CONFERENCE
ACHIEVING WOMEN FORUM
Erik Weihenmayer speaking at the RiiSE Conference: Achieving Women Forum 2019
OVERCOMING ADVERSITY (FOR REAL) ERIK WEIHENMAYER The world’s first blind person to reach the summit of Mount Everest, on what it means to live “a no barriers life” b y TA M A R A P U P I C
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t’s not hard to figure out why Erik Weihenmayer was one of the biggest draws of the RiiSE Conference: Achieving Women Forum this year- he’s someone who has conquered Mount Everest- actually, all of the Seven Summits, the world’s seven highest mountains. He has also completed the Leadville 100 bicycle race, and has kayaked the entire 277-miles of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. And he has
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done all of that (and more) despite losing his sight at the young age of 13. When looking for a speaker on overcoming adversity and fighting back from perceived failures, I doubt we could have found someone with a message stronger than the one which was delivered by Erik Weihenmayer, the athlete, adventurer, author, activist, and motivational speaker. “What my talk does is that it takes the excuses away, such as, ‘I could have done this if it were not for this or that,’” Weihenmayer says. “It is a story about how I, as a blind guy, climbed mountains, and how I built
the purpose behind those climbs, and how I built a great team, because there are a lot of things I cannot do, so, I need people to support me and lift me up. And how, even though I can’t see, I have figured out a way to live a purposeful life and contribute to the world. It makes people take the gloves off, and understand that no matter what is their background and ability, and their circumstances, and how difficult their lives have been, that they really can live this ‘no barriers life,’ and contribute to the world in some way or fashion. It’s an excuse elimination.”
