Mom of seven breaks world record, climbed second highest mountains on each continent

HOUSTON - A woman who has scaled many of the most challenging mountains in the world is ready to help inspire you to achieve your biggest dreams! Jenn Drummond is a mother of seven on a mission to not only celebrate the courage of women, but to encourage them to stretch their limits.

Her near-death experience led to her climbing major mountains and breaking world records. In fact, Drummond is the first woman in the world to climb all of the second-highest summits on all seven continents! 

A terrifying car crash five years ago was a real wake-up call for Drummond. First responders were shocked that she was able to walk away, after flipping her vehicle three times.

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"It should've taken my life, thank God it didn't. That accident really woke me up to living," explains Drummond. "I realized I don't get to choose when I leave this world, but I sure get to choose how I show up. So, I started doing it an internal audit of what was I doing with my time, was I happy, was I making the most out of this one life that we're given? And there were some adjustments that needed to be made."

That very thought led Drummond to push herself physically for her 40th birthday. She was training for the mountain Ama Dablam in Nepal, but one conversation changed that plan. Drummond explains the conversation she had with her son. She says, "I'm doing math with one of my children, and he's complaining and I'm like, 'Listen, buddy, we do hard things. You've got this' and he looks at me, he goes ‘If we do things, why are you climbing a mountain called ’I'm a Dumb Blonde', instead of a real mountain like Mount Everest? Like whoa, Alma Dablam not I'm a Dumb Blonde, thank you, honey. You finish your math homework, and we'll look at Mount Everest.' So, he finishes. We looked at Everest and I decided, you know what? If that's a real mountain to him, maybe I should find it because it just shows that we're capable of whatever we put our mind to."

That challenge set her boots in motion for unbelievable climbs, setting her dreams soaring to new heights.

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"I hired a coach, who introduced me to a book for training. On the front of the book, there was a story of a lady who got in a Guinness World Record for doing something across the Alps in Europe and it seemed like I could have done that, and my kids read Guinness World Record books. They would think I'm the coolest mom ever, " says a smiling Drummond. "A couple months later, my coach called me back with what he called the perfect goal for me. He said he thought I should become the first female to climb the seven-second summits! Seven mountains, seven continents, seven kids. Sounds like a jackpot to me"

Was it ever! She did it and now is also a world record holder. 

She also conquered Mount Everest and says she actually needed that experience to help her achieve the even tougher climb at K2 in Pakistan. Meanwhile, she was continuously training and balancing the duties of her job and those of a loving mom.

"My training plan had to be modified. When my children had soccer practice, I would be the mom with a backpack and a little step at the sideline, and I'd be doing my steps while I was watching and cheering on a soccer game," Drummond said. "I would have to break my training up. So instead of maybe getting a long six-hour training day in, it might be a couple hours before I bring them to school a couple hours whether in school a couple hours here or there."

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Her training paid off. Drummond is the second female to summit Mount Tyree in Antarctica and only the third American female to summit K2. Her first attempt had devastating consequences for others on the mountain with her.

"I had a teammate on our team get frostbite, they actually ended up losing fingers in a hand because of it. Then, another teammate died in an avalanche and so, I was on the mountain, and we had these tragedies happen and I had to decide: Was I going to climb or was I going to take care of the people that I had become friends with? And so, I decided it was people over peaks. I came down, took care of things and was also a little nervous about how everything was going because we had this many accidents and couldn't help but question, was I next? So, I decided the mountain is always there. It's my responsibility to make smart choices, so I came home and went back a second time," states Drummond. 

She successfully pulled off her climb at K2 on her second try, and it became more meaningful than ever. "About a month before I left for K2, I was introduced to a female that wanted to climb the mountain and she didn't have the resources to do it and she'd be the first Pakistani female to stand on top of K2, which is her home country mountain," says Drummond. "I raised money to be able to help put her on top of that mountain. So, when I climbed and summited K2, I was happy! When I saw the first Pakistani female on the top of K2, that I was a part of that journey, nonstop tears and that gave my failure purpose."

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She hopes we can all learn from this and turn failures into successes! Preparing for such dangerous and odds-defying climbs inspires Drummond to motivate others. She wants to help you seek your summit, which she realizes is different for everyone!  "Take baby steps for yourself. I mean, here's where I started as silly as this sounds at stoplights. I would use those stoplights for a gratitude list and just take deep breaths and just focus on myself," Drummond explained. "Give that time to me. You get comfortable with that and then you can start doing five minutes in the morning. All of a sudden you realize that those little moments really fuel you for the whole day and you can't afford not to take them."

She wants to encourage other moms that it's okay to pursue time for yourself and your passions. She says it has made her a better mom. "My story was my kids and then me, and I started to shift, which is uncomfortable at first to go: me and then kids. We all benefited so much more because I was always full and could always pour into what they needed because I took care of what I needed. Now, I'm demonstrating to them how to do them and what they need before they give and don't have anything left to give," says Drummond.

She didn't have much left at the top of all of those mountains, but she took time for what mattered most to her. That's her kids and she posed with a photo of her seven children on all of the summits. Drummond has also climbed eight other major mountains as training climbs, but here are her seven second-highest on seven continents:

• Ojos Del Salado in Chile/Argentina, South America: Summited December 2020
• Mount Kenya, Kenya, Africa: Summited February 2021
• Gora Dukh-Tau, Russia, Europe:  Summited September 2021
• Mount Tyree, Antarctica:  Summited January 2022
• K2, China/Pakistan, Asia:  Summited August 2022
• Mt. Townsend, New South Wales, Australia:  Summited November 2022
• Mount Logan, Canada, North America:  Summited June 2023

Drummond has a blog, podcast, and many challenges to help inspire others. You can find it all on her website.