Inspired Interview: Akshay Nanavati

I am a Marine Corps Veteran, a speaker, an explorer, an entrepreneur and a success coach. After recovering from a life of drugs in high school, I enlisted in the US Marines despite being told by two separate doctors that I would not be able to survive boot camp because of a debilitating medical condition called Thallasemia.

During my six years in the Marines, I earned a bachelors degree in history and philosophy, a masters degree in journalism from the prestigious S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and I spent 7 months fighting the war in Iraq as a non-commissioned officer.

In my spare time, I pushed the limits of my fears in the outdoors. I have climbed mountains in the Himalayas, Africa, Bolivia, Alaska and the Cascades. I have been skydiving, scuba diving, caving, rock climbing, ice climbing, ice diving and mountain biking. In May of this year, I spent one month skiing across the second largest icecap in the world in Greenland. In temperatures as low as -40 degrees, I dragged a sled weighing 190 pounds across 350 miles.

Since then I have started two businesses: an adventure company and Human Potential Development LLC, where I help others live every day with passion and purpose through coaching, public speaking and transformational workshops. I am also a trained success coach by the ICF accredited coach training program.

While running my two businesses, I continue to explore the most hostile environments on the planet and share the wisdom I have gained from a life on the edge with others so that they too can cross their icecaps and reach their summits.