Tia Banks – From Pro Athlete to Mountaineer: Climbing the 7 Volcanic Summits and Teaching Resilience Through Adventure

In this powerful episode of the Tough Girl Podcast, we meet Tia Banks—a former professional basketball player turned mountaineer and certified resilience expert. Based in Texas, Tia is on a bold mission to climb all seven volcanic summits, one on each continent, using her journey as a platform to inspire strength, courage, and mental resilience.

Her love for adventure began with Mount Kilimanjaro in 2021, where she faced illness, doubt, and the ultimate test of her mindset on summit night. But for Tia, mountaineering is more than reaching the top—it's about how we speak to ourselves in tough moments, how we dig deep when we want to give up, and how we "climb our own mountains" in life.

In this episode, Tia opens up about her early years in sport, the "suck it up" mentality, the importance of positive self-talk, and her commitment to empowering young people through adventure therapy and her non-profit initiative, Summit Saturday.

If you're looking for a dose of motivation to keep pushing through your own challenges—or to finally try something you've never dared before—Tia's story will light the fire.

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Show notes

• Who is Tia Banks
• Former professional basketball player
• Certified in resilience
• Based in Texas
• Her early years and having a sporty childhood 
• The suck it up muscle 
• SUCK IT UP at 6 years old….
• Becoming more aware of mental health on her personal journey
• Getting into mountaineering
• Climbing Kilimanjaro in 2021
• Go big or go home 
• Writing her goal in her journal 
• Starting to prepare and research 
• Working with a breathing coach
• Committing to the training 
• Focusing on endurance 
• Preparing her body and her mind
• Positive self talk
• Optimism
• Book: Mind Over Mountains: Life Changing Strategies to Overcome Adversity 
• Digging into the mindset while on the mountain 
• Being sick when she first got to Africa
• Being challenged to do hard things, even when you don't feel like it
• Needing to dig deep and why it wasn't just a one time thing
• Holding on to hope
• Summit night on Kilimanjaro 
• Stella Point
• Managing self talk and comparisons to other people
• Pole Pole - Pronounced "po-lay po-lay," it's Swahili for "slowly, slowly."
• The technique of reframing
• Going into schools and talking about mental health with children and young adults
• Saray Khumalo - first black African woman to reach the summit of Mt Everest 
• Needing to ask for help
• Why motivation style changes and different motivation is needed at different times 
• Working towards a biggest challenge
• Wanting to summit all 7 volcanic summits on each continent 
• Mount Giluwe in Papua New Guinea
• Adventure Therapy
• Non Profit - 'Summit Saturday' - taking at risk youth out into nature 
• Managing herself to ensure not to burnout
• Wanting to build a better self care regiment