Courage Talks S12E2 𝗔𝗹𝗲𝘅 𝗣𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗽𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗼

𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗸𝘀 𝗦𝟭𝟮𝗘𝟯 - 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝗮 𝗦𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗻

Very excited to share that Lisa Smith-Batchen, one of the most accomplished and inspiring ultrarunners in the world, is the guest on the latest episode of Courage Talks! 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝗮’𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝘆:   • First American woman to win the Marathon des Sables, a gruelling 150-mile, multi-stage race across the Sahara Desert   • Two-time winner of the Badwater Ultramarathon (135 miles through Death Valley in extreme heat)   • The only person to complete the Badwater Quad, 584 miles   • The first and only person to run 50 miles in all 50 states in just 62 days as part of her Running Hope Through America project   • First person ever to run 306 miles from Las Vegas to the summit of Mt. Whitney, raising $590,000 for AIDS orphans   • Completed the prestigious Grand Slam of Ultrarunning (four 100-mile races in one summer) as the first female finisher   • 10-time Badwater finisher and 2012 Badwater Hall of Fame inductee   • Multiple Ironman finishes and countless 50+ mile ultramarathons She has been on t𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗬𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀, 𝗟𝗔 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀, 𝗪𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘁, 𝗥𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿’𝘀 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱, 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗜𝗹𝗹𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻, and many more. She was a main character in the film Running Under the Sun and has been featured on ESPN, CNN, Good Morning America, and more. In this heartfelt conversation, Lisa opens up about the mental battles in the Sahara and Death Valley, what it took to keep going when her body screamed to stop, how she balanced world-class racing with being a devoted mother and wife, and the deeper purpose behind her extraordinary journeys. Whether you’re an athlete, entrepreneur, or anyone facing seemingly impossible challenges, Lisa’s story will ignite your courage and remind you of the incredible strength we all carry within. Lisa, thank you for bringing so much wisdom, humility, and fire to the show. This episode is pure inspiration! #CourageTalks #UltraRunning #EnduranceSports #MarathonDesSables #Badwater #MentalToughness #Resilience #Leadership #NeverGiveUp #DreamChaser

Courage Talks S12E2 𝗔𝗹𝗲𝘅 𝗣𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗽𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗼

From surviving a stroke at 26 and a crushed foot at 45… to becoming a 17-time HURT 100 finisher and one of the toughest race directors in the Mid-Atlantic. 𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝗔𝗹𝗲𝘅 𝗣𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗽𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗼𝘀, Veteran Ultramarathoner, Race Director, Stay-at-Home Dad turned Trail Running Legend, and Founder of Athletic Equation & WV Trail Fest. Born into a family of refugees from the Greek and Armenian Genocides, Alex grew up as an expat kid in the Middle East. He left home at 14 for boarding school, built a career in Chemical Engineering with the Marine Corps, then made one of the bravest pivots of all, becoming a full-time stay-at-home father in 2008. 𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗿𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴:   • 17-time finisher of the brutal HURT 100 (one of the highest in the world)   • Completed 60+ ultras worldwide, including Dragon’s Back Race, Hellbender 100, Mogollon Monster, and Manitou’s Revenge   • Race Director of some of the toughest events in the East: OSS/CIA 50, Mount Tammany 10, and more   • Dedicated mentor to Navy SEALs, veterans (Band of Runners), and young runners In this inspiring conversation, Alex shares powerful lessons on resilience, identity, fatherhood, career pivots, and what true courage looks like when your body breaks down but your spirit refuses to quit. If you’re navigating health challenges, life transitions, or chasing big dreams while raising a family, don't miss this episode. #CourageTalks #UltraRunning #HURT100 #Resilience #TrailRunning #RaceDirector #NeverGiveUp #StayAtHomeDad #LeadershipThroughCourage

𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗸𝘀 𝗦𝟭𝟮𝗘𝟭: Mihika Wahi Gupta

Mihika is the founder of Mission Healthy with Mihika, a women-focused fitness academy, an ultra-marathon runner, and a hybrid athlete. She describes her younger self as a "jack of all sports, master of none", someone who simply loved to move. Like many women, life gradually pulled her away from fitness: marriage, children, work, and the weight of daily responsibilities. But the spark never truly faded. She returned through yoga, then running, and has since completed some of India's most demanding endurance races:   • 50 km Malnad ultra-marathon,   • 56 km trail run,   • 210 km intercity run from Gurgaon to Jaipur,   • 72 km Khardungla Challenge at 17,000 ft in Leh-Ladakh, and   • 100 km border ultra that started at noon and ended at 2 AM.   • In 2025, got the podium at the first edition of HYROX India For the past five years, she has channelled everything that fitness gave her, confidence, resilience, and the ability to face grief, into helping other women discover their own strength through her academy. 𝗜𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲, 𝘄𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁:   • How she came back to fitness after years away and why the return was harder, and more meaningful, than the start   • What running 72 km at 17,000 ft in Ladakh taught her about the relationship between physical endurance and mental resilience   • Why she built a fitness academy specifically for women, and what she sees holding women back from prioritising their health   • How movement helped coping with personal loss and grief   • What she means when she says: "When a woman becomes stronger, she doesn't just change her own life, she inspires many others around her" 🎙️ Tune in now #CourageTalks #MissionHealthyWithMihika #WomenAndFitness #Endurance #Podcast

Courage Talks S11E6 Devi Mani

Most mental health platforms in India are built for the West and shipped here. Devi built Skooc because she believed India deserved something that understood its silences, its pressures, and its culture. With a background spanning GE, IBM, Target, and HP, she brings a rare combination of enterprise rigour and genuine clinical thinking to one of the most underfunded spaces in the country. Skooc is a full-stack behavioural intelligence and change system that works with schools, colleges, and corporates. At its core is an AI-powered system that triages every conversation in real time, deploys clinical assessments like the PHQ-9 and GAD-7, builds dynamic severity profiles for each user, and knows exactly when to bring a human clinician into the loop. Alongside this, the platform surfaces anonymised behavioural insights across cohorts, so institutions can see patterns forming and act before things escalate rather than manage crises after the fact. What makes Skooc different is that it doesn't treat mental health as a standalone problem. It works with the entire ecosystem simultaneously: students, parents, educators, faculty, and leadership teams, because behaviour doesn't change in isolation. Devi splits her time between building the platform, running (she's training for Hyrox), and writing about the things most people are too polite to say out loud.

𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗸𝘀 𝗦𝟭𝟭𝗘𝟱: Gopika Kapoor

Gopika Kapoor is a bestselling author, neurodiversity advocate, autism consultant, and one of India’s most compassionate voices on parenting, inclusion, and acceptance. Gopika’s journey is deeply personal and courageous.From beginning her career as a journalist, to navigating her son Vir’s autism diagnosis in 2008, to transforming pain into purpose by supporting hundreds of families, she has turned one family’s challenge into a movement of hope and dignity. She spent over a decade at Ummeed Child Development Centre as a therapist, trainer, and mentor, working closely with 400+ families and conducting 100+ autism training sessions across India and beyond. Today, she continues to guide parents, corporates, schools, and communities, while also co-founding Buddy Up Network, a friendship platform for neurodivergent individuals and caregivers. 𝗜𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲, 𝘄𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁: • 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘧, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 • 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 “𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘮𝘦?” 𝘵𝘰 “𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵?” • 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘧 • 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺’𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦’𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴• 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨• 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯 Gopika is the author of Beyond the Blue: Love, Life and Autism and a leading advocate for a more empathetic and inclusive India. Through her latest venture, BuddyUp Network, she has built an app that connects people with disabilities and their caregivers for friendship and love. 🎙️ Tune in now — link in comments.#CourageTalks #Leadership#Inclusion #Parenting #Neurodiversity