I’m always fascinated by the paths we take, and how a decision here or there leads to the next thing and then on to the next thing. Of course, extra bonus points for marrying two separate passions into one successful career, and a path of happiness. Zoë Routh is UK-born, Canadian-raised and Australian resident who is a highly successful leadership expert specializing in the people stuff. She shows leaders and teams struggling with office politics and silos, how to work better together. She’s worked with individuals and teams internationally and in Australia since 1987 from the wild rivers of Northern Ontario to the remote regions of Australia. Zoë has spent the last 30 years, showing teams how to navigate the wilderness of people stuff. Her past leadership roles include Training Director at Outward Bound Australia, Chair of the Outdoor Council of Australia, President of the Chamber of Women in Business, and Program Manager at the Australian World Leadership Foundation.
This month, her fourth book, The People Stuff – beyond personalities and advanced handbook for leadership won the 2020 Australian Business Book of the Year from Smart WFM Australian Book Awards. She also has a podcast called The Leadership Podcast. She’s outdoor adventurous, Telemark skier, has run six marathons, survived cancer, and loves hiking in the high country. Today, we talked about how she escaped Pluto. Kidding. Only sort of, and made it to where she is today. We talked about how she translates lessons from the wilderness into being the best leader you can be.
And with that, here is our conversation.
Where to find Zoë and other links:
BEFORE YOU LEAVE - If you are enjoying the shows, I hope you’ll subscribe, rate, review and share with your friends!
About Lisa Gerber:
Lisa advises CEOs and senior-level management on how to use the power of storytelling and effective communication to influence action and bring ideas to life.
She guides companies through the digital maze of constantly changing tools to build discovery, loyalty, and ultimately help them achieve their own big leaps.
When she is not in her office, she might be out skiing or trail running. This is where she does her best creative problem-solving.
To learn more about booking Lisa for consulting, speaking or workshops, visit www.bigleapcreative.com.
What does it mean to be a man or a woman? I bet many of you have never considered that thought. I know I haven't, I'm a female that's the end of the conversation but what if all of that came into question. What if you simply don't identify as a male or a female and what does that feel like? The stories we have been told our whole lives shape our world and what we do. What becomes so ingrained in us doesn't even prompt us to question it, we simply don't even think about it. Well, that's not the case for everyone and I spoke with Jessica Johnson, who doesn't identify one way or the other. We didn't solve any real problems today and we don't have any answers but I'm thankful to Jessica, for coming on and sharing their experience. I thought I'd put this conversation out there to question our own thinking. We talked about things like fitting in and not fitting in, finding the need for it, fitting in, and then being okay with not fitting in. We also talked about little things, many people don't think about, like ticking the M, or the F box on your race application and how that small thing actually impacts people like Jessica and keeps them from doing things they love. Hopefully, this conversation opens your eyes to gender inclusivity in sports, and maybe even to questioning things you simply take for granted.
So with that, here's our conversation.
Where to find Jessica and other links:
BEFORE YOU LEAVE - If you are enjoying the shows, I hope you’ll subscribe, rate, review and share with your friends!
About Lisa Gerber:
Lisa advises CEOs and senior-level management on how to use the power of storytelling and effective communication to influence action and bring ideas to life.
She guides companies through the digital maze of constantly changing tools to build discovery, loyalty, and ultimately help them achieve their own big leaps.
When she is not in her office, she might be out skiing or trail running. This is where she does her best creative problem-solving.
To learn more about booking Lisa for consulting, speaking or workshops, visit www.bigleapcreative.com.
Courtney Condy was a recent college grad who felt disillusioned with the corporate grind while living and working in San Francisco. A last-minute trip to Nepal in 2015 changed her life forever when her trekking group got caught in the middle of an 8.1 magnitude earthquake two days away from Everest Basecamp. Upon returning to the US she quit her job and became an Adventure Travel Guide and began leading trips all around the US and the world. In 2018, She founded Occupation Wild, a job board for the outdoor, adventure, and travel industry, based on the belief that if it’s just for a season or a lifetime, there is nothing more rewarding than working in the outdoors.
How fitting is that? I love Courtney’s story - I love when people bring their idea to life. We talk about that - it’s incredible, we are a generation apart, and both had similar experiences where we weren’t exposed to all that is possible when growing up, so she pursued what she thought she was supposed to. I love it when people reconcile what they want to do with what they are supposed to do.
With that, let’s listen in to our conversation.
Where to find Courtney and other links:
BEFORE YOU LEAVE - If you are enjoying the shows, I hope you’ll subscribe, rate, review and share with your friends!
About Lisa Gerber:
Lisa advises CEOs and senior-level management on how to use the power of storytelling and effective communication to influence action and bring ideas to life.
She guides companies through the digital maze of constantly changing tools to build discovery, loyalty, and ultimately help them achieve their own big leaps.
When she is not in her office, she might be out skiing or trail running. This is where she does her best creative problem-solving.
To learn more about booking Lisa for consulting, speaking or workshops, visit www.bigleapcreative.com.
There is a ski area in Japan called Asahidake that is essentially a summer tram they open for winter to allow for tram-served backcountry skiing. It’s not patrolled or groomed (although there are two groomed roads that serve as sort of a thoroughfare to the bottom.
We couldn’t wait to check it out. pass this up.
On our first tram ride to the top and exited onto a stunning mountain side. Looking above, you could see the volcano. Below and to the sides many options but hard to tell where one would end up. Skiers immediately clicked in and dispersed, some climbing higher and others descending. We hung out for a moment discussing our options since we were completely unfamiliar with the terrain.
For our first descent, we made the conservative decision to follow the majority of ski tracks down and we enjoyed a good run but it wasn’t anything mind-blowing.
We knew we would need to venture out. We just needed to get our bearings.
Next run, we saw a tiny ski track heading off to something inviting. We took it. It dead-ended. So we backtracked. Third run, we saw an opening in the trees that looked like it might drop off into something worth exploring so we headed off the ski track altogether and enjoyed a dozen memorable, breathtaking turns in hip-deep fluffy powder before we bottomed out at a river and put our skins on to climb back up. Exhilarated and ready for more.
We spend a lot of time studying people we admire and trying to follow their path. That makes sense when you are first starting out but at some point, you have to venture off the track and break your own trail.
Success isn’t replicable. We each find on our own path and it can be hit or miss along the way. There are no guarantees. No signs telling you to go “this way.” And if there were, everyone would be going there and it wouldn’t be mind-blowing. Sometimes we have to backtrack with lessons learned.
We find our reward when we pursue the narrow opening in the trees and break our own trail to find the goodness we’ve been working so hard for!
In honor of each of us who struggles with that restlessness: The restlessness to make change for the better, I am excited to finally relaunch my podcast, formerly the Gear Show, as Breaking Trail and bring to you stories of individuals saving the planet, working for change, creating our own definition of success and breaking trail to get there. I hope it inspires you to do the same. But not in the same way. <wink>
I can’t wait to hear what you think and you have a guest idea, I’m all ears.
DEFEATING THE STATUS QUO
Today, on Breaking Trail, Rich Hohne director of marketing at Oboz Footwear based in Bozeman, joins me today - to talk about unexpected changes, being side blinded by divorce and moving on from it. Finding lack of joy at work and moving on from it. It’s easier to just stay with the status quo, isn’t it? But at what cost?
So with that, let’s listen in and gear up for what’s next.
Where to find Rich and other links:
BEFORE YOU LEAVE - If you are enjoying the shows, I hope you’ll subscribe, rate, review and share with your friends!
About Lisa Gerber:
Lisa advises CEOs and senior-level management on how to use the power of storytelling and effective communication to influence action and bring ideas to life.
She guides companies through the digital maze of constantly changing tools to build discovery, loyalty, and ultimately help them achieve their own big leaps.
When she is not in her office, she might be out skiing or trail running. This is where she does her best creative problem-solving.
To learn more about booking Lisa for consulting, speaking or workshops, visit www.bigleapcreative.com.
Anastasia Allison was an unusual kid. She was into things you and I probably were not such as volunteering at a national park as an interpretive guide wearing period costumes performing hymns and folk songs with her violin. Sounds like a super cool kid to me in many ways but sadly, Allison suffered a great deal of bullying as a child. It might be for that reason she spent a lot of her life trying to conform to this “what should we be and do with our lives.” She finally realized after a near-death experience, that she can actually do whatever she wants to and today, she owns a gear company that sells pee cloths - it’s called Kula Cloth - check it out a t kulacloth.com , she climbs mountains with her violin and performs music in the wilderness with the Musical Mountaineeers and she basically has defined what success means to her and is living it, a major prerequisite for being on this podcast.
We talk about:
A childhood of bullying - and turning it into a positive experience
Overcoming limiting beliefs
The role the woods plays in all this.
So with that, let’s listen in and gear up for what’s next.
Where to find Anastasia and other links:
BEFORE YOU LEAVE - If you are enjoying the shows, I hope you’ll subscribe, rate, review and share with your friends!
About Lisa Gerber:
Lisa advises CEOs and senior-level management on how to use the power of storytelling and effective communication to influence action and bring ideas to life.
She guides companies through the digital maze of constantly changing tools to build discovery, loyalty, and ultimately help them achieve their own big leaps.
When she is not in her office, she might be out skiing or trail running. This is where she does her best creative problem-solving.
To learn more about booking Lisa for consulting, speaking or workshops, visit www.bigleapcreative.com.
Many conventional doctors will tell women going through menopause that hormonal decline that contributes to aging is part of life. Deal with it. Well, we don’t have to totally. There is help out there.
I had a health issue this past march and I realized I knew a lot less about my body than I realized. Mary Fiedler loves what she does especially because she wants to educate clients about their bodies and their health. So, with much convincing, I got her to FINALLY come on the show and talk about bioidentical hormones for women’s health and especially through menopause. I mean, come on, we gotta live, right?
Mary Fiedler is insanely fit and awesome - a mountain biker, skate skier, and backcountry skier. She has also been a Nurse Practitioner with a subspecialty in women’s health since 1998. She works at Panhandle Health District in Sandpoint and Bonner’s Ferry providing direct patient services including women’s health, family planning, STDs and basic primary care. What she really loves about it is educating clients so they can manage their health to the fullest. Mary is all about prevention over treating symptoms.
We talk about hormones, as it pertains to women’s health, sleep, bioidentical vs synthetic hormones and does it cause cancer?
I hope you find this informative. with that, let’s listen in and gear up for what’s next.
So with that, let’s listen in and gear up for what’s next.
Where to find Mary and other links:
BEFORE YOU LEAVE - If you are enjoying the shows, I hope you’ll subscribe, rate, review and share with your friends!
About Lisa Gerber:
Lisa advises CEOs and senior-level management on how to use the power of storytelling and effective communication to influence action and bring ideas to life.
She guides companies through the digital maze of constantly changing tools to build discovery, loyalty, and ultimately help them achieve their own big leaps.
When she is not in her office, she might be out skiing or trail running. This is where she does her best creative problem-solving.
To learn more about booking Lisa for consulting, speaking or workshops, visit www.bigleapcreative.com.
The trajectory widens as you move away from that moment that changed everything. At the age of 34, Amy left the financial industry to pursue her passion and a career in professional bike racing. As an athlete, an Ironman, endurance trail running and finally cycling, consumed her time outside of the corporate workplace. Amy raced for the U.S. National Team and signed a contract with one of the top ten women’s professional racing teams in the world. Her team won a National Championship in the Team Time Trial and raced the World Championships.
In this episode we explored that pivotal moment, making the decision to leave, how she filtered it and how she managed all the head stuff that comes along with making such a decision. She describes life on the racing circuit and eventually making the decision to retire from pro racing. Because we are all a culmination of the experiences we have had, she now has parlayed all of this into a new way of living - she’s authored a book The Wrong Side of Comfortable, coaches, speaks at corporate conferences, and is a partner in SBT GRVL, a cycling race in Steamboat Springs, and coaches endurance athletes.
So with that, let’s listen in and gear up for what’s next.
Where to find Amy:
amymcharity.com - for the book and contact
Sbt Grvl - registration opens December 3
BEFORE YOU LEAVE - If you are enjoying the shows, I hope you’ll subscribe, rate, review and share with your friends!
About Lisa Gerber:
Lisa advises CEOs and senior-level management on how to use the power of storytelling and effective communication to influence action and bring ideas to life.
She guides companies through the digital maze of constantly changing tools to build discovery, loyalty, and ultimately help them achieve their own big leaps.
When she is not in her office, she might be out skiing or trail running. This is where she does her best creative problem-solving.
To learn more about booking Lisa for consulting, speaking or workshops, visit www.bigleapcreative.com.
Today is part 2 of a long and interesting conversation I had with Wes King, founder and CEO of Tahoe Trail Bar, a plant-based, non-GMO, gluten-free line of awesome tasting energy bars. You might want to check out episode 89 if you haven’t already and then come back for the continuation but here’s a quick recap: Last week, Wes walked us through a time in his life where he was searching for something to do with himself that went beyond getting out on the trail or the snow.
Now as the CEO of Tahoe Trail Bar, he has done exactly that and he talked about how he achieved distribution throughout the Western US and sales wider than that through Amazon and their own website from a small coffee shop in Tahoe.
This week, how do you manage growth so the business doesn’t consume you? What is your story and how do you tell it? How does that drive the decisions you make? When you find alignment internally and externally, in Wes’ own words, it allows you to marry the thing you love to do with your ability to make a living. And that, my friends, is what’s in store for you in this episode.
So with that, let’s listen in and gear up for what’s next.
Reading list:
Scaling Up Verne Harnish
Where to find Wes:
Tahoe Trail Bar (Code gearshow20 for 20% off!!)
BEFORE YOU LEAVE - If you are enjoying the shows, I hope you’ll subscribe, rate, review and share with your friends!
About Lisa Gerber:
Lisa advises CEOs and senior-level management on how to use the power of storytelling and effective communication to influence action and bring ideas to life.
She guides companies through the digital maze of constantly changing tools to build discovery, loyalty, and ultimately help them achieve their own big leaps.
When she is not in her office, she might be out skiing or trail running. This is where she does her best creative problem-solving.
To learn more about booking Lisa for consulting, speaking or workshops, visit www.bigleapcreative.com.
Today is part 2 of a long and interesting conversation I had with Wes King, founder and CEO of Tahoe Trail Bar, a plant-based, non-GMO, gluten-free line of awesome tasting energy bars. You might want to check out episode 89 if you haven’t already and then come back for the continuation but here’s a quick recap: Last week, Wes walked us through a time in his life where he was searching for something to do with himself that went beyond getting out on the trail or the snow.
Now as the CEO of Tahoe Trail Bar, he has done exactly that and he talked about how he achieved distribution throughout the Western US and sales wider than that through Amazon and their own website from a small coffee shop in Tahoe.
This week, how do you manage growth so the business doesn’t consume you? What is your story and how do you tell it? How does that drive the decisions you make? When you find alignment internally and externally, in Wes’ own words, it allows you to marry the thing you love to do with your ability to make a living. And that, my friends, is what’s in store for you in this episode.
So with that, let’s listen in and gear up for what’s next.
Reading list:
Scaling Up Verne Harnish
Where to find Wes:
Tahoe Trail Bar (Code gearshow20 for 20% off!!)
BEFORE YOU LEAVE - If you are enjoying the shows, I hope you’ll subscribe, rate, review and share with your friends!
About Lisa Gerber:
Lisa advises CEOs and senior-level management on how to use the power of storytelling and effective communication to influence action and bring ideas to life.
She guides companies through the digital maze of constantly changing tools to build discovery, loyalty, and ultimately help them achieve their own big leaps.
When she is not in her office, she might be out skiing or trail running. This is where she does her best creative problem-solving.
To learn more about booking Lisa for consulting, speaking or workshops, visit www.bigleapcreative.com.
Wes King is the CEO and founder of the Tahoe Trail Bar, a plant-based, non-GMO, gluten free line of awesome tasting energy bars. He had so much to share, I decide to make this into a two-part episode so I didn’t have to edit anything out. Today, we’re going to talk about finding purpose, working your ass off and taking a cottage business to the next level. Next week, we’ll talk about his leadership philosopy, mindfulness and giving back to the community. I was truly inspired by our conversation and have lists of my own ideas I was jotting down as he spoke. I think you’ll find the same.
More on Wes: Tahoe Trail Bar started in a coffee shop in South Lake Tahoe CA in 2010. Today, under his leadership, they have achieved distribution throughout the western US. One of his greatest achievements to date is pursuing the active balance between a laser focus on key growth outcomes and the deep enjoyment of the process of working in the business alongside his employees. Outside of leading the Tahoe Trail Bar, Wes prioritizes taking in a steady diet of continuing education, meditation, learning from mentors and other entrepreneurs, and investing his time as a mentor to other startups in his business community. Whenever he can, you will find him backcountry skiing on Mount Rose, mountain biking on the Tahoe Rim Trail, or backpacking with his wife and 2 children in Desolation Wilderness.
One quick thing before we get into the interview - you can find tahoe trail bars in many stores throughout the west but if you go online and buy them at tahotrailbar.com and enter in the code gearshow 20, you get 20% off your purchase. So go check it out and get your deal - !
So, with that, let's listen in and gear up for what's next.
Where to find Wes:
Tahoe Trail Bar (Code gearshow20 for 20% off!!)
BEFORE YOU LEAVE - If you are enjoying the shows, I hope you’ll subscribe, rate, review and share with your friends!
About Lisa Gerber:
Lisa advises CEOs and senior-level management on how to use the power of storytelling and effective communication to influence action and bring ideas to life.
She guides companies through the digital maze of constantly changing tools to build discovery, loyalty, and ultimately help them achieve their own big leaps.
When she is not in her office, she might be out skiing or trail running. This is where she does her best creative problem-solving.
To learn more about booking Lisa for consulting, speaking or workshops, visit www.bigleapcreative.com.
If you're happier and more comfortable when you're outside, you'll get out and play more. That's why Big Agnes, aka, The Mother of Comfort, a Steamboat Springs-based company exists - to make you more comfortable. And Bill Gamber, one of the founders, joins us today.
In 2000, Bill Gamber and his business partner borrowed the name of a local peak in the Mt. Zirkel Wilderness Area to start Big Agnes. The company launched with a simple, but revolutionary idea: "never roll off your pad again" with a unique, integrated sleeping bag and pad system. This would be the first in a long line of product "firsts" he would introduce to the outdoors. His innovations over the years have been adopted throughout the industry. (I'm reading from the official bio that was sent to me - they are kind when they say that. Others copied what he did I editorialize and digress. So back to his background:
Bill provides career opportunities and year-round employment for more than 100 people in the small mountain town of Steamboat Springs, Colorado. He has been influential in building Colorado's outdoor economy and shaping the state's recreational future. For 28 years, Bill has lived off-grid outside of Steamboat with his wife and three kids, in his solar and wind-powered home. Today Big Agnes has a full line of Sleeping Bags consisting of those that attached to pads and not. They also are the innovation leaders in tents and sleeping pads having won more than 14 awards like the prestigious Backpacker Magazine Editors' Choice award. Bill loves the backcountry and wants to get people where they're going – top of a peak or first family Car Camping trip. Big Agnes gear is sold and used globally.
I wish I could have had another hour with Bill. We talked about starting a company, getting distribution, and why Big Anes doesn't make car tents. I was hell-bent on finding a formula for building a brand and company culture but here's what I learned: The people at Big Agnes let their actions do the talking, and I think that makes a great story. Recently, Bill invited all employees to embark on the 740-mile hike of the Continental Divide Trail. They signed up for various segments and hiked from New Mexico to Wyoming. You'll learn more about that and how current international trade policy is affecting those in the outdoor industry.
This episode is packed -
So, with that, let's listen in and gear up for what's next.
Where to find Bill Gamber
BEFORE YOU LEAVE - If you are enjoying the shows, I hope you’ll subscribe, rate, review and share with your friends!
About Lisa Gerber:
Lisa advises CEOs and senior-level management on how to use the power of storytelling and effective communication to influence action and bring ideas to life.
She guides companies through the digital maze of constantly changing tools to build discovery, loyalty, and ultimately help them achieve their own big leaps.
When she is not in her office, she might be out skiing or trail running. This is where she does her best creative problem-solving.
To learn more about booking Lisa for consulting, speaking or workshops, visit www.bigleapcreative.com.
Today, we journey back to Georgia. We spoke with Terri Watts of Athens in episode 83. Kate Gates joins us from Ellijay, Georgia. She and her husband and their parents own and operate Mulberry Gap, a mountain bike getaway in the mountains of Northern Georgia with access to the Pinhoti Trail system.
Kate & Andrew met in high school in 2004, and their families have been close friends ever since. Their dating relationship would be the start of Mulberry Gap so many years later. During the early years of the business, Kate attended Florida State University and graduated in 2011. She and Andrew were engaged during the winter of 2013, and she's been full time with Mulberry Gap ever since.
Interestingly, Kate didn't find cycling until 2014, when she and Andrew went on their first bikepacking trip in Florida to ride the Huracan 300. Long-distance and endurance rides are now her preferred method of exploring by bike. The bikepacking experiences led her to become a lover of the gravel and experiencing places at a slower pace.
We talk about the trials and tribulations of being an entrepreneur and living what many of us would call the dream. How they adapted their business through trying times; what it's like to battle with impostor syndrome like I'm sure so many of us do; and on a lighter note, what it's like to ride in Georgia.
So, with that, let’s listen in and gear up for what’s next.
Where to find Kate and Mulberry Gap
BEFORE YOU LEAVE - If you are enjoying the shows, I hope you’ll subscribe, rate, review and share with your friends!
About Lisa Gerber:
Lisa advises CEOs and senior-level management on how to use the power of storytelling and effective communication to influence action and bring ideas to life.
She guides companies through the digital maze of constantly changing tools to build discovery, loyalty, and ultimately help them achieve their own big leaps.
When she is not in her office, she might be out skiing or trail running. This is where she does her best creative problem-solving.
To learn more about booking Lisa for consulting, speaking or workshops, visit www.bigleapcreative.com.
Brittany Charboneau is a Denver-native and also known as The Funny Runner because she is pursuing a career in running and comedy.
Sponsored by fellow Colorado-native company OtterBox, and thanks to her coach Jenni Nettik with Mercuria Running and her entire "Dream Team" of trainers, she qualified for the Olympic Trials' A' Standard at the 2018 Los Angeles Marathon with a time of 2:36. Brittany was the 10th American finisher at the 2018 New York City Marathon and finished 11th at the 2019 New York City Half Marathon. Most recently, she has stepped into the trail running scene and her debut season saw wins at the 2019 Leadville Heavy Half, Telluride Rundola and Aspen Backcountry Heavy Half.
Her background of improv and sketch comedy stems from her training at The Second City Chicago and The Annoyance Chicago. Brittany teaches improv and performs regularly at the Bovine Metropolis Theater in Denver. She has written, performed, and directed her own one-woman sketch comedy show called "My Long Distance Relationship with Running: From the Early Miles to the Olympic Trials."
Brittany was an Olympic hopeful from childhood but was a very average runner/athlete through school and college. Eventually, she quit her job to pursue a career in running and comedy. We talk today about listening to your gut, following your path and finding the confidence or the signs to know you are on the right track.
There are many lessons in today's show. Enjoy and with that, let's listen in and gear up for what's next.
We talk about:
How she made the transition from the middle of the pack to an elite runner
Taking a big leap and following your path. And wondering if it is even the right path.
Setting small goals to achieve big wins
Adapting to things outside of your control
Her strategy for winning the Olympic trials
So, with that, let’s listen in and gear up for what’s next.
Where to find Brittany
BEFORE YOU LEAVE - If you are enjoying the shows, I hope you’ll subscribe, rate, review and share with your friends!
About Lisa Gerber:
Lisa advises CEOs and senior-level management on how to use the power of storytelling and effective communication to influence action and bring ideas to life.
She guides companies through the digital maze of constantly changing tools to build discovery, loyalty, and ultimately help them achieve their own big leaps.
When she is not in her office, she might be out skiing or trail running. This is where she does her best creative problem-solving.
To learn more about booking Lisa for consulting, speaking or workshops, visit www.bigleapcreative.com.
A highly respected figure in the freeskiing industry, Matt Sterbenz has spent his career developing some of the most exciting and progressive skis in history. Matt’s life in the ski industry began when he and his peers of pro skiers began to feel underserved by large, European ski sponsors that focused solely on creating skis for racers. At the time, the freestyle skiing movement in the US was just beginning, and this new discipline demanded progressive new ski designs that the European industry simply wasn’t producing. Matt founded 4FRNT skis and worked with top athletes to create cutting-edge shapes.
After spending much of his career innovating on shape, materials were the next frontier. After 16 years at 4FRNT, Matt left his post to begin a role as GM of Wintersports at Checkerspot, expressing a strong desire to bring innovation to an industry that had relied on the same materials for decades.
So in 2019, Matt launched WNDR Alpine, a new brand utilizing biobased materials to improve product performance up and down the mountain.
We talk about:
Where the drive to innovate came from.
How he educated himself on the science of materials.
How to launch a ski brand and how their model is set up so he can do work he loves and brings him joy, eliminating the stuff that drains him of joy.
So, with that, let’s listen in and gear up for what’s next.
Where to find Matt
BEFORE YOU LEAVE - If you are enjoying the shows, I hope you’ll subscribe, rate, review and share with your friends!
About Lisa Gerber:
Lisa advises CEOs and senior-level management on how to use the power of storytelling and effective communication to influence action and bring ideas to life.
She guides companies through the digital maze of constantly changing tools to build discovery, loyalty, and ultimately help them achieve their own big leaps.
When she is not in her office, she might be out skiing or trail running. This is where she does her best creative problem-solving.
To learn more about booking Lisa for consulting, speaking or workshops, visit www.bigleapcreative.com.
Jacquie Whitt joins us today. She had no intention she’d one day partner with a team of native Peruvians and become the owner of an international adventure travel business. Her partners share equity in Adios Adventure Travel. They collaborate on everything, including how to organize itineraries, where to set up service projects and how to support the communities where their groups travel. They take individuals on trips of a lifetime that go deeper than the tourist experience and learn about the people and the cultures of the places they visit.
We talk about:
Traveling more deeply and meaningfully
International partnerships and building trust with others
Discovered something fascinating about the Incan civilization - how they carved huge megalithic stones.
So, with that, let’s listen in and gear up for what’s next.
Where to find Jacquie
BEFORE YOU LEAVE - If you are enjoying the shows, I hope you’ll subscribe, rate, review and share with your friends!
About Lisa Gerber:
Lisa advises CEOs and senior level management on how to use the power of storytelling and effective communication to influence action and bring ideas to life.
She guides companies through the digital maze of constantly changing tools to build discovery, loyalty, and ultimately help them achieve their own big leaps.
When she is not in her office, she might be out skiing or trail running. This is where she does her best creative problem-solving.
To learn more about booking Lisa for consulting, speaking or workshops, visit www.bigleapcreative.com.
Terri Watts quit her job as an occupational therapist in Athens Georgia to race the IMBA National Enduro Series for pro women. This girl from Georgia seemingly came out of nowhere to win the 2017 USA Cycling Enduro National Championship. Now, she is semi-retired from racing and back working part time as an occupational therapist and part of the time as a PMBIA Level 1 mountain bike guide and coach with Ninja Mountain Bike Performance.
We talk about taking a sabbatical - how to do it and how it changes life afterwards; the difference in racing when you have no track record compared to when you’ve become a champion and expectations are greater. But most of all, we talked about how much more successful you can be when you relax in times of uncertainty and stress. She was specifically talking about biking, but it’s an appropriate life lesson as well.
So, with that, let’s listen in and gear up for what’s next.
Where to find Terri
BEFORE YOU LEAVE - If you are enjoying the shows, I hope you’ll subscribe, rate, review and share with your friends!
About Lisa Gerber:
Lisa advises CEOs and senior level management on how to use the power of storytelling and effective communication to influence action and bring ideas to life.
She guides companies through the digital maze of constantly changing tools to build discovery, loyalty, and ultimately help them achieve their own big leaps.
When she is not in her office, she might be out skiing or trail running. This is where she does her best creative problem-solving.
To learn more about booking Lisa for consulting, speaking or workshops, visit www.bigleapcreative.com.
In 2006, Eric Larsen completed a 62-day expedition to the North Pole pulling a 250-pound sled for 550 miles. Men's Journal named him one of the 25 Most Adventurous Men of the Past 25 Years. Polar adventurer, expedition guide, dog musher and educator, Eric Larsen has spent a lot of time traveling to some of the most remote and wild places left on earth. He is one of only a few Americans to have skied to both the North and South Poles. In November 2009, he returned to Antarctica for the first leg of his world record Save the Poles expedition. This time he completed a 750-mile ski traverse to the geographic South arriving on January 2, 2010. Two short months later he was dropped off at northern Ellesmere Island for a winter-style North Pole Journey. The international team reached the North Pole 51 days then on Earth Day - April 22, 2010. He completed the Save the Poles expedition by reaching the summit of Mt. Everest on October 15, 2010, becoming the first person in history to reach the world's three 'poles' within 365 days.
He travels to wild and specifically cold places to cast a spotlight on climate change and the melting Arctic.
Today, we have a bigger conversation about adventure. We also talk about how the Arctic has changed over the past two decades. Eric is one of the few people who have seen this firsthand. Lastly, how do you juggle all this while being a dad?
With that, let’s listen in and gear up for what’s next.
Where to find Eric
BEFORE YOU LEAVE - If you are enjoying the shows, I hope you’ll subscribe, rate, review and share with your friends!
About Lisa Gerber:
Lisa advises CEOs and senior level management on how to use the power of storytelling and effective communication to influence action and bring ideas to life.
She guides companies through the digital maze of constantly changing tools to build discovery, loyalty, and ultimately help them achieve their own big leaps.
When she is not in her office, she might be out skiing or trail running. This is where she does her best creative problem-solving.
To learn more about booking Lisa for consulting, speaking or workshops, visit www.bigleapcreative.com.
Charlotte Massey, Georgia Grace, and Bianca Gonzalez are redesigning pants so they work for womens’ bodies. It sounds silly that no one has addressed this issue before. Why not? Charlotte Massey joins today, and she’s going to walk us through a little fashion history, something we don’t often discuss here at the Gear Show. We’ll discover how three women in college have come together to solve a problem and take an essential step in making the outdoors more inclusive by making it easier for women to “go to the bathroom.”
It’s easy enough to come up with an idea. Charlotte will tell us how they made this idea happen. It’s something women have been waiting for - their Kickstarter campaign raised over 50 thousand dollars when their goal was 15 thousand.
Today, you’re going to see the outcome of when a dad never doubts your ability to do whatever it is you want to do.
and with that, let’s listen in and gear up for what’s next.
Where to Find Charlotte
BEFORE YOU LEAVE - If you are enjoying the shows, I hope you’ll subscribe, rate, review and share with your friends!
About Lisa Gerber:
Lisa advises CEOs and senior level management on how to use the power of storytelling and effective communication to influence action and bring ideas to life.
She guides companies through the digital maze of constantly changing tools to build discovery, loyalty, and ultimately help them achieve their own big leaps.
When she is not in her office, she might be out skiing or trail running. This is where she does her best creative problem-solving.
To learn more about booking Lisa for consulting, speaking or workshops, visit www.bigleapcreative.com.
Jeannine Anders followed “The Call” to Colorado 15 years ago where she settled in the Vail Valley. Many of us have heard a similar call - one to the mountains, right? She held a career in sales while pursuing her passion for cycling. She’s competed in over 20 ultra-endurance mountain bike races including multiple 100-mile, 12- and 25-hour solo races as well as a multi-day stage race through the Swiss Alps. She eventually joined the board for the non-profit, Sacred Cycle, while managing their race team and helping to spread their mission which is to empower survivors of sexual abuse and sexual assault through therapy and mountain biking, creating a sacred cycle of recovery, personal development, and community impact.
Biking has had an extremely positive influence on Jeannine’s life and we talk about how it defined her - how mountain biking helps all of us in various ways and now, how it is being put to work to help survivors of sexual abuse and assault.
Also discussed:
Secret tips for kicking ass at races despite the butterflies
Giving up racing - to live life and missing it
Finding your self worth when it’s not tied to competition
Where to Find Jeannine
Other links mentioned:
BEFORE YOU LEAVE - If you are enjoying the shows, I hope you’ll subscribe, rate, review and share with your friends!
About Lisa Gerber:
Lisa advises CEOs and senior level management on how to use the power of storytelling and effective communication to influence action and bring ideas to life.
She guides companies through the digital maze of constantly changing tools to build discovery, loyalty, and ultimately help them achieve their own big leaps.
When she is not in her office, she might be out skiing or trail running. This is where she does her best creative problem-solving.
To learn more about booking Lisa for consulting, speaking or workshops, visit www.bigleapcreative.com.
Today, Brian Harder, a self-proclaimed non-compliant patient will walk us through ACL recovery one year post- event. We’ll talk about the choices he made - like the graft choice and what he would do if he had it to do over again.
Brian is a frequent guest, a good friend of mine. He is an orthopedic physician assistant and a ski mountaineer based in Anchorage. he is also a former Exum Mountain Guide based out of Jackson.
Brian’s ultimate goal is to get back out playing as soon as possible. For reference, he is in his late 50s and sometimes our brains are more eager than our bodies but that’s my own observation. wink wink wink. This approach may or may not have caused some of the complications he’s experiencing. We discuss that. We also cover a topic that is important to me and that is how to properly inform ourselves to make the best health care decisions for us. Not just related to ACL injury. We can all relate to that in one way or another, I’m sure.
With that, let’s listen in and gear up for what’s next.
Resources Mentioned
Where to Find Brian
BEFORE YOU LEAVE - If you are enjoying the shows, I hope you’ll subscribe, rate, review and share with your friends!
About Lisa Gerber:
Lisa advises CEOs and senior level management on how to use the power of storytelling and effective communication to influence action and bring ideas to life.
She guides companies through the digital maze of constantly changing tools to build discovery, loyalty, and ultimately help them achieve their own big leaps.
When she is not in her office, she might be out skiing or trail running. This is where she does her best creative problem-solving.
To learn more about booking Lisa for consulting, speaking or workshops, visit www.bigleapcreative.com.
When you become the best in the entire world at something, what do you do next? How do you not let that be the high point in life, instead, keep raising the bar? I had a wonderful talk with Shannon Barke-Happe today about that, about professional racing, and life afterwards. Shannon was on the US.. Ski Team for 12 years. During that time, she brought home a silver and a bronze medal. She also won the Overall World Cup title in 2003, had seven World Cup victories, 26 World Cup podiums and her list of wins goes on from there. She is a mom, founder of Team Empower Hour and the author of a children’s book Mommy Why Is Your Hair Pink?
We talked about having conviction in your goals and how that got her to the podium and medal wins. Great insights we can all take home with us as we pursue our own goals. A big lesson in today’s show - sometimes you have to know when to fold them. The hard truth in walking away from dreams and resetting the course.
We’ll learn what it’s like to be a professional racer standing at the starting gate, and how she applied this to her business Team Empower Hour where she and her team bring these principles to the corporate environment through keynote speeches and custom experiences and workshops.
The message in her book Mommy Why is Your Hair Pink isn’t just for kids - that pursuing your dreams and knowing that everything you need to success is deep within yourself.
With that, let’s listen in and gear up for what’s next.
Where to Find Shannon
BEFORE YOU LEAVE - If you are enjoying the shows, I hope you’ll subscribe, rate, review and share with your friends!
About Lisa Gerber:
Lisa advises CEOs and senior level management on how to use the power of storytelling and effective communication to influence action and bring ideas to life.
She guides companies through the digital maze of constantly changing tools to build discovery, loyalty, and ultimately help them achieve their own big leaps.
When she is not in her office, she might be out skiing or trail running. This is where she does her best creative problem-solving.
To learn more about booking Lisa for consulting, speaking or workshops, visit www.bigleapcreative.com.
"Blogging is like going to the word gym. I practice writing in the same I would go to a gym to get stronger muscles. Writing is a muscle and I try to stay fit for it. "
Is it possible to strive to be a writer and make a living at it? Shelley knew she wanted to be a writer at a young age but how could she make a living doing it? Today is all about making dreams happen.
Shelley quit her job, moved to France for a short period and wrote a book. By the way, she had never written a book of fiction before and had no idea how to do it. She’s going to tell us how she got the idea eventually and how she made it happen.
Shelley's fiction, creative non-fiction, columns, and travel writing have appeared in a range of Canadian and international publications. She won the Fall 2015 Tethered by Letters fiction contest, the 2016 Frank McCourt Prize for Creative Nonfiction, the Winter 2016/2017 Nonfiction prize from Causeway Lit, and the 2017 Fiction prize from Freefall Magazine. The Quintland Sisters, her debut novel, will be published in Canada and the United States in March of 2019. You can order or pre-order depending on when you listen to this, at shelleywood.ca
Born and raised in Vancouver, Shelley divides her time between a full-time home in Kelowna, Canada, and a full-time job in New York, NY, where she is the Editorial Director at the Cardiovascular Research Foundation and Managing Editor at the cardiology news website, TCTMD.
With that, let’s listen in and gear up for what’s next.
Where to Find Shelley
BEFORE YOU LEAVE - If you are enjoying the shows, I hope you’ll subscribe, rate, review and share with your friends!
About Lisa Gerber:
Lisa advises CEOs and senior level management on how to use the power of storytelling and effective communication to influence action and bring ideas to life.
She guides companies through the digital maze of constantly changing tools to build discovery, loyalty, and ultimately help them achieve their own big leaps.
When she is not in her office, she might be out skiing or trail running. This is where she does her best creative problem-solving.
To learn more about booking Lisa for consulting, speaking or workshops, visit www.bigleapcreative.com.
It's hard enough being a kid trying to fit in. Imagine being a brown kid with one leg growing up an affluent and very white Connecticut town. Vasu Sojitra was diagnosed with septicemia at the age of nine months which resulted in the amputation of one of his legs.
He spent much of his youth finding his way in the world. In fact, His TedX Bozeman Talk is titled “What is Your Normal?”
Now, Vasu is the Adaptive Sports Director for Eagle Mount Bozeman, Coordinator for Earthtone Outsideᴹᵀ, the first adaptive Athlete for The North Face.
Vasu shared with me how he managed and what got him through those years. He shared with us how he started skiing, what skiing did for him and how he figured out how to engineer equipment to get him out in the backcountry. And now, now that skiing and the outdoors has restored his self-confidence and belief he can do anything, he’s advocating for all marginalized identities. He talks to us about how we can all be better, more empathetic and inclusive. All of us, no matter how we identify, can be ignorant of how our words, actions (and lack of both) affect others.
For example, there is one word Vasu said people with disabilities absolutely hate. And you’ll have to listen in to find out what it is.
With that, let’s listen in and gear up for what’s next.
Where to Find Vasu
Resources mentioned:
BEFORE YOU LEAVE - If you are enjoying the shows, I hope you’ll subscribe, rate, review and share with your friends!
About Lisa Gerber:
Lisa advises CEOs and senior level management on how to use the power of storytelling and effective communication to influence action and bring ideas to life.
She guides companies through the digital maze of constantly changing tools to build discovery, loyalty, and ultimately help them achieve their own big leaps.
When she is not in her office, she might be out skiing or trail running. This is where she does her best creative problem-solving.
To learn more about booking Lisa for consulting, speaking or workshops, visit www.bigleapcreative.com.
The long-term influence of seemingly small interactions.
Adrienne Lindholm took a life-altering trip at the age of 11 - a cross-country camping trip that expanded this Western Pennsylvania girl’s awareness of what is possible in this life. Now, she lives in Alaska with her husband and two kids is an author and land conservationist.
She has worked for the National Park Service as a backcountry ranger, park planner, compliance officer, and natural resource manager. She now oversees the Wilderness Stewardship Program for the national parks in Alaska.
Twenty years ago, she published several instructional books about backpacking as well as a memoir of her 2,100-mile hike of the Appalachian Trail. More recently, her stories and essays have appeared in a variety of journals and magazines. She recently released her new book It Happened Like This; A Life in Alaska, a beautifully written memoir. I highly recommend but after you listen to our conversation, I know you’ll want to read it too.
In today’s episode, Adrienne and I talk about writing as therapy, her evolving relationship with the wilderness over the decades, and how we tie our self worth to our performance in the outdoors.
You’re going to enjoy this one.
With that, let’s listen in and gear up for what’s next.
Where to Find Adrienne:
BEFORE YOU LEAVE - If you are enjoying the shows, I hope you’ll subscribe, rate, review and share with your friends!
About Lisa Gerber:
Lisa advises CEOs and senior level management on how to use the power of storytelling and effective communication to influence action and bring ideas to life.
She guides companies through the digital maze of constantly changing tools to build discovery, loyalty, and ultimately help them achieve their own big leaps.
When she is not in her office, she might be out skiing or trail running. This is where she does her best creative problem-solving.
To learn more about booking Lisa for consulting, speaking or workshops, visit www.bigleapcreative.com.
Erik Murdock is the Policy Director for the Access Fund whose mission is to protect climbing access and conserve the environment. He represents climbers’ interests and values in Washington, DC while monitoring activities on Capitol Hill to identifying possible threats (and opportunities) to climbing access and conservation.
What draws someone to this type of work, I wondered? You’ll learn more about his journey to where he is now but let me start by saying, you never know the impact a decision or an event can have on the rest of your life. In Erik’s case, it was a cross country road bike trip at the age of 16 (and, he’ll add, a parenting decision on behalf of his mom who actually let him do the trip) that set his life on a huge trajectory.
His various experiences combined the physical sciences with the human dimension to understand how to manage lands and advocate for our interests - those of us who live to play in the wilderness.
I learned a lot talking to Erik and know you will as well, from what types of policies are currently being reviewed by our congress, to the impact of government shutdowns on our environment and how we can stay informed and get involved.
it’s great to have people like Erik advocating for our interests and I was pleasantly surprised by how optimistic he is with the current state of affairs.
With that, let’s listen in and gear up for what’s next.
Where to Find Erik:
File an Access report, subscribe to the monthly policy digest, and get involved:
BEFORE YOU LEAVE - If you are enjoying the shows, I hope you’ll subscribe, rate, review and share with your friends!
About Lisa Gerber:
Lisa advises CEOs and senior level management on how to use the power of storytelling and effective communication to influence action and bring ideas to life.
She guides companies through the digital maze of constantly changing tools to build discovery, loyalty, and ultimately help them achieve their own big leaps.
When she is not in her office, she might be out skiing or trail running. This is where she does her best creative problem-solving.
To learn more about booking Lisa for consulting, speaking or workshops, visit www.bigleapcreative.com.