Nomin Bayasgalan
Height: 5’8
Hometown: Ottawa, ON
Languages: English, Mongolian
Occupation: Policy Analyst, Actress, Model
Nomin was born in Mongolia and has lived in 5 different countries, including Canada, as a proud Canadian. She currently works as a Policy Analyst for the Government of Canada. She has assisted in preparing materials on behalf of the Minister of Health and Minister of Mental Health and Addictions. She is a member of ACTRA (Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists) as a professional actress and model. Her credits include a principal role in the feature film “Burn Your Maps” where she was the onscreen wife of actor Suraj Sharma (Life of Pi). She was featured on CTV Morning Live as a fashion model and has been a featured model for numerous clients including Giant Tiger, Brookfield Residential, and Costco Canada.
Her other accomplishments include a YTT200 yoga teaching certification, earning Top 5 in a natural bodybuilding fitness competition, completing a silent 10-day Vipassana meditation retreat and a Wim Hof ice bath workshop. She believes in constant self-improvement and likes to take challenges head on. For example, the silent Vipassana meditation is a way of self-transformation through self-observation and the Wim Hof ice bath method is a meditative approach to improving health and well-being. She dreams of participating in TV shows like “The Amazing Race” due to her huge passion for traveling. She has traveled to more than 20 countries, including Ecuador in South America where she did a study abroad and minored in Spanish as part of her Bachelor’s Degree in International Management from the University of Lethbridge. She also has a Financial Services Management Diploma from Douglas College, and has used this diploma for every day financial knowledge.
Nomin wants to represent Canada to the rest of the world as a country which respects and welcomes diversity. She has witnessed the positive effect the BIPOC movements have had for awareness to minority communities and wishes to continue to be a representative of Mongolian-Canadian heritage. Having lived in Canada for the past 18 years, her important life memories have formed here. She initially came to Canada as a visitor and worked her way up to becoming a citizen 11 years ago. She now has a great career and many passions that have helped her to build her foundation and settle. Canada made this possible for her and she wants to show the rest of the world the great opportunities that this country can provide.
What are your interests and what do you enjoy doing the most?
I have a wide range of interests but what makes me feel best is working on self-improvement, whether it be mentally, spiritually or physically. I love signing up for classes and workshops that range from dancing and meditating to plunging into ice cold baths (the Wim Hof method). I enjoy reading self-help books and listening to podcasts on the importance of mental health and about our life journey. I love staying active by doing yoga and weightlifting or being out in nature, especially sunbathing on a tropical beach. Aside from my full-time job, I also work as an actress and a model, so I love being on set and doing photoshoots or even taking acting classes to hone in on my skills. Traveling is also one of my biggest passions, I have been to over 20 countries but there are 175 more so I plan to keep going!
List any special training you have had (music, art, drama, dance, etc.)
I have my YTT200 yoga teaching certification and although I’m not a certified personal trainer, I have the basics in weight lift training and counting macros thanks to my natural bodybuilding fitness competition training. I have also been training (in acting) by taking acting classes for the past 7 years. Additionally, I have earned a Bronze Medallion from the Lifesaving Society for lifeguarding when I was a teenager.
In what sports, if any, have you participated?
During my high school years, I was on the school dance team and participated in all of the school pep rallies, as well as the annual school dance shows. I also received a silver medal at my school swim meet. As an adult, I trained for a natural bodybuilding fitness/bikini competition (NPAA-Natural Physique and Athletics Association) in Calgary, AB and earned a medal by placing in the Top 5.
Name one person, other than your parents, who has had the most influence on your life. Why?
I would say the Dalai Lama. Apart from teaching kindness and compassion wherever he goes, there is a quote that he said that has allowed me to live my life to the fullest and that is “Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before”. This simple quote has given me so much strength and passion to travel the world and to truly open my eyes by experiencing different cultures and familiarizing myself with them. I also like to apply this quote to things that I want to achieve, like this pageant for example, it pushes me to be brave and to just go for it, go for the unknown, and grow.
Fun fact: “Dalai” is actually a Mongolian word for “ocean” and “Lama” (or “lam” in Mongolian) is “monk”. So, the Dalai Lama essentially refers to a monk who has knowledge as vast as the ocean.
What is your proudest personal accomplishment (other than participating in this pageant)?
My most recent personal accomplishment would be the silent 10-day Vipassana meditation that I took part in last summer. For 10 days at a Vipassana meditation retreat, you are in complete isolation (with no phone, no talking, no reading, no writing, no exercising, no physical contact, etc.) all while meditating for 10 hours a day and eating vegetarian meals. The amount of mental strength, discipline and willpower that it took was almost on par with the 8-month grueling fitness training that I went through when I competed in the natural bodybuilding fitness competition 8 years prior. During the meditation, I had to sit through excruciating physical and mental pain. The reason for this pain is the amount of accumulated “bad energy” within one’s body. At the end of the 10-day meditation, I rarely had any physical pain left because it was about learning “mind over matter” and because I had gained more mental strength.
What is the most interesting or unique thing that has ever happened to you and/or what is the most interesting thing about you?
The most unique thing that has ever happened to me would have to be when I was cast in my first ever movie “Burn Your Maps” without any previous experience in the film industry and acting alongside well-known amazing actors such as Jacob Tremblay (“Room”), Vera Farmiga (“The Conjuring”), Suraj Sharma (“Life of Pi”), Marton Csokas (“Lord of the Rings”), Virginia Madsen (“The Number 23”), Jason Scott Lee (“Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story”), and Ramon Rodriguez (“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”). I filmed closely with all of the actors for almost a month and the character that I played “Enkhtuyaa” was the onscreen wife of Suraj Sharma’s character “Ismail”. To this day, I am friends with many of my castmates.
Through this feature film, I got enough credits to join ACTRA (Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists) on a full membership and am titled as a “Professional Actor” in Canada.
What is your career ambition and what are you doing or plan to do to accomplish that goal?
My current career ambition is to continue to grow as a policy analyst and move across different departments for a fulsome experience in the Government of Canada. One of the main requirements in working in the federal government is to be bilingual. To achieve this, I have been taking French classes for the past 2 and a half years and have almost passed all of the required exams. I hope to complete this goal within the next year. I also want to improve my Spanish. Learning these languages will help to assist me towards working for my dream department, Global Affairs Canada. I hope to work one day on Canada’s international policy files and diplomatic relations.
In the meantime, I continue to work in the Mental Health Directorate at Health Canada in supporting the mental health of Canadians. Mental health is an integral part of our health and I’m grateful to be a part of this work in making a difference in people’s lives. I take great pride in my work ethic and am determined to find solutions for whatever life throws at me. With this mindset I am certain I will accomplish my career goals!
What would be your “dream job” in life?
I believe I already have achieved my dream job(s). I have wanted to work in the government since I was a teenager and have always wanted to be in the entertainment industry. Currently my dream would be to continue to grow and reach as far as I can go with acting, modeling and within working in the government. Of course, adding the title of Miss Universe Canada 2024 to my dream job would also be a huge honor!
Describe where you were raised and what your childhood was like.
I was born and raised in the capital city (Ulaanbaatar) of Mongolia until the age of 10. As a child, I was quite studious and had participated in mathematics Olympiads and even earned a silver medal. From the ages of 10-16, I grew up in the U.S. and had a 4.0 GPA in middle school, and even received the US Presidential Award with George W. Bush’s signature. A lot of my time as a child actually involved studying and excelling in school. I’ve always thoroughly enjoyed learning and studying so I never saw it as a chore. I even ended up receiving a medal from my middle school for reading so many books, more than 300!
List any interesting or unusual jobs you may have had.
Through my acting and modeling gigs, I have been on numerous film sets and photoshoots all over Canada dressing up as different characters and have met with actors and models from all walks of life. Getting to know the cast and crew is always so interesting, I have learned so much about their craft just by conversing, taking direction, and exchanging knowledge which has helped me in mine.
However, the most unique job I’ve had was translating and inserting subtitles from Mongolian to English for a documentary advocating for the rights of children in horse racing in Mongolia. It took me 29 hours to translate a 2.5 hour documentary second by second!
List any volunteering you have done.
With the busy schedule that I have, I try to volunteer whenever I can. The most notable volunteer work that I have done was volunteering at the Boys and Girls Club of Ottawa by baking cupcakes for the kids and preparing their after-school meal. My next volunteer opportunity will be to teach yoga at the senior center next to my house and to volunteer as a server at the 10-day Vipassana meditation that I partook in last summer. Even if I’m unable to volunteer at a specific organization, I enjoy volunteering my time for friends/family/colleagues as much as I can with whatever knowledge that I have. For example, I held a mini nutrition session on how to count macros for 10 of my friends at my house to help them better understand the importance of healthy eating and healthy living.
What is your most unusual talent?
I’m not sure if it’s a “talent” per se but it’s definitely a bit unusual that I am good at remembering people’s birthdays, overall I have very excellent memory skills. I still remember the birthday of the boy who was my neighbor when I was 7 years old. I remember all of my best friends’ birthdays from when I was 10 years old and anyone who has told me their birthday or anyone’s birthday I have attended to this day. I can also list all of the flights that I have been on in order, with the dates (month and year).
Where is the most interesting place you have been to?
I have traveled to more than 20 countries and I would say that the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador really stands out. From the blue-footed booby birds to the marine (black) iguanas and 100+ year-old tortoises, the number of species and wildlife in the Galapagos is extremely remarkable! It’s definitely a place that one should visit once in their lifetime. Plus, island-hopping on a speed boat between the main 3 islands is definitely one for the books!
What do you hope to be doing in ten years?
In ten years, besides continuing on with my government career and acting/modeling career, I really hope to have reached more people to inspire them to go for their dreams. I’m very passionate about strengthening one’s mindset and focusing on mental health. I have done a number of things in my life that have pushed me and helped me to grow; from the bodybuilding competition to the 10-day silent meditation to now competing in a beauty pageant for the very first time.
Most of the time, people are often afraid to do things that they are actually capable of achieving. So I want to be able to help bring that inner strength out for as many people as I can. I truly believe that participating in the Miss Universe Canada 2024 pageant will give me a platform to reach more people and I want to make a difference in people’s lives, especially the younger generation who are feeling lost and trying to find their way in life. I want to make the path easier for them, guide them, and teach them what I’ve learned, what works and what doesn’t work. The purpose of life is to serve others, so I hope to help make a positive difference in their lives.
Is there anything you would like to add that we haven’t asked?
The reason why I’m participating in Miss Universe Canada 2024 is because as a society there is an immense amount of pressure directed at women to stay beautiful by being youthful. By Miss Universe Canada lifting the age restriction it reminds us that beauty can be at any age and has many different definitions. There are tons of beautiful women in their 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s who embody the true essence of a woman. So I’m very happy to see that every woman now gets a chance to be Miss Universe.
As a woman of color, it’s important for me to represent the BIPOC community through diversity and be a vision and a voice for women and girls looking for Asian and minority representation. Canada is a diverse country and “being Canadian” nowadays can mean people who look like me. If I could make an impact and change the life of one little girl or one woman who’s no longer in her 20s and feeling defeated by society’s standards of youth for a woman, that would mean the world to me. I would be both grateful and humbled to be given a platform to speak to all those women and girls to never give up on their dreams, no matter their age, race, and gender.
I have always wanted to compete in Miss Universe Canada but in my 20s, I was not able to afford it. To now have this opportunity come around again, it just feels incredible. Everyone has dreams that they would love to achieve in their lifetime and this has been one of mine. It truly feels like I have been given a second chance at making my lifelong dream come true!