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67 - Janelle Smiley Faced Her Fears & Came To Life

Meet Janelle Smiley one of the most prolific climbers, skiers and mountaineers of our era. As a multiple National and North American Ski Mountaineering Champion, first descender of epic proportions and first ascender of even more epic-ness, Janelle is a surprisingly low-key and insightful person. You'd think someone like her lives precariously on the edge of the next big crevasse, wondering how the hell she'll get up or down, driven only by the thrill of the ride. But Janelle is a different breed. She's a mountain girl who derives her energy from the sheer proportion of majesty around her. She's also a deep thinker who, in striving to live her most extraordinary life, has found that helping others achieve THEIR most extraordinary lives is ultimately more satisfying!

66 - Nellie Acevedo Quit Her High-Powered Job to Pursue Happiness

Meet Nellie Acevedo. I discovered Nellie because she is a Skirt Sports ambassador and I’ve always been drawn to her energy and ability to connect to women on a very real level. Nellie is a New Yorker with Jamaican roots who climbed the ladder in the financial world to find herself in a position where she had a great job and made great money. But she just wasn’t happy. Today she is a full time entrepreneur and blogger at Brooklyn Active Mama with 2 young kids and a long-time husband she met in middle school! While she makes a lot less money, she is a whole lot happier.
I think you’ll find Nellie’s outlook refreshing. She is a deep thinker who shares openly about the path she has taken. Pay attention to the core values she mentions. We could all benefit from stepping back for a moment, pushing pause and thinking about what our core values are today. And do our lives reflect our core values? Because when things are in alignment, that’s when the magic happens.

65 - Ashley Hicks-Rocha & Toni Carey on How They Brought 250,000 Women Together

In 2009, Toni Carey and Ashley Hicks-Rocha founded Black Girls Run to tackle the obesity epidemic in the African-American community and provide encouragement and resources to women runners. They have built a 100% grassroots movement centered around bringing women together both virtually and on-foot through running – to 250,000 members across the USA. You don’t build an empire like this on hope and luck. It takes vision, hard work, passion and belief in your convictions. They have been honored by countless organizations and media outlets including the Toyota Standing O-Vation Award.
This is the first podcast I’ve ever done in front of a live audience, so you will hear some background noise that the microphones pick up from time to time. You’ll have to let me know if you enjoy this setting – I may have to start doing more live shows! This episode may at times sound more like a marriage counseling session than an interview, but that’s exactly what it’s like to build a business with a partner – it’s a marriage filled with ups down and all-arounds. Enjoy!

64 - How Running & Food Saved Kelly Newlon's Life

Meet Kelly Newlon - the founder of RAD - Real Athlete Diets. I first met Kelly when she was running a food truck in Boulder called Streat Chefs. I literally wandered out of my office one day and there it was. I can’t remember what I got but it was delicious. I know this because every time I have ever tasted a bite of food prepared by Kelly, it has always been nothing short of delicious. I went into this interview with 3 topics I wanted to cover: 1) Kelly’s running background and the fact that she has run many marathons and ultras to date, 2) how and why Kelly became a chef – and finally, 3) food. As an athlete and a chef, I figured she could give us tons of insider info into the world of nutrition for athletes especially since her amazing company RAD.
But… The interview took a different track pretty early on. As we delved into how Kelly became who she is, a very intense and important part of her background emerged – Kelly is a long-time victim of domestic abuse in her previous relationship. I am so proud of Kelly for being open and vulnerable – please have an open heart and open mind as you listen. And if anyone is going through domestic abuse, please reach out to me and/or Kelly. We will help you find the right resources to take your next steps. And yes, we still manage to talk about running, being a chef and food, that’s why this episode is over an hour long!

63 - Scott Strode is Brilliant, Sober and Saving Lives through Sports

Meet Scott Strode the founder and visionary of Phoenix Multisport, a community for individuals who are recovering from substance use disorder and those who choose to live sober. Scott was a trauma survivor from early in his life. He had his first drink at 11, started doing cocaine at 15, and acted out every which way -- until one day a friend encouraged him to go to the local boxing gym and give it a try. The gym, the environment, the recovering addicts who had redefined themselves as sober athletes, lit a fire in him. It gave him the strength to quit drugs and alcohol, and over time, kindled the vision for Phoenix Multisport. Scott is now over 20 years sober and has made it his life's mission to help others who struggle with substance use disorder. I am personally very grateful for the work that Scott does because I have my own history of alcohol abuse and I believe in the power of what he is doing.
But you don’t need to be a recovering alcoholic or drug addict to relate to this interview. We all carry shame on some level, sometimes for things we did when we were 15 years old or things we did last week. The underlying point is that at certain times in our lives, we may find ourselves in need of change. Scott has incredible insight, compassion and wisdom for people who want to change their lives.

62 - Becky Piper - Left For Dead to Beautiful Optimism

Four years ago Becky Piper opened the door of her home in Guam to find three men intent on a home invasion at any cost. She woke up in the hospital - paralyzed on the right half of her body. Today Becky is considered disabled in that her paralysis is still evident and she will forever combat the effects of a traumatic brain injury. But she is SO. NOT. DISABLED in every other sense of the word. Becky is one of the most positive people I've ever met. She meets challenges with a mix of practicality and optimism. While this is a tough interview in many ways, it reminds us that we all have challenges that result from things that we do or that happen to us. It's how we mentally and emotionally respond to them that really influence our lives, not the acts themselves.

61 - Sharing the Beauty & the Crap with Olympian, Entrepreneur & Pot-Stirrer Nick Symmonds

Meet Nick Symmonds. He is truly a man on the move. Nick is a 2-time Olympian, has medaled at 13 USA Championships (including 9 Golds). Along the way he learned to love running (believe it or not, he did NOT love running when he started). He became a staunch advocate for athletes' right. He started Run Gum - an incredible, innovative company that solves a problem many athletes face. He wrote a book "Life Outside the Oval Office." He is also after the State High Points & 7 Summits which you can read about on his site (this is all in his "down time.") He travels, does public speaking, and generally lifts and inspires people everywhere he goes. You definitely need to check out his Youtube channel for both fun and thought-provoking episodes.
All in all, Nick has definitely a been-there / done-that kinda guy. Many people would stop-there! But not Nick. He recently announced his retirement from track & field racing, but it wasn't just a retirement that he announced. In the same breath, he declared his next goal - the Honolulu Marathon in December. A goal that both scares and excites him. I feel so lucky to chat with Nick about his past, present and future. We dug into what makes Nick tick and I know you will appreciate his openness, honesty and vulnerability.

60 - "Being Present" with Western States 100 Mile Winner Cat Bradley

Cat Bradley had a 0.1% chance of winning the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run based on the 1,100 ballots that had been cast. In fact, the 1 ballot that predicted she would win was submitted by her boyfriend so she doesn't actually count that one! In the end, Cat Bradley came out of relative obscurity to win one of the most prestigious ultrarunning events in the world, against the toughest competition, at the young age of 25, in a sport where many people don't peak until their 40s.
Sometimes I wonder if people would attempt to do tough, crazy things if they knew how hard it would be. Cat is one of those people who actually seems to seek out the toughest, craziest paths, and pursue them with abandon, as long as they are aligned with what is important to her. Namely a life of outdoor adventure where she is free to push her body and mind to places that most people will never go. Fresh off her Western States 100 win, Cat shared her path to this moment plus insights, tactics and a vision for what her future platform may be.

59 - Maria Uspenski on Why Cancer Hates Tea

Maria Uspenski is the founder of The Tea Spot and so much more. She's a mom of two amazing daughters, entrepreneur, MIT educated engineer, former ballerina, fluent in many languages, cancer survivor, and tea lover, advocate and expert. She’s one of those people who leads through her actions and how she treats other people. Today’s episode is inspirational, thought-provoking, educational and will leave you wanting to sip and sample tea of every kind. We're also giving away her book "Cancer Hates Tea" so go over to the Skirt Sports Facebook page to enter to win - all you have to do is tag the friend you would most like to share a cup of tea with!

58 - Rip Esselstyn Round 2 on Eating Plant Strong

Rip Esselstyn is the first guest to be on the show twice. I interviewed him for episode #5 called Eating Strong Food (notice the name of the episode hasn't changed much!). I’ve had such a huge response to Rip and his message, I knew I would interview him again. To refresh your memory, Rip is a former pro triathlete turned firefighter turned health and fitness crusader through his Engine 2 movement (named after his Austin Texas fire house). He has helped countless people turn their lives around through his simple, whole food, plant based, low fat eating philosophy. He is up to really big things in this world and has no plans to stop. Even if you have no plans to change your eating habits, this is a great episode to help you take a deep dive into why you eat the way you do. Plus Rip has tons of great nuggets that far transcend food and eating!