Your athletic program has the potential to be your school’s greatest cultural asset.
Yet most schools still run athletics with a structure built for an earlier era.
Mindset Curated is an athletic department consulting and advisory practice for independent schools. We audit how athletics runs, design the structure that fixes the gaps, and embed it so it survives staff turnover.
For Heads of School and Athletic Directors.
Why It Matters →
The schools that get athletics right build something lasting.
Youth sports, college athletics, specialized sports academies, and AI are changing what families expect from a school’s athletic program.
Inside most schools, the department looks the same as it always has. The AD is stretched across schedules, buses, and parent calls. Coaches are hired and left to figure it out. Roles and decisions live in people’s heads.
The schools that thrive over the next decade will have stronger leaders, healthier cultures, and athletic programs that strengthen their identity and help them attract and retain students.
That is the work Mindset Curated was built to do.
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A listening tour, an on-campus visit and a written report on role clarity, workflows, communication, decision-making authority and seasonal planning, with a roadmap that has owners and a cadence.
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One-on-one mentoring for new and experienced ADs on hiring, communication, budgets, parent relations and managing up. A four-month engagement.
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Evaluations, training and practical frameworks built on four cornerstones: Culture, Communication, Connection and Craft. Offered with Taryn Sheehan of Morrigan Athletics.
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A smaller first step. A facilitated session that gives coaches and staff shared language and measurable goals.
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Leadership development for everyone who runs your program, in cross-school cohorts. Offered with Will Bladt of ElevatED Leadership Coaching.
What We Do →
The Mindset Curated Difference →
A perspective shaped by experience inside and outside independent schools.
Mindset Curated is grounded in firsthand experience as an athletic director and head coach in an independent school, along with more than fifteen years in human resources leadership at Citi, Morgan Stanley, and Deloitte.
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Years shaping talent strategy at Citi, Morgan Stanley, and Deloitte — before bringing that organizational rigor to independent school athletics.
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More than a decade inside independent schools—from Director of Marketing and Communications to Athletic Director, Dean of Co-Curriculars, and senior leadership team member at The Frederick Gunn School. That full arc shapes how this work gets done.
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Coach of the Year honors, plus service on the NEPSAC Executive Board as District IV President and as League Commissioner. A leader trusted well beyond his own program.
TESTIMONIAL →
“Mike took the time to understand how our department actually operates and gave us a clear, honest picture of what we were doing well and where we could concentrate our efforts to achieve operational excellence. His work helped us build a stronger foundation for serving our athletes, coaches, and broader school community.”
— Prentice Stabler, Head of School, Ensworth School