Do It In Nature

It's a relatively small group of people who can say they've reached the top of even one of the seven highest mountain summits on each continent of the world. 

Cokie Cox is on a mission to summit all seven of these peaks. She is a mother of two girls, newly married, owner of two asset management companies and a consulting practice, author of two books, and the founder of two non-profits - Everyday Everest and She Climbs. As an avid mountaineer, she has already conquered Mount Elbrus in Russia, Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa (multiple times), Mount Aconcagua in Argentina, and Mount Denali in Alaska. Next on her list is the great Mount Everest. To her, one of the best places on this earth is being above the sun and watching it rise. 

Few outdoor memories are better than the ones by a roaring fire pit with those you love.

Sandy and Steve Schoettle, founders of Sea Island Forge, know this well. With a love for family and friends, artistry, the outdoors, and creating meaningful traditions, they began their company with their signature product, the Sea Island Forge Fire Kettle. They made their successful debut with it at the Sea Island Farmers Market in 2014, and they and their growing team of talented metalsmiths haven’t looked back as they debut new heirloom quality designs regularly. There is a difference between products you buy and throw away because they have no value or significance to you, and high quality, hand-crafted products that get passed down through the generations with the memories attached. Love is forged in the latter.

Sometimes the very best healing in life comes from time with man's best friend.

After Nathan Pettijohn went through a tough breakup, he needed to get away from it all and clear his head. So he rented an RV and set off on a road trip with his beloved pup, Hafa. Recently, he wrote a book about their travels called Travels With Hafa. Nathan is no stranger to writing as he was coauthor on Zen and the Art of Admin Tasks and he's a regular contributing writer for Forbes on topics relating to what business leaders need to know about innovations in media and technology. In addition to being an author, he also founded a digital strategy agency called Cordouroy and is a talent manager in Los Angeles. 

There's likely not an extreme adventure that Joel Ford wouldn't at least try once.

Joel is the kind of guy who is most alive when he's outside. But not just outside hanging out, more like outside and pushing himself to the extreme. He has hiked the entire Appalachian Trail (AT), which is 2,190 miles, and the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), which is 2,653 miles. He regularly participates in expedition racing, which is a multidisciplinary co-ed 2-5 person team sport involving navigation via compass over an unmarked wilderness course with races extending anywhere from two hours up to two weeks in length. His upcoming challenges included applying for the ECO Challenge and trying to break the speed record on canoeing the entire Mississippi River. Joel is definitely a guy you want with you when you get lost in the woods.  

Some people like to hike. Others are legit h-i-k-e-r-s. And there's a big difference.

Shawnté Salabert is the latter. She has hiked the Colorado Trail, Kilimanjaro, the High Sierra, the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), and many other hikes that a mile or so in would make most people turn back. But what makes Shawnté unique is that it's not uncommon for her to turn an incredible hiking adventure into a story. In her words, deserts and mountains – those big locations where one can feel very small – are her favorite places to spend time, and write about. She spent nearly two years hiking and writing about the Pacific Crest Trail... snapping photographs, recording impressions, and hoofing many miles for her book Hiking The Pacific Crest Trail: Southern California, which was released via Mountaineers Books in November 2017. For Shawnté, every day is an adventure. And we certainly can't argue with that.

Not many can truly forgive when someone you love deeply has been brutally taken from you. But Chris Singleton is in a class all his own. As a college athlete and a former pro baseball player, Chris' life was headed in a promising direction. Until, at 18 years old, he lost one of the people most important to him. Chris' mom, Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, was one of the nine who were killed at the hands of a white supremacist who invaded Mother Emanuel Church on June 17, 2015. That moment changed everything for Chris. His mantra, "Love is stronger than hate." is now heard all across the country as he speaks to Fortune 500 companies, schools, churches, and other groups. There is nothing more beautiful in this life than someone who has every right to be angry, release that, and love recklessly. 

Water can be peaceful and an oasis for rest, but it can also be an incredibly powerful force of nature. Kerri and Carly Lawson have always been adventurers at heart. But even the strongest of adventurers sometimes can't hold their own against Mother Nature. In this episode, these two fantastic humans recount their thrilling and terrifying experience of when their kayaking trip on the Yellowstone River went terribly bad, ending up with a Black Hawk helicopter rescue. 

Katie Blomquist believes strongly that the most basic childhood right is a right to joy. And we couldn't agree more. Katie is a former teacher who worked in the low income, high poverty school district. When one of her little 1st grade students, Jawan, asked her for a bike for Christmas, it broke her heart. So much so that she decided to start a Go Fund Me and her non-profit called Going Places, to enable every child in her school to have a bike. Her Go Fund Me went viral and her story was featured all across the country on places like Good Morning America, Steve Harvey, NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, Huffington Post, ABC World News Tonight, and so many more. We absolutely love how Katie is changing lives... one custom bike at a time. 

To say Vernice Armour has accomplished a lot in her lifetime is an incredible understatement. She has two honorary doctorates, has been featured extensively in the media to include Oprah Winfrey, CNN, MSNBC and the View and is a member of the COMCAST/NBCUniversal Joint Diversity Council. She has received awards as a pioneering pilot, to include her commanding role in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). She was the first African American woman on the Nashville Police Department’s motorcycle squad, Camp Pendleton’s 2001 Female Athlete of the Year, two-time titleholder in Camp Pendleton’s annual Strongest Warrior Competition, and a running back for the San Diego Sunfire women’s professional football team. Vernice has also authored Zero to Breakthrough™ (Penguin 2011) where she chronicles the process she utilized to transition from beat cop to America’s First African American Female Combat Pilot. She is an internationally recognized inspirational leadership keynote speaker for premier leadership conferences and Fortune 500 companies.

There are few people who don't love a good day on the water. Michael Fiem, his twin brother, Mark, and their good friend, Michael Malley, started their company in 1996 to help people do just that. Tidal Wave Water Sports is one of only 103 similar companies in the US where they offer parasailing, jet ski safari adventures, wakeboarding, tubing, banana boats, and boat rentals. They enable people to safely discover all the unique wonders of Charleston from the water and experience the local wild life from an entirely new perspective.