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Tough Girl Podcast

The Tough Girl Podcast is all about inspiring and motivating YOU! I will be interviewing inspirational women from around the world, who’ve faced and overcome difficult challenges and situations, they will share their story, their knowledge and provide advice and essential tips for you to overcome your own personal challenges. Please check out the Tough Girl Challenges website - www.toughgirlchallenges.com and follow on twitter @_TOUGH_GIRL
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Now displaying: January, 2023
Jan 31, 2023

Crystal Rose in her own words:

“I am Crystal Hudelson (she/her) a cishet (both cisgender and heterosexual) gender Black woman

I am a foster youth who was brought up by the state. This gives me incredible empathy for marginalized people which is what led me to my work with Climbers of Color (CoC).

I am in love with sport climbing (specifically outdoor leading). Certifications: The American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA) apprentice rock guide, Single Pitch Instructor

All of my climb training focuses on being a solid leader outside on rock. I used to co-host Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC - Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) climb nights for Climbers of Color at Stone Gardens Bellevue since it started there.

Climbers of Color opened up a platform for people like me to connect and teach with the climbing community in the closest way to my heart: Black people, people of color, and marginalized communities.

As my involvement grew, I became part of a new branch of CoC: outdoor rock climbing instruction. My partner and I developed all the instructional programs for rock at CoC and strive to make each course a welcoming, equitable, and informational experience for each participant.

CoC is the entity who has mentored me through the AMGA certification process and trusts I will do a good job. They have placed a confidence in me I have known few other places and I am grateful for it.

Within the BIPOC climbing community, I have seen a wide array of abilities and experience. 

I want you to know that we see you because we are looking. We see you and want to honor you by creating a strong climbing community who shares joy with one another. Bringing one’s culture and ancestral essence into climbing is what will allow us to enter the climbing community as our whole selves.

Fun facts about me: My ancestry is Haitian and Irish. By day I work as an aircraft mechanic in the avionics department on heavy jets and my partner and I are building our first climbing wall in our backyard.

New episodes of the Tough Girl Podcast go live every Tuesday at 7am UK time - Subscribe so you don’t miss out. 

To support the mission to increase the amount of female role models in the media. Sign up as a Patron -  www.patreon.com/toughgirlpodcast. Thank you. 

 

Show Notes

  • Who is Crystal Rose
  • Her current roles
  • What she was like as a little girl
  • Not having the opportunity to go outside much
  • Trying to find her place in the world
  • Getting into rock climbing through her partner Keith
  • Her passion for climbing and the outdoors
  • Meeting Keith and how their relationship developed 
  • Not coming from an athletic background
  • Enjoying the mental aspect of the challenge
  • Managing fear and being able to believe in herself 
  • Her love for sports climbings 
  • Sport Leading Outside and why its her favourite type of climbing 
  • Her journey in getting her climbing qualifications 
  • The American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA) 
  • Single Pitch Instructor Course
  • Needing traditional gear and being supported by the climbing community 
  • Gear Fund Collective - IG @thegearfundcollective 
  • The challenge of finding climbing partners 
  • Managing fear while climbing 
  • The power of breath work and why it is one of the best tools you can use
  • Getting into a mindful space 
  • Falling out of love with climbing in 2021
  • The need for rest and figuring out a balance 
  • Being a Co-director of Climbers of Color (CoC) which was established in 2017
  • Her volunteer role at Climber of Color 
  • Working full time as an airline mechanic 
  • Assisting people to become guides
  • Driving change in the climbing world
  • Having scholarships available 
  • Partnering with the American Alpine Institute 
  • Her passion for writing and sharing on her blog - Rock Rose Blog - Examine the intersection of climbing, Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Color, and policy.  
  • Magical moments while climbing
  • Reflecting back on one of the hardest climbs she’s ever done
  • Not feeling worthy of being able to climb at a certain grade
  • Climb training for sport climbing 
  • Following the Anderson Brothers Training Manual 
  • Mercedes Pollmeier - Longevity Climbing Coach IG @modusathletica 
  • Modus Athletica Website 
  • Working with Climbing Coach Emily Taylor IG @browngirlsclimbing1
  • Brown Girls Climbing - 1st all BIPOC girls & GNB youth pioneering adventure based-climbing from Ohlone Land. Website - https://www.tayloredfitsolutions.com/ 
  • How climbing and your everyday life can cross over
  • Advice for women who want to start climbing and to step outside their comfort zone
  • Look for an affinity group and finding a climbing partner who you connect with 
  • Connecting with people via the internet and social media 
  • Safety is number one and the skills will follow
  • Building her own home climbing wall 
  • The community feel of the project 
  • Deciding to name the climbing wall - the Monolith
  • How to connect with Crystal Rose
  • Final words of advice 
  • Why healing isn’t linear 

 

Social Media

 

Blog - https://rockrose.blog/ 

 

Personal Instagram 

@aroseontherock

@monolith_wall

Go Fund Me - https://www.gofundme.com/f/climbing-wall-dream 

@rockrose.blog - Examine the intersection of climbing, Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Color, and policy.  

 

Climbers of Colour - Creating leaders of color in mountaineering and climbing. Based in Western Washington.

Website: https://www.climbersofcolor.org/ 

IG:  @climbersofcolor

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/134722430557412/about/ 

 
Jan 24, 2023

Victoria is an ambassador for UK charity ‘Women in Sport’. Having developed a love of adventure in her late twenties, she progressed from running and cycling to summits of Mont Blanc, Gran Paradiso and Kilimanjaro. 

In March 2022 she became the fastest female to solo row 2,559 miles across the Atlantic Ocean, finishing in 40 days, 21 hours and 1 minute and knocking 8.5 days off the previous Guinness World Record.

Outside of adventure, Victoria is a sports and media lawyer with over ten years of experience practising in both the UK and Switzerland. Having held roles in both European and Olympic federations, as well as commercial media organisations, she focuses on the development and negotiation of sports sponsorship and licensing, media creation and distribution, and sports governance. She uses her legal training to tackle gender equality in sport, securing the first written pregnancy deferral policy of an organised race in February 2022 when Ironman agreed to collaborate, and now focusing heavily on safeguarding.

 

New episodes of the Tough Girl Podcast go live every Tuesday at 7am UK time - Subscribe so you don’t miss out. 

You can support the Tough Girl mission to increase the amount of female role models in the media - especially in relation to adventure and physical challenge by signing up as a patron. www.patreon.com/toughgirlpodcast. Thank you. 

 

Show Notes

  • Who is Victoria 
  • Woking as a commercial lawyer
  • Being based in London
  • Growing up in the countryside in Yorkshire
  • Not being interested in sports as a young age
  • Getting into fitness in her mid/late 20s
  • Deciding to become a lawyer
  • Wanting to become financially secure
  • Training in Manchester and working long hours
  • Moving to Switzerland and getting into the outdoor lifestyle
  • Doing her first (and only) triathlon
  • Getting into climbing mountains
  • Where the dream to row the Atlantic Ocean came from
  • Wanting to make a change 
  • Doing work with UN Women 
  • Doing research into ocean rowing
  • The reasons behind the challenge
  • Being inspired by the women on the tough girl podcast
  • The practical steps taken to make the dream a reality 
  • Having to quit her job to take on the ocean row
  • Taking a leap of faith and finding a way to make it happen
  • Connecting with Women in Sport
  • Sorting out the basics
  • Rannoch Adventures 
  • Securing her title sponsor at the end of 2019
  • Sitting her ocean rowing exams in Feb 2020
  • Going into lockdown in March 2020
  • Planning to go in 2021 and needing to postpone to 2022
  • Dealing with new challenges and setbacks
  • Deciding to go freelance as a lawyer
  • Dealing with the stress before getting to the start line
  • Having a fantastic support network
  • The start of the challenge
  • Structure on the boat?!
  • The challenges while on the boat
  • The magical moments while out on the water
  • Focusing on the good
  • What are you doing? Why are you here?
  • The mental side of the row
  • Having no let up at all 
  • Needing to be the one to fix every problem and every issue
  • Getting through the tough days 
  • Making history and breaking records
  • Not wanting to do another adventure at this level
  • Wanting to help and support athletes with safeguarding issues
  • Looking after her own mental health 
  • Taking a break from exercise and fitness
  • How to connect with Victoria 
  • The importance of knowing your why and why you are passionate about it
  • Back yourself
  • Listening to multiple episodes of the Tough Girl Podcast

 

Social Media

Website www.seachangesport.com 

Instagram @seachangesport  

 

 

Jan 17, 2023

Phillipa in her own words:

“I’ve been an OS GetOutside Champion since 2020, I’m the Chief Volunteer Queen for Adventure Queens South Wales and deputy chair of the Brecon Beacons National Park LAF. 

I’ve just turned 50 and am not your stereotypical outdoor type. I’ve never been great at sports and I’m not a pretty sight puffing and panting up a mountain. But being outdoors makes me feel alive – it’s my soul food. 

My goal is to encourage more women of every age, size, ability and background to participate in outdoor activities and that’s what I do for Adventure Queens South Wales. 

Adventure Queens is an online UK-based community of more than 20,000 women. Its goal is to encourage, inspire and educate more women to get outside. 

Over the past four years I’ve organised weekends away (camping, surfing, scrambling, climbing, hiking, climbing, kayaking and wild swimming), day walks, social evenings and walked the 99-mile Beacons Way. On top of that I’ve given live online talks, organised virtual meet ups and mentored new members. 

AQ has transformed my own life. I was a cautious day walker before I joined, but since then I’ve become a seasoned camper, I’ve completed multi-day hikes, learned scrambling, climbing, surfing and paddle-boarded – I keep pinching myself as I can’t believe this is really me!”

New episodes of the Tough Girl Podcast go live every Tuesday at 7am UK time - Subscribe so you don’t miss out. 

You can support the Tough Girl mission to increase the amount of female role models in the media - especially in relation to adventure and physical challenge by signing up as a patron. www.patreon.com/toughgirlpodcast. Thank you. 

 

Show Notes

  • Who is Phillipa?
  • Being the Chief Queen for Adventure Queens, South Wales
  • Working as a journalist
  • Spending all her free time in the mountains 
  • How life has changed over the past 4 years
  • Growing up in Hampshire
  • Her passion for the outdoors 
  • Wanting to do more stuff outside - but not knowing how to go about it
  • The start of her journalism career
  • Meeting her partner who was outdoorsy at 28
  • Her gateway to the outdoors
  • Developing new skills and building confidence in navigation and map reading
  • Staying in her comfort zone
  • The Beacons Way - 99 mile thru-hike
  • First hearing about the Adventure Queens
  • Being inspired to say yes and take on new challenges
  • Deciding to run the Adventure Queens South Wales Group
  • Finding people to walk the Beacons Way with
  • Connecting with like minded people
  • The first weekend of the challenge
  • You have to start somewhere
  • The sense of achievement at the end
  • Learning to camp and wild camp
  • Advice for women who do want to start spending time in the outdoors
  • The benefits of social media and how it can be used to connect with others with similar interests
  • Dealing with her fears before her first meet up
  • Being inspired by Kate Adie 
  • Her role as the Chief Queen for the South Wales Group
  • Her dreams for 2023
  • Cycling in Bosnia 
  • Documenting the journey and speaking with ITV
  • Advice for planning events and challenges 
  • Fitness regime and doing what she loves
  • Getting into running during lockdown 
  • Reframing running to trotting 
  • Final words of advice - “think about what you want to do and if you don’t know what you want to do, try lots of different things”
  • The support from women in all women groups 
  • Think about what you want to do and give it ago

 

Social Media

Instagram @phillipacherryson 

Adventure Queens - Non-profit women’s adventure community 

Website: adventurequeens.co.uk 

Instagram: @adventurequeensuk

Facebook: @AdventureQueens 

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyTRW_ulgP09i7EhU1vdAAw 

The Adventure Queens Grant 

 

 

Jan 10, 2023

Katrina Megget is an ordinary woman who dared to believe she was more than she thought she was. After three years of listening to her self-doubt and the negative voice in her head that told her she wasn't good enough she finally set out to walk the 3,000km (1,864 mile) Te Araroa Trail down the length of New Zealand, her home country. 

A knee injury led to her having to pull out once she got to the South Island but she was determined to complete the trail so returned the next season. Unfortunately, covid lockdowns stopped her seven days from reaching the finish but by that point she had realised she didn’t need to walk the trail to prove she was enough. 

She is now writing a book on her experience on the trail, her battle with self-doubt and self-worth and dealing with an emotionally abusive relationship.

Katrina then spent three and a half months sailing around the coast of Great Britain with her new partner on a 28-foot boat. She had only a handful of days sailing experience, didn’t know the lingo, didn’t know if she would get seasick and had no idea if she would even enjoy it!

Katrina, who is from New Zealand but lives in the UK, works as a freelance journalist who speaks and writes on the power within all of us to empower others to believe in themselves so they can be the people they want to be.

 

New episodes of the Tough Girl Podcast go live every Tuesday at 7am UK time - Subscribe so you don’t miss out. 

You can support the Tough Girl mission to increase the amount of female role models in the media - especially in relation to adventure and physical challenge by signing up as a patron. www.patreon.com/toughgirlpodcast. Thank you. 

 

Show Notes

  • Who is Katrina
  • Originally from New Zealand but living in the UK for the past 16 years
  • Working as a health care journalist and writing adventure travel articles
  • Deciding to move to the UK after have her OE - “Overseas Experience” 
  • Being more academic focused rather than outdoorsy
  • Getting into the outdoors via her partner
  • Joining a mountaineering club in the UK
  • Her journey into the outdoors 
  • Pushing herself outside her comfort zone
  • Trying to climb 40 volcanoes before she turned 40
  • Where the idea came from and the reason why
  • Having 5 years to complete the challenge
  • Wanting to do something epic
  • Being fascinated by volcanoes 
  • Why things didn’t go according to plan
  • Making changes to the challenges
  • Climbing Mt. Vesuvius, Italy 
  • Your challenge - Your rules
  • Coming to understand her reason why
  • Dealing with chronic self doubt and not feeling good enough to do anything
  • Wanting to prove to herself that she as good enough 
  • Walking the length of New Zealand
  • Not being able to live up to her own expectations
  • Being a high achiever and a perfectionist 
  • Wanting to do adventure and why it does’t have to be epic
  • Adventure is something which is pushing you outside your comfort zone
  • Wanting to be in the growth zone
  • Having big dreams and ambitions 
  • Dealing with negative thoughts 
  • Why starting is the hardest thing
  • Making the decision to walk the length of NZ
  • Taking the first steps and the process involved 
  • Starting with research and guidebooks
  • Getting over her fear of kayaking 
  • Taking it one step at a time
  • Making the decision to commit and jumping into the unknown
  • Why the unknown doesn’t have to be scary
  • Keeping your mind open to new possibilities 
  • The start of the challenge
  • Dealing with doubts
  • Wanting to finish the journey 
  • Going back after taking a break
  • The mental and physical side of the challenge
  • Dealing with a knee injury and needing to adjust her plans
  • Learning about sailing and wanting to sail around GB
  • Communicating with your partner while on the boat
  • Day to day life on the boat
  • The route around Great Britain
  • How to connect with Katrina
  • Advice for dealing with self doubt

 

Social Media

 

Website www.katrinamegget.com 


LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/katrinamegget 


Public Facebook page www.facebook.com/KatMegget 


Twitter @katrinamegget 


Instagram @katrinamegget

 
Jan 3, 2023

Dr. Anu Taranath brings both passion and expertise to her work as a speaker, facilitator, author and educator. 

A University of Washington professor for the past 20+ years, she has also received the Seattle Weekly’s “Best of Seattle” recognition, the University's Distinguished Teaching Award, and multiple US Fulbright Fellowships to work abroad. 

As a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and racial equity consultant Dr. Anu offers coaching, training and facilitation services, and has partnered with over 300 clients from Amazon to the Raging Grannies. 

Her book "Beyond Guilt Trips: Mindful Travel in an Unequal World" was named a finalist for several book awards including the Washington State Book Award and included in Oprah Magazine’s “Best 26 Travel Books of All Times.

Aun in her own words:

“As the daughter of immigrants who has grown up between two cultures, I often draw on my personal experience as a way to connect with and amplify the voices of those who have historically not been heard. As a scholar and academic, I also know that racial equity work is challenging, emotional, institutional, and personal. 

I’ve taught about global issues, race, gender, identity, and equity to thousands of students, presented at high-profile as well as more humble events, and collaborated with social change agents and innovative thinkers around the world. I partner with clients for the long haul and strive to build inclusivity and collaboration, inviting people into conversation.”

 

New episodes of the Tough Girl Podcast go live every Tuesday at 7am UK time - Subscribe so you don’t miss out. 

You can support the Tough Girl mission to increase the amount of female role models in the media - especially in relation to adventure and physical challenge by signing up as a patron. www.patreon.com/toughgirlpodcast. Thank you. 

 

Show Notes

  • Who is Dr. Anu
  • Being based in Seattle in the USA
  • Working as a professor for the University of Washington 
  • Is it possible to travel well in an unequal world?
  • Her job and roles
  • How do we deal with history in the present?
  • Her family and love for travel
  • Her experience of not feeling a sense of belonging
  • Introducing students to new places in the world
  • Finding yourself through travel
  • Her first solo travel experience through university
  • Spending 1.5 yrs in India
  • Figuring out who we should be
  • Following a very traditional academic road
  • Studying computer science, but not finding her passion
  • Not knowing what she wanted to do 
  • Finding passion in discussions on social issues
  • How do we travel and be aware of the inequities that structure our world
  • Book: "Beyond Guilt Trips: Mindful Travel in an Unequal World”
  • How to navigate uncomfortable feelings 
  • Working in collaboration and community with many change makers
  • Travelling with privileges 
  • Wanting to use our privileges to help others 
  • Why our goal should be to travel mindfully
  • What is ethical travel?
  • Why ethics is never just a tickbox exercise 
  • Understanding my place in an unequal world
  • Going through the hard things to get to the other side
  • Getting more comfortable with my discomfort 
  • Feeling bad is not a strategy of social justice
  • Thinking and reflecting on travel and why it doesn’t feel like work
  • Feeling joyous and alive while engaging in tricky conversations 
  • The importance of different types of conversations 
  • Learning about the world and ourselves 
  • How to connect with Dr. Anu
  • Final words of advice and what Dr. Anu has learned from her travels
  • Feeling grateful for being part of the community of change makers around the world 

 

Social Media

Website www.anutaranath.com 

Instagram @dr.anutaranath 

 

 

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