Meet Our Founder
Derek Shunk
Thinklete founder Derek Shunk brings experience as a Division I All-American athlete, professional baseball player, college coach, and—most importantly—a dad to a neurodivergent young athlete.
That combination helped shape the Thinklete framework, built around the real challenges neurodivergent athletes face: emotional regulation, focus, confidence, handling mistakes, pressure, routines, independence, and accountability.
Derek’s goal isn’t to change how these athletes’ brains work. It’s to give them practical tools to understand their brain, work with it, and turn what makes them different into an edge—in sports and everyday life.
Meet Our Mentors
Aleka Shunk
Aleka is co-founder of Thinklete and brings a rare combination of elite athletic experience and deep expertise in working with neurodivergent athletes. A former state champion in track and Division I soccer player at Drexel University, she served as a two-year team captain and earned 2× MVP honors. She still holds the program’s all-time records for both assists and games played.
At the highest levels of competition, Aleka has competed against some of the game’s best—including Carli Lloyd—bringing firsthand experience of what it takes to perform under pressure on the biggest stages. She went on to compete professionally in the USL W League and internationally with the Greek Olympic team.
Off the field, she spent 10 years as a middle school math teacher, working closely with many neurodivergent students, and 5 years coaching at Players Development Academy (PDA). Her background in both education and high-performance sport allows her to connect with athletes in a way that builds confidence, discipline, and long-term growth.
Janie Kokakis
A former Division I track athlete at the University of Northern Iowa; Janie was also a state track champion and four-sport athlete growing up. Her athletic background gave her firsthand experience with the discipline, pressure, confidence, and mental challenges that come with competing at a high level.
Today, Janie works as a speech-language pathologist specializing in executive functioning and supporting neurodivergent kids and their families. Her work focuses on helping children build emotional regulation, self-awareness, confidence, organization, and the foundational skills that impact both performance and everyday life.
With backgrounds in both athletics and neurodivergent development, Janie brings a unique perspective to mentoring young athletes. She is passionate about helping kids better understand how they think, learn, and perform so they can build confidence and thrive both on and off the field.
Ryan Tatusko
Ryan Tatusko is a former collegiate (Indiana State University) and seven-year professional baseball pitcher turned coach who helps athletes build confidence, resilience, and the mental skills to perform at their best—especially those who compete differently. After playing professionally in the Texas Rangers and Washington Nationals organizations before finishing his career in the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO), Ryan understands the pressure of high-level competition both as an athlete and as a parent of a neurodivergent child.
Since 2014, Ryan has coached athletes from youth through college, helping more than 75 players earn collegiate opportunities. He teaches athletes to understand their unique wiring, quiet self-doubt, and turn what makes them different into their greatest competitive advantage.
Ryan’s mission perfectly aligns with Thinklete’s: helping athletes and their families build lasting confidence by empowering kids to compete as exactly who they are.
Hayden Flanery
Hayden was a former Division 1 gymnast at Oklahoma, where she was a member of their first ever NCAA Championship Team in 2014. She also participated in 3 Conference winning teams, multiple regional championships and Big X11 academic All-American.
She brings many years of experience, heart, and true passion for helping young athletes tap into and pursue their potential. She has a fierce, competitive culture and always looking to challenge our athletes in new ways.
As a mom of a neurodivergent athlete, she has discovered new perspectives and different ways to attack each challenge. She loves exploring new philosophies and techniques to further mentor her athletes, in building their self confidence, enhancing their skill and truly fall in love with their own journey!
Angela Downey
Coach Angela Downey is a certified fitness and wellness coach with 17+ years of experience helping individuals build strength, confidence, coordination, healthy habits, and a strong mindset. A former state champion and 13-year USATF competitive runner, Angela also has a background in athletic development and holistic wellness, bringing an energetic and individualized approach to working with children and families.
As someone who is neurodivergent herself and a mom to a child with ADHD, Angela understands firsthand that every child’s brain works differently—and that those differences can become strengths with the right support.
Angela uses movement and mindset coaching to help children build focus, confidence, emotional awareness, resilience, and self-regulation. Her goal is to create a supportive space where kids feel seen, capable, and confident while developing skills they can carry into sports, school, and everyday life.
Billy Perry
Billy was born and raised in Muskogee, Oklahoma, and has spent much of his life around athletics, coaching, and developing young people. He attended Greenville College, where he played both football and soccer while studying Kinesiology.
Billy brings six seasons of professional indoor football playing experience, including a National Championship in 2019 and Special Teams Player of the Year honors in 2023. He is also a two-time Guinness World Record holder in football kicking. His experience has carried into coaching at the high school, collegiate, and professional levels. He is going into his 4th year as a professional football
coach. He currently serves as Special Teams Coordinator and Offensive Assistant for the San Antonio Gunslingers.
Beyond football, Billy has built a parenting and family-focused community of more than 17 million followers across social media. His work centers around connection, communication, accountability, and helping parents and young people navigate the real-life challenges that come with growing up.
Billy has been married to his wife, Lyndsey, for 23 years, and together they have three children, Darrion, Dru, and Kynna. As both a father and coach, Billy is passionate about helping young athletes develop confidence, handle adversity, communicate effectively, and become stronger people, not just better athletes.
