This episode of Exeter Real is made possible by our friends at PHAB. Experts in personal hygiene and beauty, this Exeter based, family run, business has been trading for 21 years in the professional hair and beauty sector. When Corona Virus descended on the UK earlier this year, the team responded quickly and effectively; adjusting their business model to address their client's changing needs and to welcome new ones with a range PPE products and specific contactless hand sanitising machines. PHAB is committed to a disciplined buying process that provides both their local, and national customers, with a range of quality, fairly priced, products. You can reach them through the links in the notes; drop them a line and they’ll make sure to look after you. Huge thanks to the entire team at PHAB for their support of the Podcast.

Hello & welcome back.

Hosted & edited by Tracey Duke, produced by Felix Northover and recorded via Zoom during these incredibly challenging times, of Covid-19, we ask the question; what does it take to thrive in a world of both challenge and opportunity and most importantly, how do we build the resilience and leadership skills to get us there?

Extreme athletes, deep sea divers, polar explorers. astronauts; all extreme occupations that move beyond the known, push boundaries and challenge expectation, more often than not bringing about intense hardship and risk, where errors in judgement will almost certainly lead to death.

This period of lockdown during Covid-19 has allowed time and space for me to catch up on some must see documentaries including Reese Witherspoons re-telling of Cheryl Strayed’s epic solo trek in Wild. The Dawn Wall; the story of Tommy Caldwell & Kevin Jorgeson staggering free-climb of El Capitan’s most formidable rock surface and Losing Sight of the Shore, the epic record setting pacific ocean crossing by an all women team, back in 2015.

These gripping, outstanding examples of human endeavour led me to question what lies behind the psychology of extreme sports? What is it that enables an ordinary, every day person, to commit to & complete, an extraordinary, life-threatening, feat? And, most importantly; why?

My guest today is Laura Penhaul, a physiotherapist and extreme sports athlete; one of the crew who set a world first record by rowing across the Pacific ocean, from America to Australia; a phenomenal feat that took, in total, nine months and was the subject of the documentary Losing Sight of the Shore.

The record setting crossing was certainly not without its challenges; technical issues in the first ten days saw them abandon the attempt and return to dock in America, after years of planning and investment.

As Laura herself states; ’It was a moment of critical decision making, as a team and as a leader. For me it was a significant learning point of having to outweigh pride and personal want, with putting our team first for the success of the journey”.

My conversation with Laura explores the psychology behind this phenomenal journey and asks the question; is there truly something extraordinary, within reach, for us all?

As always, thanks so much for listening. Don’t forget to join us on Sunday evenings at 8pm BST for our Instagram Live Feed; we’d love to see you there.

Interested in sponsoring the podcast? Please drop an email to tracey@exeterreal.co.uk