Welcome to another episode of Take Off Your Shoes!
Today's conversation is with the wonderful Lucy Bartholomew!
I was very inspired after our conversation with her, not because of her accomplishments but because of her attitude and how she overcomes moments of doubt and struggle while staying true to her why. She’s not one to shy away from asking and answering tough questions, and I truly appreciate her openness.
One key takeaway for me was how she defines herself not by the things she’s doing, but by the values she holds: curiosity, community, and joy.
We talked about the self-imprisonment imposed by the smiley face, how she sometimes isolated herself because her image had become tied to it. I’m very grateful to her for opening up about the pressures around the public image of a happy, smiling Lucy, hopefully helping people become more aware and start changing this pervasive narrative around “always being happy.”
She might also have a surprise announcement waiting for you 👀
Thank you, Lucy, for your generosity, curiosity, and authenticity.
Thank you for reading this, and I hope you enjoy listening to our convo!
Welcome back to a brand new episode of Take Off Your Shoes.
After a long summer break, I’m back and stoked to introduce my guest, Dani Aravich.
While she might be a “budding” trail runner, she’s also a Paralympian, having competed in both the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games, and now she’s preparing for the upcoming Milano Cortina Games.
Of course, she’s far beyond her athletic achievements. What stood out to me most was her encouragement of curiosity and her ability to create a space where all questions are welcome. Having been on the business side, the media side, and the athlete side of the sports she’s involved in, she brings a truly unique perspective to her work and advocacy.
This was an incredibly meaningful conversation where I got to learn a lot, and I’m very grateful to Dani for it. I cannot wait for you to listen.
Make sure to leave your comments below and let me know what you thought!
Thank you very much for taking the time to listen; it means a lot. Take care, and until next time!
Hello and welcome to another episode of Take Off Your Shoes!I am back with a brand new episode with Zoë Rom!It would take me more than a few posts to describe all that she does, but to sum it up, she’s a very passionate, multi-talented creator, writer, and runner.I resonated a lot with juggling multiple things at the same time and how she had a period where she was putting off her well-being, thinking one day she’d pay for the consequences but that today she would spread herself thin. She then asked herself:“What does balance look like for me, now?”To me, it seems like hers is a balancing act of wonderful things she’s doing all at the same time, which she says she’s lucky to love.Getting a glimpse into how her mind works and the passion she brings to the things she has created and continues to create was truly inspiring.To do all she does justice, we would have needed many more of these conversations, but I truly feel like I got to know Zoë in a great way.I’m sure you’ll find this one inspiring and entertaining.
Make sure to listen to Your Diet Sucks
I'd love to know what you thought of this episode, how it made you feel, and what it made you think of. Let me know in the comments below or send me a DM!
Welcome to a new episode of Take Off Your Shoes!
I’ve been taking some time away, and I’m back with a wonderful guest: Adam Merry!It was amazing getting to talk to him. Heading into it, I already knew he would be very open, and indeed he was very generous and vulnerable, which I truly appreciate.We talked about how it feels to juggle being a father of now two boys, being a partner, being a full-time employee, and chasing running at the highest level. He also explained what he’s training towards and what it means to him to have a North Star worth focusing on and striving for. Adam shared how balancing the steps towards that goal looks with changing life events, such as having kids, evolving those goals, and fitting them into the next chapter of life.He underlined the importance of having a strong support system that starts with Julianne, the Boulder Boys, and many other people by his side in his process towards the big, lofty goals he always sets.With the North Star goal being… well, you’ll have to listen to find out!
Follow Adam on Instagram.
Listen to him slay the guitar on his incredible album: String Dance!
Tune in to the Boulder Boys Show and watch them on Youtube!
Lastly, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this episode. Leave a review and shoot me a DM on Instagram.
Welcome to the 20th episode of Take Off Your Shoes!
My very special guest for this special episode is Dani Moreno.
I am very grateful for Dani’s openness and admire how self-reflected she was which showed in the beautiful ways she worded her experiences in and around the sport that she fell in love with again as well as her path of navigating injury and the myriad of emotions it brought up as well as the valuable lessons she learned.
Some of the best parts of the conversation were the tangents she took, allowing me to get an even better glimpse into her life.
She is versatile, caring, very passionate, and very dedicated to her craft.
She'll be toeing the line this Saturday at Broken Arrow 46k for her place in Team USA, and I’ll be cheering for her and applauding her for the curiosity she’s bringing to the start line.
I left this conversation smiling ear to ear, and I’m sure you will too.
Follow and send your support to Dani on Instagram
Listen and subscribe to The Sub-Hub Podcast with Dani and Emkay Sullivan.
Shoot me a DM with your thoughts about this episode!
Photo credit: Cody Mathison
Hello and welcome to another episode of Take Off Your Shoes!
My guests today are—that’s right, plural—the power couple: Tabor and Eli Hemming!
This episode was exactly what I was looking for when starting this podcast: to get to know the people in this sport, who they are beyond the sport.
We discussed the importance of being multi-dimensional, not just as athletes but as people. We explored how they’re intentional with their time, balancing friends, family, farm work, coaching, and trail running. They also openly shared their feelings about Tabor’s father’s recent diagnosis, highlighting how fleeting life can be and the value of embracing every moment.
I was truly inspired by the maturity of their approach to life and sport, and I hope you will find them equally inspirational.
Tabor, Eli, thank you so much for such an amazing conversation.
Hope you enjoy listening.
The Hemming Way - their Substack
The Hemmings - their Youtube Channel
Follow Tabor on Instagram
Follow Eli on Instagram
Shoot me a DM for your thoughts and comments!
Photo Credit: Ryan Thrower
Welcome to a new episode of Take Off Your Shoes!
My guest this week is Marianne Hogan.
Before anything else, she’s known for her contagiously positive attitude, and it was a pleasure getting to know her like this.
I realized that this attitude is centered in gratitude, in putting enjoyment of the moment and of the sport as a first-order condition. This mentality allowed her to keep the joy at the forefront even when becoming a full-time athlete and leaving her job in HR behind.
Learning more about her experiences with injuries, how she’s toeing the line between pushing her limits and knowing when to stop, and how this is an ongoing learning process, was very insightful. I really loved getting to discover her nomadic lifestyle, allowing her to fully immerse herself in the places she travels to, experiencing the people and the places in a more meaningful way.
If I am to take one thing away, though, it’s the importance of self-belief, of trying and shooting your shot. Setting goals for yourself, for your sake, and continuing to work towards them.
This conversation was chock-full of inspiration and just very fun overall to chat with Marianne.
Thank you Marianne for the conversation, and thank you all for listening!
Photo credit: Thibaut Baronian
Follow Marianne on Instagram
Send me your thoughts on Instagram
Hello and thank you so much for tuning into another episode of Take Off Your Shoes!
Today I’m so happy to be sharing my conversation with Arden Young!
She was an incredible conversation partner, and I’m so grateful for her openness when talking about her ongoing struggles with the word “elite”, as well as the juggling act that is having two demanding careers: professional ultra runner for Norda and dentist!
We talked about her unconventional start to running, even though she wasn’t the most athletic of her four sisters, and her path to becoming a professional athlete. I really appreciated her thoughts around becoming her own cheerleader and having self-belief, while also balancing being critical enough to push herself forward and taking time to celebrate her own wins.
She also said something that really stuck with me: “You have to make running work for your life and not make your life work for running.”
For her, running is very important, but it should always stay fun, and she keeps reminding herself that it’s for her mental and physical health.
I especially loved opening up about our respective partners and how they’re not in the ultra-endurance world. There’s something beautiful about having someone who tries to support our dreams, even if they don’t fully understand them at all times.
It was such a fun conversation, and I really admired her outlook on the sport, the balance she’s able to strike, and just her candor.
Thank you Arden for the conversation, and I hope you all enjoy it!
Follow Arden on Instagram
Check out YMR Track Club on Instagram
Send me your thoughts and comments on Instagram
Photo credit: Moe Lauchert
This was a really fun conversation with Jessica Brazeau (who graciously accepted my invitation just a couple of days after her race in Chianti), where I not only got to know her but also got a peek behind the curtain of how she holds the Brazeau-Walmsley team together.
She opened up about her feelings surrounding the move to France. She shared the struggles of uprooting an established life, seeking a new community, and how things turned around, in large part thanks to Simon Gosselin and his partner, who helped them turn their little chalet into a home in a French Alpine village.
While she’s not used to talking much about her own running, I got to learn her story, how she found trail running largely through its community, and where she is now, signed with Hoka.
I know you will love this one!
Make sure to follow Jess on Instagram
Let me know what'd you think of this conversation on Instagram
Thank you for tuning in to a new episode of Take Off Your Shoes!
I'm super happy to be sharing my conversation with Hilary Yang!
You might know her as an amazing photographer, the race director of The Mammoth, or the co-founder of the Women's Trail Running Fund… just a few of the many hats she wears, all stemming from her love and passion for storytelling.
We talk about how the WTF became a reality, and the beauty and 'privilege' of being able to give grants to creators to tell their own stories. Hilary opens up about the ups and downs of being self-employed, how she got there, and how she and her husband Billy are managing it. We also discuss her longtime dream of running the Hardrock 100 (happening very soon!) becoming a reality, as well as the LA wildfires and how, amidst this tragedy, she was deeply moved by the community coming together, and so much more!
She gave me timely advice that I will carry with me: "Be intentional with your time." I'll try to keep that in mind when choosing what to do, and hopefully, you all will too.
I hope you enjoy and take something away from this conversation I was lucky enough to have.
Thank you, Hilary, for taking time out of your crazy schedule for this chat, and thank you all for listening.
Follow Hilary's journey to Hardrock 100 at her Youtube channel
Listen and subscribe to the Trail Network Podcast
Hello and welcome to a new episode of Take Off Your Shoes!
I’m very happy to be sharing my conversation with Chris Andrews.
An up-and-comer for most of you, Chris has such a unique story, and it was really fun and interesting getting to learn all about it.
His excitement for the sport and his desire to help others experience what he’s getting out of running—the release, the happiness, the joy—is really inspiring. Being the same age underlined the effect of these conversations for me: While I cannot fully understand or relate to the crazy feats he’s able to accomplish, I can relate to his passion and the joy he finds in running.
He’s racing in just 3 weeks at the Canyons 100k, where I’ll be rooting hard for him. He has a really bright future, and I’m very excited to see what that future looks like.
Hope you all enjoy it!
Follow Take Off Your Shoes on Instagram
Leave a rating and review wherever you’re listening, and thank you so much for listening!
Welcome to another episode of Take Off Your Shoes
I am so stoked to share my conversation with Emily Hawgood!
Talking to her just lifts my mood—and I’m sure it’ll do the same for you when you listen to our conversation.
It’s really inspiring to see how she chooses to stay positive. As she put it, “The more positive you can be, the happier you will be.”
Getting to learn about her background and her experience of moving across the globe to find a new place she calls home really resonated with me, and we delved into our mutual experiences.
From her childhood to where she is now, from her own running to her coaching philosophy—we covered a whole range of topics. We also talked about her family, her chosen family of friends, and of course her team at Adidas Terrex.
I’m also proud to say that I took her advice and dialed things back a bit—and I feel much healthier now. It was a super fun conversation, and I got to learn so much about her.
I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I had fun recording it!
Photo credit: Luke Webster
Other incredible podcasts she was a guest on:
Running Long - A trail and ultra running talk
Hi everyone and welcome to a new episode of Take Off Your Shoes!
I am super happy to share my conversation with Leah Yingling with you all!
It was a super fun convo where i got to not only learn about her past, her relationship with her twin sister, her husband Mike, her own podcast with Katie Asmuth, Rachel Drake and Hilary Yang Trail Network Podcast, but also about her ever evolving sense of why and her ongoing self-challenge of taking more risks and becoming ‘less even keeled’.
We also talk about (rather timely) family planning and the nuances and the intricacies around it and the balancing act of a career outside of sport, a career as a competitive professional trail runner and wanting to accomplish a very long time coming goal of starting a family with Mike.
She just announced a few days ago that they are indeed expecting a child later this year and I am super happy for the next chapter of her (and their) life.
This conversation just made the time fly by and I had a blast getting to know Leah better, I hope you all do to!
Go follow Trail Network Podcast wherever you’re listening to podcasts
Make sure to follow Leah on Instagram
Follow Take Off Your Shoes on Instagram and send me your thoughts!
I appreciate each and every one of you so, so much!
Photo credit: Mike Mcmonagle
Welcome to the 11th Episode of Take Off Your Shoes!
I am honored to share my conversation with Corrine Malcolm.
How do you even begin to describe who Corrine is? An amazing ultra runner (newly added to the Hoka roster!), a coach, a podcaster, a commentator extraordinaire, a trailblazer, and an advocate for inclusion and women in sport. Honestly, I could go on for the rest of this post just listing the countless hats she wears.As I told her in the podcast, if I were to sum her up in an unjustifiably short sentence, it would be this: Corrine Malcolm is a person who wears many hats, all guided by passion.I’ve wanted to have a chat with her for many years now, and I am so happy that I get to share it with you all.We cover a wide range of topics, and I truly feel like I know her better after this conversation and have learned new things about her.Very excited to hear your thoughts and hope you all enjoy our conversation!
Photo Credit: Ryan Thrower
Hello Everyone, and thank you for tuning in to the newest episode of Take Off Your Shoes!
My guest today is Finn Melanson, known to most of you as thehost of the Singletrack Podcast. He’s also a community creator, a father, an incredible guest and an inspiration to future creators.
It was amazing to have such a professional conversationalist as a guest. While he doesn’t like to talk much about himself and prefers being the host, getting to know him on a deeper level taught me a lot.
We talked about how growing up in a household where dinner table conversations were debates that he and his siblings studied for, his background in politics, and how all of this shaped his ability to have an open mind and listen to every opinion.
He was open and forthcoming about how “the global-reaching form and bigger scale of things were never intended,” and how they were the “burnt ends” of Singletrack. The goal has always been to serve the local, grassroots community.
Perhaps this is one big and wonderful “dress rehearsal” for what’s to come next. In the meantime, for as long as he’s willing to create, I—along with many others—will be eager to listen.
Thank you for paying it forward and being a trailblazer in our sport, Finn.
Listen and subscribe to theSingletrack Podcast.
Follow@runsingletrack on Instagram
Did you like this episode?Shoot me a DM on takeoffyourshoes.pod.
Guest appearances of Finn on other amazing shows:
Everyday Ultra Podcast (Finn Melanson on Creating a Running Lifestyle That Truly Fits Your Goals)
For The Long Run (Finn Melanson: For The Very Long Run + Podcasting)
Hello Everyone!
I’m truly excited to share my conversation with Adam Peterman.
He’s probably one of the most down-to-earth people I’ve met and an all-around great conversationalist. I had so much fun that I completely lost track of time.
We talked about his background, his career arc as told by him, his engagement, and—since we were both going through sacral stress fractures at the same time—the array of emotions that brought up in us.
Oh, and there was plenty of banter, too. It felt like catching up with a friend. I got to know him better, discover new sides of him (a rockstar??), and I hope you will too. I honestly wished we could have talked longer.
I’m so happy that you get to listen to this one.
Adam is such a force of happiness and positive energy, on top of being one of the best in the sport.
Thank you, Adam, and I hope you enjoy it!
Send me your thoughts or comments on the podcast's Instagram!
Happy New Year, Everyone!
I wanted to kick off this year with a very special guest: Dylan Bowman.
Despite his impossibly busy schedule, Dylan carved out time for me—saying no is not (yet) in his vocabulary. He wears so many hats, but perhaps most importantly, he is the co-founder of Freetrail.
Dylan has been an inspiration to me since the very early days of ‘The Well’ and continues to be so. We touched on the ‘how and why’ of Freetrail, his future plans, being a dad, the life shift it brought to his and Harmony’s lives, and much more. We also talked about the impact Freetrail has, and as I told him on the podcast, my own podcast is a small yet concrete example of Freetrail’s global influence.
Thank you, Dylan, Ryan, and Harmony.
Hope you enjoy listening!
Listen to my episode with Ryan Thrower
Listen and subscribe to Freetrail Podcast
Check out the amazing content of Freetrail on YouTube
Today's guest is Ryan Thrower, the creative-genius behind Freetrail, and is responsible for the the backstage magic of producing the content they put out. His go-to mindset is incredibly inspiring. He’s “Midwest nice, East Coast driver and lives in the West Coast”.
We talked about the history and the why behind Freetrail and how it got to where it is now but we also went deep and delved into finding meaning in work, the importance of happiness, and the fragility of life.
He also turned the table on me and asked me my why and how behind starting this podcast.
I am super grateful that I got to have this chat with Ryan. He and Dylan were the creators of the very first ultra running related podcast and they continue to be a true source of inspiration to me. I feel immensely happy to be sharing this episode with all of you.
Go follow Ryan on Instagram
Give Trail Running Radio a listen on Spotify
If you haven’t already watched all the content of Freetrail on Youtube, what are you waiting for?
Send me a DM for your thoughts and comments on Instagram
Hello everyone and welcome to the 6th episode of Take Off Your Shoes!
I’m so honored to share my conversation with Francesco Puppi. He’s not only an incredibly hardworking athlete but also a passionate advocate for the sport. He is one of the founders of PTRA, a coach, and the host of two podcasts (and I’m struggling to manage just one!), his dedication is truly inspiring.
It was wonderful to hear his thoughts on self-confidence and acceptance, hard work, body image, and more. I only wish we had more time to dive even deeper into these topics—and I hope we can do that someday.
Grazie, Francesco, for your time and openness.
I hope you enjoy this episode and find something meaningful to take away from it.
And to all of you, thank you so much for being here and giving it a listen—it truly means a lot!
Check out Francesco’s podcasts:
Any Surface Available (Italian)
Running Long - A trail & ultra running talk
I’m thrilled to share the 5th episode of Take Off Your Shoes with my guest, Rod Farvard!
We dive into his journey from youth navigating the desire to fit in, then embracing and seeking his uniqueness. We explore his approach to running, his openness to learning, his commitment, and the insights he shares on his blog.
And, of course, we talk about his bold, unapologetic long-term goal: landing on the podium at both Western States and UTMB in the same summer. It’s a wide-ranging, super fun conversation—I hope you enjoy listening!
To read Rod’s blog: Rod Farvard Ultra
Follow Rod on Instagram
Any thoughts or feedback? Send me a DM!