Hope Virgo suffered with anorexia for over 4 years, before being admitted to a Mental Health Hospital in 2007. She lived in the hospital for a year, fighting one of the hardest battles of her life. Since being discharged, she has fought to stay well. 

Hope has now written about her journey with anorexia, in her book, Stand Tall Little Girl. Hope uses her experiences of mental health illness to champion the rights of others, inspire them to get well, and help break the stigma of mental illness.

Hope lives and works in London. In her spare time, she volunteers for refugee charities, and charities that support young and abandoned children. She is a dedicated runner, and has a keen interest in maintaining good mental health through healthy eating and exercise.

Show notes

• Growing up in Bristol
• Starting to run
• Developing anorexic  
• Having something else to think about
• Being admitted to a mental health hospital at 17
• Learning to talk about her feeling
• Deciding to write about her story
• Learning to open up and being in a place to share her story.
• Taking with her mum while out running
• Her relationship with her mum, why it’s had its ups and downs
• Travelling around South East Asia with her boyfriend
• Why she had to manage her anorexic every day
• Her ‘friend’ - the voice of anorexia
• How her running developed from the cross country team at school, to running half marathons
• Doing her first marathon and over training
• 3.26 marathon…
• Making sure she has rest days
• Trying to not get obsessed with weight training
• The Brighton Marathon
• What she thinks about while running
• Negative thoughts in her head while running
• Where her drive comes from
• Working with schools talking about mental health
• Talking about body image and mental health
• What a typical week looks like
• Life after a marathon
• Cycling across Taiwan & staying with local people
• What she learnt from the experience
• Being an ambassador for Sure Mind Foundation 
• Her book  - Stand Tall Little Girl 

Twitter @HopeVirgo

Facebook @HopeVirgo

Show notes

• Loving sports & science
• Coming from a sporty and academic family
• Playing lacrosse at school and University
• Deciding to take up high altitude mountaineering
• Climbing mountains in South America - Heading to Bolivia to climb 6,000 m peaks
• The struggles she faced at the start - dealing with the cold the wind and the altitude
• How she moved forward with mountaineering
• How she developed her skills with no money
• Climbing a non technical mountain and learning through experience
• The impact of altitude on her body
• The next mountain and heading to Alaska!
• Climbing Denali….with no guide
• Being stuck inside the tent for 12 days…
• The preparation that’s done in advance
• Summit night on Denali
• Fitting in climbing around her PhD
• Funding her expeditions to the Andes
• Collecting data and using the super computer!
• Identifying all of the mountains over 5,000 m in the Andes
• Finding Inca ruins on the summit of mountains
• Getting to name the mountains…
• 106 mountains over 6,000 metres….
• Route planning in modern times
• Adjusting back to life after spending time out in the mountains
• TV opportunity and being approached by the BBC… Do you want to be an Astronaut?!
• The tests!
• Developing resilience
• Being taken outside her comfort zone
• Staying calm under pressure
• Wanting to go into space & astronaut selection..
• Being back in the academic world
• Inspiring the younger generation with outreach programs
• Dreaming about the mountains….
• Having balance in her life… getting up at 5am, running, getting to work at 7 am, work…
• Why routine is so important 
• Learning languages… and why you have to challenge yourself and do things that you aren’t good at
• Persistence, working hard and developing skills

Twitter - @SuzieImberSpace 

Anna, is a British born adventurer, motivational speaker, influencer and author. She was recently named by Condé Nast Traveller as one of the 50 most influential travellers of our time, and by the the Guardian as one of the top modern female adventurers . She is also proud to be the UK Ambassador for Girl Guiding, and the co-founder of Adventure Queens; the UK’s fastest growing women’s adventure community.

Show notes

• Social Media Experiment…. riding across Europe…
• Thinking about journeys 
• Being a planner & getting uncomfortable
• Climbing over her back fence…. left, right, straight on??
• What’s going to happen next?
• Making a change from walking to cycling
• Having an element of control
• Wanting to see the monkeys
• Focusing on the new opportunities & not dwelling on missed opportunities
• Accommodation while on the road
• Warm showers - https://www.warmshowers.org 
• The kindness of strangers and the people she met on the way
• Getting home.. train..plane?
• Going to Gloucester
• The love story…. following your passion
• Trying to be the sunshine in people’s lives
• The next adventure idea!
• Missing her brothers wedding 
• Making it work with Jamie
• Deciding on the route?
• Testing out Kick Scooters
• Loving the mountains and cycling up hills
• Starting at La Paz & being hit with altitude straight away
• Cycling Death Road, as a bikepacker
• Navigation with MapOut
• Accommodation while on the road… Wild camping!
• The challenges on the journey…
• Facing your fears and getting naked!
• The wild dogs…. & being bitten by a dog..
• Travelling with Faye and what she learnt from the experience
• Being ready to finish the adventure & how they celebrated the end!
• Dealing with the post adventure blues…
• Heading over to Canada on a book tour with Jamie….. Plannada….
• Book writing… the Prequel… (Cycling the 50 states America)
• Being an Ambassador for the Girl Guides
• The Adventures Queens….
• The next challenge… A running adventure in 2019
• Final words of advice and wisdom
• Live your life, like no one else is watching!

Connect with Anna - Support & follow!

Website - https://annamcnuff.com 

Twitter - @AnnaMcNuff 

Instagram - @Annamcnuff 

Facebook -  https://www.facebook.com/AMcNuff/ 

Faye found her adventure mojo in 2014, since then she’s taken on a new challenge each year;  from climbing Kilimanjaro, to cycling the length of New Zealand solo and most recently coming back from spending 6 months cycling the Andes.

Show notes

• Living in Cornwall
• Being shy & feeling homesick
• Going to university and taking a gap year 
• Learning to live off very little money
• Spending time in Thailand
• Being called an Adventurer & why she 
• What she got up to after university
• Deciding to climb Kilimanjaro & getting the adventure bug
• Summit night on Kilimanjaro..
• Making changes in her life
• Micro Adventures and meeting new people
• Joining the search and rescue team in Cornwall
• Deciding to cycle the length of New Zealand
• The fears, and making the decision to do it - 
• BE BOLD, COMMIT & GIVE IT A GO!
• Being a planner…
• Getting to meet Anna McNuff
• Starting her cycle ride in the South of NewZealand in 2015
• Crying on the bike and having doubts
• Wanting to quit
• What she learned from her New Zealand experience
• Your vibe attracts your tribe
• Deciding to go on her next Adventure to South America
• Fitness….
• Flying into La Paz and dealing with Altitude
• Being in South America - dealing with standing out, learning Spanish and the physical demands on the body
• Being stung by a scorpion!
• The end of the challenge!
• Adventure Blues and coming to terms with them
• If your going through hell, keep going 
• Why its normal to have hard times
• Changing her career aspirations
• Future dreams and goals
• Why you should do something that scares you!
• Commit to it and be bold

https://fayeshepherd.wordpress.com

Twitter - @Faye_Shepherd  - 

Instagram - @faye_shepherd 

Fiona is an adventurer, speaker and entrepreneur who loves to get outside and push her limits on expeditions big and small, meeting new people and discovering tasty cake stops en route. In 2017 she walked and cycled the length of Britain and in 2018 is due to set a new world record by becoming the first person to SUP Britain. When she's not adventuring you'll find her running Adventure Book Club and coaching entrepreneurs. 

Show notes

• Who is Fiona?
• Being inspired by Al Humphries
• Being an entrepreneur and wanting to direct her own career and life
• Hating the corporate life & quitter her job after 6 weeks
• Setting up her first business
• Getting into cycling
• The freedom of Adventure and what she loves about it
• The self development side of adventure
• Cycling from London to Brighton
• How she ended up cycling the length of Great Britain
• Cycling home for Christmas
• Not being a runner or a swimmer
• Why she loves adventuring on her own
• The challenges she faced while cycling and why she had to stop on her first attempt
• Key learnings from her failures
• Getting to the end of her challenge
• Doing the same challenge again
• Social media and how it interacts on an adventure
• Mental resilience, mental toughness and mindset
• Walking from Land’s End to John O’Goats
• The pains from walking
• Planning at the last minute
• Getting injured
• What she thinks about while walking and why she wants to digitally detox
• People from Instagram
• The plan for 2018 - SUP Britain
• Stand up Paddle Boarding….
• The 3 Lakes Challenge- March
• Dealing with fears & funding for her challenge
• The Adventure Book Club
• #TakeAction
• Words of advice and why you shouldn't be afraid of failure

Website- http://fionalquinn.com

T: @FionaLQuinn

IG: @FionaLQuinn

FB: /FionaLQuinn

M: @FionaLQuinn