Lesley Smyth is a therapist and the founder of Mindfit, where she works with athletes, teams, coaches, and parents to strengthen confidence, emotional regulation, and performance in sport.

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Her passion for sport led her to complete a Bachelor of Kinesiology with a focus in Sport Psychology, followed by a Bachelor of Education and a Master of Education in Counselling Psychology at Dalhousie University, Acadia University, and the University of New Brunswick.

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Through Mindfit, Lesley has worked with professional, competitive, and recreational athletes across many sports, supporting individuals competing at the Olympic level, Canada Games, national championships, university sport, and provincial and local competition.

 

Lesley’s own athletic background began at age five and developed into a high-performance swimming career. She ranked fifth in Canada in her primary event, won a bronze medal at Canadian Youth Nationals, competed at the Canadian Olympic Trials, and held multiple provincial records for nearly 30 years. In recognition of her athletic achievements, she was inducted into Riverview’s Sports Wall of Fame in 2024.

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At Dalhousie University she was named Rookie of the Year on the varsity swim team and Rookie of the Year for the Atlantic Universities Athletic Association, later becoming an AUAA All-Star and a finalist at the Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union Championships in three events. Following her swimming career, she competed in triathlons and completed the New York City Marathon in 2004, and she continues to remain active in sport recreationally.

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Prior to becoming a full-time therapist, Lesley taught in the public school system for approximately ten years. She later founded the Atlantic Wellness Community Centre, a charitable organization providing individual and family therapy in southeastern New Brunswick, where she served as Executive Director and therapist for five years before launching Mindfit.

 

As a coach, Lesley holds National Coaching Certification Program Level 1 and 2 certifications and has coached middle school and high school teams as well as assisting with a competitive swim club. She has also studied leadership and team building, philosophy and principles of coaching, social psychology of physical activity, the Canadian sport system, health education, and educational psychology.

Lesley is a keynote speaker at business, sport, and wellness events promoting positive mental health and resilience, volunteers in community programs, and was awarded the YMCA Peace Medallion in 2014.

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Athletics are also part of her family history: her grandfather, Harry Smyth, represented New Brunswick in speed skating at the 1932 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, and her father, Ron Smyth, attended the Toronto Maple Leafs training camp at age sixteen and later played hockey at Dalhousie University.