“We help people break through barriers in their lives and tap into the human spirit,” Weihenmayer said, “and figuring out ways to reclaim their lives and elevating the world.”

As an educator, Erik Weihenmayer is focused on the “No Barriers” mindset, which focuses on believing that what’s within you is stronger than what’s in your way. As a blind person, he gets a lot of physical satisfaction from going into remote places and navigating them with his other senses.

“Like going to a top of a mountain and being able to use what blind people call ‘echolocation,’” Weihenmayer said, “which is listening for a sound, sound vibrations moving through space, bouncing off objects giving you information.”

Weihenmayer wasn’t born blind, and total blindness happened around the start of high school. He always had impaired vision, but he still could do everyday things like riding a bike. The change came gradually, but he felt like a prisoner in his mind for a while afterward.

“I remember sitting in the cafeteria listening to all the excitement passing me by,” he said.