Celebrating a mother, an author and business woman of integrity, resilience and tenacity who overcame every adversity by Livin’ Life Lovin’ Life
Robin Gargano, a successful resiliency strategist and mental skills coach for athletes, grew up watching her father build a business and excel to an elite success; therefore, she knew at a young age that she wanted to create her path as an entrepreneur. Becoming a mother pushed Robin further down the path to inspire her daughters to build their dreams. Robin wants to create the freedom she deserves, leave a legacy if they choose to work in her area of expertise and give her children the life they deserve.
Liana Zavo: I greatly appreciate you taking the time to do this. What key factors have contributed to your success as a mother?
Robin Gargano: The number 1 key factor is being blessed by my mom’s gift. Without my mom, I would never be the person, let alone the woman I am, because I watched the most selfless person give her whole self to me and my brother. She has always been fully present, supportive of the good and bad, and my biggest cheerleader. The other key factor is remembering the times I desperately wanted to be a mom but couldn’t get pregnant.
Going through successful, turned unsuccessful, IVF cycles time and time again and the pain of those years. Now that I have a family through adoption and have my stepdaughters, I see the beauty through the tragedy. Remembering the pain helps to build my resilience every time my kids or life challenge me. The pain of not being a mom allows me to rarely take anything for granted; the challenges are lessons, the celebrations are overly celebrated, the hugs are longer and harder, and the fun is a blessing I never knew I would experience.
LZ: Can you share some of the significant obstacles you’ve encountered throughout your professional journey, and what strategies did you use to conquer them?
RG: After pivoting careers because of tragedy, I had no clue where I would land or how to start over, building a new one again. Feeling lost and leaning into the emotion allowed the journey to unfold to where I stand now. Trusting that I could make it when I heard ‘No” 1000 times, knowing I was meant to serve by following passion over money, is how I overcame the challenge of starting over.
LZ: How do you stay motivated and focused on your goals as a mother and a wife?
RG: Having a supportive husband who held and still holds me up through the most significant obstacles is the foundation for running a business while being a wife. Without his understanding and support, I couldn’t have had the space to create and wear all the beautiful hats of life. All four of my children play as a highlight reel in my head throughout each day, and they complete my focus and drive; they are the ones that will snap me out of any funk because they are the ones who make my life rich.
LZ: What are some of the most important values you uphold in your business?
RG: Let the service drive you towards global change. Stay true to yourself without letting anyone tell you, you’re doing it wrong. Use your voice for positive change, and don’t allow it to be shut down. Trusting myself to overcome challenges when the unforeseen happens because I know I am a resilient human, always learning and growing. Lastly, if the fun doesn’t supersede the hardships, you do it all wrong.
LZ: How do you stay on top of industry trends and changes?
RG: Being a resiliency strategist and mental skills coach for athletes, I get to understand how humanity digests societal, communal, and personal adversity. We look at how sports injury is handled and how supported or unsupported athletes feel with their emotions and unique experiences. I constantly educate myself on the newest programs and discoveries in the mental health industry, always asking questions and surveying what clients and population needs in the present moment.
LZ: Looking ahead to the future, what are your goals and aspirations for your business and yourself?
RG: My business partner, Annemarie Lafferty, and myself aspire to be the sports industry household name for resilient mental and energy skills teams. We aspire to work alongside organizations that have mental health trams in place to show that we can all win together to create a world of steadfast support for athletes.
We want to normalize the notion that we are all humans gifted with emotions that can be used as superpowers, and no matter what you live with or through, it’s ok, and you get to have the support you deserve to be limitless. My goal is to continually show up as the best Mom I can be, flaws and all, living in gratitude for where I came from, what I have at each stage presently, and how far I can go without limiting myself. All while having fun and being playful in business and as a wife and mother.
LZ: In your opinion, what sets your business apart from your competitors?
RG: We provide a unique approach to the space because we look at the person first vs just the athlete. We provide an energy medicine component not addressed in this industry and is the heartbeat of gaining a successful mindset. We help shape an entirely harmonious life for the athlete and their families so they can perform to the level of greatness.
Robin measures success by the lives she transforms, the calls she gets that a player turned pro, the families that communicate better, and the teams that feel they have leveled up because they chose to see the flaws and turn them into true success through accountability and change.
She celebrates all these things by living in the gratitude that she gets to do this service. Robin’s business is driven from the passion she has to serve people into a new transformative place. Being passionate, committed, authentic, vulnerable and the desire to make things better are imperative qualities to have in a leader. Robin believes in taking her employees’ dreams and making them her own, while showing them that their dreams can be bigger than what they see in front of them.
Written in partnership with ZavoMedia PR Group
