Margie Goldsmith – Becoming a Badass: From Fearful to Fierce at 81 – Adventures, Confidence & Living Life Boldly
- Tough Girl
- Oct 28
- 3 min read
This week on the Tough Girl Podcast, I’m joined by Margie Goldsmith — an award-winning writer, journalist, and adventurer who proves that it’s never too late to reinvent yourself or chase new challenges.
At 81 years old, Margie is still boxing, biking, climbing mountains, and living life with unstoppable energy. Her new book, Becoming a Badass: From Fearful to Fierce, shares her remarkable journey from a fearful young woman growing up in a dysfunctional family to a confident, adventurous storyteller who’s visited 150 countries and built a life full of courage and curiosity.
In this episode, we talk about how Margie learned to turn fear into fuel, why Paris was the turning point in her life, how she’s stayed strong and active through the decades, and why movement, recovery, and mindset are key to living fully at any age.
🎧 Tune in for a funny, fearless, and deeply inspiring conversation that celebrates the power of saying yes to life — no matter how old you are.
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Listen to Margie Now!
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Show notes
Who is Margie
Living in New York City
Writer, journalist, novelist, essayist
Her new book: Becoming a Badass: From Fearful to Fierce
Visiting 150 countries
Her early years
Coming from a dysfunctional family
Being told she was not good enough
Escaping by going into the woods
Moving all the time and having to make new friends
Getting into sports to make friends
Proving that she was good enough, and not less than
Being on her own from a young age
Graduating from college and seeing a flyer to go to Europe for the summer
Wanting to escape her mother
Heading to Paris for the summer in 1965
Deciding to stay in Paris and beginning her grown up life
Her transition to Margie the Adventurer
81 years old - boxing, riding her bike, moving,
Climbing Mt Etna at 80
Moving from feeling fearful to fierce
Why Paris was the turning point
Not wanting children
Meeting an older man, (27 years older…)
Smoking back in the day
Travelling in the 1960s
Deciding where to go and what to do
Starting her first novel (Screw Up)
Working as an extra in films
Meeting husband number 1!
Pressure from family/society to get married?
Learning to hold her own
Meeting husband number 2!
Living the high life and getting bored
How going rafting on the Colorado river changed things
Trying things that scared her
Gaining new confidence
Going to advance base camp at Mt. Everest
Getting into marathon running!
Trying a triathlon in Cuba
Being diagnosed with a tumour in her pancreas
Becoming a type 1 diabetic
Getting through the operations
Still feeling the feelings of fear
Writing her book and why she loved it
Deciding to give her body to science
Being in her 80s and moving towards the end stages
Doing everything she wants to do
Living life day by day
Keep doing the little adventures
Talk yourself into things, not out of things
Why you don’t need to travel to find the fun and the adventure
Keeping her goals inside her
Doing everything she can to stay healthy and why it means physical movement
The trends of fitness and how they have changed
Move it or lose it
Getting weekly massages
The importance of recovery
How to connect with Margie
Going on to TikTok!
Advice for people who do feel/have felt less than
Find a mentor who you trust
Listen to yourself and your gut
Go find something to make you feel good
Social Media
Website: margiegoldsmith.com
Facebook: Masters Of The Harmonica
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