The Interview Series (Written Interviews) Archives - Page 2 of 4

August 24, 2020August 24, 2020

Neil Phillips: Money as a Means to an Incredible Journey

This week I am very pleased to bring you an exciting interview with a climber and young professional that you don’t know: Neil Phillips.

As a matter of fact, I’m 100% positive that you don’t know Neil Phillips, because that’s not his real name. And I get that too, because I also don’t use my name. Money and jobs and the internet are like oil and vinegar. They don’t mix. As a matter of fact, we’ll discuss a bit about the taboo of money, and why Neil and I think it’s so damn hard to discuss personal finance.

Neil is a young professional, rock climber, and has many interesting stories and suggestions for anyone trying to get the upper hand with their money.

In this interview we discuss Neil’s desire for financial strength, his story of eliminating debt, pursuing financial independence, and preparing for a year-long road trip. And of course, we even have some good-ole-fashioned climbing talk.

Let’s go!

August 20, 2020August 29, 2020

Podcast Interview: Power Company Climbing Podcast

Hey guys,

I wanted to reach out with a mid-week post to announce the release of a podcast I recorded with my previous interviewee Kris Hampton of the Power Company Climbing Podcast.

Back in Lander, Wyoming, about a month ago, Kris graciously invited me over to his home to meet in person. We’ve interacted a number of times since I began this project two years ago, but we never crossed paths. And then we pulled out some microphones.

I really enjoyed this conversation about the taboo of money, the parallels to climbing, the dilemma of being “retired” at 35, and the pitfalls of pursuing passionate work without financial security.

Listen to my interview with the Power Company Climbing Podcast here.

August 10, 2020August 10, 2020

Bethany Macke: The Powerful Art of the Pivot

Okay friends, let’s do an interview, shall we? This week I bring you Bethany Macke, a climber and trainer with a unique approach to correcting muscle imbalances and mechanics, an often-overlooked foundation to building movement skills. Bethany, along with her husband Adam, bring more than just a different approach to training. She also has an interesting story of change, adversity, and building meaningful work, even during the pandemic. And sometimes change comes in high doses. In the age of Covid, there’s much we can learn from Bethany’s resiliency, and mastery of the career and personal pivot. And of course, we even discuss a bit about the freedom of financial strength.

One quick note: Bethany has a lot of great little nuggets in this interview, so it’s a long one. Please let me know in the comments or via email if you’d prefer to see interviews this long broken into two or more parts. Or maybe you prefer it all in one place. Let me know!

Let’s go!

June 29, 2020July 4, 2020

Nate Drolet: So You Want to be a Coach?

Alright folks, we’re finally getting back on the interview wagon, and I’m pleased this week to bring you Nate Drolet. Nate, at 31 years young, is a coach, trainer, and podcast co-host for Power Company Climbing, a well-rounded climber (he has climbed multiple 5.14a routes and V12 boulders), and a master of movement. Nate also takes an admirably pragmatic approach to learning and self-improvement.

In many cases, it might be as simple as mind over matter…

June 1, 2020June 1, 2020

Podcast Interview: The Nugget Climbing Podcast

Hello! I’m pleased to announce the release of an interview I did with Steven Dimmitt of The Nugget Climbing Podcast.

What is the point of a website about climbing and personal finance? Is a life in pursuit of financial independence all deprivation and drudgery? Well, tune in for a lot of words with a slight southern accent. Oh and don’t worry, we talk about climbing too.

This was a lot of fun.

May 4, 2020May 4, 2020

Lauren Abernathy: Finding the Balance

Alrighty folks, we’re back on the interview bandwagon! This week I am pleased to bring you an interview with the industrious and energetic Lauren Abernathy. Lauren is a 25-year old professional, fully-obsessed climber, writer, and lover of adventure. And she’s a boss of her money.

At an age when Lauren began optimizing her professional life and learning to save for her freedom, I was trying to free myself from four to three nightly PBR’s.

Grab a cup of coffee, PBR, or whatever and let’s settle into some incredibly important life lessons for those at any point along their journey.

February 3, 2020February 2, 2020

Mike Doyle: A Remote-Controlled Climbing Life

Raise your hand if you want to climb more but work seems to always take up so much time? This notion of balancing work and life is essentially the essence of what we do on this site, and there’s nobody better to discuss this intricate balance than elite-level climber and software engineer Mike Doyle.

January 6, 2020January 6, 2020

Hazel Findlay: Fear Is Trainable

I’m sort of fascinated with the concept of fear. It’s the entire subject of this post, but it’s also something I weave into a lot of my thinking and writing. Steve Bechtel told us how fear affects his clients, noting the powerful, crippling effect of worry, inaction, and ultimately⏤unfulfilled potential. All the best ideas mean nothing when we lay catatonic and hesitant to act on those ideas. It therefore seemed suitable for me to reach out to Hazel Findlay.

Hazel Findlay is a UK-based professional climber known for bold, traditional ascents. To use the American parlance, Hazel steps up to the plate.

Not only has Hazel learned to harness and use fear to propel her climbing career, but she’s begun a coaching career in tandem to mold and shape the fear of others. And speaking of fear, we discuss how her blossoming climbing career nearly came to an early end.

November 18, 2019November 18, 2019

Steve Bechtel: The Importance of Time

Steve Bechtel is a Lander, Wyoming-based climber, trainer, author, and business owner. Steve is also a pillar of the Lander outdoors community, a long-time owner of Elemental Performance + Fitness and Climb Strong, a training program specifically tailored to climbers. After following Steve’s work for a number of years, I suspected he might bring his thoughtful approach to climbing and training to other aspects of his life. In this interview, he doesn’t disappoint.

October 8, 2019October 8, 2019

Podcast Interview: Financial Independence Forum

Hi, good morning. This is not a regularly scheduled broadcast. However, I wanted to quickly let you know that I was featured on a brand-spankin’-new podcast hosted by Eugene Ting, The Financial Independence Forum.