Tea with a Titan: Conversations Steeped in Greatness |Achievement | Olympics | Olympians| Success | Athletes | Entrepreneurs | Actors | Authors | Philanthropy | Business | Artists

Episode 018 Darrell Fox -- Brother of Terry Fox / Cancer Crusader

What we cover: “I just wish people would realize that anything’s possible if you try. Dreams are made possible if you try.”  – Terry Fox   In March 1977, when Terry Fox was just 18 years old, doctors confirmed that what he had thought was a sore right knee on account of a previous injury, was in fact cancer. Six days later, Terry had his right leg amputated six inches above his knee. However, the night before the surgery, a coach showed him an article about the first above-the-knee amputee to run the New York City Marathon. A flame was lit and Terry was inspired. Not long after, as he was recovering – during his front row seat to the suffering of cancer patients in treatment – Terry hatched a plan. That plan, to traverse Canada – from the eastern tip to the western tip, by running a full marathon each and every day. So it was, on April 12, 1980, Terry dipped his leg into the Atlantic Ocean and began his journey. By the time he had run across Newfoundland, the goal was official: He would collect the equivalent of $1 from every Canadian, for a total of $22,000,000 in the fight against cancer. A few weeks into this never-before-been-done expedition, The Marathon of Hope, Terry had a welcome new team member join him, his younger brother, Darrell. The stuff of those days – those magical weeks and months – is today the stuff of Canadian and ultimately global legend: The smelly van, the occasional tensions, the miraculous momentum gained along the way – so that by the time Terry and his team arrived in Ontario, the cause and the visionary behind it, had become the nation’s single focus. I was 8-years-old when Terry wowed this country with the power of a dream. I was 8-years-old when I was visiting my Oma and Opa downtown Toronto, and the crowds of thousands were gathering just to catch a glimpse of this special person. And I was 8-years-old when on September 1 of that year, we learned that Terry’s cancer had spread and he’d have to stop running. However, what became clear in the days immediately after, was that the rest of the country had picked up Terry’s baton. Terry saw that we were absolutely not going to forget him and the realities of cancer any time soon. And I was 8-years-old, when I got the news, that on June 28, 1981 – Terry Fox died.   To sit across from Darrell Fox, Senior Advisor at the Terry Fox Research Institute, is to sit across from ego-less greatness. Terry’s siblings: Fred, Darrell, and Judi – as well as parents Rollie and Betty – have spearheaded a well-respected team in the form of The Terry Fox Foundation that continues to carry Terry’s flame, raising more than $750,000,000 dollars in doing so.

Episode 017: Ferg Hawke -- Decorated ultra-marathoner

What we cover: In 2006, my husband Chad was preparing for his first Ironman event when someone gave him a copy of a documentary called The Distance of Truth. The Distance of Truth fast became Chad’s favourite go-to during long rides on his trainer. The film chronicles ultra-runner Ferg Hawke on his quest to complete Badwater, which at 135 miles or about 216 kms, is said to be the toughest foot race on earth in the hottest place on earth: Death Valley, California. To have Ferg as a guest on this episode was a full circle moment for us; he represents for Chad the start of his belief that we really can redefine who we are and who we want to become. The first North American to finish the gruelling Marathon Des Sables across the Moroccan Sahara in the Top Ten, Ferg is also a two-time second-place finisher at Badwater, coming in closely behind legendary runners Dean Karnazes and Scott Jurek. Bt he wasn't always this guy. Once overweight, he dropped the pounds and changed his lifestyle, reinventing himself along the way. Today he is an avid adventurer currently training to trek up to Everest Base Camp, and volunteers as a run guide on Youth Expeditions with the organization Impossible to Possible.

Episode 016: Sister Madonna Buder -- The Iron Nun

Episode 015: Tanner Gers -- USA Paralympian/speaker/author/entrepreneur

What we cover: Every once in a while, you chat with someone who is truly unstoppable. And Tanner Gers is one such person. After a March 2004 car crash left him entirely blind, rather than resort to his former lifestyle, he completely reinvented himself. He weeded the Friendship Garden, he redefined and re-evaluated his priorities, and he carved out a life that included being a world class athlete. In fact, he would go on to represent the USA in the London 2012 Paralympic Games in long jump. Today, he’s the host of the uber-popular podcast, The Creative Success Show, a much sought after speaker, an author, and founder of The Athlete Summit, a membership-based online resource that lassos dozens of this planet’s foremost coaches who share insights with athletes. A fan of the late Jim Rohn, Tanner reminds us that we are the sum total of the habits of the 5 people we spend the most time with, and if that isn’t an important Titan-specific message, I don’t know what is. And remember: No matter how bad things get, they could always be worse. Thanks, Tanner. (I agreed with everything he had to say, except for how to handle the raccoons on my studio roof.)

Episode 014: Lex Gillette -- Four-time USA Paralympian

“No need for sight. When you have a vision,” says Lex Gillette, four-time USA Paralympian and world champion long jumper. (Yes, this is a guy who can jump nearly 7 metres.) (Cross my heart.) But the thing of it all, is that by the age of just 9, as a wee boy, Lex lost his sight entirely. Did that stop him from living a big life? Not a chance. Inspired by the force that is his mom, Verdina, and the guidance of a very awesome teacher, Brian Whitmore, Lex was introduced in High School to the idea of competing in a more meaningful way in athletics, when Mr. Whitmer let him know there was a world out there that he could conquer. In the years since, Lex has represented the USA in Athens in 2004, Beijing in 2008, London in 2012, and most recently, in Rio in 2016. In this epic chat, we discuss his life philosophy and his belief that “sight is the enemy of vision”, and the refreshing fact that – unlike too many people on the planet today -- he has little use for self-doubt. After all, as he tells it, when you overcome the loss of your sight, you know you can handle anything that comes at you.