“You don’t have to be the fastest, you just can’t quit.” Leadership Lessons From Climbing Everest with Alison Levine

Earn Your Happy

Lori Harder

Business, Entrepreneurship

4.6 • 2.8K Ratings

🗓️ 29 September 2025

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

You don’t have to be the strongest or the fastest to reach the summit. In this episode, I’m joined by Alison Levine, an adventurer, leadership expert, and the first American Women’s Everest Expedition Team Captain. We talk about what mountains teach you about business, leadership, and life, why failure is never final, and how relevance isn’t about chasing the next big thing. Alison also shares the story of being the weakest link on an Antarctic expedition, what your teammates teach you about compassion and contribution, and the new bucket list project about the stories that can’t be shared in corporate keynotes. Tune in for the encouragement you didn’t know you needed. Check out our Sponsors: SKIMS - I finally tried SKIMS and I get all the hype. Shop SKIMS Fits Everybody collection at SKIMS.com and let them know we sent you in the dropdown after checkout. Brevo - the all-in-one marketing and CRM platform designed to help you connect with customers and grow your business. Get started for free today - go to www.brevo.com/happy Blinds.com - Blinds.com makes it easy to get the designer look without the showroom markups. Get an exclusive $50 off when you spend $500 or more with code EARN at checkout. Shopify - Try the ecommerce platform I trust for Glōci, Sign up for your $1/month trial period at Shopify.com/happy Headway - the #1 daily growth app that delivers key insights from the world’s best non fiction books in bite sized 15 minute reads and audio. Save 25% off when you go to makeheadway.com/happy. Airbnb - Start making money by listing your home on Airbnb with an experienced Co-host, find a co-host at airbnb.com/host HIGHLIGHTS 00:00 Meet Alison Levine, team captain of the first American Women's Everest Expedition. 05:30 The life lesson Alison learned at 19,000 feet. 12:45 How does physical grit prepare you for mental grit in leadership? 19:30 Why the way you address someone’s weakness can change everything. 25:00 What was it like leading the first American Women’s Everest expedition? 30:30 Alison’s biggest Mount Everest lesson. 34:00 Why even high performers need encouragement more than you think. 40:30 Do you need to keep risking your life to stay relevant after big achievements? 46:15 The bucket list project Alison is most excited about right now. RESOURCES Get your copy of Alison’s On the Edge: Leadership Lessons from Mount Everest and Other Extreme Environments HERE! Join the Audacity Challenge HERE! Join the most supportive mastermind on the internet HERE! Check out our FREE 90-Day Business Blueprint HERE! Listen to my free SECRET PODCASTS SERIES - Operation: Rekindle This B*tch Get glōci HERE Use code: HAPPY at checkout for 25% off! FOLLOW Follow me: @loriharder Follow glōci: @getgloci Follow Alison: @levine_alison

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	One of my big takeaways from Mount Everest, you do not have to be the best, fastest,
0:07.5	strongest climber out there on the trails every day. You just have to be relentless about
0:13.1	putting one foot in front of the other. The people that get to the top of Mount Everest are
0:17.0	not necessarily the fastest, strongest climbers. They're the people who will not quit when it gets
0:22.4	really freaking heart. It's the people who will not turn around just because visibility is shit.
0:29.0	If you have clarity in your intent, you do not need absolute clarity in the environment.
0:36.3	You do not need clarity down the trail. You have
0:39.0	that clarity in your intent. You just have to put one foot in front of the other.
0:48.6	Hey everyone. Welcome back to the Earn Your Happy podcast. Today I have a woman named Allison Levine on the show. I was
0:56.0	connected to her through one of my mutual amazing friends, Erin King. She threw us together and said,
1:02.8	I have to interview this woman. And I am so glad that I did. You're about to get a masterclass
1:07.6	in leading yourself and your team when the terrain gets gnarly and
1:12.4	it's going to. That's one fact we know about entrepreneurship is that you are going to go
1:17.5	through the peaks and valleys. So Alison Levine is a polar explorer, a mountaineer, and a captain of
1:23.8	the first American women's Everest expedition. She's an author. She's worked on Wall Street
1:28.8	and spent four years as a professor at the United States Military Academy. She has helped improve
1:34.9	the lives of jobless women in West Uganda and training them to be trekking guides for their
1:40.4	local mountains. You guys, this woman is one of the most interesting women in the world.
1:45.1	Allison has done the Adventure Grand Slam, which is seven summits and both poles. And what I love
1:51.1	most is how she translate those extreme experiences into how to master every day and also lead
1:57.3	yourself and your team. We also talk about how to increase your failure tolerance,
2:01.8	find your unique strengths, and why you don't have to be the fastest or strongest to reach your
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Lori Harder, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Lori Harder and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.