Ep 37 - The Tough Landing Of An Ocean Sailor, with Lucy Thom

For this episode, I interviewed former ocean sailor Lucy Thom:

A geographer and former Royal Engineers reserve officer, Lucy’s was the first woman and civilian to qualify as a Joint Services (British Forces) Adventurous Sail-Training Skipper.

Lucy went onto becoming a round the world yachtswoman and relaunching and sailing manually the classic racing superyacht, “Mariquita”.

These roles demanded good fitness and clear communication, especially in adverse weather conditions and so it was a huge shock when, just a couple of years after leaving the sea to start a family, Lucy found herself in hospital, struggling to breathe and only able to speak in a hoarse whisper.

Diagnosed with an apparently chronic, incurable breathing condition called idiopathic airway stenosis, Lucy decided to embark on a quest to find what was causing unwanted tissue to grow in her airway?

Little did she know then that it would turn out to be a 16 year “voyage” with far greater challenges than she’d ever encountered sailing round the world, ultimately leading her to work in mediation, conflict-coaching and group facilitation, and designing her own framework, The COURAGEOUS CONVERSATION S.P.A.C.E., to help people express themselves with compassion and authenticity.

Some of the highlights of our conversation are:

• Sailing story of a real life “God help us!” situation.
• When you can’t bring yourself to ask for help: The difficulty of transitioning from high achiever professional to parent.
• Mate to mediator: from conflict resolution at sea to conflict resolution as a new career.
• Reclaiming one’s voice and authentic self expression
• Lessons from a chronic illness: don’t kill the messenger!
• Giving ourselves permission to heal

Connect with Lucy on Linkedin, on her website

Career & Spirituality Conversations is hosted by Julie Pône | www.juliepone.com.

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