No one decides to wake up one day, walk across Antarctica, or leave their bohemian parents and join the Navy Seals. Or any number of crazy, amazing things that people do. These aren’t the dreams most kids have. And yet, fascinating people have done them. How? Why?
HawkeTalk is a podcast all about the origin stories of the most interesting people in the world. Today, you know our guests are famous athletes, authors, and entrepreneurs, but there’s so much more to the story. How did they navigate upbringings that seem so far from what they eventually became? What pivotal moments steered them in a new and fascinating direction forever?
Buckle up: Everyone loves a good origin story.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
No one decides to wake up one day, walk across Antarctica, or leave their bohemian parents and join the Navy Seals. Or any number of crazy, amazing things that people do. These aren’t the dreams most kids have. And yet, fascinating people have done them. How? Why?
HawkeTalk is a podcast all about the origin stories of the most interesting people in the world. Today, you know our guests are famous athletes, authors, and entrepreneurs, but there’s so much more to the story. How did they navigate upbringings that seem so far from what they eventually became? What pivotal moments steered them in a new and fascinating direction forever?
Buckle up: Everyone loves a good origin story.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
What do you get when you combine an engineering career, a passion for adventure, and a lifelong dream of exploring the world? You get Harry Anderson, an entrepreneur who achieved feats few could even imagine. From flying solo around the world to becoming the first person to sail to all seven continents, Harry’s journey is a story of resilience, determination, and the endless pursuit of challenge.
In this episode, I sit down with Harry Anderson to dive into his fascinating journey. From his childhood in the Midwest, where resilience was forged delivering newspapers in the cold Wyoming winters, to his leap from a conventional engineering career into entrepreneurial ventures, Harry shares the pivotal moments that shaped his life.
Harry opens up about his adventurous spirit and how it led him to take a year off from his career to travel the world, where he hiked Mount Kilimanjaro, toured Africa, and lived in the south of France.
His journey doesn’t stop there. Harry reveals the challenges and rewards of running a successful tech business, his transition into flying internationally, and the goal that drove him to sail solo to every continent, a feat no one else had accomplished.
In this episode:
(00:00) Introduction to Harry Anderson
(05:10) A year of travel that changed everything
(15:20) The thrill of flying and the challenges of long-distance flights
(18:50) Making the leap from aviation to solo ocean sailing
(22:10) The challenges of sailing to Antarctica and beyond
(26:15) A world record: Flying solo to all seven continents
(30:05) Flying over the North Pole and the uniqueness of solo aviation
(34:00) Reflections on what it takes to achieve extraordinary goals
(38:20) What's next for Harry: The Northwest Passage
(41:00) Closing thoughts on pursuing passions and breaking boundaries
About Our Guest
Harry R. Anderson is a Ph.D. engineer/entrepreneur who has created businesses that develop software tools for designing and optimizing wireless networks. With his flight to Antarctica in 2014, he became only the fifth person to fly solo to all seven continents. With the completion of his solo voyage to seven continents in January 2025, he became the first person in history to both fly and sail solo to all the continents. Over five decades he has traveled to more than 100 countries, hitchhiked across Africa, worked on four continents, and lived in England and France. Dr. Anderson is the author of Fixed Broadband Wireless System Design (John Wiley & Sons, 2003), Flying 7 Continents Solo (Phywave, 2015), and his upcoming book Sailing 7 Continents Solo (Phywave, 2025). He lives on Bainbridge Island in the Pacific Northwest
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