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023 Many Ways to Fly with Melissa Lowe - Skydiver, Yogi, Author
In today's episode, Sylvia is joined by Melissa Lowe to talk about being a pioneer in the sport of skydiving. She shares openly how she has integrated entrepreneurship, skydiving, yoga and family with her history, personal struggles, lessons on what has worked and a unique perspective on role models, mentors and confronting angst and fear. They talk about comradery and loss in a tight-knit community, and much more. Melissa holds 23 skydiving world records and is a licensed pilot, yoga instructor, author, and mom.
The Sugar Alpha Chronicles are a series of books based on the life of the late skydiving pioneer and Melissa’s father, Roger Nelson's life as a drug smuggler, iconic figure in the sport of skydiving, family man, and eventually a convicted felon. He wrote these books while serving his 5 year prison sentence and smuggled them out of prison where after his death, Melissa was able to finish the project and get them published. A decade’s worth of research and finding out truths of her past as a drug smuggler's daughter this series brought the memoirs into fruition.
Topics Include:
- Growing up in a skydiving community drop zone
- Being a drug smuggler's daughter
- Breaking away from family mold
- Getting sober and resetting identity
- Influences from learning and practicing yoga
- Stability and instability as a young adult
- The experience of flying with your body
- Processing loss
- Wingsuit flying, Freestyle, Freefly and competition
- Highlight Pro Skydiving - the all-female demonstration jump team
- Mission and media
- World records, attempts and other successes
- Entrepreneurship and leadership
- And other topics...
Resources Mentioned:
https://melissa-lowe.com/about/
Melissa's Books:
Sugar Alpha: The Life and Times of Señor Huevos Grandes and
Charlie Bravo: Descent into Darkness and Danger
Originally written by Roger, the series were not published until years after his death when Melissa picked up the dusty manuscript and turned them into books. Melissa had to fill in some gaps through interviews of people involved in Roger’s life to finish up this true story of Roger’s adventures.
Book mentioned:
Eat Wheat: A Scientific and Clinically-Proven Approach to Safely Bringing Wheat and Dairy Back Into Your Diet by John Douillard
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