Mirna’s Wild Idea: To run ultra-marathons and advocate for body positivity, showing others fitness comes in many sizes.
You may have seen Mirna Valerio, “The Mirnavator.” Her video with REI had millions of views on Facebook. It starts with her reading an angry letter from a guy who wrote to her while she was doing a 50k run. He called her a “fraud,” a “liar,” and said she is not only faking running ultra-marathons, but she’s making a bad name for runners because she is overweight and doesn’t “look like a runner.”
Well, Mirna can not only run, but she’s a true force of nature. She’s also a teacher, coach, diversity leader, trained opera singer, mom, wife, and recently added author and brand ambassador to her resume. A few years ago, when Mirna started doing longer runs, she started the site called Fat Girl Running. There weren’t a lot of people who looked like her on the trail, and she wanted to get more people outside running.
Her story was featured in the Wall Street Journal in 2015, and then was picked up by Runner’s World, NBC Nightly, CNN, and REI. She has now added a few more titles to her resume: brand ambassador, author of her new book, A Beautiful Work in Progress, and my own addition, total badass!
Listening to Mirna talk is inspiring. She has an incredible outlook on the world, she laughs easily, and she isn’t afraid to go deep. We talked about diving into the uncomfortable, dealing with haters, how to create opportunities for yourself, and how you can be a runner no matter what your size, shape, or background.
Presented by REI
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For full show notes, including guest links and books mentioned during the episode, visit: http://wildideasworthliving.com/59
Ami’s Wild Idea: To use photography to help people from around the world understand each other and connect. To raise awareness about cultures, communities, animals, and the environment.
Ami Vitale is a world-class photographer who has traveled the world on assignment for publications like National Geographic and the Associated Press. She got her start in journalism working as a war correspondent, and now focuses on stories, videos and photos about culture, wildlife and the environment. As a storyteller, she’s traveled to over 90 countries, lived in mud huts and war zones, contracted malaria, and even donned a panda suit.
In our conversation, you can hear how compassionate Ami is. She gives everything she has to her work, which is one reason she’s won so many awards and gets asked to give lectures and teach around the globe. She also donates proceeds of her work to benefit charities. You’ll be inspired to go out and do good in the world after this one.
Presented by REI
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For full show notes, including guest links and books mentioned during the episode, visit: http://wildideasworthliving.com/58
Rhonda’s Wild Idea: To combine her love of research and science into a podcast and site where she helps educate people about health and wellbeing practices.
Leading a healthy lifestyle is a key component to living wildly. That’s why I’m so excited to have on Dr. Rhonda Patrick. You may have heard her on The Joe Rogan Experience, The Tim Ferriss Show, or on her own podcast, Found My Fitness. She’s done research on and has interviewed some of the top scientists in their field about things like breath work, sauna, training, fasting, and more.
Rhonda and I actually know each other from teaching surfing together at the Surf Diva Surf School in our early twenties. We reconnected a year ago when I was researching a story about Wim Hof for Outside Magazine, who she’s spent some time with. I love how she takes complex scientific studies and puts them into plain English so more people (like myself) can understand them.
On this show, we talk about everything from health hacks to increase performance on the road or trail, how she got the wild idea to create her own site full of health and science information instead of going the traditional tenure track and working at a university, and how she got the attention of people like Joe Rogan and Tim Ferriss.
Presented by REI
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For full show notes, including guest links and books mentioned during the episode, visit: http://wildideasworthliving.com/57
Mike’s Wild Idea: To turn the shark attack where he lost his leg into a life mission. To also photograph sharks, help preserve marine wildlife, and to help other amputees and shark attack victims get active.
When he was 18, Mike Coots was attacked by a shark while bodyboarding in Hawaii. He survived, punching the shark numerous times in the face, but it took his right leg.
Today, Mike is a marine life advocate, a world-class photographer, a competitive surfer, and advocate for adaptive athletes. He is full of amazing stories, and shares many including one about how he tested, researched and designed his own prosthetic leg so he could standup surf. He also shares how he got into running, how he helps other shark attack victims and amputees get back in the water, and how he decides which projects to say yes to.
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For full show notes, including guest links and books mentioned during the episode, visit: http://wildideasworthliving.com/56