Taryn Smith Ventures Across The Atlantic Ocean Alone

THE NARRATIVE EDGE

A Podcast with Dr. Rod Berger

Presented by RIGGG Productions

GUEST: TARYN SMITH

Solo Ocean Rower| The World’s Toughest Row

46 Days, 3 Hours, 37 Minutes |December 14 – January 29

Episode Overview

In this episode, Dr. Rod Berger sits down with Taryn Smith, who completed a solo row across the Atlantic Ocean as part of the World’s Toughest Row—spending 46 days, 3 hours, and 37 minutes alone on a 24-foot boat. What unfolds is a conversation about courage, vulnerability, the surprising difficulty of preparation, and a redefined relationship with time, discomfort, and adventure.

Key Topics

• The seven weeks of solo training in an English marina—and why Taryn calls them harder than the crossing itself

• Day 27: the viral video about sun hives, sleeplessness, and a marlin stalking her boat

• How time “melted” on the open ocean and what monotony teaches about suffering

• Joe March, the storm petrel who became her daily companion

• Cleaning the underside of the boat alone in open water

• Her partnership with Girls on the Run and the message she hopes to leave behind

• Why ocean rowing may be less risky than the comfort-driven lives we lead on land

• The yoga philosophy behind her mantra: “Being uncomfortable is human”

About the Guest

Taryn Smith is a solo ocean rower and yoga teacher from Nebraska. She competed in the World’s Toughest Row, crossing the Atlantic Ocean alone from December 14 to January 29. She signed up for the race at age 22 with no prior rowing experience. She is a partner of Girls on the Run and an advocate for approaching life with curiosity and bravery.

Website: tarynsmithmovement.com

Notable Quotes

“Ocean rowing is less risky than people think. And life on land is more risky than people think.” — Taryn Smith

“Being brave is being scared and doing it anyway.” — Taryn Smith

“All weather passes. Regardless of what you’re feeling, how you’re feeling, it’s going to end at some point.” — Taryn Smith

Dr. Rod Berger is a keynote speaker, moderator, producer, author, and expert in strategic storytelling. Berger’s book, The Narrative Edge: Authentic Storytelling That Meets The Moment (Wiley), hits bookstores in late 2025. He draws on more than 4,000 interviews conducted worldwide for Forbes, Entrepreneur Magazine, and Fair Observer, including a cover story about former Virgin Entertainment co-founder Jason Felts, for Los Angeles Magazine, as well as various podcasts. He has captured the narratives of investors, CEOs, renowned entrepreneurs, bestselling authors, scholars, and cultural icons such as NBA legends Magic Johnson and Charles Barkley, as well as United Nations officials and Van Halen’s Sammy Hagar, while also exploring the behind-the-scenes world of Formula 1.

Berger has met with the Crown Princess of Sweden, Pope Francis, United Nations officials, and NGO leaders, covering stories of water insecurity with WaterAid, the intergenerational refugee crisis faced by displaced Sudanese in Uganda, and the impacts of child marriage in Western Africa with the Le Korsa Foundation.

Berger served as a guest lecturer at Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management for nearly two decades, focusing on the power of storytelling in business.

He has partnered with The Jim Henson Company to create a television show, The Ultimate GOAT, that combines his passion for distant lands and storytelling with culture, sports, and puppetry for family programming.

Berger conducts moderated keynote events that blend storytelling with live, on-stage narratives featuring cultural icons such as Opal Lee, the recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, and recognized as the “Grandmother” of Juneteenth. In 2023, Berger received the inaugural Pangea International Literacy Prize and delivered his TEDx Talk, “Story is Our Currency.” He lives in Franklin, Tennessee, with his wife and two children.

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