5 ways you’re already thinking like a champion

Team USA hopeful Kell Berliner says it’s all about mindset

Kell Berliner is an elite judo athlete with huge dreams — he’s a Team USA hopeful and now that Guild’s partnership with Team USA has named Purdue Global as its preferred online university, he’s a current student too. While he trains to qualify for the LA28 Olympic Games, a master’s degree is in reach.  

And while he may have a workout schedule that’s a bit more strenuous than the rest of us, other working adults may find his mindset relatable. 

A couple terms into his Purdue Global MBA, Berliner says even if your ambitions don’t involve the LA28 Olympic Games, thinking like a champion makes all the difference in meeting your goals. Do any of these look familiar? 

1. Your past is a part of you, but you’re invested in the future. Just like he and his wife, Nicole Stout-Berliner [LINK], Kell’s parents met as judo competitors.

“I’ve been around judo my whole life. Some of my earliest memories are being at the side of the mat at around 2 or 3 years old,” he says. “The sensei at that dojo literally had a leash. I was in a harness running around on the side, and whenever I’d try to climb on the mat, he’d say ‘nope’ and pull me back to safety.” 

But even though judo has always been a part of Kell’s life, he knows that chapter is closing. 

“This will be my last Olympic Games cycle, almost certainly. I’m 30,” he says. “I’m not broken — I was No. 1 in the U.S. for most of last year — but I’ll probably retire after the LA28 Games,” he says. 

Kell, alongside his wife (also a Team USA hopeful), are now looking to the future. They’re both pursuing MBAs with Purdue Global. Whereas Nicole’s dream is to serve as an advocate for athletes within judo governance, Kell plans to pursue a medical degree when he’s completed his MBA. 

“A medical degree combined with an MBA should position me well for an upper-level position in a health care company,” he says. “That’s my ambition; that’s my plan.” 

2. You’re not afraid of the grind.

Training for the LA28 Olympic Games is no joke, especially when a full-time job, classes and family are part of the mix too. 

“It’s pretty grindy,” he says. “It’s busy. My schedule is packed from 8 in the morning until bedtime. It’s a 13-hour day, and I might get an hour or two to relax before bed. But the price of ambition is you have to work hard.” 

He clarifies, though, that just because it’s hard doesn’t mean it doesn’t bring joy.   

“I love my life. And I know it’s setting me up for the future,” he says.  

3. You know it’s never too late for a comeback.

Recently, Kell talked his dad into training with him for a tournament in Canada where they could compete together, in separate age brackets, even though his dad hadn’t fought in 40 years. It turned into the trip of a lifetime. 

“We had an awesome experience. Nicole and my mom came with us — Nicole coached me; Mom coached Dad,” he says. And even though his dad lost after a couple of rounds, Kell is clearly proud. 

“He lost to the guy who ended up pulling a bronze. He hadn’t fought in 40 years, but he trained every day and did a lot of cardio to prepare,” he says.  

4. You believe a loss can be a win because experience is the best teacher.

Kell describes one of his favorite memories, remarkably, as a match he lost. At an important tournament, he drew the name of one of his judo heroes in the first round. 

While he could have ruminated over his terrible luck, he didn’t. He decided to give it everything he had, learn from it and, most of all, enjoy it.

The price of ambition is you have to work hard.

Kell Berliner

MBA, Purdue Global 
U.S. Olympic hopeful, judo

“It was the first match of the day. And I’ve watched this guy for years. I didn’t even have to research him because I knew him pretty well just from being a fan!” he says.  

“I knew I was going out the first round. But I threw my heart into it, and I think it was actually pretty close. What a fight. It was one of the coolest experiences I’ve had on a tour, having an enormous crowd that was super engaged in my match, specifically. And yeah, I was disappointed to lose. But it was the best loss I’ve had in my career.” 

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5. You believe in what you can be, so you prioritize preparation.

At the end of the day, the dream matters — whether it’s athletics, family, career, doing good in the world, travel or anything else — and no time is better than the present to make a move. But working adults have more at stake. They don’t want to ruin it by pulling the trigger on a half-thought-out plan.  

Kell says when it came to selecting a university and a program, he buried himself in the research.  

“I had a whole spreadsheet with about 20 programs through Guild that I thought looked interesting,” he says. “It was really helpful that Purdue Global lists the statistics for their degrees. I narrowed down the programs I was interested in from 20 to 10 and then five. Out of those last five, three of them were with Purdue Global.” 

It wasn’t long before the Purdue Global MBA was the last program standing. And when Nicole coincidentally landed on the same program, they enrolled together.  

So even if you’re not a Team USA hopeful like Kell or Nicole, working adults are working adults, and that life experience rewards a person with focused priorities, a careful approach and big dreams that deserve attention. As Kell says, you have to take the opportunities as they come. 

“When you’re still in the game, you can’t stop,” he says. “It’s difficult and there are no guarantees, but you can’t bow out.”

For more information on starting your comeback, visit purdueglobal.edu.