Today we’d like to introduce you to Terri Turner.
Terri, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
My story and love for the field of Sport Psychology began in my twenties, when I competed as a professional and sponsored IFBB figure athlete. Being in that world of high performers, I saw firsthand how much of the game was mental. It didn’t matter how successful someone was, the mental battles of performance anxiety, self-doubt, discipline, and resilience showed up for everyone. Competing under contract came with a high-stress, low-energy-availability lifestyle that eventually led to the female athlete triad, a condition that took me close to a year to recover from and came with a host of mental and physical consequences.
To heal, I had to step away from competing altogether, and for the first time in years, I lost the structure and identify that competing had given me. I remember feeling like I had lost more than just a sport, I had lost the version of myself I knew how to be. At the time, mental health in sport just wasn’t talked about the way it thankfully is now. The field of Sport and Performance Psychology, the CMPC credential, was not as developed or as accessible as it is today. So, I had to take responsibility for my own healing, both mentally and physically, largely on my own.
That experience is what led me to formal mental performance training and becoming a Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC) with the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP). Somewhere in that process, helping people gain the mental advantage, not just the physical one, became my passion. Today, my goal through Terri Turner Performance is to give people access to the tools that saved me, tools I had no idea existed and no idea how to find when I needed them most. I want to help people the way I needed to be helped. Confidence, discipline, and focus aren’t traits we’re just born with, they’re skills, and like any skill, they can be learned and strengthened to change the way we live. Whether the client is an athlete, an executive, medical professional, in the military, or a stay-at-home parent, everyone deserves to live in their purpose and step into real confidence. Everyone is performing at something, and everyone deserves the tools to do it well.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It hasn’t been a smooth road, and I don’t think anyone’s really is. Recovering my health and rebuilding my identity outside of my sport was the first real test. But building Terri Turner Performance from the ground up brought its own struggles. Starting a practice means constantly proving the value of something a lot of people still don’t fully understand, that mental performance training isn’t a luxury or a soft skill. It’s foundational to how anyone shows up in their work, their sport, or their life and is the thing that sets up apart from our competitors.
There’s also the part of my life that doesn’t always make it into professional introductions: I’m also a mother of three, and balancing motherhood with a running practice, seeing clients, and now pursuing my doctorate has been its own kind of training in the very things I teach. Discipline, focus, resilience, they’re not abstract concepts to me. Some days I’m reaching for them just to get through my own to-do list. If anything, that’s made me a better consultant, because I’m not asking my clients to do something I haven’t had to practice myself.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Terri Turner Performance is a Sport and Performance Psychology practice focused on helping clients build the skills that support consistent, confident performance. I work with individuals across all performance arenas: athletes, military, executives, medical professionals, leaders, and anyone navigating high-pressure environments. Mental skills are universal and valuable in every role. As a Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC) with 20 years of experience in the field of Human Performance, I specialize in helping people navigate pressure, self-doubt, perfectionism, confidence, focus, motivation, resilience, mistakes, and the mental demands that come with performing at a high level. My approach is grounded in evidence-based practice, cultural awareness, and the understanding that every client brings a unique story, identity, and environment to their work.
What sets my work apart is that I don’t believe mental performance is about simply “thinking positive” or telling someone to be more confident. There is a science behind how the brain responds to pressure and how our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors influence performance. I take that science and translate it into practical, actionable mental skills that people can use in real-life, high-pressure situations.
I’m known for helping high performers understand what is happening in their minds when they are under pressure and giving them the tools to respond differently. The goal isn’t to eliminate nerves, mistakes, doubt, or pressure. It’s to develop the ability to perform effectively despite them.
My offerings include one-on-one performance psychology consulting, mental skills training, workshops, and educational programs for athletes, teams, executives, businesses, and other high-performing individuals.
What I’m most proud of from a brand perspective is creating a practice that bridges the gap between performance science and real life. At its core, my work is about helping people understand themselves, trust themselves, and perform at their best, whether that performance happens in sport, leadership, service, caregiving, or everyday life.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
Growing up, I was definitely on the shyer side. I was more observant and reserved, but I was always curious and very driven once I found something I cared about. I played sports growing up, including field hockey, and I was always fascinated by what the body was capable of.
That interest really grew when I discovered the weight room. I became intrigued by the connection between discipline, nutrition, training, and how much we can actually shape and transform our bodies through consistent effort. That eventually led me into the world of bodybuilding, and in college I began competing professionally in the IFBB.
Looking back, I think that experience shaped a lot of who I am today. I learned firsthand what it means to set a goal, stay disciplined, handle pressure, and continually work to become better. I was fascinated not only by the physical transformation, but by the mental side of what it takes to perform at a high level.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.TerriTurnerPerformance.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/territurnerperformance/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/terri-turner-4b21a6a4/
