Consumer Behaviourist, Impressive Athlete, Go-getter, Cape Town, South Africa

“Do you have a friend whose updates never cease to amaze? When you first speak with her, you’re astounded, but soon become desensitized as she informs you that, of course in her spare time, she’s joined a space exploration mission and is learning Esperanto while training for a fencing championship. I nod my head and ask follow ups, like no big deal.

Ms. Bridgid Russell is one of those friends for me. When we first met, we were biking up a steep hill outside Cape Town and Bridgid casually mentioned that it was her second week mountain biking. I, who considered myself a mountain biker and reasonably fit person, was then left in the dust on one of the steepest hills of the track (did I mention that we were the only ones who didn’t have e-bikes?).

I learned so much more about Ms. Russell from her WOW Woman answers. Life sometimes brings true adversity and challenges to women and, although Bridgid writes about her struggles to regain her footing, I know that with her talent for bouncing back, she will succeed in overcoming any hardships. I’m impressed with Bridgid’s honest answers, her pragmatism and not sugarcoating when writing about her shortcomings; this shows confidence and a certain comfort level with oneself. Bridgid’s self-assessment seems accurate because she also doesn’t diminish her incredible personal and business accomplishments, which are the building blocks of her life’s story. I am in awe of this 62-year-old biker, adventuress, entrepreneur, trail runner, go-getter and a super-competitor. It is refreshing to read and learn from someone’s honest portrayal of her mistakes; it puts the person in an all-around more credible light. I hope that reading through Ms. Russell’s answers can help someone learn and understand themselves better.

Finally, I’d like to note that Ms. Russell has been an ardent supporter of Ukraine and Ukrainian fight for freedom since day one of the full-scale russian invasion. I most enjoy waking up to Bridgid’s texts like this one: “I am very good at certain things and I really think I can apply my skills to help you all help Ukraine. I think being in South Africa has a strategic importance in the “voice” we raise here in support of Ukraine. I reject the notion that the world is now thinking that all of us in South Africa indulge that mad man inside the Kremlin. I think the world’s opinion of the South African people can be changed!” Thank you for your support, Bridgid and Slava Ukraini/Glory to Ukraine!”- Olga Shmaidenko, Founder of WOW Woman.

1. Name.

Bridgid Hamilton Russell.

2. Where is your hometown?

Cape Town, South Africa.

3. What is your profession/career/title/self-label/designation? What does your average day look like?

Whatever career I have followed it has always come down to what I have found to be my “gift” for understanding what makes people want to “buy” and “do” stuff. In this sense I am a Consumer Behaviourist. I love digging into market research results, analysing the stats and getting more information on what drives people to choose a product or service - what makes them either like the message about a product or hate having it in their “faces” – Those You Tube Ads that “ambush” their way into a clip we are watching. These “ambush Ads” put people off a product, not persuade them it may be something they may want. My first and longest career has been in advertising, branding and marketing communications. I have worked, not as an artist or copywriter, but as the person who figures out what to say about a product that compels people to support or buy it. I plan where and how that message will reach the people that I define as being “the Market” for a product or service.

Figuring out what consumers will find relevant and compelling about a product is all that is needed to position, and sell it. There are numerous tactics one can use as long as they accomplish the following two key things: 1. The receiver of the message has to see it as relevant to them and 2. The message has to be imparted to them when they are receptive to receiving it. Between these two things is Strategy – what I do.

Currently, I run a business called Styal Luxury Guest Classics selling very high quality but affordable bed linen and towels to the hospitality Industry. Styal has a relevant story behind it’s brand and business. This story I have linked to a 300-year old cotton factory in the village of Styal in England that was founded by my direct ancestors 300 years ago. This business made such an impact on the community of workers that it survives today in memory of the first pro-labour, pro worker manufacturing plant of the Victorian Industrial Revolution. I have created my business, also in cotton and also to promote local community empowerment as well as being mindful of our protection of our planet. Because Styal is my own business it’s up to me to promote the things that I deem important. For example, I am the only supplier of bed linen and towels who does not use plastic in the packaging and distribution, I choose to be kind to our planet. In addition, I only source products that have been made by South African hands – keeping our economy and our communities in mind, when others are importing in bulk from other countries, directing tourist “dollars” outside South Africa. I believe that the income from tourism should empower and support our local labour.

4. What did you study in school? 

In South Africa, the word “school” means, literally High School, so I had to pause and realize that this was referring to University. At Uni I studied Psychology and Industrial Sociology. My reason for selecting a Bachelor of Social Science as an undergraduate degree, was to pretty much avoid subjects I struggled with in High School.

I went to an all-girls private school (junior and high school) in Johannesburg that was very “academic”. But I am dyslexic, something I didn’t know at the time; so even reading was difficult. I found out about my dyslexia after finishing University, at 21. I also discovered that I was very short sighted (myopic), so could never see the blackboard properly or see the ball in ball sports. I did not realize that “sight” was any different to what I was experiencing, until I had my eyes tested at the age of 21. School was a struggle for me, I always felt “stupid”.

In the 1970s, when I was a highschooler, the world was a different place. Kids either coped or they did not. If we did not cope at school we were “streamed” into a class for “kids that were not very clever”. We don’t do this anymore! Nowadays we know that there is no such thing as a “dumb kid” – only “dumb teachers” - a saying I made up to help my own daughter when she was found to be dyslexic also. Luckily we could assist her and she ultimate did very well. My elder daughter was shortsighted just like he mom, but our society knows to now routinely check children’s eyesight and hearing from an early age.

Regrettably, I never did mathematics at school. It was considered that I was not clever enough to do mathematics, or science so from the age of 11 I was removed from these classes in favour of learning to cook and doing gymnastics. Subsequently I really do know that I would have loved to be able to pursue a career in either bio-science or medicine which would need me to have taken math and science in school.

5. What was the journey like to get where you are (in life and career-wise)? Write about some of the achievements that you are most proud of. What was the moment for you that changed your life (in your personal life and/or career?) that set you on the current path in life?

I think that what really “carved out” my destiny was my poor performance academically in School and University. I did not know I was Dyslexic. And I only found out later in life that I was very very short sighted. I may have gravitated to the Bio-Science field of work if I had been “able” to do those subjects at school – I love bioscience and medicine. I could also have been a good sports person/athlete if I’d been able to see the ball in the ball sports we did at school – hockey, tennis and netball.

I went into the field of Advertising because my father was the Chairman of an Advertising Agency, as was his father before him. But, this being said, it was considered that to go into Advertising was to join an industry for “those on the fridge of the barely employable” I quote my father here. Advertising was something to do when all else failed because I think this was because this Industry did not have any requirements for qualification. It was seen as a vocation for people who did not have any other qualifications. But I really succeeded in Advertising. I have strong intuition in Consumer behaviour. I can easily visualise how to place or position a Brand or Product to get it a Market/specific group of people who will buy it. I rose to the level of Client Service Director very quickly.

Being a woman, and specifically a woman Director, in this 1980s Advertising Agency world, had challenges that we just accepted back then. Our Clients and Colleagues were usually men. In meetings we women as the senior brand communications experts would lead the meeting while at the same time being tasked with offering and serving the tea and coffee, emptying the ashtrays and being of service to the men. My male clients would even ask me to collect their dry cleaning and hand it to them when they came to our offices for meetings. In today’s world this sort of misogyny is fortunately shocking to both men and women in business! There is a great American TV series “Mad Men” that really accurately depicts what my world was like in Advertising. Because my father and grandfather before me were both Directors and Chairmen in an Advertising Agency – I not only joined this world. I grew up in it!

I left Advertising in the early 90s because it was not possible, as a woman, to have children at the same time as having a senior position and a career. In my time, women looked after the children exclusively. Men, however, were not the sole breadwinners either as they were when I was a child. Women of my generation were expected to significantly contribute to the household income and be full-time carers and mothers to our babies and small children. So, I left Advertising for a more flexible work life, where I could both work to earn an income and simultaneously parent full-time.

Then my children were young my husband was not at home much as he did not feel that his role involved the parenting of young daughters. He chose to do his own activities outside of his own job – activities that took him out of town and away from home mostly. So I started a business that filled a market gap. Something that was not available or being done by anyone else in this part of the world: I sourced, imported and supplied affordable, high-quality Montessori Educational Equipment.

When I “discovered” Montessori Early Childhood Education my daughters were both younger than 2-years-old. I saw a catalogue and immediately realised that, had I been introduced to mathematics this way, I would not have have had a problem understanding it. I started my company “Stego Educational Equipment” after I had tried unsuccessfully to procure these educational materials for my own toddlers. When I started Stego, there were only five Montessori schools in South Africa; however there was a Montessori teacher training centre. Montessori pre-schools back in 1992 could not get off the ground because the specific educational equipment was inaccessible in Southern Africa. It was mainly being manufactured and distributed in Europe. There were several local carpenters who were trying to copy the designs and doing a very poor job, because they lacked adequate knowledge about the equipment. I ended up with three brands of Montessori equipment, ranging from locally (but properly) made, lower-priced equipment to the best in the world, a Nienhuis Montessori, the brand which I acquired the sole agency to represent in Southern Africa.

I ran Stego Educational Equipment in Johannesburg for 13 years. I am perhaps most proud of helping launch over 1,500 Montessori pre-schools in Southern Africa (South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe mainly). I ended up completely “owning” the market. I also advised customers on how to get a proper Montessori pre-school started on an extremely limited budget. I supported many customers through building strong relationships, and saw them successfully grow and advance toward a higher quality Nienhuis Montessori Equipment. Seeing the enormous growth of Montessori in South Africa made Nienhuis “tolerate” my supplying “competitors” of their equipment. Everywhere else in the world, Agents for Nienhuis Montessori (Nethelands-based) had to supply their product exclusively. Instead, in Southern Africa, Nienhuis embraced being part of the growth in the development of literally hundreds of early childhood education centres in poverty-stricken, underprivileged areas in this country.

I worked with local and international Early Childhood Education sponsors to grow many day care centres with only a “day mother” taking in toddlers and preschoolers into her humble single-room home in disadvantaged and underprivileged areas. I became known for working closely with teachers and trainers to expand Montessori Education in Africa. I loved it. I loved the company I built up and I loved the communities I worked with. I also gave my staff the full option to work flexibly for me, to have the ability to “mother” their own children by working around their own other interests and needs. In this we formed a supportive team of staff – me being as much part of the team as my staff. We all ‘covered” for each other when someone had other obligations to meet.

6. How is your life different from what you pictured at 20?

This will come as a surprise to younger women, and to most WOW women, but at 20 I really assumed I would just marry, be financially well provided for by my husband and not be responsible for earning an income. (I can just hear you readers’ sigh!) Consider though, that I was brought up in the 1960s and 1970s. The Women’s Liberation Movement in USA was at its peak, but “Feminists” were outliers all over the world at that time. Ask your grandmothers today what the label of “Feminist” meant in their time and they will tell you that being labelled a feminist was a stigma that men (and most women) used to describe an outspoken (read, obnoxious) woman.

While growing up in Apartheid South Africa, my politically liberal father made it very clear that he expected me to do something “worthy’ with my life. At my University, in my late teens and very early 20s, I joined various student groups protesting Apartheid; I regularly joined protest marches to appeal for the Freedom of Nelson Mandela and other black Anti-Apartheid activists. This was dangerous. My entire family was involved in this cause: my grandmother was tear-gassed at a Black Sash meeting, my grandparents received threatening notes from the right-wing nationalists, their phones were tapped and they were threatened with violence. My uncle was imprisoned and subsequently put under house arrest for many years. The police force (all-white Afrikaaner Nationalists) were very rough on “students” like me. They used truncheons and other weapons to suppress dissent. I was scared and tried to do my best not to stand out as “a dissenter” because my entire world was rife with news of death and torture while in police custody. I did not participate as fully as I believed I should have; I was too afraid.

I left University without many job prospects. I travelled to Canada to apprentice in a market research field, but my focus at that time was on a guy in South Africa, who would later become the father of my girls. Since my boyfriend-turned-husband did not achieve the same level of education as I did, and had very few ambitions, his household contribution was lower. I had to work, which went against all expectations I had for myself. I started my career in Advertising from the age of 21. My work hours were extremely long, the work environment (think episode of Mad Men) was tough, competitive and generally cut-throat. Female colleagues of mine and I didn’t know about gas lighting back then; we accepted the subservient role a woman had in a man’s world. We women worked twice as hard, doubly long hours to prove our worthiness. It was very tough and the pay was much lower for us than for our male colleagues.

7. Was there a time when life knocked you down or out and how did you get back up on your feet?

Yes, I have seen much adversity in my life. Unfortunately, my husband of 23 years left me and our daughters in 2002, and together with my friend moved to Cape Town. He literally walked out. In the next two years I was hauled through a very tough divorce during which I ultimately ended up fighting for my right to parent my daughters and have them remained domiciled with me. It was such a bad time in my life; things fell apart after the divorce and seemed to get worse. My colleague, an accountant kicked me while I was down as she seized my Montessori business customer files and opened up a “copy-cat” Montessori Supply company with a huge financial backing. At this point in my life, I simply could not fight back; In those dark dark days, all I could do was to just hold on and keep afloat with my daughters.

The very nature of the divorce and all that I went through probably changed me in at my core forever, not for the better. I am who I am because of all the roads I travelled in life; not always by choice, but by circumstance. I had to navigate a new reality and shouldering of increased financial responsibilities, since my ex unilaterally ‘decided’ that he was no longer a married man. He, overnight, stopped paying bills and handling all the things he was responsible for. He left and did not see our daughters for nine months. Ultimately though, I felt compelled to move to Cape Town from Johannesburg, because I believed that, no matter what, little girls needed their father’s presence. However, from the moment he left us, he began to plan the divorce, and how to come out of it unscathed and more wealthy. At first, I thought that the reason for his behaviour and disappearance was a nervous breakdown after his mother’s short, but terminal, illness. But 18 months later he sued me for divorce by informing me via e-mail. Although he manipulated his finances to appear penniless, the South African law, honoured the date the email was sent and accepted his bankruptcy proclamation. I paid heavily for this - lost my home, my car, my business and almost lost my daughters, since my ex claimed that, because I would had to work full-time to provide for my kids, his girlfriend with whom he was then living would be a better fit as a mother. He claimed that unlike me, she would stay home and have the ability to parent our daughters better than I would.

Post-divorce, I realized I could no longer pay all the bills on my own. It took me five to six years to get the ability to face myself and the world back; I wasn’t coping very well.

My daughters were 9 and 10 years old when their father left; it was such a tough time for all of us. Did the three of us truly survive and overcome this? To be honest, I don’t think so. I believe we still carry this divorce with us now; it has become part of us, made us who we are today, weakened not strengthened us. Unfortunately, it has affected how we manage relationships and men in our lives. I wish this had not had to be. But it was. And it is.

How did we get through this? Time, the Great Healer. One becomes accustomed to, and adapts to, a different life. As such, in this adapted way – we move forward.

I did love again. 10 years after my divorce and met and enjoyed a wonderful eight-year relationship with a man who I still believe was my soul mate. He saw the “wounds” in me, understood my lack of confidence and my tendency to “run from”, rather than face, adversity. He worked extremely hard to build me up and build up our relationship and I will be eternally grateful that I did experience his love in that way. He too had experienced a separation and struggled hugely as a divorced father. He was the person who introduced me to athletics and who believed in my athletic potential. 

I earned gold and silver medals in eight consecutive World Championships in Modern Pentathlon. I competed in Portugal, USA, Spain, Ireland, South Africa, and Hungary. I podiumed in either 1st or 2nd place in a Masters Athletic category, competing against top athletes from 50 countries. So, after never having confidence to practice sports in highs school, I subsequently, at the age of 52, discovered that I do have a talent for sprinting, sports and athletics. Finding myself able to out-run, out-swim and out-shoot other International athletes was a surprising discovery. And, that it came really easily to me, was equally hard to believe – and still is!

This story of love, unfortunately, does not end happily. One week after achieving six medals in Dublin at the World Championship in 2018 and three days before we were due to compete in Egypt, Derek, my partner, choked to death in front of me during dinner on a Saturday evening. A piece of food got stuck deep in his trachea and he died in minutes, while I tried everything I could, to dislodge it. Derek died so suddenly, at the pinnacle of his own athletic career, he did not leave a will. His family didn’t accept me as his partner of eight years and even excluded me from his funeral. I still don’t think I have fully recovered from this. But I learned to live as I am with this “story” added to my life’s trials and tribulations.

What I know now to be true for sure, is that we alone are responsible for how we walk the paths on which we find ourselves. In most instances, we do not choose those paths, yet we must walk them alone. There is no help through these journeys and I’ve accepted that I navigate these traumatic events on my own. Expecting family, close friends and loved ones to help, just serves to delay my progress.

8. Advice for other women?

Never allow another person to define you. Aim to be self-sufficient, think before expecting a helping hand. Your future and your destiny are in your hands alone.

9. Knowing what we know now in the current political climate, can women be "all that we can be" in today's world? What is the way forward, as you see it, for "feminist values"?

From my perspective as a woman and a mother to two successful women in their early 30s, I think that, these days, women have achieved equality to men, in western culture anyway. However, in cultures and countries governed by strong religious orders equality of opportunity among men and women is still not in grasp. I am concerned about the tendency of some cultures to trump on the freedoms and equality for women. I attended an International School (high school) that was based both in South Africa and in UK. I knew girls my age from countries like Iran, Iraq, and India. When we were at school in the 1970s their mothers and women-folk dressed like us. Short skirts, make-up, heeled shoes, beautifully tended hair. They went out to bars and night clubs, danced to loud music; such was Tehran for example at the time. Then, suddenly all changed when new religious rulers tightened the laws and forced women into purdah, denied young people social drinking in bars and restaurants, separated how and where women could shop, pray, learn and live their lives; religion has always seemed to be the justification used for controlling women and tromping on their freedoms. I see this pattern growing. I see women becoming less free and this is very concerning.

10. Where in the world do you feel “tallest” (i.e. where is your happy place)?

I am happiest when doing active things, like running, cycling, climbing, competing, with other like-minded people. I don’t really like doing these things alone. This is the time when I’m at my happiest and most confident.

11. What extracurricular activities/hobbies are you most proud of? Why?

My World Championship Sporting achievements; I am proud of my ability to compete at this level.

One winters day, instead of sitting on the side-lines while my partner, Derek did a Winter Biathlon Championship in the northern suburbs of Cape Town, I signed up to compete as well. That’s how i found myself at the start line of a Biathlon, in August of 2013. That year, in that first race, I beat the standing provincial record in my category and set a new record for the sport. I astonished myself and others. Thus began eight-year Modern Pentathlon obsession, participating in sprint championships, locally, provincially, nationally and internationally. In addition, I also found I could win trail races, road races and generally perform well in anything that involved running or shooting.

I first started running when I was 52 years old. I had, until then never done any “cardio” work in my life, apart from annual athletic events in primary school before. I am now 62 and while my times are slower than they were ten years ago, I am still into trail running and mountain biking. I do something every day; and hope to never lose sight of the goals to get fitter, stronger and faster.

12. Have you travelled solo? If so, which were some of the most memorable destinations and why? Why do you travel and would you recommend it to women?

In my 20s I solo-travelled, but not to “explore”. My father who determined most of what I did as an adolescent, did not approve of “adventuring”. Now, at 62, I still feel the need to “settle”, though where and doing what I don’t yet know. So, at 62, I am about to embark on a new job, on a new continent. I am going to spend some months working in the UK and see how that goes.

As for other women, I think they can do anything and go almost anywhere (barring some extremely repressive societies). My eldest daughter has travelled throughout Asia, South America, and the Caribbean with only her backpack and no plan. This was the way she chose to see the world at 19 and still does it now, at 31. I’m proud of her, she has worked in Sidney and in Monaco, and currently works in London as a commodities trader.

13. What do you want to be when you grow up? Future goals/challenges?

In one word – happy. I cannot ask for more than this nor want more than this.

14. What fears are you still hoping to overcome?

I fear loneliness; it is really something I need to learn to overcome.

15. Anything you'd do differently, if you had another go at life?

I would absolutely choose a career that involved science, not humanities. My dream career would be in biosciences.

16. What/who inspires you?

I’ve been asked this question many times and yet I don’t think I’ve got an answer. I am inspired by kindness, loyalty, by trustworthiness. These qualities I hold in high regard; they serve as pillars for my own conduct. So, when I see or meet people who display these characteristics, I am inspired by them and strive to follow their example.

17. What are you hopeful about?

I am hopeful that I can keep learning, growing, trying new things and reaching heights I haven’t reached before. This is how I imagine a child would feel - pure excitement about what’s possible and unexplored. I hope to never stop wanting to see what’s around the corner and get excited about possibilities life will bring my way.

18. What are some ingredients to a good life? How did the global pandemic change your perspective about the world, about your life, your goals and dreams?

Being able to be active and spend time in nature with like-mind people; that’s the essence of what makes a good life. Living in Cape Town checks almost every box in this respect.

In the worst days of “lockdown” during the pandemic, getting out to exercise with people and do adventurous things in the places close to home was denied to all of us. There is nothing like “removing” something we’ve always thought we could do, to make us appreciate its value in our lives.

19. What are (at least) three qualities you most love about yourself and why? What are your superpowers?

1. My intuition. That’s my super power!

2. Kindness.

3. People can and do trust me.

4. I am good at bringing people together for a good time, and for enjoyment of experiences.

20. What advice would you give your 14-year-old self? What advice would your 14-year-old self give you in return?

I would tell her that she is “enough”. In turn, she would probably tell me not to depend on someone else to make me happy; if I do, that will serve as a major downfall throughout my future life.

21. What are you reading now? (What books do you gift most and what are your favourite reads?)

My favourite read is The National Geographic Magazine. Financially, I am not really in a position to “gift” books to people. They are very expensive here in Cape Town. If I have gifted a book it tends to be a self-help book on a topic that is extremely relevant and poignant to the receiver. One of my “collections” at home are my books. History is something I love. My grandfather and my father were collectors of books and I have a few from their libraries. If I buy new books they are either because I know the author or because they feature an aspect of history that I am living in right now.

22. Who is a WOW WOMAN in your world who inspires you and why? Can you nominate three (or more) women you know who perfectly fit WOW WOMAN description? What would you tell them, if you had an opportunity, about why you admire them?

Tracy Going – an author, media personality, film maker and my friend. She is a WOW WOMAN. I keep on discovering new talents she posesses: cooking, photography or fine art… in addition to authoring a best selling biography “Brutal Legacy” (powerful account of how one person's ruthlessness can turn another's life upside down and change everything that comes thereafter). I am really fortunate to count her as one of my closest friends. I admire her for her ability to explore her many talents. I would always encourage her to believe in herself, always.

Monica (my daughter) – for overcoming and rising above the rejection that she experienced as a child and a teen. Because her home life was difficult (due to instability brought on by my ex-husband), she sought to travel. At 19, with a one way ticket to Buenos Aires and no fixed plan beyond the first few nights, she bravely left South Africa to solo back pack around South America. I’m proud that my daughter graduated from Cape Town University, After she had got her undergraduate degree at a Cape Town university, Monica was responsible enough to save up on the airline ticket herself and showed courage and resilience by seeking work as she travelled. She eventually took on a temporary job in Sydney, at a significant Chinese Coal Commodity Trading company, and was eventually promoted to a Coal Commodity Marketing Manager. From there, she rose up in her field of Commodity Trading, and became a Trader in a company in Monaco. I am immensely proud of Monica, who is now living in London and gives generously to her less financially secure mother and sister.

As soon as she left high school, my daughter pretty much never lived at home again. She made her home wherever she found work. She chose her field partly out of the sense of duty and responsibility for her mother and sister when carving a high earning career in the world of International Commodity Trading. She also ended up as a woman in a man’s world of trading. She has excelled, despite struggles with the challenges of being pulled down by male colleagues who could not see her as their equal. She proved them all wrong. Monica truly has courage beyond her years and experience. I want to tell Monica that she is simply amazing.

Amelia (my daughter) who achieved astonishingly high academic merit, for overcoming and thriving through the severe reading and learning challenges as a student. Despite others’ opinions, she followed her passions and pursued Theatre, Performance and Acting career. She left home shortly after high school, travelled from South Africa at 21 and worked in her industry of choice where she knew she had the best chance of making it. With no backing nor support, she found work and worked many challenging gigs in order to survive and live. I am extremely proud of Amelia, who started her own production company as a side “hustle” with nothing but the sheer determination to succeed; succeed she did. She is now working in her “happy place”. Her strengths and skills are rightfully recognised and appreciated daily. I admire Amelia for her incredible determination, her kindness to the planet, and her compassion toward those less-fortunate. I’m proud of Amelia for her kind heart, managing to help others and for never ever, ever, ever giving up.

23. Where can others find you/your work (links to websites, blogs, etc.)?

My two businesses at the moment:

styal.co.za 

claremontaccommodation.co.za

Instagram: @bridgidhr

Bonus Quick Round Qs:

1. What and who is worth suffering for? My daughters. No contest.

2. What would you do if you knew that nobody would judge you? Just what I am doing now. I don’t fear judgement.

3. If you didn't have to work anymore what would you do with your days? I’d work on my book full-time; the book I have already planned and begun to write.

4. If you could be anyone for a day who would you be? A world-class downhill skier, to feel what it’s like to possess that skill and feel the exhilaration. It would be incredible, even just for a day.

5. If you could relive one year in your life, which one would it be? 2016. I did not know how special that year was – my first international competition, being together with my partner Derek (who loved me more than anyone in my life has ever loved me), being in a relatively stable financial position. It was overall a happy year, very happy. Who knew how finite that happiness would be.

6. What bothers you most about people? People can turn out to be unreliable just when when one expects and needs them to be reliable. It disturbs me, to be let down by people; it is something I can’t always shake or ignore. What do you love most about people? Having interesting conversations, sharing ideas and experiences with others - this is something that I can get huge pleasure from. I love learning from and being exposed to different opinions and cultures; oftentimes, from interacting with people from other parts of the world and from different walks of life. I love most what a diverse range of people can teach me and expose me to.