Imagine living life with Schizophrenia but having no idea. Today’s conversation is with a special guest, my childhood friend Dr. Apollo Ellis.
He is known as one of Silicon Valley’s top programmers in the tech industry, but the road to get there was incredibly difficult.
The show for the ‘Executive Athlete’.
In our latest episode, we’re thrilled to sit down with Ben Bailey, a CEO, family man, and passionate ultrarunner who truly lives life to the fullest.
Ben shares how the discipline, resilience, and strategic thinking required for ultrarunning have profoundly impacted his leadership style and decision-making in the boardroom. He opens up about the lessons learned from navigating the toughest trails and how those experiences have shaped his approach to managing uncertainty in business and balancing a thriving family life.
Ben has a love for connecting with the land and running Ultra Marathons. Ben has successfully completed 3x 200 mile race, including Bigfoot and Tahoe 200, some of the most challenging foot races in the world. Ben has also completed The Famous Coast to Kosci in Australia racing from sea level to the top of Kosciusko. He relies on his amazing belief in his body, mind and soul, his strength of tenancity and never giving up. He plans to run the newly created Arizona Monster next year which is a staggering 309 miles (500Km).
Ben is a loyal and devoted family man, husband, father and recently grandfather who takes pride embracing special moments with his loved ones. Ben is continually looking to better himself and expand on his personal work to further develop his understanding of self, spiritually, emotionally and physically.“
Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a leader, or simply someone looking to push your limits, Ben’s insights will inspire you to lead with purpose and live with passion.
What to expect in this episode:
(01:40) – Running a 200miler ultramarathon in Tahoe.
(06:25) – How long distance running can affect families.
(09:27) – The parallels between running and leadership.
(12:40) – RJ getting lost on course.
(16:13) – What does a support team do during an ultramarathon?
(19:42) – Hallucenating on a run.
(21:57) – Training for a run that’s 100km or further.
(25:50) – How is mental health affected post-ultramarathon?
(31:02) – How Ben manages risk as a CEO.
(35:04) – What’s next for Ben?
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LinkedIn – linkedin.com/in/bendavidbailey
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The connection between schizophrenia and drug abuse
From addiction, depression and ultimately a diagnosis of Schizophrenia, his story is no short of a miracle, and certainly the outcome of a deep desire to be more in life. Apollo and I had shared in the madness of addiction and the streets as teenagers, we were truly lost in the wilderness.
We were amongst the worst within our circle of friends.
Through the Valley: Streets, Schizophrenia, and Success in Tech
Apollo Ellis’s journey from the streets of the 1990s San Francisco Bay Area to the heights of Silicon Valley is a tale of extraordinary resilience. Growing up in a world dominated by hip-hop and street culture, he faced daunting circumstances. Narrow escapes from the drug game and gang violence left their marks in the form of PTSD and addiction.
Homelessness and Schizophrenia
Homeless at the age of twenty, Apollo made the pivotal decision to return to school. Choosing education as his lifeline, he began to reconstruct himself. When a diagnosis of acute paranoid schizophrenia threatened his story again, he stayed his course and went on to graduate from UC Berkeley.
Today, Dr. Apollo Ellis is a renowned expert in computer science and technology. He has earned a Master’s degree and a PhD from the best institutions in the world and worked at many Fortune 500 tech giants like Intel, Apple, Sony PlayStation, and Facebook.
In Through the Valley, we accompany him on this journey from the precarious streets, through schizophrenia, to Silicon Valley’s pinnacle. It is truly a testament to the power of determination and of an unyielding pursuit of the right to chase one’s dreams.
What to expect in this episode:
00:04:24) – Becoming a meth baller from early teens.
(00:47:04) – Navigating learning while having Schizophrenia
(01:21:26) – Insights on how to publicly share your mental health journey.
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Follow Apollo:
Book – Through the Valley: Streets, Schizophrenia, and Success in Tech
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/apollo-e-481621a0/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/apollo.ellis
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