-smith-athlete-manager/
- Published: 2020-04-20T01:54:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-25T05:15:28.000Z
- Description: Athlete manager and Trizone editor Shawn Smith joins The Roaring Heads to talk triathlon sponsorship, support teams, patience and building a long career.
- Author: Grant Giles
- Tags: Podcast, Racing Insights

This week we have an interesting interview by Grant Giles with [Shawn Smith](https://www.shawnsmith.com.au/?ref=grantgiles.com.au), athlete manager and Chief Editor at [Trizone](https://www.trizone.com.au/?ref=grantgiles.com.au), a Triathlon news website.

## The guest

Shawn Smith is an athlete manager and chief editor of Trizone, a triathlon news site, and started out as a sports photographer. Shawn managed Tim Van Berkel when Tim was one of my athletes, which is how we met, and we've known each other for years. We bounced plenty of ideas off each other while I was building my program.

## In this episode

- Building and keeping athlete and sponsor relationships
- Why an athlete needs a support team that works together
- Advice for up-and-coming athletes and the people around them
- Patience, and the cost of rushing to “make hay while the sun shines”

In this podcast Shawn speaks openly about athlete management and shares the benefit of his experience.

We speak to the do's and dont's of building and maintaining athlete/sponsor relationships, and the importance of an effective coherent support team.

We also cover some ground from each stakeholders perspective, and the importance of gluing the whole thing together, so it becomes a value-add for all concerned, rather than a drain.

Shawn shares his advice for budding athletes and their support network, and we speak to the power of patience and resisting the temptation to bite off more than you can chew.

Many athletes rush the brass ring. There is often this propensity toward "making hay while the sun shines". We speak not only of the damage that this limited thinking can do to an athletic career, but also how that thinking and action can stunt your growth as an athlete. A stable financial career requires stability of mind and action, with a long haul overview being the path to longevity as an athlete.

Often the crush to make the bucks leads an athlete to a feast or famine mentality, that can mentally cloud an athletes path. This mindset often leads to rash decisions in the spur of the moment that make their development patterns messy and unsustainable.

Obviously an anxiety around the length of ones career leads to a perception of lack, however that perception is the same perception that rides an athletes back at races and makes it difficult for them to focus. Pressure wears many masks!

Shawn pulls the thing apart for you so you can get a bird's eye view into the blurry world of keeping everyone happy including yourself.

If you are an athlete, a coach, a supporter or part of an athletes family or support network, this one is aimed at you.

If you simply love the nature of sport, here is a view you don't often get to see from the sidelines.

## From the episode

> I think in the long run, it's a patience game. That's my experience of it from a coaching perspective.

> Consistency is a whole, it's not a part, it's not one-dimensional. It's an overall view of the whole athletic package.

## Where this fits

A long career in the sport is a patience game: a set race calendar, a steady development plan and a support team that pulls together. That's the Thrive part of how I coach. More on that in [Thrive](https://www.grantgiles.com.au/pillars/mental-progression/thrive/).

## Keep reading

- [Athletic Patience](https://www.grantgiles.com.au/athletic-patience/): endurance sport is a long-term process
- [Key Insights for Aspiring Pro Triathletes](https://www.grantgiles.com.au/key-insights-for-aspiring-pro-triathletes/): for anyone making the step up to pro
- [Consistency Is King](https://www.grantgiles.com.au/consistency-is-king/): end today like yesterday never happened