Vanessa O'Brien

Vanessa O'Brien

Vanessa O'Brien at Aiguille du Midi
Personal information
Main discipline	Mountaineer, Explorer, Speaker
Other disciplines	Board Member - American Pakistan Foundation, Honorary Ambassador - U.S. Nepal Climbers Association Inc., Advisory Board Member - Thomson Safaris
Born	December 2, 1964 Grosse Pointe, MI, USA

Vanessa Audi Rhys O'Brien, is a British-American mountain climber, explorer, public speaker and former business executive. She is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a Member of The Explorers Club.^[1]

She has climbed the highest peak on every continent and has a Guinness World Record for doing so in 295 days, setting a record for the fastest time a woman first achieved this goal.^[2] Vanessa has also skied the last 60 nautical miles or 111 km to the South Pole and North Pole completing the Explorers Grand Slam in 11 months,^[3][4] becoming the first woman to do so in under a calendar year and the 8th woman in the world to accomplish this.^[5] Vanessa has also successfully completed the Boston Marathon running 26.2 miles; helping the American Red Cross raise over $512,000 for charity.^[6]

Early life

Vanessa Audi Rhys O'Brien was born on December 2, 1964 as Monica Wojcik, daughter of Ken and Judy Wojcik, and grew up in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan. After graduating from Grosse Pointe South High School, Vanessa briefly attended University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan and then New York University where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Economics.

Vanessa's only sibling and brother, Gregory Wojcik, died in a tragic boating accident at the early age of 15 in 1981.

Vanessa formerly publicly identified as bisexual during her high school and early adult years, and dated women and men. She was also deeply involved in the avant garde, new wave, punk music, art, and fashion scene in Detroit and Boston, and moved from Detroit to Boston in 1986, and lived briefly with the family of new wave band Figures On A Beach lead singer, Michael Smith. Vanessa often used the nickname "Xavier" amongst music and art scene friends during the mid to late 80s. Vanessa often frequented avant garde, new wave, punk nightclubs such as Liedernacht^[7], Asylum, and City Club^[8] in Detroit, as well as The Batcave and SPIT in Boston. She briefly worked for John Dellaria hair salon on Newbury Street in Boston which was a hub not only for the wealthy but also for avant garde, new wave, punk, and high fashion scenesters. While working at John Dellaria, she briefly studied to become an esthetician and makeup artist.

Vanessa married Brekynn Mitchell^[9] [born as Scott A Mitchell] in the late 1980s, and moved with him from Boston to Chelsea in Manhattan, New York City, where they bought a coop apartment together on West 19th Street in 1988. They separated and divorced amicably in New York City shortly thereafter in 1991; Vanessa then spent time traveling and working for GE Capital in both Stamford, Connecticut and San Francisco, California to further her burgeoning career in finance. She was married a second time in Connecticut, for a very brief period of time in the mid 1990's.

Professional career

After receiving her BA from New York University, Vanessa joined the Financial Management Program at GE Capital. After graduating from the FMP program and winning the Pinnacle Award for outstanding performance, GE Capital sponsored Vanessa for an Executive MBA in Finance at the Stern School of Business, New York University. After GE Capital, Vanessa contributed to Capital One before moving overseas to hold various London-based positions as the Director of Finance and Business Development for Morgan Stanley, Barclays Bank, and the Bank of America.^[10][11]

Advisory, Board and Research Roles

Vanessa is a Board Member of the American Pakistan Foundation,^[12] is an Honorary Ambassador of the US Nepal Climbers Association Inc.,^[13] serves as an Advisory Board Member for Thomson Safaris,^[14] and is an active member of The American Alpine Club. Vanessa has contributed to a number of research and scientific projects including investigating the effects of nocturnal hypoxic exposure on high-altitude mountaineering (Explorers Club Flag #206 to Manaslu's summit at 26,759 feet^[15]), testing the thinning of high altitude glaciers (Explorers Club Flag #132 to the Godwin-Austen Glacier at 16,500 feet^[16]), and illustrating the impact of climate change at the equator in advance of COP21 in conjunction with Project 25Zero.^[17]

Summits and Expeditions

Having trekked to Mount Everest base camp and reached the summits of a number of notable mountains, including four of the world's fourteen 8,000 meter peaks (Shishapangma, Everest, Cho Oyu and Manaslu), including summiting two eight thousanders back-to-back just 8 days apart (Shishapangma and Cho Oyu), Vanessa decided to build on her passion for mountaineering and set herself the challenge of achieving the Explorer's Grand Slam.^[18] The Explorer's Grand Slam entails reaching the Seven Summits, the North and South Poles, as well as meeting the Three Pole Challenge.^[19]

Expeditions

O'Brien at the South Pole, part of her record-setting completion of the Explorers Grand Slam

Boston Marathon

After taking the American Red Cross flag to the North Pole in 2013,^[19] Vanessa successfully completed the Boston Marathon,^[6] becoming one of the top 8 fundraisers for the American Red Cross who raised over $512,000.^[20]

Personal Life

Vanessa is currently married to British finance guru Jonathan O'Brien, Chief Financial Officer at Proskauer Rose LLP in New York City.

They maintain homes in both the Backbay area of Boston, Massachusetts, and New York City. Vanessa travels the globe frequently for her mountaineering and philanthropy work.

References

External links

• Official website