Guin was introduced to rowing by her sister at 19 whilst at Southampton University. In her early years Guin excelled in a variety of school sports, playing county hockey and athletics.

During this podcast we learn more about the set backs that Guin faced trying to follower her dream, from being told she would never make it as a rower, to being so broke she was sleeping on changing room floors.

This is a story of courage and conviction and how by work hard, using everything you have you can achieve your goals.

Guin provides lots of top tips to help you face your own challenges, and also shares more knowledge on how you can take up rowing and maybe one day row an ocean!

Show notes

• When she started rowing
• Loving sport at school and how she learnt the rules of life through sport
• Rowing in the novice pot and taking 3 years to win it
• What she loved about rowing
• Growing up in West Africa and going to boarding school when she was 9
• Being expelled from school at 11
• Deciding she wanted to go to the Olympics
• Making the GB Team
• Having to work hard at her technique
• Not making the team and being told she was too small and that she would never be an international rower
• Being ranked 8th in the world in the single scull
• 5’7 tall
• Having no money and not being able to afford to go to her first World Championships
• Sleeping on floors and trying to cut her outgoings
• How she get’s over disappointment
• Her first World Championships rowing in the single scull
• The challenges she has faced throughout her international rowing career
• Dealing with injury before the 2000 Olympics
• The 2000 Olympics, the challenges, the race, the day, the experience
• Having to change the crew 5 weeks before the race
• Being coached by Mike Spracklen
• Having a race off for the last place in the boat
• Team makers & Drivers
• Dealing with the pressure when the world is watching you
• Being able to turn on the raw emotion at the right time
• 4 cms…..
• What it was like afterwards
• Getting back into rowing and stroked the women 8 at the World Championships
• Struggling with overtraining
• Deciding to retire from rowing at 34
• Deciding to row the English Channel
• Waiting 4 months for the right weather to row the channel
• The start of her expedition career
• Not letting people erode your belief
• Surround yourself with people who believe in you 
• The Youth Sport Trust 
• Turning the BIG 50!
• Her rowing plan for the summer - Outrigger Canoeing…
• Advice if you want to get into rowing 

Social Media

Twitter @guinbatten

Feeling inspired week after week? 

You can do 3 easy things to help me continue to grow the podcast!

1. Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes, so you won’t miss a single episode
2. If you’re loving the podcast, please leave a 5-star review on iTunes! I read every single comment!
3. Share the podcast with your friends, especially if you think it could help them, and spread the #ToughGirlPodcast love. 

Your support helps me continue to grow the podcast and do inspiring things in this space! Already done all 3? You’re a rockstar! Thank you!

Want to do more?

Please become a Patron and donate a small fixed amount every month to help fund the runnings costs. 

Kim broke her neck while doing a backflip on her snowboard. After making a complete recovery, she reinserted adventure back into her life with things like competing in big mountain snowboarding and even going to school to learn how to become a stunt woman. 

She is the Editor-in-Chief of Purpose2Play.com, a U.S. based digital publication that tells the positive and inspiring stories in sports. She routinely explores how and why athletes are able to overcome great physical and mental challenges. She believes that the talent she has for telling others' stories is rooted in her own desire to challenge herself physically and mentally and live her life at full throttle.

Show notes

• Where she is now and where she grew up
• Why she is a story teller first
• Being fearless since a young age
• Snowboarding off the roof when she was 8 years old
• Loving spending time outside
• Not knowing what she wanted to do
• Having to change career direction
• Becoming a sports writer and being willing to try something new
• Being in a major snowboarding accident when she was 28 years old
• Dealing with recovery
• Her identity and how it was tied to being an athlete
• Using writing to help her recovery and reflect on what had happened
• Wanting to get back to snowboarding and eventually getting back to the snow
• Doing another backflip and reclaiming herself as an athlete
• Where the idea for Purpose2Play came from and why they focus on the positive stories
• Why play is an important component in life
• Being inspired by Juliana Buhring
• Her vision for Purpose2Play
• Still competing in big mountain snowboarding
• What’s going through her head before she starts a competition
• 11, 11, 11,
• Going to stunt school and how it all came about
• What her parents think!
• Her plans for the coming year
• Writing a children's book
• Why she wants to focus more on mental health 
• Nikki Kimble and how she deals with her depression
• Dealing with the adventure blues
• 14,000 ft mountains and her goals to climb 58 by the time she turns 48!
• Wanting to go bungy jumping!

Social Media

Twitter @KimCon14  @Purpose2Play 

Instagram @KimCon14

Website http://www.purpose2play.com/

Feeling inspired week after week? 

You can do 3 easy things to help me continue to grow the podcast!

1. Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes, so you won’t miss a single episode
2. If you’re loving the podcast, please leave a 5-star review on iTunes! I read every single comment!
3. Share the podcast with your friends, especially if you think it could help them, and spread the #ToughGirlPodcast love. 

Your support helps me continue to grow the podcast and do inspiring things in this space! Already done all 3? You’re a rockstar! Thank you!

Want to do more?

Please become a Patron and donate a small fixed amount every month to help fund the runnings costs. 

Show notes

• Being a free spirit
• Growing up with 3 older sisters
• Being a spoiled brat while growing up
• Leaving home at 18 to travel
• Hopping around for 4 years, changing countries and jobs
• Dealing with anxiety at college
• Living on her own, working on her own and doing it all on her own
• Every step took her further and further away from home
• Dealing with a broken heart and trying to fill the empty void
• Arriving in Mexico - sorting out a job and a place to live within 3 days
• Doing Jaguar conservation work
• Leaving Mexico after 4 months
• Duolingo for learning languages
• Deciding to sail home across the Atlantic
• Crewbay.com 
• The cow scull
• Trying to get to the boat with no money 
• Sailing to England 
• Surviving on four hour sleeps
• Having an argument and not being able to get out 
• Sailing to Ireland and not England!
• Getting itch feet and wanting to get travelling again
• Cycling Ecuador to Argentina with no money
• Operation South America
• Getting her plans in place and dealing with the negativity
• Why you should smile at strangers
• The mental and emotional challenges of her trip
• Asking for help, asking for food
• How she coped when her fiancé was in an accident
• Having Ness Knight come out to join the trip
• What she learn’t from the South American cycle
• Being emotional once she was back at home
• What’s on her bucket list
• Her message that she advocates - “follow your dreams”
• Why you’ll learn from failure

Social Media

Twitter @laurabingham

Instagram @laurabingham 

Feeling inspired week after week? 

You can do 3 easy things to help me continue to grow the podcast!

1. Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes, so you won’t miss a single episode
2. If you’re loving the podcast, please leave a 5-star review on iTunes! I read every single comment!
3. Share the podcast with your friends, especially if you think it could help them, and spread the #ToughGirlPodcast love. 

Your support helps me continue to grow the podcast and do inspiring things in this space! Already done all 3? You’re a rockstar! Thank you!

Want to do more?

Please become a Patron and donate a small fixed amount every month to help fund the runnings costs. 

EXPEDITIONS:

 •First female to stand up paddleboard 1000 miles (Missouri river, USA)

•Cycled solo + unsupported 2000 miles across the USA

•First female in history to swim the length of the Thames River (UK)

•400 mile run – 15 marathons back-to-back (London to Land’s End, UK)

•Namib Desert solo fatbike expedition (2016)

•Upcoming: Record attempt – first female to row the Pacific Ocean solo and non-stop

Show notes

• Not being a natural adventurer
• Coming to exploring later on in life
• Being an accidental adventurer 
• Deciding to change her life
• Looking for her passion in life
• Losing her best friend at university
• Deciding she no longer wanted to be an introvert and what she did to change it
• What would you do, if you could not fail
• Her conservative family and growing up in South Africa
• Why we need more females in endurance sports getting the spot light 
• Her list of how to live rather than things to do
• Her fear of failure
• Losing her best friend at 20 years old
• Deciding to live her life her way
• Deciding to do SUP - Missouri River - 1,000 miles
• Being inspired by Roz Savage - (Listen to Roz on the Tough Girl Podcast)
• Enjoying the solo journey 
• Courage & confidence 
• Her fears before her first solo cycle
• Trusting her gut instincts and how it improved her confidence
• How she’s been building her career and what she’s been focusing on
• Having her vision of what she wants to do with her life
• How she decides on what to do
• Swimming the Thames and the challenges she faced; the cold, dealing with Raynaud’s Disease, spending 10 hours in the water, dealing with the isolation and the pressure
• What’s going on in her head while she's doing these challenges and why she ends up writing books in her head
• What she’s learnt about her mindset and her mental resilience 
• Why her strength in life is to see everything positively
• Why you need to smile!
• Watch an Amy Cuddy TED Talk - Your body language shapes who you are
• 2016 challenges - Joining Laura Bingham in Bolivia for her cycle (with no money) challenge
• Heading to Namibia - to be the first person ever to solo cycle across the world’s oldest desert, the Namib.
• The worst decision she has ever made while being on an adventure
• Being humble and making smart decisions
• The Pacific Row and why it’s been 7 years in the making
• Planning for the challenge and wanting to build her own boat
• Costs of the challenge
• Working with a performance coach
• The power of visualisation
• Final words of advice and top tips for you
• Watch TED Talk- The power of vulnerability By Brené Brown

“My expeditions and work have taken me to some amazing corners of the world, but there is still so much more to discover.”

Social Media

Twitter - @Ness_Knight

Instagram  - @Ness_Knight

Facebook  - @explorernessknight

Website - http://www.nessknight.com 

Next Week

Laura Bingham will be coming on the Tough Girl Podcast  to share more about her life and cycle throughout South America

Feeling inspired week after week? 

You can do 3 easy things to help me continue to grow the podcast!

1. Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes, so you won’t miss a single episode
2. If you’re loving the podcast, please leave a 5-star review on iTunes! I read every single comment!
3. Share the podcast with your friends, especially if you think it could help them, and spread the #ToughGirlPodcast love. 

Your support helps me continue to grow the podcast and do inspiring things in this space! Already done all 3? You’re a rockstar! Thank you!

Want to do more?

Please become a Patron and donate a small fixed amount every month to help fund the runnings costs.