How A Pro Volleyball Player And Single Mom Of Three Stays At The Top Of Her Game
As a 36-year-old single mom of three, professional volleyball player Juliann Faucette has a different approach to her daily health habits, performance protocols, and recovery than she did ten years ago.
It's easy to assume any pro athlete is leveraging the latest longevity and fitness technology daily to reach the top of their game, but Faucette offers us a refreshingly stripped down look at what intentional inputs and the right mindset can do.
I caught up with her between a naptime deadline and a new nanny interview (been there) to talk about what actually keeps her on top of her game at this stage of her career.
Mindset beats everything
When I asked Faucette what kept her performing at an elite level for over a decade, she led with her mental outlook.
"I would say mindset has been the biggest thing, my confidence and belief in myself throughout the years and the different seasons that I've been through,” she shared.
Faucette has lived many lives before reaching this stage of her career. She was a top national recruit out of high school, made the leap to pro, chased an Olympic dream that didn't pan out, and has had to rebuild her identity more than once along the way. She described her journey as “always reinventing myself.”
Somewhere in the middle of all that, Faucette learned that volleyball can't be the only thing holding her together. "There has to be some other outlets," she said, and motherhood became one of the biggest. Her kids don't care about her stats from the night before. "They just care that I'm present and there." This perspective shift has made her more intentional in every other area of her life, from nutrition to recovery.
She's all about controlling the controllables
Recovery is just as important as training, but with three kids and a demanding schedule, Faucette doesn't have the luxury of an unlimited time-budget. So she's narrowed her focus to the two daily habits she says matter most.
Sleep. Her kids go down around 7:30 p.m., which gives her a small, sacred window in the evening. "I know that I need to go to bed on time and put my phone down and maybe take a bath or read a book," she said, calling it a chance to get out of whatever stress the day brought.
It's not glamorous, but it's consistent, and that is the whole point. Poor sleep is linked to greater risk of injury in athletes, not to mention worse physical and mental performance, so this is something she always prioritizes.
Hydration. This is another one she treats as non-negotiable. “I truly notice a difference in my recovery and energy when I’m not drinking a gallon of water a day and taking my electrolytes.” Which makes sense since our muscles, heart, brain and lungs all function more efficiently when we’re hydrated.
These habits aren't expensive or complicated. "It doesn't require a ton of money. It doesn't require a fancy gadget." Just two things she can actually control on a day when nothing else goes according to plan (and I know I’m not the only mom who can relate to that).
Fueling like an athlete (who's also a busy mom)
Faucette's mornings start at 5:45 a.m., before her kids are up, so she can have time to herself and get grounded before the hectic day begins.
Her go-to breakfast is a loaded bowl of oatmeal, old fashioned oats with chia seeds, hemp, flax, chocolate protein powder, cinnamon, and almond milk. Alongside it, she scrambles up some egg whites plus two whole eggs. "I'm really trying to just get some protein in the morning and sustain myself," she said, and this ends up being enough to carry her through a two-hour workout with no snacking in between.
She doesn't track a specific protein number, but she does eat protein-rich foods throughout the day. For those of us who grew up hearing women should eat less, Faucette’s daily meal planning is an inspiring look at what fueling fitness actually looks like:
- A protein shake after her workout, hard boiled eggs with ground turkey and spinach mid-morning.
- A similar meal with avocado swapped in for the eggs in the early afternoon.
- Rice cakes with peanut butter in the late afternoon.
- A protein like chicken with vegetables and a sweet potato for dinner.
- Before bed she may have cottage cheese or another protein drink to hold her over.
"I didn't get to this point until very recently," she admitted, adding that dialing in her nutrition alongside her training has made her feel like she's in her prime at 36, older than most in her sport. It helps that her mom is a nutritionist and has been a valuable resource for nutrition knowledge.
Supplements are also a foundational part of her morning, too. Creatine is a daily staple, along with a collagen mixed into her drink. She recently added our mindbodygreen magnesium+ rest and recovery and debloat+ into her routine and, in her words “was an instant convert.”
Training schedules change, so does her routine
Right now Faucette is in the off-season, which means:
- Two-hour training blocks combining heavy lifting with high-intensity, agility-focused work.
- Meal prepping ahead of time since she's on the move all day.
- Four hours of coaching private lessons and clinics most days.
In-season looks different:
- Training starts at 9 a.m., an hour of lifting focused on power and maintenance.
- Two hours of volleyball practice.
- An ice bath, and occasionally a sports massage every couple of weeks.
- Game days bring their own rhythm, especially away games, which she actually finds easier. "There's no distraction," she said, no juggling mom duties in between a short morning practice and a night match.
This is also the season where her reputation as her team's hype woman comes in. She said she's always had a gift for encouragement, and it shows in how she’s able to share specific compliments with her teammates. "I know how good it feels when someone is very specific with me," she said, and she tries to give teammates that same attention, whether she's starting or watching from the bench.
The takeaway
There's no secret or massive recovery budget behind Faucette's stellar volleyball career. It's sleep, water, protein-forward meals, a few consistent supplements, and a mindset that's been stress tested by a decade of highs, lows, and reinvention.
If a professional athlete who is a single mom with three kids and a full schedule can build her routine around the basics, there's a good case the rest of us can, too.