Would you take a job that has you stand in a fiery pit that’s been burning for decades in the Turkmenistan desert, rig a rope across a boiling lake, and put yourself in the middle of Tornado Alley?

George didn’t take the job– he made it, and he took his camera with him.

George Kourounis is a National Geographic Explorer, storm chaser, science communicator, and host of the Angry Planet TV series. He's been to all seven continents and over 80 countries to photograph some of Mother Nature's most elusive and dangerous phenomena.

We talk about:

-The logistics of being ready to cross the world at a moment’s notice

-Funding big adventures and relying on Mother Nature to make a living

-How George broke into media and started the Angry Planet TV series

-Why George hates the words “influencer” and “content” and the impact of technology on the news cycle and media

-Identifying as a nature junkie but not an adrenaline junkie

-The Gateway to Hell expedition with a Guinness World Record of being the first person to set foot at the bottom of this burning pit of gas

-Capturing disasters that blur the line between natural and human influence

-The FOMO of missing a big storm or event and the pressure to create media for others to enjoy or learn from

-When your work is less of a job and more of a lifestyle

-A scary bat experience where George’s inner organs could’ve turned to Jello (oopsie)

-The essence of exploration in 3 words

PSST! If you like this episode, you’ll love this one: How to be an Imperfect Advocate and Pursue Outdoor Adventures in a Changing Climate with Alpinist Graham Zimmerman

Connect with George:

-George on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/george_kourounis

-George's website: http://www.stormchaser.ca/

👋Like the show? Share the stoke!:

-Your 5-star ratings and reviews make a huge difference, both for the future of the show and the smiles on our faces!

-Follow @for.the.love.of.podcast and tag us in a post or Story! (https://instagram.com/for.the.love.of.podcast)

-Connect with Angie on Instagram (https://instagram.com/angvswild) and Jeni on Instagram (https://instagram.com/jenistembridge).

Right now, text one friend who would like For The Love Of.

⭐Please rate and review For The Love Of on Apple Podcasts and on Spotify

Shout-Outs:

-Music: The King of Sandwich Island by Shut-ins

-Thank you to The Ruins, the best wedding venue in Oregon, for supporting the show.

For full show notes and more: https://fortheloveofpod.com

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Everyone can feel the confidence of a drag queen on stage, but there’s more than meets the eye.

Samuel Thrower performs as Slutashia, Oregon’s drag raptress.

Samuel is a multi talented drag queen, vocalist, and rapper from Eugene, Oregon. Slutashia possesses a modern-day hip-hop aura and delivers her original rhymes with strong power and confidence. She has had the pleasure of opening up for queer artists such as God Des, Wreckno and Big Freedia.

We talk about:

-Common misconceptions about drag

-Being in both the entertainment and beauty business

-Dreaming of being a performer then having Slutashia give him the confidence to pursue music

-Looking like a cocky queen on the outside, but feeling vulnerable on the inside

-The risk of going full-time as a drag queen and working gig to gig

-How being a songwriter and rapper elevates Slutashia as a drag queen

-Growing up in California and rural Oregon as a gay Black man

-The trade-offs of money, a social life, dating, and pieces of Samuel to pursue a passion

-Sewing, makeup, vocals, choreography: there are a million skills drag queens need to grow

PSST! If you like this episode, you’ll love these two:

How Dancing Transformed Nika Kermani’s Mental Health After Depression

Turning Life’s Challenges into Confidence through Mindful Mountain Biking

Connect with Slutashia:

@Slutashia on Instagram

👋Like the show? Share the stoke!:

Your 5-star ratings and reviews make a huge difference, both for the future of the show and the smiles on our faces!

Follow @for.the.love.of.podcast and tag us in a post or Story! (https://instagram.com/for.the.love.of.podcast)

Connect with Angie on Instagram (https://instagram.com/angvswild) and Jeni on Instagram (https://instagram.com/jenistembridge).

Right now, text one friend who would like For The Love Of.

⭐Please rate and review For The Love Of on Apple Podcasts and on Spotify

Shout-Outs:

-Music: The King of Sandwich Island by Shut-ins

-Thank you to The Ruins, the best wedding venue in Oregon, for supporting the show.

For full show notes and more: https://fortheloveofpod.com

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Picking up “The Perfect Storm” at a Blockbuster could forever change your life… Or at least it did for Matt.

Matt Schollard is a former special operations Pararescue team leader and lifelong action sport athlete.

As a water confidence coach, he is passionate about developing future special operations candidates, extreme athletes, and anyone curious about expanding their perceived limitations.

We talk about:

-Pararescuemen: The people who show up to save Navy SEALs

-The Air Force Pararescueman selection course: the hardest day of your life over and over again

-Surviving Hell Week and fantasizing about quitting

-Stories of how fear is contagious– but courage is, too

-Joining the military with eyes on ocean rescue, but then 9/11 happened

-The mental health impacts of compartmentalizing fear for so long

-Upregulating and downregulating tools when experiencing post-traumatic stress

-Hanging on to the identity of a job even when he knew he needed to step away

-The big life pivot that came to Matt after bawling on a paddleboard in the ocean

-The tool of humor as a way to cope with stress

-Working with extreme athletes and non-extreme athletes around mindset and water confidence

-The incredible Water Confidence Class at the Hood River Aquatic Center

PSST! If you like this episode, you’ll love these two:

-Why Kayaker and Filmmaker Rush Sturges is Rethinking Work-Life Balance

-How Pro Kitesurfer Jason Slezak Stopped Chasing Highs to Avoid His Past Trauma and Changed His Approach to Sports and Mental Health

Connect with Matt:

-Matt on Instagram

👋Like the show? Share the stoke!:

Your 5-star ratings and reviews make a huge difference, both for the future of the show and the smiles on our faces!

Follow @for.the.love.of.podcast and tag us in a post or Story! (https://instagram.com/for.the.love.of.podcast)

Connect with Angie on Instagram (https://instagram.com/angvswild) and Jeni on Instagram (https://instagram.com/jenistembridge).

Right now, text one friend who would like For The Love Of.

⭐Please rate and review For The Love Of on Apple Podcasts and on Spotify

Shout-Outs:

-Music: The King of Sandwich Island by Shut-ins

-Thank you to The Ruins, the best wedding venue in Oregon, for supporting the show.

For full show notes and more: https://fortheloveofpod.com

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Being told he might have a week to live ended up changing Adam’s life for the better.

Adam Spillman, once an athlete, transitioned into a coach, mentor, and motivational speaker following a life-altering cancer diagnosis at age 30, when he was initially given just one week to live.

Now, Adam helps others unlock their full potential and enhance their health and well-being, drawing from the same strategies that fueled his own recovery and transformation post-cancer.

We talk about…

-At age 29, noticing health issues: mood, fatigue, and skin infections with no answers

-A stage 3C testicular cancer diagnosis, and finding his body riddled with tumors, including in his arteries, kidney, and lung

-A cancer with very grueling treatment that can kill you as well

-The feeling of impending death

-Realizing the power of mindset during chemo, transfusions, and hospital stays

-Discovering the mind-breath connection and how breathwork can change thinking

-The hardest part of life for cancer survivors is reintegrating into society after treatment

-Finding flow in life, not just in sports

-Discovering new passions like jiu jitsu, open water swimming, and foiling

-A life still centered around athletic pursuits, but also helping others: coaching and mentoring on what has helped and continues to help him with his mind-body performance

PSST! If you like this episode, you’ll love these two:

How Getting Diagnosed with Breast Cancer Motivated Lisa Thompson to Climb the Seven Summits

How a Traumatic Brain Injury Led Pro Athletes Brandon Scheid and Sensi Graves to Find Gratitude and New Perspectives on Life

Connect with Adam:

-Adam on Instagram: https://instagram.com/breathworkwithadam

-Adam's website: https://adamspillman.com

👋Like the show? Share the stoke!:

-Your 5-star ratings and reviews make a huge difference, both for the future of the show and the smiles on our faces!

-Follow @for.the.love.of.podcast and tag us in a post or Story! (https://instagram.com/for.the.love.of.podcast)

-Connect with Angie on Instagram (https://instagram.com/angvswild) and Jeni on Instagram (https://instagram.com/jenistembridge).

-Right now, text one friend who would like For The Love Of.

⭐Please rate and review For The Love Of on Apple Podcasts and on Spotify

Shout-Outs:

-Music: The King of Sandwich Island by Shut-ins

-Thank you to The Ruins, the best wedding venue in Oregon, for supporting the show.

For full show notes and more: https://fortheloveofpod.com

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The places we don’t always think of as adventure destinations are precisely the places Mason Gravley likes to explore.

Mason grew up somewhere between the swamps, orange groves, and cattle ranches of central Florida. After vagabonding throughout the western US, he’s come back to find a deep relationship with his home state.

Now, Mason's Lead Adventurer for Athletic Brewing and hosts the Adventure Sports Podcast (his words). He’s also one of the raddest dads and friends out there (our words).

We talk about…

-Biking from Alaska to Florida… on a shoestring budget, without knowing how to change a flat tire, and not having snow or mountain experiences!

-A 10,000 mile bike ride to every National Park west of the Mississippi River

-The decision to start having kids in the middle of an adventurous life

-Fitting in adventure when you have multiple streams of work and a family

-Lessons from over 1,000 episodes of the Adventure Sports Podcast

-A life mission to protect as much of wild Florida as possible (where 100,000 acres of wild land are lost to development a year)

-Paddling across alligator-filled Lake Okeechobee to raise awareness for conservation

-Even if you can’t save the world, you can help your backyard

-Mother Nature is Mother Nature, whether it's the Grand Canyon, the Himalaya, or a square foot of grass in your yard; nothing is more or less beautiful

Connect with Mason:

-Mason on Instagram: https://instagram.com/alive_adventures and https://instagram.com/adventuresportspodcast

-The Adventure Sports Podcast: https://www.adventuresportspodcast.com/

👋Like the show? Share the stoke!:

-Your 5-star ratings and reviews make a huge difference, both for the future of the show and the smiles on our faces!

-Follow @for.the.love.of.podcast and tag us in a post or Story! (https://instagram.com/for.the.love.of.podcast)

-Connect with Angie on Instagram (https://instagram.com/angvswild) and Jeni on Instagram (https://instagram.com/jenistembridge).

-Right now, text one friend who would like For The Love Of.

⭐Please rate and review For The Love Of on Apple Podcasts and on Spotify

Shout-Outs:

-Music: The King of Sandwich Island by Shut-ins

-Thank you to The Ruins, the best wedding venue in Oregon, for supporting the show.

For full show notes and more: https://fortheloveofpod.com

💕

Kayaking waterfalls and creating epic films looks glamorous from the outside, but if there’s one thing the river’s taught Rush, it’s humility.

Rush Sturges is one of the world’s most influential whitewater kayakers, a prominent action sports filmmaker, and a devoted musician.

Rush has honed his filmmaking and paddling skills on location in some of the planet’s wildest places, from Pakistan to China to the Democratic Republic of Congo. In 2009, Rush founded River Roots, a media production house based in White Salmon, WA.

We talk about…

-Feeling physically stronger than before, but the mental side is getting tougher

-Starting filmmaking as a young teen on a kayak for the family business

-Shifting from shred flicks to vulnerable stories in filmmaking

-The future of filmmaking and technology: AI and social media vs. human storytelling

-Juggling the workflow of feature films vs. shorts and other passion projects

-Dealing with grief in the community as a kayaker

-Resuscitating kayaker Gerd Serrasolses during a medical emergency while filming

-Living through a massive earthquake in Nepal in 2023 and dealing with the post anxiety of a traumatic situation

-Feeling addicted to both kayaking and work

-Spending 3 days in silent meditation and wanting to do less more often

-Second-guessing moments in Rush's unconventional career: travel infections, times of financial instability, facing death

-Rush's passion for making music: his folk-americana-hip hop mix album

-Rush's current film project (3 years in and counting!): Paddle Tribal Waters

Connect with Rush:

-Rush on Instagram: https://instagram.com/rushsturges

-River Roots Productions: https://riverroots.com/

👋Like the show? Share the stoke!:

-Your 5-star ratings and reviews make a huge difference, both for the future of the show and the smiles on our faces!

-Follow @for.the.love.of.podcast and tag us in a post or Story! (https://instagram.com/for.the.love.of.podcast)

-Connect with Angie on Instagram (https://instagram.com/angvswild) and Jeni on Instagram (https://instagram.com/jenistembridge).

-Right now, text one friend who would like For The Love Of.

⭐Please rate and review For The Love Of on Apple Podcasts and on Spotify

Shout-Outs:

-Music: The King of Sandwich Island by Shut-ins

-Thank you to The Ruins, the best wedding venue in Oregon, for supporting the show.

For full show notes and more: https://fortheloveofpod.com

💕

Like it or not, we live in a capitalist society– so, what can we do to benefit ourselves and the world?

Mel Strong started her career as a first grade teacher and journalist. A fateful interview with her long-time running hero Joan Benoit Samuelson led to a long-shot interview for an entry level job at Nike — a process that included running twice around Nike campus with her future manager.

Mel spent 17 years at Nike, working on the Running, Soccer, Women’s, Snow and Skateboarding businesses. In 2017, she started angel investing and advising early stage founders, and in 2019, Mel co-founded venture capital firm Next Ventures.

We talk about…

• Mel’s childhood and early career leading to a personal mission to increase access to health resources for communities that need them
• 17 years at Nike: the ups and the downs and the self-identity of working for the brand
• The wealth creation gap: Historical female disempowerment around wealth and finances
• Are women holding themselves back financially, or is it the system?
• Three things women can do in the next month to become more financially empowered
• “Soft skills,” “breadwinner,” “wearing the pants…” EWWW, these terms suck!
• Convincing Angie why she should invest and care about retirement funds
• Short and long term visioning and planning around wealth in order to maximize your positive impact on the world
• Leaving Nike and co-founding a venture capital firm
• When Mel realized she had to examine diversity in her investment base
• The trade-offs of being your own boss: when things go sideways, that’s on you– which is terrifying but wonderful

How to connect with Mel:

• Next Ventures (Mel's VC firm)
• Hood River Mountain Bike Adventures (Mel and her husband's business)
• YouTube video to inspire you from Mel

👋How to connect with Jeni and Angie:

• Jeni on Instagram
• Angie on Instagram
• Angie’s website
• Angie on LinkedIn
• FTLO on Instagram

⭐Please rate and review For The Love Of:

• On Apple Podcasts
• On Spotify

Shout-Outs:

• Music: The Kind of Sandwich Island by Shut-ins
• Thank you to The Ruins, the best wedding venue in Oregon, for supporting the show.

Follow FTLO on IG: https://www.instagram.com/for.the.love.of.podcast/

For full show notes and more: https://fortheloveofpod.com

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