Overcoming all odds to become The World’s Greatest: Interview with Shangrila Renden

Website, Facebook, Facebook Coaching

Anung: Hey guys, I have a really good interview today. Once I saw her up on Facebook, when we first interacted, I was really excited. So I have Shangrila Renden who is a triathlete Guinness World Record holder. She's also a motivational speaker and a coach as well as a bestselling author. Wow, I love people with multiple titles! Thank you for coming on, Shangrila. I definitely want to get into the beginning of your story on how you got into all this. Like what came first?

Shangrila: In the beginning of my higher education, I was going for Fine Arts. At some point, I had to quit my job because I wanted to go to Le cordon Bleu for culinary. And after maybe 10 years I thought, you know what, I think I want to go into sports. The main intention was to do makes me happy. What was easy for me. Where I can just be myself. I think that was the initial portion.

Anung: Yeah. I understand completely. The idea of the Asian parents where they want you to go into money; they are very big on that. Money is a very big thing because it's security, but it's also part of like the culture. 

Shangrila: That’s exactly it. And then, as a woman, I thought…so I'm going to be an engineer. I’m going to be competing with males. So I got to get my Master's Degree. So I even went to engineering and UCLA. So it's just like, you know, what the society was, you know, at least in my perspective. So yeah, that's where I was coming from then.

Anung: And so like the beginning of the story, you decided to go into engineering because it was just the easier thing, Asian parents, stuff like that. And then you changed to the sports stuff. Did you always want to be a triathlete? Or did it just kind of just pop up as an option?

Shangrila: Well, I just started with running and at the time it was mainly because I didn’t want to gain weight. And so I was only running 15 minutes on a treadmill before my daytime job. And then from there, I was actually using that to recover from my past - I was sexually assaulted and had to find something where in, I can be with myself. So running made me able to recover from my abuse, my bad past in general. So I kept running and then from there, you know, triathlon came up and then with the triathlon, well, triathlete sounded cool, but I didn't know how to swim. I'm scared of the water! Initially, just wanted to be in the water, to touch the bottom of the pool. But it took like maybe two years for me to actually decide to try it out.

Anung: Wow, and how did your plan work out?

Shangrila: And that was actually 10 years ago. I didn't know how to swim, I was scared of the water, I didn’t own a bike; but I did give it a try. And at that point, I had a lot of failures, but I still kept at it, you know? And I was it while still practicing as an engineer. It was a way for me to get out there beside my engineering hat (the nerdy one). I liked it because, I started meeting people and it was also more reason for me to be able to travel. And then from there, I got ambitious. I wanted to be faster. And so I started studying it more. Fast forward from then, I wanted to do something big because I wanted to help out people. So that they can be curious of how I did it. And that was the start. I started dreaming about being the best triathlete that I can be. I was only like trying to be my best, that's when I actually got my Guinness World Record without planning it. That was 2015. So I hired coaches and yes, that’s when I realized, wow, I can actually do and excel at something that I didn't know before.

Anung: Wow. I always wonder about that! You know, some people who have those weird Guinness World Records of like, “I made the biggest pizza!” and stuff like that. I always wondered if there ever is a situation where someone kind of fell into it. Like you knew it was going to kind of come up along the way, but it wasn't one of those things of like, ‘I was planning for it for years’, you know?

Shangrila: Yeah. no, I didn't plan for any world record at all. To me, it was more of like in 2015, I just wanted to do my best and retire from sports so I can actually have my family. But then when I made the Guinness World Record without planning for it, I was like, “Oh, I guess I'm just starting, then!” And then I just wanted to be better at it.

Anung: Yeah. Actually the best thing about this is that you grew with it, and you adjusted quickly when things came up, as soon as you realized it’s what you wanted. It wasn’t like, “This is my plan and I'm going forward no matter what.”

Shangrila: Exactly. I adjusted myself. Yeah. I think it’s more of like, what comes easy to me. I make it work.

Anung: And that’s a nice thing. Like people should realize people there shouldn’t be such struggle for it all. Like you can follow anything that's just easy just because you can. I want to make sure people know what you got going on and how it happened. And so, what came after that? Was it like the running the book becoming a speaker?

Shangrila: Oh, sure. Well, so I have been writing a book and I will publish my first book this year. It is a dream that I had since 2015. So, like the world record, everything that I have been doing since 2015 was because I had a calling to. It is more of a purpose in life where I want to do my best to actually help those people who are struggling with PTSD, assault, abuse, alcohol addiction, eating disorders, suicide, etc; it’s because that’s what I had to struggle with in the past. And when I realized in 2015 that I was much better and I have recovered, and that no one's hurting me right now, I knew I got to do something big about it. And so from there I decided to tell my story, write a book. Of course I had my doubts…” Who’s gonna pull a book, an Asian, and an engineer at the same time?” 

Anung: So what pushed you to overcome that?

Shangrilala: At the time, you know, I felt like I'm just like everyone else. I'm just average, you know, like I’m not even good in sports. I am just doing my thing. So that’s when I stared dreaming about being the best. Then I got the Guinness World Record, and I was emerging to becoming the really, really great coach in triathlon. I became a world-class athlete where I travelled around, for example, in the Red Bull Trans-Siberian Extreme. I was also one of the first women to be competing solo in Worcester, in Switzerland, Mexico and other places. So the book came up actually this year, I co-authored it and it became a best-selling book. So I am just going through my passion of actually being able to help as many people. 

Anung: And what's the book called? 

Shangrilala: Oh, this is great. You're going to love this one. It's actually a million-dollar story. It's called Secrets of 10 Entrepreneurs who had to Lose and Pivot to Profit and Win with Purpose.

Anung: Oh, I love reading what other entrepreneurs. Oh my God. And

Shangrila: So, yeah, it was a bestseller! And then, you know still just following my passion. I mean, the speaking also just comes through because I was committed to actually tell my story. But to tell my story, I gotta be willing to give and be vulnerable. I had to learn that too. And I just made through another world record recently! 

Anung: Wow, what is the record for?

Shangrila: It was for Completing the most Ironman in 34 days. So I swam 55 miles. I biked 2,500 miles. So, you know, across America is about 3000 miles and I did 2,500. I also ran 600 miles. So 600 is kind of like California to Salt Lake City in Utah. So I did all this in 34 days; it’s basically a 23 full Ironman in in 34 consecutive days. And the purpose of that mainly is still to give back. So I was raising funds for nonprofit organizations who are empowering women, helping individuals with PTSD, helping abused and underprivileged children. And again, you know, I did that because I want to help. So those are, those are, you know, like those are my ‘whys’ basically.

Anung: Yeah. And that’s the best thing, having a why. You can push through a lot of things. Like I have had times where I just didn't want to do it, but I had to do it because it was for the why. Because I wanted to help someone. Like, that’s biggest reason why I do my podcast, it’s why I do my business. Because like, there's people that you want to help out there because that's just what we do.

Shangrila: Yeah, I think it’s really important. Because it gets hard at times. But then to me as a recovering alcoholic, it's more of like, yes, I love myself, but at the same time, to actually help out with my recovery is like, what can I give for others? And you know, what can I do for you? What can I do for your audience? So, yeah. And that's what I learned. It’s not just for the money actually - where I came from in the very beginning.

Anung: Yeah. And that's kind of the thing, like the money is nice because then you can still do the stuff you want to do. You're funding yourself to enjoy what you’re doing, but you’re still helping people. So like there’s such a disconnect where some people feel like you can’t or you shouldn't make a certain amount of money because now you’re not being helpful. But you are not being like one of those multimillion dollar like mega churches that expect people to buy them, their private jet. You are an individual who wants to help, but you're doing it by your own story.

Shangrila: I think it’s more about control actually. Because you can go farther or go any way you want. But, you know, we’re doing something where we are happy; we are free. We have more time for ourselves. Those are the reasons why I do what I do or I do, or why I left engineering. I mean, it was a really hard decision by the way. It was after 15 years of engineering, and I was at the top, I was really good at it. But then to me, the idea of people controlling my time was too much. You know, our time is so limited; I mean, like we don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. So when I tried to go back to engineering, it was hard for me especially when I actually had to ask a permission to have a day off. Like this is my life! It was hard for me to actually understand that after feeling how it is to be free of that 9-5/6 job. To me freedom is more important than stability.

Shangrila: Especially right now, since the Internet is just right there. Technology has presented a lot of apps that we're in. We can actually be anywhere and still do something. I believe in each person, and that if they just really enhance it and focus on it they can actually just be working and having extra money at home, especially right now in the COVID times.

Anung: Yeah. The Internet has opened up so much for all of us, like being able to connect with people. I've been able to interview so many great people because of that. I think I've only actually interviewed one person in person. And so how would did you fall into the coaching role? 

Shangrila: Well, it started with just one person while I was an engineer many years ago. So when that person asked me if I was going to charge them, I had no idea what to say. So I did it for free. And then later on I was putting in a lot more time with more people coming to me for help. So that's when, I started having certifications, getting classes, and even actually traveling to Australia or going to the best coaches in triathlon, for me to learn faster. It took quite some time to get to the top, but now I teach more and I also have my assistant coaches under me. I have seen many people transform their athletic lives under my coaching and I also make sure they balance out other aspects of their lives.

Anung: And are you thinking about possibly doing another book at any point?

Shangrila: Actually, my first book sounds like me too well, because I've co-authored it. My goal is actually to write another book, which is basically about my life. The other one is actually going to be about the coaching method that I use, which is called Feisty Fox Method. My life as a triathlete is actually also gonna be on documentary film. So that's also in the works. With all this going on, I think my biggest message and lesson learnt is that we can do anything when we push ourselves to get there. 

Anung: Well thank you for coming on, and for the great lessons. This was very exciting and we learnt a lot!