Susanne Mueller Zantop didn't just climb the world's tallest mountain but she also conquered the cancer diagnosis. 🏔️ In this episode, she traces the path from childhood hikes in the Swiss mountains with her family that would eventually lead to Mt. Everest under the legendary mentorship of Henry Todd, who personally invited her to join his expedition. 🤝 She shares what the climb actually demands: breathwork to calm fear on icefall ladders, singing German children's songs alone through the six-hour Valley of Silence, and the strange comfort of a perfectly arranged tent. ⛺🎵 Then the story shifts. Diagnosed with breast cancer just ten days before a planned expedition to Pakistan, she negotiated with her doctors to go anyway. Then she came home and started eighteen months of chemo, surgery, and radiation while keeping her company running. 🎗️ 💼 Her guiding principle: "one step at a time." 👣 A conversation about leadership, trust, and what extreme environments teach us about getting through the hardest climbs on and off the mountains. ❤️🩹
Susanne Mueller Zantop is a communications technology entrepreneur and high altitude mountaineer based in Switzerland, working with senior leadership in high pressure-situations. She founded her first company at 24, worked in large corporations on senior leadership levels, later co founded CEO Positions AG to support C-Level executive teams to convey strategic messages in their markets. Susanne has climbed some of the world’s highest mountains—including Mount Everest—and uses the lessons from extreme environments to explore leadership under difficult circumstances, setbacks, and transformation.
Today, she joins us to tell the story how she managed to continue leading her company while she was undergoing cancer treatment over the last 24 months.
Follow her on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susannemuellerzantop/