Interview: Brent Thomson Runs Mount Everest

By Pamela Burke

Twitter: @ThomsonBrent

She went, she ran, she conquered!  Brent Thomson took on what is called the hardest and highest race in the world, the Mount Everest Marathon, and accomplished her incredible goal this month.  At 60 years of age, she finished in 8 hours and 12 minutes.   Just completing the 26.2 mile journey down the rugged terrain was a feat in itself.

“I’m extremely thrilled that I did it and in a time I am very proud of…we pushed our bodies to the extreme limits.”  Brent Thomson

We profiled Brent on this website before she left for Nepal to begin her trek to 17,200 feet.  She returned earlier this month and gave Stacey Gualandi the first exclusive interview on the Women’s Eye Radio Show about her amazing race… 

Interview: Roz Savage On Her Record-Breaking Row Across Three Oceans

By Laurie McAndish King

UPDATE:  5/9/12:  Roz is about to row from Newfoundland to London to land there in time for the 2012 Olympics.  We wish her well!!!

UPDATE 4/4/12: Roz has a brand new website with loads of news about her newest rowing adventure to London and her acceptance into the World Fellows Program at Yale University this fall! 

UPDATE 3/3/12: Roz has just announced she will be rowing the North Atlantic to land in time for the 2012 Olympics in London

TWITTER: @rozsavage

Adventurer and environmentalist Roz Savage is the first woman to row across the “Big Three” oceans: the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian. Even more impressive, she did it solo, in a 23-foot rowboat, without a support vessel.

“I have battled twenty-foot waves, sleep deprivation, self-doubt and depression, but I have never been happier.”  Roz Savage

I interviewed Roz back in 2007 when she was launching her Pacific passage, and learned how she’d transformed herself from an ordinary office worker into a world-class ocean-rowing athlete. She’s accomplished quite a lot since then, having rowed more than 15,000 miles and spent nearly a year and a half of her life at sea.

Arriving Mauritrius after rowing Indian Ocean/Photo: Colin Leondardt-10/3/11

And she has the credentials to prove it.  Roz now holds four world records for ocean rowing, and in 2010 was named Adventurer of the Year by the National Geographic Society.  She was recently invited by the Queen’s royal command to a reception at Buckingham Palace.

I was thrilled to catch up with Roz recently at a coffee shop in San Francisco, just after she had set her new record by completing the last of her three ocean rows, the Indian Ocean crossing… 

Interview: Ann Murray Paige And Pink Tips For Breast Cancer Fighters

Photo: VIPimages.com

By Stacey Gualandi

TWITTER: @annmurraypaige
FACEBOOK:  annmurraypaige

With the country’s attention focused heavily on breast cancer this month, there is story after inspiring story of amazing survivors of this disease.  But one woman’s journey in particular, Ann Murray Paige, truly captures the spirit of what it means to be a breast cancer fighter!

” Once life forced my face to the mat, I came back swinging, and I still am.”  Ann Murray Paige

Mutual friends Susie Stangland and Lee Woodruff, whom we profiled earlier this year, introduced me to Ann, and I am so grateful they did.

Ann getting chemo; Linda Patillo with camera

This Emmy-nominated New England TV journalist, wife, and mother of two adorable young children, was diagnosed with breast cancer at only 38.  Her dream of having a third child ended there.

But Ann did what she knew best; she told a story.  She documented her battle in the acclaimed film, “The Breast Cancer Diaries.”

She writes an award-winning blog Project Pink , and her just-released book, “pink tips: breast cancer advice from someone who’s been there,” is  the cancer Cliffsnotes she wished she had.

We both worked in television news and share a love of  “Charlie’s Angels” (don’t ask!!!), so I wanted to get to know this “warrior in pink” better.  I soon learned cancer picked the wrong gal when it picked her.

Be sure to tune in soon to our interview with Ann on The Women’s Eye Radio Show airing in December…

Interview: Brent Thomson Prepares To Run The World’s Highest Marathon

By Pamela Burke

TWITTER:  @ThomsonBrent

UPDATE:  December 4–Brent Runs Everest Marathon in 8 hours, 12 min.  Congrats, Brent! 

UPDATE:  December 1–Brent’s Ready to Run, Tomorrow’s the Big Day

UPDATE:  November 29–Brent has reached 16,000 feet, close to the starting point of her marathon run down Mt. Everest on Dec. 2.  She has just updated her blog where you can read the latest on her journey up to 17,200 feet.

UPDATE:  November 12–Brent has just taken off on the first leg of her journey.  She’ll be landing in Nepal soon.  You can follow her blog and keep  up with her adventure when she has time to  post.  Good luck, Brent!…

It’s a cool, overcast morning in the Marin Headlands when runner Brent Thomson sets off for her 6AM jaunt.  But hers is no ordinary undertaking.  She’s sprinting 20 miles over hills and tough terrain to prepare for the highest and hardest run of her life–the 26.2 mile Everest Marathon on December 2.

“When you put yourself in extreme situations and you come through them, it makes you so much stronger.” 

The race starts on Mt. Everest in Nepal at 17,200 feet and ends 6,000 feet below.  It’s a helicopter ride in and a 30 mile trek to the starting point.  Brent’s approaching her sixtieth birthday but doesn’t give much thought to the age factor.  For this Senior V. P. at Pacific Union International,  a real estate firm in the San Francisco Bay Area, the morning run is a piece of cake.

Photo by Elliot Karlan

It may be cake to her but the rigorous exercise program would give a lot of athletes severe heart palpitations.  She runs 18-26 miles every Saturday and 6-10 miles two days a week.  Then there are two days of rigorous CrossFit training with just one day of rest.  So how and why does she do it?  We set out to find an explanation for Brent’s latest ultramarathon goal…

Interview: Commentator Keli Goff Has Her Eye On Politics

By Stacey Gualandi

Twitter: @keligoff
Facebook: KeliGoff

She has an eye for pinpointing the hot button issues in today’s political discussion.   Commentator Keli Goff has been called “fearless” and “a breath of fresh air” since she emerged from the 2008 election as a voice for the hip-hop generation.

“I feel I’ve done my job best when someone says they didn’t know about something until they read my column and took action…”  Keli Goff

If you follow politics, you’ve read her editorial blogs on The Huffington Post and loop21.com or listened to her on radio and TV shows across the country.  She has an opinion and isn’t afraid to share it.

Now Keli’s experience in following Presidential campaigns and elections has inspired her first novel “The GQ Candidate,”  a page-turning look into the inner circle of an unlikely man running for president, an African-American who was raised by a multi-racial family.

She comes by it naturally; after all, her passion for picking presidents began as a preteen.  With the 2012 election campaign underway, I wanted to check in with Keli to see what’s on her mind these days…

Interview: Author Carole Brody Fleet On Changing The Face Of Widowhood

By Stacey Gualandi

On Facebook:  widowswearstilettos
On Twitter: widowsstilettos

In 2000, Carole Brody Fleet lost her beloved husband Mike after a two-year battle with ALS.  In an instant she was on her own, broke, raising an 11-year-old daughter… and a widow at only 40.

“The face of widowhood is not what everybody thinks. It’s women in their teens, 20’s and beyond…”  Carole Brody Fleet

But she wasn’t alone.    When she realized that widows wear stilettos too, not just black, she set out to help anyone feeling the emotional shock and devastation of widowhood.    Her book “Widows Wear Stilettos:  A Practical and Emotional Guide for the Young Widow” provides a comforting, informative guide – with just a hint of humor – to those widowed too soon.

Now her book and website inspire 3 -4 thousand letters and emails every month from widows all around the world.

Don’t miss The Women’s Eye Radio Show interview with Carole on Sept. 10 at 10AM PST 1480KPHX.com and the rebroadcast Sept. 11 at 3P PST. 

Carole and I share similar experiences, having both lost our fathers to cancer in our early 40’s. 

But I also wanted to reach out to her to understand my mother’s loss, and what it means to move forward after losing your spouse, your confidante and your best friend…

Interview: Best Selling Author Laura Munson On Marriage And Making Choices

By Stacey Gualandi

Facebook: lauramunson
Twitter:   @lauramunson

Author Laura Munson never thought she would be called a revolutionary.  But her first book, “This Is Not The Story You Think It Is:  A Season of Unlikely Happiness”, sparked such a reaction from readers, she is still feeling the love over a year later.

“Never did I think I’d star as the main character in my first book.”   Laura

This Montana-based writer’s overnight success was actually 20 years in the making.  Her essay in the “Modern Love” New York Times column about what happened when her husband told her he didn’t love her anymore, touched such a nerve, her story went viral, which led to this best selling book. The paperback version has just been released.

When it comes to marital distress, Munson is an unlikely role model.  Instead of reacting, or over-reacting, Munson chose not to take it personally. I had the good fortune to meet Laura recently in Los Angeles at the More Magazine Reinvention Convention.   I wanted to find out how she discovered  true happiness and ultimately kept her marriage intact… 

Interview: Lee Woodruff On Family, Her Foundation And Flannel PJ’s

By Stacey Gualandi

Twitter:  @LeeMWoodruff
Facebook:  Perfectly Imperfect

UPDATE: 2/1/12:  Lee’s blog reports that she’s just finished the manuscript of her first book, “Those We Love,” which will be out 9/11/12

UPDATE 1/9/12:  Lee Woodruff joins ‘CBS This Morning‘

Author Lee Woodruff  knows what it means to overcome adversity.   Five years ago, her husband ABC anchor Bob Woodruff,  suffered a near-fatal brain injury from a roadside bomb while reporting from Iraq.  It has been a long, yet successful road to recovery.  And in the process, she has become a voice for brain-injured soldiers returning from war.

“Things happen in life and we need to reach out and seek help.”  Lee Woodruff

Lee and her husband wrote In An Instant, an instant bestseller about healing from such a horrible event.   They formed the Bob Woodruff Foundation to help raise awareness, money, and assistance to those troops in recovery.

In her follow-up book, Perfectly Imperfect, A Life In Progress,  she humorously tackled the subject of everyday challenges.  Lee also speaks tirelessly to people all over the country.   This Good Morning America correspondent will be one of the hosts at  the More Magazine Reinvention Convention in Los Angeles on Monday.

I have recently had to “reinvent” myself, so I was very interested in talking with Lee about how to move forward, how to find inner strength, and how to embrace flannel nightgowns.  I’ll explain…

Interview: Sarah Brokaw On Fortytude, Fear, And Facing 40

By Stacey Gualandi

Twitter: myfortytude

Sarah Brokaw has hit a nerve with the 40-and-older crowd with her new book “Fortytude – Making the Next Decades the Best Years of Your Life through the 40’s, 50’s, and Beyond”.  Facing the big 4-0?  She says have no fear.

“Having Fortytude means realizing that while you can’t control what happens, you can control your reactions.”

Yes, Sarah is related to that other famous Brokaw.  Tom is her father.  Her mother, Meredith, is a successful entrepreneur. Yet Sarah navigated her own successful path.  By 30 she became a licensed psychotherapist and certified coach, but like so many women, she wanted to marry and have a family.

Sarah’s personal story inspired her to write “Fortytude“.  She interviewed hundreds of women from all walks of life for the book.   Of course, being in my 40’s, I knew this book would speak to me.  Not only did it  speak to me, it shook, slapped and snapped me right into a new way of thinking!

I’ve had a love/hate relationship with my 40’s so Sarah addressed my personal problems, or “sparkling moments” as she calls them.  Now I’d like to share our stories with you… 

Interview: Katrina Kenison On The Gift Of An Ordinary Day

By Stacey Gualandi

UPDATE 2/28/11–Katrina’s First Day at Kripalu

twitter.com/katrinakenison

Author and mother Katrina Kenison has captured a movement, one ordinary moment at a time, thanks to her book, The Gift of an Ordinary Day: A Mother’s Memoir,  a popular blog, and the second most-watched book trailer online that you can see below.

“Begin each day with gratitude for what IS rather than worrying so much about what still might be.”   Katrina

Katrina simply asks us to appreciate that parking spot that magically appears, the birds chirping as you walk your dog, your young son saying “thanks” for the fun day you just had….moments so simple and ordinary, and gone in a flash.

While it’s a mother’s memoir, it appeals to even the non-moms like EYE contributor Stacey Gualandi. As she says, “After talking with Katrina, I realized ordinary has universal appeal, and I understand my mom so much more. We also found out we both practice yoga.  I teach and she’s about to become a teacher herself!”

And for the first time, Katrina’s sharing with us news about her next plans…something her fans and readers will be excited to hear!!!