Love Your Story: Stories and discussions about personal growth, mindset and living with intention

Interview with Annadel Lemon – Take Back Your Power

During the month of August we had a series of podcasts, one each week, that dealt with the 5 steps of reframing the parts of our stories that are hard, shameful, full of regrets, etc. — the difficult parts of our tales that often hold us back until we can accept them and find the value in the experience. This reframing is such a powerful tool, and on today’s podcast I am excited to interview Annadel Lemon. who has done some massive reframing and has her own way of making that process work.

When Annadel was 15 years old her father shot her mother and then killed himself in a tragedy that certainly created a difficult story for Annadel. Instead of letting her story hold her back Annadel, “The Freedom Warrior,” instead decided to use her experiences of overcoming negative emotional trauma to help others clearly see their potential and do the same thing, reframing with gratitude, perspective shifts, and allowing for the grief of the moment to be okay. She uses tried and true mentoring techniques and lessons learned on her own journey to help others be more successful, healthy and create better relationships in their lives.

Annadel has shared her message on TV, radio, and she has two audio CD’s: “Trauma Mamas: Self Care for Adoptive Parents of hard Kids” and “Brain Scrub: Cleaning out Negative Thoughts to Make Room For the Good Stuff.” That one sounds like it’s right up our alley.

So today, Annadel is going to tell her story and share some of her insights into how to be free from negative emotional trauma by the reframing that we discuss here on the podcast.

Welcome Annadel

Let’s start with your story. Do you mind taking us to the story of your traumatic event and then walking us through how you reframed and used it to help catapult you into helping other get free from their difficult stories.

Tune in to the podcast for my discussion with Annadel about her early tragedies and how she overcame them.

To contact Annadel:

[email protected]

www.thefreedomwarrior.com – you can find her audio CD’s on her site.

We all have trauma of different shapes and sizes in our lives. We all have parts of our stories that need a reframe, unless we’ve already done the work, it’s a part of living. Sometimes we’ve already buried them, sometimes they just haunt us, sometimes we pretend they aren’t there, but in my work on the podcast and in Annadel’s work we both seek to bring to light techniques for breaking free from the events and stories that hold us back – so we can be free.  If this has been interesting and you know that reframing would serve you, go back and listen to episodes 46-50 to get a break down of all 5 steps and ideas to consider and steps to follow as you reframe. Also, in today’s show notes you’ll find the contact information for Annadel Lemon if you wish to get in touch with her.

Also on the website, don’t miss the free e-book/audio book – it comes in both formats – THE KEY TO YOUR SUPER SELF – How YOUR stories unlock your power!  Totally free – go grab a copy and get on the path to better understanding how to harness the power of your stories.

See you next week and I hope you’re having a great holiday season.

INTERVIEW WITH EMILY CHIPMAN – MANAGING THE STORIES OTHERS HAVE ABOUT US

Is it important to address or manage the stories other people have about us? Is it even possible to change the stories others have about us?

Welcome back to Love Your Story interview land. Today I bring to you Emily Chipman, a woman and executive coach that I first met in one of my Story Launchpad workshops. She stood out to me because her additions to the conversations we were having were so insightful and spot on that I knew this woman had some great experience and real talent for coaching people.

Emily is an executive coach with Rusman Consulting, working inside businesses and with business professionals to instigate leader and team behavioral change. Her mission is to make life better for both the leaders and those she works with, and she is truly engaging, uplifting, focused and exceptional at what she does. I’d like to also let you know, that while many can call themselves life coaches, and many do, Emily is actually accredited and trained as a coach. She is accredited by the International Coaching Federation and is one of a select number of coaches in the world certified to use the top behavioral coaching method – the Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Centered Coaching, which she does use with businesses all over the country. Stay tuned because we are going to talk about something we haven’t discussed before on the podcast – the idea of how we can manage the stories that others have about us. This is new ground and I’m excited to get into this discussion on how to do this.

Stories are our lives in language. Welcome to the Love Your Story podcast. I’m Lori Lee, and I’m excited for our future together of telling stories, evaluating our own stories, and lifting ourselves and others to greater places because of our control over our stories. This podcast is about empowerment and giving you, the listener, ideas to work with in making your stories work for you. Power serves you best when you know how to use it.

Tune into the podcast for my discussion with Emily.

For more information on Emily and her work you can contact her at:

[email protected]  and www.propelscoaching.com

Interview with Sherri Lewis Wood – National Founder and Board Chair of One Warm Coat

As we round our way toward Christmas I wanted to do an interview with someone, or some group, who are serving and loving on people and creating something good in the world. Here in Utah winters are cold and having a good coat is crucial to survival, so when I met up with the organization One Warm Coat I was excited to get their story. One Warm Coat is a national non-profit organization that works to provide a free, warm coat to any person in need. They support anyone –  individuals, groups, companies, and organizations across the country by providing the tools and resources needed to hold a successful coat drive. Coats are distributed in the communities where they were collected, to children and adults in need, without charge, discrimination or obligation. Since One Warm Coat’s inception in 1992, they have worked with our volunteers to host more than 27,000 coat drives and have given away more than 5 million coats. Stay with me for an interview with Sherri Lewis Wood, the National Founder and Board Chair of One Warm Coat.

Stories are our lives in language. Welcome to the Love Your Story podcast. I’m Lori Lee, and I’m excited about our future together of telling stories, evaluating our own stories, and lifting ourselves and others to greater places because of our control over our stories. This podcast is about empowerment and giving you, the listener, ideas to work with in making your stories work for you.  Story power serves you best when you know how to use it.

Tune into the audio for the interview, but for more information on how to start a coat drive of your own go to:

www.onewarmcoat.org

In 2015 USA Today reported that cold kills 20 times more people than heat does, and an article in 2016 by Climate Depot claims that the US annual averages 144,000 deaths from cold. I’ve often seen the homeless in the winter an wondered how they survived, or on really horrible cold nights thanked God for a roof and a warm haven all the while worrying about those out in the cold. While solving poverty, homelessness and all the world’s problems is too large a project for anyone to take on, One Warm Coat has a great system for helping communities help themselves.

At this time of year where we focus on giving and the chilly air signals cozy fireplaces, hot cocoa, and TV bingeing, here’s a way, another idea for spreading some love in your community. Have a wonderful holiday season and share the love this year by sharing this podcast with someone you love. If there’s an episode that struck you as really meaningful, think of someone else who would gain from it and pass it along. Tis the season.

You can find us at www.loveyour storypodcast.com along with Love Your Story T-shirts for Christmas presents and freebies to help you get started on your own story work. Go get the free audio book/e book – you can get it in either form: The Key to Your Super Self – How your stories unlock your power, and get started on the fabulous path to creating your best story this coming year.

Episode 62 Stories of Appreciation: Giving Thanks

I read a quote once that said, “A person who feels appreciated will always do more than what is expected.” I’m not sure who said it, but I know this is true because of how I feel when someone shows appreciation to me. It’s one of the easiest equations and it never fails: when we show appreciation to another person that person is more likely to help again, they are going to feel great, and they are going to try to exceed your expectations. It’s November, and it’s the month of giving thanks, so I thought I’d do a special episode on what it looks like when we reach out and show appreciation for the people in our lives. Stay tuned for stories from the people who got involved and what that looked like.

Stories are our lives in language. Welcome to the Love Your Story podcast. I’m Lori Lee, and I’m excited for our future together of telling stories, evaluating our own stories, and lifting ourselves and others to greater places because of our control over our stories. This podcast is about empowerment and giving you, the listener, ideas to work with in making your stories work for you. Story power serves you best when you know how to use it.

William James, well-known psychologist and philosopher, said, “The deepest principle of human nature is a craving to be appreciated.”  We all want and need to feel valued for who we are and we love being recognized for our contributions and accomplishments. It’s important for us to know that we have made a difference in the world and to the people around us. When a person takes the time to express real appreciation for something we have done it builds our self-confidence, but more importantly it helps us know we are seen, our efforts have been accepted, and it empowers us. More often than not a simple appreciation also infuses an energy and motivation to work harder and do more. It’s powerful stuff.

So, I thought I’d proffer a challenge to a few folks around the Northern hemisphere. We’ve got some folks from Utah, from Ohio, even from Canada. Here’s what happened: I extended a challenge to 18 people to participate in this challenge by taking some time to identify someone in their life who is underappreciated, then to show them appreciation and report back on how that went. Of the 18 I challenged, only 5 were willing to take the time to share some appreciation with the people in their lives. These are the wonderful stories of those 5 fabulous people and what went down when they reached out – in their own lives as well as in the lives of those they reached out to.

Tune in for these 5 stories from these folks who are creating some good in their stories.

Thanks to Brooks Potter, Sandi Atwood, Jami Furniss, Katie Houston, and Robb Moats.

One of the things I found interesting was how different people interpret showing appreciation. Jami, for example, speaks the love language of gifts and service, because to show appreciation she helped her daughter with her chores and brought a gift to her co-worker.  Robb and Brooks used genuine conversation or cards. Katie gave a compliment to her piano student.

Three things in parting: First, there is not a right or a wrong way to show appreciation. It can be simple, it can be involved. Don’t overthink it, just do it in your style! Second, genuine appreciation is one of our deepest needs. It changes our world, it changes our relationships, it changes our own heart and it changes our experiences. It’s worth those few minutes it takes, and really, it only takes a few minutes. Sometimes just a few words. Third, are you someone who is too busy to show appreciation today, or could you find a minute during this season of showing thanks to actually SHOW SOME THANKS? It’s so easy and the payout is so high.

I’m thankful for everyone who supports and listens to this podcast. Thank you to those of you who have taken the time to leave reviews and to share with your friends. Thank you!

Interview with the Kjars (pronounced Cares) 50 by 52

The Kjar family sold their home, bought a motorhome, and took their four kids on the road for a year of seeing the country, meeting other kids their age in different parts of the country, shadowing their lives for a day, and learning how to live in cramped spaces for extended periods of time.

Join us for today’s interview with Matt and Lindsay as we catch up with them on the road for the second time to hear how things are progressing and to get their new stories and adventures they have created since we last spoke in episode 45. We find them in Rhode Island having completed 25 of the 50 States of America.

Tune in for some of their favorite adventures.

If you want to follow them:

Interview with Tammy Johnson and the Tragic Death of her Son – A Choice of Perspective

In 2016 a dear friend of mine went through an event that many deem to be the worst thing we can experience. The loss of a child. When I first saw the post on Facebook – the fastest way for news to travel these days – I was in utter disbelief. I couldn’t imagine it had happened, and I had no idea what to say or how to even approach her. I called around to check on her but didn’t think it best to join the throngs of people who would no doubt be pounding down her door with their condolences. It was too soon. I imagined she needed to have time to mourn, adjust, do what people do during something so unthinkable. I didn’t know how she would handle it, she was a single mom who had always been close to her son – he was her whole world. Was she going to be rolled up in a ball? Would she start using drugs to dull the pain? Would she be incapacitated for years? When I finally got to speak with her I was beyond surprised at her resilience. Frankly, I was baffled, I certainly didn’t feel that I would have handled such a thing with as much calm as she had. As I spoke to her I found that her choice of perspective in this story was one that allowed for the healthiest possible takeaway.  So, I asked her if she’d share her story.

Desmond Tutu said, “Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.”

As you’ll hear in the interview I am careful, even timid in asking her questions, still wanting to be so careful with such a topic. But she agreed to share her story and her perspective so that if her experience and choice of perspective could help someone else some good could be shared.

Listen to the podcast to hear Tammy tell the story of Hunter’s last day and her response.

The choice to chose our perspective is always our own. This is such a huge part of controlling our stories and creating our realities, our happiness, our unhappiness, our peace, our jealousy, our envy, our fear, our sadness. I feel like I’ve beaten this story tool to death because I’ve been writing about it so much lately, but that is precisely because it’s the foundation of our happiness. Could Tammy have looked at her son’s death as a tragic loss, unfair, and cruel as it was? Of course, but could she also choose to focus on his relief, on his time with God, rather than her deep pain and loss? That’s what she chose. I’m reminded of the story, I shared in one of the earlier episodes about Viktor Frankl.  Viktor was a prominent Jewish psychiatrist who survived the camps of Auschwitz and Dachau. Viktor talks about an elderly man who came to see him a couple years after his beloved wife had passed away. The man was distraught with grief and couldn’t move on with life because he was severely depressed. Viktor had been through the worst types of suffering, so he understood pain. He sat quietly and listened to the man pour out his grief and sorrow. When the man had finished Dr. Frankl asked him just one questions: What would have happened if you had died first and your wife would have survived you?  Well, the man said, “for her, this would have been terrible; how she would have suffered!” To this, Dr. Frankl replied, “You see, such a suffering has been spared her, and it was you who have spared her this suffering, to be sure, at the price that now you have to survive and mourn her.” The man was so moved by Dr. Frankl’s words that he simply stood up, shook his hand, and left, never to return. At the moment the perspective shifts the burden lightens.

Your challenge this week is to find one of the stories in your life that you are currently feeling anxiety or pain about. Take some time and consider some other ways of interpreting that story. See what other angles you can take and which angle helps you to deal in the healthiest way with the event at hand.

You are worthy, wonderful and you’ve got some tools to create your biggest, boldest and most satisfying life – so do it. It’s the month of Thanksgiving, so don’t forget to count your blessings and maybe bring some gratitude into those perspective shifts.

If you like this podcast rate, review and subscribe on iTunes/apple podcast and head to www.loveyourstorypodcast.com to comment, buy the super cool Love Your Story t-shirts, or sign up for the free audio book – The Key to Your Super Self – How your stories unlock your power. See you next week – same time, same place.

Focus on Your Awesome – Run YOUR Race

We are all familiar with the saying that what we focus on is magnified. The things we spend our time thinking about become a reality for us, so why might I ask, do we so often focus on our weaknesses, the things we don’t feel like we’re good at? Let’s change that. We have a lot of awesome going on already.

Stories are our lives in language. Welcome to the Love Your Story podcast. I’m Lori Lee, and I’m excited for our future together of telling stories, evaluating our own stories, and lifting ourselves and others to greater places because of our control over our stories. This podcast is about empowerment and giving you, the listener, ideas to work with in making your stories work for you.  Story power serves you best when you know how to use it.

In the Disney recreation of the events of the Triple Crown-winning horse and Secretariate’s incredible underdog triumph–in the movie Secretariate–there is a scene where Secretariate’s owner, Penny Chenery Tweedy is in the stable, nose to nose with her beloved horse who is just overcoming an injury before his big race. No one is certain how he’ll perform because he hasn’t been feeling well. She looks him straight in the eye and she says, “I’ve run my race by not giving up, (she had fought for the horse for funding, she’d put her families fortune on the line, she’s stood up against other horse owners in media discussions, she had stood up against family pressure in order to get Secretariate to this place, to these races.) “Now,” she continued, “it’s your time to run your race.” The movie ends with the Belmont Stakes race, the third and final race of the Triple Crown, in 1973, and Secretariate is expected to go nose to nose with his rival of the year, Shamm. About a minute into the race, these horses are neck and neck taking turns pulling slightly ahead of one another when Secretariate begins a pull away that at first leaves people scared because they don’t believe Secretariate can keep up that pace. They’re afraid he’ll wear down and not be able to keep the pace.  Those watching the race go from excitement as the horses start out, to anger that the jockey is letting him go too fast too soon, to almost big-eyed quiet as they watch the impossible. Secretariate never falters, in fact, his stead speed increases as he leaves Shamm what feels like halfway around the course and wins by 25 lengths. Even those who don’t care about horse racing get tears in their eyes when watching the footage of this race because there is something about the power of that horse, running his own race, and pulling so far ahead, doing the impossible, and we get to sit and watch it happen. It’s one of those magical moments in history where your heart is simply caught in your throat and your joy and respect for that beautiful animal crowds out all other emotion. I share this scene with you because when Penny turned over all her expectations, told Secretariate that she had already won her race, now he simply got to run his best race, because he could, I felt a sense of freedom and understanding in my own race. I don’t need to run the same race as Chris Ducker or John Dumas or the other podcasters and online entrepreneurs.  I can and should run my own race, born of my own strengths and my own insights and my own definition of success. I get to run my race. Secretariate got to run his race. Penny ran her race. What is your race? When someone says “Run YOUR Race,” what does it feel like to you?

In episode 25 we talked about how when you bike you look where you want to go, not where you don’t want to go – you focus on the route around the rock, not on the rock that you want to miss. Because if you focus on the rock – you’ll hit it. Every time. With this in mind, it seems to me that focusing on our strengths is a way to shine, hone what we’re good at, and spend less time focusing on that thing or things we feel like we need to change.  It’s a fact, we are not all good at everything. That doesn’t make us broken. That doesn’t mean something is wrong with us. What it means is that we are in a greater position to need one another – and that’s a beautiful thing. But we can’t run our race or play our part if we are trying to be someone else with someone else’s strengths, or if we are caught up in our perceived weaknesses rather than knocking it out of the park with our own brand of kick-butt awesomeness.

Full disclosure, I’m guilty of this in my home, we focus on the C that isn’t an A and query after how that can be improved. Too often we forget to celebrate the A’s, instead, we want to improve what we perceive as broken, rather than celebrating what is working. I don’t know if that’s a cultural thing, maybe it’s just a human thing—we look for how to make things better. But what if all along we’ve been focusing on the wrong thing? What if focusing on what is right is the way to make things better?

Simon Sinek said, “Spending too much time focused on others’ strengths leaves us feeling weak. Focusing on our own strengths is what, in fact, makes us strong.”

Twenty years ago I read a book called Heaven on earth – 15-minute miracles to change the world. It talked about how to make a big difference in small increments. The author proposed that in order to make a big difference that we get involved in ways that focused on what we are good at doing. Now the finding of this book was a serendipitous gift. At the time I was on the board of directors for CAPSA, the shelter and program for the prevention of sexual and physical abuse in the area I lived in. It was something I very much believed in, and I was honored to be asked to serve on the board, but I was also baffled at the role that I would be able to play. I was by far the youngest on the board, in my mid-twenties, and the rest of the board was made up of influential, and mostly wealthy members of the community. I, on the other hand, did not have the network of wealthy connects most of them already had. How was I going to raise money for the cause? How was I going to help? It was during this dilemma that I found this book. As I read, it made absolute sense to me that everyone should do what they were good at, because most people enjoy doing what they are good at, and then you have fun AND you get more accomplished. You don’t have a bunch of people flailing around in the water, hating what they are being asked to do. With that, I discovered how I could contribute. I could be their writer. As I presented the idea that I would take over the newsletter and help with grant writing, the board was totally on board. I would let those with connections raise the money, and I’d give what I had to give. Focus on my strengths.

No one else is like you. No one else has the same set of strengths that you have. No one is your awesome self. You were made that way on purpose – given gifts and talents to share and amplify, and what if you focused on celebrating the beauty that you are instead of trying to fix the things you aren’t?

What if I told you that you had a responsibility to be your best self? You aren’t accidentally made the way you are. You aren’t a burden on the world. You and your own brand of awesome are here to do what only you can do. What is that? I don’t know. I don’t know you, your life, your dreams, your passions, but I do know that when you focus on the gifts and talents, on the things you are naturally drawn to, that you start to step into your space, your calling, your fulfillment. Try it!

And living small by making excuses that you don’t have anything to give is just ripping the world off, and yourself. It’s a cop-out that might feel humble at first blush, but it’s really just a fear-based response to interacting with the world.

Now, just to be clear. This way of thinking is not to suggest that we never get out of our comfort zone, try new things, or work to improve things we want to improve. What I’m saying is that I think our improvement, our self-love, and our joy of living will increase when we accept, celebrate and share the things we are good at and focus our energy on that acceptance, celebration, and sharing. We create more of what we focus on – so keep being you in all the best ways.

Will there be spaces where we enter the learning zone – practice getting better at what we are good at, or try something new we have an interest in, or push ourselves into new realms of doing and being? I sure hope so. But there is a difference between always focusing on what we can’t do, on what someone else can do well, and never celebrating and sharing our own brand of awesome.

What are you good at? If the first thing that comes to mind is “nothing,” or “I can’t think of anything,” or “not much,” then you are a prime candidate for this work. It means you have NOT spent time coming to understand and recognize your own wonderful gifts. Heck, you don’t even know what they are. How can you be sharing them to the fullness of your capabilities? How can you be lavishing yourself with all that love and appreciation for yourself when you haven’t even gotten to really know your own self. It’s not arrogance to recognize and know your strengths. It’s foundational to being able to live your best life, to know what you have to give and how best to share and contribute.

Want to figure out what your strengths are? An article from the Huffington Post, titled A Better Way to Discover Your Strengths, suggested that the strength finder quizzes that are available are bound to be a little biased, for example, when asked about generosity we are bound to focus on times we were generous rather than all the times we weren’t. The author says that getting a diverse group of people you know to tell you what they feel your strengths are—and to be specific, share specific examples of when we acted on that strength– and then to compare the responses of 10-20 people, will give you a good feel for what you’ve got going on and what you are sharing with the world. But that’s not the last step…

Adam Grant, the author of this article said, “… the stories are sometimes so revealing and exciting that people stop there. But if you don’t map out a plan for using your strengths, the benefits will fade. In one experiment led by psychologist Martin Seligman, people who identified their strengths were temporarily happier and less depressed, but the changes didn’t last. Only those who identified their strengths and then actively used them achieved sustainable psychological gains: over the next six months, they were significantly happier and less depressed.”

Your challenge this week, should you choose to accept it, would be to go so far as to ask your friends, associates, and family what they feel your strengths are – and don’t forget to tell them to be specific with experiences. When I did it, it turned out much different than I expected. I took some razzing from people who thought I was searching for compliments, but it was the responses that surprised me most. Things I thought we weaknesses were actually seen as strengths, ways of being that I didn’t much think about it turns out were very important to others. Try it. See what you uncover. Get to know yourself a little better through the eyes of your people, and see what mysteries you unearth. You’ve got to know if you’re a sprinter, a distance runner, a walker, or a skateboarder if you want to figure out how to run YOUR race. You get to love you, and be you, and make the world a little more colorful because you are.

Have a great week creating your best story, and don’t forget to do me a huge favor and rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts. And, if you haven’t already, do yourself a favor and subscribe to the podcast because then it automatically downloads into your audio library every week when the new episode launches – just waiting for you. Easy peasy. Also, go to www.loveyourstorypodcast.com to listen, leave comments, order your awesome Love Your Story podcast t-shirt, or contact us. We love to hear from you. Follow us on Instagram @loveyourstorypodcast or on FB – Love your story podcast.

Episode 58 Interview with Mina Guli – 7 Deserts Run and the 6 Rivers Run

After being pushed into a swimming pool and receiving a back injury where the doctors told her she would never be able to run again. Mina Guli could have used this as an excuse to define her life with limitations and boundaries defined by victimhood. Instead, she said to herself, “Am I going to let this doctor define what I do with the rest of my life?” The answer was NO! She started swimming, then biking, then running, and today Mina has done what is known as the 6 Rivers Run (6 major rivers on 6 major continents in 6 weeks) and the 7 Deserts Run (40 marathons across 7 deserts on 7 continents in just 7 weeks). She has done this to push herself, and she’s cried and struggled in these gargantuan feats, which she’ll tell us about. She also founded a non-profit called “Thirst,” a topic that is close to her heart – bringing attention to water issues around the world, and she’s combined her tremendous runs with her desire to make the world better and to help people understand the plight of water issues around the world. I’ll let Mina tell her story… Stay tuned for my interview with an absolutely amazing woman who has run her way across the world, despite the odds.

Stories are our lives in language. Welcome to the Love Your Story podcast. I’m Lori Lee, and I’m excited for our future together of telling stories, evaluating our own stories, and lifting ourselves and others to greater places because of our control over our stories. This podcast is about empowerment and giving you, the listener, ideas to work with in making your stories work for you. Story power serves you best when you know how to use it.

For the interview listen to the podcast.

For more information about the runs and projects, or to contact Mina Guli:

www.thirstforwater.org

#run4water

www.minaguli.com

www.facebook.com/MinaGuliWater/

“A Life Inspired Series: The Long Run with Mina Guli” — https://vimeo.com/214242697

INTERVIEW WITH ANNIE MACWILLIAMS

Today I interview a triple crown through-hiker – What’s a triple crown through-hiker? It’s someone who hikes the three longest trails in the United States – the Appalachian Trail (2165 miles), the Pacific Crest Trail (2650 miles), and the Continental Divide Trail (2800 miles).

Tune in to hear why she does it, a few of her adventures, and to get a peek inside the head of someone crazy enough to practically live on the trails that weave across the country.

For more information, or to contact Annie:

[email protected]

www.give5more.com

Instagram: little.endorphin.annie

Interview: Access Fund National Conservation Team – Climbing the Nose of El Cap

The Access Fund is a non-profit committed to protecting climbing access and the integrity of America’s outdoor rock climbing areas. They face issues like loss of areas as private land is lost to development, or public land managers regulate the areas, or climbers overuse an area and degrade it. The Access Fund focuses on a couple areas.

As you can imagine this is a herculean effort. One of the programs to help with this is the National Conservation Team. This year there are two young women who make up this team:

Annabelle McClure from Colorado: a 26-year-old biochemist

and

Andrea Hassler from Maryland: a 29-year-old who specializes in applied geography and connecting people with place.

Join me today for the interview with these two women and the story of their climbing expeditions on El Cap, one of the premier multi-day climbs in the world.

For more information on the Access Fund or to get in touch with the National Conservation Team:

[email protected]

www.accessfund.org