Episode: A Life Worth Working | Guest: Rebecca Long | Everest Summiteer, Violist & Career Reinventor
This is a vivid, surprisingly funny, and genuinely moving episode about risk, loss, reinvention, and what it means to keep climbing toward your happiness.
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What You’ll Learn in This Episode
The moment Rebecca realized eight years in banking wasn’t a career — it was a slow depression
What she gave up when she quit: a salary, a relationship, a plan. What she gained.
What it’s actually like inside the Khumbu Icefall, the most dangerous section of Everest — including the swinging ladders over crevasses in the dark
The fatherly teammate who lent Rebecca his nose shield without a second thought — and didn’t make it back from the acclimatization climb
Why “getting to the top is optional, but coming down is mandatory” — and what that teaches you about judgment under pressure
About Rebecca Long
Rebecca Long summited Mount Everest and the neighboring peak Lhotse (the world’s fourth-highest mountain), and attempted Kanchenjunga (the third-highest), where she turned around near the summit to avoid catastrophic avalanche danger.
Before any of this, she spent eight years in finance and asset management — including a stint at JP Morgan — doing work she never loved, in a career she backed into because it felt safer than the one she’d actually trained for.
Make sure you listen to her episode to hear why she has no plans to rush back to finance.
About the Podcast: A Life Worth Working
A Life Worth Working is hosted by Michelle Weise, a writer on the future of learning and work, and Dana Allen Walsh, an executive coach and pastor. Each week, they talk with guests who open up about the messiness, transformation, and wonder of their work lives — what they call the soul of work.
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