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Rowing Solo: How One Woman's 111 Days at Sea Sparked a Movement of Courage

Women's Stories·Mar 6, 2026·2:55

About this Episode

This is your Women's Stories podcast.

Imagine this: you're paddling alone across the vast, unforgiving Atlantic Ocean, waves crashing like mountains, storms raging without mercy. That's exactly what Debra Searle did in 2001, after her partner was rescued and left her behind. Stranded for 111 days on a 23-foot rowboat named Picasa, Debra battled 30-foot swells, equipment failures, and moments of utter despair. But she refused to quit. Drawing on sheer willpower, she rowed 3,000 miles from Monaco to Barbados, becoming the first woman to cross solo without sails or assistance. Today, as founder of MIX Diversity Developers in the UK, Debra champions women's leadership, proving resilience turns isolation into unbreakable strength.

Listeners, stories like Debra's ignite the fire of women's empowerment, showing how we rise when the world tries to sink us. Take Bethany Hamilton, the 13-year-old surfer from Kauai, Hawaii, who lost her left arm to a shark attack in 2003. Just one month later, she was back on her board, catching waves with one arm. Her autobiography and the film Soul Surfer inspired millions. Bethany didn't just survive; she dominated professional surfing, won national championships, and now advocates for faith and perseverance through her nonprofit, Friends of Bethany.

Or consider Rebekah Gregory from Texas, whose life shattered at the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. Shrapnel tore through her legs, leading to 76 surgeries and amputation. Yet Rebekah transformed trauma into triumph, authoring Taking My Life Back and speaking worldwide with humor and heart. She remarried, had a son, and runs a business empowering others to reclaim joy.

From the mountains, Silvia Vasquez-Lavado, a survivor of sexual violence from Peru, healed by conquering the Seven Summits, becoming the first openly gay Latina to do so. Her book In the Shadow of the Mountain shares how nature rebuilt her spirit, now fueling global survivor programs.

Even in illness, Sarah battled a chronic autoimmune disease from youth, turning pain into advocacy. Emma, widowed suddenly, founded a grief group in her community. Maya escaped a violent neighborhood through scholarships to a top university. Jenna Banks survived suicide attempts to build a self-love empire. Dr. Dorothy Dunning Chacko, one of the first female residents at New York's Metropolitan Hospital, established India's first leprosy colony.

These women—real trailblazers from Kauai to the Atlantic—teach us resilience isn't absence of fear, but action amid it. In Women's Stories, we celebrate your inner strength too. Tune in next time for more tales of unbreakable spirits.

Thank you for tuning in, listeners. Subscribe now for weekly inspiration. This has been a Quiet Please production, for more check out quietplease.ai.

For more http://www.quietplease.ai

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This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI

This episode includes AI-generated content.

Hosts & Guests

Inception Point Ai

Host

Transcript

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Finding great candidates to hire can be like, well, trying to find a needle in a haystack.

Sure, you can post your job to some job board.

But then all you can do is hope the right person comes along.

Which is why you should try Zippercrooter for free.

At zippercrooter.com slash zip.

Zippercrooter doesn't depend on candidates finding you.

It finds them for you.

It's powerful technology identifies people with the right experience and actively invites

them to apply to your job.

You get qualified candidates fast.

So while other companies might deliver a lot of, hey, Zippercrooter finds you what you're

looking for.

The needle in the haystack.

See why four out of five employers who post a job on Zippercrooter get a quality candidate

within the first day.

Zippercrooter, the smartest way to hire.

And right now, you can try Zippercrooter for free.

That's right.

At zippercrooter.com slash zip.

That zippercrooter.com slash zip zippercrooter.com slash zip.

Imagine this.

You're paddling alone across the vast unforgiving Atlantic Ocean.

Waves crashing like mountains.

Storms raging without mercy.

That's exactly what Deborah Cirl did in 2001 after her partner was rescued and left her behind.

She was stranded for 111 days on a 23-foot rowboat named Pekasa.

Deborah battled 30-foot swells, equipment failures, and moments of utter despair.

But she refused to quit.

Drawing on sheer willpower, she rode 3,000 miles from Monaco to Barbados, becoming the

first woman to cross solo without sales or assistance.

Today, as founder of Nick's diversity developers in the UK, Deborah champions women's leadership,

proving resilience turns isolation into unbreakable strength.

Listeners, stories like Deborah's ignite the fire of women's empowerment, showing how

we rise when the world tries to sink us.

Take Bethany Hamilton, the 13-year-old surfer from Kali, Hawaii, who lost her left arm to

a shark attack in 2003.

Just one month later, she was back on her board, stretching waves with one arm.

Her autobiography and the film Soul Surfer inspired millions.

Stephanie didn't just survive, she dominated professional surfing, won national championships,

and now advocates for faith and perseverance through her non-profit, Friends of Bethany.

Or consider Rebecca Gregory from Texas, whose life shattered at the 2013 Boston Marathon

bombing.

Shrapnel tore through her legs, leading to 76 surgeries in amputation.

Yet, Rebecca transformed trauma into triumph, authoring, taking my life back, and speaking

worldwide with humor and heart.

She remarried, had a son, and runs a business empowering others to reclaim joy.

From the mountains, Sylvia Vesquez-Levato, a survivor of sexual violence from Peru, healed

by conquering the seven summits, becoming the first openly gay Latina to do so.

Her book in the Shadow of the Mountain shares how nature rebuilt her spirit, now fueling

global survivor programs.

In an illness, Sarah battled a chronic autoimmune disease from youth, turning pain into advocacy.

Emma, widowed suddenly, founded a grief group in her community.

Maya escaped a violent neighborhood through scholarships to a top university.

Jenna Banks survived suicide attempts to build a self-love empire.

Dr. Dorothy Dunning-Chaco, one of the first female residents at New York's Metropolitan

Hospital, established India's first leprosy colony.

Since women, real trailblazers from Kauaiya to the Atlantic, teachers' resilience isn't

absence of fear but action amid it.

In women's stories, we celebrate your inner strength, too.

Tune in next time for more tales of unbreakable spirits.

Thank you for tuning in, listeners.

Subscribe now for weekly inspiration.

This has been a Quiet Please production.

For more, check out quietplease.ai

Sure, you can post your job to some job board, but then all you can do is hope the right

person comes along.

Which is why you should try Zip Recruiter for free.

At ziprecruiter.com slash zip.

Zip Recruiter doesn't depend on candidates finding you.

It finds them for you.

It's powerful technology identifies people with the right experience and actively invites

them to apply to your job.

You get qualified candidates fast.

So while other companies might deliver a lot of hey, Zip Recruiter finds you what you're

looking for.

The needle in the haystack.

See why four out of five employers who post a job on Zip Recruiter get a quality candidate

within the first day.

Zip Recruiter, the smartest way to hire.

And right now, you can try Zip Recruiter for free.

That's right.

Free.

At ziprecruiter.com slash zip.

That ziprecruiter.com slash zip.

Zip Recruiter.com slash zip.

Finding great candidates to hire can be like, well, trying to find a needle in a

haystack.

Sure, you can post your job to some job board.

But then all you can do is hope the right person comes along.

Which is why you should try Zip Recruiter for free.

At ziprecruiter.com slash zip.

Zip Recruiter doesn't depend on candidates finding you.

It finds them for you.

It's powerful technology identifies people with the right experience and actively invites

them to apply to your job.

You get qualified candidates fast.

So while other companies might deliver a lot of hey, Zip Recruiter finds you what you're

looking for.

The needle in the haystack.

See why four out of five employers who post a job on Zip Recruiter get a quality candidate

within the first day.

Zip Recruiter, the smartest way to hire.

And right now, you can try Zip Recruiter for free.

That's right.

Free.

At ziprecruiter.com slash zip.

That ziprecruiter.com slash zip.

Zip Recruiter.com slash zip.

Rowing Solo: How One Woman's 111 Days at Sea Sparked a Movement of Courage

About this Episode

Hosts & Guests

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