Marie Joaquin |Powerlifter | Physiotherapist | Athlete
Marie’s journey into sport began with being told she was “too small” to succeed. Coaches, teammates, even strangers underestimated her, and those early doubts became fuel for resilience. She learned to work harder, to stay disciplined, and to carry a competitive drive that would later anchor her in powerlifting. A sport that became a big part of her. A sport where her stature became an advantage more than a limitation.
But to know Marie better, let’s take a look when the singlet comes off. Marie’s role is towards human care; she has a Master’s in Physiotherapy and is currently a clinical practitioner. During our talk, she shared how lucky she was to know early in her life that physiotherapy is something that she really wanted to do, which then enabled her to help herself and others.
How does your background in physiotherapy shape your approach to recovery, injury, and longevity in the sport?
“My background in physiotherapy has definitely played a positive role in my approach to recovery, injury, and longevity in the sport. It has helped me troubleshoot and manage my own aches and pains but has also allowed me to help others in the sport.”
She also added the difference in how she treats her patients in comparison to her athletes when she’s coaching and as her experience in both lifting and practice increases the knowledge with human interaction and performance follows.
“As a physiotherapist, I try to meet people where they’re at. Physio school taught me the basic things in terms of fixing clients; at the end of the day, you still work with people directly, your knowledge might be the best in the world but if your personality does not match your clients, it becomes difficult. If I learned that earlier, it would have been better, but I try to adapt every day.”
“As a coach I am more rigid, these clients came to me, a patient on the other hand was referred to me. I try to be more goal oriented with my athletes, to help them get better at something they chose to do.”
The unique thing about her is that, unlike many professional athletes who can afford to dedicate themselves entirely to sport, she had to maintain her professional identity and career endeavors alongside her training. While others might step fully into the role of “athlete” and let that define them, she balanced two demanding worlds.
Competition, Breaking records and Mindset
“Chasing numbers was easy to do, because at the end of the day it was all a numbers game in this sport.”
Marie’s powerlifting accomplishments tower over her stature and 50kg frame.
Here are a few of her recent achievements in the sport.
Canada Powerlifting Open Classic National Championship
2025 – 52kg – Gold
2024 – 52kg – Silver
2023 – 52kg – Gold
2022 – 52kg – Silver
National deadlift record in February of 2025
Represented Canada in the 52kg class
CPU All Time Women’s Open Classic Powerlifting Rankings: 6th Nationally
I couldn’t help but ask, “You think the little Marie would be proud if she saw you and learned about your accomplishments today?”
She simply smiled and said, “Yes, definitely”
Looks down and looks at the paper I was holding.
Nods, about three times, “Yes, absolutely”, she added.
Her silence after was enough for me to know. In that quiet pause, I realized her victories weren’t just about numbers or medals. They were about proving herself that strength is not measured only in kilos lifted, but in the courage to carry both a professional identity and an athletic dream even with compromise.
This is but a glimpse of Marie’s real accomplishments in the powerlifting scene. She often credits her success not only to the numbers she’s put up, but to the way her mindset and attitude have evolved with experience.
She doesn’t shy away from setbacks, mistakes, or failure; she embraces them, using them as tools for improvement.
“I sometimes go into things with big expectations; both in powerlifting and my personal life. I’m very goal oriented so I usually like to aim for specific numbers, but in the past I think this played a negative role in my performance because I put way too much pressure on myself and ended up being disappointed when I didn’t hit the numbers I had planned for myself. Although it’s good to have goals or to have certain expectations of yourself and other people, I’ve learned to go into situations with less expectations. Something I remind myself of is to “take what’s there on the day”.
The Invisible Season
A big chunk of Marie’s success in life comes from what she calls the unseen sacrifices; I call it the Invisible Season . Top athletes, spend months, even years, training and preparing, all for a brief moment on stage. Countless hours of discipline are poured into just a few minutes under the lights. In Marie’s case, three lifts, three movements, hundreds if not, thousand pounds of heavy metal.
Beyond the medals and broken records, Marie attributes much of her success to sacrifice and self-management.
“Something I think people overlook when they see my success. It’s all the work behind the scenes that has gotten me there. It goes outside of the gym and training. I have to balance my work, social, and training life, but I would say during prep, my training life does take precedence. Sometimes this requires sacrifice in my social life where I’ll have to pass up on activities with friends and prioritize my training schedule or diet.”
As we spoke, I could make out, what little I could notice from where I sat, her eyes, somewhat misty.
She looks away for a second, pauses, then brings back her gaze towards me.
Maybe it’s the sacrifices no one sees; the work behind the curtain is what makes chasing big goals feel so heavy.
What’s a personal reminder that helps you push forward?
Her voice excitedly said,
“What a privilege it is to be tired in the pursuit of a challenge of your own choosing.”
What a meaningful way to see things.
Thoughts ran through my head, and I sat with it for a moment. I took sips of water, as did she, with her Cortado it seems.
When we aim high, stress, anxiety, pain and worry obligingly invites themselves for the ride, but because we chose to look up and challenge ourselves, we can’t complain. We can cry about it, we can stop for a while, but we have to get back at it, go after it even, no matter how hard, no matter how painful.
She then added,
“It’s a good reminder to myself why I choose to do the things I do, mostly powerlifting, and my work as a physio. Sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in the hard and stressful moments, but this reminds me that no one is forcing me to do this.”
Marie knew that about herself, and as we spoke, I could see the mist in her eyes, slowly vanish, because up until now the Invisible Season hadn’t failed her.
Cultivation
Marie did not rush into competition. She waited nearly five years before stepping onto the platform, choosing first to find joy in the process itself. Only later did she translate that joy into performance. She never tried to chase anyone. She simply competed on her own terms.
This patience is not unique to her. Jay‑Z didn’t release his first album until 25, when others were dropping records at 18. Robert Greene had 60 different jobs before becoming an author; some writers spend years finishing a single book. Sushi masters prepare ten thousand nigiris before they’re trusted to move on to the next nigiri dish.
The common thread is cultivation. Tireless practice. Repetition. The slow shaping of craft until it becomes second nature, Malcolm Gladwell coined it the 10,000 hrs. To become truly good, to become legendary, this shit requires more than talent. It requires time, patience, and willingness to embrace the invisible seasons.
Lessons From Marie
I got to know Marie a little better, and it wasn’t until later, maybe days after our talk, that I began piecing together the lessons from her journey.
Here are my takeaways.
The Unseen effort is the driving force behind her Visible success.
What the world sees on the competition platform, the flawless lifts, the medals, the records, are only the tip of the iceberg. Beneath it lies countless hours of repetition, recovery, and quiet discipline. Marie reminds us that greatness is not built in the spotlight but in the invisible season, where effort compounds silently until it finally reveals itself in moments of triumph. Simple but hard to do.
Cultivation is the foundation of her strength and confidence.
She waited years before stepping into competition, choosing instead to refine her craft, build resilience, and find joy in the process. Cultivation is not glamorous; it is patience, repetition, and the willingness to grow slowly. It’s sometimes ugly and filled with compromises. But by doing this we learn a lot about ourselves; we learn how to manage, how to rest and learn when to push through. For Marie, this deliberate pace became the bedrock of her confidence in turn developing strength.
There is no perfect movement.
What’s good for one person might not be for the other. Marie delivered a good double entendre if you will, in physio or even in simple warmups. Every person has different needs, pains and to go even further, paths. If you follow her path to success, you might not end up becoming like her. Each of us has different offerings to the world. Accept your flaws, be willing to make mistakes, and have the courage to learn from them.
Hoping for the best but expecting nothing.
This mindset keeps her grounded. She trains with optimism but competes with detachment, knowing that outcomes are never guaranteed. By releasing expectation, she frees herself to perform with clarity.
“Something I always remind myself is; to take what’s there on the day”
It’s a philosophy that extends beyond sport. Prepare fully, execute, hope deeply, and accept whatever comes.
What’s meant for you will always be.
Marie believes that opportunities aligned with your path will eventually find you, even if they take time. This perspective allows her to trust the process, to let go of comparison, and to focus on her own journey. It’s a reminder that success is not stolen or rushed, it arrives when you are ready to receive it.
“If you want to go far, go together.” Is a saying she threw at me, during our conversation. I then repurposed it, and used it as the anthem for this interview series. By opening my doors to other people and inviting them through conversation, I aim to go far as I learn from them.
Powerlifting may look like an individual sport, but Marie’s journey has been shaped by coaches, teammates, and peers. Collaboration and support are what sustains the long game. Her strengths have been amplified by the relationships and connections she’d made throughout her journey, and hopefully, that includes me.
XERGIUS 