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more about coach vj

Coach VJ | Mental Performance Coach

vera jo bustos "Coach vj"

Mental Performance Coach

🧠 A Coaching Style That Connects

Vera Jo's approach blends science, storytelling, and simple tools that athletes actually use. She doesn’t just talk mindset—she makes mindset visible, using signature tools like:

  • The Confidence Bank – a visual metaphor for building and spending confidence like a savings account

  • Direct Speak – shifting athletes from fear-based self-talk to focused, performance-ready cues

  • Power Over Poison – training athletes to recognize and overcome toxic thought patterns

  • Performance Reframes – transforming pressure, nerves, and fear into competitive advantages​

Her coaching is known for being real, relatable, and radically effective.

🏀 Athlete. Coach. Competitor.

Before launching Mentality Solutions, Vera Jo served as an assistant basketball coach at Western Colorado University and the University of New Mexico, where she began training athletes in mental performance back in 2012. She brings decades of experience from both sides of the whistle—first as a coach, and before that, as a player.

Her journey began as a small-town athlete in Northern New Mexico. Passed up by Division I programs, she went on to make history at Adams State University, becoming:

  • 3x College All-American

  • School’s all-time leading scorer (1,859 points)

  • First player inducted into the ASU Hall of Fame by age 30

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After college, she competed in the Euro-League in Greece, facing off against Olympians and international stars. Her professional experience fueled her passion to write her first book:


A Mindful Journey: An Adventure of Discovery & Transformation (2020), which explores the mental challenges and breakthroughs of her time overseas.

🎤 A Speaker Who Inspires Action

Vera Jo now travels the country as a keynote speaker, mental performance coach, and consultant. Whether on a court, in a film room, or from the stage, she delivers powerful messages that stick—with teams, coaches, leaders, and entire communities. Her sessions are rooted in performance psychology but come to life through energy, humor, and storytelling.

She’s been described as “the spark our program needed" and “the coach behind the curtain who made the difference.”

🔚 Final Message

“I was never the tallest, strongest, or most athletic. What separated me was the mental game. If I can do it, so can they. I love helping people see that greatness isn’t reserved for the lucky, it’s built by those willing to train their mindset just like their skills.”

🗯 Ready to Work With Vera Jo?​

Great coaches build skills. Coach VJ builds belief. If you're ready to turn pressure into performance and mindset into your secret weapon, now’s the time.

Because confidence is a skill we build just like anything else.  And Coach VJ is the coach behind the curtain who helps athletes train it, own it, and unleash it when it matters most.

Education:

  • MA Human Performance - Adams State University

  • BA Sport Psychology - Adams State University

  • BA Exercise Science - Adams State University

publications:

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