Episode 7
Ep 007. The PCT Thru-Hike & the Courage to Start New with Marie Pier Tremblay
Join host Allison Boyle as she dives into an inspiring conversation with Marie Pier Tremblay about the transformative power of adventure and personal reinvention through the lens of hiking the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT).
Key Points Discussed:
- What inspired Marie to say YES to hiking the Pacific Crest Trail
- The courage to advocate for your big dreams
- Discussions on exploring options like sabbaticals and remote work before quitting your job for a thru-hike
- Navigating relationships when taking 6 months off to do a thru-hike like the PCT
- Her remarkable personal growth, connections, and the joy of forming a 'trail family' during the PCT adventure
- Post-PCT reflections leading to career shifts
- Marie’s personal reinvention journey, encompassing explorations in relationships and embracing her true self
- The significance of self-talk, self-trust, and the art of knowing when to persist or change direction
- And SO much more
Tune in to hear how Marie’s adventurous leap of faith led to profound life changes and a newfound purpose in guiding others.
Where to learn more about Marie:
Where to learn more about Allison:
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Transcript
You're listening to the Adventurous Reinvention podcast. I'm
Speaker:Alison Boyle AKA She Dreams of Alpine and this is the
Speaker:show that's dedicated to all the adventurous spirits out there who have either
Speaker:been transformed by the outdoors or interested in what it
Speaker:looks like to step into a new adventurous and courageous kind
Speaker:of identity in their life. It doesn't matter what your background is in the
Speaker:outdoors, what age you're starting at, or where you grew up. If
Speaker:you're curious about the outdoors and using adventure as a way to
Speaker:reinvent yourself, you're in the right place. I'll be
Speaker:sharing all kinds of personal adventure stories, lessons I've
Speaker:learned from the mountains, teaching what I know about the outdoors and leadership,
Speaker:and interviewing some amazing adventurous women all along the
Speaker:way. I've been coaching women on becoming safe, confident, and
Speaker:self sufficient backpackers and leaders of their own adventurous lives
Speaker:since 2018. And I know exactly what
Speaker:big fears and self doubts can pop up along the way. I have
Speaker:so much to share with you, so let's dive in.
Speaker:All right. Welcome to episode 7 of our adventurous reinvention
Speaker:podcast. I am so stoked to have one of
Speaker:my dearest close friends here with me. Her name is Marie Pierre.
Speaker:What's funny about Marie is that what's funny
Speaker:about Marie? What's funny about Marie is that we met on Instagram.
Speaker:So we were Instagram friends before we became in
Speaker:real life friends. So when we first met,
Speaker:it was because I had seen Marie doing some really cool things with through hiking
Speaker:because she had hiked the Pacific Crest Trail, which we're gonna talk all about
Speaker:in today's podcast episode. And we just started having some back and
Speaker:forth kinda, like, slow banter. And then eventually, we kinda became
Speaker:friends because we were both business owners. And then one day,
Speaker:I think I messaged her. We had done some things, talked a lot, maybe done
Speaker:some coaching together. I can't remember. It's been a while now. I think we've been
Speaker:friends for a few years, maybe even longer. 4 years. I don't know.
Speaker:We More than 4. More than 4. Okay. Yeah. I was like,
Speaker:actually, it's been quite a long time now. We we did some things together, and
Speaker:then I was like, hey. There's this coaching event going on in Arizona.
Speaker:Do you wanna go? And we risked it all. We'd never met in real life.
Speaker:Like, we could've we booked a room together for a 3 day event, and
Speaker:we could have really not enjoyed each other's company in, like,
Speaker:person. You know what I mean? That was a big risk. But it worked
Speaker:out. We decided to do some business
Speaker:things together. We did, like, a course together 1 year. I think it was in
Speaker:2022 ish. Yeah. 2022,
Speaker:I believe. Yes. Or 2023. It was like 2022 going into
Speaker:2023. Can I just say can I just tell
Speaker:your listeners that Oh, yeah? You ended up we we spent those 4
Speaker:days together, and you ended up being, like, even more
Speaker:funny and even smarter than I thought. So I definitely liked you more
Speaker:afterwards too. I was like, wow. This gamble really worked out. I actually use
Speaker:this example with a lot of my clients. This is a sidebar. I'm like in
Speaker:the middle of introducing Marie and we're already on sidebars. I didn't even say
Speaker:hi. Hi everyone. She hasn't said hi yet. Don't have to forget your
Speaker:podcast. I know. I'm, like, too excited that I'm talking too
Speaker:much. But I use this example of my friends oh, my my friends
Speaker:my clients a lot and my friends. Let's be honest. Like, I'm
Speaker:friendly with a lot of my clients. So
Speaker:they'll sometimes say it's hard to make new friends. And I'm like, you're right. Like,
Speaker:sometimes as a adult, it can be hard to make friends and you have to,
Speaker:like, take risks. And I took a risk with Marie
Speaker:fully knowing that a possible outcome could have
Speaker:been we are just really awkward in person together. Like, it
Speaker:could have just like, maybe we just jibed really well
Speaker:DM ing each other and, like, on calls, and maybe we just
Speaker:didn't jive in person. And I was like, and it was worth the risk.
Speaker:Like, because we became such, I feel like, much closer
Speaker:after doing that in person thing together. So Yeah. After spending, like,
Speaker:hours in bed chatting into the live chat. Yeah.
Speaker:So, like, sometimes, yeah, you're risking rejection. You're
Speaker:risking awkwardness, and it's worth it, like, I think, in my
Speaker:opinion. But yeah. Okay. We've
Speaker:we've continued our friendship. She lives in Montreal, so it's a little hard
Speaker:to meet up in real life, but we do try to do it, like, once
Speaker:a year. But I'm so excited to have her
Speaker:on our podcast. Finally, a lot of y'all have heard me, you
Speaker:know, talk about her on Instagram if you follow me there. But
Speaker:we're gonna talk a little bit more about Marie's journey. She was an illustrator, then
Speaker:she became a life coach. We wanna talk about her PCT
Speaker:hike. I really wanted to have her on to talk about kind of her different
Speaker:sort of adventurous, her own personal adventurous reinventions,
Speaker:and what inspired her and all the things. So I would love Marie
Speaker:to take the stage for a few minutes. Maybe introduce yourself a little better
Speaker:than I have if I haven't taken the stage too much from you
Speaker:already. Hello, everyone. Sure. Thank you,
Speaker:Allison. I am a, a self
Speaker:growth nerd. I've always been, and I pursued that
Speaker:passion and became a coach. I work with
Speaker:quirky, sensitive, ambitious,
Speaker:weird souls who who
Speaker:want to go all in, who wanna go after what really
Speaker:lights them up, but are kinda stuck in a
Speaker:shell. Maybe, like, if you're like me, you were kinda
Speaker:bullied in school, and you might have,
Speaker:I don't know, internalized some of the messaging,
Speaker:and you're not going fully towards what you want. You don't you
Speaker:you have a lot of self doubt. These are the people that I work
Speaker:with so that they can own their weirdness,
Speaker:and believe in their dreams and take action.
Speaker:Yeah. And Marie does such a good job of it. If you've ever just, like,
Speaker:followed what she posts on Instagram, and she's had a long time podcast, we'll talk
Speaker:a little bit more about some of those things, I'm sure. But
Speaker:you're so good at that. I think that's what drew me to you in the
Speaker:1st place. But let's kind of let's rewind back to that
Speaker:beginning place, like, where we kind of intersected,
Speaker:because I was getting I was starting my business in
Speaker:the outdoor outdoor industry. I was coaching people on backpacking,
Speaker:and I ran across your stuff, which was after you had
Speaker:finished the Pacific Crest Trail. And
Speaker:just for those who are new around here or maybe haven't heard
Speaker:of the Pacific Crest Trail and you're not familiar with it, this
Speaker:is kind of a really world famous thru hike,
Speaker:and it's 2,653 miles long.
Speaker:It typically most people start in Mexico. They usually go
Speaker:south to north, but you can go north to south. So it starts in Mexico,
Speaker:ends in Canada at the border, or you can start in Canada
Speaker:and go south. But, typically, I think people do it south to north. Did
Speaker:you do it south to north? Yes. South to north, and there's a
Speaker:section where I flipped. But, yeah, it starts at the border of Mexico
Speaker:in California. Yes. Yeah. So it's a really
Speaker:long through hike. A lot of people take I mean, I don't know how long
Speaker:you you'll you can tell me. 6 months. Most people take around 6 months.
Speaker:You can do it a little faster, but it's pretty aggressive to do
Speaker:it faster. It's a huge undertaking, and a lot of
Speaker:people, like a lot of my clients, this is a big goal of theirs, or
Speaker:maybe doing sections of it is a goal for of theirs. It takes a lot
Speaker:of planning for permits, like route. You have to, like, also, I
Speaker:think, learn to surrender a lot on the Pacific Crest Trail
Speaker:because you have your plans, and then there's the reality of it. There's a lot
Speaker:of prep work. There's a lot of, you know, anticipation,
Speaker:highs and lows. It's it's a really epic trail.
Speaker:So Marie did this in 2019. Maybe you can,
Speaker:like, take us back a little bit. What inspired you to want
Speaker:to hike the trail? Were you outdoorsy before?
Speaker:Give us some give us some details about that. Mhmm.
Speaker:So it all started when I found the book through
Speaker:hiking will break your heart by Cara Quinn. I think I saw
Speaker:it on the Internet and I loved the, illustration on the cover. It's like
Speaker:a a woman on top of a cliff. It's beautiful with a sky full of
Speaker:stars. And I thought that word was weird through hiking. I had
Speaker:no idea what it was, but I was going on a trip to South
Speaker:Africa with a friend of mine and I needed some reading. So I got that
Speaker:book and then I was reading it's a it's like a trail
Speaker:journal. I was reading it and I was like wow.
Speaker:This sounds like the most amazing adventure.
Speaker:I was always a summer camp kid. So I love nature. I grew
Speaker:up going to summer camp, and I I worked as a counselor
Speaker:there. And I anyone who's been a camp counselor, you
Speaker:know that you you you get nostalgic as an adult. You get
Speaker:nostalgic for those times, for spending your summers outside, and through
Speaker:hiking seemed like the Ultimate summer
Speaker:camp. Yeah. Exactly. Like, my only chance as an
Speaker:adult to live the summer camp experience again.
Speaker:Mhmm. However, I've never been an athlete.
Speaker:I I was all always like a artsy klutz.
Speaker:Never never really good in, what do you call it? Physical
Speaker:education class? How'd you call it in the study? Yeah. Like PE.
Speaker:Yeah. Physical education. I was never really good in PE. I always got, like, the
Speaker:the ball in the face, stuff like that. So I I kind of
Speaker:set it aside after reading about thru hiking. I was like, yeah. Sounds
Speaker:amazing, but it's not for someone like me. Like Wait. For context, like, when
Speaker:when did you read that? It was 2017.
Speaker:Okay. So, like, a couple years before. Yep. Yep. Okay. Yeah.
Speaker:And I just set it aside. I was like, it's mad. It's not for someone
Speaker:like me. I I I would just quit after a week.
Speaker:And then it kept bothering me and bothering me and bothering me
Speaker:like a whisper, like a incessant whisper. Yeah.
Speaker:Sometimes I compare it to Harry Potter receiving, like, letter like,
Speaker:Hogwarts sending letters to Harry Potter. Right. You just
Speaker:can't ignore it. It felt like bigger than myself. And I
Speaker:almost I didn't decide to do it. It's almost like I surrendered
Speaker:because I was tired of the obsession. I was like, I cannot spend so
Speaker:the 1st summer after I discovered, thru
Speaker:hiking, I was, like, obsessed with thru
Speaker:hikers and following them on Instagram. And then when the the second
Speaker:summer was about to come, I was like, I cannot do that for another summer.
Speaker:Cannot be so obsessed for for another summer. So I have to do
Speaker:it. I love that. But you kind of you've read Big Magic before.
Speaker:Right? Yes. Last year. That's one of my favorite books.
Speaker:But I it reminds me of, like, that part of the book where she
Speaker:talks about how, like, I ideas are, like, alive,
Speaker:and they come to you to be collaborators. And I think, like,
Speaker:she talks about in the book how sometimes ideas, like, they'll see if you wanna
Speaker:collaborate with them. And then if you're not interested, they kinda, like, go find the
Speaker:next available collaborator. But I do feel like there are some ideas that they're like,
Speaker:no. You are the vessel. Like, I No. True.
Speaker:Birth through you. Like, it's important. Like,
Speaker:there was no ignoring it. I would have been so miserable
Speaker:not to go. People told me, like, oh, you can wait. No. I
Speaker:can't wait. Like, for my mental health, I can't I can't
Speaker:wait. It's and, you know, one thing I wanna
Speaker:add is it didn't make sense. I was like, it's mad. But
Speaker:sometimes, like, it it's only going to make sense
Speaker:a few years down the line. Now I know why I had to do it.
Speaker:It completely changed my life, but back then, it didn't make any
Speaker:sense. And I could've, you know, I I couldn't have tried to make it
Speaker:make sense. You know, actually, our stories are pretty similar in
Speaker:that way. Like, I didn't do the PCT or something
Speaker:like that, but I had entered into this year where I was just saying yes
Speaker:to things. And I got invited on that backpacking trip, and it
Speaker:felt, like, kind of wild for me because I had never done anything quite
Speaker:like that. And, like, saying yes to that was just, like, something I
Speaker:felt compelled that I had to do. And I wouldn't have known then,
Speaker:like, the impact of saying, well, yes to that thing. But, like, looking back
Speaker:now, exactly kind of like you. Like, it transformed
Speaker:basically my whole life. Yeah. That made me
Speaker:think. Okay. So that's 2017 kind of 28 it
Speaker:must have been 2018 that you were like, fine. I'm gonna do it. Like, stop
Speaker:bugging me idea and, like, we're gonna do it.
Speaker:Had you done any backpacking before
Speaker:the PCT? I've done the longest
Speaker:I've done was a 4 day backpacking trip. Okay. So did you
Speaker:have some of the gear already or, like, where were you at when you were
Speaker:kinda, like, getting prepared for these things? Like, what would
Speaker:how did you feel, like, as a backpacker?
Speaker:I felt like a beginner. Well, I was not a beginner
Speaker:at being in the woods. I was used to being in the woods,
Speaker:but, I had to buy all the gear because the gear I had was super
Speaker:heavy. Yeah. Cool.
Speaker:Okay. So your you had your yes moment.
Speaker:I'm assuming you applied for permits. You The yes moment,
Speaker:actually, there's a story around that. Okay. Let's hear it.
Speaker:It was, like, 4 days before the permits. The
Speaker:the the the date where the permits are Open.
Speaker:Open. Yeah. I was lying in bed, and I had posted
Speaker:an illustration on Instagram. It was like a to do or not to do
Speaker:the PCT with my, like, list of pros and cons. And
Speaker:I had, like, a massive tsunami of messages from people
Speaker:that had done it, and they were explaining to me why I could actually do
Speaker:it. Mhmm. And it was
Speaker:mind blowing because it it made me realize, oh, these people are just
Speaker:like me. They're just ordinary people, and if they can do
Speaker:it, maybe I can too. And one of the person that contributed most
Speaker:was the whimsical woman, on YouTube. She's just
Speaker:like a artsy woman who documented
Speaker:her whole hike of the PCT, and she, like, falls
Speaker:flat on her face. And she's funny, and she's, like, a little bit weird. And
Speaker:I was like, oh, we're kind of similar. So maybe if she can do it,
Speaker:I can too. Yeah. And then I was reading all those messages and
Speaker:then I went to bed. I was lying in bed and I was like, fuck
Speaker:it. Let let let's give it a try. I love
Speaker:it. Yeah. I think that's, like, one of the things that calls the
Speaker:PCT to so many people. Like, you're like,
Speaker:I'm an everyday person. I wanna do this thing. Like, other
Speaker:everyday people do it too, but it it, like, feels like such
Speaker:a it feels like such an adventure that you're, like, embarking on.
Speaker:Like, there's something really you just know
Speaker:anytime I think about the PCT, which I've considered doing it before too,
Speaker:it's just, like, hard to convince myself to take 6 months off of
Speaker:working on my business.
Speaker:I always think, like, it feels like you know you won't be the
Speaker:same by the end of it. Like, something will shift inside
Speaker:of you, and you don't know what that is, and I think that's what's
Speaker:exciting about it. You're like, I don't know what it is that I'm gonna
Speaker:discover about myself or in the process or what
Speaker:I'm gonna let go of or what I'm gonna, like, lean
Speaker:into or, you know, whatever it is. But I think
Speaker:that's what's really kind of magical about the
Speaker:PCT. I'm sure you, like, met a lot of people too with, like, all different
Speaker:stories and, like, reasons why.
Speaker:Okay. So you had
Speaker:your yes moment. When you got the per you
Speaker:applied for permits, you got the permits. Was that, like, your
Speaker:oh, shit moment? Like, what was it like to start preparing for that? I know
Speaker:logistically for a lot of people, it's like, there's the dream of it, and then
Speaker:there's the, like, reality of, like, getting ready for it. Can you walk us through
Speaker:some of them? I was so excited. When I
Speaker:got the permit, I was all in. I was all in. There was no doubt.
Speaker:I had 4 months to prepare. And,
Speaker:what what was super helpful is I created a giant
Speaker:calendar. I just took some, like, paper out, and I
Speaker:put a giant calendar on my wall with different,
Speaker:categories next to it with, like, food,
Speaker:with, like, career logistics, gear,
Speaker:and they were kind of giant to do lists, and I had post its,
Speaker:and I had, like, this this big wall dedicated to my
Speaker:project. And I was taking
Speaker:it one bite at a time. Yeah. And Nice.
Speaker:And one thing that I I remember
Speaker:helped is I I signed up I I've never been
Speaker:someone who works out really, but I was like, well, it's gotta start now. I
Speaker:gotta Yeah. So I signed up to a spinning
Speaker:class. And to me, it needs to be on the calendar,
Speaker:and there needs to be some incentive. And with spinning, the
Speaker:incentive was it's expensive, and I paid for it. So if I don't show
Speaker:up to class, then I lose money. So it was on my calendar.
Speaker:I was paying the money, so I would I would show up,
Speaker:at, like things like showing up at 7 in in the morning. I'm not
Speaker:a morning person. I had I changed, like, committing to
Speaker:something that truly lights me up made me change even
Speaker:before I set foot on the trail. I would, like, get up super
Speaker:early. I would walk everywhere, go to go to spin
Speaker:classes, and yeah. Because I knew it was
Speaker:going to be hard. I was very realistic that
Speaker:it was going to be hard, and I knew I had to put so much
Speaker:effort in in order to, accomplish
Speaker:this dream of mine. And I think that's what's, like, so valuable in
Speaker:setting really like, setting goals that really excite you is that it does
Speaker:kinda like you kind of start rising to the occasion and becoming that person
Speaker:ahead of time that can step on the trail. Like it, it
Speaker:motivates you in a way because of like, you know, as life coaches, we're like,
Speaker:it's because of the thoughts we're thinking, we're like very excited, are very excited
Speaker:thoughts that we're thinking about this goal. But that's kinda what
Speaker:a great thing about an exciting goal is, is it gives
Speaker:us that, like, excitement momentum, for a dream. Yes.
Speaker:I'm really curious because I know you've told me about this before, and I'm I'm
Speaker:sure, like, other people are thinking about this too. But you were in a long
Speaker:term relationship at the time when you were about to
Speaker:embark on the PCT. Can you walk us through
Speaker:what that conversation what because your partner didn't go with you.
Speaker:Walk us through what that was like. Yes. Okay. So
Speaker:that was one of the big reasons why I was hesitant
Speaker:to go Yeah. Is my my partner didn't wanna come. He
Speaker:was studying at the time, so he needed to spend his summers working.
Speaker:And I was like, well, I can't leave for 6 months because
Speaker:he's gonna break up with me. And then at some point, I had
Speaker:a perspective shift. I don't know when exactly, but I know that back in
Speaker:those days, I was listening to the podcast on Fuck Your Brain by Cara
Speaker:Lowentile, and it helped me it helped me think about
Speaker:things differently. And that there was one moment where I was like, you
Speaker:know what? He would actually be freaking lucky
Speaker:to be with someone so badass. If I go and do this thing and
Speaker:come back after 6 months, I'm like, I'm
Speaker:gonna be next level. And it would be his loss
Speaker:if he decides to go, not mine. And it's
Speaker:so true. It's like you wanna and also you, like, wanna be with somebody that
Speaker:is, like who sees that as an
Speaker:inspiring thing that you're going after your dreams versus somebody,
Speaker:like, I don't know, wanting to keep you small. I
Speaker:mean, there's all kinds of reasons, like, partners may choose different things. You didn't have
Speaker:kids at the time. And, like, that conversation is different for people with kids and
Speaker:families that you have to make those decisions on your own. But yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker:It's different. But then afterwards, like, when I made my
Speaker:decision and told him time passed, and
Speaker:eventually, he was like, you know what? I could come and spend 2 months with
Speaker:you. And we had a conversation about how I could, you know, be
Speaker:help him financially to do the trip.
Speaker:And so he decided to come for 2 months. So he was with me
Speaker:for a third of the of the trail. I guess I forgot about that part.
Speaker:Yeah. What part what section did he do with you? The middle
Speaker:part. So he did the, like, the Sierras,
Speaker:Northern California, and Oregon. He missed the desert,
Speaker:and he missed Washington. Yeah. But one thing I always
Speaker:tell, like, friends and clients is you have to make the decision first
Speaker:because many people will be like, oh, I'll go when my partner
Speaker:says he's ready to go, or I'll go when
Speaker:but, no, you decide, and then your conviction might get
Speaker:get them to come. Right. Yes. But it's your dream. So you
Speaker:decide to go after your dream. And then when other people see how
Speaker:convinced you are, they might be convinced as well. But
Speaker:don't, like, rely on them to be sold before
Speaker:you are. You know? You have to sell yourself on your own dream. You have
Speaker:to, like, be all in on your own dream. And then I think, like, this
Speaker:doesn't always happen, but I feel like when you show up with
Speaker:the conviction, like so often I feel like we're looking for validation
Speaker:from people like, oh, believe in my dream, believe in me so that I
Speaker:can believe in me, when really the work is believe in me
Speaker:first, and then other people are gonna be, like, drawn into that and
Speaker:really, like, see your conviction. Yeah. Exactly.
Speaker:Exactly. So when you first kinda, like, presented it to him,
Speaker:was what was his initial reaction? Well, he was like, oh, that's a
Speaker:lot. That's a long time. Yeah. And I I
Speaker:remember where we were exactly, and I was like, oh, no. You're like,
Speaker:ah, everything I feared is coming true. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah. But people change their minds. Yeah. He was I feel like happy that
Speaker:I was like, you you have a choice. You can either spend, like, your
Speaker:summer pile piling some money, or you can spend a summer,
Speaker:like, living an experience that you're going to talk about for the rest of your
Speaker:life. I love that. And he was really glad that
Speaker:he chose to come. Yeah. That's that's amazing. I think,
Speaker:like, I really love do Michael and I do a lot of
Speaker:things, you know, separate and do our own adventures. And, you know, it
Speaker:we are are always navigating that conversation, like, I'm
Speaker:gonna be taking this amount of time off or, like, you're gonna go on this
Speaker:thing without me or something. But I I do feel like
Speaker:that initial conversation sometimes is especially if it's a longer
Speaker:thing, like, I just start seeding ideas, like, for what I
Speaker:usually do is, like, if I know I wanna do something, like, in the future,
Speaker:I'm just starting to seed ideas into Michael's conscience. I'm like,
Speaker:I think one day I might really wanna do this thing, and I'll, like, slowly
Speaker:keep I'll put, like, subtle reminders out of it. So then when I have the
Speaker:conversation, I feel like he's already kind of been, like,
Speaker:accepting it into his conscience. He's got time to, like,
Speaker:prepare mentally. That was just a sidebar because I'm getting ready
Speaker:to do, I'm getting ready to do a mini thru
Speaker:hike. It's not as long as the PCT, but the
Speaker:oh my gosh. Oh, West Highland Way. I was like, I lost my
Speaker:words. Oh, cool. In Scotland with Yeah. My friend,
Speaker:Ashima and Cara. We're gonna, like, do it as a girls trip.
Speaker:And it's also something that he would be interested in. I
Speaker:know because he's, like, very adventurous and outdoorsy too, but I really just want to
Speaker:do a girls thing. So I've been, like, slowly talking about it, and then the
Speaker:other day I set out a book of the West Highland Way on my chair,
Speaker:and he saw it and he was, like, what's this?
Speaker:I was, like, oh, yeah.
Speaker:I might be doing that next year with with Kara and Asha.
Speaker:Anyways, this is just my method, not advice.
Speaker:Your subtle approach. Backdoor approach. My subtle approach. But I
Speaker:love that. Okay. Your another
Speaker:question that I know people are probably thinking about is where were you,
Speaker:like, with your career? How did you make that
Speaker:choice financially? Like, walk us through some of that.
Speaker:Yeah. I was a freelance designer, art
Speaker:director, illustrator, and, I was earning
Speaker:good money and didn't spend much.
Speaker:My only expenses are like books, You know? And basic,
Speaker:like, basic life expenses. So I was saving a ton. I
Speaker:managed to save, plenty of money the year
Speaker:before, so I felt like I had a good cushion.
Speaker:Nice. Yeah. So, like yeah. And as freelance, you probably just had you just naturally
Speaker:kinda had a little bit more flexibility with your time. Because I was a freelancer,
Speaker:I could tell my clients, like, I'm leaving, in
Speaker:April, so I have to be finished before April and
Speaker:not take any new clients that needed work done after
Speaker:I was gonna be gone. Now as a coach, what would you say
Speaker:to somebody who's like, but, Marie, I don't have a freelance
Speaker:gig like you. Like, I what are like,
Speaker:does that mean, like, I can't do it? Like, what are my options? What how
Speaker:would you kind of tell them to approach this? Well, it's a case by case
Speaker:basis. Right? When you're on the trail, you meet tons of people with different
Speaker:careers, and they all find a way. You can
Speaker:it might take you longer to prepare, but it
Speaker:it's when you decide to be in solution mode, like,
Speaker:instead of asking yourself, is it possible? Yes or no? Which is
Speaker:a closed question. Right. Ask yourself, how can
Speaker:I make this possible? And then you might not have the answer right
Speaker:away. Your your brain might go to, I don't know. Right.
Speaker:Well, just be curious and just stay open
Speaker:to figuring things out. You might realize that there are
Speaker:solutes there are there there there are solutions that you haven't even considered.
Speaker:And It's like asking it's like asking yourself that question, like, but what
Speaker:if I did know? Like, which is annoying to be asked sometimes
Speaker:when your coach is like, but what if you did know? But it's a
Speaker:really good question to sit down with because that's when you come up with, like,
Speaker:ideas. Yeah. Hang out with the question. It's something that you
Speaker:have the answer right away. It's not like an exam.
Speaker:Right. And I also think that there's not, like, a right or wrong answer sometimes.
Speaker:Like, sometimes we have to just be open to, like, lots of possible answers.
Speaker:Yeah. And not judge yourself and not, like, shut yourself shut
Speaker:down your ideas. You brainstorm like in a brainstorm, you don't wanna shut
Speaker:down anyone's ideas. Same with, like, when it comes to a brainstorm with
Speaker:yourself. If you have a crazy idea that maybe I could do this, then, oh,
Speaker:okay. Entertain it. Allow yourself to entertain it instead of being like,
Speaker:that's unrealistic. Right. Yeah. And
Speaker:and, like, sitting with it, mulling with it, like, allowing the time you need.
Speaker:Because I feel like sometimes that's how it works. It's like you're thinking through all
Speaker:the deal ideas, and you're like, oh, I don't think I could do that. I
Speaker:don't think that would work, but you're just, like, writing them all down. And when
Speaker:you're putting your brain to task to, like, looking for solutions,
Speaker:it's like in the shower, you're thinking about it. On your hike, you're thinking about
Speaker:it. And this you're listening to a podcast. You're thinking, oh, how does this apply
Speaker:to me in this fake problem I'm trying to solve? And then, like,
Speaker:one day, like like, I love those light bulb moments, but I
Speaker:feel like this happens. When you put yourself to thinking questions that, like,
Speaker:expand you, you're gonna, like, have that moment. Like, this is
Speaker:how I could do it. Yeah. That's that's happened to me so many times. But
Speaker:you have to be open. Yeah. And not have a relationship with yourself where you're
Speaker:like, you're so stupid. No. Because if you shut yourself down,
Speaker:your intuition learns that it's not safe to speak up.
Speaker:Right. And one one more thing I wanna say about this
Speaker:is, lots of people make assumptions. Like, assume that their boss
Speaker:would say, no. Are you crazy? But I have so
Speaker:many messages from people because I've I've encouraged people to
Speaker:try to have a conversation with your employer. Yeah. And I've had so many
Speaker:messages from people saying like, oh my god. I asked my boss for 3 months
Speaker:off to go on a on a hike, and they said yes.
Speaker:I never thought they would say yes. But, you know, it's it's
Speaker:like, it's a cocreation. Right. Your boss
Speaker:wants the like, a good boss
Speaker:wants to cooperate, right, with their Right. And if you're showing
Speaker:up giving value in your workplace and you're not, like, somebody they want to lose,
Speaker:like, they're more likely to work with you. I I
Speaker:feel like the I made the assumption when I when I was starting my
Speaker:business and I was ready to leave my job, I had been saving up,
Speaker:and I was about to go full time with She Dreams of Alpine. I had
Speaker:assumed the reason why I saved up so much and I was, like, gonna burn
Speaker:the boats is because I had made this assumption that my
Speaker:boss or, like, my work, I was an engineer. I was, like, they'll never give
Speaker:me a year off to take travel. So I'm just gonna have to leave
Speaker:and then figure it out from there. So I went in with that assumption, but
Speaker:it was funny when I gave my 2 weeks. So like I had been holding
Speaker:in the secret that I was going to leave for a year, and I gave
Speaker:my 2 weeks. And then all of a sudden there were all these opportunities
Speaker:on the table that they had never talked about before. They were, like, well, what
Speaker:if you took a 6 month sabbatical? And I was, like, well, I didn't even
Speaker:know that was possible, but I was, like, no. I just wanna take a year.
Speaker:Like, I wanna do a full year of travel. And they were, like, well, what
Speaker:if you took a year and you come back? Or what if you explore
Speaker:this remote thing that we have if you went into our ID IT department? I
Speaker:was, like, oh my gosh. I think for me, it was important to,
Speaker:like, my journey was to, like, actually fully leave,
Speaker:but it goes to your point. Like, so often we
Speaker:assume, and I never even realized
Speaker:that, like, I could have probably taken a year off and gone back to my
Speaker:engineering. And it it goes back to what we were saying earlier
Speaker:about how you have to sell yourself first. Like, they would have never
Speaker:offered, like, a 6 month sabbatical out of nowhere. Like,
Speaker:you're you're don't wait for your employer to offer
Speaker:offer these things. Like Yes. But when you have your own back,
Speaker:and you show up reasons why you wanna do it, you're like, look. I'm like
Speaker:you show up with that attitude that, like, you know, I am valuable. Like,
Speaker:you wanna keep me. Like, I'm gonna do great work. When I get back, I'm
Speaker:a feel even more refreshed. I'm gonna feel even more creative.
Speaker:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think, like, yeah, a lot of people would have the
Speaker:opportunity that they don't think might have that opportunity.
Speaker:And one more thing is, the worst case
Speaker:scenario. I think many people focus on the worst case scenario. If I leave,
Speaker:my partner is gonna break up with me. I'm gonna lose my job,
Speaker:And never consider the best case scenario or the most likely
Speaker:scenario that Right. Actually, maybe they won't or maybe
Speaker:if your partner does leave, it's it's actually good because you're gonna meet
Speaker:someone that's more aligned with you. And maybe it's gonna, like,
Speaker:boost your career because, you know, it's something to put on your
Speaker:resume through hiking. It's something big to put on your
Speaker:resume, so you don't know how it might influence You don't know who you'll
Speaker:meet. You don't know what paths you'll cross. Like, I love to think about that.
Speaker:I'm like, I'm doing so many things now. I may not know where I'm headed,
Speaker:but, like, you know, even when I think about, like, meeting you and, like, the
Speaker:weird way we met and we were just friends, like, on Instagram for a couple
Speaker:years, but then we became like, I don't know. I consider you, like, a very
Speaker:dear friend now. And I'm like, wow. You just never know
Speaker:what people you're gonna meet, what paths you're gonna cross. That
Speaker:makes things that makes kinda taking risks sort of
Speaker:exciting for me. Like, I'm like, oh, you never know. Yeah.
Speaker:Same. Same. Yeah. I love that. We don't wanna discredit,
Speaker:like, real, like, limitations. Right. You can
Speaker:prepare. Right? You can for every obstacle, there's a
Speaker:strategy. Yeah. Yeah. And I think that's such a good thing to
Speaker:your point. Like, a lot of thing a lot of the coaching that I do
Speaker:in our backpacking program is, you know, people will come in and they'll have
Speaker:their worst case scenario kind of laid out for let's for example,
Speaker:like, their first backpacking trip. They're like, I feel a lot of resistance
Speaker:and fear going into this thing, and hear all the reasons why I'm, like,
Speaker:terrified of it. I'm like, okay. We've entertained the worst case scenario.
Speaker:Great. Like, these are important things. Like, we can talk through those fears,
Speaker:how we're gonna prepare for them. Right? I think it's equally important to,
Speaker:like, spend time. I I think, like, you actually introduced
Speaker:an interesting concept. I always talk about them, like, what's your best case
Speaker:scenario? You've already entertained the worst case scenario. But what what, like, if it went
Speaker:perfectly well, what would that look like? And we'll, like, sit in dreamland for a
Speaker:while. But then also what's the what's, like, the
Speaker:neutral case scenario? Like, I think The most likely scenario.
Speaker:Like No. Like, I did that too when I quit my job.
Speaker:I'm, like, my worst case scenario was, like, I'm homeless, and, like, my
Speaker:brain kept going there. You know, like, I just felt like I would run out
Speaker:of money and have nowhere to live and, like, would have no way to feed
Speaker:myself. And I'm like, is that my realistic
Speaker:worst case scenario? It's just like what my brain was offering me. My
Speaker:realistic brain. Right. My realistic worst case
Speaker:scenario was, like, I probably went to live with my dad or
Speaker:something for a while and then got an engineering job
Speaker:again. Mhmm. Mhmm. Yeah. So and then best case scenario was
Speaker:that the business kept going. And Which you are in your best case scenario? I
Speaker:am in that wrong best case scenario. Yeah.
Speaker:So I think it's important to, like, play with all of them
Speaker:because we don't know how things are gonna turn out. Mhmm. But,
Speaker:like, only focusing, yeah, on the worst is just gonna,
Speaker:like, keep us frozen and kinda like like flight mode,
Speaker:I think. Okay. So
Speaker:we've talked a lot about pretrail stuff. You wanna
Speaker:like, what was the experience like of being on the Pacific
Speaker:Crest Trail? If you could sum it up and like
Speaker:Yeah. I talk a lot about it
Speaker:on my podcast. For those who wanna go Tell us one
Speaker:of your most memorable moments or, like,
Speaker:something really special from your experience in the PCT.
Speaker:Yeah. Well, I
Speaker:would say the first two months
Speaker:meeting my trail family was so amazing.
Speaker:1st, because I was feeling
Speaker:so thrilled to be living my dream. Like, every day, I was
Speaker:like, I can't believe I'm here. I could die right I'm so
Speaker:content I could die right now. And then meeting the
Speaker:kindest, funniest people. It was a small group of us
Speaker:together every day. We wouldn't walk together. I would walk on my own, but we
Speaker:would have lunch together, and we would meet up at camp, and we would
Speaker:spend time in the in the towns together. That Did you just,
Speaker:like, meet these people day 1, or did you kinda just, like, kind of in
Speaker:the folds of your hiking sort of meet them? In
Speaker:the 1st 10 days. Nice. Yeah. 1st 10
Speaker:days. And we got really, really, really close, and they
Speaker:were so kind. And so my top,
Speaker:like, top moments are these first two months with the Trail family.
Speaker:And the last month, there was one person left in the
Speaker:Trail family, Anna and I. And
Speaker:we we are really close, like, the the the 2 of us. We were always
Speaker:together. At night, we would lie down in our tents, and we would chat
Speaker:about the day, like, each in our own tent. And Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker:I I think it's the closeness and the connection. And I'm I think that's
Speaker:like, the landscape and the the amazing landscape
Speaker:and being moved. Like, the whole last month, I was
Speaker:I would cry every day. I feel like I had been cracked
Speaker:my heart had been cracked open at how capable I
Speaker:was. So that these the this is my top
Speaker:3. Yeah. I love that. Like, I think that's
Speaker:so interesting. You know, a lot of people can be nervous about going
Speaker:to do something like a huge thru hike, like, 2,000 miles alone
Speaker:in particular because it is kind of hard to find people to be like,
Speaker:hey. You wanna take 6 months off and, like, thru hike a trail
Speaker:with, especially people that you already know.
Speaker:So what I think is so interesting is I feel so many people that do
Speaker:the PCT. Like, a big part of it is the people they meet,
Speaker:like, along the way. And I think that's what would
Speaker:excite me the most about doing it is just, like, the
Speaker:relationships you naturally form through, like,
Speaker:adventure, challenges, hardships, like highs, lows,
Speaker:sunsets, like, all those things. Yes. Yeah.
Speaker:100%. That's that's really amazing.
Speaker:What do you think was, like, your hardest maybe hardest day
Speaker:on the trail? Like, take us to that moment.
Speaker:I don't know if I have a
Speaker:hardest day. Mhmm. I think
Speaker:month 4
Speaker:month 4 and 5 were really hard,
Speaker:because there's no novelty anymore, and you
Speaker:still feel like you're so far Yeah. From
Speaker:the end. And it
Speaker:was through Oregon, walking through Oregon. No
Speaker:disrespect to Oregon, but, like, after you've been to the
Speaker:Sierras, if it's just not as
Speaker:It's not gonna offend me. Like, I'm a Sierra's lady. Like, that's where that's
Speaker:where I was, like, you know, kinda like, okay. I know walking. Like,
Speaker:I've been walking for a while, and the the the Trail
Speaker:family had, like, had gotten smaller because everyone was
Speaker:going different paces. And I was,
Speaker:like, missing the the novelty and just it felt like a
Speaker:job. Yeah. Walking felt like a job. Like, wake up,
Speaker:walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, go to bed Right. Over and
Speaker:over and over again was making me crazy. What do you feel like was motivating
Speaker:you then, like, to keep going instead of, like, giving up in that moment?
Speaker:Because that's actually very real for real life too because we have
Speaker:these big goals. You're in the middle of it, and it doesn't feel as
Speaker:exciting anymore. Yeah. Yeah. Brene Brown calls it
Speaker:the day 2 feeling. That day 2. It's the middle the middle part.
Speaker:Many people give up at that point. But to me, what was
Speaker:helpful is I knew before I got started,
Speaker:I didn't want quitting to be an option, You know? Unless
Speaker:I got badly hurt or unless someone really important to me passed
Speaker:away. Yeah. I didn't wanna consider it as an option because once you open that
Speaker:door, the door is open. You always wanna go there. So I just kept telling
Speaker:myself, like, are you done? No. You're
Speaker:not. So you keep going. Whenever my mind had, like,
Speaker:mind drama, I was like, are you done? No. You're not. So you keep going.
Speaker:Be grumpy all you want, but you keep going because you're not done.
Speaker:I think, like, that actually brings out a really
Speaker:valuable tool that people don't they underestimate is, like, talking to
Speaker:yourself. And I do this all the time, like, have conversations with
Speaker:your negative thoughts. Like, I, a lot of times, will
Speaker:feel overwhelmed because I tend to be the kind of person who wants to do
Speaker:a lot of things. Like, I get really excited about a lot of things, and
Speaker:I'll jump head first into a lot of things. And then when I'm in the
Speaker:middle of it, kinda like you're talking about being in the middle of your hike,
Speaker:I'll get overwhelmed, and I'll have overwhelming thoughts, and I'll
Speaker:have have to have conversations with myself. Like,
Speaker:Allison, this overwhelming thought is a choice. Like, what else could we think?
Speaker:Like, what else is true? Like, let's have different conversations.
Speaker:Like, keep going. Like, you got this bitch. Like, let's go. Like,
Speaker:I don't know. But then we also have to be able
Speaker:to know when to quit. Right. Because
Speaker:for some some peep there you know, there's no shame in quitting.
Speaker:Sometimes you chose to do something that was not aligned with you or is no
Speaker:longer aligned, and knowing when to push yourself
Speaker:versus when not to is
Speaker:is an art. Do you feel like I feel like sometimes for me,
Speaker:it's very clear when I'm and I'm saying this,
Speaker:like, I'm not saying people are complaining when they quit. But, like, it's very clear
Speaker:to me when I complain when I'm complaining to myself versus
Speaker:when I know, like, like, what I need to do is
Speaker:to do something. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And that's what it feels like.
Speaker:Yeah. Because when you say, like, you've got overwhelming thoughts,
Speaker:sometimes it might be because you have actually overwhelmed yourself, and you
Speaker:need to take things off your plate, in order to feel
Speaker:better. Sometimes that's the case. But, yeah, I think it
Speaker:comes with, self awareness. Am I just, like,
Speaker:complaining because it's challenging, or is it
Speaker:truly, no more coming from my
Speaker:heart? Yeah. Like, what feels like that's kind of,
Speaker:like, something I've been leaning into questions I've been leaning into lately is,
Speaker:like, what thoughts am I having? What what feels like
Speaker:truth? What feels like freedom? So, like, when I look at what my brain's
Speaker:offering me, you know, like, sometimes they're like,
Speaker:this is too like, my overwhelming thoughts, this is too much. Like, you're doing you're
Speaker:biting off more than you can chew or you're doing it wrong. I don't know.
Speaker:Whatever my negative brain is this vague example I'm giving.
Speaker:But, sometimes I'll ask myself, does that feel true?
Speaker:And I'll be like, I don't really feel like that feels like truth to me.
Speaker:Like, what's really happening is this, like, if I'm being honest with myself.
Speaker:So Yeah. But sometimes yeah. I think sometimes our body
Speaker:can tell us as well. Like, if on the trail, when I I was
Speaker:having a hard time, if I had asked myself, okay. How would it
Speaker:feel to quit? The feeling would have been
Speaker:heaviness. Mhmm. I don't want to. Yeah. How
Speaker:would it feel to keep going? Oh, it feels hard, but it feels like
Speaker:a full body yes. Yeah. Exactly. Like, it feels more like truth.
Speaker:It feels more like freedom. Yeah. It's similar to what you're you're sharing. We
Speaker:just think of it differently. But, yeah, it feels like truth. Even though it feels
Speaker:hard, it feels like my truth. Yeah. Like, it opens you.
Speaker:It doesn't, like, close you. Yeah. You're not trying to force
Speaker:yourself into a mold. You're pushing yourself forward, but you're
Speaker:not trying to push yourself into someone that you're not. Yeah.
Speaker:No. I love it. Like, I'm glad we had this conversation because I feel like
Speaker:these are moments that all of us have. Not only, like,
Speaker:just in life in general, but, like, on the trail too, like,
Speaker:women, you know, you're having these moments on the trail where you're doubting yourself. You're
Speaker:like, can I do it? You're having this negative self talk.
Speaker:Like, be sometimes there are moments where, like, the fear is
Speaker:high, and you do wanna be, like, ask yourself, would it just
Speaker:feel better to leave right now? And sometimes that answer is yes. Like, sometimes, like,
Speaker:your nervous system is just not regulated. You just need to, like, give
Speaker:yourself the peace and leave and just go back. And, like, you have that
Speaker:option. But sometimes, you know, the answer is,
Speaker:like, I got this. Like, I can do this. You just need to shift the
Speaker:conversation in your bread your brain and keep going.
Speaker:Yeah. Yeah. And sometimes you've got to make the call and
Speaker:then, you know, learn after.
Speaker:Yeah. That's so true too. Yeah. Like, sometimes we make a
Speaker:decision, and maybe we would have done something different looking
Speaker:at it. I pushed myself too hard. I I didn't
Speaker:listen to myself. And then you know afterwards, and so you get to
Speaker:you you get to know what it feels like, what truth feels like.
Speaker:Right. Yeah. Especially if you're, like, in the beginning phases of, like, really
Speaker:learning to trust yourself, learning to trust, like, making your own decisions. And,
Speaker:like, I obviously, we all make our own decisions, but sometimes, like,
Speaker:we have defaulted so much to other people having opinion on our
Speaker:decisions that it's hard to kinda tap into, like, what our
Speaker:truth is. Yeah. We should ourselves. Yeah. Oh, I should do
Speaker:this because, what would so and so think? Oh, I should do
Speaker:this because I would seem more courageous. Yeah.
Speaker:Or so and so doesn't think I should do this. Maybe I
Speaker:shouldn't. Like, even if that if you're like so and so doesn't think I should
Speaker:do this and you're like, does it feel true to me? Like, should I not
Speaker:do it? Instead of asking your that self that question, you just trust
Speaker:them instead of listening to what the answer is for yourself.
Speaker:I feel like we could talk about the PCT stuff, like, all day. I do
Speaker:wanna shift a little bit. One quick
Speaker:question I have is I know
Speaker:you because we have been friends for a while, but maybe for the audience, you
Speaker:can tell us, like, after the PCT, did you just keep like, some people
Speaker:go on a thru hike, and then they just, like they're, like, I'm gonna thru
Speaker:hike this trail. I'm gonna thru hike this trail. They, like, start doing all the
Speaker:thru hikes. What was, like, adventure for you after?
Speaker:Yeah. I was like, no. I'm done. I've done I've showed myself I can.
Speaker:Like, now I just wanna be comfortable. Yes.
Speaker:So okay. So you want me to tell you about what happened
Speaker:after aft the thing is I
Speaker:felt so aligned for 6 months that
Speaker:afterwards, going back in misalignment was not
Speaker:possible. It's like a work that's work you do a lot with your clients
Speaker:too. Like Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So it became really like, my job
Speaker:didn't feel right anymore, so I had to figure out what else to
Speaker:do. And that was like a a transition.
Speaker:I had to explore different things. The
Speaker:first thing I did so I I went back to work, but I was still
Speaker:I was a freelancer, so I had some flexibility there.
Speaker:On the side, I created workbooks
Speaker:for the thru hikers, like pre trail and post trail workbooks
Speaker:that Yeah. Those are so cute. They're still they're they're still for sale.
Speaker:Find them on Amazon. Yeah. Or, yeah, other places too. I don't
Speaker:know. But On Amazon only now. I used to,
Speaker:like, mail mail them myself, ship them myself, but I got tired of
Speaker:standing in the line at the post office.
Speaker:So the first thing I did is create an online course
Speaker:after those workbooks. I created an an online
Speaker:course for to help people prepare for a
Speaker:thru hike, but mostly, like, the mental preparation.
Speaker:I I said back then, I was saying I wanted to be the Brene Brown
Speaker:of hiking. I love that. That's when we actually met because you
Speaker:were like, my sister introduced me to you. She showed me your account, and she
Speaker:was like, look. It's one of your competitors. She's also working with hikers. So
Speaker:yeah. Weren't you like you were like, meh. Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah. Yeah. A little bit. I don't wanna hear.
Speaker:And then, eventually, I realized, you know what? I
Speaker:don't wanna talk about hiking anymore. I don't care. What I care about is,
Speaker:like, pushing like, pursuing what calls you.
Speaker:Pursuing your calling. That's what I care about, and that's what I wanna help people
Speaker:with. If it's if it's a through hike, it's gonna be a through hike. But
Speaker:I wanna be able to help people be more brave. And so that's when
Speaker:I signed up to coach training. And from there,
Speaker:I started coaching. And yeah.
Speaker:Yeah. Now she's an amazing coach. We'll we'll kind of, like, go into, like, how
Speaker:you work with people now a little, in a
Speaker:minute. But so okay. Before
Speaker:we completely close the chapter of what Marie does
Speaker:in the outdoors, I am curious, like,
Speaker:I feel like lately, you've actually had kind of
Speaker:physical reinvention or not physical reinvention, but, like,
Speaker:you're, like, getting back into, like, being a little bit more outdoorsy again. Like,
Speaker:you're going on a lot more camping trips. You're, like, getting into
Speaker:cycling, it seems like. What are you what are you interested in
Speaker:right now? I did a lot of cycling this summer,
Speaker:gravel bike Yeah. Because my partner
Speaker:loves it. And, we go on camping trips, but, like, simple
Speaker:camping trips. I'm not into, like, big days of hiking. I
Speaker:want simp simplicity because I love being in nature. I love to
Speaker:camp, but I want to be able to, like, wake up in the morning and
Speaker:read my book by the stream. Yeah.
Speaker:Stream. Stream. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So know,
Speaker:like, I'm done, like, big days. I've shown myself I can do it. And
Speaker:so yeah. Yeah. I love it. Speaking
Speaker:of relationship, I am
Speaker:curious because, like, I think this is something you talk to a lot,
Speaker:on your Instagram. That was also kinda like
Speaker:you know, on this podcast, we talk a lot about, like, adventurous reinventions,
Speaker:and I would consider kinda your kind of shifting into a new relationship,
Speaker:exploring what that looks like for you is one of your adventurous reinventions since I've
Speaker:known you. Do you wanna talk a little bit more
Speaker:about that journey? Like, you made a
Speaker:change in who you were dating and, like, exploring what that meant for you. Like,
Speaker:maybe walk us through some of that kind of journey for
Speaker:you. Yeah. So well, one of the hardest decisions
Speaker:of the last few years was leaving the partner I I was with
Speaker:when I went to hike the PCT. We'd been together for 7
Speaker:years. But I was getting to know myself, and we
Speaker:were no longer aligned. I use
Speaker:that word a lot, don't I? It's a good word. I
Speaker:think it's complicated to, like, explain things in, like, one sentence. Aligned
Speaker:is, like, simple way to concise it.
Speaker:I was not the same person than when I met
Speaker:him. Yeah. We did we we grew apart, so I decided to
Speaker:leave. Again, if you want to dive deeper into
Speaker:this decision, I have a podcast episode about this, the self
Speaker:growth nerds podcast. But, yeah, I left
Speaker:him and then I came out as
Speaker:queer. I kinda knew it deep down, but
Speaker:I needed the space to explore. Yeah. So I came out as
Speaker:queer, and I dove into
Speaker:nonmonogamy. And that's how I met my partner
Speaker:because he's also, into nonmonogamy,
Speaker:and we've been together for 10 months now, I
Speaker:think. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I just remember, like
Speaker:together. Witnessing you through that journey, like,
Speaker:it was fun because it was kinda like, you know, it
Speaker:was like a PCT almost. It was like, you know, okay. The
Speaker:courage to make the decision. Right? And then the courage to,
Speaker:like, find yourself, explore what that meant. And then the messy
Speaker:middle where you're like, have I done every like, am I have I made
Speaker:mistake? Like, I don't know what I'm doing. Yeah. You were there
Speaker:through all of it. So funny. Making the hard decision and then, like,
Speaker:my sexual awakening and aspiration. Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah. And then now, yeah, it seems you, like, found a really,
Speaker:like, perfectly aligned partner. Oh, yeah. I always
Speaker:well, it it was important for me to be with someone who's
Speaker:who's adventurous in the same ways as I am and who's,
Speaker:super purpose driven. I grew up with, my parents are entrepreneurs.
Speaker:And for my whole life, they had a business together. That was super inspiring
Speaker:to me, and I kind of always wished I had that. And I was
Speaker:Yeah. Gaslighting myself, like, telling myself, it's okay. My
Speaker:ex was an engineer. So, you know, very different Yeah. Different
Speaker:careers. I was like, it it's okay. You don't need it. But,
Speaker:actually, no. I don't need it, but I want it. I want someone
Speaker:who's as purpose driven as I am, someone I can do projects
Speaker:with. And that's the that's the case now, and I'm so happy
Speaker:because that's what I always wished for. It's not perfect, but
Speaker:it's what I always wished for and never dared to just
Speaker:own. Like, what I learned in this, this
Speaker:adventure is it's okay to let yourself want what you want.
Speaker:Yeah. And, like, you didn't know if you would find
Speaker:it, like, 2, which which I think is so brave. Like, you were
Speaker:just like, I'm gonna, like I don't know have the formula. Like,
Speaker:I'm gonna try to figure this out. Like Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I
Speaker:could be single right now. Yeah. But
Speaker:but, but, you know, there's research that says
Speaker:people have regrets about what they didn't
Speaker:do. Right. Yeah. Not about what they did, about what they
Speaker:didn't do. So I don't wanna, like,
Speaker:spend my life. That was fine, you know, in my last relationship. I was Yeah.
Speaker:Happy enough. It was good enough, but I didn't want
Speaker:to, like, look back and and and be like, oh, I could've it could've
Speaker:been extraordinary. Right. And I think, like, one
Speaker:of one of the things, like, both one of our coaches both says is, like,
Speaker:you know, redesigning the things that you want, like, continuously
Speaker:as you grow and as you, like, age is, like, so important. And so
Speaker:it's, like, sometimes, like and, like, you
Speaker:can see this as a sad thing or, like, a beautiful thing. I choose to
Speaker:see it as, like, a really beautiful thing. Like, sometimes things are for only chap
Speaker:like, if you're thinking of your life as a book, and you're like, this was
Speaker:perfect for this chapter, and I am deciding
Speaker:that something this new chapter is a little different. Like, I
Speaker:wanna explore what that looks like, and it doesn't mean anything in the past
Speaker:was wrong. It was perfect for where you
Speaker:were then, and you're just deciding something new. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker:Exactly. Yeah. Would you choose your partner again today?
Speaker:Would you choose your career career again today? Like, just know that you're allowed
Speaker:to change your mind. And, yes, it might hurt some people's
Speaker:feelings, but it's your life at the end of the day. Like, don't
Speaker:get me wrong. I felt so guilty. I think when you've been
Speaker:conditioned as a woman, lots of us feel lots of guilt.
Speaker:Yeah. And, like, we'll hang on to things because of that. Yeah.
Speaker:For for making, like, quote, unquote, selfish decisions. But
Speaker:at the end of the day, it is my life that I'm living, and
Speaker:we're all adults. So he was
Speaker:responsible. I felt guilty for creating, like, bringing havoc
Speaker:into his life. But at the end of the day, he's responsible
Speaker:for what he does in his life. And Yeah. Now
Speaker:he, like, from what I've heard, lives in the mountains
Speaker:on the West Coast, which he always wanted to do. He's he's in a
Speaker:relationship with someone who seems like a much better match. So and
Speaker:even if that was not the case, it's his responsibility. We
Speaker:take so much responsibility. Again, for those of us
Speaker:conditioned as women, we take so much responsibility that's
Speaker:not ours on our shoulder and Right. Keep us from,
Speaker:like, living our life to the fullest. Yeah. I
Speaker:totally agree. Anyways, I just wanted to bring that up. I'm like box.
Speaker:Yeah. But there's so many people out there who maybe it's a
Speaker:relationship. Maybe it's like going on a PCT trail. It's just like
Speaker:these conversations, I think, are valuable to have because it's
Speaker:interesting to see how people have navigated it in their own life and, like, how
Speaker:they've shown up for it. And also how, like, Marie has some, like,
Speaker:amazing experience in her back pocket to, like, help you
Speaker:navigate big, bold, courageous decisions that you may be
Speaker:wanting to make in your life as well. And I seem
Speaker:confident, like, it was all easy. There was so much
Speaker:crying. Like, there was so much hardship and self doubt. It's
Speaker:just after the fact looking back, I'm, like, so
Speaker:thankful that I made those brave decisions. Right.
Speaker:I I have, like, honestly, some of the big, like, decisions in
Speaker:my life. I don't really have any regrets. Like, you know, when
Speaker:you're making those decisions, it kinda goes back to our earlier conversation. Like, what
Speaker:feels like truth? What feels like freedom? And, like, in your moment, it felt
Speaker:more like truth and more like freedom to, like, go explore and see
Speaker:if you could find what was exactly what you wanted out
Speaker:of a relationship than it was to say that didn't feel as true for
Speaker:you. Mhmm. Where was I going with this?
Speaker:I I feel like I haven't ever looked back at those big decisions that I've
Speaker:made, like the divorce that I got and, you know, starting this business
Speaker:and leaving my career. Like, I've never regretted taking those leaps of
Speaker:faith even though, yes, they were hard. They
Speaker:were, like, challenging truth. Yes. You were you were
Speaker:tuned in to your what felt true, so you can't regret that.
Speaker:The things that I regretted more, like you said, yeah, were the things that when
Speaker:I, like, put an idea aside because I was like, oh, I don't know if
Speaker:I can. Like, I don't know. Mhmm. Because you always wonder. Like, I think
Speaker:it'll always nag at you. Like Mhmm. But
Speaker:yeah. Anyways. So let's let's talk a little bit
Speaker:about your business, self growth nerds.
Speaker:You did your through hike. We kinda talked about what brought you to life
Speaker:coaching. What work do you primarily do with people
Speaker:now with your clients? Mhmm. I do,
Speaker:a course that's called cur the courage to start new that
Speaker:I really love. It's 8 weeks, and,
Speaker:we meet every week and prepare for
Speaker:big transitions. It's it's for anyone who feels like they're going
Speaker:in circles. Their their inner fire
Speaker:is no longer alive. They feel bored. They feel
Speaker:disconnected from their enthusiasm. And we look at what's missing.
Speaker:We look at at at what you've been ignoring and what you want to
Speaker:actually pursue, and we go for it. Yeah. So
Speaker:I love doing that course, which I'm going to do in the new year in
Speaker:2025. And then I love doing 1 on 1.
Speaker:1 on 1 when people wanna go deeper.
Speaker:We work together. And I focus my framework
Speaker:focuses on 3 things. One of them is big
Speaker:vision, getting clear on your vision, because lots of people don't really know
Speaker:what they want in the direction they're going into. They're kind of just going with
Speaker:the flow, just doing life, but never
Speaker:slowing down to ask themselves really important questions about what's
Speaker:going to make them feel fulfilled. And, like, when they're lying down,
Speaker:when, on their deathbed, what's gonna make them feel proud?
Speaker:And and making, like, hard decisions to align with that.
Speaker:Yeah. So that's the part number 1 on my framework. Part number
Speaker:2 is when you speak about your big vision, when you own it,
Speaker:lots of fears come up. So it's looking at the fears
Speaker:and rewiring your programming. Because we're programmed
Speaker:to to stay in the cave. Yeah. Okay? So we've
Speaker:got to rewire that so you that you can build the nervous system
Speaker:capacity and the mindset to go out of the cave
Speaker:and ask for what you really want. That's part 2. That's work
Speaker:that I really love. And part 3 is focused action. So not
Speaker:just talk. I I have a bias for action. What
Speaker:are you gonna do about it? What are you gonna do this week? So that's
Speaker:where I I help my clients get out in the field,
Speaker:try different things, fail, try from their,
Speaker:learn from their failure, and course correct.
Speaker:Right. I love it. Take a step,
Speaker:assess, take another step, and yeah.
Speaker:Yeah. It like, that process is, like, exactly what we do with backpacking.
Speaker:It's like, you pick that goal trail, you have that vision. Right?
Speaker:All the fears and panic, pre trip panic comes up. We
Speaker:work through that. Like, how do you actually get to the point where you're taking
Speaker:the action. Right? And then, like, what is the action? What is the being willing
Speaker:to, like, make the mistakes, being willing to, like,
Speaker:have experience that doesn't go exactly how you imagine it and how you make those
Speaker:pivots and keep going. So I love that. Exactly. That's how you expand your
Speaker:comfort zone. Yeah. Yeah. Amazing.
Speaker:Okay. I want to do some
Speaker:rapid fire questions just for fun so people can get to know Marie a little
Speaker:bit better. And, yeah, let's just let's just go through it.
Speaker:So first one I wrote down is easy. Are you a morning person or a
Speaker:night owl? Used to be a night owl. Now I'm a morning person.
Speaker:What does morning person mean to you, though? Well, yeah, not that early. You wake
Speaker:up at 7 ish. Okay. That's kinda me. Like, I'm not a
Speaker:morning person, but I'm not like, I don't sleep until, like, 9.
Speaker:Yeah. I, like, wake up at 7. But I love to I I love to
Speaker:go to bed early now. What do you mean by early? Like,
Speaker:10. Nice. We're the same, I think.
Speaker:Okay. Tuesdays. If you had to eat one meal for the rest of your
Speaker:life, what would it be? Oh, yeah. I I struggle with this one
Speaker:because I love seafood, but my partner is allergic.
Speaker:So I I can't eat seafood for the rest of my life even
Speaker:though it's my favorite because then I could I would always have to, like, brush
Speaker:my teeth and, like, before I kiss him. So that's
Speaker:That would be complicated. That's off the table. There's this Poke
Speaker:Ball I really love I love it. Doesn't have any seafood in it.
Speaker:It's in a restaurant near my place. It it's got kimchi.
Speaker:Okay. It's a kimchi pokeball full of, like, really fresh
Speaker:vegetables, rice, and kimchi. It's amazing. That sounds solid.
Speaker:Oh. Yeah. I would go for that. Yeah. If you
Speaker:were a piece of gear, what would you
Speaker:be and why? I'm glad I
Speaker:prepared ahead of time for this. I know. I saw I was like, I know
Speaker:she's gonna need to think through this some of these. Yeah. Yeah. I was like,
Speaker:oh, this is hard. But, honestly, the first, idea that came to mind
Speaker:is, like, those metal coffee cups.
Speaker:Oh, yeah. Those, like, lightweight coffee cups. Cute too. I could
Speaker:totally see you being less. They're so cute. My friend has a purple
Speaker:one that I love. I choose this because it's like
Speaker:it brings you comfort. Coffee on the trail was like what what brought
Speaker:me the most comfort, and it gives you energy. So, like, the mix of
Speaker:comfort and energy. I could totally seeing you being this if you
Speaker:were a piece of gear. Cool. Okay. This actually
Speaker:reminded me that I didn't, like, ask you this question, which
Speaker:I'm sure people would wanna know is, like, what was your trail name on the
Speaker:PCT? Oh, it was Poppins. Poppins. Do you wanna
Speaker:explain that? Yeah. For Mary Poppins
Speaker:because my trail friends said I had,
Speaker:like, a wild imagination. And you had this, like,
Speaker:sort of you had, like, a Mary Poppins sort of style, I feel like, on
Speaker:the trail too. You had, like, that umbrella that was, like, really colorful.
Speaker:Yeah. But I got the umbrella are really colorful. Yeah. Oh, you
Speaker:did? I got the yeah. I got the umbrella at the end only.
Speaker:And and, I mean, it matched my trail name
Speaker:perfectly, although it was not on purpose. And now my I have a tattoo of
Speaker:an umbrella to remember the the PCT by. Oh, yeah.
Speaker:Can't you see it, like, on your arm? If you are watching the video of
Speaker:this, you might be able to see it. Yeah. I love it.
Speaker:Okay. Back to rapid fire questions. A skill you've
Speaker:always wanted to learn. Well, it's not as well, I
Speaker:guess it's a set of skills. If I if I could have, like, a
Speaker:another career, I would love to get into book editing.
Speaker:Oh, interesting. Nice. Book publishing. I am so
Speaker:passionate. I'd be really good at that. You read a lot. Yeah.
Speaker:I read a lot and yeah. So maybe one day And
Speaker:you have lots of opinions on it. Yeah. So you'd be good at it.
Speaker:Okay. If your life were a book, what would be the title?
Speaker:The the idea that came to mind is is the name of my course, the
Speaker:courage to start new, because I started new
Speaker:pretty often. Yeah. That's perfect. I was curious what
Speaker:you'd say for that one. Or or the the love that just came to me.
Speaker:It's a good idea. But, the wallflower
Speaker:becomes the bright flower. I love it.
Speaker:Or just Poppins Adventures. Yeah. Yeah. I
Speaker:love it. What is your favorite way to spend a weekend? I think I already
Speaker:know the answer to this. Yeah. You do. I love to
Speaker:clean my house. This this is the this is being
Speaker:35. I love to clean my house, to read,
Speaker:to hang out with friends, to have a lot of time to chill,
Speaker:to drink coffee, go for a little walk. I don't
Speaker:wanna be rushed. Yeah. I see that for
Speaker:you. Okay. We'll end on this note. Well, we'll end
Speaker:on, like, talking about how people can listen, find you, and work with you. But
Speaker:before that, what do you think is the best advice you've ever
Speaker:received? I love this question so much. I
Speaker:have to give credit to my dad. He's the ultimate
Speaker:visionary, the ultimate coach even though he's not a coach, but he told
Speaker:me my whole life, you're responsible for being
Speaker:an active designer of your life. Mhmm. You're in
Speaker:charge. I love that. How to create your own life.
Speaker:That's beautiful. You have, like, a very inspiring dad quote to
Speaker:go off of. I love it. Yes.
Speaker:Okay, Marie. We could talk honestly for hours and
Speaker:hours and hours. We've already gone a little over the hour, so thank you for
Speaker:sticking with me. How can
Speaker:listeners find you, work with you? Like, where's the best
Speaker:place where they can go? Just self gout nerds on Instagram, and
Speaker:my website also is self goutnerds.com. So and selfgaultnerds
Speaker:is the name of my podcast. On you can find me on Spotify, Apple
Speaker:Podcasts, if you want to dig into what we discussed.
Speaker:And Allison's been on my podcast, so if you wanna hear some more Allison.
Speaker:Mhmm. Yeah. A couple times, actually. Yeah. So Yeah. I'm sure we'll have
Speaker:you back again because, like I said, I literally think we could talk for,
Speaker:like, endless hours. Sometimes we have to, like when we're hanging out, we have to
Speaker:be like, okay. Stop talking. Like, we need to sleep. We're going to sleep. Yeah.
Speaker:But yeah. Okay. Well, I will drop I will be dropping all those links
Speaker:that Marie mentioned into the show notes. So if you wanna find a quick link
Speaker:to them, you can find them there in the show notes. Thank you so
Speaker:much, Marie, for Thank you. My very first podcast guest.
Speaker:And yeah, y'all check out Marie. She's an amazing human. She's
Speaker:doing amazing work, and I know that she could help you
Speaker:with anything that you're kind of mulling through and that you need some courage
Speaker:and support to kind of go into a new adventure. So
Speaker:thank you so much for being here, Marie. Thank you, Allison.
Speaker:Love you. Love you. Bye, everyone. See you next
Speaker:week. Hey. I wanted to thank you real
Speaker:quick for tuning into the show and listening all the way to the end. If
Speaker:you love this episode and you want deeper support in becoming a safe,
Speaker:confident, and self sufficient hiker and backpacker, then head over to shedreamsofalpine.com/waitless
Speaker:to learn more about our backpacking badass coaching program where I teach you
Speaker:absolutely absolutely everything you need to know to be self reliant on the trails and
Speaker:stop waiting around on others for the adventure invite. So I'd love to help you
Speaker:more in your journey of stepping into your adventurous identity, and that program is the
Speaker:absolute best place for us to start
Speaker:working
Speaker:together. So, again, that's she dreams of alpine.com/waitlist,
Speaker:and you can learn all about it there. So that's it for today, folks.
Speaker:I hope you get to spend some time outside this week, and I'll be back
Speaker:very soon with a brand new episode. Bye.
