My nickname in roller skating was Chunky.
I was 12 years old with a voracious appetite and teammates who thought it was hilarious. Chunky. The kid who could eat anything. I pretended not to hear it. Pretended it didn't bother me. But it did. Every single time.
Two months into the Lake Placid Junior Olympic Training Program, they scheduled a body composition test. Skin fold calipers. Standard assessment. Everyone had to take their shirts off and get measured. The results would be POSTed for the whole team to see.
I wasn't worried. I was keeping up with these guys in training. Beating some of them. How bad could it be?
I had the highest body fat percentage of all the men.
Not by a little. By a lot.
I remember taking my shirt off and seeing some of the other athletes looking at me. Holy shit, what the hell is this kid doing here? Everyone had been busting their ass in the offseason. And here I was—spare tires around my waist, completely unprepared, with numbers that proved it.
I stood there staring at my name on that sheet while my teammates filtered past. Chunky wasn't just a nickname anymore. It was scientific fact. POSTed on a wall for everyone to see.
I didn't sleep that night.
This is what I call "The Exposure Principle"—and it's one of the most powerful concepts I explore in corporate workshops on transformation. Sometimes we need to see what we actually are—stripped naked and public before we can become what we're capable of. The illusions have to die before the real work can begin.
I've worked with executives who experienced their own versions of this moment. The board meeting where their numbers were exposed. The 360 review that revealed what everyone really thought. The market feedback that shattered their assumptions. These moments are brutal. They're also often the turning points.
Here's where the story is supposed to get inspirational Speaker. A coach pulled me aside with wisdom. I had some profound insight.
None of that happened.
What happened was simpler and darker: I was so ashamed I couldn't stand it.
That shame became the spark.
Im keynote speaker on resilience and transformation, I share the uncomfortable truth: We like to believe change comes from positive motivation. From inspiration. From vision boards and affirmations.
In my experience, change usually comes from not being able to live with what we've seen about ourselves.
When I advise leaders through transformation, I don't shy away from this reality. Sometimes the kindest thing is the clearest mirror. Not to shame—but to show. Because most people can change. They just haven't seen themselves clearly enough yet.
Years later, I showed up to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics with ultra-low body fat. 142 pounds. My coaches said that weight wasn't sustainable. But I knew exactly what I was chasing.
Chunky became an 8-time Olympic medalist.
But I had to see that number on the sheet first. I had to feel a shame so deep it rewired everything.
That's how we turn pain into progress.
About Apolo Ohno: Apolo Ohno is a sought-after keynote speaker and leadership advisor known for translating elite performance principles into practical leadership behaviors. His work focuses on authentic leadership, executive presence, and the Gold Medal Mindset - helping executives and teams perform with clarity under pressure, communicate with conviction, and lead with credibility when the stakes are high. In his keynotes and workshops, Apolo helps leaders identify the unseen patterns, narratives, and habits that quietly limit performance, then replace them with a repeatable system for focus, resilience, and decisive action.