Pierre Soubrier is an experienced professional athletic trainer and sports performance expert based in New York, New York. Throughout his career, Soubrier has prided himself on helping athletes perform to the best of their ability, specializing primarily in women’s soccer. He has worked with the Portland Thorns, Washington Spirit, Colorado Rapids, and NJ/NY Gotham FC.
Soubrier became involved in athletics at a young age, regularly playing barefoot soccer while growing up in Western Africa’s Ivory Coast. During this time, Soubrier learned to appreciate the sport for its challenge and communal nature – both of which were formative in shaping his future playing career and, subsequently, the pursuit of a job in sports medicine. He spent six years in the Toulouse Football Club Academy, where he honed his soccer skills as part of his journey toward a professional playing career. After being let go from the academy at age 17, he relocated to Portland, Maine, where he eventually contributed to a state championship-winning season during his high school career.
He eventually advanced to a five-year collegiate career at Quinnipiac University before channeling his passion into a career in sports medicine. He completed an internship at Yale University in 2011, where he worked with women’s field hockey and ice hockey. After spending time in subsequent physical therapy roles with local teams and clubs, Soubrier earned the head athletic training position with the Washington Spirit from 2015-2017. He went on to work as the head of medicine and director of performance for the Colorado Rapids Academy before becoming the head athletic trainer of the Portland Thorns in 2019. He was promoted to director of medical and performance for the Thorns in 2020.
Beyond college, he served in several PT-related roles for local athletic teams before earning a head athletic training position with the Washington Spirit. This stint would produce subsequent jobs with the Colorado Rapids and the Portland Thorns. During his time with the Spirit, Soubrier met his wife, Crystal, a prominent former Thorns player. In 2021, Pierre and Crystal founded PCSWellness, a small consulting company based in Portland.
Now, Pierre Soubrier is set to join NJ/NY Gotham FC as a team consultant, which will see him informing the club’s strategic framework and a professional player pathway while upholding its longstanding tradition of high-level service and standards for the women’s soccer community.
Beyond athletics, Soubrier enjoys cooking, gardening, personal fitness, and outdoor recreation. He is an avid fisherman and bow hunter, regularly advocating for the latter’s inherent challenge and fairness.
What is your typical day, and how do you make it productive?
Usually, I start my day with a workout. Over the years, I played with different times of the day to exercise, but I find that getting it done in the morning is best for me. I feel energetic right after and ready to roll for the day. It does delay my “work day” a bit but nowadays; who works a true 9-5 anyway? So I’ve shifted my day to start at 10 A.M. In the evening, I spend time with my family and cook dinner for everyone, which is my special moment every day.
How do you bring ideas to life?
When I work on a project, I usually start to ask myself why we are doing this project, I start to visualize what the end goal looks like. Almost like a movie in my mind. I truly believe in the law of attraction and the power of visualization. So I picture what the space looks like, what the people are doing while moving through the day, who reports to whom, who leads what, the context and culture set within this project, etc. From there, I determine the steps to get there and work backward to create a framework.
What’s one trend that excites you?
The older I get, the more I realize how unconscious the world is – unaware of their surroundings, not present in the moment, missing so many key aspects of life. So I am really excited by the number of people that start to voluntarily disconnect from their business/work life and reconnect with their soul and nature – people that are going back to basics.
What is one habit that helps you be productive?
I utilize a planner and organize my week at the end of the previous week. That way, everything is in order, I know when I am working out, I know when I am working on which project, and when I am committing time for myself.
What advice would you give your younger self?
I would tell myself to not let my job take over my life.
Tell us something you believe almost nobody agrees with you.
I am a pretty rational and reasonable person, so I don’t really have any strong disagreements with most people, but I would say: excuse-finding. People don’t realize how many times they are trying to find excuses for any mishap, and they always fight it when you point it out.
What is the one thing you repeatedly do and recommend everyone else do?
Reassess yourself daily. Some people like to journal, which is great, but at the least, go through it in your own mind. Try to be unbiased, and try to be your own harshest critic on how today went and what you did, what you said, how you treated someone, and how you managed your emotions. I do that every day; I constantly work on myself.
When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?
Well, these are two different issues. If I feel unfocused, I recognize that I start procrastinating, and I have to disconnect. I go away for a walk, call a friend or family member and chat about something completely different. That usually helps me get back to it when I return to my desk. Now, if I feel overwhelmed, I usually step away from the environment that is causing the stress. I grab my planner with me and add something that brings me a good feeling, like a good cup of coffee or a great playlist. Then, I simply outline all my to-do’s, prioritizing them and re-arranging them in my planner with realistic timing so I give myself the best chance to complete each task successfully.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business or advance in your career?
My dad used to say all the time: “One of the greatest achievements is to be able to go back where you have been and be welcomed with open arms.” I think one aspect I focus on a lot is connecting with people. At the end of the day, we are all part of this society, and nothing happens without the support of others, so I truly invest in people in order to build genuine connections that will, in turn, help me grow.
What is one failure in your career, how did you overcome it, and what lessons did you take away from it?
I think one of my biggest failures has been to believe in the goodness of people too much and not seeing reality for what it was. At times, when things are not going your way, there are usually small cues that you can notice in order to recognize that something is not trending in the right direction. I failed many times at recognizing these moments only because I believed in people too much. Truth is, people everywhere are tricky. So it goes back to my comment earlier of being aware and being present to be able to assess every moment for exactly what they are.
What is one business idea you’re willing to give away to our readers?
I love cooking, and someone should invent the “onion goggles” because I’m tired of crying every time I’m chopping up onions.
What is one piece of software that helps you be productive? How do you use it?
I use a cool food-tracking app called Lose It, which helps me stay on track with what I am eating and gives me a visual of the decisions I’ve made. Being healthy helps me be so much more productive than when the unhealthy habits kick in. One thing I have realized while reconnecting with nature and spending time out in the wilderness is that we simply eat too much. We do not need all these calories. So this helps me stay accountable for my behaviors.
What is the best $100 you recently spent?
I would say it was actually less than $100 – on a four-color, made-in-France Bic pen. As I mentioned before, I am a meticulous and organized person, so I have a color code for each of my main categories: work important, work less important, personal, and leisure.
Do you have a favorite book or podcast from which you’ve received much value?
Absolutely: the podcast The Daily Stoic. I am doing a mentorship program with Jo Clubb, a well-renowned sports scientist, and I shared with her how tense, emotional, and even angry I had become from the cauldron I was in at work. She pointed me to the stoicism philosophy, and I found this podcast. It has been amazing. I listen to an episode every morning; each one is short, insightful, and really helps me start the day on the right foot.
What’s a movie or series you recently enjoyed and why?
The Bear. I love cooking, and this is a cool show about a chef trying to rebuild his dead brother’s restaurant while battling through the grieving process.
Key learnings:
- Backwards planning. Visualize your goals and work backward to achieve them.
- Be present, be aware. Live in the moment and focus on the process, not the outcome.
- Put people first. Connect with people, build relationships, and learn from everyone.
- What brings you joy? Reconnect with what brings you joy and positive feelings.
- Emotions = Energy. Bias your day to feel more positive emotions to fuel you with positive energy.