My name is Ian Sutherland and I’ve been immersed in high-level sports for as long as I can remember. I grew up in Southern California and by the age of two, I was kicking a soccer ball around on a collegiate field, as my dad was a college soccer coach. I grew up around professional athletes and saw what it took to become an elite performer. I applied these practices to my own training and ended up getting a scholarship to play football at the college level. However, I suffered career ending injuries in my first year and withdrew from school, battling with the realization I was no longer an athlete. Losing my identity as an athlete led to one of the most difficult mental challenges I’ve ever faced – and it changed the direction of my life.

I returned to school to study physical therapy, determined to help athletes recover from injury. But during that time, I noticed a pattern: many were struggling as much mentally as they were physically. Just like I had. That realization sparked something deeper — and led me across the world to earn a Master’s degree in Sport and Performance Psychology from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

That experience changed my life. Now, I help others train the mental side of performance – so they can become the most confident, focused, and resilient versions of themselves.

I currently work as a Cognitive Performance Specialist with the US Air Force, where I train pilots and air battle managers to perform at an elite level under high-stress conditions. Through Mindful Performance Lab, I work with individual athletes and teams across sport and performance domains, using evidence-based mental skills training and mindfulness practices to help them unlock their full potential.

Through my personal experiences as an athlete in soccer, track and field, baseball, basketball and football – and years of professional training in sport psychology and mindfulness – I am uniquely positioned to understand and meet performers where they are at and help take them to the next level.