When Becca Pizzi got dozens of messages from friends about an extreme endurance race – seven marathons on seven continents in seven days – she knew she had to run it. In 2016, she became the first American woman to complete the World Marathon Challenge, winning with a total time of 27 hours, 26 minutes, and an average marathon time of just under four hours. Then in 2018, she did it again. Hear what it took to win it and what the miles have taught her in this episode.

Hear Becca talk about:

• What it’s like to run 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days
• How her 8-year-old daughter helped her train
• Becoming a race director after running the challenge twice
• Her advice to people just starting out on their running journey

Mentioned in this episode and references:

• The World Marathon Challenge
• TB12 (Tom Brady’s fitness company), where Becca was a Peak Performer
• The Becca Pizzi Foundation
• The Becca Pizzi 5K in Belmont, MA
• Becca's Feat on Feet, her children’s book published in 2020

Support this podcast:

• Follow in your favorite podcast app
• Leave a rating and review
• Share the episode and tag @rainemediaco
• More at TellMeWhatItsLike.com

Saundra Pelletier has spent her career focused on women’s health, from Big Pharma to nonprofit work around the globe. Then she got the opportunity to lead a startup bringing a new kind of birth control to market: a non-hormonal gel designed to give women more control. In this episode, she shares what it’s like to fight for FDA approval, push for insurance coverage, and rethink what birth control can look like when women are the ones making the decisions.

Note: This episode includes discussion of reproductive health and birth control in an educational context. It is not intended as medical advice. Please consult your healthcare provider for personal recommendations.

Hear Saundra talk about:

• The road to launching Phexxi, a non-hormonal birth control gel
• Why young women embraced the product in ways she didn’t expect
• Her fight with insurers and the FDA for access and approval
• The cancer diagnosis that made her mission even more personal
• How she found her voice as a leader in a male-dominated industry

Mentioned in this episode:

• Phexxi, the first FDA-approved non-hormonal birth control gel
• Solosec, a one-dose treatment for BV and trichomoniasis
• WomanCare Global, a nonprofit focused on reproductive health access in low-resource settings
• Journal of Sexual Medicine study, reporting increased sexual satisfaction with Phexxi

Support this new show:

• Follow in your favorite podcast app
• Leave a rating and review in your app
• Share on social media and tag @rainemediaco

April Mitchell realized one day that she actually knew the answer to the problem she was having when her kids left their towels on the floor ... she just had to invent it. Since then, she’s created dozens of products, from housewares to toys and games, and learned a lot along the way. In this episode, she shares what it’s like to have a spark of inspiration, go through the invention process, and co-create with her kids to bring her creations to life.

• Her journey from her first invention to licensing dozens of products
• How she researches, prototypes, and pitches her ideas
• The role of trade shows and LinkedIn in finding licensing partners
• Creating with her kids and how they test and shape her ideas
• Co-designing the Clueless board game

Mentioned in this episode and references:

• The book One Simple Idea by Stephen Key
• Find April on LinkedIn
• See the tabletop game design course she co-designed with Ed Gartin

Support this new show:

• Follow in your favorite podcast app
• Leave a rating and review in your app
• Share on social media and tag @rainemediaco

If you want to bring attention to litter, what do you do? For one man in Florida, the answer was to ... put on a wolf suit. In 2022, Trash Wolf began prowling the streets picking up litter and quietly building a movement.

In this episode, he shares what inspired the wolf, what it’s like to collect literal tons of trash, and why his mission is really about awareness, community, and taking that first step.

• How Trash Wolf came to life, and what finally pushed him to put on the mask
• The importance of clean neighborhoods
• How cleaning up trash teaches him about the world
• What you can do to make a difference where you live

• Follow Trash Wolf on Instagram: @therealtrashwolf
• Trash Wolf's latest appearance on the news: Trash Wolf on the prowl to inspire clean cities

Support this new show:

• Follow in your favorite podcast app
• Leave a rating and review in your app
• Share on social media and tag @rainemediaco

Military spouse and mom Leigh Dzvonick was busy raising young kids when she started to feel off. After three ER visits and a misdiagnosis of anxiety, she was finally told she had Guillain-Barré Syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that left her unable to walk.

In this episode, Leigh shares the confusion of misdiagnosis, the shock of sudden paralysis, and the determination it took to reclaim her health.

Disclaimer: This episode is for informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider regarding your health.

• Her early symptoms of Guillain-Barré and why it’s often misdiagnosed
• How fast the illness can progress and why timely treatment is crucial
• The physical exhaustion and the road to recovery
• The emotional toll of being hospitalized with young kids at home
• How Leigh regained her strength and perspective through persistence

• National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke: Guillain-Barré Syndrome
• The Mayo Clinic: Guillain-Barre Syndrome

• Follow in your favorite podcast app
• Leave a rating and review in your app
• Share on social media and tag @rainemediaco

After a career first as a journalist and then as a traveling nurse, Keri Nelson chased an even grander adventure and secured a job in Antarctica. Seventeen seasons later, she’s done a lot of different jobs at various research stations, she's experienced both summers and winters on the continent, and even helped with scientific research.

In this episode, Keri shares what it’s really like to live at the bottom of the world, giving insights into the routines, the landscape, the excursions, and the vibrant community that keeps beckoning her back.

(Note: This episode was recorded earlier in the year, near the end of the Antarctic summer season.)

Hear Keri talk about:

• What daily life can be like on different Antarctic research bases
• The difference between summer and winter seasons on the continent
• What the community on Antarctic bases can be like
• What life in Antarctica has taught her
• What it means to transition between life on and off the ice

Mentioned in this episode:

• 2013 documentary Keri is featured in: Antarctica: A Year on Ice

Articles about Keri Nelson’s Antarctic experiences:

• What it’s really like to live in Antarctica
• How we met: ‘He played footsie with me under a coffee table in Antarctica’
• What It's Really Like to Live (and Fall in Love) on Antarctica
• The Roamers Trail: Keri Nelson

Find more from Keri:

• Listen to her podcast: Antarctica Did That for Me
• Social Media: @simplyantarctica

Support this new show:

• Follow in your favorite podcast app
• Leave a rating and review in your app
• Share on social media and tag @rainemediaco

What’s it like to set a world record? To invent a new product? To survive an extremely rare illness?

Tell Me What It’s Like is a show about those experiences and the people who lived them. Host Stacy Raine sits down with individuals who’ve faced uncommon, life-altering challenges to learn how it happened, why it mattered, and what it was really like.

🔔 Subscribe now so you don’t miss the episodes.

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