Zoe Langley-Wathen introduces her aims for HeadRightOut, and the fears she regularly faces. As an experienced solo long-distance walker, she wasn't always the brave soul people seem to think she is. Her mission is to encourage more midlife women to head out of their comfort zone, within the outdoors. It's hoped that Zoe's honest approach and storytelling style will encourage you to take more Outdoor Medicine as you listen and look forward to her conversations with many resilient women.

00:22

Hello, and welcome to the HeadRightOut podcast. My name is Zoe Langley-Wathen. And I am so, so flippin delighted to be here with you for my very first episode, I can't begin to tell you what this is feeling like for me now I'm wrapped up with nerves. I'm wrapped up with excitement. And I am just absolutely, just chomping at the bit to spill the beans and let you know who we are going to be interviewing and what's going to be happening over the course of the next few episodes. So first off, I'm going to start with a request. And that's to ask you this. If, by the end of the show, you are even remotely interested in what I've shared with you today, please, please would you be kind enough to hit the Follow button in your podcast app? It would be great for me to know that I've got a group of people other than my family and friends, of course, who wants to share this excitement with me, this excitement of heading right out of my comfort zone on this podcast journey. I you know, I've spent the last 10 years doing things where I'm heading right out. But this is a biggie for me. So please hit the Follow button button in your podcast app. Okay, so it's the 24th of August 2021, as I record this, and as I launch this, we're just clambering out of the summer, and into that beautiful season of harvest, and the autumn. Oh my gosh, I love the autumn. Autumn for me is a season that's just ripe for potential new adventures. You know, the weather's cooler, the outdoor space isn't so full with holiday makers, the children are back at school, and the spider's webs, they are just decorated with heavy droplets, hopefully not frost at this stage. And the rich colors of the fall, have begun to paint the tops of the trees... and I just find it's one of my favourite times of the year.

02:32

The 29th of August is the second anniversary of me launching the HeadRightOut website. Now that was a blog space and place a guest to share my challenges and adventures. I never dreamt that I'd be sat here two years on muddling my way through an audio swamp. That's all I can call it. I might still be learning how all of this tech stuff works. But you know, that's fine. It's just like playing a complex game of cards, I'll just simply learn the rules as I go.

03:05

Now what did you think of the theme music? I hope you liked it. It was one of the first pieces that I stumbled across almost a year ago now, when I was looking for potential clips to use for the pod. Now I saved this one knowing it only is EA29 something or other, I forget what the code was now. And it took me ages to re-find it a few weeks back. I went through trying to find it because I wanted to be sure that I could legally use it, and imagine my total astonishment when I discovered I'd chosen a piece of music by Caffeine Creek Band, (thank you Caffeine Creek Band), called... you'll never going to believe this... 'Stay Strong'. Yep! 'Stay Strong' for a podcast that centres around resilience, what a coincidence. I just love synchronicity like that. Seriously. It's a true story. So our theme tune is Stay Strong by Caffeine Creek Band.

04:04

Okay, so in today's show, here's the plan. I'm going to give you more of my story and my aims for the podcast. And I guess perhaps I might even let on a few of my fears with you, as this is what it's all about. I'll also happily share why I felt moved to set up HeadRightOut. I'm going to be revealing how I see the podcast being delivered to you. Though I realise this will no doubt be a moveable feast as feedback and reviews are left, and as I develop and discover new opportunities for the show. You know, it's got to grow and flow. Oh, that rhymes! For the benefit of the listeners who've never heard of little ol' me, I'm going to be giving you some of my personal background too. And particularly in my own history of heading out of my comfort zone. And believe me, I'm not the brave soul that many people seem to think I am. One of my biggest issues to hold me back is imposter syndrome. And I'm sure that topic is going to come back time and time and time again. It's going to pop up, not just with me, but with some of the guests that I'll be interviewing as well, I'm sure of it.

05:17

So HeadRightOut, what is it? What do I aim to achieve? How often is it going to happen, when, what format? Right HeadRightOut was born in 2019, when I took the leap of faith out of my permanent contract teaching role, though, I had nothing to go to, signing up as a supply teacher did at least give me some hope of financial backup. Deep down, I knew there was something more out there for me, something that would allow me to use my teaching skills without the pressure of planning, preparation, marking and exam analysis within that school environment. And now I find the calling to develop my creative and adventurous path to inspire other women to HeadRightOut and do something that scares them, is stronger than ever. And I talk to as many people as I can, you know, when I'm out and about I meet people, when I'm shopping at home, I live on a public footpath, on a towpath, and you know, I meet people all the time, and I just want to share this message. Now, as I mentioned earlier, HeadRightOut started life as a blog along with the usual Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts, and I'd set it up with a view to inspiring others, to challenge themselves to head off on an adventure or to step out of their comfort zone. And I'm so enthusiastic about this, that I've got plans to publish various books on my personal experiences of adventure and well being, in addition to growing the podcast, and I hope that we're going to have some really interesting and fascinating women that are really going to inspire you, as time goes on. I've already got a list of women that I want to interview. And I've also got a lovely group of people that I've already interviewed. So yes, it's very, very exciting about doing this.

07:14

Now the calling to develop my creative and adventurous path to inspire other women to HeadRightOut and do something that scares them is stronger than ever. As mentioned earlier, HeadRightOut started life as a blog, along with the usual Facebook, Insta, and Twitter accounts. And I'd set it up with a view to inspiring others to challenge themselves to head off on an adventure, or step out of their comfort zone, do something different. And I'm so enthusiastic about this that I've got plans to publish various books on my own personal experiences of adventure and well being in addition to growing the podcast, I hope you're going to stick around and dip in and into those as well and hopefully get something positive back.

07:57

Now my first foray into writing for publication was during 2020 when I wrote a chapter for the Biggest Book of Yes, my story captured the tale of my first solo long-distance adventure along the 630 miles of the South West Coast Path... that's always a tongue twister! The book was sold to raise funds for the charity Teddington trust, supporting those that have a rare and life... not life-limiting sorry, a rare and limiting skin condition of exoderma pigmentosum, or XP, as it's more commonly known. It was such a good experience for me. And while I've always loved to write, it gave me the push I needed to aim for the big one. My own book. So I've got Dave Cornthwaite of the Yes Tribe, and John Doolan, and all the rest of the team around the Biggest Book of Yes, to thank for that. So there's Esther and Claire, and what an amazing team, it was putting together that book.

09:00

November is the month of NaNoWriMo. And so over November, January and February of 2021. I did it