18 Aug 2025 08:15
368. Riding With Purpose: How To Define Success, Trust Your Gut & Build Self-Worth With 2X Olympic Gold Medalist Kristen Faulkner
Kristen Faulkner won two gold medals for cycling at the 2024 Olympics, less than eight years after starting riding competitively. That in itself is an impressive sentence, especially considering she started on the bike as a method to alleviate stress and find community after a move to New York City for a job in finance. In this week’s episode, she talks about the value of trusting your gut, how she knew her big Olympic dream was worth pursuing, and what it meant to her to finally accomplish a lifelong dream.
IN THIS EPISODE
(8:40) The two important conversations that Kristen had that helped her make the choice to leave finance to turn pro cycling
(10:30) What it was about cycling that Kristen loved from the get-go
(13:08) Kristen recalls the first time she watched the Olympics at 8 years old and how she knew she wanted to be one
(13:35) Kristen talks about swimming as a child
(14:45) How to know when a goal is worth pursuing
(15:57) Kristen admits that she was almost embarrassed to talk about her Olympic dreams for a while
(17:32) How growing up in Alaska shaped Kristen as an athlete and woman
(18:40) Kristen talks about how she’d feel if she was older and didn’t pursue this dream
(20:00) Kristen talks about how challenging it was to seek out community when she moved to New York City. “It was the first time in my life I had to build a community.”
(38:18) How Kristen felt signing her first international lease
(42:12) What it was like for Kristen to accomplish her biggest, lifelong dream.
(1:01.20) Who is Kristen off the bike?
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