On Get Stoked Girls, I shared the throughline from a Midwest childhood and big Indiana Jones style dreams, to trail running, the Peace Corps, and eventually taking on the Kilimanjaro Northern Route FKT in support of The Cairn Project. We talked about how ultrarunning found me after years abroad, during a season of reverse culture shock, and how endurance became a way to channel curiosity, restlessness and belief in hard things.
We also went deep on Kilimanjaro. The planning. The recon. The decision to design a 62 mile route that stayed high and demanding for hours on end. The moments that went smoothly and the moments that required calm, patience and trust in preparation. Setting the FKT mattered, but what mattered more was tying that effort to something bigger than myself and using it to help other women and girls step into the outdoors with support and confidence.
A meaningful part of this story is partnership. Brian was on this project with me, and we talked openly about what allyship looks like when a project is female led. Support does not dilute leadership. When done right, it strengthens it and extends the reach.
This episode is about intuition and following the quiet pull that keeps showing up across different seasons of life. It is about choosing adventure as a tool for growth, perspective and advocacy. And it is about believing that long goals are worth committing to, even when the full shape of the path is still unknown.
If you are standing at the edge of something that feels big or uncertain, I hope this conversation reminds you that you do not need to have everything mapped out to begin. You need curiosity, honesty and the willingness to keep moving forward.
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Check out Get Stoked Girls for more stories from women in the backcountry