Elena Joy Thurston is an inspirational speaker and founder of the Pride and Joy Foundation. When she reached out to me to see if we might be able to connect for a podcast, I wasn’t sure how her story linked back to the outdoors. So I tuned in to her TED talk, only to be taken aback when I learned that fly fishing changed her life. In this episode of Anchored I sit down with Elena and her partner Kristen to discuss the story of how they met, diversity in fly fishing, feeling trapped in the corporate world and more. This episode is brought to you by Olukai. Outline of This Episode [4:15] What is the politically correct way to refer to the community? [7:55] How did Kristen get into fly fishing? [15:05] Elena has a big story [28:18] What is it about being outdoors that awakens someone’s soul? [32:12] Being trapped in an office job  [44:27] Does the LGBTQ community feel underrepresented in the outdoors? [52:52] Elena Joy speaks of her divorce [58:42] There are some native fish in Arizona [1:00:36] A work-life balance discussion