My name is Malcom.
But you can also call me by my nickname, Mel.
I am a professional climbing + fitness coach residing in central Massachusetts.
My passion for climbing and fitness started when I joined my local youth climbing team at age 13. Since being introduced to both indoor and outdoor rock climbing from knowledgeable climbers, I became obsessed. I spent the remaining days of my youth training in dusty gyms for Bouldering and Sport Climbing National Championships or going to the crag to enjoy my passion of climbing in nature.
My climbing obsession didn’t stop on the rocks, however. It was during high school that I began coaching climbing, sharing my passion with anyone psyched to soak up the knowledge. I quickly realized how little I knew, which turned me to books, which only made me realize how much more I had to learn. I had the opportunity to study Exercise Science at Becker College, so I took it.
During college I competed as a female open athlete in multiple climbing and fitness disciples. I competed in bouldering competitions up to an international level, as well as crossfit and weightlifting competitions for CenterMass and Resilience.
In college I coached dozens of youth to the national stage in bouldering and sport climbing, with some competing internationally. I attended an internship at Cressey Sport Performance, whose members helped me fundraise so that I could compete on American Ninja Warrior in St. Louis that April.
In 2015 I had received by B.S. in Exercise Science and found myself coaching athletes in climbing and crossfit locations throughout central Massachusetts. Although my career seemed on track, something didn’t feel right. In fact I felt totally numb on the inside. It wasn’t until my last national competition identifying as Melissa did I look inward and realize that these feelings of insufficiency were directly correlated to my gender.
After graduating college I decided to make some big personal decisions. It was then that I made moves to dismantle my impossible expectations for myself. As I continued to coach the athletes who knew me well as Melissa, I was struggling with an internal battle of gender identity. It was in early 2016 that I publicly came out as transgender and changed my name to Malcom Mel. Ever since, I have been pursuing my own journey of FTM transition and transformation. I’m so happy to say that being Malcom makes me feel whole, along with all the friendship and support I have gained from the people who believe in me.
Now it’s 2024 and my coaching services have moved to this virtual platform, Godowski Training. I find myself 8+ years into my transition journey, 13+ years into my coaching career, and 18+ years into my climbing career. Through this time period I’ve coached hundreds of athletes of all shapes and sizes on their fitness and climbing journeys. My life has come full circle in many ways and yet I have only scratched the surface of what this world has to offer.
I look forward to sharing my knowledge with all of you, thanks for being here!
