TWR Podcast Episode 124: Overcoming Obstacles: How to Win in Business and in Life

In this inspiring episode of The Woodard Report Podcast, Joe Woodard interviews Chaunté Lowe—four-time Olympian, world champion high jumper, breast cancer survivor, speaker, and author of Boundless: An Olympian’s Journey of Faith, Determination, and Empowerment.

Olympic medalist Chaunté Lowe on resilience, mindset, and leading with strength 

Chaunté shares her incredible story of overcoming adversity, cultivating a winning mindset, and finding strength through faith and resilience. Whether you’re building a business, battling personal setbacks, or striving toward excellence, Chaunté’s lessons are powerful and practical for every listener. 

Building resilience before you need it 

Chaunté explains that her journey as an elite athlete unknowingly prepared her for her greatest challenge: a breast cancer diagnosis while training for the Olympics. 

“I realized that the tools and the muscles of resilience that I had been building up throughout all the years of my life... was mind shifting for me.” 

Instead of retreating, she decided to keep training—not for medals, but to raise awareness about breast cancer and inspire others facing similar battles. 

Faith, mindset, and the power of action 

For Chaunté, faith and mindset are inseparable. 

“It's so easy for us to know the mantra... but it's harder for us to take those mantras and put them into action.” 

She explains that perseverance isn’t about waiting for external circumstances to change—it’s about taking ownership, even during the darkest times. Her why? A love for people and a hope that her story could offer others a reason to keep fighting.  

Showing up when it’s hardest—and why it matters 

Chaunté draws parallels between elite sports and business: success is built by consistently showing up, even when you don’t feel like it. 

“Focusing on being better today than I was yesterday.” 

She emphasizes small, daily improvements over chasing overnight transformations—a principle that helped her go from maternity leave to Olympic medalist in less than 12 months. 

Embracing failure as part of success 

In high jump, every competition ends in failure—you miss the bar three times at your maximum height. Chaunté sees that failure as necessary growth: 

“The high jump always ends in a failure... it's the mindset of what you learn at the other end of that failure that will determine if next time, when you face that bar, you'll be able to go higher.” 

She encourages business owners to view setbacks not as proof of inadequacy, but as feedback to refine and innovate. 

Training for high-pressure moments 

Facing the Olympic spotlight is overwhelming, and Chaunté likens it to business owners preparing for major opportunities or difficult conversations. 

Her advice: make training harder than the real thing. 

“Put yourself purposely in safe high-pressure environments so you can practice overcoming fear.” 

By speaking daily to audiences early in her speaking career, she removed fear from her most important moments. The same strategy applies to sales meetings, presentations, and leadership challenges. 

Finding your strengths—and leaning in 

Chaunté’s journey to high jump started unexpectedly—but once she recognized her natural gift, she chose to lean into it. 

“My path of least resistance to the Olympics was gonna be according to my strengths and my skill set.” 

Rather than imitating others, Chaunté encourages listeners to embrace their unique abilities, experiment boldly, and let failure refine—not define—their journey. 

Final thoughts: Raise the bar on yourself 

Ultimately, winning in business and life isn’t about avoiding failure or discomfort—it’s about choosing growth daily, learning from mistakes, and pursuing goals with relentless faith and discipline. 

“When you start being comfortable, being uncomfortable, that's when you'll start to rewrite history.” 

Hear Chaunté's story live in Orlando, Florida, on Sunday, June 22nd, during the opening main stage session at the Scaling New Heights conference.

Listen to the full episode 

Discover more in The Woodard Report Podcast Episode 120: Overcoming Obstacles: How to Win in Business and in Life at woodard.com/podcast.  

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This article was drafted using AI and edited by a human.