Senior Beauty & Lifestyle Director
Senior Beauty & Lifestyle Director
Alexandra Engler is the senior beauty and lifestyle director at mindbodygreen and host of the beauty podcast Clean Beauty School. Previously, she’s held beauty roles at Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire, SELF, and Cosmopolitan; her byline has appeared in Esquire, Sports Illustrated, and Allure.com.
Image by mbg Creative / courtesy of source
December 16, 2024
Retiring can be challenging for anyone passionate about their work. But it’s particularly hard for elite athletes, who often have to retire young and perhaps not under the circumstances they choose.
But for the really tenacious and determined, they come out the other side ready to take on more challenges. Such is the case with two-time Olympian and eight-time World Champion swimmer Katie Hoff.
Hoff won three Olympic medals total but retired at 26 due to a pulmonary embolism in her lung. After, she said she embarked on a years-long healing journey that led her to where she is today: Co-host of a successful sports podcast, speaker, entrepreneur, and happily married to her longtime partner.
Here, how she takes care of herself today.
mindbodygreen: I really love talking with athletes at all stages of their careers, but I’ve found some of the most meaningful conversations have been with retired athletes, because they offer such a unique perspective. What has been the most exciting part of your career and life transition post swimming?
Katie Hoff: It’s interesting, because on our podcast [Unfiltered Waters, which she cohosts with fellow former swimmer Missy Franklin] the most valuable conversations are not people who have just retired, but people who have been retired for multiple years.
I think when you first retire, it’s this whirlwind of what the heck do I do now? Who am I without swimming or without my sport? But now that I’m 10 years removed, I have more clarity. Although, sometimes it still feels like I’m figuring it out.
Overall, the most exciting part is that I can create whatever I want. I don’t say that lightly because it can be a double-edged sword, right?
For the longest time—while you’re training for and competing in your sport—you’re told what to do and how to do it. You just follow orders in some ways. So when you retire, for the first time in your adult life, you have the opportunity to do whatever you want.
For me, it was the realization that I had all these amazing skill sets that I’d learned through swimming, so then I got to think about what I could do it with. I could ask myself: What is my passion? What is my purpose? While that can be overwhelming, if you frame it the right way it can be exciting.
mbg: It’s fascinating because you take on one of the biggest challenges I can think of—the Olympics—and then after, you get to take all that ambition, and think about what’s next. So what has been the hardest part of transitioning post swimming?
Hoff: Honestly, the same thing! You say it’s a challenge to go to the Olympics, but I actually think it’s more of a challenge to feel like you’re starting over.
I embraced my sport at such a young age. I mean, at literally nine years old, I was like, I want to go to the Olympics. I want to be an Olympian. I want to win medals. So it was just this clear-cut path for me: Follow the process, work your butt off, and things worked out.
So I think the hardest part when I was done was being an adult and feeling like I was just completely starting over—and I was starting over behind everybody else. I was almost 26 when I retired; it wasn’t of my own accord. It was because of a pulmonary embolism in my lung. So the hardest part is finding my passion and purpose again—and, most importantly, not trying to replicate what I just did.
When you retire from sports, passion and purpose are going to look very different. Once you have that realization, it can feel very overwhelming and scary. So it’s about pushing through those moments to really truly get to the other side.
mbg: Your podcast, Unfiltered Waters, has been a big part of what you’re passionate about now, I imagine. What’s that experience been like?
Hoff: It’s been really rewarding—more rewarding that I could have possibly imagined. On a personal front, it was a big deal that I was even excited about doing the podcast and coming back to sports. After I retired, it was probably six or seven years of doing my own healing journey with my relationship with swimming and the Olympics. So on that end, it was really exciting that I felt open and ready to come back to the sport in some way.
Then on the guest front, it’s been really fulfilling to hear these guests feel comfortable to get vulnerable. I feel like Missy and I really create this relaxing atmosphere: It’s like you’re sitting on a couch with your friends drinking coffee. We don’t have an agenda, we just want to foster a really honest conversation about whatever that person is feeling at that moment. aAnd the stuff I hear people say, I’ve not heard them share it before in other interviews.
mbg: You mentioned you went on a “healing journey,” which I imagine is something a lot of elite level athletes have to go through after stepping away from their sport. What was that time like?
Hoff: The biggest piece of advice I give people is that you can’t skip steps. You can’t force it. You don’t know when that moment of resolution is going to happen. It’s such a frustrating answer, but it’s true.
When I retired, I never thought I would be able to get back to the sport. I ended my career, but it wasn’t on my own terms, and I thought that was it. I thought that chapter was closed and I’m never going to be able to revisit it.
Eventually, I went on a week-long intensive with The Hoffman Process. The goal of it wasn’t to find resolution. I was just really hurting, depressed, and I needed something. I came out of that and within a month I had messaged Missy asking her to start a podcast. I could never plan that out.
Trust me, I”m not saying I’m fully healed from everything, but it was enough healing where I was like, OK I have some lightness in me and I have some level of resolution. I feel ready to face everything again and face my fears.
I was a huge relief because I never thought it would happen.
mbg: Yeah, I think that’s very relatable — not just for athletes, but for everyone. Most folks have been in a situation where they come to the end of a journey, and there’s a level of grief and hurt there. So it’s hopeful that there’s an end there.
Hoff: I also feel like the anxiety and fear that arises in those moments is because you feel like it’s going to last forever. There are moments where you’re just like, Oh my, I can’t withstand this feeling for the rest of my life. The thing I’ve learned is it’s not forever.
Unfortunately, you don’t have a crystal ball to know that tomorrow you’re going to be healed, but it’s just kind of taking the time, going through the steps, being in it, and leaning on the people in your life that love you no matter what. That’s what’s going to get you through, but it’s not forever.
Image by mbg Creative / courtesy of source
mbg: I want to pivot and talk about your well-being routine nowadays. Let’s start with nutrition. What meals help you feel your strongest?
Hoff: I love a good grass fed steak. And carbs for me are huge. I could never do keto. I’m hangry each time I don’t have carbs. But it’s about having good carbs, like Japanese sweet potatoes or whole grain pasta. And then I’m obsessed with Brussels sprouts.
So I just feel like a really good hearty meal is when I feel the most just satisfied and fulfilled.
mbg: What are your sleep tips?
Hoff: I definitely have an expert around to help [her husband, Todd Anderson, sleep and performance expert and founder of Dream Recovery & Performance]. But I am probably someone that people hate because I can sleep no matter what. A tornado could be down the street and I can sleep. If I’m stressed or something really volatile is happening in my life, I can sleep. I am just very fortunate that it doesn’t take me a lot to sleep.
But I also feel like I am putting in the work. I exercise every day. I use mouth tape. I don’t have caffeine late in the day. So obviously I’m doing a lot of things that contribute to being able to sleep well. It’s all of those standard tips that you often hear, that I probably take for granted that I do.
So if people are struggling, definitely make sure you’re checking all those boxes.
mbg: What’s your favorite workout or way to move your body?
Hoff: That has been a journey since retiring, for sure. I would say now I really like any type of boot camp. I love Barry’s Bootcamp, which I can go to turn my brain off. I’ve recently started doing strength training with a friend. I hate working out alone, and have to do it with other people. I need community.
I’ve done two marathons and a few half marathons. I will no longer being doing any more marathons, but what it has taught me is that I love doing 5-6 miles to move my body.
So a mix of those three aspects—strength training, boot camps, and running like five days a week—is the perfect thing for me.
mbg: How do you build mental resilience? Because for athletes, that part of it is just as important as physical toughness…
Hoff: I’ve always been someone who believes the proof is in the pudding. Daily affirmations and things like that are not my cup of tea. Instead, I very much look at the body of work. So whether that was when I was competing, whether that’s now and I’m going to go do a pitch to an investor for a company, it’s about how much work I’ve put into it. How many reps have I done? How many phone calls have I made? How much information do I know?
It’s arming myself with the data to fuel my confidence. That’s how I’m able to be mentally tough in situations where I might not be as confident, or have anxiety.
mbg: Everyone needs a decompressing activity. What’s yours?
Hoff: Watching a good series with my dog and my husband. That’s the one sleep rule we break, is we do have a TV in our bedroom. But the number one thing that supports longevity and creates a long, happy life is relationships. So for us, watching an episode of a show, we’re into snuggling with our Frenchie, being together, and talking through the day, that’s what really matters.
mbg: We’re in this great moment in the zeitgeist in which women athletes are getting more attention than ever. Hopefully that means more girls will get into and stick with sports. What advice might you have for those young girls?
Hoff: Find a mentor. That’s something I found later in life, but I wish that I had the perspective and understanding to do that earlier on. There’s just so many things that get thrown at you. It’s hard to have that person be your parents or your coach. I think having that third party perspective, advice, and trust is really, really important to navigate through the ups and downs of not only being a female, but also being a female athlete.
