EP 156 WTH?!? The Doctor's Chat: Breaking Barriers with Jennifer Drummond

Hey, welcome back, everybody. This is what the health and I'm Dr. Greg Eckel. And today we are talking Break Proof 7 Strategies to Build resilience and achieve your life goals with Jen Drummond. She is a mom of seven, successful business owner and world record holder, which we get to hear about today on the show. She is the first woman to climb the second highest summit on each of the seven continents, and she now spends her time inspiring others to create a thriving business and lasting legacy of their own. Jen, welcome aboard.

Ah, thank you so much for having me today. I'm excited to be here.

I love this. You know, this fits in really well. We talk a lot about brain regeneration and thriving longevity concepts. And you as an elite achiever, I want to know what inspired you to climb high peaks on seven continents.

Yes. Yes. You know, a car accident, it's maybe where it started. So in 2018, I was in a horrific car crash coming home to Park City. The cops rebuilt the accident around 50 different times. Could not find a scenario where I survived, let alone walked away. I was kind of processing that whole event where I realized I don't get to choose when I die, but I sure get to choose how I live. And so it's time to start making those choices that line up with my authentic self. So 2019 became this big year, the bucket list. What do I want to do? Where do I want to see all the different things? Right? Like, I'm alive. We're going to take this planet and Run 2020. I was turning 40, so I was looking over my bucket list, and on that list was climb a mountain. And it stood out. And so I'm like, you know what? I'm going to climb a mountain for my 40th birthday and launch the next decade into this thing. And so I was training for a mountain named Ama de Blomm, which is the Paramount Pictures logo. So if you've seen a Paramount Pictures movie, it's the mountain with around the stars, right? And it means the mother's necklace, the Mama seven. It was perfect. I'm training for that. And Covid happened. So now I'm a homeschool teacher to seven children because the school system's shut down. And one day, one of my kids was struggling with his homework. And so I'm giving him the parent pep talk. We do hard things. We've got this. And he looks at me and he goes, if we do hard things, why are you climbing a mountain called I'm a dumb Blonde instead of a real mountain, like Mount Everest? I said, I'm a da Blomm, not I'm a dumb blonde, but thank you, sweetheart. Wow.

Wow.

So then we looked at Everest and he went to bed, and I thought, you know what? If he thinks this is the hardest thing in the whole world, I'm going to climb it and let him know that whatever Everest is, we're capable of summiting. And so then I hired a coach. The coach gave me a book about becoming an uphill athlete. In the front of it, a lady had a Guinness World Record for doing something in the Alps. And I just remember calling my coach, being, I could have done that if I got a Guinness World Record. My kids would think I'm cool. I am not cool right now. Homeschooling, not working out. And my coach kind of chuckled it off. He's like, I'll think of something. And a few weeks later, he called me and he had this idea of the seven second summits, which at the time, I had no clue what they were. It sounded like a tongue twister. He's like, listen, it's the second highest point on each of the seven continents. It's harder than the first seven. Only one male's done it. You'd be the first woman. And he goes, and think about it. Seven continents, seven mountains, seven children. Sounds like a jackpot.

Yeah.

I'm like, it does. And so, sure, let's try it. And here we are.

Wow. Holy cow. And I mean, you. You made the middle sound so easy. And here we are. There were seven continents that you had to go through, so, you know, I'm guessing you hit some trials and tribulations along that path.

Oh, yes. Every one of them. Every one of them. And that's, I think, why we celebrate the summit is because there's a thousand times before we hit that top that we want to turn around. And for some reason, there's a little whisper that says, take one more step. And so when we get to the top, we're so excited and wave our flags because we're like, all those a thousand times I said yes, and here I am.

Yeah. Wow. So where did you start? Did you start with the original one?

Yeah. So I started with Ama de Blomm, mainly because Nepal opened. Right. Like, I took on this quest in 2020. So the beginning mountains were determined by what country was available to climb in. And then you had to take into account what climbing season it was because you climb Everest in May, you climb K2 in July. So I did AMA first. It was the most amazing experience ever. It's still my favorite climb to this day. I loved it because it was your first. It was my first. Well, I did the Grand Teton in Jackson Hole, so it wasn't like entirely the first, but it was the first real one. I'd say.

Yeah.

AM was just pretty. It's snow, it's ice, it's rock. It's a mix of everything. It's about a 7,000 meter peak, so you don't have to sit at base camp forever waiting for your body to adjust to the altitude and things. So it's just a great climb. My next climb was South America. It was Ojos del Salado, which is a volcano located in the Atacama desert of Chile.

Wow.

I hated it. I was like, wait a minute, is this what these seven second summits are? I'm not interested. And the reason why is because I like mountain ranges. Like, you think of the Tetons or you think of the Himalayas or all these beautiful, beautiful mountains. And then Ojos del Salado is a volcano. It's like a pimple in the desert. There's nothing pretty to look at. You're on this like long slog up to the top. The only reason why you know you're making progress is because you've been walking for an hour. So you have to believe you have been.

Oh my gosh.

Yeah, it was just an entirely different experience. And so then I was like, luckily my next stop was Kenya. I did Mount Kenya, which is a 20 pitch rock climb and then some ice climbing at the top. That was a very fun, challenging climb. And then my next one was Everest because Everest. I was still doing it for my son to show him that we can do these things. So. Yeah.

Wow. What do you have? Do you have favorite. A favorite story from your book?

Oh, favorite story from my book. Depends. What kind of story do you want? Give me a little more.

Well, let's do it on around. Resilience. Really? You know, I think you mentioned it, like, gosh, there's a thousand times that you want to just stop and turn around. And I'm wondering if there was one that just stands out besides the desert pimple around just where you had that voice show up for you. And then what do you credit that motivation or resilience to? Like what, what carried you in? I'm guessing you had some dark nights of the soul on these summits.

Definitely. K2 just does not like me. Okay? The fact that I'm alive, we're grateful. I went to K2 in 2021 and we did not summit and we did not summit by choice. So I was a day ahead of my climbing team because there wasn't enough space on the mountain for me to climb with them. And I volunteered to go ahead and. And we woke up one morning, we're starting to climb, we got a call on the radio and then another call, and then another call and another call and four calls within a matter of five minutes. Which mountain protocol is you get a call and you have 15 minutes to call down to basecamp to check in on what's going on. So I knew something was wrong, but I wasn't in a spot to be able to handle it. Right. So then your mind's racing. Those next 10 minutes feel like 10 hours and you're writing a story of what could possibly be going on. And of course, our worst nightmare happened. I get the call, they hand it over to me. And in broken English on the radio, hey, Jen, there's been an avalanche. Rick's dead. Jordan's like, Jordi's stuck and Stefan's injured and Rick's dead. Like, Rick was 68, a record holding mountaineer who spent the last few weeks teaching me all kinds of techniques to be safe on the mountain should something happen. And so it was just, it was interesting because there I am standing on the mountain and another team eventually comes up and they said, hey, Jen, do you want to join us on the summit push or do you want to go back down with your team because your team's going down? And I remember thinking, I'm not going up to the top of this mountain right now and having this event cloud my experience for the rest of my life. I'm going to go down and take care of my team. And so I turned down. We ended up burying a human, helping rescue another one, and doing all those things. I came back to the US and then I had to go back, right? Like, K2 is one of my climbs. So it's not like, oh, just kidding, we're not climbing it. I had to do this. And it takes a lot of courage going to a place where you didn't have a great experience, right? And so when I went back, I just wasn't excited. I was trying to get into a good mental space. And about three weeks before it was time to go again, I got a phone call and it was someone who I'd met the year before and saying, hey, there's this person that's been training to climb. Can you bring over some gear and help make it possible? Yeah, I think I can do that. So I go to climb K2 in 2022, I get anthrax. That's a whole nother story. We'll save that for a different time. But who gets anthrax but this human. Unbelievable. So I climb K2 with anthrax not knowing that I had anthrax. Thank goodness. And 30 minutes later, the first Pakistani female stands on top of her country's prized peak.

Whoa.

That's the person that I got to help sponsor and make possible for her pursuit.

Wow.

And I share that story because there's so many times in our own lives when we have these obstacles or these setbacks and things just don't make sense and it's really hard to keep going. But I encourage you to pause and see if the universe is using you for more, because, for sure, the universe was using me for more. My experience in 2022 was entirely different. I was sick. But other than that, it was pretty good. And then to be a part of that story, I'm still humbled and pinched myself that I get to have that in my memory bank for sure.

Well, you know, first off, that is a really sorry for the tragic loss of a team member and friend, and then just the courage to go up and get at it again. I'm guessing you. You may have taken him with you on that one.

Yeah, yeah, he was. It's one of those things where, you know, they're watching, right? Like, you just feel connected and you understand, like, we were on this pursuit to climb together, and I'm going to get us to the top, and you in spirit and me in physical form, and here we are.

Sure. Holy cow. Yeah. So that's one. That's one of the. One of the peaks. So, Jen, what then you. So you. You've accomplished this, and then you're thinking, when. Where did the book idea come from?

Yeah. So I'm halfway through this pursuit, right? And I go out to lunch with a friend who's a part of Franklin Covey, Right? So he's an author, and he. I'm telling him these stories, and he goes, I don't even like mountaineering at all. And I'm enthralled with these stories. You have to write a book, as in, I think you should really have brownies for dessert because they're fantastic here. So unknown to me how excruciatingly painful it is to write a book. I'm like, okay, sounds good. I'm in. And so while I was climbing for the rest of the pursuits, I was in the middle of writing this book. And it was just one of those things like, how do I make these lessons where they relate to the reader, where they pull the reader in, where the reader sees the concept that I'm trying to explain, and then can apply it to their own lives and take their pursuit to the top? Because when we get to the top of our mountain, we make so much more possible for all of those around us. So I want everybody to have the tools they need to get to their summit, whatever that summit is.

I love that. You know, we deal a lot here at the center in Park City with folks with neurodegenerative states, Parkinson's, dementia, Alzheimer's, traumatic brain injuries, et cetera. And in that summit, for them is a better quality of life, oftentimes. And so that's one of the reasons why I wanted you to come on and share these resilient stories and inspirational energy, because it is, you know, I. I actually. I pull my pom poms out for a lot of people. Right. And so having that cheerleader on their side and incorporating community around that. So this is awesome. What do you hope? So what I mean, that component, I guess, you just shared on, you know, the inspiration for sharing the stories is to inspire others to create their worlds in a different fashion. If you had your way of, you know, waving your magic wand and having that occur, what do you envision on. On the change that. That happens there with. With, you know, engaging with you, you know, getting into the stories, hearing your trials and tribulations and what you overcome to. To actually achieve that?

Yeah. You know, I think it's different for each person. It's been so fun to see what resonates with people and then how they use that in their own lives. Because it's different. Right. So one example of a story that I share is big mountains take big teams. Okay. And I think so many of us have these big mountains that we're trying to climb when we're doing it alone, and then we run out of energy or our backpack's too heavy or all these different things that don't allow us to get to the top, where if we could stop for a second and say, who can help me? How can I help? How can I lighten my load so that I can have the endurance to go further and farther? And when I hear people asking for help or allowing other people to be a part of their journey and seeing what that does for both humans and the whole pursuit and total. It's just awesome. Right? You get so excited. The pom poms are always out over here?

Yes. I love it. Well, what. What other kind of inspiring components from folks that you've engaged with? What. What are they out creating? Because I know it is different for everybody and they're. Everybody has their own separate Mount Everest that they're climbing. What. What have you seen? What. What is from kind of trials to tribulation through success.

Yeah. You know, I have a girlfriend who was running a insurance agency, which is phenomenal. She built it from scratch, but she was starting to get bored and she had some ideas of something else she wanted to pursue and kept looking for validation. I said, do you really need it? Because the people around you. When I wanted to go climb Everest, I couldn't call my mom and dad and be like, hey, I'm gonna go climb Everest and have them be excited for me. That wasn't going to happen. I needed to hire a coach or somebody that's climbed Everest before that wanted to pass the torch. And then once they became more normal for me, I could call my parents. One of my parents were kind of like, eh, we're not so sure now. They didn't have a choice but to support me. And so she realized you're like, yeah, I don't need the external validation right now. I just need to do the thing. And so she started this amazing, like, skincare line that Allow, that really helps with after surgeries and the silicone and all the things to, like, heal the scars and these different pieces. And it was something totally out of a realm, but something she was really passionate about because of a friend of hers that had this issue. And I think pain is our purpose, and you get passion from our painful moments, and that's what carries you through these times that you're like, why did I sign up for this? What did I. What am I doing? And I just love stories like hers where she did an entire pivot. And it's been just a rewarding journey on a whole other level that she would have never had the courage to step into if she didn't learn how to just trust her inner. Her inner guide.

Oh, that's lovely. Thank you. Yeah. Trusting the inner guides, that's a predominant theme these days of really, you know, we got separated from our hearts at some point, and so it's getting back there. I love that you're a guide for that work. I'm curious. The question keeps popping up in my head. I'm like, oh, don't ask her that. But how about your kids? Like, what. What kind of changes have you seen in your children after mom goes and does this thing that she said she was going to do.

Oh, my gosh, it's so awesome. I can't even begin to tell you. Okay, so, you know, we live in Park City, which is just this amazing community to begin with. I remember going to climb Everest, and my negative voice was telling me, you can't climb Everest. You're going to be gone for three weeks. That's a terrible mom. You know, all the things. And so I bought one of those hyperbaric chambers or hypoxico tents. I have a hyperbaric chamber, too, to recover, but I have the hypoxico tent, and that would allow me to acclimatize at home. So instead of being gone for six to eight weeks, I was literally gone for three weeks to climb Everest. But I was still nervous about it. I brought in help, called in grandma, whatever. I went to the kids school and I sat down with the teachers and I said, hey, listen, I'm going to be going to climb Everest. I have everything covered at home. But I am a little worried about how my kids are going to hold up over the duration. Can you offer them a little bit of grace? And the school came back and said, how about you come in and teach a what's your Everest Campaign and talk to the kids about setting these big goals? And so I did. And they colored these little hikers and they put what the hiker's goal was on the wall, which was like, make the travel soccer team ski a black diamond, you know, all these cute things. And then the front of the school, we made this huge Everest. And then I was this little hiker, and I had a tracking device on me so they could move me up and down depending on where I was. And then at Everest these days, you have, like, wi fi at basecamp. So I called into the classrooms at base camp and, like, reported where I pooped and what I ate. All the things that kids care about, right? And so then when I summited, it was like the whole school summited, right? Like, it was so exciting. I came back, and the entire time I was gone, my kids felt so loved, so seen, so empowered. And I heard my daughter talking to one of her girlfriends that came over after school. And her girlfriend's like, your mom's the one that climbed Everest. And my daughter goes, she is. And she's going to take me up that mountain someday, too. And I'm like, right. Like, it's so cool when you allow people to be a part of your pursuit and say, hey, I need help. Here's what's going on. Look what could happen.

Yes. Oh, that man. So you got it chock full of lessons in here. That is lovely. Goodness. Is there anything that you'd like to share here towards the end of our interview with our viewers and listeners?

Yeah. You know, I just want to encourage people to listen to this internal compass, this heart, and give yourselves some time with yourself every day and just do one thing that is for you and then build off of that momentum and start sharing the gift that you are with this world because we all benefit.

You're here. Thank you so much. You all out there. We wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't for you. So if you like today's show, please give us a five star review and give a little bit of what you learned today from our world record holder here, Jen Drummond. It is fabulous. I'm excited. We're going to put all of your links in the show, notes for folks to engage and get connected with you. I'm looking forward to have you back on here, maybe in person, in the studio and everybody out there what the health doctor Greg. And we will see you next time.