With four Olympic participations, two Olympic medals and multiple World Championships and Commonwealth Games medals to her name, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Melissa Wu is solely focused on diving.

In fact, the 30-year-old is also able to squeeze three more jobs in her day, including managing an activewear brand and running two businesses, a strength and weightlifting club she co-owns with her brother Joshua and the Australian Dive Academy she manages with fellow Olympian Kevin Chavez.

“I guess I’ve learnt to compartmentalise a bit!” said an understated Wu when we caught up to discuss her multiple careers.

As most athletes find it challenging to balance the requirements of a dual career, let alone handling three jobs outside of sport, one might wonder what Wu’s secret is to be able to juggle so many commitments at the same time. The insight she gives on her recipe for success is somehow disappointing in its simplicity.

“I think you have to be really organised,” offered Wu, before adding that her balancing act had a learning curve, and a steep one at that.

“At the beginning, when I was at training, I used to think about all the things I needed to do outside of that. Basically I would be wasting my time, stressing about things that were out of my control.

“So I had to learn to switch on and switch off from different things, which has helped me a lot with mindfulness. Now I try to practise that in my day-to-day life, being fully in the moment and making sure that whatever it is that I am doing, I am 100% committed and focused on it.

“That helped me heaps to be more productive outside of diving, but has also helped my performance in the pool,” she said.

It’s no wonder then that the Australian Institute of Sport invited her to be a panellist in one of the many activities organised during National Career Week - the annual event promoted by the Career Industry Council of Australia to support career development. Last Tuesday, May 17 Wu was one of the speakers at a special 60-minute online event which included other experienced Australian athletes such as James Matheson (Winter Olympian), Mitch Gourley (Winter Paralympian) and Hannah Buckling (Water Polo), called upon to share stories and advice around planning that next career step after sporting retirement.

“It's nice that this topic is being talked about a little bit more and that there is a lot more support in that area,” Wu said. “When I grew up as a young athlete diving, everything was focused around sport. I am glad there are more resources available to athletes now.”

“It’s important to start thinking about these things early,” continued Wu, offering her advice to young athletes who might be considering a dual career.

“You might not know exactly what it is that you want to do right now, but it’s important to start thinking about it because you can then make the most of the opportunities and experiences that arise along the way, and have options when you have to move on.”

Wu is a straight talker and reminds athletes that their athletic pursuit “has a shelf life”, and they might not get to retire on their own terms.

“It won’t last forever, so you’ve got to have a back-up plan,” she said. “To me that’s always been important. As you get older, and with injuries, you might not be able to keep going with your sport and [the decision] could be out of your hands.”

Wu will again rely on her trademark organisation skills and enlist the help of her support network to maintain an even keel during the busy competition periods ahead. Once again, her secret is as simple as it is effective.  

“I’ll be doing what I do at home and continue keeping that balance. When I am diving, I am diving, when I am not, then I’ll just do whatever else I am doing and keep that nice balance of work and sport,” she said.