🌲 What Makes a Fantastic Outdoor Leader: Resilience through a Rappelling Accident, NOLS Rejections, and Olympic Dreams with Jeannette Stawski

On day 21 of an instructor course in the Wind River Range, Jeannette Stawski's rope dislodged a 250-pound boulder. It landed on her legs — 15 miles from the nearest trailhead, in a designated wilderness where no helicopter was coming fast.Since then, Jeannette has identified the ingredients that make a fantastic outdoor leader, and resilience is a muscle she's built through an entire career of setbacks that became pivots: Olympic dreams ended by back surgery, multiple NOLS rejections, and that day under the boulder.Jeannette and Angie talked about:Pivoting from pre-Olympic rowing camps to raft guiding in Glacier National Park after back surgery ended her Olympic dreamsGetting rejected by NOLS multiple times and how their coachable rejections shaped her careerThe rappelling accident in the Wind River Range and the rescue that followedThe gift she's giving her kids: a cross-country road trip to climb the Grand Teton without their parentsThe self-deprecation pattern in women outdoor leadersCheck out these resources:The Outdoor Leader by Jeannette StawskiLeading ValiantlyJeannette on Instagram: @leadingvaliantlyJeannette on LinkedInGrand Canyon Rim-to-Rim, October 10, 2026 — women 50+The Cairn Project on IGThe Cairn Project's newsletterBecome a TrailblazerSummit Scholarship FoundationLike this episode? Leave a 5-star rating and review on your podcast app!You can help us close the gender gap outdoors and beyond:Become a Trailblazer. Your Adventure Fundraiser makes wilderness experiences possible for girls and women.Check out the Summit Scholarship Foundation.Send this episode to a friend who leads others outdoors.Make sure you subscribe to the See Her Outside Podcast so you don't miss a story!Follow on SpotifySubscribe on Apple PodcastsListen on: Amazon, Pocket Casts, iHeartRadio, other platforms