Back in April 2023 I visited Italy for the first time to attend the final Plant Power Italia retreat hosted by Rich Roll and his wife Julie Piatt.
We stayed in a gorgeous renovated farmhouse villa nestled in the Tuscan hills between Florence, Siena and Arezzo. Our days were filled with yoga, spiritual and personal exploration, and every night we stuffed ourselves on gourmet plant-based meals.
In case you’re not familiar, Rich Roll — not to be confused with a Rick roll — is most known for his best-selling memoir, Finding Ultra, where he chronicles his journey from addicted lawyer to ultra-endrance athlete on a plant-based diet, competing in events like the EPIC5 – 5 Ironmans on 5 Hawaiian Islands in less than a week.
His podcast has featured guests like Seth Godin, Mel Robbins and Dr. Gabor Mate,’ and he’s been featured in Fast Company, CNN, NPR and The New York Times.
At the retreat, we laughed, shared meals and chatted casually with Rich and his family. He was surprisingly quiet in ordinary conversation, but came to life with a microphone in hand to record an episode of his podcast with us as a live audience.
What strikes me now is this: all people are human.
No matter how famous or accomplished, they have insecurities and quirks. Like they say, every human burbs and farts.
Back then, I had made Rich up to be “one of those” successful people who was somehow different from me. Not because he projected that, but because I was projecting that onto him.
As I’ve been seeing this more over the past few weeks, I’m called to reconnect with people of influence, and see how I can serve them. Because I can. I don’t need to hold back or assume they don’t need what I bring.
With Rich, I got to know him well enough to sense what might be useful for him, what might be a struggle behind the scenes. As a coach, that’s what I do and it’s what I see.
I was too afraid to act on it at the time. But the habit of insecurity doesn’t run this girl’s show anymore.
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Yours in love and play,
Steph
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