045 | Learning to Swim with Marissa of the Michael Phelps Foundation

Happy National Coffee Day (if you are listening to this episode when it drops on Wednesday, September 29th). I would gladly celebrate coffee any day of the year. I am currently enjoying a Hawaiian Coffee and am a bit hooked after our 3 weeks on the islands in summer of 2021. Personally, I think the world could use a little more conversations over coffee with friends these days. I chuckle a bit because that was the imagery I used when designing the intent of this show. Like meeting friends over coffee and talking about family adventures.

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The theme for today's episode is learning how to swim, not just in the physical sense but also in swimming through life. Swimming seems like a good metaphor what people are experiencing. Swimming through information, drowning with decisions. In some ways we got dumped in the deep end of the pool and we're still figuring out how to swim. But we all know Michael Phelps as the 23 time Olympic gold medal swimmer. We will learn about the crazy adventure and the focus of his foundation which places an emphasis on learning how to swim. I met Marissa several years ago, when Michael was the guest for the US Venture Open which was discussed in Episode 033 | Creating Memorable Experiences with Dawn Ruchala. I had the pleasure of spending an entire day with Marissa and Michael and to say that I was impressed with their authentic generosity and humility is an understatement. I have been around several people of fame and fortune in my life. While each experience is a neat experience, I was never enamored by the encounter. More often than not, I left the experience with a different taste in my mouth. However, spending the day with this dynamic duo led to a much deeper connection beyond simple work acquaintances.

MARISSA FORTIER is the Managing Director at the Michael Phelps Foundation and has been working alongside Michael Phelps since 2003. She has been with the Foundation since it was founded in 2008 and helped develop the Foundation's signature IM Program curriculum in 2009, and piloted the program in 2010. The Michael Phelps Foundation has 3 pillars focused on water safety, healthy living, and pursuit of dreams. Marissa lives in Maine with her husband, two daughters and dog.

Key Takeaways

1. Go broke once in your life. Having the perspective of humble means you learn to appreciate the opportunities in front of you.
2. Never Say No to a new opportunity. You can always go back. You can always change your mind, but self selecting out of an opportunity, that opportunity won't likely come back.
3. Epic adventure life is unsustainable. At some point we all have to come down from the summit.
4. Slowing down allowed Marissa the ability to approach adventures more thoughtfully and make the adventures more meaningful overall.
5. 2020 freed up space in her life to go through the stuff both physically and mentally. It has allowed her to sit back and reflect
6. They currently are waking up from the slumber and finding little sparks of adventure. Perhaps you are waking up from a slumber. What are the little sparks, mini adventures that light you up?
7. We can only plan so much. At some point, we need to let our kids lead the adventures.
8. Drowning is the #1 Cause of preventable death for children under the age of 4. Swimming is a lifelong sport that has implications on overall health, well-being and safety.
9. Water has magical qualities and can heal in many ways.
10. MPFoundation offers 8 free lessons to address social and emotional strategies. Head to their website www.michaelphelpsfoundation.org to download these resources.

To connect or follow Marissa

Website: www.michaelphelpsfoundation.org
Social Media: @mpfoundation

/MichaelPhelpsFoundation