Taekwondo fuels success on, off mat for Rachel Nalepa

Rachel Nalepa took up taekwondo to pass the time while her son trained at the same martial arts club. She ended up earning a black belt, competing nationally and internationally and being named Senior Female Athlete of the Year.

“I was spending so much time at the club with my son that I decided, ‘I might as well do something for myself,’” says Rachel, site lead at Dartmouth General Hospital. “We actually trained a little bit together. Then he ended up switching to a different sport and I stayed.”

Rachel was recently recognized by Support4Sport for the second year in a row, an honour she said was especially meaningful as someone who started the sport later in life. Support4Sport is a Nova Scotia sport funding organization.

Taekwondo has challenged her physically, but the mental side of martial arts has had an equally significant impact, she says. She points to the tenets of taekwondo, including perseverance, self-control, integrity, courtesy and indomitable spirit, as principles that connect closely with leadership.

“There’s actually a lot of crossovers,” she said. “I’ve learned even more perseverance through taekwondo.”

The principles of taekwondo show up in her leadership in many ways, Rachel explains. She cites continuous learning, adapting and leading with respect as examples, in addition to staying calm under pressure. She also sees a connection between the indomitable spirit developed through martial arts and the resilience required to lead through change. That mindset has helped guide her through changes at Dartmouth General Hospital, such as the recent One Person One Record (OPOR) rollout.

“When you’re going through an organizational change of this magnitude, there’s an element of resilience that you have to show and lead with if you expect others to do the same thing,” she says. “I could not be prouder of the staff at Dartmouth General Hospital and everyone involved as we rolled out OPOR.”

“It takes a village. Even in the sport, everyone is supporting everybody,” she said. “I think it’s the same here at Dartmouth General. When there’s one problem, we solve it together.”

One of the biggest lessons Rachel has learned is the importance of having someone recognize your potential, even before you see it yourself.

“I would not be successful in my sport if my main instructor had not seen that within me, because I didn’t see that within me,” she says. “He saw it, focused on it and he persevered.”

The same lesson applies to the workplace.

“If you don’t have a leader that believes in you, then it’s very easy to stagnate and not grow,” Rachel adds. “But if you have someone that believes in you, whether it’s me believing in my team or my executive director believing in me, it’s incredibly motivating.”

Her hope is that her story encourages others to make time for the things that matter to them.

“Middle age is not the end at all,” she says, with a laugh. “For me, it was the beginning of a whole new chapter that I never thought, even in a million years, I would have dreamed of.”

Photo of Rachel Nalepa.