About Cara

“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to

blossom.”

Cara Stawicki World Rowing Championships 2019

In 2019, racing for Team USA, my pair partner and I won gold in the Lightweight Women’s Pair at the World Rowing Championships in Linz, Austria. The win was the pinnacle of my athletic career to date. The podium moment—an experience that enabled me to realize a childhood dream of hearing the national anthem play in the stands, teammate by my side and American flag in my hand.

Hello, my friends and welcome!

I’m Cara, World Champion, High-Performance and Leadership Coach, and visionary dedicated to helping you unlock the freedom to dream big and perform.

When I read back the account of my podium moment in 2019, I am filled with deep gratitude. I remember my teammate trying to embrace me in the boat at the finish line and how my eyes instantaneously searched for my husband and parents in the grandstands. I remember how the entire experience was a fusion of intensity and overwhelm and joy.

Cara Stawicki youth When I look back at photos… on the blocks at swim meets in high school or in the boat as part of Lehigh University’s Club Crew Team… I see a girl then young woman full of hope and desire. I am reminded of the joy and commitment that goes into being part of a team and am taken to a place a pure longing… longing to be a part of something bigger than my singular dream, and longing to “reach my potential” and become the world class competitor that I craved to become inside.

An important throughline of my athlete story involves a struggle with confidence and sense of belonging. I knew that I “had what it takes,” yet fell short, again and again. After years of disciplined striving, I started working with my own high-performance coach who helped me home my ability to focus, trust in myself and let my skills shine.

The best part of all those years striving? To taking the long, long, long road to reaching my number one rowing goal? They’ve enabled me to sit here today full of empathy, understanding and wholehearted belief in you…

The fellow athlete with dreams

athlete with dreams

to compete in college or on the international stage…

bubbles

The driven executive who craves

executive who craves

more time with their family and feels tension between commitments to work, self and home…

The ambitious professional amidst a big change

professional amidst a big change

and with a hunger to reconnect with their purpose and confidently pursue a new path…

bubbles

The coach

coach

who wants to give their best
to their team and longs to uplevel

uplevel

their ability to lead.

You, my friend, are the reason I founded Be Brave High Performance.

How it all started…

When people ask how I got started, I’m taken right back to where I learned how to scull.

It is a fall day in 2015, about 10 years into my post-collegiate rowing career. I am aspiring to make my first US National Team and simultaneously noticing a new generation of pre-elite athletes begin to emerge.

On this day on the storied Schuylkill River, I rowed passed a small group of athletes who had pulled off to the side to practice drills with their coach—the same coach who had taught me how to scull in years prior. In that moment, I felt a strong impulse… a calling to lift up those athletes, offer encouragement and say that, “Yes, I was once sitting there too!”

That moment on the water inspired the start of a blog called Be Brave, dedicated to sharing my experiences as an athlete, cultivating connection, inspiring courage and giving back to the community at large. Today, Be Brave High Performance is on a mission to facilitate peak performance and well-being in athletes, coaches and industry leaders through mindset training and personal development in the context of sport and career.

What led to its mission?

For that, we need to take one more look at 2019. The win at the World Rowing Championships was an accomplishment, yes. The meaning, however, is rooted in way lay behind it.

Months prior, a whiplash injury led to me missing out on a spot in the boat class I had been working for all year. As a result, I found myself moving to a new city, rowing with a new partner and vying in an unfamiliar boat class simply to sustain a chance at making my second US National Team.

Cara Stawicki 2019 Senior World Championships

I believe that this type of resilience and grit is habitual for any top athlete who displays longevity in their career. What is unique and what now directly informs Be Brave High Performance is how my partner and I came together to prepare and ultimately perform.

Within roughly three months, she and I developed a sense of trust in both each other and in our boat that was nothing less than complete. We exercised a focus and daily commitment to our stated vision in a way that was noticeably greater compared to my past partnerships and racing campaigns.

For me personally, our training environment and working relationship with our coach enabled a sense of autonomy that I had not been allowed to access under previous leadership structures. This led to a deepening of my understanding of how autonomy, motivation, self-management and self-trust impact performance and interrelate.

What this means for you…

The details and learnings from 2019 combined with a lifetime of experience competing in sport now directly inform Be Brave High Performance. With a framework that includes

goal-setting

anchoring into core values and

skill development centered on mindset,

you gain the tools to deepen self-awareness and initiate meaningful, long-lasting change.

At a higher level, the experience in 2019 reaffirms Be Brave High Performance’s philosophy that we as high-strivers—we athletes, coaches, executives, industry leaders, entrepreneurs, creatives and dreamers–thrive when we feel supported, empowered, challenged, curious and free…

True coaching is anchored in the belief that people are naturally creative resourceful and whole—a principle set out by the Co-Active Training Institute. There is a focus on the whole person and not just a singular aspect or element. Be Brave High Performance embodies this belief and holistic approach. We know that high performance does not happen in isolation and is limited when we as individuals feel confined, afraid or alone.

Friends! Know that I have walked the path. I’ve felt the isolation, experienced the struggle and did the hard work to get to the top. I continue to learn with fierce passion and am committed to bringing my best to your transformation, wellbeing and growth enroute to your next great mountaintop.

Ready? Let’s do this!

With heartfelt gratitude,

Cara

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