What's The Rusch

From the archive: one of our favorite deep dives is back. Rebecca digs into the science and soul of exploration with journalist and bestselling author Alex Hutchinson, known for his books Endure and The Explorer's Gene. Alex unpacks why we're wired to seek challenges, how curiosity fuels growth, and why doing hard things often leads to the most meaningful moments in life. Together, Rebecca and Alex dive into the psychology of pushing limits, rediscovering play, and finding purpose in both stillness and motion.

Show Notes

In this episode, Rebecca and Alex discuss:

1. The science behind The Explorer's Gene and why curiosity drives human progress
2. The tension between exploring new frontiers and exploiting what we already know
3. How doing hard things gives life deeper meaning
4. Why we need uncertainty to grow, and how to find the right balance of risk and reward
5. The surprising link between exploration, play, and creativity
6. How sport serves as the ultimate laboratory for self-discovery
7. The difference between passive and active exploration in the age of algorithms

Transformative Insights:

1. Exploration is about learning something new about yourself.
2. The "effort paradox": we value what's hard because it's hard.
3. Play and exploration are deeply connected; curiosity is the bridge between them.
4. The sweet spot for growth lies between fear and boredom, where uncertainty meets possibility.
5. Hardship and learning are inseparable; meaning comes from the struggle.

Vulnerable Moments:

1. Rebecca shares how her old Bronco became a symbol of independence, transformation, and letting go.
2. Alex opens up about his struggles with anxiety before races and learning to find calm through experience.
3. Rebecca reflects on losing her sense of play and how she's rediscovering joy beyond performance.
4. Both reflect on shifting from "the next challenge" to learning how to slow down and savor the journey.

Practical Wisdom:

1. You can't outsource discovery. Real learning comes from active participation, not algorithms.
2. Explore doesn't mean "chase everything new"; it means follow what sparks curiosity.
3. To stay engaged, add novelty in small ways: take a new route, learn a new skill, have a new kind of conversation.
4. If a goal feels a little scary, you're probably in the right zone for growth.
5. The most meaningful goals are challenging and chosen, not imposed.

Personal Growth:

1. How Rebecca's athletic evolution mirrors the explore-exploit balance.
2. Alex's reflections on writing, family, and why building a treehouse changed how he thinks about learning.
3. Finding stillness amid ambition: learning when to slow down without losing momentum.
4. Why rediscovering play as adults is a powerful act of exploration.

Helpful Links

The Explorer’s Gene: Why We Seek Big Challenges, New Flavors, and Blank Spots on the Map

Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance

Alex's website

Alex's Instagram

Alex's Facebook

Sponsor: This episode is brought to you by Rebecca's Private Idaho, where adventure, community, and purpose come together in the wild. Join us in Sun Valley for a ride that's about more than the miles: it's about showing up for yourself, your community, and the planet. Registration is open at rebeccasprivateidaho.com.

Support What's the Rusch: If this episode resonated with you, please share it with a friend, leave a review, or post your favorite insight on social media. Your support helps us keep bringing you these honest, inspiring conversations.

Subscribe and Follow: Rate, Review, and Share

Get Connected: Website | Instagram | LinkedIn | Substack | Blood Road

Become a Partner: Interested in aligning your brand with authentic conversations about performance, purpose, and growth? Contact [email protected] for sponsorship opportunities and our media kit.

One of our most-requested conversations is back. This week we're replaying our very first guest episode: Rebecca sits down with renowned performance psychologist Dr. Michael Gervais for an intimate conversation about the journey from high performance to true mastery. Together, they explore how our greatest breakthroughs sometimes come not from pushing harder, but from having the courage to be still.

Show Notes

In this episode, Rebecca and Dr. Gervais discuss:

1. The distinction between high performance and mastery
2. Why the first rule of mastery is to stop worrying about what others think
3. The power of vulnerability in personal growth
4. Finding wisdom through stillness and self-examination

Transformative Insights:

1. The three foundational practices for meeting yourself: meditation, journaling, and conversations with people of wisdom
2. How trauma and hardship can be gateways to deeper understanding
3. Why purpose and connection are the two key variables for a fulfilled life
4. The difference between being thoughtful and true meditation

Vulnerable Moments:

1. Rebecca opens up about hiding her concussion symptoms for years
2. Dr. Gervais shares his journey of understanding his own drive for achievement
3. Rebecca discusses her mother's passing and the tools for processing grief
4. Both explore their ongoing work to shed perfectionism and find play

Practical Wisdom:

1. How to approach meditation as a practice of starting over
2. The importance of creating space for vulnerability in high achievement
3. Why awareness is fundamental to high performance
4. Tools for building authentic community

Personal Growth:

1. Dr. Gervais's ongoing journey to embrace play over intensity
2. Rebecca's evolution from "Queen of Pain" to embracing vulnerability
3. How traumatic experiences can become catalysts for transformation
4. The power of sharing our struggles to help others

Helpful Links:

• Finding Mastery
• Dr. Gervais on Instagram
• Dr. Gervais on LinkedIn
• Dr. Gervais on X
• The First Rule of Mastery: Stop Worrying About What People Think of You
• Finding Mastery Podcast: Explorer's Guide to Self-Discovery with Rebecca Rusch

Sponsor: This episode is brought to you by Rebecca's Private Idaho, where adventure, community, and purpose come together in the wild. Join us in Sun Valley for a ride that's about more than the miles: it's about showing up for yourself, your community, and the planet. Registration is open at rebeccasprivateidaho.com.

Support What's the Rusch: If this episode resonated with you, please share it with a friend, leave a review, or post your favorite insight on social media. Your support helps us keep bringing you these honest, inspiring conversations.

Subscribe and Follow: Rate, Review, and Share

Get Connected: Website | Instagram | LinkedIn | Substack | Blood Road

Become a Partner: Interested in aligning your brand with authentic conversations about performance, purpose, and growth? Contact [email protected] for sponsorship opportunities and our media kit.

Aaron Lutze has spent two decades helping athletes and brands navigate change. First as Rebecca's own athlete manager during 12 years at Red Bull, and now as the creative force behind Super Rider and Second Nature Media. In this episode, Rebecca and Aaron dig into the anatomy of a transition: the chosen ones we run toward, the unchosen ones that gut-punch us, and the strange, sideways path that took a non-athletic Wisconsin teenager into a career managing elite athletes and, eventually, into building his own media company. Together, they talk about getting fired, getting rebuilt, and why the best response to a shipwreck might be curiosity instead of panic.

Show Notes

In this episode, Rebecca and Aaron discuss:

• Aaron's accidental path into mountain biking and filmmaking, sparked by a random campground meeting and a college roommate with a camera
• The "puzzle pieces" theory of transitions: collecting skills and interests without knowing yet where they'll fit
• What it was like managing Rebecca's career (and 20 other athletes') during 12 years at Red Bull, and the art of planting an idea instead of forcing it
• How Aaron helped two other athletes launch their own podcasts by clearing the first, hardest steps for them
• Taking stock of your own skill set before making a career leap
• The Gartner Hype Cycle, and why every transition passes through a "trough of disillusionment" before it gets better
• Getting fired from a bike shop job in Portland, and how that shipwreck led directly to Red Bull
• Zeno of Citium's shipwreck and the origins of Stoic philosophy, by way of Ryan Holiday's The Daily Stoic
• Rebecca's concussion, the identity crisis that followed, and how it led to this podcast
• Rebecca's decision to step away from Rebecca's Private Idaho after 14 years, and what asking "I wonder..." can do in a hard transition
• The three-part anatomy of every transition: an ending, a messy middle, and a rebuild

Transformative Insights:

• Transitions live on a spectrum, from tiny daily course-corrections to catastrophic, life-altering shifts, and both kinds matter
• The meaning of a transition is almost always invisible in the moment; it can take years to see what a "shipwreck" actually built
• You can't force someone into a transition, but you can plant a seed and keep watering it
• Real resilience comes from controlling the controllables, not the outcome
• Every transition follows the same rough shape: something ends, a messy middle happens, and eventually you rebuild

Vulnerable Moments:

• Aaron on getting fired from a Portland bike shop job, arriving home to a disconnected phone and changed locks
• Rebecca on the concussion that forced her out of competition and the long identity crisis that followed
• Aaron on losing his own father a year before Rebecca's Blood Road journey, and what that lens changed about how he saw her ride
• Rebecca on the fear behind her decision to step away from Rebecca's Private Idaho after 14 years, in her final year running the event

Practical Wisdom:

• The "I wonder" reframe: replacing panic with curiosity the moment something goes wrong
• Taking a literal inventory of your skills and interests, like puzzle pieces, before deciding what to build next
• Controlling the controllables: putting energy into daily inputs like movement, water, and community instead of outcomes you can't control
• The three-stage anatomy of a transition as a way to normalize the hard, messy middle part

Personal Growth:

• Aaron's evolution from Red Bull athlete manager to founder of Super Rider and co-founder of Second Nature Media
• Rebecca's ongoing shift from competitive athlete to mentor, coach, and advocate for athlete mental health
• Both reflecting on 20 years of friendship and how it shaped both of their careers

Helpful Links:

• Aaron's Instagram: @aaronlutze
• Super Rider: @superridertv
• Second Nature Media: @secondnature.media
• Aaron on LinkedIn
• Aaron on Facebook
• Super Rider on YouTube
• Second Nature Media on YouTube
• The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday
• Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg

Sponsor: This episode is brought to you by Rebecca's Private Idaho, where adventure, community, and purpose come together in the wild. Join us in Sun Valley for a ride that's about more than the miles: it's about showing up for yourself, your community, and the planet. Registration is open at rebeccasprivateidaho.com.

Support What's the Rusch: If this episode resonated with you, please share it with a friend, leave a review, or post your favorite insight on social media. Your support helps us keep bringing you these honest, inspiring conversations.

Subscribe and Follow: Rate, Review, and Share

Get Connected: Website | Instagram | LinkedIn | Substack | Blood Road

Become a Partner: Interested in aligning your brand with authentic conversations about performance, purpose, and growth? Contact [email protected] for sponsorship opportunities and our media kit.

Kait Boyle is a world champion ultra-endurance mountain biker and co-founder of Bikepacking Roots, known for setting course records on some of the hardest self-supported races in the world, including the Arizona Trail, Kokopelli Trail, and Vapor Trail 125. Two months after winning 24-Hour Worlds in 2018, a car accident on black ice shattered her pelvis and left her uncertain whether she'd walk again. In this episode of What’s the Rusch, Rebecca and Kait trace the eight years since: a full recovery, a season stepped away from ultra racing, and this year's third attempt at the Colorado Trail record, cut short after one day by a back injury. They talk through the mantras that carried Kait through her hardest hours, the sports psychology and physical therapy behind her comeback, and what it means to build an identity that isn't tied to finishing lines.

1. Her path from graduate work in adventure education to racing ultra-endurance mountain bikes full time
2. Winning 24-Hour Worlds in 2018 and stepping away from a full-time job to chase racing
3. The car accident two months later that shattered her pelvis and ruptured her bladder
4. The ICU conversation with her surgeon that shaped her entire recovery
5. Learning to tell ordinary back tightness apart from an injury serious enough to stop for
6. The mantras "I get to" and "water is the softest thing" that carried her through recovery and this year's setback
7. Walking away mid-race at 24-Hour Worlds and stepping back from ultra racing for several years
8. Returning to racing and building toward three attempts at the Colorado Trail record
9. This year's Colorado Trail attempt, cut short after one day, and what she's carrying into the next chapter

1. A doctor's early belief in a patient's recovery can shape the entire trajectory of that recovery
2. Softness and patience can move as much as force ever could
3. An identity built entirely on athletic performance is fragile; a life built on community and place is not
4. Preparation and effort still count, even when the goal itself doesn't come together

1. Kait describes lying in the ICU on Christmas Eve, not knowing if she'd walk again
2. Her partner Will's fear about her returning to ultra racing after living through the accident with her
3. The moment mid-race at 24-Hour Worlds when she and her physical therapist agreed she had to stop
4. Watching this year's Colorado Trail race unfold without her, after scratching her own attempt

1. How to tell normal training soreness apart from an injury serious enough to stop for
2. Using a mantra tied to a specific goal, not a generic one, to get through low points
3. Working with both a sports psychologist and a physical therapist as ongoing, standard support
4. Deciding your own limits in advance, before race-day pressure and public commitments make that harder

1. Kait's shift from defining herself by racing results to defining herself by community, place, and connection
2. How three years spent chasing the Colorado Trail record left room for a new chapter instead of another attempt
3. Rebecca's reflection on her own concussion recovery and what led her to start this podcast
4. Learning to sit with not knowing what comes next, rather than rushing toward an answer

1. Bikepacking Roots
2. Kait's website
3. Kait's Instagram
4. Kait's Substack, Here + Now

This episode is brought to you by Rebecca’s Private Idaho, where adventure, community, and purpose come together in the wild. Join us in Sun Valley for a ride that's about more than the miles; it's about showing up for yourself, your community, and the planet. Registration is open!

If this episode moved you, please share it with someone, leave a review, send it to a training partner, or post your favorite takeaway on social media. All of these help us continue to bring you these inspiring conversations!

Subscribe and Follow

Rate, Review, and Share

Get Connected: Follow Rebecca on social media or subscribe to our newsletter for behind-the-scenes content and updates on new episodes.

Website

Instagram

LinkedIn

Substack

Blood Road

Become a Partner: Interested in reaching an engaged audience of leaders, athletes, creatives, and purpose-driven individuals? What's the Rusch is the place to align your brand with authentic conversations about performance, purpose, and personal growth. For sponsorship inquiries and media kit information, please contact [email protected].

We are excited to share our first ever collaborative episode between What's the Rusch and Afternoon Snack, bringing Meredith Root onto the show to launch our Summer Streak Challenge together. Meredith's story is about building a coaching business around movement that doesn't require punishing yourself to earn it. In this episode we explore why motivation shows up after you act instead of before it, how the right amount of stress builds growth while too much burns you out, and what happens when training data starts running your life instead of supporting it. We discuss the four types of motivation, the tools that pull you out of a demotivated spiral, and the launch of our Summer Streak Challenge, a joint habits challenge between Meredith's coaching business, Tactic Functional Fitness, and the Be Good Foundation. Every dollar raised goes toward the Be Good Foundation's girls and women mentorship program at Rebecca's Private Idaho, pairing young women with experienced mentors in cycling, bike mechanics, and action sport photography and videography so they can build real skills and find their own places in the outdoor and sports industry.

This episode is sponsored by Rebecca's Private Idaho

Rebecca and Meredith discuss:

1. How Meredith and Alex met Rebecca by showing up at Rebecca's Private Idaho, where Meredith cornered her to talk shop
2. Meredith's move from a career in engineering, and Alex's move from law, into building Tactic Functional Fitness together
3. The Yerkes-Dodson performance curve and why the right amount of stress builds growth while too much burns us out
4. The four types of motivation: intrinsic, extrinsic, introjected, and identified
5. The Fogg Behavior Model and why motivation naturally fades over time no matter how committed we are
6. How power meters, heart rate monitors, and training data can help or hurt depending on where we are mentally
7. The launch of Summer Streak, a joint habits challenge between Tactic and the Be Good Foundation, running August 10 through September 12
8. The origins of the Be Good Foundation, tied to Rebecca's ride down the Ho Chi Minh Trail to the site of her father's death

Transformative insights:

1. Motivation is found after action, not before it. We cannot think our way into a new way of being; we have to act our way into it.
2. Stress and discomfort are the mechanism of growth, not something to eliminate; the goal is the middle of the curve, not the extremes
3. Rebecca's realization on the Ho Chi Minh Trail that winning wasn't the end point but a launch pad for something else, which led directly to founding the Be Good Foundation
4. Lasting fulfillment comes from love, community, and service, not from accolades, even for people who've already reached the top of their field
5. Motivation problems are often not about willpower, but about never having identified the real reason behind the habit in the first place

Vulnerable moments:

1. Rebecca on her concussion and the long recovery that led to creating this podcast, including putting her power meter in the closet because the data was demotivating her at her lowest point
2. Rebecca on texting sports psychologist Dr. Michael Gervais out of nowhere during her concussion crisis to say she needed help and didn't know what to do
3. Rebecca on the eating disorder she experienced in high school and how her early years in sport were rooted in fear rather than joy
4. Rebecca on nearly quitting the Alaska Fat Pursuit after a wrong turn cost her the race, and the internal spiral of shame before deciding to keep going
5. Meredith on realizing she was still spending the same hours in the gym after leaving competitive CrossFit and questioning what she was actually doing it for

Practical wisdom:

1. The motivational menu: treat motivation like a buffet and build a mix of intrinsic, extrinsic, introjected, and identified motivators to draw from depending on the day
2. Third-person self-talk: talking to ourselves the way we'd talk to a friend, especially when the internal voice turns harsh
3. The opposite action technique: when a demotivating emotion takes over, do the literal opposite of what we feel like doing for 60 seconds, since emotions typically pass within 45 to 90 seconds
4. The emotion-conversation-behavior loop: we notice the emotion, notice the story we're telling ourselves about it, and then choose the behavior; this is the point where change actually happens
5. Ask what outcome we actually care about before starting a practice so we're working from identified motivation instead of just going through the motions

Personal growth:

1. Rebecca's shift from a competitive athlete to someone who will never retire from being an athlete, separating retirement from competition from retirement from movement itself
2. Rebecca's purpose expanding beyond personal achievement into service after the Ho Chi Minh Trail ride, moving from podiums to helping other people find their own
3. Meredith's transition from an engineering career and a hyper competitive gym identity into building a coaching business meant to make movement sustainable rather than punishing
4. Both women reflecting on how their reasons for training have changed over time and how that process is ongoing rather than finished

1. Join the Summer Streak Challenge
2. Tactic Functional Fitness, Meredith and Alex's coaching business
3. Afternoon Snack Podcast hosted by Meredith Root
4. Rebecca's Private Idaho, September 9 through 12
5. Be Good Foundation

This episode is brought to you by Rebecca’s Private Idaho, where adventure, community, and purpose come together in the wild. Join us in Sun Valley for a ride that's about more than the miles; it's about showing up for yourself, your community, and the planet. Registration is open!

If this episode moved you, please share it with someone, leave a review, send it to a training partner, or post your favorite takeaway on social media. All of these help us continue to bring you these inspiring conversations!

Subscribe and Follow

Rate, Review, and Share

Get Connected: Follow Rebecca on social media or subscribe to our newsletter for behind-the-scenes content and updates on new episodes.

Website

Instagram

LinkedIn

Substack

Blood Road

Become a Partner: Interested in reaching an engaged audience of leaders, athletes, creatives, and purpose-driven individuals? What's the Rusch is the place to align your brand with authentic conversations about performance, purpose, and personal growth. For sponsorship inquiries and media kit information, please contact [email protected].

Dean Fidelman has spent fifty years photographing the climbers who shaped Yosemite, from the original Stonemasters to Dean Potter to today's Camp 4 generation. In this episode, Rebecca and Dean explore what it takes to earn a soloist's trust before you ever raise a camera, why performance and vulnerability sit at the center of every photograph he makes, and what it finally took for him to grieve a friend he'd lost years earlier. Together they talk about patience as a practice, art as a byproduct of honesty, and why there's no rush to get anywhere worth going.

Show notes:

In this episode, Rebecca and Dean discuss:

1. Dean's path from teenage climber to the unofficial photographer of the Stonemasters in early 1970s Yosemite
2. Meeting Rebecca through a Five Ten ad campaign and the first Stone Nudes shoot
3. Why performance, not posing, is what actually makes a photograph work
4. Reading someone's mindset in a first conversation, and what separates good from elite
5. Trying to go commercial in fashion and advertising, and why it never fit
6. The phone call from Lynn Hill that pulled Dean back into climbing photography
7. Being present for Dean Potter through his hardest periods without judgment
8. What it took to finally grieve Potter years after his death, once The Dark Wizard forced him to look back
9. Archiving Glen Denny's work and keeping Yosemite's climbing history alive
10. Slowing down at 70 and letting the work come to him instead of chasing it

Transformative Insights:

1. Self honesty is the line between good and elite, in art and in athletics
2. Trust gets built by being embedded in a community, not by observing it from outside
3. Grief that gets shoved down doesn't disappear. It waits
4. Keeping someone's story and history alive is its own form of healing

Vulnerable Moments:

1. Dean on the depression that hit him only after The Dark Wizard's premiere, years after Potter's death
2. Second guessing his own actions during a physical altercation with Potter in China
3. Rebecca on her own body image struggles going into her first Stone Nudes shoot
4. Dean naming the losses that have stacked up over five decades in the climbing community

Practical Wisdom:

1. How to build enough trust with someone that they forget the camera is there
2. Reading passion and mindset in someone within a first conversation
3. Why staying broke by choice can be what keeps your art honest
4. Processing loss by putting the work into preserving someone's history

Personal Growth:

1. Dean's evolution from documenting his friends for fun to becoming Yosemite's de facto historian
2. Rebecca's reflection on how the same photograph that once terrified her gave her confidence
3. Both on what it means to keep learning from younger generations instead of just teaching them
4. The throughline between what healed Dean as a teenager and what still fuels him now

Helpful Links:

1. Stone Nudes: stonenudes.com
2. Dean's Instagram: @pictures_of_fidelman
3. Fidelman: A Body of Work: gripped.com feature
4. The Dark Wizard: HBO Max

Sponsor: This episode is brought to you by Rebecca's Private Idaho, where adventure, community, and purpose come together in the wild. Join us in Sun Valley for a ride that's about more than the miles: it's about showing up for yourself, your community, and the planet. Registration is open at rebeccasprivateidaho.com.

Support What's the Rusch: If this episode resonated with you, please share it with a friend, leave a review, or post your favorite insight on social media. Your support helps us keep bringing you these honest, inspiring conversations.

Subscribe and Follow: Rate, Review, and Share

Get Connected:

Website

Instagram

LinkedIn

Substack

Blood Road

Become a Partner: Interested in aligning your brand with authentic conversations about performance, purpose, and growth? Contact [email protected] for sponsorship opportunities and our media kit.

Paige Onweller’s journey proves that it’s never too late to chase big dreams or reinvent yourself. In this episode, Rebecca and Paige dive into the realities of starting over, the power of community, and how setbacks can become springboards for transformation. From the ER to the elite gravel scene, Paige shares her story of hard work, healing, and using her platform to lift others up, especially women in cycling.

Rebecca & Paige Discuss:

1. Jumping into cycling in her 30s after a career in emergency medicine
2. How a “work hard to survive” mindset shaped her approach to sport
3. Navigating recovery and trauma therapy after a major crash
4. The role of sponsors and community in supporting her comeback
5. Discovering new mental strengths through adversity
6. Launching the Rosie Up Initiative to empower women in gravel racing
7. Balancing ambition with self-compassion and honest reflection
8. The importance of representation and advocacy in sport
9. Recent highlights: Unbound Gravel podium, Lifetime Grand Prix success

Transformative Insights

1. Setbacks can unlock unexpected strengths and new directions
2. Community support is essential for resilience and recovery
3. Starting late can be a superpower, bringing fresh perspective
4. Advocacy and visibility create pathways for others
5. Growth is found in both vulnerability and determination

Vulnerable Moments

1. Paige’s candid account of trauma therapy and identity shifts
2. The pressure to return to racing—and the courage to heal first
3. Admitting the ongoing impact of injury and mental health challenges
4. Sharing the realities of being a woman in a male-dominated sport

Practical Wisdom

1. How to turn adversity into opportunity
2. Building a support network and asking for help
3. Balancing high achievement with self-care
4. Encouragement for women and late bloomers to pursue their goals

Personal Growth

1. Paige’s evolution from ER professional to gravel champion and advocate
2. Rebecca’s reflections on the value of unconventional journeys
3. The power of storytelling to break barriers and build community
4. Both guests’ dedication to using their voices for positive change

Links & Resources

1. Paige Onweller: Instagram | Website
2. The White Line Project: thewhiteline.org

This episode is brought to you by Rebecca’s Private Idaho where adventure, community, and purpose come together in the wild. Join us in Sun Valley for a ride that’s about more than the miles: it’s about showing up for yourself, your community, and the planet. Registration is open at rebeccasprivateidaho.com.

Support What’s the Rusch

If this episode resonated with you, please share it with a friend, leave a review, or post your favorite insight on social media. Your support helps us keep bringing you these honest, inspiring conversations.

Subscribe and Follow

Rate, Review, and Share

Get Connected:

Website

Instagram

LinkedIn

Substack

Blood Road

Become a Partner:

Interested in aligning your brand with authentic conversations about performance, purpose, and growth? Contact [email protected] for sponsorship opportunities and our media kit.

Amelia Boone’s journey is about moving beyond the myth of toughness to embrace honesty, presence, and real resilience. In this episode, Rebecca and Amelia dig into what happens when the “Queen of Pain” identity no longer fits, and how facing struggle head-on can lead to deeper growth. Together, they talk about the realities of mental health, the courage to be vulnerable, and the ongoing work of aligning who you are on the inside with what the world sees.

1. The origins and impact of the “Queen of Pain” nickname
2. Navigating eating disorders and OCD as an elite athlete
3. The pressure to appear tough versus the reality of emotional struggle
4. The process and risk of going public with mental health challenges
5. Balancing a demanding legal career with high-level competition
6. Redefining resilience and toughness in sport and life
7. Using her platform to advocate for mental health and authenticity
8. The shift from achievement-driven identity to living with greater presence

1. True resilience is about honesty and emotional openness, not just endurance
2. Letting go of old identities can create space for real growth
3. Aligning your inner and outer worlds is a powerful act of self-respect
4. Vulnerability can be a source of strength and connection

1. Amelia’s decision to share her eating disorder and OCD publicly
2. The fear of judgment and the relief of finally being honest
3. Admitting that toughness isn’t about hiding emotion, but embracing it
4. The ongoing challenge of recovery and self-acceptance

1. How to recognize when an identity no longer serves you
2. Tools for navigating recovery and building new routines
3. The importance of community and honest conversation in healing
4. Why presence matters more than performance

1. Amelia’s evolution from world champion to advocate for mental health
2. Rebecca’s reflections on the value of showing up as your real self
3. The role of storytelling and open dialogue in breaking stigma
4. Both guests’ commitment to using their platforms for collective good

1. Amelia Boone: Instagram
2. Eating Disorder Recovery: NEDA

This episode is brought to you by Rebecca’s Private Idaho where adventure, community, and purpose come together in the wild. Join us in Sun Valley for a ride that’s about more than the miles: it’s about showing up for yourself, your community, and the planet. Registration is open at rebeccasprivateidaho.com.

Get Connected:

Website

Instagram

LinkedIn

Substack

Blood Road

Become a Partner:

Interested in aligning your brand with authentic conversations about performance, purpose, and growth? Contact [email protected] for sponsorship opportunities and our media kit.

Erin Sprague’s story is about transforming personal adventure into collective impact. In this episode, Rebecca and Erin explore what it means to lead with purpose in the outdoor industry, the lessons learned from endurance challenges, and the importance of showing up for the causes and communities you care about—even when the path isn’t clear. Together, they discuss how small moments of awe, resilience in leadership, and a deep connection to wild places can shape a meaningful life.

In this episode, Rebecca and Erin discuss:

1. Erin’s evolution from Adirondack athlete to CEO of Protect Our Winters (POW)
2. How running, skiing, and biking shaped her identity and leadership style
3. The drive to turn personal passion for the outdoors into climate advocacy and community action
4. Navigating uphill challenges as a woman in sports and business
5. The power of small, everyday moments—like a walk outside or birdsong—for resilience and presence
6. Why showing up for your values matters, even when the outcome is uncertain
7. Building community and collective action through POW and industry partnerships
8. Lessons from epic adventures and why the “unlock” in life might be found in simplicity
9. The importance of getting outside, even for just 10 minutes, to reset and recharge

Transformative Insights:

1. Leadership is about showing up for your values, not just your resume
2. Small moments of awe can be as transformative as big, bold adventures
3. Community and collective action are essential for meaningful change
4. Resilience is built through both epic challenges and everyday presence

Vulnerable Moments:

1. Erin shares the realities of leading in the climate space when the path isn’t always clear
2. Honest reflections on balancing ambition, family, and advocacy
3. Stories of setbacks, uncertainty, and the courage to keep showing up
4. The emotional impact of connecting with nature and community in difficult times

Practical Wisdom:

1. How to find meaning in both big achievements and small daily rituals
2. Tools for building resilience through movement and mindfulness
3. The value of community in advocacy, sport, and personal growth
4. Why it’s important to take action, even if it’s just a few minutes outside

Personal Growth:

1. Erin’s journey from athlete to advocate, executive, and mentor
2. Rebecca’s reflections on presence, purpose, and the power of wild places
3. How both use adventure and storytelling to inspire change and connection
4. The role of honesty and vulnerability in building a purposeful life

Helpful Links:

1. Protect Our Winters: protectourwinters.org
2. POW Films: “The Hypocrite” featuring Amy Engelbretson
3. Erin’s LinkedIn: Erin Sprague
4. Instagram: @erin_sprague

Sponsor:

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Brad Stulberg’s journey is about redefining excellence for everyone, not just elite performers. In this episode, Rebecca and Brad dig into what it means to pursue sustainable success, why community and vulnerability matter, and how anyone can practice excellence in daily life. Drawing from his new book, The Way of Excellence, Brad shares science-backed insights and personal stories that illuminate how excellence is a daily practice rooted in groundedness, resilience, and authentic connection. Together, they explore the value of showing up fully, the courage it takes to thrive in a chaotic world, and how the pursuit of excellence can be accessible and meaningful for all.

Show notes:

In this episode, Rebecca and Brad discuss:

1. Why excellence isn’t reserved for world champions and how everyday people can pursue their own version of greatness
2. The difference between fleeting achievement and sustainable success
3. Brad’s personal story: from academic to bestselling author, coach, and powerlifting enthusiast
4. How community, challenge, and vulnerability shape our growth
5. The science behind resilience, stress regulation, and fulfillment
6. Lessons from coaching executives, athletes, and creatives on balance and burnout
7. The core ideas from Brad’s new book, The Way of Excellence
8. How to thrive amid uncertainty using psychology, philosophy, and sports science
9. The importance of doing hard things—not for the outcome, but for the process and self-discovery

Transformative Insights:

1. Excellence is a practice, not a destination—available to anyone willing to show up
2. Community and shared struggle are essential for growth and belonging
3. Vulnerability is a strength, not a weakness, in both sport and life
4. Sustainable performance means honoring limits and building habits that last

Vulnerable Moments:

1. Brad shares how powerlifting, despite not being a pro athlete, gives him meaning, connection, and humility
2. Honest reflections on facing fears, letting go of perfection, and embracing the unknown
3. Rebecca and Brad discuss the challenges of identity shifts and finding purpose beyond titles or achievements

Practical Wisdom:

1. How to approach excellence as a daily practice—grounded, intentional, and adaptable
2. Tools for building resilience and regulating stress in high-pressure environments
3. The role of mentorship, both giving and receiving, in personal and professional growth
4. Why slowing down and tuning into your own values leads to deeper fulfillment

Personal Growth:

1. Brad’s evolution from academic to thought leader, coach, and advocate for sustainable success
2. Rebecca’s ongoing journey to redefine achievement and embrace groundedness
3. How movement, nature, and reflection are tools for self-discovery and healing
4. The power of storytelling and honest conversation in building a meaningful life

Helpful Links:

1. Brad's Website & "The Way of Excellence" (book)
2. Brad Stulberg on Instagram
3. Brad Stulberg on LinkedIn
4. Podcast: Excellence, Actually

Support What’s the Rusch

If this episode resonated with you, please share it with a friend, leave a review, or post your favorite insight on social media. Your support helps us keep bringing you these honest, inspiring conversations!

Subscribe and Follow

Rate, Review, and Share

Get Connected:

Website

Instagram

LinkedIn

Substack

Blood Road

Become a Partner:

Want to reach an engaged audience of leaders, athletes, creatives, and purpose-driven individuals? What’s the Rusch is where your brand can align with authentic conversations about performance, purpose, and personal growth. For sponsorship and media kit info, contact [email protected].