Finding Your Summit

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Dr. Charles Weaver - Cancer Connect Oct 19, 2018

Show notes

Dr. Charles Weaver is an oncologist who founded Cancer Connect. Dr. Weaver views researching or working with cancer patients as the most positive for a doctor to do. For him, the work is an opportunity to engage with people who need information, hope and a guide.
Charles life’s focus began to change. Though he was a successful oncologist, Dr. Weaver turned to, like anyone, the internet for answers. This process led to a realization that the patient’s experience, once diagnosed, was a maze of uncertain information. Few first-hand accounts and or reliable ways to ask the basic questions existed.
Cancer Connect was born--the program now links 1000’s in a community that is united by cancer. Over the years the group grows--27000 articles written by experts, access to former cancer patients with experiential advice and knowledge and more. The Cancer Connect community is a special place.
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Brett Archibald - Overboard in the Indian Ocean Oct 12, 2018

Show notes

Brett Archibald spent 28 hours alone, lost at sea with nothing but his faith, family and friends to guide him. A case of food poisoning puts Brett on the railing of the ship in a storm as he and friends crossed the Mentawai Strait off Sumatra, Indonesia. At some point, Brett blacked out and was thrown into the ocean. Once he came to, Brett watched as the ship continued on without him. 8 hours after falling, Brett's friends finally realized the horrible truth.

Bill Valenti - Linguist, Banker, Founder, Musician, Survivor Oct 05, 2018

Show notes

Bill Valenti is a banker, an entrepreneur, a cancer survivor, and a protest songwriter. Bill’s life is packed full of accomplishments. His tale starts by busking on the liberal revolutionary streets of Paris while attending school in the 60's.
Linguist
Next, is the Vietnam war. Bill decided to enlist. He was assigned to the Defense Language Institue in Monterey Ca. Bill became a Chinese linguist to counter the efforts of Chinese forces against US interests.
Banker
That experience directly led to Valenti working overseas in banking opening and establishing branches in Korea, Japan, and Hong Kong. Subsequently, banking created opportunities for him to invest in emerging Asian companies like Samsung and Hyundai.
Founder
Each step building on the other, Bill's experience in the Asian markets enabled him to pioneer products that expanded the usefulness of cell phones. Tegic, a company that was the precursor to modern texting, solved the problem of placing 26 letters onto a 9 digit phone keyboard.
His next company Melodio pushed streaming music from the bounds of an iTunes account on a desktop computer and pushed it to the customer's cellular device.
Musician
Finally, Bill met his greatest challenge, Stage 4, Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. His cancer, though stage 4, was indolent; meaning it was in a holding pattern and not an immediate threat. However, the diagnosis was enough to spur Bill to "Get off the Start-up merry-go-round" and get back to his musical roots. With this new focus, Bill's penchant for a protest song grew. Bill realized that the words he wrote in blogs commenting on news stories delivered greater impact in song form. These songs were filling a gap left unfilled since the 60's and 70's.
Survivor
Finally, finding the answers he sought in music, Bill got back to doing more than just performing. He began creating events called "The Art of the Protest Song." In places like Austin Texas, Bill finds local musicians. These performers help set up an event creating opportunities for audiences to hear unifying messages that get beyond partisan politics. Along with the events, Bill began a new start-up called Rantcaster. Rantcaster's mission is simple, "Rantcaster is changing the world of online journalism. We unite music and spoken word poetry to invigorate the news in the digital age."
As life often does, Bill Valenti finds himself full circle. He's returned to his musical roots. Bill notes, "Music is medicine. Music does something special for audiences, it's "edutainment," it's hyper-energizing which is what I need to keep my spirits high. I hope to be like Pete Seeger and perform until the day I die."
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070: NFL QB Steve Beuerlein, Creating Opportunity to Grow, Through Change Sep 28, 2018

Show notes

NFL quarterback Steve Beuerlein played for six different teams, over 14 seasons. Steve played for the Dallas Cowboys in 1992/93 season, the year the team won Super Bown XXVII. Before stepping the NFL field, Beuerlein started at QB for Notre Dame. Steve established himself as a QB ready for the next level by breaking most of the passing records while starting 39 or 46 games at the school.
Raiders
It'd be easy to look at Steve's career and see the high moments while missing the challenges. Drafted by the Raiders, Beuerlein battled with Jay Schroeder ultimately winning the starting job. As the lowest paid starting QB going into his 3rd season, Steve held out to improve his contract. Al Davis and Beuerlein agreed on a contract before the start of the season, but Davis was done with Beuerlein.
Cowboys
Coveting Beuerlein's capabilities and looking to create options if Troy Aikman failed to develop, Dallas acquired Steve at the dawn of their championship run. Troy strained his knee giving Steve his chance to start for the Cowboys. Making the most of it, Steve lead the team to a series of victories and ultimately started over Aikman as Head Coach Jimmy Johnson stayed with his hot hand.
Despite Beuerlein's success, the Cowboys were always going to be Troy's team. Beuerlein, Aikman and the Cowboys won the Super Bowl in Steve's second and last season with the team.
Career
Steve's showing with the Cowboys established him as a legitimate NFL starting QB. The next 10 years saw Steve battle with Head Coach Buddy Ryan in Phoenix. Then Beuerlein played for the expansion Jaguars and Panthers. Beuerlein's career concluded with a season in Denver. At each stop in his long career, Steve endured change and intra-team conflict.
To survive in the NFL until 38 years old, Steve had to be resilient. He had to perform on the field, despite the uncertainty of an NFL season. He got to play for six NFL franchises because he did what pros do, he showed up ready no matter what.

069: Raha Moharrak Sep 21, 2018

Show notes

Growing up in Saudi Arabia, females didn't pick internationally famous mountain climber as an occupation. However, Raha Moharrak was an odd one (her words) who didn't handle authority well. Always struggling to fit into the cookie cutter mold, hyper and opinionated Raha sought out spots as an outlet for her energy. Now Raha is an international brand ambassador, public speaker and has climbed the 7 Summits. Beyond expectations indeed.

067: Vern Tejas - 7 Summits 10X Sep 14, 2018

Show notes

Vern Tejas has spent his life in the mountains. In this episode we discuss his achievements, evolution as a climber and his ability to make correct choices in complex settings.
First, his list of accomplishments is beyond extraordinary. Tejas is the first person to ever climb the 7 summits 10 times each; the 70 Summits. Vern summited Denali 55 times. Teejas' 39 summits of Vinson, in Antartica, remains the record for most ever.
Second, Vern is a leader in solo winter ascents. This particular discipline might be the most stunning. When the conditions are the harshest, and help is not present, Vern climbs.
Finally, Vern Tejasis the first person to solo summit Denali in the winter. To help save him in the event of falling into a crevasse, Vern, hauled an aluminum ladder behind in to act as a means of self-rescue.

067: Making a Difference with former NFL Player Tafa Jefferson Sep 07, 2018

Show notes

Tafa Jefferson has never taken an easy path. He started football late, not playing until his senior high school season. After choosing UOP, the school dropped its football program. Undaunted Tafa stayed at UOP and worked his way through the schools emerging entrepreneurial program.
After graduation, Tafa was drafted in the 1st round of the NFL Europe draft by the Chicago Bears. Before he could get started, injuries to both his and his shoulder ended his football career before it truly began.

065: Perfect Days With Cokie Berenyi Aug 29, 2018

Show notes

Cokie Berenyi is working for a #perfectday. Cokie and Mark climbed Denali together, sharing a tent and working on the same rope team. Their mutual appreciation for one another's spirit, determination and focus was realized on Denali as they pushed through to the summit.
Whether summiting a mountain or moving her life to Colorado, Cokie is focuses on flexing her fear muscle; using it to get past comfortable and move up where growth begins.
Like in climbing, Cokie advises using life's big muscles to conquer challenges. What does that mean? She believes that accepting imbalance between life and work is more attainable. Further, making her sure her business serves her life rather than sacrificing life for business. Finally, designing her day to accomplish 4 things by 11, or 411s and allowing the basis of a perfect day.
By living life outside of her comfort zone, Cokie is climbing to where joy resides.
#PerfectDay

064: Winning At Life After Football with Mark Brunell Aug 24, 2018

Show notes

Life has a habit of throwing us into difficult places. Yet, it also has the power to reveal our best qualities amidst those times. Mark Brunell is a perfect example of positivity. After going through a lot during his days on the NFL, he has remained undefeated, both on the field and in life after football. He shares with us almost everything about football, from playing in a small high school to choosing Washington and getting injured, and the values he got along the way. Bringing up the many people that has helped him all throughout, Mark conveys the power of teamwork and the importance of having the right people surround you. Be it in the field or in life, Mark shares how you, too, can overcome adversities.

063: A Life Of Thriving with Coach Elizabeth Miner Aug 17, 2018

Show notes

We all get stuck, most especially when life throws us in situations we never expected. The key to all of that is to keep on moving forward. Thriving day-by-day, Elizabeth Miner shares her journey. As a single mother of two at such a young age, she has endured through the struggles and persevered to becoming the successful businesswoman and coach that she is now. She shares some great values in life that we could apply to ours and gives a range of advice, from handling limiting beliefs to taking that leap towards your goals. As someone who has been through a lot, Elizabeth’s life-skill and coaching is one that will not only help us go through life’s roller coasters but find meaning in those to become better.

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