December 30, 2025 • 55 mins
The award-winning author, TEDx speaker, screenwriter, Gestalt practitioner, and patient advocate, Risa August, has been living with a pituitary tumor and the rare disease acromegaly for over a decade. From being a girl with sparkles in her hair to an Ironman athlete, Risa still has a passion for her bike and barbells. With genuine curiosity and a love for trying new (and old) things, you may find Risa taking Bollywood or Hip-Hop dance lessons, trying out aerial silks, a boxing class, going indoor skydiving, or guiding inspirational workshops in creativity.
Through her personal transformation, Risa has learned and practiced removing limiting beliefs, shifting her perspective, and embracing an expansive life unleashed. Risa shares her insights and perspectives on stage, offering words of inspiration to audiences. Additionally, Risa works one-on-one with clients, guiding them through the many roadblocks of life and toward living in a more fully inspired way.
Recently, Risa published her book, The Road Unpaved: Border to Border with a Brain Tumor and a Bike. I’ve read The Road Unpaved and can tell you I was deeply moved and awestruck by Risa’s struggles to overcome the strains of a grueling 1000+ mile bike ride along the U.S. Pacific Coast while contending with her tumor and acromegaly. If you’re interested in stories about people engaging in their deepest will power to triumph over extreme challenges, then I highly urge you to check out The Road Unpaved.
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Steve Cu (00:00):
On today's Story Beat.
Not gonna write this entire book or I can't do itall right now. And I had to start taking, small
steps and asking myself again, going back to thatsimple word can and like, okay, well what can I
do? It's just simplifying it, like those smallwins and like step by step and then eventually
(00:22):
reaching that bigger thing. And so that would be,that would be my advice. Ask yourself, like, what
can I do?
This is Story Beat with Steve Cuden. A podcast forthe creative mind. Storybeat explores how masters
of creativity develop and produce brilliant worksthat people everywhere love and admire. So join us
(00:48):
as we discover how talented creators find successin the worlds of imagination and entertainment.
Here now is your host, Steve Cuden
Thanks for joining us on Story Beat. We're comingto you from the steel City, Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania. Well, my guest today, the awardwinning author, TedX speaker, screenwriter,
(01:13):
Gestalt practitioner and patient advocate, RisaAugust has been living with a pituitary tumor and
the rare disease acromegaly for over a decade.
From being a girl with sparkles in her hair to anironman athlete, Risa still has a passion for her
bike and barbells. With genuine curiosity and alove for trying new and old things, you may find
(01:36):
Risa taking Bollywood or hip hop dance lessons,trying out aerial silks, a, boxing class, going
indoor skydiving, or guiding inspirationalworkshops and creativity. Through her personal
transformation, Risa has learned and practicedremoving limiting beliefs, she shifting her
perspective and embracing an expansive life.
Unleashed, Risa shares her insights andperspectives on stage, offering words of
(02:00):
inspiration to audiences. Additionally, Risa worksone on one with clients, guiding them through the
many roadblocks of life and toward living in amore fully inspired way. Recently, Risa published
her book the Road Border to Border. With a BrainTumor and a Bike, I've read the Road Unpaved and
can tell you I was deeply moved and awestruck byRissa's struggles to overcome strains of a
(02:25):
grueling 1000 plus mile bike ride along the USPacific coast while contending with her tumor and
acromegaly. If you're interested in stories aboutpeople engaging in their deepest willpower to
triumph over extreme challenges, then I highlyurge you to check out the Road Unpaved. So for all
those reasons and many more, it's a tremendoushonor for me to welcome the outstanding author and
(02:50):
speaker, the inspiring Risa August, to Story Beattoday. Risa thanks so much for joining me.
Oh my gosh, Steve. Well, first of all, you make mesound Amazing.
Well, you are amazing.
Second of all, I am so honored to be here. And asI was telling you earlier, you have such
incredible people on your show, and I am just sograteful that I get to join, you this time.
(03:15):
Well, it's a great privilege to have you on theshow, and I'm delighted that you're now part of
the gang. so let's go back in time just a littlebit. How old were you when you first started
thinking about athletics, being someone who isvery physical in life?
Oh, gosh, yes. well, I was kind of a tomboygrowing up, and so I had an older brother, and if
(03:38):
I want to hang with him, you know, that meant, youknow, getting out there and, you know, playing
football or baseball, or things like that. So Iwas kind of athletic growing.
Up in the rough and tumble. You were a rough andtumble kid?
Yeah, I'd say so, for sure. But then, you know,when I went off to, you know, I played sports in
(03:59):
school and. But when I went off to college, thatkind of changed, and I got more into, you know, it
was going to classes and working and, maybepartying a little bit and less about athletics.
Well, school is. I think school should be about50% partying and 50% studying. That's just the way
(04:20):
I look at school. When did you start riding abike?
I mean, I learned to ride a bike as a child, but Iactually didn't really get into cycling until, oh,
gosh, my late, 20s. and someone actually wastraining for a triathlon, and I asked them what
they were doing, and they were like, oh, I'm doinga triathlon. You should try one. So I remember
(04:44):
borrowing an oversized mountain bike and doing myfirst sprint triathlon shortly after that. And
that's kind of where that journey began.
So, that's what I'm curious about. Where did theinspiration for being a bicyclist start? It didn't
start till you were in your late 20s.
Well, yeah, and I actually still didn't even likebiking. Like, I liked the running portion, and I
(05:09):
was getting better at the swimming portion ofthese triathlons, but my least favorite was the
bike. And, it wasn't until fast forward, 15 yearslater, when I was diagnosed with a brain tumor and
this very destructive disease called acromegaly,as you mentioned. And I was never going to run
again. And, I physically didn't have, the ability,to do that. And so I was like, well, okay, bike.
(05:36):
It's me and you. If I want to stay active. I gotto find something that I can still physically do.
And we're going to dig in deeper on the bike, theride, the book and all that shortly. I just want
to cover some early things as background for you,which I think is important for the listeners to
understand. when you were in school, did you learnhow to be a decent or a good or a wonderful
(05:59):
writer? Then when did you start to write?
Well, this is an interesting story too. I startedjournaling probably when I was 20. Around 20. I
didn't really enjoy writing at all. English was myleast favorite class class. And I didn't like
writing reports or anything. I was a journaler andI have stacks and stacks of journals. Again, Fast
(06:24):
forward maybe 15, 20 years later, I startedlooking back at some of those journals and I'm
like, wow, I can't believe I was this profound. Iwasn't half bad, let's put it that way. And I had
some interesting things to say.
well, the book is so well written. That's why Iask where this began, because that's part of
(06:46):
creativity, is being able to translate what yourthoughts are into the written word so that others
can read it and understand it. That's no meanfeat. That's something that's really challenging
to do. Well, almost anybody can write something,but to write it so that it's. That has tone and
style and voice and all that, that's hard to do.
(07:07):
And, and you're very good at it. So that's why Iwondered how long you'd been at it. Were you
always a reader?
That came later in life as well. and, especiallymy appreciation for that. And as I start. When I
started learning about myself as a person and as ahuman and who am I on this planet and what am I
doing with my life and all those questions thatcome as you age. And I started exploring those
(07:31):
things and how I see the world and what'simportant to me and what do I value. And that
evolved as a write, as a writer too. And you weresaying, like I write, like I talk, like I write
how I exist in the world. internally I'm a. Andmaybe externally I'm a very colorful person. And
I, and I see people and my characters that way.
(07:51):
Like, like I see who they are and how. How do Itranslate that to paper? So, yeah, that started
unfolding over time. like I really write how Iview the world and how, how I am as a person in
this world.
Well, your and powerful and you draw Veryinteresting, compelling characters. Just what you
were saying. And the people that were on the ride.
(08:13):
We'll talk about the book. now, I guess, the folksthat you draw in the book are all quite
interesting. There's no, dead wood in the book.
They're all very compelling characters. Was thatjust lucky or did you somehow, build them up?
I feel that every human on this planet has astory. I find that in people. I find their story,
(08:36):
I find their interesting parts. I find theirquirks. Like I see them, I, I see people beneath
the surface of, of maybe who, who, who they are,presenting as. And I'm a detail person. I notice
all the details and oftentimes I notice detailsthat maybe other people wouldn't.
(08:58):
Well, we know that you were a party planner, soyou must be a detail oriented person.
Yes. And so, so I feel like I don't, when it comesto creating, even representing these people who
became my characters in my book, I didn't have toembellish or make anything up. like that's really
kind of what I drew from, from each person andthat's how I experienced them.
(09:21):
So you see people for who they are and what'sgoing on beneath the surface, don't you?
I feel, I do. And I feel like I maybe see peopleat a depth that could even potentially scare them.
Well, I think it probably would scare a lot ofpeople. And in fact, I think, at least in my
experience, most people don't see beneath thesurface of others very well. And so if you do,
(09:43):
yeah, you could scare the heck out of somebody, nodoubt. Do you think of yourself as an empath?
Yeah, I would say, yeah, for sure. You know,there's a lot, to be said about what is, is not
said and as well as mannerisms, and body languageand all of it. So, you know, I feel like, I'm
(10:03):
really good at reading and feeling energy. I don'ttalk about that too much, you know, because it
might sound weird to people, but I really do feel.
Like, well, like all things that are metaphysical.
It feels weird to some people, no doubt. youclearly have an amazing story to tell and it's
tremendous that you survived to tell your tale.
(10:24):
You've had a rough ride along the way in more waysthan one. so tell the listeners a bit about the
road unpaved. More than what I've already said.
What's it all about?
It started off as a bucket list item, actually. itstarted as, a conscious decision to start living
my life full on, 100% not. And, instead of talkingabout all the things I wanted to do someday, just
(10:50):
start living them. So I remember sitting on myliving room sofa and having this moment. Okay, my
life is no longer going to be that. So what can itbe? What do I want it to be? It went from, being
this very rigid, organized, detailed person, likea planner. I lived my life like I was an Ironman
(11:11):
athlete.
Steve Cud (11:12):
And heavy discipline.
Yeah, very disciplined. Thank you, that's a greatword. And very focused and, but very like, maybe
even narrow minded. I didn't understand whyeveryone in the world didn't operate the way I
did. and then suddenly, you know, I'm hit withthis brain tumor diagnosis and this disease that
was, is destroying my body over time. And I'mlike, oh my God, like, I'll never be the same.
(11:37):
Life will never be the same. So what do I want itto be? And I didn't think I had a choice. And then
one day I'm like, wait a minute, I have a choice.
Like, I get to choose what my life looks likemoving forward. It doesn't have to be what it was.
And so when I started embracing that, that's whenI really started living. so that same day I signed
(11:57):
up for a 1800 mile bicycle journey from Canada toMexico.
Which, as you say, was on your bucket list ofthings to do.
On my bucket list of things to do. And from that,another bucket list item was my. That bike ride
became my book and my story. and it was lessabout, you know, cycling and more about, the, the
(12:18):
road unpaved is more about like how the road, anunpaved road is like a metaphor for life, or a
road is a metaphor for life. Not always smooth andeasy, it's not always straight and narrow. It's
you know, or expansive. you know, there's detoursand turns and obstacles and pop holes and all of
that. And, and sometimes it's not even paved andit's pretty rugged.
(12:40):
And so there's no doubt life is. What is thecliche? Life is a journey and hopefully you never
actually arrive.
Risa August (12:48):
Yes, yes.
So then you decided at some point to combine thesetwo bucket list items. Writing a book and the bike
ride. Which came first, the bike ride or the book?
I started writing the book on the bike ride, so.
But I knew I was going to be writing a book. Youknow, I just didn't know where or how it was going
(13:09):
to start or form or unfold. But I knew this bikeride was going to be a part of the story. And so I
was doing a lot of writing and recording on thatjourney. And again, I'm a details person. I take
in so much details with my eyes. And so thatjourney, that bike journey, was just overflowing
(13:29):
with details and experiences. But I went in,thinking this was going to be my, my journey and
the solo journey. I'm going to do it my way, on myterms. But I had. There was a lot of people in
that journey that became a very important part ofthe journey and me learning more about myself and,
(13:50):
you know, this life I was stepping into.
Well, the, the ride. It's clear in the book thatthe ride, revealed to you and unveiled to you many
things about yourself that had not really occurredto you before. And so was there an epiphany at
some point during the ride where you went, youknow what? I really have to get this out and into
the world and so that others benefit from what I'mexperiencing.
(14:14):
I knew I wanted that. Like, I knew I wanted thatso badly. But there's still that, part of that
doubt, you know, that kind of seeps in whereyou're like, but is it really gonna happen? Like,
I really want this to happen, but is. Is itreally. Am I really gonna make this a book? Like,
is it gonna really be a story? And so it wasn'tuntil about maybe five months after the ride where
(14:38):
I was like, this is happening. and I hired, acoach, like, for accountability, if nothing else,
to keep me going.
you're talking about as a, as a writer.
As a writer, yeah. Because, you know, I, I washaving a love hate relationship with my story, and
one day it's the best thing ever, and I'm, youknow, and I'm doing this, and then the next day
(15:01):
I'm like, this sucks. Who's. Who's gonna want toread this and who cares?
Like, do you know, do you know what that's called?
Imposter syndrome?
No, it's called being a writer. That's what allwriters go through, unless they're just super into
it. You know, most writers suffer that experienceall the time. I think at this, this book is no
(15:22):
good. The script is no good. Whatever it isthey're writing, I'm going to put it away. I'm
going to come back to it later. It is impostersyndrome. There's no doubt about it. Why, at the
moment that you decided to write the book, why didyou decide this is the right time to talk in such
Detail and depth about what is clearly a reallyperf. Personal set of issues.
(15:45):
I don't know. I think that's like a layered.
There's, a layered answer to that. So there wasthe one. One aspect of it, about my diagnosis. Had
I been diagnosed earlier when like, you know, tookseven years for me to get diagnosed and had my
doctors listened to me seven years ago, like, Imight have had a very different trajectory. And so
(16:06):
I was like, okay, if I can get this out there,maybe I can save lives. Like, maybe I can save
other people from my same prognosis.
So you had an altruistic reason on top of goingthrough the experience yourself, you had an
altruistic reason, which was to, help others withyour story.
(16:27):
Yeah, that was a big part of it. the other part ofit was, you know, it felt important to me to
follow through with that commitment I made tomyself about living on that day on the couch. I
chose to live and I chose to, you know, I wasgoing to start doing those things on my bucket
list, not just talking about them, going to startdoing that.
(16:48):
So once you got the diagnosis, you sort ofcollapsed into yourself a little bit, didn't you?
I did. I became very, yeah. Self reflective and.
Absolutely.
And you didn't leave the house very much. And, itwas internal. It became a very internal thing. And
you made a decision at some point to get out ofthe house and be external, which is what the book
(17:09):
is all about, basically. Why did it take sevenyears for the diagnosis to happen? What was that
about?
It's difficult to diagnose these types of tumorsand the diseases they couldn't cause because the
symptoms are kind. That can be assigned to almostanything interesting. You know, fatigue, headache,
(17:31):
joint pain. And there's always this easyexplanation for it. Well, I'm aging or I'm. You
know, my doctor told me once, like, well, I thinkyou're over training. You drink more water. So.
And I had significant weight gain, even though Iwas a very rigid athlete and healthy, very rigid
(17:52):
in my diet. And my doctor was like, well, no, I'mnot worried. You're an athlete. And I'm like, but
this doesn't make sense. So. So it's. It was justkind of. I really think people started, thinking
maybe I was lying about what I was eating and thatI wasn't taking care of myself. And. And, And so
(18:14):
I, I don't. I actually signed up for OvereatersAnonymous because I thought, okay, maybe. Maybe
I'm in denial. Maybe I'M maybe I'm lying to myselfabout how much food I'm eating.
Did some of the doctors think it waspsychological?
No one said that, but I had a feeling.
Cause they couldn't figure it out. So they have tohunt, for things that it might be. And that's an
(18:38):
easy way out for them. Obviously. once you did getthe diagnosis, what did you do to gain knowledge
and insight into it so that you could then attackthe issue itself?
Oh, gosh. well, at first I fired my doctor and I,found a new doctor. And, and I, I'm a researcher.
And again, back to the. I love the details. So Igot online, found whatever I could about the
(19:03):
disease. I started looking for specialists andpeople who are really knowledgeable about the
endocrine system and, these types of tumors anddiseases. And I got really involved, I got really
involved in this type of awareness because they,they're calling me like a disease, like acromegaly
rare. But it's believed that these tumors anddiseases aren't so rare and again, difficult to
(19:29):
diagnose. So I was, I just had, I was like, I needto change this.
They're not so rare, they're just hard todiagnose.
Yeah. And again, if the doctor maybe listened tome and did a little further research, a little,
maybe a few more blood tests, I might have had amuch earlier diagnosis and thus a different
(19:49):
prognosis. And so, yeah, so that led to myadvocacy work and support.
Understood. And so once you got this, decisionmaking in your blood, not literally in your blood,
but once you started to make these decisions aboutmoving forward with what you were doing, then you
were able to take action. And prior to that youwere kind of stuck. You couldn't really move
(20:14):
forward because you didn't know what to do.
Yeah, yeah. I mean, I used it as rocket fuel.
So tell the listeners who Bubba is. Yes, I foundBubba fascinating.
Oh my gosh, he is fabulous. so Bubba is my tumor,my brain tumor, and, my mentor at the time. I was
(20:36):
going through a gestalt, certification program.
Well, let's stop right there. What is gestalt?
Gestalt is a very non traditional approach, tolike, mental health, therapy or coaching. And so
it's very experiential, you know, like going backto treating the whole person. like there's many
layers to us, not just what you see on thesurface.
(20:57):
And you got trained in gestalt. You're a gestaltpractitioner. And so how did Bubba fit into this.
Yeah. So my mentor, she said, you know, Risa youknow, maybe instead of, like, cursing your body
and being mad at it for betraying you, what if younamed your tumor and gently, helped him along to
(21:19):
kind of move on out and be moving along. And I waslike, you're crazy. I don't. This is ridiculous.
And I'm not doing. And then one day in my car, I'mlike, huh? Well, what would I name you? Like, you
know, And I'm, like, trying all this stuff on, butthat. But Bubba kept sticking, like. Because I
(21:42):
just kept thinking of this, like, oafish, goofytype of being, like, kind of sitting in my head,
like, because I saw this image of my brain withthe tumor, and it was just kind of this blobby,
gray thing, and it had this little arm m. That's,like, wrapped around my carotid artery. But it
(22:02):
looks like a selfie. Like, it looks like thistumor was taking a selfie with my carotid artery.
And I'm just thinking of this goofy thing, andBaba is what stuck? and so he's hilarious.
Steve Cuden (22:16):
Is he still around?
He's still around. Yep. Yep. So, they couldn'tget, the entire tumor out, and so Bubba is still
with me, and we have less dialogue than we usedto, but whenever I need a kick in the pants, he's
there.
So how important is this personification of thetumor? How much. How important has that been to
(22:38):
your mental condition and how you've survived andall the rest of it? How vital is that?
We're in it together. Like, I had to stop fightingagainst him. Bubba. Bubba, My tumor. And start
living with him. Like, what is. What does lifelook like living with Bubba? And. And so. So I
(22:59):
really had to shift my perspective on that. Like,okay, we're in this. We're in this together.
So I'm wondering, you. In the book, you talk aboutfeeding your soul. Is Bubba part of that?
Yeah. Well, without giving too much away, youknow, going into the story, I was out to prove him
wrong. Like, I was out to. I was out to do thisjourney in spite of him. Like, you know, you're
(23:21):
not gonna bring me down kind of thing. Like, I'mgonna. I'm gonna do. I'm gonna show you and
everyone else that this. This isn't taking medown. Like, I'm gonna still. Still do life on my
terms. And, yeah, I still had that going into it.
I saw that very rigid, like, disciplined attitudethat I had pre diagnosis. But along the way, that
(23:43):
changed.
Well, you. You talk about also in the book about,you're a perfectionist, that you call yourself a
perfectionist. And I understand that I have a bitof perfectionism in me, too, so I. I empathize
with that and understand it. How difficult has itbeen for you to learn to flex and be less of a
perfectionist and still live what I guess youcould call a perfect life?
(24:06):
Ooh. It still comes and goes. Like, I'm. I workhard at not perfecting things.
Do you just love stuff go. Is that how it works?
The tumor and the radi and the brain surgery andthe radiation treatment has also changed. my
cognitive abilities, my memory, even. I mean, Ican honestly say I used to rarely ever make
(24:29):
mistakes. And now. And now I make them left andright all the time. And I'm forgetful, and I
forget things. And those are the people I used tobe annoyed with. And now I'm that person. And so
I've learned to accept that it's not always easy.
But there's also times where in my personal life,like, I'll purposely leave things. And I take
(24:53):
inspiration from. I think it's the Navajo thatused to purposely leave imperfections in their
art, especially their blankets, their wovenblankets. And, Because nothing could be perfect,
more perfect than God in their. In their eyes. Idon't consider myself a religious person. maybe a
little bit spiritual, but, But I. I was like, whoam I trying to be so darn perfect for?
(25:18):
I think the imperfections make us human. Yes, itis difficult if you all have a perfectionist,
attitude toward things, to overcome that and say,okay, it's good enough. I had a friend of mine who
was a very, successful inventor, and he used tosay, there comes a time in the course of every
product development when you must be willing tokill the engineer, because the engineer will keep
(25:42):
futzing around, futzing around forever until, youknow, ad infinitum. So you have to stop at some
point and say it's good enough. That's what you'retalking about, right?
Yes. And my editor finally was like, Risa you'redone. You keep rewriting the same stuff over and
over. You're just saying you're saying the samething, just in a different way.
(26:03):
Well, how many times did you rewrite the bookbefore he stopped you?
I mean, it got down to the point I probably hadthree or four drafts of the entire book. But,
like. But I would rewrite, Rewrite, like, chaptersor Sections of it, like, over and over and over
again. And, that just got to, like I said, to thepoint where my editor is like, okay, I need to.
(26:26):
Now I need to stop you. Like, I was supporting youin it, and now I need to stop you.
It becomes too much for other people. So you haveto take them into consideration. How does the
gestalt practice fit into that?
I've really done a lot of personal healingthrough, gestalt work and through. Through
(26:48):
coaching other people and, you know, seeing someof my, like, a little bit of myself maybe in each
person. And, and recognizing that, staying humblein that of like, okay, I may have been a
perfectionist, but I was never perfect.
Never perfect, whatever that is. So. So then thequestion is and always will be, what is
(27:11):
perfection? What's perfect? Right? And I thinkthat things are perfect. It's hard to say it, but
things are perfect the way they are, but they canalways be improved in some way. But that doesn't
necessarily make them more perfect. that's justhow I look at it. M. But I've come at it also from
an arts perspective, and the arts are a perfect,very personal thing. People see the arts, writing,
(27:39):
painting, etcetera, in their own way, andeverybody sees it a little bit differently. So
whatever that, whatever that thing is, that'sperfect. What did your background and your
discipline in Ironman competitions, how did thathelp you to get through the challenges of the
disease before you got to the bike ride?
It's that mindset that, like, the grit and, andthe drive and the will and the determination that
(28:06):
I always had to always going to finish a race.
Like, I. Like I was. It was. There was never aquestion that I wouldn't finish. And. And so I
actually remember talk. I was in the office withmy neurosurgeon and I was like, look, doc, I have
a 250 mile bike ride, six weeks post surgery. So,like, I just need to know, like, you know, what.
(28:33):
What is my recovery like, you know, estimatedrecovery time. And. And he stood there, like, I
think he thought I. He was being punk. He stoodthere like, like, just like, is she joking? Like,
I'm not sure. Is she serious? And so he stoodthere for a minute, and then when he realized I
(28:56):
was dead serious, he's like, rissi, you're noteven allowed to drive for a couple months post
surgery. There's no way you're getting on a bike.
Like, and what did that do to you? How did youthink about that?
Well, the rebellious side of me said, we'll seeabout that. but I did quickly learn that I was not
(29:24):
going to get on a bike ride and I was not going tobe able to do that 250 mile bike ride.
But that's the Ironman brain feeling. The thought,the emotional reaction as an Ironman athlete is
I'm going to overcome that, right?
Yeah. And then you throw in other people tellingyou what you can't do. And I was like, oh, wait a
(29:45):
minute, you know, challenge accepted. So yeah, soit's this mindset and a little bit of rebellion.
So, you also talk in the book about alone time,aiding and healing. How important is alone time?
Yeah, it depends how you use that time. You couldspiral, you know, into a dark place, which isn't
(30:09):
necessarily a bad thing if you have the tools toget yourself out of it. And then there's also,
Because you can spend too much time alone. Is thatwhat you're saying?
Yeah. Like what? Like being alone. I lean moretowards introvert and I love my alone time and
that's where I kind of refuel. And But you couldlike, I go, I can go to dark places in that alone
(30:31):
time too. And so, but those are the times wherethat Ironman mindset is like, okay, Marissa, time
to get up. Time to get back out there. Becauseyou're going to a place that isn't going to serve
you, it's just not going to serve you well.
But you also then say that connection is one ofyour top values.
Risa August (30:50):
Definitely.
So that sort of counteracts the alone time,doesn't it? The connection part of
Depends what type of connection. I could sit onthis call with you for hours and we could talk
about deep things and I will feel so energizedafter that. But if someone wants to, I don't know,
(31:12):
talk about the weather or I don't want to soundrude here but like just more trivial things,
Mundane, mundane things. Then, I can spend my timedoing other things.
So the connection is not just the idea of twopeople in a room together or on zoom together or
whatever. It's the idea of the depth of thatconnection.
(31:35):
Absolutely.
I see. And so do you seek that out or do you waitfor it to come to you?
I'd say I definitely seek it out. I'm not a sitaround and wait kind of person. I'm not the type
of person of, oh, it'll come to me. I'm a doer. Idon't know. And again, it's Also because I want to
(31:56):
live, I really want to experience life in allcapacity and not just like the wonderful happy
things that happen. I, I recently rode acrossnorthern Spain and it was the most challenging,
worst trip of my life and I loved it.
The most challenging, worst trip of your life?
Worst trip of my life and I would never trade itfor anything. So I, like, that's what I mean by
(32:21):
living all like living full on all of it. Like Iwant to experience all of it and not just the
happy rainbows and unicorns.
So you also talk, I think wonderfully about smallwins and that leads you to a kind of victory. Talk
about that. What do you mean by small wins canlead you to a victory?
(32:42):
Oh, I feel emotional. A, ah, little emotionalabout this question. There were days and there
still are days where I don't know how I'm going toget out of bed. my energy is lack. Like I struggle
with immense fatigue, symptoms and side effects, alot of pain. you know, I had to, I had to get to a
(33:07):
point of like, okay, what am I capable of? Likewhat am I capable of and able to do right now in
this moment? It's, it really became a profoundquestion for me. Okay. Like I know what I'm
capable of. What's okay, what's realistic rightnow? What can, what am I able to do in this moment
and, and focusing on the right now? Not, not whatI like. Okay, what all the things that have to get
(33:33):
done today. No, like bringing it to the now. Andsometimes my days are step by step. Okay, I can
get up and I can sit on the side of my bed for afew moments. Okay. I can get to the bathroom and
brush my teeth. That's the next thing. All right,am I going to get out of these sweatpants today? I
don't know. Maybe I will, maybe I won't. What'sthe next thing that needs to happen? And it's step
(33:56):
by step. And that's where I started with thisjourney. And that's what I meant. I started with
getting out of bed and brushing my teeth and Iended up 1800 miles later at the Mexican and US
border. So. But again, I had to start with smallwins. you know, getting back on the bike. Someone
(34:17):
who used to ride 65 miles a day for fun was like,am I going to be able to even ride one mile? And
my first bike ride out on the open road again postbrain surgery was eight miles. I'm going to start
crying again. And, but I did it it's interesting.
How parallel that is to life itself and not justin your specific case, which is amazing. I mean,
(34:44):
you're. It's miraculous that you have taken thisone step at a time and gone as far as you've gone.
I mean, not everyone would. But there's a parallelto the arts as well in what you're talking about,
that you don't have to create an entire book in aday. You don't have to create an entire movie in a
day. It can be little simple steps at a time toget to your ultimate victory. In your case, it's
(35:08):
really big because it's life itself. And so, Ithink that that's a very powerful message. That
little, little steps can take you to a much biggerconclusion.
Absolutely. And even when I decided I was going todo this big bike ride, I actually, I didn't get
out of my bike for months. I actually startedpainting. Painting. That was a step in the process
(35:35):
of kind of healing and getting on my bike. I hadto start somewhere.
And so how does painting relate to the bike?
I knew in that moment, when I talk about being onthat couch and making that conscious decision to
live, that was the same day I signed up for abicycle journey. That bicycle journey. But I, was
(35:56):
in no physical condition to even get back on abike. And I was like, I have to do something. And
again, I was like, what can I do? And I remember Iwas like, I have to get off this couch. And then I
started painting. I knew I, like, I had to again,it was the mindset. And so I started painting,
gifts for my fellow practitioners, thecertification program I was going through. The
(36:21):
painting became an outlet and a step toward, youknow, I think after that I started walking to my
mailbox. So it was a step in the process ofhealing. so no, it didn't have anything to do with
the bike ride itself, but it was, had everythingto do with my process toward that.
And you had to bring yourself to it. Or as AuntieMame once famously said, most people, can't bring
(36:48):
themselves to bring themselves to them.
They can only see it one way. Like, well, ifyou're gonna go do this bike ride, you better get
on your bike. And I'm, I, couldn't get on my bike.
Like, I had to get off that couch first. So Ireally, yeah, I really had to simplify. And, and
again, that's my message. You know, it's not gonnabe a bike ride for Everybody, like an 1800 mile
(37:11):
bike ride. It's gonna be very different things andthere's going to be different ways to get there.
But, I had to start stop seeing obstacles asobstacles and just see them as like, okay, it's
just a detour, it's just a pivot.
How long did it take you to finally get to thepoint where you thought, okay, I can get on the
bike and I can do this trip? Even though youweren't 100% sure. But how long did it take to get
(37:34):
to the point where you thought, okay, I can getout of the house, I'm off the couch and actually
take a long bike ride?
I had 14 months to get to the Canadian and USborder and I'd say it was at about 10 months when
I started believing it, like, believing that I cando it.
That's amazing. Did you know at that time that youwould be able to use the ride as a means of
(37:58):
advocacy?
I didn't. because again, I was going in like, I'mdoing this ride for me. And someone said, I think
someone said that to me, like, oh, are you, areyou doing this for your disease? And I was like,
oh, why would I do that? and so then I said, well,maybe I can wear a jersey or something. But it
(38:23):
just caught wind and it actually gained a lot ofattention and momentum. And I remember being mad
about it that, you know, that people were moreexcited about the bike ride as opposed to like the
disease or the story behind it. But then I, then Istarted realizing, oh, well, the bike's just, it's
(38:46):
just the platform for it. It's just, it's just theplatform for all the other amazing things.
Well, you eventually had Risa unleashed buttons.
Yes, I had buttons and you know, constant checkins and interviews along the way. And, and I had a
love hate relationship with that. And,
(39:07):
Why did you love and hate that? What was it aboutthat?
It was that fight of, old Risa versus New Risa I'mhere to do this ride for me and. But yet I wanted
to save lives and save people from this, you know,fate that I was facing. And, and it was kind of
this push and pull of like, oh, I want to helppeople and, but wait a minute. I want it to be my
(39:33):
ride and I want to heal. And again, just, ah, anunfolding and a learning opportunity and, you
know, finding out who I really was.
Now, you were also putting out videos of yourtrip, right? And so you started to spark hope in
certain people as they were following you along.
I Didn't see myself that way. I just was like, no,I would be out here doing this anyways. It was
(40:00):
hard to see myself as an inspiration to otherpeople.
All right. But at some point, you had to know youwere inspiring other people. It had to have been
somewhat obvious to you.
that's what people were saying.
So you don't know whether that's sparking hope inothers, actually sparked hope in you, or did it?
Well, I remember the first time someone told me Iinspired them. Again, I feel emotional around it.
(40:23):
And so then I think that was a time I was like,okay, maybe what I'm doing does really matter.
Well, clearly it does, because lots of peoplefollowed you. And I'm certain that there are many
people that are now reading your book and beinginspired by it.
I actually just got a text today, someone saying,oh, my God. I felt like I was reading my story. so
it's really beautiful.
(40:43):
Well, do you think of yourself as a teacher?
Maybe on some level, yeah. Now, I am.
well, let me tell you, after teaching for 10 yearsat the college level, there's nothing less humble
than teaching. You have to be willing to give outof yourself in front of a group of people and hope
(41:05):
that what you're saying has some value to them andthat they're walking away with something. So being
humble about it is very challenging because youhave to sort of be out there and. And once you
went on this trip and you were videoing it andsubmitting the videos to the Internet, people were
then tracking you and taking some kind ofinspiration from it. You. You write, and I'm going
(41:28):
to quote, you write in the book, quote, what wasimportant was what my soul was going to do on this
ride, what my soul would carry, and the layers Ihoped it would shed along the way. Close quote.
Can you expand on that? What does that mean? Andhow does that relate to what we're just talking
about?
It was the first time in my life I was asking,myself, like, what does Risa want? Like, what do I
(41:49):
want this life to look like? I had to shed a lotof ego. I had to shed a lot of worrying about what
the world and what everyone in my life would thinkabout this new Risa and, who I wanted to be and
how I wanted to be in the world. And I was so usedto living life kind of according to the role
(42:11):
everyone else put me in. And so, yeah, there was alot of. I had to let go of in old ways of thinking
and being and stepping out into this new life withconfidence and trust and all of it.
So as an Ironman, you clearly had to have hadcourage and been tough on yourself and
(42:34):
disciplined. We've talked about that a bit. Andyou had to be able to persevere. But once you came
to the disease and it changed who you were and howyou looked at life in your world, I assume that
there was some of that courage was taken away fromyou, but then you needed to persevere on this
trip. So did you have to summon that courage backup again?
(42:56):
Yeah, there was that defiant, rebellious part ofme that I don't know if I was trying to prove it
to everyone else or myself, but there were.
Times when you wanted to give up. You write aboutwanting to give up in the book, but you didn't.
You kept going. And I think that that's a metaphorfor life too. So I think that's what's great about
(43:16):
it, is that you can see your story plays out inmany different aspects of life.
Yes, absolutely. And I feel that, like, I knewwhat it would get me, if that makes sense. Like,
for example, like, I didn't train for an Ironmanbecause I loved training for an Ironman, and I,
(43:36):
and I didn't love racing in an Ironman. Like, Ididn't train to race in an iron. Like, I didn't
love any part of it. Know what? I loved crossingthat finish line.
So, so that's interesting. I'm going to give you aparallel to what, my little tiny world of writing
is, says about that. I'm. There are two kinds ofwriters, I think, two basic kinds of writers.
(43:59):
Those who love to write and those who love to havewritten. I, think that that's out there. I'm one
of those that likes to have written. I find thewriting process very painful and very challenging.
And it's, you know, I don't, I want to give uphalf the time, but I, I frequently find myself
pushing through and then I get to the point whereI have written. And so what you're talking about
(44:23):
is you don't like the writing of it. You likehaving ridden.
Yes. And because I know what it gets me, I, I, I,I don't know how else to say it, but there's
crossing. For example, crossing the finish line ofthe Iron man is so euphoric. It's the most
incredible feeling. Accomplishing anything I setout to do is, whether it's this gratifying feeling
(44:50):
or, I don't know, I don't know what it is.
But, it's the notion of completion and then youwant to do something to go do something else that
becomes complete.
Yeah, that's a great way to put it. I love it.
Absolutely. And that's how it was with my book.
Painful to write, but, man, I love my story now. Ilove it. It's so.
(45:13):
Because you can look back on it with pride.
But.
But while you're doing it, it's like, what am Idoing here? I understand that totally. You write
that the ride was an opportunity to break freefrom limiting beliefs. We talked about in your bio
about limiting beliefs. Explain. I think it's kindof obvious, but explain what limiting beliefs are
and how a person can go forward and overcomelimiting beliefs.
(45:37):
I was in ICU for 10 days post brain surgery. And,and I remember, the physical therapist came in and
said to me, I think I was about five days in, fiveor six days into my ICU stay and my, physical
therapist comes in. She's like, Risa what do yousay we get up and go for a walk? And I was, I had
(46:03):
every kind of wire and tube attached to me, comingout of every orifice, everywhere. Like, I, I mean,
you name it, I, I was. And I was looking atmyself. I'm like, I don't think so. Like, like, I
mean, I had compression boots on, an oxygen maskand, and I had wires coming out of my chest and,
(46:27):
and tubes out of my arms and a catheter. And I, Ithought she was crazy. She was like, Risa we can
unhook the wires and we can gather the tubes andwe can take your boots off. And I remember and
I'm, and I, I got up and I, and I remember walkingaround, I made it around the whole ICU floor that
(46:47):
day with my walker. And again, this is anemotional moment, but I was like, I had it in my
mind that I was confined to that bed. Like, I hadall these constraints. And again, a metaphor. Like
we have these self imposed constraints we put onourselves. But all I had to do was unhook a few,
(47:09):
ask for some help and lean on people and a walkerand, you know, and, and people on the floor were
cheering for me and all the nurses and doctorsand, and so like, and that's what we do in life.
We find all these reasons why it's not possible,why it can't happen, why we can't do it. but most
(47:32):
of the time those are our own personal beliefs,our own thoughts, but they're, not necessarily
true.
So sometimes you just need to be able to unhookwhat's holding you back and then get the kinetics
going to push the ball down the hill a little bit.
And if you can't figure out how, ask for help, getsome support.
(47:53):
Well, I'm here in Pittsburgh, And Fred Rogers, Mr.
Rogers, famously said, always, under times ofstress, always look for the helpers.
Absolutely. Which is something old Risa would havenever done, because she would have done it all
herself.
Because you would have taken the sense of pride ofyour own self, perfection of your own completion.
But sometimes it does take others to help you.
(48:14):
I've been in a business my whole life in showbusiness, where you can't really do most anything
by yourself, except maybe. Right. I've been havingreally intense, emotional, wonderful conversation
for an hour now with Risa August. And we're goingto wind the show down just a little bit. We could
have talked for much longer. Maybe someday we'lldo a second session. We could talk about how you
(48:36):
put together a TEDx talk and how you wrote yourbook in specific. But this was. I thought this was
a really great way to, go through your story,which is to talk about how it actually unfolded.
But I'm wondering, in your experiences, are youable to share, with us beyond the stories You've
already told us. A story that's either weird,quirky, offbeat, strange, or just plain funny.
(48:59):
I'll just tell a funny story from my bike ride. Iwas riding with two other people. This dog comes
bolting out of the yard running after us. And itwas really one of those, like, in my mind, I
created this dramatic moment, like a spirit sceneyou would see in the movie. And I'm like, pedal
(49:23):
for your life, you know, because I've been chasedon my bike by many a dog. And I'm, just like,
pedal, pedal. And two of us made it, and we gotaway from the dog. We look back and our other
friend is. Has his bike between the dog and him.
And I was just laughing. You know those hard bellylaughs where you can't catch your breath? And I
(49:50):
remember being, like, in slow motion, like, no,you know, like, we lost our friend to the dog. but
we ended up all having just a very good laughabout it. and it was a fun time, and our friend
made it unscathed.
Does it ever happen that the dogs chase you, butthey just want some affection? Or are they always
(50:12):
mad at you?
I'm not really sure what it is. I've been knockedoff my bike by dogs. Like, I'm really not sure
what it is, if it's confusion or they're, youknow, protective mode. I've never been like,
bitten or attacked, but I've never stuck around tofind out, of course.
(50:33):
Well, that's probably a wise decision. I thinkmost dogs that are going to chase you or a car or
whatever they're going to chase, they've got anagenda that's not just pet me. So, last question
for you today, Risa you've shared quite a fewinteresting bits of advice along the way here
today, but I'm wondering, do you have a singlesolid piece of advice that you like to give to
those who are maybe starting off on a journey ofrecovery or they're starting out to write a book
(50:58):
or whatever it might be, or they're maybe a littleways up, but they are trying to get beyond one.
I wanted to, reference Tim Quinn, who was, one ofyour guests in episode 362. And he talks about
believing in yourself and not just saying, oh, Ilike, I believe this will happen. Or. Or, I, like
(51:23):
not just saying it, but like, I forget how hedescribes it, but like, really believing it in
your core. And, And so I remember reframing mylanguage around, like, you know, when people would
ask me about my book and I'd be like, well, youknow, I think it's a good story. I started
reframing my language and being like, it's a goodstory and really believing in that and embodying
(51:49):
it. And so I just love. Tim framed it much, betterthan I have. So go back to that episode 362 and,
and just. And believe in yourself. And the otherthing is, is, when I find myself feeling stuck or
like, in the place of like, I'm ready to level up.
I just had this thing. I actually wrote thescreenplay for my book and. Which is a whole
(52:11):
different animal. And I'm not sure I'll ever do itagain. But. But, And. And I, and I went on to do
the TEDx talk, which you mentioned. But. But Iremember again, I had to stop, like, overwhelming
myself with the big, like, I'm not going to writethis entire book or screenplay or do this TEDx.
Like, it's just, I can't do it all right now. AndI had to start taking, small steps and asking
(52:38):
myself again, going back to that simple word can.
And like, okay, well, what can I do? Like, whatcan I do right now to take a step toward that? And
so it's just simplifying it, like, those smallwins and, like, step by step, and then eventually
reaching that bigger thing. And so that would bemy advice. Ask yourself, like, what can I do?
(53:00):
I think that that's very valuable advice becauseas we already mentioned in the show, you can't.
The old adage is, how do you eat an elephant?
Well, where do you start? And so you startwherever you need to start, and it's one bite at a
time. And that's what you're talking about. And itis the way to overcome, the long odds of creating
(53:23):
something big. and so you have to take it in bitsand pieces, not as one thing. And I think that
that's extremely valuable. Risa August, this hasbeen an absolutely terrific hour on Story Beat,
and I can't thank you enough for your time, yourenergy, and for this great wisdom. And I wish you
much good health going forward.
(53:44):
Oh, my gosh, Steve, thank you so much. It was. Itwas just such a pleasure to be here. Thank you.
And so we've come to the end of today's StoryBeat. If you like this episode, won't you please
take a moment to give us a comment, rating, orreview on whatever app or platform you're
listening to. Your support helps us bring moregreat Story Beat episodes to you. Story Beat is
(54:06):
available on all major podcast apps and platforms,including Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Spotify,
iHeartRadio, TuneIn, and many others. Until nexttime, I'm Steve Cuden and may all your stories be
unforgettable.
On today's Story Beat.
Not gonna write this entire book or I can't do itall right now. And I had to start taking, small
steps and asking myself again, going back to thatsimple word can and like, okay, well what can I
do? It's just simplifying it, like those smallwins and like step by step and then eventually
(00:22):
reaching that bigger thing. And so that would be,that would be my advice. Ask yourself, like, what
can I do?
This is Story Beat with Steve Cuden. A podcast forthe creative mind. Storybeat explores how masters
of creativity develop and produce brilliant worksthat people everywhere love and admire. So join us
(00:48):
as we discover how talented creators find successin the worlds of imagination and entertainment.
Here now is your host, Steve Cuden
Thanks for joining us on Story Beat. We're comingto you from the steel City, Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania. Well, my guest today, the awardwinning author, TedX speaker, screenwriter,
(01:13):
Gestalt practitioner and patient advocate, RisaAugust has been living with a pituitary tumor and
the rare disease acromegaly for over a decade.
From being a girl with sparkles in her hair to anironman athlete, Risa still has a passion for her
bike and barbells. With genuine curiosity and alove for trying new and old things, you may find
(01:36):
Risa taking Bollywood or hip hop dance lessons,trying out aerial silks, a, boxing class, going
indoor skydiving, or guiding inspirationalworkshops and creativity. Through her personal
transformation, Risa has learned and practicedremoving limiting beliefs, she shifting her
perspective and embracing an expansive life.
Unleashed, Risa shares her insights andperspectives on stage, offering words of
(02:00):
inspiration to audiences. Additionally, Risa worksone on one with clients, guiding them through the
many roadblocks of life and toward living in amore fully inspired way. Recently, Risa published
her book the Road Border to Border. With a BrainTumor and a Bike, I've read the Road Unpaved and
can tell you I was deeply moved and awestruck byRissa's struggles to overcome strains of a
(02:25):
grueling 1000 plus mile bike ride along the USPacific coast while contending with her tumor and
acromegaly. If you're interested in stories aboutpeople engaging in their deepest willpower to
triumph over extreme challenges, then I highlyurge you to check out the Road Unpaved. So for all
those reasons and many more, it's a tremendoushonor for me to welcome the outstanding author and
(02:50):
speaker, the inspiring Risa August, to Story Beattoday. Risa thanks so much for joining me.
Oh my gosh, Steve. Well, first of all, you make mesound Amazing.
Well, you are amazing.
Second of all, I am so honored to be here. And asI was telling you earlier, you have such
incredible people on your show, and I am just sograteful that I get to join, you this time.
(03:15):
Well, it's a great privilege to have you on theshow, and I'm delighted that you're now part of
the gang. so let's go back in time just a littlebit. How old were you when you first started
thinking about athletics, being someone who isvery physical in life?
Oh, gosh, yes. well, I was kind of a tomboygrowing up, and so I had an older brother, and if
(03:38):
I want to hang with him, you know, that meant, youknow, getting out there and, you know, playing
football or baseball, or things like that. So Iwas kind of athletic growing.
Up in the rough and tumble. You were a rough andtumble kid?
Yeah, I'd say so, for sure. But then, you know,when I went off to, you know, I played sports in
(03:59):
school and. But when I went off to college, thatkind of changed, and I got more into, you know, it
was going to classes and working and, maybepartying a little bit and less about athletics.
Well, school is. I think school should be about50% partying and 50% studying. That's just the way
(04:20):
I look at school. When did you start riding abike?
I mean, I learned to ride a bike as a child, but Iactually didn't really get into cycling until, oh,
gosh, my late, 20s. and someone actually wastraining for a triathlon, and I asked them what
they were doing, and they were like, oh, I'm doinga triathlon. You should try one. So I remember
(04:44):
borrowing an oversized mountain bike and doing myfirst sprint triathlon shortly after that. And
that's kind of where that journey began.
So, that's what I'm curious about. Where did theinspiration for being a bicyclist start? It didn't
start till you were in your late 20s.
Well, yeah, and I actually still didn't even likebiking. Like, I liked the running portion, and I
(05:09):
was getting better at the swimming portion ofthese triathlons, but my least favorite was the
bike. And, it wasn't until fast forward, 15 yearslater, when I was diagnosed with a brain tumor and
this very destructive disease called acromegaly,as you mentioned. And I was never going to run
again. And, I physically didn't have, the ability,to do that. And so I was like, well, okay, bike.
(05:36):
It's me and you. If I want to stay active. I gotto find something that I can still physically do.
And we're going to dig in deeper on the bike, theride, the book and all that shortly. I just want
to cover some early things as background for you,which I think is important for the listeners to
understand. when you were in school, did you learnhow to be a decent or a good or a wonderful
(05:59):
writer? Then when did you start to write?
Well, this is an interesting story too. I startedjournaling probably when I was 20. Around 20. I
didn't really enjoy writing at all. English was myleast favorite class class. And I didn't like
writing reports or anything. I was a journaler andI have stacks and stacks of journals. Again, Fast
(06:24):
forward maybe 15, 20 years later, I startedlooking back at some of those journals and I'm
like, wow, I can't believe I was this profound. Iwasn't half bad, let's put it that way. And I had
some interesting things to say.
well, the book is so well written. That's why Iask where this began, because that's part of
(06:46):
creativity, is being able to translate what yourthoughts are into the written word so that others
can read it and understand it. That's no meanfeat. That's something that's really challenging
to do. Well, almost anybody can write something,but to write it so that it's. That has tone and
style and voice and all that, that's hard to do.
(07:07):
And, and you're very good at it. So that's why Iwondered how long you'd been at it. Were you
always a reader?
That came later in life as well. and, especiallymy appreciation for that. And as I start. When I
started learning about myself as a person and as ahuman and who am I on this planet and what am I
doing with my life and all those questions thatcome as you age. And I started exploring those
(07:31):
things and how I see the world and what'simportant to me and what do I value. And that
evolved as a write, as a writer too. And you weresaying, like I write, like I talk, like I write
how I exist in the world. internally I'm a. Andmaybe externally I'm a very colorful person. And
I, and I see people and my characters that way.
(07:51):
Like, like I see who they are and how. How do Itranslate that to paper? So, yeah, that started
unfolding over time. like I really write how Iview the world and how, how I am as a person in
this world.
Well, your and powerful and you draw Veryinteresting, compelling characters. Just what you
were saying. And the people that were on the ride.
(08:13):
We'll talk about the book. now, I guess, the folksthat you draw in the book are all quite
interesting. There's no, dead wood in the book.
They're all very compelling characters. Was thatjust lucky or did you somehow, build them up?
I feel that every human on this planet has astory. I find that in people. I find their story,
(08:36):
I find their interesting parts. I find theirquirks. Like I see them, I, I see people beneath
the surface of, of maybe who, who, who they are,presenting as. And I'm a detail person. I notice
all the details and oftentimes I notice detailsthat maybe other people wouldn't.
(08:58):
Well, we know that you were a party planner, soyou must be a detail oriented person.
Yes. And so, so I feel like I don't, when it comesto creating, even representing these people who
became my characters in my book, I didn't have toembellish or make anything up. like that's really
kind of what I drew from, from each person andthat's how I experienced them.
(09:21):
So you see people for who they are and what'sgoing on beneath the surface, don't you?
I feel, I do. And I feel like I maybe see peopleat a depth that could even potentially scare them.
Well, I think it probably would scare a lot ofpeople. And in fact, I think, at least in my
experience, most people don't see beneath thesurface of others very well. And so if you do,
(09:43):
yeah, you could scare the heck out of somebody, nodoubt. Do you think of yourself as an empath?
Yeah, I would say, yeah, for sure. You know,there's a lot, to be said about what is, is not
said and as well as mannerisms, and body languageand all of it. So, you know, I feel like, I'm
(10:03):
really good at reading and feeling energy. I don'ttalk about that too much, you know, because it
might sound weird to people, but I really do feel.
Like, well, like all things that are metaphysical.
It feels weird to some people, no doubt. youclearly have an amazing story to tell and it's
tremendous that you survived to tell your tale.
(10:24):
You've had a rough ride along the way in more waysthan one. so tell the listeners a bit about the
road unpaved. More than what I've already said.
What's it all about?
It started off as a bucket list item, actually. itstarted as, a conscious decision to start living
my life full on, 100% not. And, instead of talkingabout all the things I wanted to do someday, just
(10:50):
start living them. So I remember sitting on myliving room sofa and having this moment. Okay, my
life is no longer going to be that. So what can itbe? What do I want it to be? It went from, being
this very rigid, organized, detailed person, likea planner. I lived my life like I was an Ironman
(11:11):
athlete.
Steve Cud (11:12):
And heavy discipline.
Yeah, very disciplined. Thank you, that's a greatword. And very focused and, but very like, maybe
even narrow minded. I didn't understand whyeveryone in the world didn't operate the way I
did. and then suddenly, you know, I'm hit withthis brain tumor diagnosis and this disease that
was, is destroying my body over time. And I'mlike, oh my God, like, I'll never be the same.
(11:37):
Life will never be the same. So what do I want itto be? And I didn't think I had a choice. And then
one day I'm like, wait a minute, I have a choice.
Like, I get to choose what my life looks likemoving forward. It doesn't have to be what it was.
And so when I started embracing that, that's whenI really started living. so that same day I signed
(11:57):
up for a 1800 mile bicycle journey from Canada toMexico.
Which, as you say, was on your bucket list ofthings to do.
On my bucket list of things to do. And from that,another bucket list item was my. That bike ride
became my book and my story. and it was lessabout, you know, cycling and more about, the, the
(12:18):
road unpaved is more about like how the road, anunpaved road is like a metaphor for life, or a
road is a metaphor for life. Not always smooth andeasy, it's not always straight and narrow. It's
you know, or expansive. you know, there's detoursand turns and obstacles and pop holes and all of
that. And, and sometimes it's not even paved andit's pretty rugged.
(12:40):
And so there's no doubt life is. What is thecliche? Life is a journey and hopefully you never
actually arrive.
Risa August (12:48):
Yes, yes.
So then you decided at some point to combine thesetwo bucket list items. Writing a book and the bike
ride. Which came first, the bike ride or the book?
I started writing the book on the bike ride, so.
But I knew I was going to be writing a book. Youknow, I just didn't know where or how it was going
(13:09):
to start or form or unfold. But I knew this bikeride was going to be a part of the story. And so I
was doing a lot of writing and recording on thatjourney. And again, I'm a details person. I take
in so much details with my eyes. And so thatjourney, that bike journey, was just overflowing
(13:29):
with details and experiences. But I went in,thinking this was going to be my, my journey and
the solo journey. I'm going to do it my way, on myterms. But I had. There was a lot of people in
that journey that became a very important part ofthe journey and me learning more about myself and,
(13:50):
you know, this life I was stepping into.
Well, the, the ride. It's clear in the book thatthe ride, revealed to you and unveiled to you many
things about yourself that had not really occurredto you before. And so was there an epiphany at
some point during the ride where you went, youknow what? I really have to get this out and into
the world and so that others benefit from what I'mexperiencing.
(14:14):
I knew I wanted that. Like, I knew I wanted thatso badly. But there's still that, part of that
doubt, you know, that kind of seeps in whereyou're like, but is it really gonna happen? Like,
I really want this to happen, but is. Is itreally. Am I really gonna make this a book? Like,
is it gonna really be a story? And so it wasn'tuntil about maybe five months after the ride where
(14:38):
I was like, this is happening. and I hired, acoach, like, for accountability, if nothing else,
to keep me going.
you're talking about as a, as a writer.
As a writer, yeah. Because, you know, I, I washaving a love hate relationship with my story, and
one day it's the best thing ever, and I'm, youknow, and I'm doing this, and then the next day
(15:01):
I'm like, this sucks. Who's. Who's gonna want toread this and who cares?
Like, do you know, do you know what that's called?
Imposter syndrome?
No, it's called being a writer. That's what allwriters go through, unless they're just super into
it. You know, most writers suffer that experienceall the time. I think at this, this book is no
(15:22):
good. The script is no good. Whatever it isthey're writing, I'm going to put it away. I'm
going to come back to it later. It is impostersyndrome. There's no doubt about it. Why, at the
moment that you decided to write the book, why didyou decide this is the right time to talk in such
Detail and depth about what is clearly a reallyperf. Personal set of issues.
(15:45):
I don't know. I think that's like a layered.
There's, a layered answer to that. So there wasthe one. One aspect of it, about my diagnosis. Had
I been diagnosed earlier when like, you know, tookseven years for me to get diagnosed and had my
doctors listened to me seven years ago, like, Imight have had a very different trajectory. And so
(16:06):
I was like, okay, if I can get this out there,maybe I can save lives. Like, maybe I can save
other people from my same prognosis.
So you had an altruistic reason on top of goingthrough the experience yourself, you had an
altruistic reason, which was to, help others withyour story.
(16:27):
Yeah, that was a big part of it. the other part ofit was, you know, it felt important to me to
follow through with that commitment I made tomyself about living on that day on the couch. I
chose to live and I chose to, you know, I wasgoing to start doing those things on my bucket
list, not just talking about them, going to startdoing that.
(16:48):
So once you got the diagnosis, you sort ofcollapsed into yourself a little bit, didn't you?
I did. I became very, yeah. Self reflective and.
Absolutely.
And you didn't leave the house very much. And, itwas internal. It became a very internal thing. And
you made a decision at some point to get out ofthe house and be external, which is what the book
(17:09):
is all about, basically. Why did it take sevenyears for the diagnosis to happen? What was that
about?
It's difficult to diagnose these types of tumorsand the diseases they couldn't cause because the
symptoms are kind. That can be assigned to almostanything interesting. You know, fatigue, headache,
(17:31):
joint pain. And there's always this easyexplanation for it. Well, I'm aging or I'm. You
know, my doctor told me once, like, well, I thinkyou're over training. You drink more water. So.
And I had significant weight gain, even though Iwas a very rigid athlete and healthy, very rigid
(17:52):
in my diet. And my doctor was like, well, no, I'mnot worried. You're an athlete. And I'm like, but
this doesn't make sense. So. So it's. It was justkind of. I really think people started, thinking
maybe I was lying about what I was eating and thatI wasn't taking care of myself. And. And, And so
(18:14):
I, I don't. I actually signed up for OvereatersAnonymous because I thought, okay, maybe. Maybe
I'm in denial. Maybe I'M maybe I'm lying to myselfabout how much food I'm eating.
Did some of the doctors think it waspsychological?
No one said that, but I had a feeling.
Cause they couldn't figure it out. So they have tohunt, for things that it might be. And that's an
(18:38):
easy way out for them. Obviously. once you did getthe diagnosis, what did you do to gain knowledge
and insight into it so that you could then attackthe issue itself?
Oh, gosh. well, at first I fired my doctor and I,found a new doctor. And, and I, I'm a researcher.
And again, back to the. I love the details. So Igot online, found whatever I could about the
(19:03):
disease. I started looking for specialists andpeople who are really knowledgeable about the
endocrine system and, these types of tumors anddiseases. And I got really involved, I got really
involved in this type of awareness because they,they're calling me like a disease, like acromegaly
rare. But it's believed that these tumors anddiseases aren't so rare and again, difficult to
(19:29):
diagnose. So I was, I just had, I was like, I needto change this.
They're not so rare, they're just hard todiagnose.
Yeah. And again, if the doctor maybe listened tome and did a little further research, a little,
maybe a few more blood tests, I might have had amuch earlier diagnosis and thus a different
(19:49):
prognosis. And so, yeah, so that led to myadvocacy work and support.
Understood. And so once you got this, decisionmaking in your blood, not literally in your blood,
but once you started to make these decisions aboutmoving forward with what you were doing, then you
were able to take action. And prior to that youwere kind of stuck. You couldn't really move
(20:14):
forward because you didn't know what to do.
Yeah, yeah. I mean, I used it as rocket fuel.
So tell the listeners who Bubba is. Yes, I foundBubba fascinating.
Oh my gosh, he is fabulous. so Bubba is my tumor,my brain tumor, and, my mentor at the time. I was
(20:36):
going through a gestalt, certification program.
Well, let's stop right there. What is gestalt?
Gestalt is a very non traditional approach, tolike, mental health, therapy or coaching. And so
it's very experiential, you know, like going backto treating the whole person. like there's many
layers to us, not just what you see on thesurface.
(20:57):
And you got trained in gestalt. You're a gestaltpractitioner. And so how did Bubba fit into this.
Yeah. So my mentor, she said, you know, Risa youknow, maybe instead of, like, cursing your body
and being mad at it for betraying you, what if younamed your tumor and gently, helped him along to
(21:19):
kind of move on out and be moving along. And I waslike, you're crazy. I don't. This is ridiculous.
And I'm not doing. And then one day in my car, I'mlike, huh? Well, what would I name you? Like, you
know, And I'm, like, trying all this stuff on, butthat. But Bubba kept sticking, like. Because I
(21:42):
just kept thinking of this, like, oafish, goofytype of being, like, kind of sitting in my head,
like, because I saw this image of my brain withthe tumor, and it was just kind of this blobby,
gray thing, and it had this little arm m. That's,like, wrapped around my carotid artery. But it
(22:02):
looks like a selfie. Like, it looks like thistumor was taking a selfie with my carotid artery.
And I'm just thinking of this goofy thing, andBaba is what stuck? and so he's hilarious.
Steve Cuden (22:16):
Is he still around?
He's still around. Yep. Yep. So, they couldn'tget, the entire tumor out, and so Bubba is still
with me, and we have less dialogue than we usedto, but whenever I need a kick in the pants, he's
there.
So how important is this personification of thetumor? How much. How important has that been to
(22:38):
your mental condition and how you've survived andall the rest of it? How vital is that?
We're in it together. Like, I had to stop fightingagainst him. Bubba. Bubba, My tumor. And start
living with him. Like, what is. What does lifelook like living with Bubba? And. And so. So I
(22:59):
really had to shift my perspective on that. Like,okay, we're in this. We're in this together.
So I'm wondering, you. In the book, you talk aboutfeeding your soul. Is Bubba part of that?
Yeah. Well, without giving too much away, youknow, going into the story, I was out to prove him
wrong. Like, I was out to. I was out to do thisjourney in spite of him. Like, you know, you're
(23:21):
not gonna bring me down kind of thing. Like, I'mgonna. I'm gonna do. I'm gonna show you and
everyone else that this. This isn't taking medown. Like, I'm gonna still. Still do life on my
terms. And, yeah, I still had that going into it.
I saw that very rigid, like, disciplined attitudethat I had pre diagnosis. But along the way, that
(23:43):
changed.
Well, you. You talk about also in the book about,you're a perfectionist, that you call yourself a
perfectionist. And I understand that I have a bitof perfectionism in me, too, so I. I empathize
with that and understand it. How difficult has itbeen for you to learn to flex and be less of a
perfectionist and still live what I guess youcould call a perfect life?
(24:06):
Ooh. It still comes and goes. Like, I'm. I workhard at not perfecting things.
Do you just love stuff go. Is that how it works?
The tumor and the radi and the brain surgery andthe radiation treatment has also changed. my
cognitive abilities, my memory, even. I mean, Ican honestly say I used to rarely ever make
(24:29):
mistakes. And now. And now I make them left andright all the time. And I'm forgetful, and I
forget things. And those are the people I used tobe annoyed with. And now I'm that person. And so
I've learned to accept that it's not always easy.
But there's also times where in my personal life,like, I'll purposely leave things. And I take
(24:53):
inspiration from. I think it's the Navajo thatused to purposely leave imperfections in their
art, especially their blankets, their wovenblankets. And, Because nothing could be perfect,
more perfect than God in their. In their eyes. Idon't consider myself a religious person. maybe a
little bit spiritual, but, But I. I was like, whoam I trying to be so darn perfect for?
(25:18):
I think the imperfections make us human. Yes, itis difficult if you all have a perfectionist,
attitude toward things, to overcome that and say,okay, it's good enough. I had a friend of mine who
was a very, successful inventor, and he used tosay, there comes a time in the course of every
product development when you must be willing tokill the engineer, because the engineer will keep
(25:42):
futzing around, futzing around forever until, youknow, ad infinitum. So you have to stop at some
point and say it's good enough. That's what you'retalking about, right?
Yes. And my editor finally was like, Risa you'redone. You keep rewriting the same stuff over and
over. You're just saying you're saying the samething, just in a different way.
(26:03):
Well, how many times did you rewrite the bookbefore he stopped you?
I mean, it got down to the point I probably hadthree or four drafts of the entire book. But,
like. But I would rewrite, Rewrite, like, chaptersor Sections of it, like, over and over and over
again. And, that just got to, like I said, to thepoint where my editor is like, okay, I need to.
(26:26):
Now I need to stop you. Like, I was supporting youin it, and now I need to stop you.
It becomes too much for other people. So you haveto take them into consideration. How does the
gestalt practice fit into that?
I've really done a lot of personal healingthrough, gestalt work and through. Through
(26:48):
coaching other people and, you know, seeing someof my, like, a little bit of myself maybe in each
person. And, and recognizing that, staying humblein that of like, okay, I may have been a
perfectionist, but I was never perfect.
Never perfect, whatever that is. So. So then thequestion is and always will be, what is
(27:11):
perfection? What's perfect? Right? And I thinkthat things are perfect. It's hard to say it, but
things are perfect the way they are, but they canalways be improved in some way. But that doesn't
necessarily make them more perfect. that's justhow I look at it. M. But I've come at it also from
an arts perspective, and the arts are a perfect,very personal thing. People see the arts, writing,
(27:39):
painting, etcetera, in their own way, andeverybody sees it a little bit differently. So
whatever that, whatever that thing is, that'sperfect. What did your background and your
discipline in Ironman competitions, how did thathelp you to get through the challenges of the
disease before you got to the bike ride?
It's that mindset that, like, the grit and, andthe drive and the will and the determination that
(28:06):
I always had to always going to finish a race.
Like, I. Like I was. It was. There was never aquestion that I wouldn't finish. And. And so I
actually remember talk. I was in the office withmy neurosurgeon and I was like, look, doc, I have
a 250 mile bike ride, six weeks post surgery. So,like, I just need to know, like, you know, what.
(28:33):
What is my recovery like, you know, estimatedrecovery time. And. And he stood there, like, I
think he thought I. He was being punk. He stoodthere like, like, just like, is she joking? Like,
I'm not sure. Is she serious? And so he stoodthere for a minute, and then when he realized I
(28:56):
was dead serious, he's like, rissi, you're noteven allowed to drive for a couple months post
surgery. There's no way you're getting on a bike.
Like, and what did that do to you? How did youthink about that?
Well, the rebellious side of me said, we'll seeabout that. but I did quickly learn that I was not
(29:24):
going to get on a bike ride and I was not going tobe able to do that 250 mile bike ride.
But that's the Ironman brain feeling. The thought,the emotional reaction as an Ironman athlete is
I'm going to overcome that, right?
Yeah. And then you throw in other people tellingyou what you can't do. And I was like, oh, wait a
(29:45):
minute, you know, challenge accepted. So yeah, soit's this mindset and a little bit of rebellion.
So, you also talk in the book about alone time,aiding and healing. How important is alone time?
Yeah, it depends how you use that time. You couldspiral, you know, into a dark place, which isn't
(30:09):
necessarily a bad thing if you have the tools toget yourself out of it. And then there's also,
Because you can spend too much time alone. Is thatwhat you're saying?
Yeah. Like what? Like being alone. I lean moretowards introvert and I love my alone time and
that's where I kind of refuel. And But you couldlike, I go, I can go to dark places in that alone
(30:31):
time too. And so, but those are the times wherethat Ironman mindset is like, okay, Marissa, time
to get up. Time to get back out there. Becauseyou're going to a place that isn't going to serve
you, it's just not going to serve you well.
But you also then say that connection is one ofyour top values.
Risa August (30:50):
Definitely.
So that sort of counteracts the alone time,doesn't it? The connection part of
Depends what type of connection. I could sit onthis call with you for hours and we could talk
about deep things and I will feel so energizedafter that. But if someone wants to, I don't know,
(31:12):
talk about the weather or I don't want to soundrude here but like just more trivial things,
Mundane, mundane things. Then, I can spend my timedoing other things.
So the connection is not just the idea of twopeople in a room together or on zoom together or
whatever. It's the idea of the depth of thatconnection.
(31:35):
Absolutely.
I see. And so do you seek that out or do you waitfor it to come to you?
I'd say I definitely seek it out. I'm not a sitaround and wait kind of person. I'm not the type
of person of, oh, it'll come to me. I'm a doer. Idon't know. And again, it's Also because I want to
(31:56):
live, I really want to experience life in allcapacity and not just like the wonderful happy
things that happen. I, I recently rode acrossnorthern Spain and it was the most challenging,
worst trip of my life and I loved it.
The most challenging, worst trip of your life?
Worst trip of my life and I would never trade itfor anything. So I, like, that's what I mean by
(32:21):
living all like living full on all of it. Like Iwant to experience all of it and not just the
happy rainbows and unicorns.
So you also talk, I think wonderfully about smallwins and that leads you to a kind of victory. Talk
about that. What do you mean by small wins canlead you to a victory?
(32:42):
Oh, I feel emotional. A, ah, little emotionalabout this question. There were days and there
still are days where I don't know how I'm going toget out of bed. my energy is lack. Like I struggle
with immense fatigue, symptoms and side effects, alot of pain. you know, I had to, I had to get to a
(33:07):
point of like, okay, what am I capable of? Likewhat am I capable of and able to do right now in
this moment? It's, it really became a profoundquestion for me. Okay. Like I know what I'm
capable of. What's okay, what's realistic rightnow? What can, what am I able to do in this moment
and, and focusing on the right now? Not, not whatI like. Okay, what all the things that have to get
(33:33):
done today. No, like bringing it to the now. Andsometimes my days are step by step. Okay, I can
get up and I can sit on the side of my bed for afew moments. Okay. I can get to the bathroom and
brush my teeth. That's the next thing. All right,am I going to get out of these sweatpants today? I
don't know. Maybe I will, maybe I won't. What'sthe next thing that needs to happen? And it's step
(33:56):
by step. And that's where I started with thisjourney. And that's what I meant. I started with
getting out of bed and brushing my teeth and Iended up 1800 miles later at the Mexican and US
border. So. But again, I had to start with smallwins. you know, getting back on the bike. Someone
(34:17):
who used to ride 65 miles a day for fun was like,am I going to be able to even ride one mile? And
my first bike ride out on the open road again postbrain surgery was eight miles. I'm going to start
crying again. And, but I did it it's interesting.
How parallel that is to life itself and not justin your specific case, which is amazing. I mean,
(34:44):
you're. It's miraculous that you have taken thisone step at a time and gone as far as you've gone.
I mean, not everyone would. But there's a parallelto the arts as well in what you're talking about,
that you don't have to create an entire book in aday. You don't have to create an entire movie in a
day. It can be little simple steps at a time toget to your ultimate victory. In your case, it's
(35:08):
really big because it's life itself. And so, Ithink that that's a very powerful message. That
little, little steps can take you to a much biggerconclusion.
Absolutely. And even when I decided I was going todo this big bike ride, I actually, I didn't get
out of my bike for months. I actually startedpainting. Painting. That was a step in the process
(35:35):
of kind of healing and getting on my bike. I hadto start somewhere.
And so how does painting relate to the bike?
I knew in that moment, when I talk about being onthat couch and making that conscious decision to
live, that was the same day I signed up for abicycle journey. That bicycle journey. But I, was
(35:56):
in no physical condition to even get back on abike. And I was like, I have to do something. And
again, I was like, what can I do? And I remember Iwas like, I have to get off this couch. And then I
started painting. I knew I, like, I had to again,it was the mindset. And so I started painting,
gifts for my fellow practitioners, thecertification program I was going through. The
(36:21):
painting became an outlet and a step toward, youknow, I think after that I started walking to my
mailbox. So it was a step in the process ofhealing. so no, it didn't have anything to do with
the bike ride itself, but it was, had everythingto do with my process toward that.
And you had to bring yourself to it. Or as AuntieMame once famously said, most people, can't bring
(36:48):
themselves to bring themselves to them.
They can only see it one way. Like, well, ifyou're gonna go do this bike ride, you better get
on your bike. And I'm, I, couldn't get on my bike.
Like, I had to get off that couch first. So Ireally, yeah, I really had to simplify. And, and
again, that's my message. You know, it's not gonnabe a bike ride for Everybody, like an 1800 mile
(37:11):
bike ride. It's gonna be very different things andthere's going to be different ways to get there.
But, I had to start stop seeing obstacles asobstacles and just see them as like, okay, it's
just a detour, it's just a pivot.
How long did it take you to finally get to thepoint where you thought, okay, I can get on the
bike and I can do this trip? Even though youweren't 100% sure. But how long did it take to get
(37:34):
to the point where you thought, okay, I can getout of the house, I'm off the couch and actually
take a long bike ride?
I had 14 months to get to the Canadian and USborder and I'd say it was at about 10 months when
I started believing it, like, believing that I cando it.
That's amazing. Did you know at that time that youwould be able to use the ride as a means of
(37:58):
advocacy?
I didn't. because again, I was going in like, I'mdoing this ride for me. And someone said, I think
someone said that to me, like, oh, are you, areyou doing this for your disease? And I was like,
oh, why would I do that? and so then I said, well,maybe I can wear a jersey or something. But it
(38:23):
just caught wind and it actually gained a lot ofattention and momentum. And I remember being mad
about it that, you know, that people were moreexcited about the bike ride as opposed to like the
disease or the story behind it. But then I, then Istarted realizing, oh, well, the bike's just, it's
(38:46):
just the platform for it. It's just, it's just theplatform for all the other amazing things.
Well, you eventually had Risa unleashed buttons.
Yes, I had buttons and you know, constant checkins and interviews along the way. And, and I had a
love hate relationship with that. And,
(39:07):
Why did you love and hate that? What was it aboutthat?
It was that fight of, old Risa versus New Risa I'mhere to do this ride for me and. But yet I wanted
to save lives and save people from this, you know,fate that I was facing. And, and it was kind of
this push and pull of like, oh, I want to helppeople and, but wait a minute. I want it to be my
(39:33):
ride and I want to heal. And again, just, ah, anunfolding and a learning opportunity and, you
know, finding out who I really was.
Now, you were also putting out videos of yourtrip, right? And so you started to spark hope in
certain people as they were following you along.
I Didn't see myself that way. I just was like, no,I would be out here doing this anyways. It was
(40:00):
hard to see myself as an inspiration to otherpeople.
All right. But at some point, you had to know youwere inspiring other people. It had to have been
somewhat obvious to you.
that's what people were saying.
So you don't know whether that's sparking hope inothers, actually sparked hope in you, or did it?
Well, I remember the first time someone told me Iinspired them. Again, I feel emotional around it.
(40:23):
And so then I think that was a time I was like,okay, maybe what I'm doing does really matter.
Well, clearly it does, because lots of peoplefollowed you. And I'm certain that there are many
people that are now reading your book and beinginspired by it.
I actually just got a text today, someone saying,oh, my God. I felt like I was reading my story. so
it's really beautiful.
(40:43):
Well, do you think of yourself as a teacher?
Maybe on some level, yeah. Now, I am.
well, let me tell you, after teaching for 10 yearsat the college level, there's nothing less humble
than teaching. You have to be willing to give outof yourself in front of a group of people and hope
(41:05):
that what you're saying has some value to them andthat they're walking away with something. So being
humble about it is very challenging because youhave to sort of be out there and. And once you
went on this trip and you were videoing it andsubmitting the videos to the Internet, people were
then tracking you and taking some kind ofinspiration from it. You. You write, and I'm going
(41:28):
to quote, you write in the book, quote, what wasimportant was what my soul was going to do on this
ride, what my soul would carry, and the layers Ihoped it would shed along the way. Close quote.
Can you expand on that? What does that mean? Andhow does that relate to what we're just talking
about?
It was the first time in my life I was asking,myself, like, what does Risa want? Like, what do I
(41:49):
want this life to look like? I had to shed a lotof ego. I had to shed a lot of worrying about what
the world and what everyone in my life would thinkabout this new Risa and, who I wanted to be and
how I wanted to be in the world. And I was so usedto living life kind of according to the role
(42:11):
everyone else put me in. And so, yeah, there was alot of. I had to let go of in old ways of thinking
and being and stepping out into this new life withconfidence and trust and all of it.
So as an Ironman, you clearly had to have hadcourage and been tough on yourself and
(42:34):
disciplined. We've talked about that a bit. Andyou had to be able to persevere. But once you came
to the disease and it changed who you were and howyou looked at life in your world, I assume that
there was some of that courage was taken away fromyou, but then you needed to persevere on this
trip. So did you have to summon that courage backup again?
(42:56):
Yeah, there was that defiant, rebellious part ofme that I don't know if I was trying to prove it
to everyone else or myself, but there were.
Times when you wanted to give up. You write aboutwanting to give up in the book, but you didn't.
You kept going. And I think that that's a metaphorfor life too. So I think that's what's great about
(43:16):
it, is that you can see your story plays out inmany different aspects of life.
Yes, absolutely. And I feel that, like, I knewwhat it would get me, if that makes sense. Like,
for example, like, I didn't train for an Ironmanbecause I loved training for an Ironman, and I,
(43:36):
and I didn't love racing in an Ironman. Like, Ididn't train to race in an iron. Like, I didn't
love any part of it. Know what? I loved crossingthat finish line.
So, so that's interesting. I'm going to give you aparallel to what, my little tiny world of writing
is, says about that. I'm. There are two kinds ofwriters, I think, two basic kinds of writers.
(43:59):
Those who love to write and those who love to havewritten. I, think that that's out there. I'm one
of those that likes to have written. I find thewriting process very painful and very challenging.
And it's, you know, I don't, I want to give uphalf the time, but I, I frequently find myself
pushing through and then I get to the point whereI have written. And so what you're talking about
(44:23):
is you don't like the writing of it. You likehaving ridden.
Yes. And because I know what it gets me, I, I, I,I don't know how else to say it, but there's
crossing. For example, crossing the finish line ofthe Iron man is so euphoric. It's the most
incredible feeling. Accomplishing anything I setout to do is, whether it's this gratifying feeling
(44:50):
or, I don't know, I don't know what it is.
But, it's the notion of completion and then youwant to do something to go do something else that
becomes complete.
Yeah, that's a great way to put it. I love it.
Absolutely. And that's how it was with my book.
Painful to write, but, man, I love my story now. Ilove it. It's so.
(45:13):
Because you can look back on it with pride.
But.
But while you're doing it, it's like, what am Idoing here? I understand that totally. You write
that the ride was an opportunity to break freefrom limiting beliefs. We talked about in your bio
about limiting beliefs. Explain. I think it's kindof obvious, but explain what limiting beliefs are
and how a person can go forward and overcomelimiting beliefs.
(45:37):
I was in ICU for 10 days post brain surgery. And,and I remember, the physical therapist came in and
said to me, I think I was about five days in, fiveor six days into my ICU stay and my, physical
therapist comes in. She's like, Risa what do yousay we get up and go for a walk? And I was, I had
(46:03):
every kind of wire and tube attached to me, comingout of every orifice, everywhere. Like, I, I mean,
you name it, I, I was. And I was looking atmyself. I'm like, I don't think so. Like, like, I
mean, I had compression boots on, an oxygen maskand, and I had wires coming out of my chest and,
(46:27):
and tubes out of my arms and a catheter. And I, Ithought she was crazy. She was like, Risa we can
unhook the wires and we can gather the tubes andwe can take your boots off. And I remember and
I'm, and I, I got up and I, and I remember walkingaround, I made it around the whole ICU floor that
(46:47):
day with my walker. And again, this is anemotional moment, but I was like, I had it in my
mind that I was confined to that bed. Like, I hadall these constraints. And again, a metaphor. Like
we have these self imposed constraints we put onourselves. But all I had to do was unhook a few,
(47:09):
ask for some help and lean on people and a walkerand, you know, and, and people on the floor were
cheering for me and all the nurses and doctorsand, and so like, and that's what we do in life.
We find all these reasons why it's not possible,why it can't happen, why we can't do it. but most
(47:32):
of the time those are our own personal beliefs,our own thoughts, but they're, not necessarily
true.
So sometimes you just need to be able to unhookwhat's holding you back and then get the kinetics
going to push the ball down the hill a little bit.
And if you can't figure out how, ask for help, getsome support.
(47:53):
Well, I'm here in Pittsburgh, And Fred Rogers, Mr.
Rogers, famously said, always, under times ofstress, always look for the helpers.
Absolutely. Which is something old Risa would havenever done, because she would have done it all
herself.
Because you would have taken the sense of pride ofyour own self, perfection of your own completion.
But sometimes it does take others to help you.
(48:14):
I've been in a business my whole life in showbusiness, where you can't really do most anything
by yourself, except maybe. Right. I've been havingreally intense, emotional, wonderful conversation
for an hour now with Risa August. And we're goingto wind the show down just a little bit. We could
have talked for much longer. Maybe someday we'lldo a second session. We could talk about how you
(48:36):
put together a TEDx talk and how you wrote yourbook in specific. But this was. I thought this was
a really great way to, go through your story,which is to talk about how it actually unfolded.
But I'm wondering, in your experiences, are youable to share, with us beyond the stories You've
already told us. A story that's either weird,quirky, offbeat, strange, or just plain funny.
(48:59):
I'll just tell a funny story from my bike ride. Iwas riding with two other people. This dog comes
bolting out of the yard running after us. And itwas really one of those, like, in my mind, I
created this dramatic moment, like a spirit sceneyou would see in the movie. And I'm like, pedal
(49:23):
for your life, you know, because I've been chasedon my bike by many a dog. And I'm, just like,
pedal, pedal. And two of us made it, and we gotaway from the dog. We look back and our other
friend is. Has his bike between the dog and him.
And I was just laughing. You know those hard bellylaughs where you can't catch your breath? And I
(49:50):
remember being, like, in slow motion, like, no,you know, like, we lost our friend to the dog. but
we ended up all having just a very good laughabout it. and it was a fun time, and our friend
made it unscathed.
Does it ever happen that the dogs chase you, butthey just want some affection? Or are they always
(50:12):
mad at you?
I'm not really sure what it is. I've been knockedoff my bike by dogs. Like, I'm really not sure
what it is, if it's confusion or they're, youknow, protective mode. I've never been like,
bitten or attacked, but I've never stuck around tofind out, of course.
(50:33):
Well, that's probably a wise decision. I thinkmost dogs that are going to chase you or a car or
whatever they're going to chase, they've got anagenda that's not just pet me. So, last question
for you today, Risa you've shared quite a fewinteresting bits of advice along the way here
today, but I'm wondering, do you have a singlesolid piece of advice that you like to give to
those who are maybe starting off on a journey ofrecovery or they're starting out to write a book
(50:58):
or whatever it might be, or they're maybe a littleways up, but they are trying to get beyond one.
I wanted to, reference Tim Quinn, who was, one ofyour guests in episode 362. And he talks about
believing in yourself and not just saying, oh, Ilike, I believe this will happen. Or. Or, I, like
(51:23):
not just saying it, but like, I forget how hedescribes it, but like, really believing it in
your core. And, And so I remember reframing mylanguage around, like, you know, when people would
ask me about my book and I'd be like, well, youknow, I think it's a good story. I started
reframing my language and being like, it's a goodstory and really believing in that and embodying
(51:49):
it. And so I just love. Tim framed it much, betterthan I have. So go back to that episode 362 and,
and just. And believe in yourself. And the otherthing is, is, when I find myself feeling stuck or
like, in the place of like, I'm ready to level up.
I just had this thing. I actually wrote thescreenplay for my book and. Which is a whole
(52:11):
different animal. And I'm not sure I'll ever do itagain. But. But, And. And I, and I went on to do
the TEDx talk, which you mentioned. But. But Iremember again, I had to stop, like, overwhelming
myself with the big, like, I'm not going to writethis entire book or screenplay or do this TEDx.
Like, it's just, I can't do it all right now. AndI had to start taking, small steps and asking
(52:38):
myself again, going back to that simple word can.
And like, okay, well, what can I do? Like, whatcan I do right now to take a step toward that? And
so it's just simplifying it, like, those smallwins and, like, step by step, and then eventually
reaching that bigger thing. And so that would bemy advice. Ask yourself, like, what can I do?
(53:00):
I think that that's very valuable advice becauseas we already mentioned in the show, you can't.
The old adage is, how do you eat an elephant?
Well, where do you start? And so you startwherever you need to start, and it's one bite at a
time. And that's what you're talking about. And itis the way to overcome, the long odds of creating
(53:23):
something big. and so you have to take it in bitsand pieces, not as one thing. And I think that
that's extremely valuable. Risa August, this hasbeen an absolutely terrific hour on Story Beat,
and I can't thank you enough for your time, yourenergy, and for this great wisdom. And I wish you
much good health going forward.
(53:44):
Oh, my gosh, Steve, thank you so much. It was. Itwas just such a pleasure to be here. Thank you.
And so we've come to the end of today's StoryBeat. If you like this episode, won't you please
take a moment to give us a comment, rating, orreview on whatever app or platform you're
listening to. Your support helps us bring moregreat Story Beat episodes to you. Story Beat is
(54:06):
available on all major podcast apps and platforms,including Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Spotify,
iHeartRadio, TuneIn, and many others. Until nexttime, I'm Steve Cuden and may all your stories be
unforgettable.
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