Be Bold With Beth Whitman

Big announcement ~ I'll be taking a break from podcasting until I can return with more in-person conversations with amaaaazingly BOLD women. Take a listen to hear a bit more about it... *****   Connect with me: PATREON! (join our growing community!) Facebook Instagram WanderTours Be Bold Facebook Group (women-only) Twitter Enjoyed this episode? Tell a friend! Be Bold, Beth

Today’s guest is Stasia Honnold. Stasia is an adventurer. But not just any kind of adventurer – she’s a human-powered adventurer. So what does that mean? In short, she bikes, she hikes and she runs. And rarely does she use a car do to any of those. She’s a woman who makes up her own adventures and figures out how to execute on them with lots of planning and organizing. As Stasia says, she lives by a set of values and makes her life choices based on these values – doing no harm – and in doing so, she’s living simply as well as on her own terms. It was my intention to highlight Stasia for being Stasia. And not mentioning her family ties because she deserves recognition in her own right for what she does. But talk about her family came out naturally during our conversation. And what I’m talking about is the fact that her brother is Alex Honnold, who free solo’d up El Capitan and who you can learn all about the Academy Award winning movie, Free Solo. Her mom, by the way, is Dierdre Wolownick and I’ve had Dierdre

Today’s guest is Liz Grantham. Liz is the founder of The Optimal Me, a fitness app created specifically for those over 50 and it focuses on getting people functionally fit with exercises that take just 15 minutes a day. Liz and I dive deep into the importance of movement as we age. And not just moving (like me, with running) but by doing exercises that help with every day movement--like lifting your luggage into the overhead bin of a flight. As Liz points out, 2.8 million people die each year from obesity. 2.8 million! But no one is talking about that (likely because it’s not contagious). But it’s for this very reason that she’s motivated to help people keep their mobility and stay healthy well into late life. While it wasn’t her intention to create an app that would keep us in shape during a pandemic, the timing of this is quite good as we should all be staying active and functional and staying happy and fit so that when we get out of this, we’re in the same or better shape than when this whole thing started

Enjoy these uplifting and positive conversations? Support the podcast through Patreon and get access to special audio and written content, be part of a private Facebook group (ladies only) and enjoy other benefits only for supporters of the podcast! ***** Today’s guest is Tanji Johnson. Tanji is an 11 time Fitness Champion and she’s Fitness and Wellness Coach. She had a long career as a bodybuilder and now coaches others in this form of fitness and actually holds fitness competitions here in Washington State—that’s the Tanji Johnson Classic. Tanji has graced the covers of fitness magazines and one online search of her images and you can understand why. In this episode, we talk all about what led her to becoming a fitness professional, including her time in the military, where she thrived and worked as a military aircraft maintenance supervisor. We wrap up this conversation with her thoughts on Black Lives Matter including a really great lesson for me as she helped me better understand the movement. Please enj

Enjoy these uplifting and positive conversations? Support the podcast through Patreon and get access to special audio and written content, be part of a private Facebook group (ladies only) and enjoy other benefits only for supporters of the podcast! ***** Today’s guest is Martina Kwan. Martina has a really interesting backstory. She’s Chinese/German, was born in Hong Kong and then moved with her family to Beirut when she was eight, and then on to Hamburg, Bahrain, Amsterdam and Switzerland for college before moving to the United States. She speaks English, German, French and is learning Mandarin. This global upbringing, particularly living in Beirut for two years at the start of their civil war, has given her a very unique perspective on the world and has helped her navigate very challenging situations. Martina is an award-winning business founder and entrepreneur, a speaker, a champion mindset coach and, what I found most interesting, a race car driver. Martina has found success throughout her life by being

Enjoy these uplifting and positive conversations? Support the podcast through Patreon and get access to special audio and written content, be part of a private Facebook group (ladies only) and enjoy other benefits only for supporters of the podcast! ***** Today I have a returning guest, Angela Shen. Angela has made lemonade out of lemons with regards to dealing with this pandemic. As you might recall from episode #45, Angela is the Founder and CEO of Savor Seattle Food Tours. When things started to shut down in Seattle at the beginning of the pandemic, I watched as Angela made really quick changes, pivots as everyone says these days. She created a new path for her company that fits right in with the company’s mission while also supporting local businesses, providing a service to locals and keeping her business alive. I’ve been keeping up with what she’s doing and have been so impressed with how she’s managed to go with the flow and I wanted to bring her back on the podcast to chat. I was most interested in ho

Enjoy these uplifting and positive conversations? Support the podcast through Patreon and get access to special audio and written content, be part of a private Facebook group (ladies only) and enjoy other benefits only for supporters of the podcast! ***** This is where you’ll hear one-on-one conversations with women who have inspirational stories to share. They are entrepreneurs, authors, musicians, spiritual teachers and adventurers. Though they come from a wide variety of backgrounds, what they have in common is that they approach the world by seeing the possibilities, not the obstacles. And I know that’s not an easy thing to do these days. But today’s guest, Chris Fagan, manages to see the light in every situation. Chris joins me on occasion to do a deep dive on a topic and today we wanted to chat about how we’re moving through this pandemic. Of course she finds this all challenging, but she has a great perspective on the uncertainty of our situation and how to make the most of this time. We also talk abou

Enjoy these uplifting and positive conversations? Support the podcast through Patreon and get access to special audio and written content, be part of a private Facebook group (ladies only) and enjoy other benefits only for supporters of the podcast! ***** Today’s guest is Caroline Van Hemert. Caroline’s new book is The Sun is a Compass which chronicles her (and her husband’s) 4,000 mile, six-month journey—all human-powered—from the coast of Washington State, north to the Arctic coast. But her book isn’t just an adventure travel memoir. Caroline is a wildlife biologist so she’s not just writing about her adventures of rowing, skiing hiking and canoeing. Her observations include a scientific and environmental perspective. As you listen to her describe this journey, I think it will leave you longing for doing something as remote and adventurous as this. Maybe it’s just me but she certainly has me wanting to just go away for six months and come out the other side of this pandemic with everything intact. (Which I

Enjoy these uplifting and positive conversations? Support the podcast through Patreon and get access to special audio and written content, be part of a private Facebook group (ladies only) and enjoy other benefits only for supporters of the podcast! ***** Today’s guest is Chef Maria Hines. Maria is quite a well-known figure in the world of cuisine here in Seattle area and we are certainly lucky to have her here. In 2005 she was named one of the Top Ten Best New Chef’s in America by Food and Wine Magazine. In 2008, the New York Times recognized her restaurant, Tilth, which opened in 2006, as one of the ten best new restaurants in the country. And in 2009, she won the James Beard Award for Best New Chef: Northwest. Maria has a new book that just came out called Peak Nutrition: Smart Fuel for Outdoor Adventure. The book came from her experience as a climber and her realization that she needed to fuel properly in order to get the most out of her climbing performance. As you can well imagine, things have been a b

Enjoy these uplifting and positive conversations? Support the podcast through Patreon and get access to special audio and written content, be part of a private Facebook group (ladies only) and enjoy other benefits only for supporters of the podcast! ***** Today's conversation is with Jennifer Louden. I had really wanted to chat with Jen in-person. And we had hoped to do so when she was scheduled to be in Seattle on a book tour in June. But that all went sideways when travel (and pretty much everything else) was grounded. So we decided to chat remotely instead. And I’m so glad we did. You might know Jen as a pioneer in the self-care world. She’s a best-selling author and teacher of workshops, helping people lead a meaningful life through wellness, creativity and mindfulness practices. She has a new book out called Why Bother: Discover the Desire for What’s Next. There’s a couple of things I want to point out about this book and our conversation. At first glance, you might read the title, Why Bother, and think

Enjoy these uplifting and positive conversations? Support the podcast through Patreon and get access to special audio and written content, be part of a private Facebook group (ladies only) and enjoy other benefits only for supporters of the podcast! ***** This conversation is with author and holocaust survivor, Laureen Nussbaum. This was recorded in-person almost four months ago, at the end of February. It was one of my last in-person conversations that I had for the podcast prior to the pandemic. Under most circumstances, four months would feel like yesterday. But so much has happened since then that it feels like eons ago. I was all ready to publish this episode in early March but then things just started to shut down, at least here in Seattle. As I re-listened to this conversation during the editing process, Laureen’s description of not being allowed to go outside when she was growing up (as a Jewish person), just hit too close to home for me. For very different reasons, obviously, I understood that feelin

Enjoy these uplifting and positive conversations? Support the podcast through Patreon and get access to special audio and written content, be part of a private Facebook group (ladies only) and enjoy other benefits only for supporters of the podcast! ***** Join me for this week's episode as I do a deep-ish dive into what's been keeping me going and how I'm coping during this pandemic as we are three+ months into sheltering in place. ***** Have a burning question and want to be featured on a future episode? Call 877-280-5170 and leave a message or email me here.   Connect with me: PATREON! (join our growing community!) Facebook Instagram WanderTours Be Bold Facebook Group (women-only) Twitter Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe then tell a friend! Be Bold, Beth

Enjoy these uplifting and positive conversations? Support the podcast through Patreon and get access to special audio and written content, be part of a private Facebook group (ladies only) and enjoy other benefits only for supporters of the podcast! ***** As you may know, over these past couple of months, the podcast has taken a bit of departure from my usual long-form, in-person conversations with guests. Instead, I’ve been addressing different aspects of dealing with this pandemic and recording (remotely) episodes that are a bit shorter. If you go back, you can hear how to be happy during a pandemic, how to stay fit, how to journal, how to boost your immune system. All sorts of useful info to help you get through this trying time. This week is yet another slight departure. You’ll recall that a few weeks ago I shared a Q&A about travel that was recorded with “my” tour people via Zoom. I invited past and future WanderTours participants to join me so that I could answer their questions about travel. Well,

Enjoy these uplifting and positive conversations? Support the podcast through Patreon and get access to special audio and written content, be part of a private Facebook group (ladies only) and enjoy other benefits only for supporters of the podcast! ***** Today’s guest is Dierdre Wolownick. You might remember Dierdre from episode #83. She is the author of The Sharp End of Life (as well as many other books), she’s the oldest woman to have climbed El Capitan (she happens to have a great teacher, her son Alex Honnold, to thank for that) and she’s a lifelong journaler. I’ve been journaling the majority of my life and, for me, it started nearly 30 years ago when I began traveling. I’ve documented all of these trips I’ve taken but I also journal even when I’m not traveling. And it’s been a wonderful way for me to get my thoughts down during this pandemic. Dierdre and I talk about how journaling can be an excellent way to get to get to know yourself and to help you get through difficult times, such as during a lockd

Enjoy these uplifting and positive conversations? Support the podcast through Patreon and get access to special audio and written content, be part of a private Facebook group (ladies only) and enjoy other benefits only for supporters of the podcast! ***** How are you all dealing with this? It’s kinda crazy to see how we’re all going through this health crisis and how it’s different depending on where you live, what your days are like (are you working overtime or are you sitting idle) and also what stage you are in in your lockdown (if you’re locked down at all!). So, when they say we’re in this together, I don’t feel like that. It’s just all too different for each one of us. And I think most of us are feeling lonelier than ever, right? But I think no matter what phase or stage you’re in, there are some things we can definitely agree with. We’re trying to find happiness, stability and some sort of normalcy each day. And even then, I know there’s guilt with feeling happy right now. We have a small win of some k

Enjoy these uplifting and positive conversations? Support the podcast through Patreon and get access to special audio and written content, be part of a private Facebook group (ladies only) and enjoy other benefits only for supporters of the podcast! ***** I’ve got a special treat for you this week. It’s neither my usual long form conversation, nor my temporary method of recording remotely during a pandemic conversation. This is a group Zoom call that I did with some of my tour people. These are folks who have either been on a tour with me or are scheduled to be on a tour in the future. I wanted to make myself available to them to answer any questions that they might have either about WanderTours as a company, about upcoming tours and then just about travel in general. There were nearly 40 of us and we spent more than an hour and a half on this Zoom call. What I did for this podcast episode was extract some of the Q&A’s and kind of stitch them together. It’s a combination of questions that had been sent t

** If you find yourself struggling and need something to lift you up, the Be Bold Facebook group (for ladies only) has been a wonderful way for us to encourage each other. Normally we post the things we’re doing to Be Bold but over the past few weeks, we’ve been posting each day the things that we’re doing to stay happy and healthy right now. There are some great ideas that others have shared so please join us! ***** Today’s guest is Janet Rhoton. Janet’s been a mental health professional for 40 years and has worked in a variety of capacities, as you’ll hear in this episode. Janet is a friend of mine and we recently connected because a mutual friend of ours passed away. While our friend did not die of the coronavirus, I believe her death was a result of it, as Janet calls it, it was a death of despair. And this kind of death has been a concern to me since this whole virus thing started to go down. I’m so concerned about how people are going to make their way through this situation when people are feeling so

** If you find yourself struggling and need something to lift you up, the Be Bold Facebook group (for ladies only) has been a wonderful way for us to encourage each other. Normally we post the things we’re doing to Be Bold but over the past few weeks, we’ve been posting each day the things that we’re doing to stay happy and healthy right now. There are some great ideas that others have shared so please join us! ***** Today’s conversation is with Jannell MacAulay. You might recall Jannell from episode #53. Boy, this was going on nearly two years ago now and it was just as she was retiring from her 20-year career in the air force where she was a pilot and combat veteran. She’s now a mindfulness specialist and wellness educator (among other things) and helps others optimize their performance while in a high stress environment. Something we could all use right about now. She has a really great approach in terms of how we can best navigate through these trying times. These are simple tips that are accessible to

** If you find yourself struggling and need something to lift you up, the Be Bold Facebook group (for ladies only) has been a wonderful way for us to encourage each other. Normally we post the things we’re doing to Be Bold but over the past few weeks, we’ve been posting each day the things that we’re doing to stay happy and healthy right now. There are some great ideas that others have shared so please join us! ***** As you likely know from last week’s episode, I’m doing something a bit different for the foreseeable future. Normally, this podcast features long-form, in-person conversations with Bold women. But that requires not only sitting down with these ladies in person but also more normal circumstances when we’re maybe not so distracted by external events. So I am currently recording shorter episodes via Zoom that can provide a bit of helpful guidance as we collectively move through this trying time called a pandemic. If you find yourself struggling and need a bit of support, the Be Bold Facebook group (

** If you find yourself struggling and need something to lift you up, the Be Bold Facebook group (for ladies only) has been a wonderful way for us to encourage each other. Normally we post the things we’re doing to Be Bold but over the past few weeks, we’ve been posting each day the things that we’re doing to stay happy and healthy right now. There are some great ideas that others have shared so please join us! ***** I’m going to be doing something a little different for the foreseeable future. As you likely know, I have only ever recorded with my guests in-person. We sit down and chat for in-depth, long-form conversations. But, obviously, that’s just not possible right now. And although I do have a number of these conversations already recorded and ready to go, they just didn’t seem appropriate to release right now. So I’ve decided to pivot a little bit and I’m sitting down (and by that I mean I’m sitting down at my laptop over Zoom) and recording with women who have knowledge and experience in certain field