One on One with Lealem Mulugeta

2020 and the rapid emergence of COVID-19 provoked a lot of changes to the world as we once knew it. The beginning of the pandemic saw us to a mass quarantine, many unfortunate deaths, the loss of millions of jobs, and the closure of businesses. Although this has arguably been one of the most strenuous years in recent history, the year has undoubtedly made way for different opportunities, investments, and productivity for many people like Lealem Mulugeta; peak performance coach, former NASA scientist, gymnast, and founder of Medalist Performance. I was thrilled to speak to Lealem about how he’s managed to thrive during the pandemic and the experiences that shaped his passion for his incredible innovation. 

S: So, tell me a little bit about your early childhood and your experience having to transition to different countries? 

L:  “When my family and I were still living in Ethiopia, the political and economic environment was pretty rough. But my father imagined a better future for his family. So he made the difficult decision to leave the country alone to find a way out for all of us. In pursuit of his mission, he eventually resettled in Uganda as a refugee. It took him a total of six years of unrelenting effort, but he finally got us out of Ethiopia to join him in Uganda. About six months after arriving in Uganda, we immigrated to Canada as stateless citizens. Basically, we didn't have citizenship to any country, and Canada became our newly adopted home.”

Lealem then spoke about how he came to develop his interest in studying aerospace engineering which would begin to ignite his dream-turned-journey to working for NASA.

S: Can you go into more detail about what led you to your interest in aerospace studies? 

L: “I’ve always had a multitude of interests - flight, medicine, engineering, gymnastics, and art, to name a few. I’m not sure if it makes sense to you, but I had this deep feeling that everything in our universe is interconnected, and I was intrigued by the idea of discovering the interconnections. When it came time to figure out my professional path, I started off aiming for medical school. But as I was mapping my academic career, I realized the state of the art in medical education may not be suited to the way my mind works. It seemed like a lot of memorization. I was very much a problem solver. Knowing the fundamental scientific principles driving the end outcome was very important to me. So after reevaluating my interests and abilities, I decided on aerospace engineering.”

Given his interest, Lealem went on to get a degree in mechanical-aerospace engineering at The University of Manitoba in Canada. After juggling a rigorous course load, participating in competitive gymnastics, and maintaining three jobs in order to support himself through school, he eventually graduated from the university with a bachelor's degree. He worked for about two years to gain experience in the aerospace field before moving on to pursue and complete a graduate degree in space studies while living in France. 

S: I can imagine you were great at prioritizing and staying committed to your tasks. What was the workload like given all of your responsibilities at the time?

L: “I almost dropped out of engineering after my second year because of the workload and other difficulties in life. I took a year off, during which I started two companies to earn a living while I was still doing gymnastics. Then towards the end of that year, I asked myself, ‘why did I start this whole thing in the first place?’ I reflected on the fundamental ideals I held during my childhood, and the hardships my family went through to have the opportunities laid out before me. That's when I decided to go back to finish my engineering degree.”

Despite constantly being told that it was not possible for him to achieve his dream of working at NASA due to his lack of U.S citizenship, Lealem strove hard to create a standout example of himself and build substantial network connections with the people he crossed paths with. Not long after, Lealem was granted the opportunity to participate in an internship at NASA through his graduate program. He spoke about having to write a thesis, he formed his topic on the manner in which spacesuits can impact human performance; he also received one of the highest grades given out for a graduation thesis in his class. 

S: You said that during your program you wrote about the impact spacesuits can have on human performance and you faced some opposition from others because of your interest? 

L:  “A lot of my classmates and professors, including my advisor, tried to dissuade me by saying, ‘The chances of you ever ending up at NASA is next to none, let alone working on spacesuits. So just give up the idea.’ But I didn’t let that stop me. I had worked too hard and come too far to stop because of a few words of discouragement. So I basically focused on shaping the degree into what I wanted it to be. And through that process, I discovered I was more interested in the human side of spacesuits, rather than the hardware side of it. Things like the physiological, psychological and physical demands of operating in spaceflight.” 

A year after finishing the internship, Lealem was recruited for a position at NASA as a project engineer. Although the work was highly overwhelming and he often found himself pushing through a 90 hour work week schedule, he continued to persevere, gained new experiences, and remained heartily passionate about the field. Amazingly after all of his significant time investments and efforts, in just less than 3 years, Lealem was promoted to the position of Lead Scientist for the NASA Digital Astronaut Project (DAP)  at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. 

S: Your promotion from an engineer to lead scientist in just a few years is an extremely impressive transition, how did you do it? 

L: “Typically, you would need a PhD to hold the lead scientist position and I was actually thinking of doing a PhD for some time, so that I could  become the lead scientist for that project. Well, two and a half years later, I guess they saw that I was pretty much a subject matter expert when it came to the work. So that's how they ended up promoting me to the DAP Lead Scientist position.”

After his tenure at NASA ended in 2015, Lealem  set off on a journey to discover what new passion he would develop next. With so many endless possibilities and alternative pathways, he found that he had reached “a fork in the road”.

S: So how did you come to the conclusion of what endeavours you wanted to pursue next? 

L: “I had to really think about it. I had to ask myself questions like, what is it I need to do with my life that taps into my multi-disciplinary passions and abilities? What did I sign my life up to do? I knew I wanted to make an impact in people's lives in both the medical and aerospace sector. And, you know, I had this intrinsic passion for human performance; like making people better, and really helping them reach their greatest physical and mental performance. Afterall, that’s what I did for myself in navigating the rough roads I had to navigate in life. So I decided, if I was to work anywhere, I would need work that will allow me to integrate all of this different knowledge and expertise I've acquired over time; I can't let any of it atrophy. I have to continue getting better. So the only logical decision at that point, I felt, was to start my own companies that fully leveraged my skill sets and passion.” 

Thus his establishment, Medalist Performance, which offers advanced, state of the art peak performance coaching, came to rise. Medalist Performance uses scientifically founded methods to enhance, train, and promote physical and mental peak performance development of: athletes, astronauts, military members, and executives. Given Lealem’s distinct NASA background,  space biomedical methodologies play an important role in the formulation of some of the programs that he offers. Even though the coaching programs are largely scientifically based, they still manage to have a fair integration of practical athletic techniques. 

S: Walk me through the most essential components of Medalist Performance coaching? 

L: “Every person has unique performance development needs with respect to their physiological status, body composition attributes, anatomical/biomechanical features, nutrition needs, injury history, and mental performance obstacles. The Medalist Performance peak performance curricula take these differences into account to help our clients get the most out of their potential. For example, depending on how a person used your body throughout their lives, their anatomical and biomechanical function can actually start changing. A good example of this is loss of flexibility and mobility. Every person’s program is designed to help them regain and optimize their anatomical and biomechanical function necessary for their performance goals. With respect to their physiological and body composition, very specific data is used from each person to design a nutrition program which not only helps them gain lean muscle and drop excess fat mass, but also increase their energy, mental acuity, and their overall health.”

S: Sounds like a high-functioning system you’ve created, what other components are factored into your methods? 

L: “Mental performance methodologies are also included to help my clients overcome perceived limitations. A simple example of this is teaching people to rise to the challenge when they are completely depleted from physically demanding tasks. I teach them how to switch their mind so that their ‘brain-to-muscle connection’ can be reestablished and they can continue performing under workloads that initially seemed impossible to them. I actually have a video on the Medalist Performance Instagram page where I demonstrate this with a US Marine Officer Candidate I was coaching.”

Medalist Performance offers coaching programs that are both in-person and on virtual platforms. This is one of the leading reasons as to how Lealem has still found plenty of brilliant success during the pandemic period, despite the temporary closure of many other interactive businesses. 

S: So how was it maintaining and supporting business throughout the COVID crisis? 

L: “Like many related businesses, I started off with in-person to help me structure the content out and over time. But I knew that if I wanted to help people, I had to develop a system that was focused on teaching people how to be self-sufficient. So I focused a lot on educating my clients on how to use the material I teach on their own, and using me as a resource to further expand their capabilities. As I perfected the system, I gradually moved to either purely virtual or hybrid programming. Regardless of which option clients enroll in, the virtual element of the program is mandatory since all of the coaching material is delivered through the virtual portal. With the hybrid system, clients have more frequent in-person contact with their coach. Clients in the virtual system work independently with limited access to their coach via online messaging.” 

It’s very important to understand that Medalist Performance doesn’t offer just any ordinary physical training; it’s a truly elaborate, unique, high-performance curriculum that requires honest commitment.

S: What is something you would want your potential clients to know prior to pursuing your services? 

L: “You have to be absolutely dead serious about what you want to do if you want to enroll in any of our peak performance curricula. Every single client has to go through an extensive intake process. It doesn’t matter who it is. We work with people who know exactly what they want, are willing to do what it takes to get it, and are 100% coachable. There is a reason why it is called peak performance coaching – our goal is to help reach their highest potential possible, and not just help them become ‘fit’. ”

Along with the primary dynamics that are attributed to Medalist Performance, I got to learn a few inspirational facts about the Medalist Scholars Program, which was established with the purpose of  “recognizing athletic talent and cultivating the next generation of leaders”. The program recognizes various remarkable qualities in individuals such as, quality leadership, athletic drive, professionalism, and character strength. 

Before closing out our discussion, Lealem shared a few interesting facts about himself in regards to life outside of his regular commitment to performance coaching. For Lealem, it seems like his work truly coincides with everything he already enjoys doing during his own “me time”. 

S: What does day-to-day life look like for you when you’re not focusing on Medalist Performance?

L: “I've never really given up my involvement in gymnastics. So I'm always doing something in that realm where I'm always pushing myself both physically and mentally. Much of it has turned into gymnastics strength and balance training. I'm not sure if you've seen some of my videos, but it's more of me pushing my gymnastics strength or slightly on the extreme/strength sports side of things. In addition to my love for gymnastics, I enjoy traveling to exotic places and exploring unique things. I also have a dog that I absolutely love. I can't live without her. She keeps me sane!” 

You can learn more about Medalist Performance, all of the programs that are offered, and view testimonials on the direct website hyperlink. To see a few training videos and keep up with social media posts, you can view the Medalist performance Instagram page.