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Interviews / Personal Trainers

Balancing the Grind With Melita Augerinos, Head Coach at The Lean Lab

Melita Augerinos is the Owner & Head Coach at The Lean Lab, a personal training and coaching studio based in Melbourne, founded by herself and Olivia Orchowski.

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1) To kick things off, could you tell us a little about your career background and current role?

I have always been a hands on, on the go type – so no desk job was ever going to be on the horizon for me. Starting off as a swimming teacher in my late teens (15yrs -19yrs) I always thought teaching primary was what I wanted to do.

Little did I know that sitting in a uni lecture was definitely not for me. I shortly transitioned into the fitness industry – first on the reception desk greeting the lovely members, to completing my personal training certificates 3 and 4, to then progressing onto the gym floor assessing and assisting new members.

I really thrived over a couple of years building up my own client base, further educating myself, reading, attending seminars, and learning from other coaches – where I finally met the Ying to my Yang, Olivia Orchowski my current business partner.

Fast track a few years and here we are! We have opened our first amazing personal training/coaching studio, The Lean Lab, which is everything we had envisioned.

2) What does a day in the life look like for you? Can you take us through a recent workday?

My mornings start with a 5am alarm most days. I didn’t choose the early morning life, it chose me! After snoozing a couple times (delaying the inevitable), I rise from my warm cozy bed to get to work (The Lean Lab) for a 6am start.

Whether it be running our amazing female classes or coaching my personal clients I am at the gym 5-6 mornings a week. I aim to train myself 3-4 times week because it is what made me fall in love with training others in the beginning.

3) Does your current role allow for flexible or remote working? If so, how does that fit into your life and routine?

I am client side at least 5 mornings a week which I love. I am a face to face people person, always have and always will be. It’s how I work best.

But, most afternoons I do have the option to head home and remotely work if client programs need doing etc. That’s the beauty of the world we live in at this present moment.

4) What does work-life balance mean to you and how do you work to achieve that goal?

Work life balance, for me personally I think of balancing as a forever shifting pendulum. At different stages you are focusing more towards your career/work or your personal/life which means the pendulum its constantly shifting back and forth but never stopping or being stagnant in one position for too long.

My goal at this present moment is to keep building a gym environment where anyone can walk through the door at The Lean Lab and instantly feel like it’s home. I am super fortunate to have an amazing business partner, Olivia, who has the same vision and supports/recognises if I spend too much time on one end of the pendulum!

5) What do you think are some of the best habits or routines that you’ve developed over the years to help you achieve success in your life?

Persistence, trust, and an inbuilt bullshit radar. Take that leap of faith – whether it be professional or personal.

6) Are there any books that have helped you improve over the years? (They don’t need to about work-life balance)

  • I Can’t Make This Up: Life Lessons by Kevin Hart. What a man and what a book it was the epitome of the phrase “started from the bottom now we here.”
  • The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck by Mark Manson. Simple yet effective and who doesn’t enjoy a bit of profanities to get a message across?

7) What is the number one thing you do to make sure you get the most out of your day?

I make sure I workout/train myself. I don’t train everyday but at the start of the week I like to set out how many training session I would like to achieve that week and make sure I set aside that time a few times a week for me. It is not only practice what you preach but something I absolutely LOVE!!

8) If you could read an interview about work-life balance by anyone, who would that be?

Beyoncé! I mean how does she do it?

9) Do you have any last thoughts on work, life or balance that you’d like to share with our readers?

What myself, your partner, the person sitting next to you may think is work life balance doesn’t have to be on par with what you consider it to be. We live in a society of multiculturalism, out of this world technology, and experiences that are just waiting for you to give them a go.

If you’d like to have a conversation with us about how you balance the grind, get in touch with us!

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About Author

Hey there! I'm Hao, the Editor-in-Chief at Balance the Grind. We’re on a mission to showcase healthy work-life balance through interesting stories from people all over the world, in different careers and lifestyles.