Alexandra Nemeth: Beyond the Seven Summits — Highs, Lows, and Life in Extreme Places.
Release Date: 02/03/2026
Marie “Lootie” Leautey – Solo, Unsupported & Fastest Woman to Run Around the World
Tough Girl Podcast
In this episode of the Tough Girl Podcast, we’re joined by Marie “Lootie” Leautey, the second woman in history to run around the world solo and unsupported — and the fastest woman to do it. Lootie’s journey began in France, far from the running world. A former smoker and corporate finance professional, she swapped cigarettes for daily runs at 25, building up to her first marathon in just eight months. That spark turned into an audacious dream: to run across the globe — 26,000+ km, across four continents, relying entirely on herself. Starting her run in Europe in December...
info_outline
Stephanie Ho: Adventurer and Endurance Athlete Skiing Solo to the South Pole & Pushing Beyond Limits
Tough Girl Podcast
Stephanie Ho is a 24-year-old adventurer, endurance athlete, and exercise physiologist based on the Gold Coast, Australia. From rock climbing and ocean swimming to triathlons and mountain expeditions, Stephanie has always chased the outdoors — but her biggest goals lie in the polar regions. In this episode of the Tough Girl Podcast, Stephanie shares her journey from discovering hiking and camping as a teenager to trekking Everest Base Camp, running 43km a day for a week, and skiing 540km across Greenland. She opens up about the mental and physical challenges of polar expeditions, the...
info_outline
Birgit Hermann – Turning Extreme Endurance into Bolder Leadership for People and Planet
Tough Girl Podcast
Birgit Hermann is a global leadership coach, speaker, executive leader, ocean advocate, professional freediver, and extreme endurance athlete who translates lessons from the edge into meaningful impact for people and planet. She supports purpose-driven leaders to turn bold challenges into grounded, values-led action. She has raced the Marathon des Sables, run a marathon in Antarctica, freedived beneath Arctic ice without a wetsuit, and cycled across the African continent — often as the only woman on the start line. Alongside these edge-tested experiences, Birgit brings over 20 years...
info_outline
Amanda Duling: Endurance Sport After Gastric Bypass — Grit, Fueling & Radical Honesty
Tough Girl Podcast
Amanda Duling is an endurance athlete, writer, and founder of One Gear Short of Normal™. A post-bariatric, perimenopausal gravel cyclist and Ironman 70.3 finisher, Amanda uses grit, science, and unapologetic humour to tell the stories no one else is telling about endurance sports, women’s bodies, and doing hard things later in life. Through her writing and community work, she challenges the “suffer in silence” culture of endurance athletics and advocates for smarter fueling, better hygiene, realistic training, and radical honesty—especially for women navigating menopause, major...
info_outline
Lyla “Sugar” Harrod – Triple Crown Hiker & Appalachian Trail Record Breaker
Tough Girl Podcast
Growing up near Boston, Sugar discovered hiking in her early twenties while exploring the White Mountains of New Hampshire. After getting sober at 30, she found herself with the clarity, time and capacity to pursue the life she truly wanted. What followed was a decision to live authentically, prioritise long-distance hiking, and become what she proudly calls a professional dirtbag. In 2021, Sugar set out on the Appalachian Trail. While she knew she was a strong hiker, she also faced the uncertainty of what it would mean to walk the trail as a trans woman. Feeling the isolation of not seeing...
info_outline
Sara Eydmann - Ultra-marathon runner on attempting to run 500 miles, mental health and changing the narrative
Tough Girl Podcast
In this episode of the Tough Girl Podcast, we’re joined by Sara Eydmann — ultra-marathon runner, counsellor and therapist based in Edinburgh, Scotland. At 30 years old, Sara is no stranger to pushing her limits. From attempting to run 500 miles to taking on the North Coast 500, her journey into ultra-running has been anything but straightforward. But behind the miles is a powerful and deeply honest story about mental health, identity, resilience and learning to change the narrative. Growing up as an only child, Sara was always active — until an eating disorder at 14 forced her to...
info_outline
Starre Vartan: The Stronger Sex — Women’s Bodies, Endurance, and the Science We’ve Been Missing
Tough Girl Podcast
In this episode of the Tough Girl Podcast, I’m joined by Starre Vartan — science and environment writer, author, and lifelong question-asker whose work sits at the powerful intersection of the human body and the natural world. With a background in geology and biology, Starre began her career as an environmental geologist before pivoting into journalism to tell the stories behind the science. Over the past 15+ years, she’s written for publications including National Geographic, Scientific American, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and New Scientist,...
info_outline
Emma Karslake, FRGS, is an adventurer, writer and cycle tour guide who has spent much of the past eight years exploring the world by bike.
Tough Girl Podcast
From ultra-light hotel bikepacking on a road bike to six-month expeditions in remote regions on a heavily laden hybrid, Emma has experienced nearly every form of bike travel, including ultra-endurance racing. She is a passionate advocate for slow travel as a means to reconnect with nature, embrace minimalism, and discover alternative ways of living. Her travels have shaped a deep commitment to sustainability, wild camping with minimal impact, and challenging the idea of nature as a park or playground, separate from our everyday lives. You can sign up to her newsletter for monthly updates and...
info_outline
Lorraine Lewis: Author of Dare to Dream, Ultra Runner, and Co-founder of The Lewis Foundation
Tough Girl Podcast
Lorraine Lewis is the Co-Founder and CEO of The Lewis Foundation, an award-winning cancer charity providing free gift packs and ongoing support to adult cancer patients across 17 hospitals in the Midlands. Founded from lived experience, the charity has become a lifeline for thousands of people diagnosed with cancer. Beyond her role as a charity leader, Lorraine is a highly sought-after motivational speaker, inspiring audiences ranging from school children to corporate professionals. She has delivered talks for organisations including The Eden Project, the European Chartered Institute of...
info_outline
Alexandra Nemeth: Beyond the Seven Summits — Highs, Lows, and Life in Extreme Places.
Tough Girl Podcast
Alex is a qualified International Mountain Leader, Polar Guide, and a professional Photographer based in St. Moritz, Switzerland. From scaling the world’s highest peaks to leading expeditions in the Arctic and Antarctica, she thrives where the wild meets the extreme. Her passion for high-altitude exploration took her on a relentless quest; climbing the highest mountain on every continent, culminating on the summit of Mt. Everest in 2018. She became the first ever Hungarian to climb the Seven Summits. This journey ignited her mission to guide others through the raw beauty of the mountains...
info_outlineAlex is a qualified International Mountain Leader, Polar Guide, and a professional Photographer based in St. Moritz, Switzerland. From scaling the world’s highest peaks to leading expeditions in the Arctic and Antarctica, she thrives where the wild meets the extreme.
Her passion for high-altitude exploration took her on a relentless quest; climbing the highest mountain on every continent, culminating on the summit of Mt. Everest in 2018. She became the first ever Hungarian to climb the Seven Summits. This journey ignited her mission to guide others through the raw beauty of the mountains and beyond.
In the winter, she guides private snowshoe and fat bike around St. Moritz; in the summer, she leads exhilarating hiking and mountain biking adventures across the Alps. Between her Alps seasons, she's found working in the Polar regions (Antarctica: guide, zodiac driver, lecturer and lead crevasse rescue guide. Arctic: guide, zodiac driver, lecturer and polar bear guard)
Her expertise extends far beyond Europe, guiding bespoke expeditions across the globe.
An endurance athlete at heart, Alex is always chasing the next adventure—whether Polar ski crossing, racing mountain bikes, or pushing limits in the mountains.
As a professional photographer and drone pilot, she uses her lens to capture the world’s most remote landscapes, advocate for environmental conservation, and document the stories of the Polar regions. Her work is deeply inspired by mountains, polar history, pioneering female explorers, and the delicate balance of nature.
In her recent book: Beyond the Seven Summits: Finding Strength Where the Air is Thin, Alex shares her experiences of climbing these mountains, and she also explores the journey that shaped who she is today: all the highs and lows. I hope to bring these peaks closer to readers by including short historical notes alongside each climb and sharing everything she learned along the way. The book is also rich in photographs, helping to bring both the stories and these beautiful mountains vividly to life.
First TGP episode - August 25th 2020 - Alexandra Nemeth the first Hungarian to climb the 7 summits!
***
New episodes of the Tough Girl Podcast drop every Tuesday at 7 AM (UK time)! Make sure to subscribe so you never miss the inspiring journeys and incredible stories of tough women pushing boundaries.
Do you want to support the Tough Girl Mission to increase the amount of female role models in the media in the world of adventure and physical challenges? Support via Patreon! Join me in making a difference by signing up here: www.patreon.com/
Your support makes a difference. 
Thank you x
***
Show notes
- Who is Alex
- Being born in Hungary, but spending most of her adult life in the UK
- Deciding to move to the Swiss Alps to work as an International Mountain Leader
- Climbing the 7 Summits and becoming the first Hungarian to do so
- Coming on the Tough Girl Podcast - August 25th 2020
- What’s been the biggest changes over the past few years
- Making the decision to move from the UK to Switzerland
- Having a plan to live in the mountains
- Waiting for the right opportunity.
- Packing up her car in 2020
- What life has been like in Switzerland
- Being a qualified Mountain Bike Guide
- The Next chapter in her life
- Becoming an International Mountain Leader (IML)
- Working 2 part time jobs to make a living
- Finding a community in Switzerland
- Ending up doing things on her own
- Needing to prioritise herself and gaining her qualifications
- Focusing on navigation
- The 4 stages of the IML
- Becoming a polar guide
- Getting a job on an expedition ship
- What is ship life like?
- Documenting her journey in a book!
- Connecting with nature can be incredible powerful
- Dealing with her fears, most noticeably her fear of heights
- Choosing to heal in nature
- Turning her passion into a job
- Putting together expeditions to Peru
- Keeping it fun and exciting
- Planning for adventures and expeditions
- How to start and why you need to build things up
- Being on a ship for the next 2 months
- International Women’s Day 8th March 2025
- Free Snowshoe Tour for Women!
- Doing a hut to hut tour!
- Teaching women winter survival skills
- How to connect with Alex on social media
- Advice who want to follow their dreams and passions
- Don’t let excuses stop you on your way. Stay on the path, even if you have to slow down.
- Live your life without excuses!
Social Media
Website alex7summits.com
Instagram @alex7summits
Email: alex7summits@gmail.com
Book: Beyond the Seven Summits: Finding Strength Where the Air is Thin