Morgan Smith | Gaining Applied Experience Through Education

About this episode

Morgan Smith discusses how to gain applied experience through education and the importance of building relationships in coaching and sport science.

Your career can accelerate when you ask, offer, and say yes. For Morgan Smith, that approach led to a postdoctoral fellowship with the Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance at Stanford University. Smith recalls how coaching sparked her interest in the science behind performance. Working across academic and practical settings, she encountered challenges with research feasibility firsthand. Today, she focuses on blending coaching with sport science. At Stanford, she began by building relationships and trust within the athletic department. She describes collaborating with coaches and staff to identify research interests, gaps, and low-burden contributions. Smith also highlights opportunities to support club sports, campus recreation centers, and community programs. These roles can help fund education while building your resume, network, and practical skills. She reinforces the value of education as a time to maximize experience and explore interests. Discover how to gain applied experience early, drive cross-department buy-in, and cultivate relationships that move your career forward. Reach out to Morgan on Instagram: @goldenmo_ and LinkedIn: @morgan-smith-sportsscientist | Find Eric…

People in this episode

Host: Eric McMahon

Guest: Morgan Smith

Topics covered

• applied experience
• coaching
• sport science
• education
• career development

Keywords

• applied experience
• coaching
• sport science
• career development
• education
• research
• collaboration

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance, Stanford University

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