Chad McGehee - Sports Meditation Expert at the Center of Healthy Minds, UW-Madison

Sports Meditation and Mindfulness Coach and Trainer

Chad McGehee works at the Center for Healthy Minds, a brain science research center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Chad’s research and expertise lies in meditation and mindfulness for athletes and sports teams. Basically, he helps people of all professions do what they do better by using meditation to help strip away the distractions that interfere with their focus.

First Meditation Training Director in Major College Sports

Chad has been working with the UW Badger sports teams as a meditation trainer and coach for their athletes. Recently, he was formally hired as the Badgers’ Director of Meditation Training, the first-ever such position for a NCAA Division I program.

Athletes like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Steph Curry and UW’s own Russell Wilson have touted the benefits of meditation as a tool to gain a competitive edge. These athletes have been coached and trained by people like Chad, who understand not only the fundamentals of mediation, but also the science behind how mediation can change neural pathways and remove distractions from performance.

Mediation as a Competitive Edge

Though “meditation” often carries a very “new age” vibe, there’s nothing hippie about Chad. His soft tone feels warm and safe, but he speaks about the power of mediation in matter-of-fact, no-nonsense language. For his, mediation is a clear and straighforward way anyone can gain a critical competitive edge. An edge that, quite frankly, most people don’t take advantage of. Those who do harness meditation have much to gain.

Headshot Photos for Illinois Wesleyan’s Alumni Magazine

Chad’s undergrad alma mater, Illinois Wesleyan University, hired me to photograph him for their alumni magazine. Here’s how it turned out.

Personal Branding Headshots for Jason Krueger, Madison Financial Planner

Jason Krueger is a Madison financial planner with Ameriprise, a national firm with local satellite offices throughout the country. Jason is an independent advisor, meaning he doesn’t earn commissions selling clients proprietary funds. He works with each client individually to learn about their financial “big picture,” goals, etc., then works to help them reach those goals.

Jason’s old headshot photo

Jason felt his existing headshot (see right) no longer felt true to his personality and brand, so he hired me to capture a new look that resonated more deeply with him. We shot these in his office, using the natural light from the huge picture window in his north-facing office off the Beltline.

Jason’s clients entrust him with some of their most private life details, so communicating trust, sincerity, authenticity and care are essential to his brand. While glasses often communicate intelligence, Jason no longer wears glasses and I think his clean, sharp image doesn’t need extra help to communicate how smart he is. It was fun talking to Jason about what he does, I got quite an education in the few minutes we chatted. He clearly is a great educator, communicator and listener, and obviously super interested in how the world of and personal finance works.

Jason works with people intimately daily, and he is often on the “hot seat” in terms of navigating sensitive personal and financial terrain. As such, he had what felt to me like an easy time working with the camera. He confidence comes through easily, and he feels like a guy I could feel comfortable sharing my family’s private information and dreams with. In an industry where so many financial professionals strangely do not invest much time, money or energy in their personal branding and image, these headshots help him stand out as a professional who recognizes developing rapport and personal connection is at least as important as expertise in the field.

Brad & Brooke

Brad & Brooke held their wedding at Brooke's parents property near Eagle, Wisconsin, a stone's throw from where I grew up. Brooke is a librarian; Brad is a historian, now pursuing a law degree They meet at UW-Madison, but have since moved to Boston to pursue their career/education stuff. My favorite thing about them is they never try to be cool. Which makes them awesome. Brad told the most awkward engagement story, knowing it was awkward, and he pulled it off with aplomb. I love it when people bravely, confidently, zealously do their own thing. Nothing is more beautiful than that.

Custom Photography for Westside Psychotherapy Website

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I recently finished up a website project for Westside Psychotherapy, a therapy group near Hildale Mall in Madison, WI. Sandra, the owner, had a vision I loved: a clean, classic, black-and-white look that would stand apart from the typical pastels-and-nature imagery therapy website. When designing the first draft, I used a few personal photographs as filler images, and Sandra liked them so much she asked me to illustrate the entire website with my work. A stiff challenge to find over 80 images strong enough and wide enough to use for headers across the site! But what fun to find just the right image to pair with topics like Chronic Illness, Existential Angst, Trauma and so many more essays Sandra composed in an amazing display of compositional persistance. In the end, we have a deep, meaningful, educational site that I think will be really helpful to those seeking help and a great lead-generator for Sandra and the Westside therapist group.

If you have any feedback, I'd love to hear it. Thanks!

North Woods Wedding at Lakewoods Resort, Cable WI

These two did their wedding their own way. There were no bridesmaids or groomsmen. No cell service. No stuffiness of any kind. Just lots of love and joy. The bride made her own gorgeous dress, which the groom helped her put on (with duct tape) before the ceremony. I'm not sure, but I think the location was chosen primarily for its proximity to good mountain biking. Pretty awesome.

Thanks Lakewoods Resort (hosting skiers, bikers, and general outdoor lovers for over a century), Emily Balsley (see the hand-illustrated wedding invitations) and TechNoir (Madison's raddest 80's cover band) for raising the bar for this party.
 

Mallon Tree Service, Evansville, WI

Arborists are folks who take care of trees. And trees need some care if you want them to be healthy, good looking and not fall on your house or kids. When I was a kid, dad always did the tree hacking around the yard, so I grew up thinking it was normal for homeowners to climb, trim and take down their own trees. Then I grew up and realized Dad just does everything on his own, no matter how dangerous or if he knows anything about the thing. He's real DYI.

Photographing arborists is one of the few spheres of work where my camera and climbing skills overlap. I have climbed trees with ropes a number of times, but this was the first time I had the opportunity to ride a lift truck up. It's easier! But I gotta say, it was much less flexible. I got up there, established an anchor, and then I couldn't move much. But the guys could move themselves and the truck around me, so it worked out.

Mallon Tree Service is based just outside Cooksville, WI, one of my favorite little towns south of Madison. Whenever we paddle Badfish Creek, we stop at the general store there for ice cream. I don't know how or why Cooksville got so cute, but they have a great collection of little brick houses, plus a couple great old churches. I would live there.

I don't know much about tree work, but I can say Emma & Kyle are fantastic to work with. Kyle learned his trade with the City of Milwaukee; some time after, he and Emma moved out to the country, where some family land became available. Turns out Emma's grandfather is John Wilde, whose work I've seen at MOMA; her dad is Jonathan Wilde, whose work I often admire at Artisan Gallery in Paoli. So the Mallons are carrying the family heritage forward, taking care of the earth and making it beautiful too. Really fun to help with their project.

Therapists and Dogs

A couple years ago, Madison psychotherapist Amy Collins told me people spend 2-3 times as much time on website if it has dogs on the homepage. Really? Because dogs? I was incredulous at first, but she went on to explain how she had done her Ph.D. research studying how and why therapy website works (or don't). One of her discoveries was this dog-loving thing... just feature a dog on your website, and as if by magic - BOOM - folks stick around longer. This concept seems too simple to keep secret.

Amy features her big German Shepard on her website homepage, and at client request, will bring him in to hang out during therapy sessions. That’s pretty cool.

Rhonda Reinholz and her cute pooch.

I was shooting headshots with Rhonda Reinholz, a Madison therapist on the near west side, and we made sure to include some shots with her adorable Standard Poodle. I don't think she's going to feature her dog on her website, nor does she offer animal-assisted therapy, but at least she'll have the option available in case things get slow sometime.

Ben Heinrichs was a Madison psychotherapist with Westside Psychotherapy, and now owns his own practice, Breakwater Psychotherapy, with his wife, Rachel, in Delray Beach, FL. We snuck his dog, Dr. Theodore McTubbins, into his photo shoot when nobody was looking. That’s one cute dog! And Ben has nice socks.

Wedding Make-Up Photos in Olbrich Park, Madison WI

My first wedding make-up shoot. After their Utah wedding day was completely and mercilessly rained out, these two moved to Madison to start the new chapter in their lives. But they hung onto their celebratory duds and soon enough, they were ready to to reclaim their basic American right to gorgeous wedding portraits. We chose Olbrich Gardens because it was the best place to find some flowers still hanging on in late May AND it is the perfect place to get married after work on a Tuesday. I am always impressed by structure, color and tranquility at Olbrich and feel really lucky to have it just down the street from our house.

Kati Whitledge of Be Inspired Salon

Kati Whitledge is a powerhouse. She started her career in the hair and beauty, opening Be Inspired Salon on Madison's west side in her twenties. She went on to create Beyond the Technique, a podcast for young stylists, and Meet Your Stylist, a website matching up folks with hair to the right stylist. On top of all that, Kati gives talks to students and aspiring entrepreneurs on how to think about and succeed in conceptualizing and launching a new business. There's a lot on this girl's plate (which I can relate to!). 

Kati needed images for her forthcoming website, which features her speaking products and her book, Give Failure the Finger, and for general use in her online and print materials. She wanted fresh, contemporary imagery that was easy for her audience to relate to, but felt authentic to her. To my wonderful surprise, she agreed to a 5:45 AM rendezvous downtown, where we dashed around for a few hours, did a number of wardrobe changes, and hooked up with the Majestic for a stage session. Kati killed the performance and I'm psyched to see her new site soon. 

Current River National Scenic River, Missouri

Always good for a northerner to head south towards end of winter to avoid going crazy during winter's last icy pangs. An Ozark river trip in early April generally hits the spot. This year, I invited a bunch of fantastic gentlemen I rarely get to spend time with and we ended up a group of nine. Left home at 5 AM on a Thursday, back by 7 PM on Sunday night. Just want an ailing soul needs to get set straight again.