This week on the Tough Girl Podcast, I’m joined by Margie Goldsmith — an award-winning writer, journalist, and adventurer who proves that it’s never too late to reinvent yourself or chase new challenges.
At 81 years old, Margie is still boxing, biking, climbing mountains, and living life with unstoppable energy. Her new book, Becoming a Badass: From Fearful to Fierce, shares her remarkable journey from a fearful young woman growing up in a dysfunctional family to a confident, adventurous storyteller who’s visited 150 countries and built a life full of courage and curiosity.
In this episode, we talk about how Margie learned to turn fear into fuel, why Paris was the turning point in her life, how she’s stayed strong and active through the decades, and why movement, recovery, and mindset are key to living fully at any age.
Tune in for a funny, fearless, and deeply inspiring conversation that celebrates the power of saying yes to life — no matter how old you are.
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Show notes
- Who is Margie
- Living in New York City
- Writer, journalist, novelist, essayist
- Her new book: Becoming a Badass: From Fearful to Fierce
- Visiting 150 countries
- Her early years
- Coming from a dysfunctional family
- Being told she was not good enough
- Escaping by going into the woods
- Moving all the time and having to make new friends
- Getting into sports to make friends
- Proving that she was good enough, and not less than
- Being on her own from a young age
- Graduating from college and seeing a flyer to go to Europe for the summer
- Wanting to escape her mother
- Heading to Paris for the summer in 1965
- Deciding to stay in Paris and beginning her grown up life
- Her transition to Margie the Adventurer
- 81 years old - boxing, riding her bike, moving,
- Climbing Mt Etna at 80
- Moving from feeling fearful to fierce
- Why Paris was the turning point
- Not wanting children
- Meeting an older man, (27 years older…)
- Smoking back in the day
- Travelling in the 1960s
- Deciding where to go and what to do
- Starting her first novel (Screw Up)
- Working as an extra in films
- Meeting husband number 1!
- Pressure from family/society to get married?
- Learning to hold her own
- Meeting husband number 2!
- Living the high life and getting bored
- How going rafting on the Colorado river changed things
- Trying things that scared her
- Gaining new confidence
- Going to advance base camp at Mt. Everest
- Getting into marathon running!
- Trying a triathlon in Cuba
- Being diagnosed with a tumour in her pancreas
- Becoming a type 1 diabetic
- Getting through the operations
- Still feeling the feelings of fear
- Writing her book and why she loved it
- Deciding to give her body to science
- Being in her 80s and moving towards the end stages
- Doing everything she wants to do
- Living life day by day
- Keep doing the little adventures
- Talk yourself into things, not out of things
- Why you don’t need to travel to find the fun and the adventure
- Keeping her goals inside her
- Doing everything she can to stay healthy and why it means physical movement
- The trends of fitness and how they have changed
- Move it or lose it
- Getting weekly massages
- Aim Health - Treatments
- The importance of recovery
- How to connect with Margie
- Going on to TikTok!
- Advice for people who do feel/have felt less than
- Find a mentor who you trust
- Listen to yourself and your gut
- Go find something to make you feel good
Social Media
Website: margiegoldsmith.com
Facebook: Masters Of The Harmonica
Book: Becoming a Badass: From Fearful to Fierce