Ask Mariann Sæther what got her to two world championships, and she won't say talent.

Mariann is a two-time world champion in extreme kayaking, a mother of two, and one of the most accomplished women in whitewater history. She retired from competition in 2024 after nearly three decades of paddling rivers around the world.

In this conversation, Mariann and Anna dig into what it actually takes to perform at the highest level, navigate real risk, and keep showing up when it's not working. From getting flipped repeatedly down Jakes at 3,000 CFS two days before winning the North Fork Championship, to learning to separate a failed line from a failed identity, Mariann brings a rare mix of honesty, humor, and hard-won insight.

In this episode, you'll explore:

• Why grit and hard work matter more than talent, and how to stop letting the "talent story" hold you back

• The difference between scared and nervous, and how that distinction shapes good risk decisions

• Why leading the rapid changes everything for women building confidence on whitewater

• How to stay useful, engaged, and growth-oriented when you choose to walk a line

• What pioneering women in whitewater built, and why their stories deserve to be remembered

• Mariann's approach to breaking big goals into small pieces, from horse training to creek boating

If you've ever told yourself you just don't have what it takes, this episode is a direct and generous challenge to that story.

🌊 Once a river person, always a river person.

🎧 Listen now wherever you get your podcasts.

What does it take to rebuild a life around what you actually love — not what looks impressive from the outside?

Laura Kurup spent years as a high-performing tech executive — Chief Strategy Officer at the SEC, Chief Data Officer at the New York Fed — and somewhere along the way, paddling took a backseat. Then came a rare and aggressive breast cancer diagnosis at 40. What followed was a two-year unraveling and rebuilding that led her back to the river, into whitewater instruction, and toward a life anchored in her own intuition.

In this episode, Laura and Anna explore what it really means to face discomfort — not just the dramatic kind, but the low-level stuff we spend enormous energy ignoring. Laura shares how cancer cracked open the identity she'd been clinging to, why letting go of control on the Grand Canyon led to better lines, and what she's learned about expanding her window of tolerance — on the water and in life.

In this episode, you'll explore:

Why high performers often ignore discomfort until it becomes a five-alarm fire — and how to work with it at lower levels instead

The mental shift that transformed Laura's lines on the Grand Canyon: from controlling the plan to reading and running

How identity attachment (like being "the canoeist who doesn't flip") can quietly limit your growth

What a cancer diagnosis revealed about the difference between performing a life and actually living one

Laura's take on using AI intentionally — and why she compares it to ketchup

The river metaphor she brought home from the Grand: following the bubble line

If you've ever pushed discomfort down until it exploded, played it too safe and ended up stuck on the rocks, or wondered what life might look like if you gave yourself permission to follow your intuition — this episode is for you.

The river gives you a put-in and a take-out. How you run it is up to you.

🎧 Listen now and find your bubble line.

Whitewater kayaking naturally pulls us into the present moment. When you're paddling a rapid, your senses sharpen, your mind clears, and you're fully focused on the line ahead.

But what if you didn't have to wait for a rapid to access that state?

In this solo episode of The Discomfort Zone Podcast, I share simple mindfulness and breathwork practices that help paddlers reset their nervous system, quiet negative self-talk, and stay calm and focused — both on the river and in everyday life.

These practices come directly from Week 7 of the Mental Agility Mastery 8 Week Course, where participants train their ability to pause, reset, and respond skillfully when things don't go according to plan.

• Why paddling naturally creates a powerful mindfulness state • How mindfulness helps you reset after a mistake, swim, or missed line • The 5-4-3-2-1 grounding exercise for returning to the present moment • Simple breathwork techniques to regulate your nervous system • How mindful movement strengthens confidence and focus

One of the most powerful lessons from the river?

Sometimes the most skillful move isn't paddling harder.

It's embracing the pause.

🎧 Listen now and discover simple mindfulness practices that help you find flow — on the river and in life.

You've felt that edge before — the moment between staying in the eddy and peeling out into the current.

In this episode of The Discomfort Zone Podcast, I sit down with world-class kayaker, coach, and avalanche specialist Tyler Curtis to explore what it really means to lean into uncertainty — on the river and in life.

From freestyle kayaking and youth coaching, to living abroad and learning a new language, Tyler shares how following his passion shaped not just his career, but his resilience, confidence, and leadership. We talk about how fear evolves, how risk tolerance changes over time, and why modeling failure as a coach builds real trust.

This conversation blends whitewater wisdom with practical mindset tools you can apply immediately — whether you're challenging yourself to run harder rivers, leading others, or navigating uncertainty in your everyday life.

In this episode, you'll explore:

• How to tell the difference between real danger and the stories your mind creates

• Why modeling failure builds trust, confidence, and stronger coaching relationships

• How freestyle kayaking develops resilience and mental agility under pressure

• What youth athletes can teach us about courage and pushing comfort zones

• Why following your passion builds transferable life skills — from leadership to risk management

If you care about building courage — in yourself or in the people you lead — this episode will change how you think about fear and growth.

🎧 Listen now to explore how passion becomes discipline, skill, and leadership.

What do you do when the pressure is on, and you don't have the answer?

In this episode of The Discomfort Zone Podcast, I sit down with longtime paddler, freestyle competitor, and squirt boater Matt Hamilton to explore what real composure looks like in high-stakes environments.

As a paramedic and ski patroller, Matt regularly operates where the margin for error is razor thin. On the water, he's spent decades river running, paddling freestyle, and chasing deep mystery moves. Across both worlds, he's learned that confidence isn't about eliminating stress — it's about staying effective within it.

We talk about breathwork, repetition, aging in sport, the evolution of professional kayaking, and why variety and play are essential for long-term resilience.

This conversation is about more than kayaking. It's about learning to zoom out, reset your nervous system, and keep moving forward — especially when you feel stumped.

• Why composure means effectiveness under stress — not calm conditions

• How repetition and experience build real confidence over time

• What to do when you feel stuck or overwhelmed

• How play, community, and longevity shape resilience

• Why staying in the sport doesn't require chasing the latest tricks

If you want to build resilience, confidence, and mental agility — on the river and in life — this episode is for you.

🎧 Listen now and explore what becomes possible when you stay grounded under pressure.

What do polar expeditions have to teach you about conserving energy, building resilience, and showing up with real confidence?

In this episode of The Discomfort Zone, Anna sits down with endurance performance coach Jon Fearne, who has trained record breaking solo polar explorers, Atlantic rowers, and elite endurance athletes for nearly 30 years.

This conversation isn't about heroics. It's about what builds real confidence and resilience day after day, and it's probably not what you think.

They explore:

• Why routine reduces mental strain and builds resilience

• How small energy leaks — not big mistakes — cause failure

• How to train your nervous system for high-stress environments

• The psychology of solo adventure

• What failure really teaches you

• Why waiting for perfect conditions keeps you stuck

Jon shares the unfiltered truth about elite performance: it's not built in heroic moments. It's built in daily discipline.

If you've been waiting for ideal conditions before taking action — this episode is your reminder:

Confidence comes from preparation. And preparation happens in the mundane.

🎧 Listen now and learn how to conserve energy, build resilience, and paddle with real confidence.

About Jon

Jon Fearne is an adventure performance coach who has worked with 1000's of endurance athletes all over the world from Atlantic Rowers to Record breaking Polar athletes, and multiple world endurance MTB riders.

He's worked in the endurance and adventure industry for 29 years, starting out as an Outdoor education instructor in surf and kayaking, and then studied Sports Science, co-writing a MSc Athlete development and peak performance. He runs an endurance coaching business called E3C, and his passions include time with family and being in the mountains on skis.

This is the 100th episode of The Discomfort Zone Podcast — and it almost never happened.

In this solo milestone episode, Anna reflects on the journey from sitting on the idea of a podcast for years to surpassing 50,000 downloads — and the single insight that finally helped her take the leap.

That insight came from one paragraph in Hidden Potential by Adam Grant, where he describes three kinds of courage that accelerate growth:

• The courage to abandon your tried-and-true methods

• The courage to step into the ring before you feel ready

• The courage to make more mistakes than others make attempts

Through stories from whitewater kayaking, launching her first instructional DVD for women, and navigating the fear of publishing a podcast, Anna shares how leaning into discomfort shaped not only her career — but her life.

In this episode, you'll explore:

• Why discomfort is the gateway to growth

• How to peel out of your "eddy" and take action

• Why mistakes are essential for mastery

• How paddling mirrors the way we show up in life

• Reflection questions to help you move toward what matters most

If you've ever felt stuck, hesitant, or unsure whether you're ready, this episode is your reminder that growth starts exactly there.

The river doesn't wait for you to feel ready. You peel out of the eddy anyway. And that's where transformation happens.

🌊 Reflection Questions from This Episode

• Where in your life can you abandon your tried-and-true methods?

• Where can you step into the ring before you feel ready?

• Where can you make more mistakes than others make attempts?

🎧Listen now, and peel out toward what matters — even if you don't feel ready yet.

What if the river could teach you how to stay alive — and how to truly live?

In this powerful episode of The Discomfort Zone, I sit down with Lauren Byrd — combat veteran, whitewater kayaker, and creator of PaddleCalendar — for an honest, courageous conversation about fear, grounding, and finding your way back to yourself through paddling.

Lauren shares how kayaking became more than a sport — it became a lifeline. From learning to regulate her nervous system in an eddy before a rapid, to discovering the profound boat–body–head connection, Lauren walks us through how river skills translated directly into life-saving mental agility.

We talk about:

• How grounding practices finally made sense — not in a classroom, but on the river

• Using eddies as a metaphor for pausing, breathing, and resetting in life

• Starting whitewater kayaking as an adult (in her late 30s) — and going all in

• Competing on the world stage without comparison or perfectionism

• Why being in the boat matters more than the outcome

• How playboating, presence, and progression helped shift suicidal thoughts into a desire to live

This episode is for paddlers, adventurers, and anyone navigating fear, overwhelm, or big life transitions. You don't need to be running Class V to learn from the river — sometimes the most important work happens in the eddy.

If you've ever felt stuck on the shore of your own life, this conversation is an invitation to get back in the boat, trust your process, and paddle forward — one intentional moment at a time.

🎧 Listen in and let the river remind you what's possible — on and off the water.

What if self-doubt isn't a sign to stop — but an invitation to listen more deeply?

In this episode of The Discomfort Zone Podcast, Anna Levesque sits down with packrafter, educator, and counselor Jule Harle for a thoughtful, grounded conversation about imposter syndrome, purpose, and learning to trust what's guiding you — even when your mind is loud.

Jule shares how feeling "not good enough" has shown up across her life, from moving to Alaska without knowing how to ski, to stepping into leadership roles in paddlesports, education, and community building. Rather than trying to silence that voice, she offers a different approach: non-attachment, kindness toward yourself, and staying connected to what genuinely feels meaningful.

Together, Anna and Jule explore:

• Why imposter syndrome often appears when you're on the right path

• How heart-led desire can be a compass — even when the outcome is unclear

• Letting go of results while still showing up fully for the work

• The parallels between rivers, yoga, Ayurveda, and everyday decision-making

• Why rest, sleep, and seasonal rhythms are foundational for confidence

• How service, authenticity, and joy can coexist — without burnout

This conversation weaves river wisdom, Eastern philosophy, and lived experience into a practical reminder: growth doesn't come from proving yourself — it comes from presence, curiosity, and staying kind to yourself along the way.

🎧 Press play and explore what it means to quiet the mind, open the heart, and keep choosing what feels true — on the river and in life.