We could fill (at least) an entire newsletter with Coyne Schofield’s on- and off-ice accomplishments. Here are just a handful of them before we dive into today’s conversation.

🥇 Coyne Schofield won 2018 Olympic gold with the U.S. women’s national team, not to mention six IIHF Women’s World Championship golds. Simply sparkling.

🏒 Ever the innovator, Coyne Schofield was instrumental in the formation of the PWHL, advocating for a sustainable league throughout her career and most notably through her work with the PWHPA.

🏆 Help launch a league then win the inaugural trophy? NBD. Coyne Schofield captained her Minnesota squad to the PWHL’s first-ever Walter Cup last year and begins the quest to repeat tonight.

💪 She’s no stranger to leveling the playing field ice either — in 2019, Coyne Schofield became the first woman to compete in the fastest skater competition at NHL All-Star weekend, and in 2020, she joined the Chicago Blackhawks as their first female player development coach.

🫶 When you listen to the full ITL episode, you might recognize Coyne Schofield’s voice as the hockey announcer in Inside Out 2, her first foray into voice acting. What can’t she do?

Today’s topic is “Resilience and Overcoming Setbacks” — something Coyne Schofield knows a thing or two about from her storied hockey career, experiences in media, and beyond.

• Whether it’s a conflict at work, chaos at home, or returning from injury, challenges are inevitable — and this conversation will help guide you through them.

Andrews: What did you learn about yourself as you’re continuing to move the needle and change this [women’s hockey] landscape?

Coyne Schofield: I learned that…when I have a goal…I’m going to do everything I can to accomplish that goal…And I think for me, what was so difficult was looking a lot of the young girls in the eyes who said, I want to be like you. I want to be a professional hockey player.

• I couldn’t look them back in the eye without almost shedding a tear because I didn’t want them to be me. I didn’t want them to have to live the life that I was living and making a couple thousand dollars and calling themselves a professional athlete.

• A young boy and young girl should be able to grow up with the same dream if they’re good enough to do so as a professional athlete. And that was not the reality of women’s hockey. And so in my mind and my work, I wasn’t going to stop until we got to that goal.

Andrews: You went down 2-0 in the opening round of the [PWHL] playoffs and were on the brink of elimination before completing a reverse sweep of Toronto and ultimately winning the inaugural title. What are you telling your teammates in those moments? What are you telling yourself?

Coyne Schofield: In that moment the message was we have everything we need in this room to accomplish our goal and don’t lose sight of that. Always believe in the person sitting on the left of you, the person sitting on the right of you. We have to believe and the belief in the room was never lost…

• …And I think everyone is a leader in their own way, and it’s super important to empower the group to feel that way. Even if you’re a first year player, you’re a rookie, you can still step up and lead whether it’s on the ice or off the ice in some way.

Andrews: Did [becoming a mom] take a mental toll on you at all? Were there any worries that you wouldn’t be the same once you came back? Was there anything that you had to really overcome mentally in order to get back into a good headspace to make your debut?

Coyne Schofield: I was never worried that I would come back differently, but I had comments made to me that made me feel like others perceived that I was going to come back as a different player than I once was…

• I can’t control that. I can control the way I play, the way I prepare, the way I recover. And so that was kind of my focus…

• Even when I went public with my pregnancy, there just hasn’t been enough women who have had children and have come back and played. And so we need more. We need more moms. But we need to be supported, right?

Ready for your own title run? Here are some tangible takeaways from Coyne Schofield’s Inside the Lines episode to help you take on the obstacles in your life.

✅ Keep it simple. Coyne Schofield reminisces about competing in the fastest skater event at the 2019 NHL All-Star weekend and focusing on the task at hand (skating one lap) vs. the pressure of the moment. Narrow that focus and take it one step at a time.

✍️ Write out your goals. Whether you’re an aspiring PWHLer or climbing the corporate ladder, Coyne Schofield suggests putting pen to paper for your short- and long-term aspirations. Let the manifestation begin.

🔒 Control what you can control. It’s easy to let outside noise or fears dictate how we feel. Coyne Schofield’s top advice? Control what you can control: your work ethic and your attitude. Simple as that.

🎧 Listen to the full episode. When a hockey legend speaks, we listen — queue up our full convo with Coyne Schofield wherever you listen to podcasts. Inspo, guaranteed.