Social Impact Heroes: Why & How Kal Maadi and Coach Lucas of MSM Academy Is Helping To Change Our…

Social Impact Heroes: Why & How Kal Maadi and Coach Lucas of MSM Academy Is Helping To Change Our World

Kal Maadi: The importance of building a strong team: I wish someone told me that building a strong team of professionals and volunteers would be crucial to the success of our organization. I remember early on, we had a few key people who were doing the majority of the work, and it was becoming overwhelming for them and me. As a result, we weren’t able to expand our programs and services as quickly as we wanted. Once we were able to build a strong team, we were able to achieve so much more, and it made a huge impact on the athletes we were helping.

As part of my series about “individuals and organizations making an important social impact”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Kal Maadi and Coach Lucas.

MSM Performance Academy, founded by Lucas Zeiler, and led by CEO Kal Maadi helps families guide their children to reach College and Professional levels in the best way possible; teaching them the fundamentals to maintain sound minds and bodies, while performing optimally, both physically and mentally. The goal for MSM is to offer mental and physical performance training and empower youth athletes, student-athletes and professional athletes to become leaders of themselves. Through The MSM Foundation, the academy teaches players how to reach optimal levels of mental and physical performance. For more information, please visit https://www.themsmfoundation.org/

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path and point in your life?

Kal Maadi: Growing up, I was always adamant about playing sports, although I did not have the opportunity to do so until high-school. My mother passed away when I was eight years old, and with my father raising four kids on his own, sports were the last thing on his mind. To be honest, I wanted to play sports for all of the reasons outside of the sport itself. I wanted to know what it felt like to be a part of a team and work collectively towards a common goal. I wanted to know what it felt like to live an experience similar to the real world as an adult. When I finally got the opportunity, I went all in and was a three-sport athlete throughout my high school career (Football, Wrestling, and Volleyball). In my Junior year of high school, I cracked my right kneecap and had to get surgery to repair it, holding it together with three screws. I graduated high school after my Junior year, so that ended my career in organized sports. Nonetheless, I knew that I wanted to be a part of what sports can teach outside of the game. Sport teaches us development. It helps us learn things such as resilience, leadership, accountability, respect, and patience. Lessons that sports teach us can help us develop as players and all-around good people too.

2 Years later, when I was a junior in college, I came across MSM Performance Academy. This was in 2019, and even at that time, “Mental Health” was a lot less accepted by society than it is today. When we said “Mental Training,” it was common that the response was, “what is that?”

However, that was changing in society, and MSM’s plan was to be at the forefront of that change. I started knocking on the door and didn’t stop for three months straight. Eventually, I was offered a position as a Family Consultant or, in other words, a Sales Rep for MSM Performance Academy. I immediately fell in love with the mission and purpose of the organization, but it was not until eight months into working with MSM that I found my “Why?”

As the family consultant, my job was to conduct meetings with any families who were looking to apply to join the MSM program. I had to listen and gain a full understanding of exactly what they were going through and what was holding them back in order to decide if it was something that we could actually help with. If so, I would explain the program and get them started.

Most commonly, these players were dealing with fear, anxiety, a lack of confidence, a lack of joy, and a lot of times, overthinking. This was just a regular day’s work, as I was preparing for a consultation with the family of a 13-year-old boy. Both parents and the player join these meetings. Little did I know that this meeting was the beginning of an opportunity to fill what felt like my highest purpose in life. I dove into a deep 3-hour conversation with this family, and 13-year-old boy, but what he was dealing with was something that I had never even thought in the slightest fashion would be possible at 13 years old. He was suicidal, and the family has tried everything from psychologists to counselors to therapists and could not yet find a solution to this nightmare for a parent. That’s when they found MSM.

You see, MSM is not a medically licensed organization, but I strongly felt like we had the tools to help them get the results that they were looking for. I couldn’t tell them yes right away, but I scheduled a meeting with the entire team, and we then decided to take on this challenge. This is from the mouth of his father….. “My son has had his life transformed in the deepest way. Having experienced deep psychological and emotional trauma due to ongoing bullying and harassment by a coach, it got to a point where he gave up on his dream of playing professional soccer, thinking his entire future would involve this type of ongoing treatment from coaches. Even more significantly, one night before going to bed, he expressed that he no longer wanted to live — which was incredibly heart-breaking, traumatic, and infuriating for my wife and me to hear from our child. And this came about from something as simple as a boy playing what is known as the beautiful game and chasing his dream. It instead turned into something so grave akin to running from a nightmare.

When I saw a digital ad from MSM, it was a unique ray of hope and an answer to prayer that spoke directly to our experience. I talked with Coach Kal and signed him up. They were unusually kind coaches with a load of wisdom and tools which my son continues to use. He is now back to chasing his goal to play collegiately and professionally and has tools and support to deal with the trauma, some completely overcome and some still working on. He’s so much more mentally healthy and excited about his life and future. His happiness is back, and I thank god for MSM.”

As soon as I got that email from his father what was my job became my responsibility and my purpose in life. Nothing was going to stop me from climbing my way up and becoming the leader of this organization so that I could take it where I felt it deserved to be taken. In less than four years, I became the CEO of MSM Performance Academy, and we have now worked with close to 3,000 athletes worldwide.

Coach Lucas: I grew up in Chicago, loved the game, love soccer, grew up on the south side of Chicago, south suburbs, and really fell in love with the game throughout my youth career. I was really small kid, and so it wasn’t until I was about 19–20 years old where I really started to develop physically. So throughout my youth career I was doubted by a lot of coaches, often overlooked. I wasn’t as fast, or as strong, or as big as a lot of players that were my age.You know, if you look at my freshman high school photo, my Jersey looked more like a dress than a Jersey. It was quite embarrassing.

And so by the time I was 23–24 years old, I was playing with some of the best players in the country; National Champions, Pro Players, MLS Champions, etc.

And so I went from a player that was often doubted & overlooked by a lot of coaches — that was told I’d never play at a high level or play in college. I was rejected from a lot of coaches. I was cut from teams, you know, the whole thing.

Through that journey, it really forced me to develop my mental strength; to grow and develop and commit to my craft. I had to double down on my own self belief — because that’s all I really had.

And again, it wasn’t until my 20’s where I really blossomed.

After my playing career I started coaching at St. Xavier University in Chicago for a few years, and during this time it became blatantly evident that many skillful & talented players were getting to the college level, but failing because they could not keep up with the mental demands of the game at that level.

And I’m thinking, wait a minute, these are top prospects. These are top players in the state.

These are good players, talented players, but they’re getting to this whole different environment, a demanding environment, a college where there’s high pressure.

And whether it’s the College or Pro Level — this is where the mental strength is absolutely necessary and really differentiates players from each other.

You know, at this level, everybody is technically skilled. Everybody is strong. Everybody is fast, but it’s the mental side of the game that really differentiates players.

If you talk to other college coaches, or professional scouts — they look for players that are mentally tough, that are leaders, and that can handle the type of pressure that exists at these levels.

So, it was through my playing experience and my coaching experience that I slowly started to be called to this “mental part of the game”. And I knew personally it was something that was significant — It was something that was necessary for my own success in my career.

And so my curiosity grew — I started my own training academy in Chicago and at the same time I started coaching the Youth Teams at Chicago Fire.

While I knew the Mental Game was important, I saw first-hand that even at some of the most respected youth clubs in the country — they were not teaching players how to prepare mentally to play at a high level. They were not providing any tools, no strategies, they weren’t even talking about it in Coaches Meetings.

I saw the void.

I began learning everything I could about the Mental Part of the game. I read 100s of books, audiobooks, podcasts, documentaries etc. I studied everything from Psychology, Sports Psychology, Child Development, Parenting, etc. I received my certification in Life Coaching, and I started incorporating what I learned into my training sessions.

The players started getting incredible results and they were attributing their success to the mental lessons and tools that I was providing.

I continued to lean into this more and more and soon enough I had over 900 players from 13 different countries who wanted help in this area and who were finding great success with my strategies…

…So, anyhow, I moved from Chicago to Naples, Florida.

I have my wife, who’s from Mexico City — she also grew up in Chicago.

We have two kids. A three year old daughter, her name is Ximena. We have a two year old son, his name is Luka.

We really enjoy the weather here, being outside, going for walks, going to the beach.

We are really grateful and blessed to enjoy life the way that we’re enjoying it.

My whole life is focused on my family and providing guidance for players to help them play at the top level.

And so currently I work with professional players. I work with college players, and I work with academy players from all over the world.

As you can imagine, starting this service from scratch and now having 900 players form 13 countries — and helping players achieve the Pro Level, Youth National Team Level, College Levels, etc. it’s just so rewarding and humbling and goes to show how powerful the mind really is.

I was able to bring on some really talented team members. We have Coach Kal, Kal Maadi, who’s my right hand man, my Co-CEO, who’s one of the most passionate and dedicated individuals I’ve ever met.

So together as a team, we are able to provide these players with the right tools, the right strategies to be able to play professionally and at the National Level.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company or organization?

In the story above I mentioned my way came from the 13 year old boy and his family; specifically his father. That was about 2 years ago. A month ago, I started a Non-Profit Foundation; The MSM Foundation.
I was then able to Hire his father to join our team as our foundations director!

It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Kal Maadi:

This may not be that funny and was more recent then when I first started but the first thing I can think of…..

The project that I created as an initiative under The MSM Foundation is coined; The Jordan Year Challenge. In the initial stages of creating The Jordan Year Challenge my goal was to put something together to honor the lives of the athletes who had committed suicide.

I was preparing for a meeting with the director of a foundation one of the athletes families had built in their name. My goal was to learn more about how I can honor this athlete in specific, have them support our movement, and offer to donate proceeds to their foundation.

I was really excited. I had spent weeks preparing for the meeting and felt confident that they were going to appreciate the project.

The day of the meeting arrived and I got a haircut, wore my best outfit and joined the room. I, then, went to open up the presentation I had spent hours preparing to illustrate the “ins and outs” of the entire initiative and why I had requested to meet with them in the first place.

To this day I have no idea what happened but my whole presentation was gone and there was no way for me to recover it.

I was mortified, but I didn’t want to let them know that I had made such a rookie mistake. So, I improvised. I pulled out a white board and began drawing out the slides I had planned to use. I explained my drawings as best as I could, and to my surprise, they loved it! They ended up joining our movement, and I learned a valuable lesson about the importance of being able to think on your feet.

I learned that sometimes, the best laid plans can go awry, and you have to be able to adapt and improvise in order to be successful. And even when things don’t go as planned, it’s important to keep a sense of humor and not take yourself too seriously.

Can you describe how you or your organization is making a significant social impact?

Kal Maadi:

We Discovered a Problem:

For the past 4 years MSM Performance Academy has successfully helped over 2000+ athletes from all over the world establish a stronger mindset and accomplish their goals. However, it was not until October of 2022 that the leaders of our organization, Lucas Zeiler and Kal Maadi realized that what we have done… what we were doing was not enough.

Katie Meyer

Arlana Miller

Morgan Rodgers

Tyler Hillinski

Sarah Shulze

Jayden Hill

Robert Martin

Lauren Bernett

These are the names of young prestigious collegiate athletes, who have all taken their own lives in the past few years due to mental health.

We found that suicide was the second leading cause of death amongst collegiate athletes.

We found that there are 45 Million players playing Youth Sports in the US, and 80% of them will quit by the age of 15.

70% of them will quit by the age of 13.

We found that we were in the midst of a mental health crisis.

We Developed a Solution:

Immediately we went to the drawing board and vowed to create a mass movement to battle against these statistics and change the landscape of youth sports.

Along with teaming up with the Leading Experts in Sport and Mental Health, we decided to take the frameworks from our premium program at MSM Performance Academy; which has successfully changed the lives of 2000+ Athletes for the better, and make it accessible to the masses through the forming of The MSM Foundation.

The Jordan Year Challenge:

The Jordan Year Challenge is designed to transform the lives of parents, players, and coaches.

The initiative involves bringing together the leading experts in sport and in mental health for a virtual summit in which they will be sharing their expertise to all of those involved. In addition, players, parents, and coaches will be able to follow a structured curriculum throughout the week that will provide them with the tools & strategies to become the best possible version of themselves.

Can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted or helped by your cause?

Kal Maadi:

This was in the beginning stages of MSM and I was working as a Family Consultant. As the family consultant, my job was to conduct meetings with any families who were looking to apply to join the MSM program. I had to listen and gain a full understanding of exactly what they were going through and what was holding them back in order to decide if it was something that we could actually help with. If so, I would explain the program and get them started.

Most commonly, these players were dealing with fear, anxiety, a lack of confidence, a lack of joy, and, a lot of times, overthinking. This was just a regular day’s work, and I was preparing for a family consultation with the family of a 13-year-old boy. Both parents and the player join these meetings. Little did I know that this meeting was the beginning of an opportunity to fill what felt like my highest purpose in life. I dove into a deep 3-hour conversation with this family, and this 13-year-old boy and what he was dealing with was something that I had never even thought in the slightest fashion would be possible at 13 years old. He was suicidal, and the family has tried everything from psychologists to counselors to therapists and could not yet find a solution to this nightmare for a parent. That’s when they found MSM. You see, MSM is not a medically licensed organization, but I strongly felt like we had the tools to help them get the results that they were looking for. I couldn’t tell them yes right away, but I scheduled a meeting with the entire team, and we then decided to take on this challenge. This is from the mouth of his father….. “My son has had his life transformed in the deepest way. Having experienced deep psychological and emotional trauma due to ongoing bullying and harassment by a coach, it got to a point where he gave up on his dream of playing professional soccer, thinking his entire future would involve this type of ongoing treatment from coaches. Even more significantly, one night before going to bed, he expressed that he no longer wanted to live — which was incredibly heart-breaking, traumatic, and infuriating for my wife and me to hear from our child. And this came about from something as simple as a boy playing what is known as the beautiful game and chasing his dream. It instead turned into something so grave akin to running from a nightmare.

Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do to help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?

Kal Maadi:

Reduce the stigma surrounding mental health conditions and encourage individuals to seek help when needed. One of the biggest barriers to getting help for mental health conditions is the fear of being judged or stigmatized. We need to create a society where it’s okay to talk about mental health, where people feel comfortable seeking help, and where they are met with understanding and compassion. This can be achieved through public education campaigns, by training employers and healthcare providers to recognize and respond appropriately to mental health issues, and by having open and honest conversations about mental health with our family and friends. public education campaigns and by training employers and healthcare providers to recognize and respond appropriately to mental health issues.
Implement education and awareness programs for college students about mental health and wellness. This includes providing education on common mental health conditions, as well as providing information on how to access mental health services and resources.
Encourage a culture of openness and support on college campuses. This includes training faculty and staff to recognize and respond appropriately to students in distress, as well as encouraging students to seek help when they need it and creating safe spaces for students to talk openly about mental health.

Are you working on any new or exciting projects now? How do you think this might help people?

Kal Maadi:

The Jordan Year Challenge!! You can learn more about the initiative at www.themsmfoundation.org/

What you are doing is not easy. What inspires you to keep moving forward?

Kal Maadi:

When I was young my mother would always tell me that I was a Man of the People. Although I never knew what she meant back then, she certainly was not lying. People like me… if you’re not helping others, it’s a sad and futile life; it’s no fun. The greatest thing in the world is to give your gift away. Find out what your unique talent or gift is, develop it to the fullest… because people don’t pay for average, and then give your gift away every single day, and that’s the only way you’ll be happy. If there’s a day you don’t give your gift away that’s a wasted day. You have to give it away every day.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? Please share a story or example for each.

Kal Maadi:

The importance of building a strong team: I wish someone told me that building a strong team of professionals and volunteers would be crucial to the success of our organization. I remember early on, we had a few key people who were doing the majority of the work, and it was becoming overwhelming for them and me. As a result, we weren’t able to expand our programs and services as quickly as we wanted. Once we were able to build a strong team, we were able to achieve so much more, and it made a huge impact on the athletes we were helping.

The importance of listening to the athletes themselves: I wish someone told me that one of the most important things I could do as CEO of a mental health organization for athletes would be to actively listen to the athletes and their parents themselves. I remember, we were creating programs and services based on what we thought the athletes and their parents needed, without really consulting with them. Once we started actively listening to the athletes and their parents and incorporating their feedback, we were able to create programs that truly met their needs and made a greater impact on their mental health and well-being. For instance, we had an athlete who shared that he was embarrassed about the fact that he needed help with his mindset. This realization helped me discuss the concept of mental health in a way that normalized it enough for the athletes to work together and support one another. You see, the reason they were embarrassed is because they thought they were alone. I created a community to show them that there were other players all over the world that have dealt with or are dealing with the exact same challenges that they were and it was extremely successful.

The importance of self-care: In the beginning, I was so focused on helping others that I didn’t make time for myself. This led to burnout and I was not able to perform at my best. Once I made self-care a priority, I was able to perform better and lead more effectively.

The need to be adaptable: I wish someone told me that as CEO of a mental health organization, being adaptable would be key. Before, we had a set plan and didn’t anticipate the need to change it. However, as we began working with athletes, we realized that our approach needed to be adjusted. Once we were able to be adaptable, we were able to create programs that truly met the needs of the athletes we were helping.

The need for fundraising: I didn’t realize how much funding we would need and how much time we would need to spend on fundraising. Once I understood the importance of fundraising, we were able to begin working on securing the funding we needed to make a bigger impact.

Overall, I learned that building a strong team, listening to the athletes and their parents, taking care of myself, being adaptable, and fundraising are all important aspects of running a mental health organization. By understanding these things earlier, I would have been better prepared to lead our organization and make a greater impact on the athletes we serve.

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

The Jordan Year Challenge.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Kal Maadi:

“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” -Nelson Mandela

This quote has been incredibly powerful and relevant to me throughout my life, as I have faced many challenges and setbacks. It reminds me that failure is not the opposite of success, but a natural and necessary part of the journey towards it. It reminds me that it’s not about never falling, but about having the strength, courage, and determination to get back up and keep going, no matter how many times I fall.

I remember a time when I was working on a big project and I was certain that it was going to be a success. However, things didn’t go as planned and I failed. I was devastated, I felt like giving up, and I thought I was not good enough. This failure hit me hard, and I had a hard time to see the light at the end of the tunnel. But, then I remembered this quote and it gave me the strength and the hope I needed to pick myself up and try again. I learned from my mistakes and I put more effort and dedication into the project. Eventually, I succeeded and the project was a huge success. It was a valuable lesson for me, it helped me to understand that failure is not final, and it’s important to keep pushing through difficult times.

This quote has helped me to develop a more resilient mindset, to be more persistent and to not give up even when things are not going well. It has also encouraged me to learn from my mistakes, to grow stronger from them and to become a better version of myself. It has been a guiding principle in my life and I continue to remind myself of it whenever I face difficult situations. It has helped me to rise every time I fall, and for that I am forever grateful.

Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂

Kal Maadi:

If there was one person in the world that I could have lunch with, I would choose Jordan Peterson. He is a clinical psychologist, cultural critic, and professor of psychology at the University of Toronto. He is known for his self-help and self-improvement books, and his lectures and videos on topics such as personal responsibility, the meaning of life, and the nature of good and evil.

I would choose to have lunch with Jordan Peterson because of his deep understanding of human nature and his ability to communicate complex ideas in a clear and accessible way. His work has had a profound impact on my life, and I am in awe of his insights on psychology, philosophy, and the human condition.

I would also love to have the opportunity to discuss with him his perspective on the importance of taking personal responsibility, the power of self-improvement and how to live a meaningful life. His approach to self-help and self-improvement is unique and it has helped me to understand the importance of personal responsibility and the power of small and incremental changes in order to achieve personal growth.

Furthermore, I would be fascinated to hear his perspective on current events and the cultural and political issues of the day. He has a unique ability to provide insightful and thought-provoking commentary on a wide range of topics, and I would be honored to have the opportunity to engage in a lively and enlightening conversation with him.

In short, I would choose to have lunch with Jordan Peterson because of his deep understanding of human nature, his ability to communicate complex ideas in a clear and accessible way, and the profound impact his work has had on my life. It would be an honor to have the opportunity to discuss these important topics with such a brilliant mind and a person who has inspired me so much.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

https://www.themsmfoundation.org/our-story

This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success on your great work!

Social Impact Heroes: Why & How Kal Maadi and Coach Lucas of MSM Academy Is Helping To Change Our… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.