ABOUT
Inner Launch supports athletes, coaches, parents, and organisations to perform under pressure and recover effectively from setbacks.
I help individuals build confidence, manage performance demands, and develop the mindset needed to perform when it matters most.
Using practical, evidence-based psychological tools, I work alongside individuals and teams to turn challenge into growth and pressure into consistent performance.
Let’s work together to make this happen.
Meet Stephen, founder of Inner Launch
Stephen Eccles
Founder
Welcome to Inner Launch! I’m Stephen Eccles, a Sport and Exercise Psychologist in Training, dedicated to enhancing performance and wellbeing in athletes and teams. With a background in elite-level sports and academic expertise, I’ve had the delight of supporting championship-winning teams, including the U18s GB Women’s Ice Hockey team and the Leicester Riders Academy. My commitment to fostering growth and excellence has been recognised with nominations for prestigious teaching awards, reflecting my passion for helping individuals and organizations reach their full.
Why I started Inner Launch
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.