Jana was born in Russia, and her parents moved to the U.S. when she was 12. Her first experiences with hiking was heading out with her parents to New Hampshire. After college she moving to New York City and started to make some big changes to her lifestyle, and wanted to see what her body could do.
She started by getting back into running, and was hiking every weekend, sometimes twice a weekend, and that's when she decided to become a guide with Discover Outdoors as a personal "passion project."
In 2019, Discover Outdoors asked her if she would be interested in working for them on the business side. So Jana left her paralegal job at a big-law NYC firm and started as the Northeast Regional Manager. During that year she kept pushing herself in the outdoors and on August 9th, 2019 she submitted the Matterhorn!
Jana has recently started Adventure Untamed, an adventure travel company, she shares more about her motivations and why she has made this decision during Covid -19.
You can listen to Jana on the Tough Girl Podcast - new episodes are every Tuesday at 7am UK time, make sure you hit that subscribe button so you don’t miss out.
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Show notes
Who is Jana, what she does and what she loves
Getting into fitness, running and spending time outdoors
Making a change in her career
Starting a travel company during the pandemic
The importance of the culture and the people
Dealing with change
Growing up in Russia and moving to the USA at 12 years old
Being excited about new adventures and new experiences
The learning curve of hiking
How her passion/hobby for guiding evolved
Getting into running
Having a terrible fear of heights
Dealing with the fear of failure
Making the transition from a 9-5 job to guiding
Deciding to climb the Matterhorn
The challenges of climbing the mountain and overcoming obstacles
Dealing with feelings of doubt
Leaving at 4.08am to start the climb
Taking it one step at a time
Starting Adventure Untamed during a pandemic!
Dreams and plans for the future
Final words of advice to get more adventure in your life
Social Media
Adventure Untamed - Explore the wild. Escape your comfort zone.
Northeast day and multi-day outdoor trips departing from NYC.
Website - https://www.adventureuntamed.com
Instagram @adventure_untamed
Facebook @adventureuntamed
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