Personal Growth Requires Pain
Back in 2019 our team had the privilege of working with Melissa Arnot Reid on a short documentary for Microsoft. As a world-class mountain climber, guide, speaker, and author, just being in the same room as her was an inspiration in and of itself. Earlier that year Melissa and another climber, Maddie Miller, had completed a challenge to summit the 50 highest points in the United States in less than 50 days, breaking the world record in the process.
As a mountain guide, Melissa is keen to train and teach the next generation of guides and thus we had the opportunity to tell a fresh story. One in which she would be a mentor, and place the mantle of leadership on Maddie as they endeavored to summit the highest peak of Mont Blanc in France.
During the planning process we worked with Melissa’s team to capture their communication and documentation via Microsoft Teams. As plans formed we conducted remote interviews and secured a mountain climbing filmmaker to capture the journey of the actual climb. What emerged was a story that surprised us by going a totally different direction than the typical summit elation accomplishment.
This story resonates with me personally, as I’m sure it does for anyone who has ever tried anything hard. Any time we seek to overcome a challenge adversity will arise. How we overcome those obstacles is the way we get better, so embracing the opportunity can only help us.
As a storyteller, I was reminded to remain curious in where the events might lead, and when the conclusion of the story isn’t the happiest of endings, there is probably a greater lesson to learn.
