Bonita Norris – beyond the summit

About this episode

Bonita Norris shares her journey as a mountaineer and the lessons learned from her experiences on Everest and beyond.

This week on the How to Thrive podcast, Claire and Helen are joined by Bonita Norris, mountaineer, keynote speaker, and the youngest British woman to reach the summit of Everest. She was 22 years old, had never climbed a mountain before university, and the whole thing started with a hungover phone call. Bonita talks candidly about making a mistake on her descent and carrying it for years, about returning to the Himalayas to climb Lhotse (the world's fourth highest peak) and about the moment she handed her record to the next generation. Claire, Helen and Bonita discuss the team it takes to get one person to the top of the world, the surprising parallels between mountaineering and corporate life, and the power of a debrief. Find out more about Bonita: www.bonita-norris.com With thanks to our sponsors for this episode: Lewis Silkin: https://www.lewissilkin.com Lewis Silkin is a full-service law firm that works closely with organisations to help protect and enhance what matters most. Whether it's navigating an increasingly complex political and economic landscape or aligning legal strategy with broader business goals, their approach is thoughtful, commercial and deeply human. Serious…

People in this episode

Hosts: Claire Sanders, Helen Silver-MacMahon

Guest: Bonita Norris

Topics covered

• mountaineering
• personal growth
• teamwork
• corporate parallels
• mistakes and learning

Keywords

• mountaineer
• Everest
• Lhotse
• personal development
• team dynamics
• mistakes
• keynote speaker

Sponsors

Lewis Silkin

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Lawyers on Demand

More episodes of How to Thrive

• 'Your attitude determines your altitude' - Neil Edge · May 13, 2026 · 1h 26m
• 'I want to say no, therefore I have to say yes' - Andy Green · April 15, 2026 · 1h 3m
• 'Nothing changes until it does' - Karen Sheriff, Project RED-D · March 26, 2026 · 54 min
• The Sleep Geek, James Wilson · March 12, 2026 · 53 min
• 'We're not running a race against tech' - Alexander Bell · February 26, 2026 · 54 min
• How to be brilliant - Dr Andy Cope · February 12, 2026 · 53 min