Here’s the full transcript of inspiring adventurer Alex Staniforth‘s chat with Jane Farnham of Great British Speakers:
00:00:09:03 – 00:00:20:31
Jane Farnham
Hello, I’m Jane Farnham from Great British Speakers. And I’m here today chatting to the amazing motivational speaker, mental health charity founder and inspiring adventurer Alex Staniforth. Alex, thanks for joining us today. Lovely to see you.
00:00:21:00 – 00:00:22:46
Alex Staniforth
Hi, Jane. Great to be here as well. Thank you.
00:00:23:16 – 00:00:26:29
Jane Farnham
So, first of all, tell me a little bit about your earlier life and your background.
00:00:27:30 – 00:00:53:55
Alex Staniforth
Yeah, well, where to start, really? I mean, I guess I didn’t come into speaking from a traditional background, I don’t think many of us do. I’m 26 now. I live in Kendal in the South Lakes, but I was brought up near Chester and I had a pretty average start, if I can call it that really. It wasn’t till I was about nine years old that things really changed and I had a mild form of epilepsy, which caused lots of other challenges at such an important age.
00:00:54:28 – 00:01:20:38
Alex Staniforth
I’ve had a stammer all my life, I was relentlessly bullied all the way through school. I suffered injuries and panic attacks and hated sports. And when I was in my early teens, I really found myself. I found the outdoors, and that gave me a way to fight back to, you know, to confront all these challenges, really, and to keep finding what else I could overcome and achieve and through, through my time at school.
00:01:20:52 – 00:01:53:00
Alex Staniforth
And I had the goal to climb Everest and never imagined at the time on my very first hill walk in the lakes at 14 that four years later I’d actually be standing at the foot of Everest, about to make my first attempt on the summit. That didn’t quite go to plan. But I guess in a nutshell, since then, I’ve, I’ve been able to share my journey as a motivational speaker, as an author of two books, as a charity ambassador, as a brand ambassador and founder of a mental health charity.
00:01:53:00 – 00:02:01:42
Alex Staniforth
So essentially my journey is about overcoming challenges through the outdoors. And now I’m lucky enough to share that, to help people to overcome their…
00:02:02:29 – 00:02:04:39
Jane Farnham
So tell me quickly what happened on Everest.
00:02:05:33 – 00:02:29:09
Alex Staniforth
I was there in 2014 when the, when there was a huge avalanche that tragically killed 16 people. I’d spent three years training for Everest. I’d raised 35,000 in corporate sponsorship whilst doing A-levels and washing pots in my local pub, I had to find a way or make one. But obviously the mountain doesn’t care how hard you’ve worked or how hard you train and COVID has only treated us the same way.
00:02:29:42 – 00:02:52:57
Alex Staniforth
So I went back to Everest it in 2015 when I was 19 and we were on the mountain just below Camp one when the earthquake hit Nepal. So we were trapped on the mountain for two days at camp one with avalanches and earthquakes hitting us every half an hour. Luckily, you know, I’m still here today. Had, had we not left base camp that morning, it would probably be a very different story.
00:02:52:57 – 00:03:02:00
Alex Staniforth
But sadly, we lost three of our team and obviously over 9,000 people across Nepal. And that’s, that really changed the whole direction of my journey.
00:03:03:07 – 00:03:09:23
Jane Farnham
So what changed? How did it change? Is that when you started sort of looking at writing and speaking about your experiences?
00:03:09:54 – 00:03:30:59
Alex Staniforth
Yes. I mean, I think like every challenge is an opportunity. And from finding the outdoors at fourteen, you know, I, I started to realize that we don’t always get to choose our challenges in life, but we can always choose how we respond. And initially when I came back, there was obviously a lot of trauma. This wasn’t something I trained for.
00:03:31:12 – 00:03:57:34
Alex Staniforth
None of us could have trained for this and the same with the pandemic, but I’d already started speaking on a smaller basis. I mean, before my first attempt occurred. Yeah, and in 2012, I was a Olympic torchbearer, and that led to me being invited to speak at my old primary school about carrying the torch to inspire the kids. Now with somebody with a stammer who has smashed up phones at home.
00:03:57:52 – 00:04:19:04
Alex Staniforth
At the frustration of being unable to say my own name, you know, somebody that has struggled with words beginning with C or K, which isn’t ideal when you’re from Kelsall and now live in Kendal, standing in front of hundreds of people would be your worst nightmare. But I started saying yes to things, I started not to settle for the average and being defeated anymore.
00:04:19:10 – 00:04:42:27
Alex Staniforth
So I said yes. Speaking to those kids was the most empowering things I’ve ever done because I realized that I could do it. And actually speaking to hundreds of people was easier than speaking on the phone or 1 to 1 that I’d always avoided. So that was when my mindset shifted. And before Everest, a few weeks before, I was desperate for the funds and I contacted Chester Business School
00:04:42:27 – 00:05:06:21
Alex Staniforth
And incidentally, their keynote speaker had just pulled out. So that was a slot for me and there was 100 serious experienced business leaders, previous speakers, the likes of Ranulph Feinnes and Lord Sebastian Coe and prime ministers and things. And then there’s an 18 year old me completely winging it. But that experience, being paid for it for the first time, I thought blimey this is cool.
00:05:06:34 – 00:05:27:23
Alex Staniforth
Actually, this is, this is great. But it was the most empowering thing. I think every time I stand up and speak, I’m raising a middle finger to adversity and being able to share what I’ve learned is a privilege. So that was when my whole approach shifted and after Everest went pear shaped, businesses naturally want to hear from different perspectives and two disasters
00:05:27:23 – 00:05:42:25
Alex Staniforth
On Everest is something quite unique, it relates to change and uncertainty and adversity and mindset. And so many things. So that’s when inquiries started coming in. And over time I’ve built up that experience and started charging more and now it’s my full time income.
00:05:43:15 – 00:05:45:27
Jane Farnham
That’s great to hear. Have you got any plans to go back to Everest?
00:05:46:27 – 00:06:01:52
Alex Staniforth
Well, in my talks now, the first question I’m always asked is if I’m going back, and I’m too young to say never, but it’s just not yet. Because on that journey I found a new path through UK based endurance challenges and ultrarunning, which my mum is a lot happier about.
00:06:02:54 – 00:06:03:14
Jane Farnham
Yeah I bet.
00:06:03:32 – 00:06:17:31
Alex Staniforth
And that, and that’s, that’s kept me close to home. I’ve realized I can make a bigger difference on home soil and, and yeah there’s just no time to, to, to commit myself as much as I did back then. But Everest is just a step on that journey, I think.
00:06:17:40 – 00:06:36:16
Jane Farnham
Yeah, well, a very big step as well. Now, one of the most requested talk subjects that we have coming in at Great British Speakers is largely around mental health, particularly as a consequence of lockdown. So aside from speaking, you’ve been very active around getting out and about, haven’t you? Tell me more about what you do there.
00:06:36:55 – 00:07:01:28
Alex Staniforth
Well, I’m always out in the hills and running and falling down and taking on challenges, and that’s never changed. But I think mental health is such a broad topic, you know, and I think it’s quite a noisy space as well, which I think is fantastic that there’s so much awareness and so much happening. But I kind of, I started speaking from a motivational perspective and found myself getting a bit lost and carried away and not really knowing where I fit in anymore, steering away from what I’ve always done.
00:07:01:58 – 00:07:24:54
Alex Staniforth
I mean, I’m no mental health expert, but what I can do is talk openly about my own challenges. You know, I think having anxiety and depression and an eating disorder as a young man, and there’s not many people my age who are talking about that on a larger platform, especially not from an adventure perspective, which is often seen as quite a masculine and quite a, you know, quite a macho place to be.
00:07:25:48 – 00:07:45:30
Alex Staniforth
So it’s about sharing that vulnerability really. And I think that alone can open conversations. And if I can share some of the tools that have helped me through a venture, hopefully that can help others too. But I think with the outdoors, you know, spending time in nature has always been my antidepressant. You know, it’s my natural health service, as I call it.
00:07:45:41 – 00:08:08:49
Alex Staniforth
And that led to starting a charity Mind Over Mountains in 2020, which is a charity to restore mental health through nature, combining hill walking with coaching, mindfulness, counseling and inspiration speakers and essentially giving people the tools that I’ve always had that they maybe can’t you know, they don’t have access to. I think everybody deserves that.
00:08:09:23 – 00:08:21:43
Alex Staniforth
And that now has joined all the dots very nicely together because I can only speak about my own experiences, but also help people to walk the walk and all of my challenges are now raising money for the charity as well.
00:08:23:09 – 00:08:38:11
Jane Farnham
Very busy. Now I know your latest venture is a 100 mile run. Now some people are sort of thinking that you have to be some kind of superhuman to be able to take advantage of nature and do a 100 mile run. But obviously, that’s not necessarily the case, is it?
00:08:39:30 – 00:09:00:34
Alex Staniforth
Not at all, really. I think it’s all about mindsets. You know, of course, some people are more naturally inclined to sports and endurance. But don’t forget that, you know, when I started school, I came second to last in cross country P.E, I hated sports. In fact, my first run came about when my stepmom put a two Euro bet on holiday in France that I couldn’t keep up with my dad, who was a marathon runner.
00:09:01:35 – 00:09:22:28
Alex Staniforth
But of course I wanted that two Euros because it’s a lot of money when you’re 13. And now four years ago, I did my first official marathon, you know, and back then I never could have imagined that I’d be trying, trying to run 100 miles. But I think every time you push the bar higher, you increase that threshold, you increase that, that level of what’s possible.
00:09:22:58 – 00:09:42:10
Alex Staniforth
And I think it’s just about building that experience, really. You know, there’s so many brilliant examples of that. I know there’s some great speakers like Michael McGrath and Aaron Phipps and Ade Adepitan and Claire Lomas, you know, people that have pushed the boundaries but would consider themselves as very ordinary people. It’s all about mindset really.
00:09:43:19 – 00:09:53:34
Jane Farnham
So let’s move onto your latest talk, something we’re hearing a lot about in connection to mental health, and that’s burnout. Tell me how this talk came about exactly.
00:09:55:10 – 00:10:23:16
Alex Staniforth
I mean, I’ve been speaking about mental health quite a lot over the years, and I think it was something I was being asked more and more about. You know, originally I said I focus more on a motivational goal setting perspective, but it took me a long time to be comfortable with that. You know, things that previously I wouldn’t have spoken about or would have had me in tears I’m now able to talk about in front of hundreds of people, because I realized that that was an important thing to do because it could help others not to suffer in silence like I did.
00:10:24:01 – 00:10:52:21
Alex Staniforth
I mean, I think, you know, businesses are facing so many challenges and they always want me to touch on other areas, you know, as well as resilience, which is is closely linked to wellbeing as well, and stopping burnout in the first place because you can’t really have one without the other. But I think I realized that burnout was probably the root cause of many of my mental health challenges and something that can actually be avoided with proactive tools and strategies.
00:10:52:21 – 00:11:12:09
Alex Staniforth
Whereas nobody chooses mental illness. You know, I can choose to go on all these challenges and adventures, but mental illness doesn’t discriminate. I think burnout was something that was also incredibly relevant at the current time that I felt comfortable talking about. So I think naturally over the years I’ve been asked more and more about it and it just ties in so closely to what I do, really.
00:11:12:09 – 00:11:15:59
Alex Staniforth
One of the many challenges, probably the biggest challenge that I’ve had to overcome.
00:11:16:55 – 00:11:20:25
Jane Farnham
Is that your most requested talk now, or is it a bit of both?
00:11:21:00 – 00:11:42:03
Alex Staniforth
It’s always a bit of both. I think it’s, I think, as I said, you know, businesses are facing so many challenges that, you know, you can’t have, you can’t have good wellbeing and good, without, so you can’t have good, you know, you know, you can’t maintain high performance, the motivation without wellbeing and avoiding burnout. So I think they all work very closely as one.
00:11:43:08 – 00:12:01:57
Alex Staniforth
But I think a lot of us have also been bombarded with wellbeing over last couple of years and I’m hearing now that businesses are wanting to think more about moving forwards, but equally they’ve got to have a nod to that self-care and wellbeing because that is such a crucial element and I think something again links in very well to my more recent challenges and ultrarunning in particular.
00:12:01:57 – 00:12:19:37
Alex Staniforth
I mean, I often talk about challenge and talk about story on my three peak run when I fell asleep in a bus stop, which obviously then links into the whole thing around probably around, you know, around boundaries and creating a healthy environment and priorities and say no to people which I think has all blurred into one in the pandemic.
00:12:21:03 – 00:12:28:39
Alex Staniforth
So that’s the approach I take really, without just sharing all the usual textbooks and venn diagram stuff. But it’s certainly something that comes up often.
00:12:29:16 – 00:12:37:51
Jane Farnham
And are you quite happy to sit with a client and, you know, discuss and modify your talk according to their audience and their employees and their needs?
00:12:38:34 – 00:13:05:54
Alex Staniforth
Of course, I think it’s helpful to have a shop window to give people an idea. But every organization is on a different journey with different challenges. And as a perfectionist, I can’t help sometimes wanting to tweak and change things. And I mean, even how you change a word can have a different impact on somebody. And that’s where, where the time goes in really having a, having a briefing to find out what success would look like to them and to help them identify what their mountain looks like, so absolutely.
00:13:06:23 – 00:13:16:17
Jane Farnham
And making it really bespoke to them. So, have you an example where you’ve spoken to an organization and they’ve moved forward with big changes as a consequence of your talk.
00:13:16:55 – 00:13:33:23
Alex Staniforth
I think perhaps the hardest part about speaking is that you can have an impact and you can plant a seed but not see the immediate response of that for years and years. It may just change, change how somebody thinks slightly and then they’ve got to wait for the conditions and other circumstances to all line up before anything happens.
00:13:33:59 – 00:13:58:26
Alex Staniforth
But I think change can’t happen overnight. We know that. But I do often get emails and comments and messages directly from people that, that really hit home. You know, I did a session for an engineering company early last year during the, during the pandemic, and my mantra about don’t settle for base camp is something that they’re still using in their meetings now, and they’ve been on a three year journey.
00:13:58:26 – 00:14:15:05
Alex Staniforth
And I’ve seen from their posts and comments, that’s something that they’re still using now and, you know, giving them something to take away that they can use as a reminder, I think is really powerful. And I think being asked to come back and speak to them again and again, it kind of speaks for itself, really.
00:14:16:06 – 00:14:17:27
Jane Farnham
And what gives you the biggest buzz?
00:14:19:22 – 00:14:38:00
Alex Staniforth
I mean, speaking is a bit like buses. You know, it all comes at once. And I think I’d take that over a constant, predictable routine anyway, any day really. I think people often ask me the whole thing about getting a proper job, whatever that means in the modern world. And it never feels.
00:14:38:01 – 00:14:39:18
Jane Farnham
I’m still getting asked it today, Alex.
00:14:39:18 – 00:15:00:30
Alex Staniforth
I’ve got plenty of time then. But I think, I think I think, when you get the chance to work with so many different people and places and learn about their challenges and see things from their perspective, you know, and to look back at where I started, I often have to pinch myself that now I’m being paid to, to share what I’ve learned.
00:15:00:30 – 00:15:18:34
Alex Staniforth
I’ve been paid to overcome challenges. And every time I stand up, you know, to, to be literally rising above adversity and living true to myself, you know, it’s going home knowing that you’ve made a difference is the ultimate job, job satisfaction, really. And I’m so grateful for that and looking forward to what’s next.
00:15:19:21 – 00:15:25:13
Jane Farnham
Well, Alex, it’s been absolutely brilliant talking to you. Truly inspirational. Thank you very much for joining us today.
00:15:25:35 – 00:15:26:52
Alex Staniforth
Thank you for having me, look forward to it.
00:15:27:25 – 00:15:37:19
Jane Farnham
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