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Episode 51: Heather Thorkelson on her entrepreneurial polar journey

Episode 51: Heather Thorkelson on her entrepreneurial polar journey

22 March 2022

Gerdi with Heather Thorkelson on her entrepreneurial polar journey

What do the pharmaceutical industry and an icebreaker turned polar cruise vessel have in common? You’re forgiven when your answer to this question is, “Absolutely nothing!”

You would – however – be wrong. Because my guest today is the link between these two very different worlds.

While she was successful in the structured 9-5 world, she always hated the lack of agency and the arbitrary rules which led her to abandon that world for good in 2010.

Since then she has built companies based around her values and made a concerted effort to live closer to nature.

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Celebrating Nature in music, movies & Books

No matter where our conversation has taken us, I always ask my guests to share a favourite piece of music, a book and a movie that celebrates Nature. Their answers have led me to some beautiful discoveries.

Music celebrating Nature

Music celebrating Nature

  • TITLE – PERFORMER (GUEST)

~ ALL MUSIC ON SPOTIFY

  • ‘Annie’s Song’ – John Denver (Jennifer Wills)
  • ‘Aquarius’ – Fifth Dimension (Marina Pearson)
  • ‘Autumn Leaves’ – Miles Davis (Amy J.V. Atwell)
  • ‘Balad of Sir Frankie Crisp’ – George Harrison (Heather Wright)
  • ‘Bushes & Briars’ – Eliza Carthy & Nancy Kerr (Lorenza Clifford)
  • ‘Cherokee Morning Song’ – Robbie Robertson, The Red Road Ensemble & others (Diana Tedoldi)
  • ‘Country Boy City Boy’ – Chatham County Line (Garry Pratt)
  • ‘Corner of the Earth’ – Jamiroquoai (Nuno Santos Fernandes)
  • ‘Entering Erdenheim’ – Steve Schuck (Diane F. Wyzga)
  • ‘Intermezzo’ from ‘Cavalieria Rusticana’ – P. Mascagni (Jo Baldwin Trott) 
  • ‘Dreamer’ – Isbells (Jennifer Walsh)
  • ‘Edelweiss’ – Julie Andrews & Christopher Plummer (Claire V. Bishop)
  • ‘Eyes/Ocean’ – Deva Primal & Miten (Fiona Clark)
  • ‘Finnish National Anthem’ – Unknown (Anne Bland)
  • ‘Flying In A Blue Dream’ – Joe Satriani
  • ‘Four Seasons’ – Antonio Vivaldi (Sarah Brewer, Helen Fraser)
  • ‘God’s Cricket Chorus’ (Lisa Liljeberg)
  • ‘Joy’ – Will Young (Sarah Ross)
  • ‘Jupiter’ – Roland Holst (Jess Dewell)
  • ‘Le Grand Blue’ – Eric Serra (Anne Iarchy)
  • ‘Les Carnival des Animaux’ – Camille Saint-Saëns (Sarah Brewer)
  • ‘Lost Words: Willow’ – Spell Songs (Fiona Anderson)
  • ‘Má Vlast no.2 Vltava (The Moldau)’ – Bedřich Smetana (Gerdi Verwoert)
  • ‘Mer’s Walz’ – Steve Schuch (Diane F. Wyzga)
  • ‘Never Let Me Go’ – Florence + The Machine (Clare Snowdon)
  • ‘Oceania’ – Björk (Heather Thorkelson)
  • ‘Rocky Mountain High’ – John Denver (Ellen Snee)
  • ‘Sail’ – Awolnation (Memnia Theodorou)
  • ‘Selkie Boy’ – Spell Songs (Lesley Roberts)
  • ‘Singin´ in the rain’ – Gene Kelly (Jo Roberts)
  • ‘Storms in Africa’ – Enya (Heather Monro)
  • ‘Symphony No. 5 in C minor op. 67′ – Ludwig von Beethoven (Paul Ryken)
  • ‘Symphony No. 6 in F major op. 68 (the Pastoral)‘ – Ludwig von Beethoven
  • ‘Take Me Home (Country Roads)’ – John Denver (Rachel Woods)
  • ‘The Beatitudes’ – Vladimir Martynov (Joao Perre Viana)
  • ‘Three Little Birds’ – Bob Marley (Caroline Ferguson)
  • ‘What A Wonderful World’ – Louis Armstrong (Bernard Fanger, Deborah Mendes, Melissa Stephens, Jo Baldwin Trott)
  • ‘White Sandy Beach’ – Israel ‘IZ’ Kamakawiwoʻole (Nicole Snell)
  • ‘Wind Beneath My Wings’ – Bette Midler (Julia Felton)
  • ‘Yoik to the Wind’ – Sofia Jannok (Toby Cowern)
Music celebrating Nature

Books celebrating Nature

  • TITLE – AUTHOR (GUEST)

~ ALL BOOKS ON GOODREADS

  • ‘A Far Off Place’ – Laurence van der Post (Heather Monro)
  • ‘A Last Wild Place’ – Mike Tomkies (Leslie Roberts)
  • ‘Beyond Possible’ – Nimsdai ‘Nims’ Purja (Toby Cowern)
  • ‘Blue Mind’ – Wallace J. Nichols (Julie Lewis)
  • ‘Born Free’ – Joy Adamson (Lisa Liljeberg)
  • ‘Braiding Sweetgrass’ – Robin Wall Kimmerer (Grattan Donnely, Heather Monro)
  • ‘Call of The White’ – Felicity Aston (Memnia Theodorou)
  • ‘Centennial’ – James A. Michener (Amy J.V. Atwell)
  • ‘Cosmos’ – Carl Sagan (Craig Constantine)
  • ‘Dance of the Moon’ – Dan Furst (Melissa Stephens)
  • ‘Duncton Wood’ – William Horwood (Clare Snowdon)
  • ‘Earth Medicine’ – (Michelé Keehn)
  • ‘Ego is the Enemy’ – Ryan Holiday (Jess Dewell)
  • ‘Flight Behaviour’ – Barbara Kingsolver (Sarah Brewer)
  • ‘Gifts of Sri Saibabu’ – (Michelé Keehn)
  • ‘Giver of Stars’ – Jojo Moyes (Sarah Brewer)
  • ‘Grandma Gatewood’s Walk’ – Ben Montgomery (Lisa Liljeberg)
  • ‘Horse Sense For People’ – Monty Roberts (Julia Felton)
  • ‘Hurricane Lizards & Plastic Squid’ – Thor Hansen (Diane F. Wyzga)
  • ‘Il Lupo e l’equilibrista’ (The Wolf and the Tightrope Walker) – Max Solinas (Diana Tedoldi)
  • ‘In Praise Of Walking’ – Shane O’Mara (Joao Perre Viana)
  • ‘Into The Wild’ – Jon Krakauer (Bernard Fanger)
  • ‘Jack Reacher series’ – Lee Child (Paul Ryken)
  • ‘Julie of the Wolves’ – Jean Craighead George (Lisa Liljeberg)
  • ‘L’ Abbraccio Selvatico Delle Alpi’ (The Wild Embrace Of The Alps) – Franco Michieli (Diana Tedoldi)
  • ‘Learning Tree Series’ – Ian Page (Lesley Roberts)
  • ‘Lord of the Rings’ – J.R. Tolkien (Jess Dewell)
  • ‘My Side Of The Mountain’ – Jean Craighead George (Lisa Liljeberg)
  • ‘Once Upon A River’ – Diane Setterfield (Rachel Woods)
  • ‘Prodigal Summer’ – Barbara Kingsolver (Sarah Brewer, Fiona Anderson)
  • ‘Silence’ – Erling Kagge (Nuno Santos Fernandes)
  • ‘Swallows and Amazons’ – Arthur Ransom (Lorenza Clifford)
  • ‘The Alchemist’ – Paul Coelho (Anne Iarchy)
  • ‘The Eight Mountains’ – Paolo Cognetti (Garry Pratt)
  • ‘The Giving Tree’ – Shel Silverstein (Jess Dewell)
  • ‘The Giver Of Stars’ – Jojo Moyes (Sarah Brewer
  • ‘The Great Alone’ – Kristin Hannah (Claire Victoria Bishop)
  • ‘The Hidden Life of Trees’ – Peter Wohlleben (Jennifer Walsh, Deborah Mendes, Sarah Ross, Jo Baldwin Trott)
  • ‘The Jungle Books’ – Rudyard Kipling (Gerdi Verwoert)
  • ‘The Laws of the Spirit’ – P. Millman (Michelé Keehn)
  • ‘The Nature Fix’ – Florence Williams (Jennifer Walsh, Jennifer Wills)
  • ‘The Old Ways. A journey on foot’ – Robert MacFarlane (Fi Macmillan)
  • ‘The Salt Path’ – Rayonor Wynn (Jo Roberts)
  • ‘The Sixth Extinction’ – James Rollins (Nicole Snell)
  • ‘The Soul Of An Octopus’ – Sy Montgomery (Ellen Snee)
  • ‘Think Big Act Small’ – Jason Jennings (Jess Dewell)
  • ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ – Harper Lee (Rosemarie Wilson)
  • ‘Walden’ – Henry David Thoreau (Sandra Rosenau, Heather Thorkelson)
  • ‘Watership Down’ – Richard Adams (Heather Wright, Fiona Clark)
  • ‘Women Who Run With The Wolves’ – Clarissa Pinkola Estes (Anne Bland)
  • ‘Working With The Law’ – Raymond Holliwell (Julie Felton)

 

Movies celebrating Nature

Movies celebrating Nature

  • TITLE (GUEST)

~ ALL TRAILERS ON YOUTUBE

  • A Good Year (Anne Bland)
  • A Walk In The Woods (Diane F. Wyzga)
  • Avatar (Julie Lewis)
  • Bladerunner 2049 (Craig Constantine)
  • Blue Planet (Jennifer Wills, Anne Iarchy)
  • Born Free (Lisa Liljeberg)
  • Dances With Wolves (Sarah Ross)
  • Danny Macaskill: The Ridge (Heather Wright)
  • David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet (Sandra Rosenau)
  • Forrest Gump (Paul Ryken)
  • Free Solo (Bernard Fanger)
  • How Wolves Change Rivers (Julia Felton)
  • Into the Wild (Lorenza Clifford, Joao Perre Viana)
  • Kes (Fiona Anderson)
  • Last of the Mohicans (Nuno Santos Fernandes)
  • Le Peuple Migrateur (Winged Migration) (Diana Tedoldi)
  • Local Hero (Caroline Ferguson)
  • March Of The Penguins (Anne Iarchy)
  • My Octopus Teacher (Jennifer Walsh, Heather Thorkelson)
  • Piper (short film) (Amy J.V. Atwell)
  • Point Break (Lesley Roberts)
  • Pride and Prejudice (2005 – opening scene) (Heather Monro)
  • Princess Mononoke (Rachel Woods)
  • Safe Haven (Melissa Stephens)
  • The Big Blue (Anne Iarchy)
  • The Color Purple (Rosemarie Wilson)
  • The Elephant Queen (Gerdi Verwoert)
  • The Happy People: A Year in the Taiga (Toby Cowern)
  • The Hobbit (Fiona Clark)
  • The Lion King (Sarah Brewer)
  • The Secret of Roan Inish (Ellen Snee)
  • The Year Earth Changed (Jennifer Walsh)
  • Trail Magic-the Grandma Gatewood Story (Diane F. Wyzga)
  • Water: The Great Mystery (Deborah Mendes)
  • Watership Down (Clare Snowdon)
  • Wild (Helen Fraser)
  • Wings of Life (Disney Nature) (Nicole Snell)
  • Woman Walks Ahead (Fi Macmillan)
  • You vs Wild (Jo Baldwin Trott)