We were lucky to catch up with Dominique Stasulli recently and have shared our conversation below.

Dominique, appreciate you joining us today. Looking back on your career, have you ever worked with a great leader or boss? We’d love to hear about the experience and what you think made them such a great leader.

I spent a summer fellowship during college working on an urban farm and mentoring underprivileged students as part of an agricultural high school initiative to involve the students in community projects. My boss and mentor during this fellowship left a formative impression on me that I continue to emulate to this day. She was extremely sharp, innovative, and driven to constantly learn and grow in her character and her craft. I was constantly in awe of her ability to advocate for this mission to grow this small program into a flourishing, respectable initiative within the local community. Her passion was readily apparent in every undertaking and her work ethic was unmatched by anyone I have ever met. She readily took on challenges, created inventions from scratch, and fought for causes that she believed in wholeheartedly. She was not afraid to get her hands dirty and would work tirelessly for, and with, her team. I have never felt so inspired, cared for, and empowered as I have under her guidance. She challenged me to think deeply about life, who I wanted to be, and how I could find purpose and fulfillment. Not only did I learn an incredible amount about the value of pure agricultural practices, but more importantly, I learned more about myself in one summer than I had in all my life preceding my time with her. To this day, she stands out as my most influential role model; someone that I aspire to be like in every capacity of leadership and character.

Dominique, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I run an endurance and strength coaching business serving athletes of all ages and abilities. I focus on helping athletes push into their potential and empowering them to strive to be the best version of themselves in sport and life. My coaching is centered around educating athletes on the many facets of performance, physiology, biomechanics, and injury prevention and aiming to develop their mental performance skills as part of the process. I’m proud of the community and family we have become and the shared support uplifts everyone from within.

Do you think you’d choose a different profession or specialty if you were starting now?

I would definitely want to end up at the same destination, but I would have taken a very different route if given the opportunity for a do-over. During my undergraduate studies, I was pushed to aim high and specialize early. I ended up triple majoring in forensic science, biology: pre-medicine, and biotechnology with a minor in chemistry. I wanted to graduate in four years so I took a high credit load each semester which left little room for exploration outside of the hard sciences. I was part of the Honors program which meant I could take some unique hybrid classes taught by two professors from different departments; some combined music and English, history and psychology, religion and science, etc. I found these classes much more thought-provoking than my standard science curriculum. Looking back on it now, I should have pursued more classes that challenged my ways of thinking and less of those that checked boxes for a specific major. Undergraduate schooling has so much potential to expose students to a range of subject areas and to develop hard and soft skills across a multitude of disciplines, but so often we see students being pigeon-holed into one specific area of study. If I went in with the goal of exposure and “range” as opposed to “specialization”, I may have realized earlier that my true passions and interests were much broader than the hard science track I was on.

Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?

Authenticity, hands down. I believe being your most authentic self makes your brand relatable, genuine, and appreciably human. In a society that has become so focused on automation and quick fixes, authenticity stands out and has the potential to build real human connections that we so desperately need more of in this fast-paced world. Being authentic means putting yourself out there with full transparency, admitting gaps in knowledge, and being vulnerable with others. This character trait holds so much potential for building long-lasting relationships that are centered around trust, openness, and personal [and collective] growth.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.zealendurancecoaching.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/zealendurancecoaching
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/zealendurancecoaching

Image Credits
Nicole Bush Media (https://www.nicolebushmedia.com/) for Training Block (https://www.trainingblockusa.com/)