#9 – Monica Becerril Ugalde – Crossing Borders, running mountains and being in the now

Monica Becerril Ugalde (Head of Marketing at Unived)
[Photo Courtesy – Monica Becerril Ugalde (Instagram)]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:42:44 — 94.1MB)

In this episode, I’m talking to Monica Becerril Ugalde, who is an ultra trail runner and Head of Marketing at Unived.in. She is a Mexican Immigrant who lived in the United States before moving to India. She is the wife of my friend Amit who has also been on the podcast.

Monica has done multiple ultra trail races ranging between 50 to 60km of distance. She has won the podium positions for many of these races. At the core, she is a conscious human being and a vegan.

In this episode, we talk about her story. Being a Mexican immigrant in the US and eventually moving to India. Now doing what she loves and building a vegan brand along with Amit with their great values. This was like a treat to hear her story.

So without further adieu, please enjoy this conversation with Monica Becerril Ugalde.

Links and references from the episode –

Person’s mentioned in this episode –

• Amit Mehta – Instagram
• Sumit (Amit’s roommate at the university)
• Rahul Kumar – @joshmach
• Ishan Dutta – @dutta_Ishan

Books mentioned –

• In Defence of Food – by Michael Pollan
• Becoming – by Michelle Obama

Interesting references –

• Rio Grande – The river which Monica and her family crossed while first time coming over to the US.
• Texas
• Oregon
• Greyhound Bus
• El Paso (Texas) – El Paso stands on the Rio Grande across the Mexico–United States border.
• Support for immigrant students and families – Link
• Salutatorian – The student ranking second highest in a graduating class who delivers the salutatory.
• Willamette University
• Ecuador – Monica did a Backpacking trip in this South American Country before starting the MBA at the university.
• Vitamin B12
• Vitamin D3 – Unived D-Veg – Deficiency may cause Knee Pain.
• Monica recommends doing a yearly preventive health checkup (blood tests). (Get in touch with your doctor to get it done)
• Never Forget Elephant Foundation – Foundation where Monica’s friend who recently turned vegan after visiting an elephant sanctuary in Thailand.
• Feet Pronation – What is pronation?
• Running speciality store – one is in Mumbai itself
• Auroville Half Marathon
• Yogi Hills in Mulund
• Kalavantin Durg
• Cordillera Mountain Ultra
• Jawadhu Hills Ultra
• trailchicas club by Monica to promote trail running locally
• Mat for the Dishes – Monica’s recent purchase which brought her joy
• Granola (Healthy choice of food) – How to make it at home?
• Kitchen Organization – A good video showing Kitchen organisation.

Quotes from this episode –

• We lose out on living in the moment and instead we want to capture it for everyone.
  — Monica (On Current Social Media situation)
• We live In the memories and not in the present.
  ― Himanshu (On Current Social Media situation)
• You need to shop around the grocery store and stay out of the isles because isles have all the processed food and all the fresh food is on the outside.
  — Excerpt from the book Monica referred [In Defence of Food – by Michael Pollan]
• Prevention is always better than cure. It’s better to be proactive and be on top of our  (health) game.
  — Monica
• When you put your mind into something and train for it, you become capable of doing it.
  — Monica
• Take life as it comes and be open to change.
  — Monica

Links mentioned by Monica –

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/monbcril/

Website Contact Form – https://www.unived.in/contact-us/

Check out awesome Unived products – www.unived.in

Credits and License:

My awesome intro background – The Real Broadway Musical by Narch and Dan Mace (Thanks guys)
Outro background – Tight Shorts – Andrew Applepie
Listen to the show in iTunes – click here.

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