Be Bold With Beth Whitman

This is a special edition of the She's Bold Podcast! I'm celebrating 100 episodes by featuring guests who've answered the question what it means for them to Be Bold! Have a burning question and want to be featured on a future episode? Call 877-280-5170 and leave a message or email me here. *****   Connect with me: PATREON! (join our growing community!) Facebook Instagram WanderTours Be Bold Facebook Group (women-only) Twitter Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe then tell a friend! Be Bold, Beth

Win a copy of Flash Count Diary by subscribing to the She's Bold Podcast newsletter!   Today’s guest is author, Darcey Steinke. Darcey has a new book out called Flash Count Diary: Menopause and the Vindication of Natural Life. Fair warning that this is an adult conversation and may not be for everyone. But it’s an important conversation in that menopause has been traditionally a topic that isn’t often talked about openly. For those going through it, there’s a lot of shame around it because of the sometimes very obvious symptoms – most notably, hot flashes. But it’s also a time of life for women when a lot of emotion and other physical changes can occur. Darcey’s approach is that this is just another chapter in a woman’s life and should be embraced, not necessarily looked upon as a medical condition. Her book and this conversation are so important to how we view menopause and how we can change our language around it to not be something viewed as a “condition” or as a problem to solve. There’s no doubt that you

Today’s guest is Dina Bennett – author, travel junkie and unorthodox, as she says. Dina Bennett landed on my radar years ago when I was sent a copy of her book, Peking to Paris: Life and Love on a Short Drive Around Half the World. This documents her trip as the unlikely navigator in an antique car in a motor rally. That was maybe five or six years ago. Although we did meet briefly at a conference a year or so before her book came out, this was the first time we really got a chance to sit down and chat. And I have to admit I was thoroughly charmed by Dina and so loved this conversation. When we first met, Dina was living in Colorado but has since moved to France where she’s been, for the most part, for the past two years. Dina is the author of two books including Peking to Paris as well as A Travel Junkie’s Diary – both of which I’ll link to below. But Dina is also an ex-pat, a globe-trotter, a navigator, a rancher, a roadtripper and so much more. Perhaps most importantly, to me, she describes herself as some

In this episode, I talk about running the Cascade Super Series Marathon including: * Not making my goal pace * Training for endurance events vs. faster races ***** Support the podcast through Patreon and get access to special audio and written content, be part of a private Facebook group and enjoy other benefits reserved for supporters of the podcast! ***** Have a burning question and want to be featured on a future episode? Call 877-280-5170 and leave a message or email me here. ***** Mentioned in this episode:Cascade Super Series Marathon Epic 5 4 Deserts / Racing the Planet Sabrina Seher (on She's Bold - episode 43) Qualifying for the Boston Marathon (on She's Bold - episode Connect with me: PATREON! (join our growing community!) Facebook Instagram WanderTours Be Bold Facebook Group (women-only) Twitter Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe then tell a friend! Be Bold, Beth

Today's conversation is with Beth Jusino. As a way to unplug from what she calls 24/7 screentime, Beth Jusino and her husband, Eric, walked 1,000 miles of the Camino over 79 days. Beth was not an athlete, she wasn’t super fit, she wasn’t even a traveler. She just knew she had to find a way to unplug and get away from her devices. And what she found was a world where people actually look each other in the eye, and they connect, and they share stories. She basically did a couch to 1,000 miles. Although she did a lot of research, she didn’t train at all and she packed her backpack the night before she left. Now that’s not to say that that’s an ideal way to take on an adventure, but it certainly goes to show ya that pretty much anything is possible. There’s a lot of inspiration in her story and the fact that she is an average person, like women we all know. Yet, something clicked for her, she changed her mindset and took on something that she hadn’t previously even considered possible. OK - with that, please enjo

In this episode, I talk about my training plan for the Epic5 Run - 5 ultra marathons (50K), in 5 days on 5 Hawaiian islands. You'll hear about: * The number of miles I'm running * What shoes I'm wearing * The difference between road and trail running * How my body is handling all the miles ***** Support the podcast through Patreon and get access to special audio and written content, be part of a private Facebook group and enjoy other benefits reserved for supporters of the podcast! ***** Have a burning question and want to be featured on a future episode? Call 877-280-5170 and leave a message or email me here. ***** Mentioned in this episode: Epic 5 4 Deserts / Racing the Planet Running the Quadzilla (episode 33) Gu Gels (Amazon) Pearl Izumi Altra Topo Ultimate Direction FastpackHer (Amazon) Jenny Jurek Marc Pro (Amazon) Cascade Super Series Marathon Sabrina Seher (on She's Bold - episode 43) Connect with me: PATREON! (join our growing community!) Facebook Instagram WanderTours Be Bold Facebook Group (women-

  Today's conversation is with Helen Thayer. I don’t think you can listen to this conversation and not be affected, changed or inspired on some level. It’s very likely that you’ll make different decisions today and going forward after you listen to today’s episode. I’ve known of Helen for, gosh, at least 20 years but likely much longer than that. She’s been on my radar for such a long time because some of the really amazing things she’s accomplished. And even though she lives in the Seattle area and we’ve been in touch over the years—like via email, I’m fairly certain this was the first time we met in person. But our sit-down was like slipping into a conversation with an old friend. Someone with whom I have common interests and am on the same wavelength but also someone whom I really admire and can look to for inspiration. So who’s Helen Thayer? Though she’s not a fan of promoting herself as the first person to do this or that, there’s no denying her accomplishments. At age 50, she was the first woman to trav

  Vasu Varadhan is a long-time friend of mine. We figured we’ve known each other for about 35 years. And though we haven’t stayed closely connected over those 35 years, we’ve stayed connected enough so that when I’m in NY or she’s in Seattle, we try to get together and have a laugh and a conversation. Vasu and I met when I was in college and she was visiting for special presentation, it was an event being held at the university that I attended in Pennsylvania. Vasu holds a PhD in Media Studies from NYU where she is currently a member of the faculty at the Gallatin School of Individualized Study. She’s taught a wide range of interdisciplinary seminars on media theory, identity in a multi-cultural world, ancient Indian literature and South Asian literature and we get into some of that in this conversation. I was really eager to chat with Vasu because she recently published her first book, On My Own Terms: A Journey Between Two Worlds. This is a memoir that chronicles not only the early years of her life which i

Kelly Herron has basically made lemonade out of lemons. She had a traumatic, life-altering encounter, and made a choice to not let this event get the better of her. When out for a long run on a cold February day in Seattle, Kelly stopped at a public restroom where she was attacked by a registered sex offender who was hiding in a stall. She screamed, “Not Today Mother Fucker,” and this has become her battle cry and her company. She did everything she could to get out of this guy’s grip, managing to escape and then locking him in the bathroom until police arrived. She and her self-defense instructor are now offering courses through Fighting Chance Seattle. BTW – I’m going to include a photo of her Garmin GPS route in the show notes. This tracked her time during the attack. It’s absolutely crazy what she did to fend him off and, as she says in our conversation, you’ll do pretty much anything to save your life. I hope this conversation helps just one person down the road either by encouraging them to take a self-

Chris Mackay and I recorded this with an audience at the Adventure Hub and Winery in Seattle. Not only was this a lot of fun to record live but it gave us a chance to do something a little different, which was to take questions from the audience and answer them on the spot. Chris is a traveler to the core, as you’ll hear in this conversation. I’ve know Chris for probably 10 or more years but had never heard her backstory, which I found really fascinating. Chris was heavily influenced by her mom who was not only a traveler (and took Chris to India when she was 16) but her mom surrounded herself and the family with shamans and Rinpoches and all sorts of interesting, indigenous peoples. Chris’s love of international travel and the natural world, along with her concern about the negative impacts of tourism on culture and the environment, led her to co-found Crooked Trails in 1998. This tour company specializes in community-based tourism – that which focuses on and supports the local cultures. But her concern for

  Katie Arnold is a contributing editor at Outside Magazine where she writes the column called Raising Rippers (which is about bringing up adventurous kids). She’s also written for The New York Times, Men’s Journal, ESPN, Marie Claire, Runner’s World, Elle and Sunset. Katie is also a very accomplished ultrarunner - having won the very difficult Leadville 100 Run as well as a host of other long-distance races. She’s also a wife, she’s a mother of two AND she has a new book out called Running Home. In this conversation we talk about how she manages to juggle her personal life with her work life and her running life and what she’s had to give up to do so. Katie, as you might imagine from someone who’s accomplished in many things, has a very positive outlook on life and, as such, takes care in the type of language she uses – as you’ll hear when she talks about working with her doctors to overcome an injury. Katie is super focused and super dedicated to the things that are important to her – it’s really no wonder

  This conversation is amongst the most inspirational and touching that I’ve done. It’s a longish one and I really want you to hang on through this whole episode because there are some amazingly life-affirming stories here. This conversation is with Chris Fagan. Chris, along with her husband, Marty, walked 560 miles over 48 days to the South Pole. They were the first married couple to successfully complete this adventure as an unsupported expedition, meaning they were carrying everything themselves. They were each pulling a 220-pound sled loaded with all of their food and essentials. Chris has a book coming out in September called The Expedition about their journey (available for pre-order which I’ve linked to below). In this conversation, we definitely touch upon their adventure but also dig into their many other adventures as a couple and she shares some revealing information that will truly inspire you. Seriously, you are so going to love this conversation with this energetic, optimistic, adventurer. With

  Bonnie Crawford, along with 19 other women, recently went to Tanzania to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. Now there are a number of things that make this group quite unusual – bold you might say. First, the group size was 20. That’s a lot of people all attempting a summit. I know because I’ve managed a group of 10 up Kilimanjaro. Second, this was an all-female group and that is really unusual and pretty cool. Finally, what really makes this group of women so unusual and what, you might argue, is the most bold part about their goal, is that they are all plus-sized women. They are women who came together despite of – maybe because of – they are overweight. But they were all determined to not let that stop them and, together, they were motivated to work toward their summit. Bonnie is no stranger to athletic activities and to dedicating herself to a goal. She’s an accomplished Ironman finisher – multiple times over – and she spent more than a year methodically preparing herself for this trip up Kilimanjaro. As Bonnie poi

Support the podcast through Patreon and get access to special audio and written content, be part of a private Facebook group and enjoy other benefits reserved for supporters of the podcast! *****   Today’s guest is Anna Brones. Anna is many things. She’s a writer, she’s an artist and a documentary producer. And the thread through all of these is that Anna is a creative. I met Anna maybe eight years ago or so and we’ve stayed in touch via Facebook all this time so I’ve been able to watch the growth of all the things she’s involved with. Most recently, something very interesting came across my radar and I really wanted to reach out to chat with her about it. She’s a producer on a documentary that’s just come out called Afghan Cycles. After you listen to this conversation, I want you to go rent this movie – you can find all the ways to do so by going to Afghancycles.com. It’s the story about some very bold women in Afghanistan who are challenging gender issues by the “simple” act of biking. It’s really quite ama

Support the podcast through Patreon and get access to special audio and written content, be part of a private Facebook group and enjoy other benefits reserved for supporters of the podcast! ***** Today’s conversation is with Dar Williams. I’ve been a fan of Dar’s since the late 90’s when I first heard Cry Cry Cry, the band (and eponymous album) she recorded with Richard Schindell and Lucy Kaplansky. I’m sure I still have that on tape somewhere (yeah, I still have all my tapes from way back). Dar is a singer-songwriter with about 20 or so albums to her name as well as several books including her most recent, What I Found in a Thousand Towns. She is a great observer of culture and human behavior and what strikes me most about her music, her recent book and this conversation is that she is quite the optimist. I think that someone who is such a keen observer could easily fall into seeing the world from the dark side. But she doesn’t. She not only sees the good but she is also a problem solver – which is exactly w

Win a pair of Jaybird Tarah bluetooth headphones ($100 value)! It's SO easy to enter! See details here. ***** Today's conversation is with Caroline Paul. Caroline is the author of several books including The Gutsy Girl: Escapades for Your Life of Epic Adventure and Fighting Fire about her 13+ years as a San Francisco firefighter. She has given a lot of thought to what it means to be brave and specifically how this relates to females and how we are often taught to be fearful starting at a very early age. Caroline really wants to help change attitudes and language toward young girls in order to get them to be more independent and adventurous. This is a really powerful and fascinating conversation and I encourage you to share it with moms of young girls as well as young women. There’s just so much here that could change a young person’s life. With that, please enjoy this conversation with Caroline Paul. Have a burning question and want to be featured on a future episode? Call 877-280-5170 and leave a message or

Win a pair of Jaybird Tarah bluetooth headphones ($100 value)! It's SO easy to enter! See details here. ***** Today’s conversation is with Dierdre Wolownick. While you may not recognize her name, you'll likely recognize the name of her son – Alex Honnold. In the off chance you don’t know who Alex is, he’s the guy who free solo’d El Capitan and was featured in the movie Free Solo. I won’t go into any more detail than that but, if you haven’t already, you should see this Oscar-winning movie, Free Solo – and Dierdre is in the movie by the way. So, yeah, Dierdre is Alex’s mom. And that fact might be interesting right there. But Dierdre has her own interesting story to share. She’s a woman who speaks multiple languages and who only speaks French to her two children. Because she’s passionate about music and saw the need for it in her hometown, she founded an orchestra in West Sacramento, CA. She began running when she was in her mid-50’s after telling herself all her life that she was not a runner (sound familiar?)

Win a pair of Jaybird Tarah bluetooth headphones ($100 value)! It's SO easy to enter! See details here. ***** Today’s conversation is with Lisa Betts-LaCroix. Lisa believes we all have our own unique superpower and as host of the SuperPower U Podcast, she dives in with her guests to reveal their mental models and tactical skills to uncover their very own superpower. Lisa has an interesting background. Living in LA as an actor, she wracked up credits in hundreds of television shows, films and movies-of-the-week. After she and her husband moved to the Bay Area and started having kids, she co-founded a network of families who educate their children outside of traditional schools – you’re likely familiar with home-schooling, unschooling or any number of names this is called. She didn’t like what she was seeing in public school so took her kids’ education into her own hands. Now that’s bold. And then, in her late 40s, she discovered ballroom dancing and within a very short period of time competing, won the World

Support the podcast through Patreon and get access to special audio and written content, be part of a private Facebook group and enjoy other benefits reserved for supporters of the podcast! ***** Today's conversation is with Stephanie Zito. I suppose you could say that Stephanie accidentally stumbled into a career that found her living in several countries for long periods of time doing humanitarian work. And even though it wasn’t something she planned, she created this amazing life of living abroad and, as she says, wandering for good. She has spent a good part of her life “in motion” until relatively recently when she finally settled down in Portland to do the humanitarian work that she’s been doing for years while living in other countries. In this conversation, we talk about her early travels and how it started with a study abroad program in London and then grew to travel through Europe and beyond and included another study abroad program in China. She went on to live and work in Thailand and, just when s

Support the podcast through Patreon and get access to special audio and written content, be part of a private Facebook group and enjoy other benefits reserved for supporters of the podcast! ***** Today's conversation is with Lia Ditton. Lia is a professional sailor and rower and she’s accomplished some amazing feats. At 25, Lia was the youngest competitor and the only woman to sail across the Atlantic in a race called the OSTAR. She did that solo! She’s gone on to compete in many other single-handed sailing races including the Route du Rhum which goes from France to the Caribbean, and the Transpacific Yacht Race which goes from California to Hawaii. She then got into ocean rowing and, among other things, did the Woodvale Challenge which is from the Canary Islands to the West Indies. But now, NOW Lia is training for a 5,500 mile solo row across the North Pacific from Japan to San Francisco. Yeah, 5,500 miles across the Pacific. Though two men claim to have completed this, as we talk about in this conversation,