Good morning, friends!

Dubbed “The Queen of Pain,” Amelia Boone is a corporate attorney at Apple by day and an obstacle endurance racer by night. She signed up for her first Tough Mudder race at age 28 when she realized she couldn’t do a single pull-up.

Since that day, she became obsessed with getting stronger and went on to become a 4-time world champion and one of the most decorated obstacle racers in history — all while working full-time at Apple.

To find time for training outside of the regular workday, Boone began waking up at 4 a.m, hitting the trails for several hours of running, and getting to the office by 7 a.m.

"I've always found that I'm most productive when I have multiple balls in the air," Boone said in an interview with The Profile. "It's that cliché saying that if you want something done, give it to a busy person. That's exactly how I operate."

In 2019, Boone ran Big's Backyard Ultra, an infamous event in which runners have one hour to complete a 4.167-mile loop. Then, they do it over and over again, until there’s only one person left standing.

"I love the mental aspect of racing, and so much of [Big's Backyard Ultra] was mental," she says. "It's very much just about focusing on getting through that next loop in front of you."

To conquer the mind, Boone realized that she needed to first master the art of suffering. "When you put yourself through situations that are very hard, and you do that on purpose, it helps you to deal with the messiness in life that is not voluntary," she says.

The same year, Boone suffered a fourth stress fracture, and it re-surfaced old wounds that she had tried to keep under wraps. She wrote a blog post called "The Recovery I Needed," in which she said, "The hardest things to fix are the things that we don’t want to admit to ourselves."

Even though it was difficult, Boone made a stunning admission: She had spent the last 20 years privately battling an eating disorder.

"I was diagnosed with anorexia when I was 16 years old," she says. "I was hospitalized, and I was very, very sick. I went through a period of my life in high school and college where I was in and out of treatment, and at some point, I decided that I didn't want to be identified as the 'sick girl' anymore."

Boone shut that chapter of her life, thinking that was a form of recovery. Years later, she was no longer labeled a "sick girl." Now, she was a decorated, championship-winning athlete.

"Unfortunately, eating disorders are very sneaky illnesses," Boone says. "Over the years, things started creeping back in and old habits and old thought patterns came back."

After yet another injury, she had to come to terms that there was something wrong. It wasn't her training, it wasn't her routine, it wasn't her running style. It was the eating disorder.

"I finally had to take a hard look at myself and say, 'I'm 35 years old, and I still have an eating disorder, and I need to fix this because it's keeping me from doing what I love to do,'" she says. "It's keeping me from racing and it's keeping me from really engaging in life."

In this wide-ranging interview, Boone and I discuss developing mental toughness, balancing rest with challenging yourself, getting off "the merry-go-round of self-flagellation," and her advice on how we can stress-test ourselves in order to become more resilient.

(Below are highlights of our interview, but I encourage you to listen and watch to the full interview here)

🎧 LISTEN:

Four-Time Obstacle Race Champion Amelia Boone on Mastering the Art of SufferingBy Polina Marinova PomplianoPodcast episode

🎬. WATCH:

HIGHLIGHTS:

...On why voluntary suffering can help prepare you for involuntary suffering:

“The one thing suffering has taught me is that everything is fleeting. Pain is fleeting, feelings are fleeting, how you feel in this moment is going to change. So when I've been through heartbreak, when I've been through breakups, when I've been through job changes, I tell myself, 'I'm really in it right now. I'm really in it. I'm having a really bad time. Life sucks.' But then I tell myself, 'Focus on what's in front of you, and things will slowly start to change. It may not be immediate. It may be longer than you want it to be.’ But I remember that through racing where it's just you'll go through ups and downs, and you can't always predict those.”

Read the Full Article Here

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THE PROFILE DOSSIER: On Wednesday, premium members received The Profile Dossier, a comprehensive deep-dive on a prominent individual. It featured Edith Eva Eger, the Holocaust survivor who escaped the prison of her mind. I’ve unlocked it for everyone to read. Check it out here.

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PROFILES.

— The Bitcoin billionaires who made a comeback [**HIGHLY RECOMMEND**]
— The man who lost $20 billion in two days
— The CEO leading McDonald's into the future
— The mayor trying to build a tech mecca
— Gen Z's beauty icon
— The underdog of the vaccine race
— The footwear brand making a comeback

PEOPLE TO KNOW.

The Bitcoin billionaires who made a comeback: After losing an epic battle with Mark Zuckerberg over ownership of Facebook and being shunned in Silicon Valley, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss are back—this time as budding Bitcoin billionaires at the center of the future of money, the creative economy and quite possibly a new operating model for Big Tech itself. (Forbes)

“Decentralization is a spectrum. Our goal was not to be the gatekeepers.”

The man who lost $20 billion in two days: Bill Hwang, 57, was the greatest trader you’d never heard of. Starting in 2013, he parlayed more than $200 million left over from his shuttered hedge fund into a mind-boggling fortune by betting on stocks. Hwang’s $20 billion net worth was almost as liquid as a government stimulus check. And then, in two short days, it was all gone. Take a look at Hwang's spectacular rise and fall. (Bloomberg)

“In a way it’s a fearless way to invest. I am not afraid of death or money.”

The CEO leading McDonald's into the future: Chris Kempczinski is in a strange position. His predecessor, Steve Easterbrook, grew McDonald’s market cap by over $50 billion—more than any restaurant CEO has ever added during a similar time span. But he killed the "McFamily," the company's cohesive value system. Kempczinski is now tasked with leading a cultural turnaround rather than a business one. “Ordinarily when you come into these jobs, you’re first talking about the business—you’re not talking about values and standards,” he said. This is a must-read. (Fortune)

"He did what the board asked him to do. But he did it at the expense of the McFamily."

The mayor trying to build a tech mecca: Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has become the city's biggest hype man. He tweets relentlessly and throughout the night about Miami’s merits as a hub for industry; answers inquiries from seemingly everybody; and fiercely promotes ideas to make the city a tech utopia. Here's how Suarez is luring the next generation of innovators to his city. (Bloomberg)

“How can I help?”

Gen Z's beauty icon: Social media influencers, like TikTok star Addison Rae, are re-shaping the $92.8 billion beauty product industry. People with clout, from celebrities to social media stars to lifestyle influencers, are exploiting the intimate relationships they have with their fans in a way that wasn’t possible before. And while most of their profits aren’t close to comparable to established brands, at the moment, beauty is big business. (The New York Times)

“Makeup does well in any type of video format where you see transformation, a before and after."

COMPANIES TO WATCH.

The underdog of the vaccine race: Pfizer and Moderna crossed the finish line first, neck and neck, in December. The third and most recently approved vaccine was from Johnson & Johnson. The story of the vaccine’s path from development to mass distribution is a lesson in the power of the global capitalist system and how it can summon forth immense material and intellectual resources and deploy them for the greater good. Here’s how J&J brought vaccines to millions of people. (New York Magazine)

“From the start, J&J struggled to catch a break.”

The footwear brand making a comeback: Remember Toms? The beloved footwear shoe brand has gone from being touted in Vogue to being mismanaged by private equity into near-collapse. Now, it's eyeing a comeback. To convert more into customers, the Los Angeles-based company will weave a new giving model into its marketing. The brand plans to use fewer professional models and instead highlight young people who are advocates for the causes the company is supporting. Will it work? (Bloomberg)

“We’re not saying we’re going to make sneakers that compete against the Nikes and Adidases of the world.”

This installment of The Profile is free for everyone. If you would like to get full access to all of the recommendations, including today’s audio and video sections, sign up below.

AUDIO TO HEAR.

Marcus Lemonis on making sound business decisions: How do you choose a good business partner? Should you start a company with family and friends? What constitutes a solid business deal? In this episode, 'The Profit' host Marcus Lemonis answers all these questions with really practical advice. (Link available to premium members.)

Sara Blakely on tapping into your creativity: In this new episode with Spanx founder CEO Sara Blakely, she explains the importance of letting your mind wander. Even though she lives only 5 minutes away from Spanx, she'll create a "fake commute" in order to get new ideas. Ask yourself the question, “When do you get your best ideas?” For Blakely, it’s in the car. For Albert Einstein, it was while shaving. Research suggests that people’s most creative ideas strike when they’re not actively thinking about anything — that’s why showering, running, meditating, or any sort of rote activity can spark inspiration. (Link available to premium members.)

Balaji Srinivasan on the media ecosystem: Angel investor Balaji Srinivasan is outspoken about his view on the state of the media. "If code scripts machines, media scripts human beings," he says. Previously, traditional media organizations held all the power because of their unrivaled distribution. But this has changed as the subjects have been able to meaningfully build up their own distribution channels. So what does this mean for the future of media? (Link available to premium members.)

VIDEOS TO SEE.

Christopher Nolan his unconventional storytelling: In this video, writer and director Christopher Nolan outlines the filmmaking techniques that have made his films so absorbing and cerebral. He uses non-linear timelines, intercutting scenes, scene geography, inserts, lens proximity, and realism to grab the viewer from the very beginning all the way to the end. This one is fascinating. (Link available to premium members.)

Martha Stewart on becoming America's tastemaker: Martha Stewart sits down to discuss how she was the original influencer years before social media ever existed. "I never thought about doubting my ability to reach a large group of people," she says. "In the 1980s and early 1990s, social media was really PR. It was reaching people through newspapers." This is an amazing conversation. (Link available to premium members.)

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