7 October 2019

Jasmin Paris and Charlie Guest spoke recently at a Business School event, sharing their insights from the world of sport and how they can be applied to careers and business.
Inspiring People: Charlie Guest & Jasmin Paris on Lessons from Sport

Jasmin is a national fell-running champion and won the 2016 Skyrunner World Series, as well as the 2019 Spine Race, a winter ultramarathon held over 268 miles across the north of England and Scottish Borders.

Charlie is a Scottish World Cup alpine ski racer who specialises in slalom. She took part in the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang in 2018, helping the GB team secure 5th place, and continues to work with the Scottish Institute of Sport.

Speaking to the Business School, Jasmin and Charlie had the following advice.

Whether in sport or business, don't be put off by risk

Jasmin: "You're taking risks if you want to compete, you're challenging your boundaries, and you're hopefully doing it because you're passionate."

Charlie: "You're not going to get it right first time round. You're going to fail at something. Don't get put off by that. You can work it through. It will work out in the end."

Jasmin Paris
Jasmin Paris

Prepare mentally

Jasmin: "In ultra-distance running, a huge part is mental strength because it will get hard at some point, rough. Self-belief to keep going is worth a huge amount. If you start to go longer distances—silly things like going the wrong way happen as you're so tired—so mental willpower is a huge component."

Charlie: "For ski racing like in running you have to be powerful and strong but you can crumble when you're standing at the top of a mountain. You see 60 gates—60 opportunities to get it right or mess it up. Belief in yourself is what separates the top ten—they're all trained athletes but have this bit more self-confidence."

Charlie Guest
Charlie Guest

Little goals is a good strategy

Jasmin: "For long-distance running if I break it down into little bits it becomes more manageable and you can celebrate the little achievements. You can extend that to life and career. Break it down!"

Charlie: "Having little goals helps—also, what it's going to feel like afterwards, that rewarding feeling. That becomes like a drug and you want it. I had two years of no results and then one result—I loved it—all of a sudden it's back. That feeling of achieving gets me every time."