The What’s Your Why series on First Chair dives into the heart of what motivates snowsports instructors to do what they do — beyond the pins, paychecks, and powder days. Hosted by George Thomas, this introspective series invites PSIA-AASI National Team member Melodie Buell and other instructors to share their personal journeys and reflections on purpose, passion, and perseverance in teaching. Listeners will explore how understanding one’s “why” shapes not just a professional path, but a more meaningful connection to guests, peers, and the mountain lifestyle itself.
 
This series challenges instructors to look deeper than goals or achievements and rediscover what truly drives them to teach, learn, and serve. Each episode uncovers insights about finding joy in the journey, embracing growth through discomfort, and aligning personal purpose with professional practice — all while celebrating the transformative power of teaching others to ski and ride.

What's Your Why? Exploring Why Snowsports Instructors Teach

In the first episode of our latest mini-series, Finding Your Why, host George Thomas sits down with PSIA-AASI National Team member Melodie Buell to unpack what it really means to find purpose in snowsports instruction. Melodie shares how defining her “why” reshaped her approach to teaching, training, and living—moving beyond goals like earning certifications to embracing the deeper meaning behind the work instructors do every day.

Together, George and Melodie explore how understanding your purpose sustains motivation through challenges, transforms how you connect with guests, and turns feedback into growth. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or a new instructor, this conversation invites you to pause, reflect, and rediscover what truly keeps you coming back to the mountain. 

Finding Your Why – Why We Teach: A Conversation with Melodie Buell – Part 1

In Part 2 of Finding Your Why, PSIA-AASI National Team member Melodie Buell sits down again with George Thomas for a raw, heartfelt conversation about what it really takes to trust yourself, stay authentic, and reconnect with purpose—even when doubt creeps in.

From her first tearful ski lesson at age five to racing Division I in college, coaching junior athletes, and eventually finding her calling through adaptive instruction, Melodie shares how every turn on snow led her closer to understanding her “why.” Along the way, she talks about shifting from external validation—pins, titles, and team selections—to internal motivation grounded in impact, service, and inclusion.

This episode digs into the emotional side of professional growth in the ski and ride world—the part we don’t always talk about. Melodie opens up about facing imposter syndrome before national team tryouts, learning to sit with discomfort, and finding the courage to show up as her authentic self. Through vulnerability and grit, she reminds all instructors that living into your purpose isn’t about reaching a pinnacle—it’s about using every opportunity to connect, give back, and elevate the people and communities around you.

Whether you’re just starting your certification journey or decades into teaching, this conversation will hit home. It’s a reminder that your “why” can be the strongest tool in your quiver—and that believing in yourself might just be the most important skill of all.

Finding Your Why: Owning Your Journey and Finding Purpose with Melodie Buell - Part 2

In Part 3 of Finding Our Why, PSIA-AASI member Kathy Mogensen joins George Thomas to share her journey from a seventh-grade ski-club kid with rental skis and fifty cents for hot chocolate to a 20-year PSIA-AASI instructor who’s helped generations of new skiers fall in love with the sport.

Kathy’s story captures what makes ski and snowboard instructors so passionate about what they do—the joy of watching guests gain confidence, connection, and community on snow. What started by chance—when a ski school director handed her a jacket and said, “Here’s your group”—grew into a lifelong purpose rooted in helping others discover the same love of skiing that shaped her family’s life.

Throughout the conversation, Kathy reflects on the mentors who guided her, the small ski areas that nurture tight-knit teaching communities, and the simple power of sharing turns with others. She also opens up about fear—how she’s faced it, learned from it, and now uses those lessons to help her students find control and confidence on the hill. Whether she’s teaching inner-city kids, moms learning to ski for the first time, or fellow instructors, Kathy’s “why” is simple: to create opportunities for others to feel the same joy and connection she’s found through skiing.

This episode celebrates the everyday instructors who make the biggest difference—not through big mountains or fancy titles, but through genuine care, patience, and passion for helping others find their way on snow.

Finding Your Why  – From Ski Club to Ski Pro - the Joy of Teaching with Kathy Mogensen – Part 3

In the final episode of the Finding Our Why mini-series, PSIA-AASI’s Nathan Chapple reflects on two decades in snowsports instruction—starting as a 15-year-old junior instructor in the Pacific Northwest and growing into an Intermountain examiner who measures success by the lives he touches. Nathan shares how teaching gave a shy kid a consistent forum to practice communication, how certification structure sharpened his craft, and why a student-centered approach (and today’s People Skills emphasis) creates better teachers—and better guest experiences.

Nathan also opens up about scaling impact by training instructors, the season he nearly lost his spark, and how changing environments (hello, Snowbird) helped him rediscover joy. His advice for anyone on the fence about Level II or Level III is pure gold: control what you can, avoid outcome-only goals, and treat this as a game to play—not a game to win. It’s a grounded, generous conversation that brings our series home: purpose isn’t a pin or a title—it’s the way we show up for guests, peers, and the broader mountain community.

Finding Your Why: Keep It Fun, Not Final: Playing the Long Game with Nathan Chapple | Part 4

The First Chair Podcast brings you inspirational stories and educational tips from the country's best ski, snowboard, Nordic, and adaptive instructors. 

More than 34,000 individuals belong to PSIA-AASI (Professional Ski Instructors of America and American Association of Snowboard Instructors), making it the world’s largest organization dedicated to snowsports. We are lifelong learners committed to changing lives through great experiences on snow. 

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Finding Your Why – Why We Teach: A Conversation with Melodie Buell – Part 1

PSIA-AASI First Chair Podcast