Coach · Athlete · Author · Mom · Entrepreneur
Hey, I'm
Cathy Helin
I help athletes build confidence, improve focus, and perform with consistency – by working alongside the coaches and parents who shape them every day.
Spoken at & featured with
NSIC SAAC
UMN Crookston
Dr. Don Wood Podcast
EON
WBCA
D2 Hall of Fame Athlete
Hey, I'm
Cathy Helin
I help athletes build confidence, improve focus, and perform with consistency – by working alongside the coaches and parents who shape them every day.
Spoken at & featured with
NSIC SAAC
UMN Crookston
Dr. Don Wood Podcast
EON
WBCA
D2 Hall of Fame Athlete
20+
Years Coaching
D2
Hall Of Fame
100s
Atheletes coached
1
book published
20+
Years Coaching
D2
Hall Of Fame
100s
Atheletes coached
1
book published
∞
lives changes
∞
lives changes
THE STORY BEHIND THE WORK
I Was the Coach With
All the Wins.
Something Was Still
Missing.
I grew up in Willmar, Minnesota surrounded by sports, competition, and the kind of community where showing up and working hard was everything. I lived that fully. I competed as a Division II basketball player at the University of Minnesota, Crookston, earned my degree in Sport Management, and then went on to get my Master’s in Sports Administration.
I worked at the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association, attended NCAA Final Fours, served as an Assistant Athletic Director at UMN Crookston, and eventually became a coach myself helping lead a high school program to its first-ever State Tournament appearance.
“But somewhere in all of that, I started noticing that the athletes who struggled most weren’t struggling because of talent. They were struggling because of what was happening between their ears.”
That realization sent me on a new path. I went deep into mental performance studying how athletes think, how the brain responds under pressure, and how coaches and parents either build or quietly erode an athlete’s internal foundation. Everything I teach now comes from what I wished I’d known then.
The Journey
Athlete. Coach. Author. All-In.
Women’s Basketball Coaches Association
Attended NCAA Final Fours, served as an Assistant Athletic Director at UMN Crookston, and eventually became a coach myself helping lead a high school program to its first-ever State Tournament appearance.
Expanding Perspective: Master's in Sports Administration
Deepened my academic foundation with graduate-level study at the University of Minnesota, while gaining experience in athletic communications and program operations. Assisted with game day operations for the Minnesota Lynx, Minnesota Vikings and Skills Camps for the Minnesota Timberwolves and Flip Saunders.
Marriage, Family & Building Northern Services Together (2010 – Present)
Said yes to the love of my life and began building Northern Services together as second generation owners, learning real lessons about leadership, resilience, and culture outside of sport. Today I am a mom of 4, and every principle I teach about mental toughness and showing up under pressure is practiced at home first.
Coaching Impact
Coaching at all levels from 2nd grade and up - helping lead a high school basketball program to its first-ever State Tournament appearance and another to a tradition of State appearances. Built culture, developed athletes, and saw mental performance determine outcomes more than any X or O.
Founded Tula Mind Body Spirit (2017)
Began formal exploration of mental and physical performance, mindset, and holistic athlete development, laying the foundation for the system I teach today.
In the Life that Makes the Coaching Real
Together, we built Northern Services from the foundation that my husband's father started in 1981, learning firsthand what it takes to lead a team, grow a business, and keep going when it’s hard. The same resilience I teach? I’ve earned it. Today, my husband and I are raising four children in Olivia, Minnesota. Every lesson I teach about mental toughness, pressure, and showing up, I’m not just saying it. I’m living it at 5am before anyone shows up to practice.
Brand and Growth Leader of Northern Services
*Correct the Co-Founder of Northern Services under the paragraph and replace with "Brand and Growth Leader of Northern Services"
I built a businesses (Now)
Alongside coaching, my husband and I grew Northern Services together. I know what it means to build something real and lead a team through genuine pressure. I also started Tula, Mind Body Spirit and Bearcat Coaching from scratch.
Champion Your Future
At just 16 years old, I wrote my first book an experience that sparked a lifelong passion for leadership, mindset, personal growth, and helping others through words and storytelling. That early commitment to discipline, creativity, and self-expression became one of the first building blocks of the coach, mentor, and leader I am today.
The Journey
Athlete. Coach. Author. All-In.
Each chapter of my journey led me to where I am now. I didn’t arrive at mindset coaching by chance; it is all earned with insight
through years of competing, coaching, and refusing to settle for average.
Women’s Basketball Coaches Association
Attended NCAA Final Fours, served as an Assistant Athletic Director at UMN Crookston, and eventually became a coach myself helping lead a high school program to its first-ever State Tournament appearance.
Expanding Perspective: Master's in Sports Administration
Deepened my academic foundation with graduate-level study at the University of Minnesota, while gaining experience in athletic communications and program operations. Assisted with game day operations for the Minnesota Lynx, Minnesota Vikings and Skills Camps for the Minnesota Timberwolves and Flip Saunders.
Marriage, Family & Building Northern Services Together (2010 – Present)
Said yes to the love of my life and began building Northern Services together as second generation owners, learning real lessons about leadership, resilience, and culture outside of sport and what it takes to lead a team, grow a business, and keep going when it’s hard. Today I am a mom of 4, and every principle I teach about mental toughness and showing up under pressure is practiced at home first.
Coaching Impact
Whether camps or formal season coaching, I have coached at all levels from 2nd grade on up since 2002 - helping lead a high school basketball program to its first-ever State Tournament appearance and another to a tradition of State appearances. Built culture, developed athletes, and saw mental performance determine outcomes more than any X or O.
Founded Tula Mind Body Spirit (2017)
Began formal exploration of mental and physical performance, mindset, and holistic development for people of all ages, helping lay the foundation for the system I teach today. Created a culture and environment for people who felt supported, pushed and a part of a community.
In the Life that Makes the Coaching Real
The same resilience I teach? I’ve earned it. Today, my husband and I are raising four children in Olivia, Minnesota. Every lesson I teach about mental toughness, pressure, and showing up, I’m not just saying it. I’m living it every single day.
Entreprenuer (Now)
Alongside coaching and growing Northern Services, I know what it means to build something real and lead a team through genuine pressure. I also started Tula, Mind Body Spirit and Bearcat Coaching from scratch.
Champion Your Future
In 2025 I published my first book that I needed at 16 years old. It was sparked from a lifelong passion for leadership, mindset, personal growth, and helping others through words and storytelling. That commitment to discipline, creativity, and self-expression became one of the first building blocks of the coach, mentor, and leader I am today.
BEYOND THE WHISTLE
The life that makes the coaching real.
Before I was a mental performance coach, and right alongside all of it, I was building a full, beautiful, complicated life.
After my time in athletic administration, I stepped into the corporate world at Capella University, managing events and leading strategy across the country. I traveled all across the United States, sitting across from people from every background imaginable, and those years shaped how I listen, communicate, and coach today.
In 2010, I married the love of my life. Together, we built Northern Services from the foundation my father-in-law started, learning firsthand what it takes to lead a team, grow a business, and keep going when it’s hard. The same resilience I teach? I’ve earned it.
Today, my husband and I are raising four children in Olivia, Minnesota. Every lesson I teach about mental toughness, pressure, and showing up, I’m not just saying it. I’m living it each and every day.
BEYOND THE WHISTLE
The life that makes the coaching real.
Before I was a mental performance coach, and right alongside all of it, I was building a full, beautiful, complicated life.
After my time in athletics administration, I stepped into the corporate world at Capella University, managing events and leading strategy across the country. I traveled all across the United States, sitting across from people from every background imaginable, and those years shaped how I listen, communicate, and coach today.
In 2010, I married the love of my life. Together, we built Northern Services from the ground up, learning firsthand what it takes to lead a team, grow a business, and keep going when it’s hard. The same resilience I teach? I’ve earned it.
Today, my husband and I are raising four children in Olivia, Minnesota. Every lesson I teach about mental toughness, pressure, and showing up, I’m not just saying it. I’m living it at 6am before anyone shows up to practice.
WHAT DRIVES EVERYTHING
I Believe
these things deeply.
These aren’t talking points. They’re the convictions that shaped every program, every coaching
conversation, and every page of my book.
Mental toughness is a trainable skill, not a personality trait
You’re not born mentally tough. You build it through deliberate practice, the right coaching, and an understanding of how your brain actually works under pressure.
One-size coaching leaves talent on the table. When you understand the person underneath the jersey, you unlock levels of performance that generic motivation never will.
Championships fade. The coach who believed in you when you didn’t believe in yourself that stays with an athlete for life. That’s the real legacy of great coaching.
You cannot pour from an empty cup. The culture you build starts with your own mental state. When coaches train their minds, everything downstream gets better.
A FEW THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
The stuff that doesn't
fit on a resume.
Because the best coaching relationships are built on knowing the whole
person here’s a little more of me.
I played before I ever coached
I've seen this country from every angle
I practice resilience at home first
I build businesses
Alongside coaching, my husband and I grew Northern Services together. I know what it means to build something real and lead a team through genuine pressure.
I wrote the book I needed at 16
Small-town roots. National reach.
THE BEARCAT APPROACH
Built on three
unshakeable pillars.
Everything I teach is grounded in lived experience, continuous learning, and real-world
application, not theory.
Athletic Achievement
Continuous Education
Applied Mindset Training
I was crying by page 17 of this book. I thought I was buying it for my daughter, but after reading it, I realized it is a book that is just as much for me as it is for our kids.
Parent & Reader of Champion Your Future
I was crying by page 17 of this book. I thought I was buying it
for my daughter, but after reading it, I realized it is a book
that is just as much for me as it is for our kids.
Parent & Reader of Champion Your Future
The Book
Champion
Your Future
This book is for every athlete who has ever felt the gap between their talent and their performance. And for every parent and coach who watches that gap and doesn’t know how to close it.
Written from 20+ years of coaching, competing, and studying mental performance Champion Your Future delivers practical strategies for improving focus, handling pressure, and performing with consistency. In sport. And in life.
“I was crying by page 17 of this book. I thought I was buying it for my daughter, but after reading it, I realized it is a book that is just as much for me as it is for our kids.”
— Laura, Parent
WHERE DO YOU WANT TO START?
There's a place
for everyone in this work.
Whether you’re just discovering mental performance or ready to go deep
there’s a starting point designed exactly for where you are.
Free
Take the People Code Quiz
Discover how you’re wired — and what coaching style will actually get through to you. Takes 2 minutes. Completely free.
FREE GUIDE
Five Minutes That Change Every Game
FREE GUIDE
The 5-Step Pre-Game Mental Routine
1:1 Coaching
Work Directly With Cathy
Private coaching for athletes, coaches, or parents who want personalized mental performance work. Book a discovery call to get started.
Free
Take the People Code Quiz
Discover how you’re wired — and what coaching style will actually get through to you. Takes 2 minutes. Completely free.
FREE GUIDE
Five Minutes That Change Every Game
FREE GUIDE
The 5-Step Pre-Game Mental Routine
1:1 Coaching
Work Directly With Cathy
COME HANG OUT
The conversation
keeps going there.
Daily mindset content, behind-the-scenes coaching moments, and the raw
unfiltered truth about mental performance follow along.
Ready to build the mental edge?
Schedule a free discovery call and let’s figure out the best place to start together.