Shelly Ginter Conrad
Drawing from her life experiences as a mentor, leader, teacher, coach, entrepreneur, college athlete, and Freedom Challenge Climber, Shelly creatively weaves her life stories and the lessons she has learned into dynamic, inspiring and engaging leadership and team building workshops, seminars, conferences and retreats. She is a keynote speaker for businesses and corporations, universities and athletic organizations. Shelly was an all-state, 12 letter, multi-sport athlete. Her dream of playing NCAA Division I volleyball was fulfilled when she accepted a full athletic scholarship to play for Baylor University in Waco, Texas where she was a 4-year starter, team captain and most valuable player. Shelly graduated from Baylor with a Bachelor’s Degree in Education, majoring in physical education and minoring in special education.
She has been a leader and entrepreneur in the sport of volleyball as a trainer, coach, and director of players and coaches for 30 years. She has been involved in many aspects of the sport, to include coaching at the varsity, junior varsity, and middle school levels; founding, directing, and coaching a successful USA Volleyball (USAV) Junior Club in the Dallas (TX) area; serving as an elected representative on regional and national USAV junior boards; teaching private lessons; and directing summer camps, clinics, and volleyball academy programs. As an educator, Shelly has taught both elementary and high school physical education and has worked as an adapted physical education teacher for students with learning differences and physical challenges.
After living, teaching, and coaching in Texas for 30 years, Shelly relocated to Frankenmuth, Michigan in 2014. The opportunity to return to Michigan and live near her hometown and parents was a welcome change from living in the suburbs of Dallas since 1993. Shelly founded Muth Volleyball Academy to train young players in 3rd through 6th grade and returned to coaching high school volleyball in 2017, when she took on the head varsity volleyball coach position at Frankenmuth High School. Shelly resigned as varsity coach at the conclusion of the 2019 season, her daughter's senior season. Shelly continues to train and coach young players because of her love for the game and for her passion to help young athletes establish a solid foundation of volleyball skills and game experience.
An outdoor adventurist, Shelly's hobbies are hiking, mountaineering, and mountain biking! She loves the challenge that outdoor activities provide and she only wishes she would have picked up those passions much earlier in life. Her Mount Everest Base Camp/Kala Patthar Freedom Challenge experience lit a passion inside her to pursue more adventures as such in the future. In 2019, Shelly teamed up once again with the Freedom Challenge movement. She participated in the Pacific Northwest Glacier Challenge as part of a team of eight women who climbed Mount Baker (WA.) to raise funds and awareness about the atrocities of modern day slavery and human trafficking.
Shelly currently resides in Frankenmuth, Michigan, better known as one of Michigan's popular tourist cities, "Little Bavaria!" A lover of music and playing the drums since her childhood, she is currently a drummer and percussionist serving as a worship team member at Hopevale Church in Saginaw, Michigan.