06/01/2026
We have had the privilege of Stephen giving us a sample of his work in a workshop at Small Founders Club and it was such an inspiring interactive talk, we all went away with more clarity on what our individual strengths are and understanding that it's important to practice confidence 🙌
Hi Everyone
My name is Stephen Eccles and I’m a Sport and Exercise Psychologist (In Training) and founder of Inner Launch, a venture designed to help people maximise their strengths, adapt to various situations, and ultimately perform at their highest potential when it matters most.
About six years ago, I had the privilege of working with brilliant organisations such as GB Women’s Ice Hockey, British Canoeing, and Swim England. I loved my experience but decided to move into academia. My time lecturing was so much fun as there’s nothing quite like playing a game of Family Fortunes at the end of a lecture to bring the learning to life.
Working in higher education has provided me such a key foundation for moving forward. I’ve been able to understand how individuals navigate hidden transitions that often go unspoken. It’s taught me a lot about people manage uncertainty, rebuild confidence, and find meaning through change, but the biggest lesson of all was recognising how much I missed practice.
That realisation is what led me to create Inner Launch. My business is about helping people ignite their strengths, manage pressure, and thrive through transitions - whether they’re athletes, coaches, or professionals working in high-performance environments. To do this in such a way that brings together my experience of research and elite sport was too much of an opportunity to turn down.
Now speaking of opportunity, outside of the world of Inner Launch, I am quite the daredevil. So much so that a few years ago I decided to hit the restart button. I thought it would be a good idea to book a few activities to get the ball rolling. Well, it started with caving on the Saturday, skydiving on the Sunday, diving with sharks on the Monday and starting salsa dancing on the Wednesday. Safe to say, the experiences changed my life and opened my eyes to what we can make possible.
