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I’m very excited to bring you an extremely inspirational and energetic guest, who has been through a ton of challenges to get to where she is today. I was so honored to get to interview her in-person in the Hive and experience her energy. Athena Brownson is a former professional freestyle skier who has endured 27 surgeries, including nine on her knees. She believes that the resilience lessons she learned from being a pro athlete from the age of 15 and these injury experiences helped develop her character to face other life challenges, including a devastating diagnosis of Lyme Disease that led to all sorts of oddball related debilitating illnesses, infections, fatigue, pain, and an extreme sensitivity to electromagnetic fields that defies comprehension. You’ve got to hear how she coped with the latter. It sounds like something out of a mad scientist’s lab. But also how she built and ran a fast-moving real estate business while dealing with brutal symptoms, even while some doctors told her she should just go on disability for the rest of her life. Her resolve to keep thriving is truly inspirational. She has a great support community and she built routines to help keep her on the improvement track. Undergoing revolutionary treatments has helped her turn the corner on her symptoms. These ordeals have caused Athena, who was a hypercompetitive athlete growing up in an athletic family, to redefine success, including how to be a bright light for others who are facing struggles. It reminds me of how those in the addiction recovery world have such profound insights into life. She has also gained other extremely valuable shareable lessons that have helped her become a high-performing realtor and that I think can benefit anyone in their home and work lives, making this an episode where you might want to take notes.

Athena Brownson

athenabrownsonrealtor.com

Instagram and LinkedIn @athenabrownsonrealtor

Bill Stahl
silly_billy@msn.com
Facebook and LinkedIn Bill Stahl
Instagram and Threads @stahlor and @coachstahl
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I hope you enjoy hearing about my tales of running the Leadville Marathon and the vitally important work that Team Leadville is doing to support the Boulder Crest Foundation to help stop veteran suicide. If you are able, I hope you can support with a donation - link below. Donate, share, or just help spread the word to help end veteran suicide. Thank you very much!

https://weblink.donorperfect.com/BoulderCrestFoundation/2026TeamLeadville/BillStahl

Bill Stahl
silly_billy@msn.com
Facebook and LinkedIn Bill Stahl
Instagram and Threads @stahlor and @coachstahl
YouTube We Are Superman Podcast

Subscribe to our Substack for my archive of articles of coaching tips developed from my more than three decades of experience, wild and funny stories from my long coaching career, the wit and wisdom of David, and highlights of some of the best WASP episodes from the past that I feel are worthwhile giving another listen.

Search either We Are Superman Podcast or @billstahl8

Register for the American Heroes Run: https://ultrasignup.com/register.aspx?did=133138

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We’ve featured a lot of people who have taken on epic challenges, but this guest, Ray Zahab of Quebec, Canada, has done dozens and dozens of them. When we recorded this two years ago, Ray had just completed a couple of weeks before a crossing of Death Valley from north to south. I’m very familiar with the Badwater 135, which just completed, but that is run on roads. I didn’t even know it was a thing there to run the shortest route between two points, completely off-road. The terrain is seriously rugged, and it’s pretty hot, and Ray ran it with limited re-supplies in 53:35:21. In case you’re wondering, he drank 75 liters of water. He’s also run across the widest park of Death Valley west to east, crossing two mountain ranges, in 35 hours. He’s run 7500 km across the Sahara Desert in 111 days, 1850 km across the Namib Desert in Africa, 1200 km across the Atacama Desert in Chile, and 2000 km across the Gobi Desert in Mongolia. That’s the hot, dry stuff. He’s crossed Baffin Island in northern Canada nine times in winter and trekked from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole on snowshoes pulling his supply sled. And I’m just scratching the surface. Here’s the WASP comeback story angle: Ray did this last Death Valley project a little more than a year after completing six months of debilitating chemotherapy for a rare form of lymphoma. What’s very cool about Ray is how he shares his projects with schoolchildren with live links, and he has been running his foundation, impossible2Possible, to introduce kids to the kind of adventuring he does and reach beyond their perceived limits. The foundation takes kids to wild places so they can challenge themselves, and it doesn’t even charge them to be there! Yes, they’re free! Ray and his wife have been raising two daughters who get to experience the outdoors unlike the way Ray was when he was younger and was an out-of-shape, pack-a-day smoker. So there’s another comeback. His brother inspired him to get outdoors and Ray now encourages everyone to also do so, including with his expedition company, KapiK1, which leads trips to remote and beautiful places like Baffin Island, the Atacama Desert, and the Gobi Desert. Even though we had a fairly short conversation, you might still find yourself listening in amazement to all that Ray does and get pumped up by his incredible level of energy and excitement.

Ray Zahab
rayzahab.com
impossible2possible.com
kapik1.com
rzahab@impossible2possible.com
Facebook and LinkedIn Ray Zahab
Instagram and X @rayzahab
YouTube @rayzahab1944

Bill Stahl
silly_billy@msn.com
Facebook Bill Stahl
Instagram and Threads @stahlor and @coachstahl
YouTube We Are Superman Podcast

Please consider donating to support Team Leadville and Boulder Crest to help end veteran suicide! Donate, share, or just help spread the word to help end veteran suicide. Thank you very much!

https://weblink.donorperfect.com/BoulderCrestFoundation/2026TeamLeadville/BillStahl

Subscribe to our Substack for my archive of articles of coaching tips developed from my more than three decades of experience, wild and funny stories from my long coaching career, the wit and wisdom of David, and highlights of some of the best WASP episodes from the past that I feel are worthwhile giving another listen.

Search either We Are Superman Podcast or @billstahl8

Register for the American Heroes Run: https://ultrasignup.com/register.aspx?did=133138