Wild Ideas Worth Living

Eric Wolfinger has been called the Annie Leibovitz of food photography. While he wasn’t always a photographer, after college Eric, who was also a longtime surfer, wanted to find a way to combine his passions for traveling and cooking. The unexpected answer was photography. He’s published over a dozen award-winning books, and done even more photo and film commissions with amazing chefs from around the world.

Sarah Robb O’Hagan is the Founder and Chief Extremer of Extreme You. Formerly the President of Gatorade and Equinox, she’s also worked at Nike, Virgin, Air New Zealand, and is currently the CEO of Fly Wheel. Sarah shares about success,  failure and how to thrive in work and life. Her new book, Extreme You, interviews everyone from Condoleezza Rice to Skier Bode Miller, with nuggets of wisdom from superstars in their fields.

Chris Sharma is one of climbing’s most accomplished athletes. He started climbing at the young age of twelve in gyms in his native Santa Cruz, CA and now searches out the most difficult, beautiful, and seemingly impossible climbs known to man. He continues to push the limits of what’s possible in the sport, and isn’t afraid to pursue routes that can take him years to accomplish.

Amy Ippoliti has the dream job of a traveling around the world as a yoga teacher, which she started doing in the 1980s. She has a different take on yoga than many. It’s not just about working out and breathing. The practice of yoga also has ties to activism, which is why Amy does things like take her yoga to the oceans to raise awareness for the environment and animal conservation.

David has some unique ideas when it comes to nutrition, fasting, and health. He’s all about using fasting as well as an exclusively plant-based, whole foods diet to promote optimal health and performance. David studied physiology and nutrition at Columbia University and is a registered dietician, working at True North Health in Santa Rosa, CA which is a supervised water fasting center, where he manages the fitness program.

Brendan Brazier is one of the most well know plant-based elite athletes on the planet. He’s the author of bestselling book Thrive, and the founder of several companies including Vega, a plant-based nutrition company. His new magazine, Alive, is available for free at health food stores around the country. He also advises celebrities like Venus Williams, Hugh Jackman, and entire pro-sports teams about their nutrition. 

Caroline Paul is the New York Times best-selling author of four books, including Fighting Fire, Lost Cat, East Wind, Rain, and The Gutsy Girl. She’s competed alongside Olympians as a luger, swam for dead bodies in the San Francisco Bay, made first ascents down Class V rapids, surfed giant Ocean Beach waves, attempted a Guinness Record (in high school), and even walked across the Golden Gate Bridge. She just presented @TedWomen, and is a highly entertaining and empowering story-teller.

Wanting to discover the best photographs in nature, Chris Burkard decided to go to the most remote and raw of places. While he was well on his way to become a leading surf photographer, spending most of his time in tropical water, Chris wanted to go to places that were a little more untrammeled by man. He knew a little sacrifice, just might yield amazing results and photos.

Kimberly Caccavo and Kate Nowlan are the founders of activewear brand GracedByGrit. They started this business from scratch, and it has now become a successful company with a team of rocking women at the helm. They believe in a business with a mission, and are passionate about teaming up with causes they care about to raise both funds and awareness.

Alana Nichols was on her way to college on a softball scholarship when she attempted a flip snowboarding, and landed directly on a rock on her back. She suffered a spinal cord injury that left her paraplegic. Instead of giving up sports altogether, Alana transitioned to adaptive sports, quickly becoming a top Olympic competitor in skiing, wheelchair basketball and sprint kayaking.

As a teen, Jaimal Yogis ran away from home to Hawaii where he found surfing. He also learned to meditate. This path lead him to life as a journalist and writer. The author of the science-based book, The Fear Project and memoir Saltwater Buddah, Jaimal has a brand new book, All Waves are Water that talks about surfing, God, mindfulness and love.

Bethany Hamilton is one of the most empowering surfers of all time. She's had many wild ideas, from continuing to surf despite losing her left arm, to surfing giant waves at Jaws in Maui last year, starting a non-profit to help others, having a baby, speaking in front of crowds of 20k plus, and now making a movie, Unstoppable.

Time Magazine called Dean Karnazes one of the most interesting men. On his 30th birthday (after tequila), Dean ran 30 miles non-stop for the first time. Shortly after that big run, he quit a lucrative, cushy job to become a long-distance, as in ULTRA-distance, runner. Since then, he’s run a marathon in every state, and he plans to run a marathon every country in the WORLD next year.

About a decade ago, James Nestor knew he wanted to quit his job, but he had no idea he’d become a freediver and develop such strong connection with the ocean. A surfer at heart, James always loved playing at the surface of the ocean, but when doing a story about freedivers, he learned so much more, including about what the ocean can tell us about ourselves.

After studying film at USC, Alison Teal was invited to participate on the Discovery Channel show, Naked and Afraid. She not only survived 21 days with a guy in the wilderness naked, but she used her fame from winning the show to promote an important cause, protecting our planet. Alison does it all with a ton of passion, a bikini and a pink surfboard.