Meet Brian Zuleger | Mental Performance Coach & Professor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Brian Zuleger and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Brian, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I am from Freedom, Wisconsin originally. It is a small dairy farm town in Northeast Wisconsin near Green Bay. Growing up in a small town with farming as the main industry impacted my work ethic and character. My Dad was the oldest of 7 kids and grew up on a farm. While I didn’t grow up on a farm that still impacted me. Growing up in a farming community and seeing and knowing the work that went into farming. Early mornings, late nights, weekends, holidays, they were always working. I still have many of the same values that I learned growing up in a small town, in particular the idea of doing quality work. This impacts who I am and how I approach the work I do now as a mental performance coach and business owner. I strive to provide a high quality service at an affordable price with honesty and integrity.

What should our readers know about your business?
I bring an educational approach to my business as a mental performance coach, coaching educator and speaker. The focus is on educating my clients and helping them to apply the skills. My background as a coach and professor allows me to bring a blend of the latest research with the best practices in application in the field. My coaching helps improve my teaching and research and my teaching and research help improve my coaching. I am most proud of the work I have been able to do in educating coaches and athletes over the years to help them improve their well-being and performance. I am most excited about expanding my business to working with performers outside of sport over the last few years. Working with business professionals, executives, leaders, medical professionals, etc. has expanded my ability to help more people across all performance domains. I started my business in 2012 when I was working on my Ph.D. I have intentionally built it out slowly over those years to allow for growth and development of the business. It hasn’t always been easy, one of the big challenges is that many people don’t know my services exist or how to access them. I have overcome that challenge by focusing a lot of my efforts on educating people about my profession, networking and referrals. I have learned a lot about running a part-time business, which is different from doing it full-time. The key is having patience to build in a way that is sustainable and maintains your. well-being so you can continue to deliver a high quality service to people. I want people to know that mental performance coaching is important for everyone. Many people think of it as something to work on only in times of challenge or in a reactive manner. Working on mental training is beneficial for everyone regardless of skill, ability, and success level and should be done proactively so that you have the skills and tools to rely on if and when you face challenges.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
In the city, I really enjoy spending time in the parks, specifically City Park, Cheesman Park and Wash Park. I would take them running and cycling in these parks and surrounding areas and include the various bike paths for longer rides. These activities would also be paired with coffee shop stops for espresso, breakfast burritos, chocolate chip cookies, donut holes (R&R) and dole whip (Sweet Sweetz Ice Cream & Desserts). Some of my favorites are Honey Hill Cafe, Cafe Miriam, Rivers and Roads and Whittier Cafe. Brunch at Syrup by City Park. If we need some down time, the Botanical Gardens is a good spot. Some favorite dinner spots are Vine St Pub (when it was open), Osaka Ramen, Grabowski’s Pizza, Famous J’s Pizza, Sushi Jett, Spicy Thai II, True Food Kitchen. The best places are on the edge of the city with access to Red Rocks for music, and the trails and roads in foothills for mountain biking, cycling and trail running.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I wouldn’t be where I am today without the help of many mentors along the way. Two in particular are my professors from my Master’s degree, Dr. Ralph Vernacchia, professor emeritus Western Washington University and my Doctoral degree, Dr. Rick McGuire, professor emeritus University of Missouri

Website: www.drzuleger.com

Instagram: @brianzuleger @areteperformance

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-zuleger/

Twitter: @CoachZou @AretePerform

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AretePerform

Image Credits
Nicole Bush (Personal photo green polo, mt background) Errol Anderson (Black polo, speaking photos)