𝐅𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐊 𝐌𝐂 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐇𝐘

Tomorrow I leave to climb Mount Everest, 8,848.86m. Not Base Camp. Not a bucket-list trip. A rapid-ascent expedition to the tallest mountain in the world. The last few weeks have been built around preparation. Training. Recovery. Gear. Visualisation. Long nights sleeping in a hypoxic altitude tent to acclimatise. Tightening every variable I can control. Four of the Seven Summits summited. Mount Denali tested me last year. Everest is next. What matters to me is not the headline. It is the standard. Preparation. Judgement. The people around you. That is a big part of why this matters to me now. One significant chapter has just closed. This feels like the right next test. I’ll be climbing with @garrettmadison1 and the @madisonmtng team, supported by @360me__ and @pratyaypoddar , who are sponsoring this expedition and share my belief in mastering performance, building resilience, and pushing human capability. Time to get to work. 💪🏽 #MountEverest #Everest #SevenSummits #Ireland #Mountaineering

Turns out... One conversation can actually change a lot :) What began in Dubai became one of the most important professional chapters of my life. Through Boardroom by EMIR, I had the chance to work with global and regional CEOs, senior government officials, high achievers, and some of the region’s most significant organisations. A lot was built in those years. Rooms. Conversations. Pressure. Growth. Strong moments. Difficult moments. Plenty learned. More than anything, those years reinforced something I believe deeply: a great deal changes when the right people are in the right room, having the right conversation, informed by the right intelligence. Thank you to Trevor McFarlane, the EMIR team, clients, partners, and everyone I had the chance to work with along the way. Dubai and the UAE remain home base for what comes next. @emiradvisory , it’s been emotional. Until next time. #Dubai #UAE #Leadership #Boardroom #highperformance

Mt. #Aconcagua, the rooftop of South America, the tallest mountain in the Western and Southern hemispheres, the second highest of the Seven Summits after #Everest and now, thankfully, my third seven summit | 6,961m / 22,840 ft | in the bag … #Goal complete 😉💪🏻 #aconcagua #mendoza #argentina #southamerica #highaltitude #climbing #mountaineering #neverstopexploring #hiking #summits #sevensummits #bucketlist #adventure #nature #explore #goals #growth #andes #dxb #uae #ireland

Everest Base Camp. 5,364m. A meaningful marker on the way to the summit. We reached Base Camp from Kathmandu in roughly 48 hours as part of a rapid-ascent approach. Most teams take 7–9 days. A faster has advantages, but it definitely does not change the physiology. The first few days here were rough: headache, low energy, bad sleep, suppressed appetite. Pre-acclimatisation helped, but there is no shortcut when you are living and sleeping at 5,364m. The mountain has also had its own timeline. Conditions in the Khumbu Icefall have delayed the opening of the route and pushed back our first rotation, so the focus has been simple: adapt, recover, train, and control the controllables. All going well, Rotation 1 starts tonight. Camp 1 (around 6,100m), Camp 2 (around 6,400m), touching Camp 3 (around 7,100m), and then back down to Base Camp to recover. Then we reassess for the summit push. Grateful to be climbing with @garrettmadison1 and the @madisonmtng team, and for the support of @360me__ and @pratyaypoddar , who are sponsoring this expedition and share the same belief in mastering performance, building resilience, and pushing human capability. #mounteverest #everest #ireland #sevensummits #himalayas

The view’s doing most of the heavy lifting for me here 😉

Chapter 5: Mt. Carstensz Pyramid (Puncak Jaya), Oceania’s highest peak, the highest peak on an island on Earth, and now my 4th Seven Summit | 4,884m / 16,024ft ✅💪🏻 Often considered the most technical and least attempted of the Seven Summits. Seven Summits: 4/7 complete. 5/7 attempted ✅💪🏻 #carstenszpyramid #sevensummits #mountaineering #uae #ireland

Back in 2021 I had no chill

Chapter 4: Mt Denali (6,190m). TBC – To Be Continued No summit this time. We spent weeks on this mountain - the tallest in North America, deep inside the Arctic Circle - waiting, adjusting, hoping for a weather window to push higher. Every move was debated. And when the time came, we climbed through heavy snow and whiteout conditions to get into position. But the forecast turned, and so did we. Avalanche risk was too high. No margin for error. The decision was clear. No hero moves. We had to turn back. And while it wasn’t the outcome we wanted, it was the right call. The saying “going up is optional, coming down is not” hit harder than ever at the extremes. You plan, visualise, and prepare for the summit but the mountain doesn’t care. You don’t conquer it. You survive it. And if you don’t respect it, ego gets you killed. The true summit isn’t a photo at the top. It’s survival. Integrity. Longevity. In life and leadership, it’s the same. Push hard, but never lose sight of your exit strategy. Discipline over desire. Wisdom over willpower. The strongest move is knowing when to stop. And being able to live with that decision. There’s no champagne moment this time and no Irish flag at the top. But I’ve no regrets. The right call was made. So no, this chapter isn’t closed. Just paused. We go again. Bigger goals. Bigger mountains. More lessons on the horizon. With @mountaintrip #Denali #Alaska #USA #SevenSummits #Expedition #ExpeditionMindset #mountains #Mountaineering #HighPerformance #SelfMastery #PushYourLimits #StoicStrength #LeadershipUnderPressure #Adventure #explore #Growth #Adventuretravel #travel #nature #BucketList

Being a leader doesn’t mean being the smartest in the room. It means building the room where the smartest voices thrive. In this episode of #SuccessfulPerspectives, Frank Mc Carthy, Director of Boardroom, sits down with Bilal Fares, Senior Vice President & General Manager at Adidas (MENA, Ukraine, Central Asia & The Caucasus), to unpack leadership myths, personal growth, and why fear can be a signal you’re growing. “You won’t be the perfect expert in everything. And some people on your team will be smarter than you. That’s the point — it’s about bringing together the right perspectives to create the result.” 🔗 Tune in for a conversation full of insights and reflections at the link in bio. Boardroom by EMIR is the Middle East’s most selective and influential intelligence network for CEOs, government officials and other high achievers. By invitation only. Member applications by member referral only. Subject to meeting selection criteria. Confidential discussions. Seniority rules apply. #SuccessfulPerspectives #Advisory #Insights #EMIRinsights #Boardroom #Leadership #MiddleEast #Networking #CEOs

When the view is breathtaking… but so is the altitude 😉 Standing on a ridge at 3,000m, staring into the next climb, lungs burning from the thin air - it’s funny how quickly we forget the struggle but chase it all over again. With Mt Denali (6,190m) on the horizon in June with @mountaintrip , I’m working on remembering why I’m on this mission to climb the Seven Summits… Why did I choose this as my vehicle for personal growth? Could I not have picked something easier 😆? Flipping through my journals from past climbs, I’m reminded that the brain plays tricks on us—it’s very selective about what it wants to remember. It forgets the cold, the discomfort, the exhaustion. It glosses over the suffering and holds onto the best parts of the climb. The view. The summit. The adventure. And the feeling of achievement isn’t just about reaching the top—it’s about striving for your ‘summits’ in life, controlling the controllables, and even finding peace when outcomes aren’t in your hands. But mountains don’t care about your comfort. They strip everything away—your ego, your social status, your comforts and support systems—until all that’s left is the raw version of you. And that’s the real challenge. Managing and dealing with your own self. If we master ourselves, we can master anything we want. Looking ahead, the climb is never just physical. It’s a mental and emotional test. A constant conversation between doubt and determination. This long weekend in Kyrgyzstan with @thinairtrips was exactly that—a reality check. A reminder of the skills I need to fine-tune, the physical and emotional resilience I’ll have to lean on in the months ahead. With Denali ahead, every day is preparation. Every moment is a lesson. No shortcuts. No guarantees. Just the next step. With: @thinairtrips , @arguelles_isa 👉 What’s one challenge you’ve faced that shaped you? #SevenSummits #DenaliTraining #mountainathlete #expedition #expeditionmindset #iceclimbing #resilience #selfmastery #mindsetmatters #pushyourlimits #growthjourney #breakyourlimits #performancemindset #adventure #explore #adventuretravel #alaarcha #kyrgyzstan

#sanmarino🇸🇲 …proving that size doesn’t matter 😉 The third smallest country in Europe and probably the oldest existing republic in the world #SanMarino #sanmarinorepublic #montetitano #mountains #travel #landscape #neverstopexploring #hiking #adventure #nature #explore #goals #growth #europe

Picture’s capturing moment’s of deep thought, obviously 😉 Santa Maria de Montserrat Abbey: A mountain sanctuary in Catalonia, Spain, famed for its monastery, breathtaking views, and revered Black Madonna statue. #montserrat #monastery #barcelona #mountains #travel #landscape #neverstopexploring #hiking #adventure #nature #explore #goals #growth #spain #españa #catalunya #introspection