Annabelle Bond is the only woman in the world to have climbed the Seven Summits, which include Mount Everest. The motivational speaker and brand ambassador for personal development company Advance Performance talked to TrainingZone.co.uk about her fear of heights and pushing yourself to the limits.

Advance Performance is one of the UK's leading corporate and personal development companies for a simple reason: it teaches people in straightforward terms how to achieve goals, push your limits and strive to be the best person you can be. This is exactly what I attempted to do when climbing mountains. I see our relationship as a natural fit. Advance helps people to be at the top of their game, which I am a big supporter of. My job, therefore, is to spread the word about Advance globally. In my opinion, everyone could do with experiencing the Advance three-day course!

1. Why did you become a mountain climber?

If I'm honest, I don't really know: I hate the cold and I'm actually scared of heights! But, I love setting goals and pushing myself to my physical limits. I guess I found a niche in mountain climbing that I absolutely loved.

2. What do you love best about your job?

It's a combination of getting to see some of the most beautiful scenery in the world and the simple fact that I love to challenge myself. Plus, I've always climbed with really nice people, which always helps.

3. What do you find most challenging?

Even though I love to set goals and challenge myself, pushing my physical limits is definitely the most challenging part of what I do.

4. What's the best advice that you would give to someone new to climbing?

It's not always about getting to the summit, it's the journey that counts and for all women mountain climbers – lose your inhibitions!

5. What's the best advice that's been given to you that has helped you in your career?

Always do something that you enjoy.

6. What's the best career help book that you've ever read?

'Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster' – a bestselling non-fiction book written by Jon Krakauer. I don't really read career books, as such. But 'Into thin Air' – a book about the 1996 Mt. Everest disaster – was one I read four times whilst at base camp. People thought I was crazy scaring myself by reading it. But what I actually took from it were two key things: how easily things can go wrong in the 'death zone' and how you always have to monitor your own oxygen levels, which proved to be invaluable during our climb. By learning about their mistakes I tried to make sure that our team did everything possible to avoid anything like that from happening again.

7. Who do you think is the most inspirational member of the training community and have you ever met them?

Mike Finnigan, co-founding director at Advance and yes, I have met him.

8. What else would you like to share with our members?

Always have goals and determination and you will surprise yourself at what you can achieve.

Read the last Spotlight on Trevor Gay