'I Didn't Want to Die Full of All These Dreams and Ideas'

Julie Fournier was struggling.

It was her sophomore year in college, and she was battling injuries, shooting slumps and many of the other challenges college athletes face. But when she did a Google search for ideas to navigate the hardship, she found much of the advice was cliché or outdated.

So, Fournier decided to create her own blog and Twitter account called BallisPsych — providing wisdom and mental-performance strategies for anyone dealing with adversity. The Twitter account took off and now has over 58,000 followers. She's also since penned two books.

Fournier is currently in her first season as the director of player development for the Clemson University women's basketball team.

The Daily Coach sat down with her recently to get her perspective on how childhood adversity shaped her, mental health and strategies to use hardship as fuel.

This interview has been condensed and edited for brevity.

Julie, thanks for doing this. Tell us about your childhood and some lessons from it.

I grew up in a very small town in Florida called Amelia Island. My dad was a surfer, my mom had been a cheerleader in college. There was no connection to basketball in my family. When I was 5, they took me to the YMCA, and it was kind of love at first shot. I still remember I missed it. The basket was so high, but I loved challenges, and that’s what drew me to the game.

My parents were great because it was always about attitude and whether I was having fun and working hard. It wasn’t about, "Good job, you scored this many points." It was, "I don’t know about your attitude here when the ref made this call." They always prioritized character over talent and results. That really shaped the way I thought.

What was your high school experience like?

I went to Fernandina Beach High School, a really small school with no real history of winning or players going to college. During my sophomore year, I was diagnosed with Chron’s Disease. The ambulance had to come pick me up one day. I genuinely thought I might die. That’s a scary thought to have as a 16-year-old. What was going through my head was just I have so much more to give. I didn't want to die full of all these dreams and ideas.

I had to go about six months without touching a ball. I wouldn’t wish that time on my worst enemy. There’s a lot of pain and frustration. I had to drop out and be home-schooled and missed out on a lot of relationships with friends. Initially, I was throwing pity party after pity party feeling sorry for myself. But after a while, it was like wait, nobody actually cares. I’d rather not go to a pity party where I’m the only one there.

By the time I was a junior and senior, I felt I had an advantage over everyone else because I had been doing things like visualization that no one else my age was doing. I didn’t start off with this happy, great perspective. I was miserable, I had to figure out a way to turn that adversity into something that would make my life more meaningful.

That's a pretty remarkable story. How did that shape you for college?

I wasn’t recruited at all really out of high school. I ended up going to Santa Fe Junior College in Gainesville, and I had the best experience with my coach there. She made it clear on my visit they cared about the ABCs: Academics, basketball, character. I had never heard a coach talk about character like that.

From there, I went to junior college. I got a scholarship to Colorado Christian University in Lakewood, Col. It was more adversity.

My junior year, I had a stress fracture in my ankle in December and missed the rest of the season. My senior year coming off of Covid, I got in the best shape I’d ever been in and dropped 15 pounds. I was like, "This is it! It’s all going to pay off." The first week of school, I fractured my hand playing pickup. I had surgery five weeks later and had screws in my hand and ultimately developed another fracture in that hand. I played a total of three minutes my senior year.

It was so hard coming to terms in the middle of the year that my chance just wasn’t going to come. It really taught me so much, though.

Tell us about BallisPsych. How did it evolve?

I had the idea early in 2018 and initially started the whole year telling myself I’m unqualified. No one is going to listen to what I have to say. I didn’t even have a degree, wasn’t a high-level player at all. But it got to New Year’s Eve 2018 and I said, you know what, I’m just going to go for it.

I put my name on it in the first month just because one blew up. I had written an article called “The greats can take it” about the level the greats get to, about how Michael Jordan took feedback.

The second blog was about body language. A few days later, I went into my coach’s office and she pulled up the article. And I said, "I wrote this." I was blown away and just realized people need this stuff.

I also posted one called “The Entitlement Cure.” That one blew up twice as much as the body language one. It was crazy. Everyone I could dream of was posting it. (Louisville Coach) Jeff Walz, (Texas Coach) Vic Schaefer, a lot of people I looked up to in coaching.

How did the first book come about?

It was the middle of Covid and everyone was talking about the procedures for the next year. Are we going to socially distance? Are we going to wear masks when we play? Nobody was talking about athletes’ mental health. The numbers were coming out about depression and anxiety, but no one was talking about athletes’ mental health. That was a problem I was looking to solve with my first book. I started writing it in the summer of 2020 and published it in August.

How do you measure success?

I think people measure success in different ways, but I just wanted to get an email from someone a few months down the road saying, “Hey, I was really down during Covid, but I read this book and kind of turned things around.” It’s so rewarding to get messages from athletes going through an injury and they read the book and get a whole new perspective.

What are your responsibilities like at Clemson now?

I'm the director of player development, but I do a lot of NIL stuff. A lot of it, in my opinion, is director of player experience. I felt like I got so much from my own, helping build this brand. I wanted to give that to others and help them find what they’re passionate about. I do all kinds of stuff from helping them with their resumes to just giving advice.

What’s the scrappiest or grittiest thing you’ve done to get to where you are?

Not owning a laptop. I was running a website from my junior college’s library. My coach thought I was the most studious kid. You can make excuses for “I can’t start a blog. I’m 19 years old and don’t have a laptop.” But you can find a way if it’s something you want to do.

How would you define self-leadership?

You’re only as good as private standards. You’re going to have a hard time getting people to follow you if you’re not living by the standards that you expect from others. I’m big not just on telling people what to do but showing them by how you live your life.

What’s your favorite leadership quote and 3 books that have shaped your leadership perspective.

“Adversity doesn’t define you. What you do next does.” Looking at the best leaders, it’s their ability to respond that separates them. If you respond well under pressure, you will have followers.

“The Inner Game of Tennis,” by Timothy Gallwey.“Failing Forward,” by John Maxwell.“The Energy Bus,” by Jon Gordon.

What’s an unconventional leadership belief you have?

It’s actually the title of my next book. “We Are All Leaders.” I think a lot of people are thrown off by that, but sociologists have found the average, very introverted person influences over 10,000 people in their lifetime. And that’s the most introverted person. He/she is a leader. I think the biggest mistake leaders make is believing they’re not a leader. I’m really pushing this idea in my next book. Everyone is a leader.

Q&A Resources

Julie Fournier ― Website | Twitter | Instagram | Book: Daily Wisdom | Book: The Art Of Embracing Adversity

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