February 11, 2025 • 41 mins
Big wave surfer Felicity Palmateer joins The PowHERful Podcast to talk waves: the massive ones she's riding in the water and the ones she's making out of it as she and host AJ McCord share their experiences as women trying to make it traditionally male-dominated fields. This episode gives you an inside look into their life as friends and co-commentators on the World Surf League's Championship Tour, and how Palmateer is setting an example her generation didn't have as she charges the biggest waves Mother Nature throws in oceans around the world.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, friends, and welcome to the Powerful Podcast. I'm your host,
Ajam McCord. In this podcast, we introduce you to powerful
women who were changing the game in and outside of
their field of play. These are women's stories, women who
happen to be doing things that many of us can
only dream of, but the lessons and inspiration they share
is universal. Welcome back to this episode of the Powerful Podcast.
(00:23):
I am so excited for you guys to hear this
episode with my good friend and fellow commentator at the
World Surf League, Felicity Valmeteer. She is a big wave surfer.
She just competed in the Eddieicow Big Wave Invitational, which
is the most reverent, inspirational big wave competition in the
entire world, and she's a part of just the second
class of women to ever surf in it. But Flicky
(00:45):
tasers through her life as a competitive surfer, what she's learned.
We talk about scarcity among women in sport and women
in business and how we're both really working to change
that narrative and it's been so fun to be a
part of doing that a little bit in each of
our lives. To gether and this episode gets a little
wild a lot of fun, so I hope you enjoy it.
Thanks for being here, Welcome to the Powerful Podcast. I
(01:09):
am so excited because this week I get to record
with not only one of the biggest bad asses in
a women's surfing, but one of my dearest friends too.
So this is Felicity Palmeteer. She is an Australian big
wave surfer, former competitive surfer, all around badass, has a
podcast of her own called In Deep with our friend
Laura en Averse would be sure to check that out.
(01:30):
And Flick, I don't even actually know where to start
with your resume because you have done so much in surfing,
in survivor in the Eddie. So I'm just going to
start by welcoming you for the podcast.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Thanks Matt having me met my fast Elsie in the podcast.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
You're my first Azzie.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Hey damn, I'm go with Flick.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Look, it's it's only fitting the first Ozzie on the
podcast because you were also the first Azsie invited to
the Eddie for the female surfers, and so I want
to start there because for those of you who don't know,
the Eddie is the premiere big wave surfing competition in
the world. It has been the most legendary big wave
(02:10):
surfing competition, but up until three years ago, there had
not been a class of women who'd been able to
surf in this competition. And Flicky you got the invite
a few years ago, but the Eddie didn't run because
the conditions have to be just so this year did run,
so first and foremost. For people who don't know what
the Eddie is, can you describe what that competition is, because,
(02:30):
oh my gosh, it's crazy. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Basically, the Eddy Big Wave Invitational is in memory of
Eddie Kau, which was one of Hawaii's most amazing wornermen
that it ever existed. He was a lifeguard at Waimea
Bay and he dedicated his life to saving hundreds of people.
I think the tally was up to like three four
hundred people. He was one of the first lifeguards on
the north shore of Wahoo and one fateful day he
(02:54):
went out on the Hocklay i think it was, and
they were out searching for a bunch of people that
had been missing, and tragically he lost his life that
day trying to find these people, right and he was
never found, and so this event is in memory of
him and you know, it's been running for forty years
and since its inception it's only ran I think eleven
(03:14):
times now. So basically what that means is for the
event to run, like you need all these certain conditions
to tick a certain box. It has to be over
twenty foot plus surf for a whole day, The winds
need to be right, the swell direction needs to be right.
But yes, it's a contest, but more than anything, it's
a celebration of Eddie's life and his legacy and what
(03:34):
it really truly means to be a waterman and dedicate
your life to serving others and yeah, just a bigger
purpose and just.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Surfing well, because the slogan every year is that Eddie
would go right. And Eddie was one of these widermen
who would go out searching for people, making sure that
they were safe when no one else would because he
was that in tune with the ocean, he was that
confident in his skills. And so now it's, like you said,
a celebration and the best Big Way surfers it's invitation only.
So this is not like, oh, you can qualify through
(04:03):
a series of competitions. This is like the Aicow family
recognizes your contributions to big wave surfing, specifically the time
that you've committed here in Hawaii. So you got the
first invite two years ago, correct?
Speaker 2 (04:17):
Two years ago? Yeah? Yeah, it was myself and Laura
Enever from Australia that were the first two Australians women
to ever be invited. To be invited is one thing,
but to be invited and actually run is another. Like
I mentioned, it's only around eleven times since its inception,
which is absolutely crazy to think, but yeah, you're right.
It's like the biggest gathering on the planet of the biggest,
loudest watermen and women. And for me really, I mean
(04:40):
when it very first began, it was men only you
know that were invitees to this event. And only three
years ago did that dream become a reality that you know, wow, okay,
I could be invited to this some day. So to
be invited, I guess, is probably the greatest honor in
the surfing world. It's the biggest, most prestigious surfing event.
I don't care what anyone says, it actually is like
these event draws thirty to forty thousand people on the cliff.
(05:02):
People are flying from mainland America, they're flying from Australia,
they're flying all over the world for this like one
day of incredible surfing. And yeah, I'm in big wave surfing.
Anyone that's watched anything online of it or in person,
it truly is subtling pretty amazing.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
Oh my gosh. Well, it's because like the perspective between
the surfer and the wave. It just is always darring
for me because you have like a normal sized person
and then a bigger board than we see in a
lot of surfing competitions, and then this massive wave that
makes everything else feel small. Yeah, because you're out there
(05:39):
and like you said, twenty plus foot surf. So this
year the eddy actually goes Yeah. And so it was
only a few weeks after the opening ceremony, right, So
you come over here to Hawaii for the opening ceremony
in early December, you're basically on call and they're like, hey,
from now until what end of February something like that.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
Yeah, basically I think that was like mid March. You're
on hold. You're on hold for you know, three or
four months of the year, and basically it's hard because
that time of the year when people are like, oh
it's the holidays, this is a silly season. It's like,
it's actually not the silly season for me. I'm like,
you know, training, I'm trying to keep my head in
the game. I'm like trying not to like reply to
my friends because I've got a goal, you know. Like,
(06:17):
And so it was actually quite nice to have this
event run two weeks after the opening ceremony, because once
it had round, I was like, oh, I can enjoy
Christmas and years, you know. But even if it didn't,
you know, obviously I would have had my head in
the game. But yeah, it was pretty radical because I
don't think anyone really called for it to happen so soon.
So basically how it happens is swell forecasting is like
(06:38):
weather forecasting, and kind of get a good scope about
two weeks out and then a really detailed one one
week in advance and one week in the lead.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Up to it.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
And so basically we flew home, Laura and I back
to Australia and we got this email basically a few
days later been like, okay, there's no swells on the horizon.
Everyone just chill out. I were like, sweet, okay, And
then all of a sudden, it wasn't even on the
official email chain. It was within the Big Wave community.
People started talking about this swell and they're like, he
is this an eddie swell? And I woke up the
(07:07):
next morning to like, you know, ten twenty messages on
my phone from people in the Big Wave community being
like is the eddie on? And I was like, fucking
what is the eddie on? And I was like, hang
on a second, Like I'm just filling all the way
back to one of the most remote places in the world,
Western Australia, Like, don't tell me the fucking eddies on?
Can I swear on?
Speaker 1 (07:24):
Here? You can swear on it?
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Right?
Speaker 1 (07:26):
What have you on if you couldn't swear on it? Like,
I know you're better than that.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
All right, this is song brand sorry for everyone. It
just adds to the story anyway. So yeah, basically, to
cut a long story, shore, it ends up running right
and we fly back. I fly back within a matter
of like five six days, And yeah, it was pretty
crazy because I don't think anything can really prepare you
(07:50):
for that, just the feelings that come with it, the emotions.
How many people are really watching surfboard writing, It's crazy.
It was like it's super bowld surfing. It really is.
It was a Sunday. It was a Sunday before Christmas.
And this was another thing, like it was right before Christmas,
so you last minute flies right before Christmas. It was
awaken before Christmas. It was the busiest time of you
(08:11):
could ever possibly fly. And like I'd just been doing
a lot of traveling and spending a lot of money,
and I was like, yeah, my back cat, I was like,
holy shit, like I'm really about to like drop all
these coin going back out. Of course I was, and
I did, but yeah, it was pretty expensive.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Oh my gosh. And then describe to me because I've
talked to a few of the women who were that
in that inaugural class, right like Kyalla, Cannily, Yeah, page
Ms Connie, Like there's six women, seven women something like
that in the first class, but you guys were only
the second class of women that the eddy had actually
been called on for. And if you haven't seen, like
why may I bay When she says this is a
super Bowl surfing, it really is like an amphitheater too,
(08:50):
because if you imagine almost like a semi circle, and
that's what the bay is, and there's cliffs on both sides,
and there's people legitimately clinging to to make sure they
have their spot to see these ways. And it's wild
because you're hundreds of yards from where you're actually surfing,
and yet you can grasp the.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Magnitude of these ways. You can feel them hitting the bait,
you feel the energy, you can hear it, you can
hear it from a long way away. Like, so we basically,
what happened? Do you want to go?
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Actually, did you have a question getting into that? I
wanted to you to describe.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
But basically, so how I'll give you a bit of
a rundown. How it went is that we got told
the night before the contest, right, so we flew in
last minute running around like mad women, trying to like,
you know, get a lot of equipment ready. We've got
this inflation, so we've got floatation, We've got these like
C or two cartridges that you need to put into
the inflation, so boards, to prepare leg groups, to get
(09:45):
just the list was crazy, and you know it's last minute.
We're flying in seventy two hours, not even forty eight
hours before this event starts all the way from Australia.
So we arrived, we're running around that night. We managed
to get a surf in at Ymea Bay as this
world was picking up, So we surf before we got
the cop blew the cob webs out. We're like, who
got a few ways? Feeling good? So the night before
we get a message from like the officials, it's so official,
(10:08):
in an Instagram DM message. They're like, so it's gonna
be really busy tomorrow morning. We advise that all athletes
get to the beach at three am, and I'm thinking, fuck,
three am. I was looking at my watch. It not
that I wear, wash my phone, and I was like, shit,
that's literally like, you know, only in five hours time,
(10:28):
Like I haven't gone to bed yet, Like we're cooking
dinner now. I was like, Laura, we can't do that.
And so basically we made this plan. We're like, hey,
let's load up the car the night before. Let's put
our boards in there. Like those boards are really big,
They're about ten foot long, they're three inches thick. You know,
they're really heavy. And we were staying probably only i'd
say a klomen I don't know what that is in
miles away from the away from byme Ba so we
(10:51):
drove our car down, we parked it, and then we
walked back the night before, right back to our accommodation.
And then the plan was in the morning we'd wake up,
have our coffee, walked down and everything's already rare ready
there to go and we don't need to get there,
buddy am. So the night before we puck this car
and we start walking back and there is literally it's
certainly just gone dark. There is hundreds of thousands of
(11:12):
people already down at the beach and I'm walking past.
I'm like, so, what do you guys do? And is
this what you're gonna like? You're surely gonna go sleep
somewhere else to night. They've literally got these deck chairs
on the side of the cliff and they're like parked
up there and they're having a few drinks. I was like, wow,
it's full like festival vibes. So there's people camping, there's
people having barbecues. There was big Hawaiian families there, there
was music playing. There was big glamp like glamping tents,
(11:33):
there was tents set up. It was just like this
weird energy that was like whoa, I've never seen anything
like this for a serf contest. It kind of reminded
me of when I hear people talk about what surf
contests used to be like back in the day. And
so I was like, well, it's crazy energy, like beating happened, yeah, yeah,
yeah yeah. And I was like, so surely you're not
camping out here or they're like, oh yeah, we're here
for the long hole, like we're camping out And I'm
(11:54):
like geez all right, like power do you like I've
your dedication with great Like this is sick to seven
wearsurfing and surfing in general, and anytime we're walking back,
it's just cool to get to experience that. The next
morning we wake up, we have our coffees, we do
a bit of warm up, a bit of breath breath work,
bit of meditation, and we start walking back down and
far out. Like I've never seen people like that to
(12:14):
come in thousands to watch surfing. It was just absolutely nuts.
Like you know, pipeline gets packed for people to watch pipe,
but times out by like ten, twenty thirty thousand, Like
it was crazy.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
I can only imagine what that did to your nerves. Yeah,
you're already like okay, I have to do all of
this checklist and then like, you've competed and surfing before,
so you've had crowds before, but like you said, this
is different, So what did it do your I ran.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Straight to the toilet. I was like, I need the toilet.
I need the toilet. Now I've had a coffee and
now I need the toilet. And then I just looked
at the ways and now I really need the toilet. Yeah, no,
I But so what happened in the morning is the
swell hadn't really kicked properly in yet. Sure, and so
we get down to the event's site and I was
looking at a few sets coming through, like and you
know the waves that we're coming through, and I was thinking, oh,
(13:07):
that's doable, and then all of a sudden they're like, yeah,
people like, oh, maybe it's not big enough, like I
don't know if it's big enough.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
Which to be clear, when you say maybe it's not
big enough, like this is still fifteen seven, it's huge,
so it's just and the parameters are specific.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
Then I'm thinking I might have ran right now and anyway,
and then all of a sudden they're like, we're going
on hold for one hour, and sure enough, we went
on hold for an hour and then the first sets
started rolling through, like sets that they were really predicting
started rolling through, and I was like, oh, and yeah,
that first heat got underway and I was Heat four,
(13:42):
so I had a bit of time to and I
think Laura, my friend who was there with she was
hate two, so she was first before me. And yeah,
just basically I had a couple of heats to watch it,
which was I don't know if it was a good
thing or a bad thing, But do you know what's surprising?
I I wasn't so because for most big wave events
that I've competed on in pass like mainly at Jaws
over on Maui or PRH if you want to call
(14:05):
it that, But that wave just does something different to
me where I think like that's fully like a competition
style format, and every time I've competed in that, it's
been like for a world Big Wave World title or
you know, big Wave Ward champ, and it just felt
like it's carried so much weight competitively, and I feel
like going into the eddy, like I said before, it's
(14:26):
not just a competition, it's like, you know, in honor
of someone's life and legacy, and it just felt so different,
like I was actually so excited for this day as
opposed to absolutely like I know, I said I was
shitting myself, but like I was excited, you know, I
was so excited to this is like the honor of
a lifetime and the dream, and this is what I
dreamt off since I was a little kid to be
invited to this, Like never in my wile just dreams
when I first started surfing, that I actually ever think
(14:48):
I would be an Eddie invite, you know, because I
didn't grow up trying to be a big wave surfer,
like I grew up trying to be a professional surfer
on the World Tour and then naturally pivoted into big
wave because that's what I just love. But you know,
I'm surfing against like my idol was my heroes, like
or in my heats because men and women don't compete separately,
they compete all together. So yes, pretty wild. I was
just pretty grateful that morning.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Actually, did you have a moment when you were in
the water for your heat, either rope before it or
during it while you were waiting for a set that
it sunk in?
Speaker 2 (15:17):
Yeah? I was so every heat in so I think
there was six heats, right, and in every heat there
was two women, and so the other girl who was
in my heat was Page Arms. And I've known Page
for a long time and we've got a competitive history
together big wave surfing, and we've also served a lot
of together and spent a lot of time together. And
when I looked at the drawer and I saw that
her name was in my heat, I was so stoked
(15:38):
because we just we just really get along. And I
was like, yes, I'm so stoked to see like a
familiar face out there. And we walked down to the
beach together like we waited for each other. We walked
down together and waited for the skis together to get
you know, the lift out to the lineup, and having
her in the water and looking across to her was
actually just so like reassuring, I guess, because yeah, we've
(16:02):
just there's a different sort of intensity that guys bring
to competition. And so basically how it works. The format
of this event is there's six heats and there's two rounds,
and so the first round, like when I was out there,
I could feel the intensity of the men and the
you know, the testosterone and stuff but they were a
lot more giving in the first heat, and I think
(16:22):
because this event does hold such reverence and such you know,
once you win an event like this, you're cemented. Once
you're in it, you're cemented into serving history. But once
you win something like this, it makes your career. And
so in the second round when we went out there,
the men that were in my heat, well one of
them was the eventual event winning Land and McNamarra. He
was in both of my heats and fire out he's
(16:44):
left amazing. But and then there was Kyle Lenny, There
was Ian Walsh, there was Carl Rothman. You know, these
are big, heavy Hawaiian hitting names. There are guys who
were cemented in the big wave industry and community, and
there was just this intensity there and I was like whoa, whoa, WHOA,
Like I don't really want to get involved in that,
and I just it was just so nice to have
another woman in the hate and look to her and
be like, yes, we're doing this together.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Well because it's like you said, it's not just about
the winning, but it's about the trail that you guys
are blazing. And Page is one of those women who
has been paving away for women in big wave surfing
long before she was invited to the EDDY a few
years ago. Yeah, and so what do you think is
the thing? Because now there's been two classes of women
who've gotten to compete in the EDDY. And so, like
you said, even though you weren't necessarily a big wave surfer,
(17:24):
but even if you were drawn to that, my gosh,
in your teens in early twenties, it wasn't it wasn't
possible because I think kk, I think, hey all it
was the first one ever invited, and it was like
twenty seventeen. Yeah, yeah, yeah, like that right, So twenty seventeen,
my gosh, that's like five seconds ago. So even if
you dreamed of big wave surfing, yeah, you didn't have
a reason to believe that you could compete in the EDDY.
And now girls who were in their teens in their
(17:46):
early twenties and starting out surfing have these women that
they can look up to you, Laura PAIHKK, So I
mean all these women. What do you think it does
for women's big wave surfing to see not just you
guys get invited, but to see the event run and
to see the vast majority of you absolutely charging these waves.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
I think growing up for us, like you just mentioned,
there was that barrier because there was no women in
the EDDY until KK was the first invitee. And as
soon as that happened, obviously doors start opening, you start
dreaming and you can start imagining.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
Right.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
I can't imagine what that must do for the younger
generation now seeing that you know, there's twelve women now
invited to the EDDY, which is absolutely insane. And I
think all you need is one person. I mean for me,
that one person's KK, you know, and just being like wow, okay,
like that's the goal, and like you know, oh, that's
the bar and I can achieve that she's doing it.
(18:47):
I can't. You know, it's that whole thing. If you
can't see, you can't be it. And I just think
that it's going to do things for the evolution of
the sport, and it's going to grow quickly, you know,
even just getting us in front of just how many
people were down there on the beach and just as
far as women in sport, and we all know how
much it's taken off in the last year, especially since
the Women's World Cup soccer, Like I mean, it's one
(19:07):
of the most when we were talking about it the
other day. One of the most profitable markets to get into, right, Like,
it's incredible for sharing our stories, for getting our names
out there, for sponsorships, for endorsements. It just does so much.
So I can't extress you know, how grateful we are that,
you know, you know, the content directors are including us now,
and it's just feels it's about time, and it feels
right and the levels, like the level is there, so
(19:31):
I you know, just opening up the floodgates. I guess really,
I mean it it's just going to keep It's just
the snowball effects, it's just going to keep growing.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
It feels like it's it's just inevitable that this is
the beginning. And like I'm so glad that we keep
mentioning you know, KK McCarney Andrea Mouler, Like there's so
many women and we talk about this all the time
about how trailblazing is so necessary and can also be
so lonely. Yeah, because if there was a lot of
(19:59):
people doing it, you wouldn't be lonely. It won't be
a trail blazer, right, And so you've been a part
of that though in surfing for your whole career in
a lot of ways. And so I want to go
back now that people have an idea of the badassory
that you're doing right now, I want to know how
did that start. You grew up in Margaret River's in Australia,
which this is a mainly US based audience, so please
(20:20):
describe to us what it was like growing up in
Margaret River.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Yeah. Look, I think you make such a good point
about like, if you're going to push any sort of barrier,
you're going to be lonely doing it because you're breaking barriers,
like it is going to be lonely. You got to
push that new ground for me growing up where I did.
Like it's a small country coastal town. It used to
be a dairy farming town. It's three hours south of
Perth driving in the car.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
My growth is the other side of Australia from the US.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
So it's kind of like if you're flying from Los
Angeles to New York basically like you do in five hours.
So it's a five hour flight from Sydney to Perth
and then a three hour drive down to Margaret River.
And there were hardly any girls growing up surfing when
I was surfing, and I was literally there was you know,
on the East coast of Australia. There was definitely a
few more on the West coast. You know, I could
count on one hand how many girls are actually surfed,
(21:08):
and most often I was only surfing you know, by myself,
well with my dad. But my community where I grew
up in Margaret River was very supportive however, like i'd
go surfing. You know, it's Western Australia is known for
being rugged, wild, raw and like these big, powerful ways,
and I guess that's why naturally I segued into big
wave surfing, like I started off shortboarding, you know, qualified
(21:30):
for the World Tour, and then after a couple of years,
segued into big wave. But when I was growing up there,
like I was often you know, the only girl in
this sea of blurry like hardened Aussie men, you know, tradesmen,
beards like really rough, rugged, you know, raw around the edges,
and then it just made me bopping around like a
(21:51):
ten year old girl. Like but they were all really
good to me growing up. And I'm pretty lucky because
I've heard other stories of women growing up and not
feeling welcomed and that sort of toxic masculinity in the
lineup and just also just that toxic localism sort of
thing in the lineup as well, and in some degrees,
there's the other argument that I do agree with that
I'm getting very like so specific here. But anyway, so
(22:13):
I grew up there and basically I lived a pretty easy,
you know, just a normal life, Like I didn't really
think much about like, you know, what I was wearing
all the way I was coming across and I was
just this little kid running around. I had. I have
two younger brothers, basically Dad's number one son. He just
treated me like one of the boys. And yeah, I
was just I lived there until I was maybe like sixteen,
(22:37):
then started traveling and competing full time. My dad was
my coach. We had, you know, a tumultuous relationship, but
it all turned out alright in the end. He coached me,
you know, from that's a hard thing to do, being
a parent being a coach. And so many other people
that listened to this that you know, had a parent
that was the ultimate soccer ad or mum and getting involved,
(22:57):
like it's such a bullet.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
Yeah, it was so far for me, and my dad
was soft phone coach for like US.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
Season, and then it was like, yeah, no, yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
I don't know if this is the best thing for
our relationship. Shout out to the ones who can figure
it out. Yeah, but for us as separation, yeah necessary.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
Well sometimes I'm like, what DoD we have done better
like that or worse anyway? So nah, But my dad, honestly,
he did a good job with sort of the tools
that he had. So, like you said, my dad traveled
with me up into a certain age, and we also
didn't have that much money growing up. Like my dad
was literally, you know, trying to just make it work
(23:31):
so that he could come as much as possible. But
then there came a point when he was like, I
just can't afford this anymore. As much as I want
to come with you, I can't, And You're gonna have
to go on some trips by yourself. And so i'd
be you know, fourteen, sixteen, eighteen years old, you know,
those super impressionable years when you're traveling around the world.
And at the time, I was with a certain brand.
I'd been with that brand for over sixteen years, and
(23:53):
you know, in those early stages of being sponsored by
that brand and within the industry. We were taken on
ten troops all around the world. You know, lots of
similar stories like what's his name, Larry Nassa Na, Yeah,
so lots of similar stories have come out, you know,
within the surf industry, similar things like that, not publicly
but within our own internal groups. So to be actually
(24:15):
quite interesting one day to actually what actually gets said
about that. Fuck, I don't even know if we can
probably say that, but anyway, so I think like the
biggest thing for me that was probably the hardest was
just where our industry was at, where the surf industry
was at, because we grew up in a time or
(24:36):
my generation, was when sex sold and the surfing industry
became hyper sexualized and basically, you know, women were getting
paid more for looking a certain way as opposed to
actually how they performed. And not that that's actually a
line set and a contract, but you know you can
read between the lines with what people are getting paid,
and like, you know, it was just it was an
(24:59):
interesting time to be part of. And you know, I
even myself, like I struggled so much with body image
and confidence, and I think because you know, just silly
little things that were commented to me as I was
growing up in the industry, and you know, obviously I
was a girl going through puberty, hormones, whatever I'm going
(25:19):
to change, it's just absolutely natural. It's every human on
the planet goes through that. But because of just the
time of the industry, you know, I was told things
about like, you know, you really need to lose five kilos.
You you know, if you want to stay on this team,
and if you want to keep you know, basically if
you want to have a contract, you need to lose this.
(25:40):
You need to lose five kilos. And for me, as
a sixteen year old seventeen year old, that cuts deep,
Like and then you're thinking, hang on a set, Like
I look back at images of myself at that point,
there's nothing wrong with me. I'm literally the same weight
as what I weigh now. I'm not going to say
how much I weigh. There was nothing wrong with me.
I was just like my weight was fluctuating a little bit.
I was a teenager going through puberty, and I became
(26:04):
obsessed with the way I looked, and you know, basically
developed an eating disorder over that time because I was like,
holy shit, like if I don't lose these five heroos,
and I'm not going to have a contract, and then
I can't do my job and what I'd like to do.
And then during that time, you know, the brands were
only using sample size, which is like you know, which
(26:27):
is what most brands carried when they were doing photoshoots
around the world. Was only a sample size model, and
so I only had this one representation of what a
body looked like, and I was like, shit, my body
needs to look like that. But I'm an athlete, so
then how does my body look like that? And I
still do my sport it doesn't. And so then I
became obsessed with like not having broad shoulders and my
(26:48):
thighs were way too big, and just like obsessing and
nitpicking and definitely have body dysmorphia, developed an eating disorder,
and that went on for about five to six years.
And I look back with photos of myself after you know,
three years of doing that heavily, and I'd lost like
twelve kilos, and I look back to myself and over
that time, I'd stopped competing, I'd as much, and I'd
(27:09):
started being thrown way more into these like lifestyle photo
shoots for the brands, you know, and I was like.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
Oh, you're almost You're more model than surfer.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
Yeah, yeah, hundred percent, one hundred percent. I was. I
was way more of a lifestyle more than what I was,
a professional server and an athlete athlete, And I just
looked back and photos of myself at that time, I'm like, WHOA, Like,
it's actually crazy to see that. I think that I
used to still think that I was like fat, were
all like overweight, or I wasn't my idea of what
perfect was. And then I look back at that now
(27:39):
and I'm like, huh, you are really sick. And it
took a long time for me to come out of that,
Like I had to get professional help, I had to
be around people like women in my life that were
actually saying really positive things to me instead of negative.
And you know what better even more is that you know,
I would go to contest, go to different modeling shoots
(27:59):
around the world, people would say, oh, you look so good.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
Yeah, because the positive it leads into it and you're like, oh,
I'm getting a positive reaction. This must be a good thing,
because for me it was, I mean, gymnastics, we were
always Yeah, I feel like that's one of the worst
and well, but it's similar in the way that like
it's one thing to struggle to sort of go through
being a female athlete when you're wearing a jersey and
(28:23):
shorts and like not that there aren't their own issues
and that it's invalid to experience this. With that, I
think there is a level of added scrutiny when you're
in when you're in a bikini, when you're in a leotard,
so much of your body can display.
Speaker 2 (28:38):
That, and we're at a beige and it's we basically
follow somewhere around the globe, like right, and those values
of back then were sex. So it was crazy, you know,
like I mean, you like it. It's actually nuts to
go back and think about that. And even when I
go back through like the years of my Instagram analytics
(28:59):
of like when I was growing up, when I was sixteen,
for like eighteen twenty, like just so heavily geared towards
men because I was posting like so many lifestyle model
shots because I knew that I had KPIs and contracts,
you know, if I got certain X amount of followers
that I would get a bonus, and like so I
would just be like posting these photos, and it's just weird,
(29:19):
Like it's taken a long time for me told to
shift that as well, like because like now I use
my platform so much, like and I rely on that
as an income as well. But like brands might want
to associate with mete with me, like they want my
demographic of like eighteen to twenty four or twenty four
to thirty to thirty five, and they want that to
be women. They don't want it. Most of the brands
that I want to associate with anyway. You know, the
men are great men keep following us, but you know
(29:41):
what I mean, it's just like it's just such a
sign of the times and it's just completely changed, and
it's I'm not fucking out here to hate on men,
but I'm just saying that, Like it was a crazy
time in our industry, and I'm just so grateful that,
you know, serving industries come a long way and the
grums of today will never ever have to worry about that.
It's so based on like the white you perform is
as to the white you look.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
And like bringing your own individual style, which I think
going back to when you were competing in competitive surfing,
when I was in gymnastics. There really was one side yea.
It was like and that's why it's so epic to
see women like Alonamar from the rugby right world see
her just own it, and my gosh. The thing that
hit me. A few weeks ago, she did an interview
on CNN and the interview asked her, I think it
(30:23):
was CNN. She didn't be imposed to one yeah, where
the interviewer asked her, do you experience imposter syndems And
she was like, no, I don't think I have that.
And the interviewer was like, what are you talking about?
It runs my life, and she said something on the
lines of I don't have imposter syndrome because I believe
that I deserve everything that I have gotten, not because
I'm entitled to it, but because I've worked my ass
(30:44):
off she posts. I mean, before she blew up, before
the Paris Olympics, she was still consistently posting three to
four tiktoks a day. She was putting herself out there,
her personality, her body, he struggles all these things, and
the reporter couldn't even fathom that she didn't struggle with
imposter syndrome. And that hit me so hard because I
think that our generation, it's like, now, that's almost the
(31:08):
like you have to be grateful and so you like
there's an element of like I struggle with imposter syndrome,
even when it's like I study, I prepare, I know,
I've worked my ass off to get whether it's commentating jobs.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
I think that's also that overnight sensation thing for sure, know, like,
oh my god, I just like blew up overnight. It's like,
we'll hang on a second. No, I didn't know that
it's actually been so much that's gone into these yeah,
and I think that's just, yeah, that's self belief thing.
But I think, yeah, exactly what you're taught to be
hum more grateful, you know whatever.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
It's a load of shit And it's just so cool though,
because like now it's so I feel so excited to
be a part of this generation of women in sport,
because I think every generation moves the baton forward. Yes, yeah,
and my god, if we can be a part of
the one that says, hey, not only are there opportunities,
but own the.
Speaker 2 (31:57):
Fact that you belong.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
Yeah, Like, how of a legacy for our daughters someday
to look at us and be like, no, my mom
is a badass. How do I know that because she
told me, because I saw it, because she wasn't she
was grateful and she was hard working, but she wasn't
humbled to a fault. You know. I think that that's
something that I've felt a shift and even I mean,
(32:18):
so we've been working together on different surfing commentary gigs
around the world for the last two or three years,
and it's something that we've talked about a ton, which
is owning the space that we're in and being proud
and you know, like like we've earned this right. Yeah,
we're good at our jobs. We're good at we bring
something to the table, and that's why we're here, not
(32:40):
just because we're lucky or we got sort of dubbed,
but because we really worked hard.
Speaker 2 (32:44):
Yeah, it's taken a while though, Gosha happened long, like
it really has. Like you know, and even I think
you're right when you say that every generation moves that
bat and forward, you know, because even when the other
night we're in a room of you know, generations before us,
the women within the surf industry, and they're saying, you know,
like this happened, and this happen and this happen. It's
just like you know. It also speaks to that conversation
(33:06):
we're having before about if you're a trailblazer in the
industry or you're going to stick your neck out a bit,
like it is going to be lonely, it's going to
be tough, but I think you just do it for
that next generation.
Speaker 1 (33:15):
But I think the thing that I'm excited about is like,
for a long time, women viewed each other as competition, right.
Speaker 2 (33:20):
Because there was one seat oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
And I think now what's been cool is as a collective,
instead of looking at each other and seeing the competition,
it's like we're looking up at the ones at the
system that says we're the competition.
Speaker 2 (33:32):
Yeah yeah, We're like no, oh anymore. Yeah yeah. I
think that's super important. I think far out, like this year,
I'm really taking on that. I think for so long
we were pitted against each other, and like, you know,
there's that real scarcity mindset that play women in sport,
and I feel like for years we have been pitted
against one another in whatever kind of capacity that is
(33:53):
not even a sport, whatever industry it is. You've always
taught that, you know, women are here to cut each
other down and we're always bitching about each other. And
also that's a fucking narrative as well, and I think
like it's up to us to say fuck you and
fuck that narrative and basically reframe what it means to
be a woman and lift each other up and support
each other because there is enough opportunities. We're just speaking
to it that women in sport is like one of
(34:13):
the biggest growing industries in markets, like absolutely righter off
that people are saying that, And I'm just so proud
that we're proud of that generation that's kind of saying no,
we're not subscribed to that bullshit.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
Yeah, because I think it's so easy, right when you
get the crumbs, you like look around at who else
is getting crumbs, and you're like, oh, I want, I
need those because I don't have enough. But then really
it's like, you know, the person who's deciding that we
only get crumbs, yes, is the collective problem. Yeah, Yeah,
that's and I think that's like been the coolest shift
that I've seen from even just women in sports media. Right.
It's like I've been in this aspect of the industry
(34:45):
for twelve fifteen years and that's been the narrative shift
is like, no, I don't. If you're gonna tell me
there's only one seat at your table for a woman, fine,
I'm gonna go build another table. And I just think
it's so fun and being friends with you and Laura
and a lot of the other women that we get
to travel with in such an impactful aspect of my
shift of mindset personally, because up until this job, I
(35:08):
was the token woman. At every job I worked in,
I was the token woman. And not that I didn't
deserve to be there, not that I didn't work hard,
not that I wasn't good, but there's only one of me,
and so up until this one, I didn't have a
lot of female colleagues. I didn't have a lot of
female coworkers. Yeah, And so getting a chance to work
with other women, it's like, oh good, we'll all get
a chance to come together. And I think that's the
power of just community and like minded people. And it's
(35:30):
been I don't know, it's been one of my favorite
things about many.
Speaker 2 (35:34):
One of my favorite things to aj probably with the
go gangs.
Speaker 1 (35:38):
Oh my gosh, we get into some chaotic adventures around
the world. The one last year Waikiki karaoke.
Speaker 2 (35:45):
Oh yeah, that was of the best. Working so much,
but we're really here for work on a holiday.
Speaker 1 (35:53):
And he's in a boot and so it's just like
getting you around Waikiki and.
Speaker 2 (35:58):
Brought me my foot and I had surgery. I thought
it was in a boot and couldn't walk, and then
AJ decided that you would piggybacking everywhere. So it's fantastic.
Between the karaoke bars, we just.
Speaker 1 (36:07):
Had so much fun. So we're a shift segments. Now
we're going to go to something to sip on. It
is brought to you by these sports bra and is
the women's sports bar in Portland, Oregon. So Flicky, I've
shared many a drink with you around the world, different countries,
maybe maybe more than a many. What are you sipping on?
Speaker 2 (36:25):
I am the biggest fan of Margaraeda, but not a
traditional margarator a Tommy's Margaraedah, so Tommy's migrator there. The
differences is we're adding a gave so tequila a gave
juice ideal.
Speaker 1 (36:40):
Anyway we're having tonight.
Speaker 2 (36:41):
Yeah, it's beautiful, it'll margrator is always a fun time.
Tequila is always a fun time.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
Yeah, this is this is where we differ. I tend
to go for the whiskey and you go for the tequila.
Speaker 2 (36:51):
Yeah, but it's great.
Speaker 1 (36:54):
Keeps us on our Okay. Next up is our powered
up segment. So this is where I tried to get
you to answer questions rapid fire. I'm terrible at this, Sorry,
pod Squad. Do you guys know that I say this
literally every episode? But I'm just gonna ask you rapid questions.
Give me as quick as an answer as you can.
Speaker 2 (37:11):
I've got major brain fulm today, guys, because I'm like
recovering from the idea, So you should be into tiny
How quick I can answer?
Speaker 1 (37:17):
Great? Okay, Okay, copy your tea, coffee, favorite ice cream flavor,
coos and crad. Go to meal before or after surfboard writing.
Speaker 2 (37:25):
A smashb on tars, preferably gluten frey, marinated goats, feta,
valsamic dot com, spinach, tomatoes.
Speaker 1 (37:41):
Eggs, scrabble bougie. Yep, you're making breakfast tomorrow? Are you
an early burder in Idol?
Speaker 2 (37:48):
Ellie?
Speaker 1 (37:48):
What's a favorite place that surfboard writing has taken you?
Speaker 2 (37:51):
Tahiti Ah? I love that place.
Speaker 1 (37:53):
If you were not a surfer and you got to
compete in an Olympic sport? What would you compete in?
Speaker 2 (37:58):
Does it have to be Olympic?
Speaker 1 (38:00):
Na?
Speaker 2 (38:00):
Okay, this is a long shot. But when I was
a kid, my dream was to run away with a
circus and be on the flying trap piece. Wow. I
know it's never too late.
Speaker 1 (38:10):
We should find a trappeze, I should.
Speaker 2 (38:12):
Pivot next career move next, he's run off with the circus.
Speaker 1 (38:16):
Now, it wouldn't be the most shock to be honest
with you. What's your favorite dessert?
Speaker 2 (38:21):
Some like chocolate lava cake with vanilla ice.
Speaker 1 (38:24):
Cream, super fudgy.
Speaker 2 (38:25):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (38:26):
Yeah? Where is your dream vacation spot? I knew you're
going to say, what is the best piece of space
you've ever gotten?
Speaker 2 (38:34):
The quality of your life is determined by the quality
of your relationships.
Speaker 1 (38:38):
That's the b I love that. Wow, that's great. What
is the Oh gosh, I don't even know if I
want to ask you this question because I know there's
been Okay, what is the wildest mishap you've ever experienced? Sport?
Speaker 2 (38:55):
I don't even know. Why are we going to go with?
What are you thinking of out?
Speaker 1 (39:01):
Well, let's see, I'm actually thinking of one.
Speaker 2 (39:05):
I once pushed so hard in a turn when I
was surfing that I shot a tampon out of my vulva.
Speaker 1 (39:11):
Wow, I didn't know that one there.
Speaker 2 (39:14):
You put that in apartment, smoke it.
Speaker 1 (39:18):
Put that on your podcast and play it. Oh my god. Okay, yep,
that's great. Okay, on a different on a slightly same tangent,
but slightly different. What is the one piece of equipment
you would not compete in your sport with it without
(39:38):
board like safety equipment, growthy equipment.
Speaker 2 (39:44):
Yeah, look, it'd probably have to be the inflation suit
or jet ski safety.
Speaker 1 (39:50):
Driver because the inflation suit can you describe really quickly
when you use that.
Speaker 2 (39:54):
So an inflation suit is basically there to save your
ass when you've been held out of the water log. Basically,
it's got these It's an inflatable life jacket. Got they
see a two cartridges usually two to four. That'sit. Inside
the vest there's little pool touggles on the outside. The
vest also has foam inserts in it to keep you buoyant.
When you have a wipeout, you pull the vest the
best inflates you shoot to the surface.
Speaker 1 (40:14):
So going back to the eddy, you cut a few waves.
Speaker 2 (40:17):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (40:17):
In the eddy. How quickly do you make the decision
to pull a night?
Speaker 2 (40:21):
I pulled straight away. I had a really bad experience.
It's a long story, but almost drowned. And it's because
I took a really long time to pull my vest
and I was super far down, like under the ocean,
and the vest was having troubles expanding because it was
so deep. Because it's the depth anyway, So I just
pulled every single time. I trained so hard anyway, It's
like I trained to take the stairs that take the
(40:42):
elevator in the surf.
Speaker 1 (40:46):
What do you reckon is the deepest that you've ever
been underwater?
Speaker 2 (40:49):
I don't know, like the wipeout when I had that wipeout. Like,
for instance, your boards ten foot long, and then your
late leash or your leg rope is another ten foot
or twelve, so that's twenty two feet deep. Shith So
if you're board is doing this thing called tombstoning where
it's like going like this in the water and then
you're lacious fully extended, and then you've got your leg
up in the air like this. So that's like pretty
far there. Yeah, And that's where my best didn't inflight
(41:11):
because of the pressure. Oh yes, so now it's cool
as soon as I like that.
Speaker 1 (41:15):
Okay, And the last question I have for you felicity, Yes,
Valmer is formal. What does powerful mean to you?
Speaker 2 (41:23):
Pow h e er f you will don't tread your
authenticity for agroogle. That's it.
Speaker 1 (41:29):
I love it, what it would end. We've been everywhere
in this podcast and I shouldn't have expected anything different.
Thank you so much for joining us, Flicky. This has
been the best and so Friday.
Speaker 2 (41:38):
Oh thanks having me.
Speaker 1 (41:41):
Lovely night, Love you mate. We'll be back next to
week for another episode of the Powerful Podcast. This is
a reminder to check us out every Tuesday everywhere you
get your podcasts, and if you really enjoy this and
don't want to miss an episode, be sure to hit
that subscribe it
Hello, friends, and welcome to the Powerful Podcast. I'm your host,
Ajam McCord. In this podcast, we introduce you to powerful
women who were changing the game in and outside of
their field of play. These are women's stories, women who
happen to be doing things that many of us can
only dream of, but the lessons and inspiration they share
is universal. Welcome back to this episode of the Powerful Podcast.
(00:23):
I am so excited for you guys to hear this
episode with my good friend and fellow commentator at the
World Surf League, Felicity Valmeteer. She is a big wave surfer.
She just competed in the Eddieicow Big Wave Invitational, which
is the most reverent, inspirational big wave competition in the
entire world, and she's a part of just the second
class of women to ever surf in it. But Flicky
(00:45):
tasers through her life as a competitive surfer, what she's learned.
We talk about scarcity among women in sport and women
in business and how we're both really working to change
that narrative and it's been so fun to be a
part of doing that a little bit in each of
our lives. To gether and this episode gets a little
wild a lot of fun, so I hope you enjoy it.
Thanks for being here, Welcome to the Powerful Podcast. I
(01:09):
am so excited because this week I get to record
with not only one of the biggest bad asses in
a women's surfing, but one of my dearest friends too.
So this is Felicity Palmeteer. She is an Australian big
wave surfer, former competitive surfer, all around badass, has a
podcast of her own called In Deep with our friend
Laura en Averse would be sure to check that out.
(01:30):
And Flick, I don't even actually know where to start
with your resume because you have done so much in surfing,
in survivor in the Eddie. So I'm just going to
start by welcoming you for the podcast.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Thanks Matt having me met my fast Elsie in the podcast.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
You're my first Azzie.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Hey damn, I'm go with Flick.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Look, it's it's only fitting the first Ozzie on the
podcast because you were also the first Azsie invited to
the Eddie for the female surfers, and so I want
to start there because for those of you who don't know,
the Eddie is the premiere big wave surfing competition in
the world. It has been the most legendary big wave
(02:10):
surfing competition, but up until three years ago, there had
not been a class of women who'd been able to
surf in this competition. And Flicky you got the invite
a few years ago, but the Eddie didn't run because
the conditions have to be just so this year did run,
so first and foremost. For people who don't know what
the Eddie is, can you describe what that competition is, because,
(02:30):
oh my gosh, it's crazy. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Basically, the Eddy Big Wave Invitational is in memory of
Eddie Kau, which was one of Hawaii's most amazing wornermen
that it ever existed. He was a lifeguard at Waimea
Bay and he dedicated his life to saving hundreds of people.
I think the tally was up to like three four
hundred people. He was one of the first lifeguards on
the north shore of Wahoo and one fateful day he
(02:54):
went out on the Hocklay i think it was, and
they were out searching for a bunch of people that
had been missing, and tragically he lost his life that
day trying to find these people, right and he was
never found, and so this event is in memory of
him and you know, it's been running for forty years
and since its inception it's only ran I think eleven
(03:14):
times now. So basically what that means is for the
event to run, like you need all these certain conditions
to tick a certain box. It has to be over
twenty foot plus surf for a whole day, The winds
need to be right, the swell direction needs to be right.
But yes, it's a contest, but more than anything, it's
a celebration of Eddie's life and his legacy and what
(03:34):
it really truly means to be a waterman and dedicate
your life to serving others and yeah, just a bigger
purpose and just.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Surfing well, because the slogan every year is that Eddie
would go right. And Eddie was one of these widermen
who would go out searching for people, making sure that
they were safe when no one else would because he
was that in tune with the ocean, he was that
confident in his skills. And so now it's, like you said,
a celebration and the best Big Way surfers it's invitation only.
So this is not like, oh, you can qualify through
(04:03):
a series of competitions. This is like the Aicow family
recognizes your contributions to big wave surfing, specifically the time
that you've committed here in Hawaii. So you got the
first invite two years ago, correct?
Speaker 2 (04:17):
Two years ago? Yeah? Yeah, it was myself and Laura
Enever from Australia that were the first two Australians women
to ever be invited. To be invited is one thing,
but to be invited and actually run is another. Like
I mentioned, it's only around eleven times since its inception,
which is absolutely crazy to think, but yeah, you're right.
It's like the biggest gathering on the planet of the biggest,
loudest watermen and women. And for me really, I mean
(04:40):
when it very first began, it was men only you
know that were invitees to this event. And only three
years ago did that dream become a reality that you know, wow, okay,
I could be invited to this some day. So to
be invited, I guess, is probably the greatest honor in
the surfing world. It's the biggest, most prestigious surfing event.
I don't care what anyone says, it actually is like
these event draws thirty to forty thousand people on the cliff.
(05:02):
People are flying from mainland America, they're flying from Australia,
they're flying all over the world for this like one
day of incredible surfing. And yeah, I'm in big wave surfing.
Anyone that's watched anything online of it or in person,
it truly is subtling pretty amazing.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
Oh my gosh. Well, it's because like the perspective between
the surfer and the wave. It just is always darring
for me because you have like a normal sized person
and then a bigger board than we see in a
lot of surfing competitions, and then this massive wave that
makes everything else feel small. Yeah, because you're out there
(05:39):
and like you said, twenty plus foot surf. So this
year the eddy actually goes Yeah. And so it was
only a few weeks after the opening ceremony, right, So
you come over here to Hawaii for the opening ceremony
in early December, you're basically on call and they're like, hey,
from now until what end of February something like that.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
Yeah, basically I think that was like mid March. You're
on hold. You're on hold for you know, three or
four months of the year, and basically it's hard because
that time of the year when people are like, oh
it's the holidays, this is a silly season. It's like,
it's actually not the silly season for me. I'm like,
you know, training, I'm trying to keep my head in
the game. I'm like trying not to like reply to
my friends because I've got a goal, you know. Like,
(06:17):
And so it was actually quite nice to have this
event run two weeks after the opening ceremony, because once
it had round, I was like, oh, I can enjoy
Christmas and years, you know. But even if it didn't,
you know, obviously I would have had my head in
the game. But yeah, it was pretty radical because I
don't think anyone really called for it to happen so soon.
So basically how it happens is swell forecasting is like
(06:38):
weather forecasting, and kind of get a good scope about
two weeks out and then a really detailed one one
week in advance and one week in the lead.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Up to it.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
And so basically we flew home, Laura and I back
to Australia and we got this email basically a few
days later been like, okay, there's no swells on the horizon.
Everyone just chill out. I were like, sweet, okay, And
then all of a sudden, it wasn't even on the
official email chain. It was within the Big Wave community.
People started talking about this swell and they're like, he
is this an eddie swell? And I woke up the
(07:07):
next morning to like, you know, ten twenty messages on
my phone from people in the Big Wave community being
like is the eddie on? And I was like, fucking
what is the eddie on? And I was like, hang
on a second, Like I'm just filling all the way
back to one of the most remote places in the world,
Western Australia, Like, don't tell me the fucking eddies on?
Can I swear on?
Speaker 1 (07:24):
Here? You can swear on it?
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Right?
Speaker 1 (07:26):
What have you on if you couldn't swear on it? Like,
I know you're better than that.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
All right, this is song brand sorry for everyone. It
just adds to the story anyway. So yeah, basically, to
cut a long story, shore, it ends up running right
and we fly back. I fly back within a matter
of like five six days, And yeah, it was pretty
crazy because I don't think anything can really prepare you
(07:50):
for that, just the feelings that come with it, the emotions.
How many people are really watching surfboard writing, It's crazy.
It was like it's super bowld surfing. It really is.
It was a Sunday. It was a Sunday before Christmas.
And this was another thing, like it was right before Christmas,
so you last minute flies right before Christmas. It was
awaken before Christmas. It was the busiest time of you
(08:11):
could ever possibly fly. And like I'd just been doing
a lot of traveling and spending a lot of money,
and I was like, yeah, my back cat, I was like,
holy shit, like I'm really about to like drop all
these coin going back out. Of course I was, and
I did, but yeah, it was pretty expensive.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Oh my gosh. And then describe to me because I've
talked to a few of the women who were that
in that inaugural class, right like Kyalla, Cannily, Yeah, page
Ms Connie, Like there's six women, seven women something like
that in the first class, but you guys were only
the second class of women that the eddy had actually
been called on for. And if you haven't seen, like
why may I bay When she says this is a
super Bowl surfing, it really is like an amphitheater too,
(08:50):
because if you imagine almost like a semi circle, and
that's what the bay is, and there's cliffs on both sides,
and there's people legitimately clinging to to make sure they
have their spot to see these ways. And it's wild
because you're hundreds of yards from where you're actually surfing,
and yet you can grasp the.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Magnitude of these ways. You can feel them hitting the bait,
you feel the energy, you can hear it, you can
hear it from a long way away. Like, so we basically,
what happened? Do you want to go?
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Actually, did you have a question getting into that? I
wanted to you to describe.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
But basically, so how I'll give you a bit of
a rundown. How it went is that we got told
the night before the contest, right, so we flew in
last minute running around like mad women, trying to like,
you know, get a lot of equipment ready. We've got
this inflation, so we've got floatation, We've got these like
C or two cartridges that you need to put into
the inflation, so boards, to prepare leg groups, to get
(09:45):
just the list was crazy, and you know it's last minute.
We're flying in seventy two hours, not even forty eight
hours before this event starts all the way from Australia.
So we arrived, we're running around that night. We managed
to get a surf in at Ymea Bay as this
world was picking up, So we surf before we got
the cop blew the cob webs out. We're like, who
got a few ways? Feeling good? So the night before
we get a message from like the officials, it's so official,
(10:08):
in an Instagram DM message. They're like, so it's gonna
be really busy tomorrow morning. We advise that all athletes
get to the beach at three am, and I'm thinking, fuck,
three am. I was looking at my watch. It not
that I wear, wash my phone, and I was like, shit,
that's literally like, you know, only in five hours time,
(10:28):
Like I haven't gone to bed yet, Like we're cooking
dinner now. I was like, Laura, we can't do that.
And so basically we made this plan. We're like, hey,
let's load up the car the night before. Let's put
our boards in there. Like those boards are really big,
They're about ten foot long, they're three inches thick. You know,
they're really heavy. And we were staying probably only i'd
say a klomen I don't know what that is in
miles away from the away from byme Ba so we
(10:51):
drove our car down, we parked it, and then we
walked back the night before, right back to our accommodation.
And then the plan was in the morning we'd wake up,
have our coffee, walked down and everything's already rare ready
there to go and we don't need to get there,
buddy am. So the night before we puck this car
and we start walking back and there is literally it's
certainly just gone dark. There is hundreds of thousands of
(11:12):
people already down at the beach and I'm walking past.
I'm like, so, what do you guys do? And is
this what you're gonna like? You're surely gonna go sleep
somewhere else to night. They've literally got these deck chairs
on the side of the cliff and they're like parked
up there and they're having a few drinks. I was like, wow,
it's full like festival vibes. So there's people camping, there's
people having barbecues. There was big Hawaiian families there, there
was music playing. There was big glamp like glamping tents,
(11:33):
there was tents set up. It was just like this
weird energy that was like whoa, I've never seen anything
like this for a serf contest. It kind of reminded
me of when I hear people talk about what surf
contests used to be like back in the day. And
so I was like, well, it's crazy energy, like beating happened, yeah, yeah,
yeah yeah. And I was like, so surely you're not
camping out here or they're like, oh yeah, we're here
for the long hole, like we're camping out And I'm
(11:54):
like geez all right, like power do you like I've
your dedication with great Like this is sick to seven
wearsurfing and surfing in general, and anytime we're walking back,
it's just cool to get to experience that. The next
morning we wake up, we have our coffees, we do
a bit of warm up, a bit of breath breath work,
bit of meditation, and we start walking back down and
far out. Like I've never seen people like that to
(12:14):
come in thousands to watch surfing. It was just absolutely nuts.
Like you know, pipeline gets packed for people to watch pipe,
but times out by like ten, twenty thirty thousand, Like
it was crazy.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
I can only imagine what that did to your nerves. Yeah,
you're already like okay, I have to do all of
this checklist and then like, you've competed and surfing before,
so you've had crowds before, but like you said, this
is different, So what did it do your I ran.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Straight to the toilet. I was like, I need the toilet.
I need the toilet. Now I've had a coffee and
now I need the toilet. And then I just looked
at the ways and now I really need the toilet. Yeah, no,
I But so what happened in the morning is the
swell hadn't really kicked properly in yet. Sure, and so
we get down to the event's site and I was
looking at a few sets coming through, like and you
know the waves that we're coming through, and I was thinking, oh,
(13:07):
that's doable, and then all of a sudden they're like, yeah,
people like, oh, maybe it's not big enough, like I
don't know if it's big enough.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
Which to be clear, when you say maybe it's not
big enough, like this is still fifteen seven, it's huge,
so it's just and the parameters are specific.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
Then I'm thinking I might have ran right now and anyway,
and then all of a sudden they're like, we're going
on hold for one hour, and sure enough, we went
on hold for an hour and then the first sets
started rolling through, like sets that they were really predicting
started rolling through, and I was like, oh, and yeah,
that first heat got underway and I was Heat four,
(13:42):
so I had a bit of time to and I
think Laura, my friend who was there with she was
hate two, so she was first before me. And yeah,
just basically I had a couple of heats to watch it,
which was I don't know if it was a good
thing or a bad thing, But do you know what's surprising?
I I wasn't so because for most big wave events
that I've competed on in pass like mainly at Jaws
over on Maui or PRH if you want to call
(14:05):
it that, But that wave just does something different to
me where I think like that's fully like a competition
style format, and every time I've competed in that, it's
been like for a world Big Wave World title or
you know, big Wave Ward champ, and it just felt
like it's carried so much weight competitively, and I feel
like going into the eddy, like I said before, it's
(14:26):
not just a competition, it's like, you know, in honor
of someone's life and legacy, and it just felt so different,
like I was actually so excited for this day as
opposed to absolutely like I know, I said I was
shitting myself, but like I was excited, you know, I
was so excited to this is like the honor of
a lifetime and the dream, and this is what I
dreamt off since I was a little kid to be
invited to this, Like never in my wile just dreams
when I first started surfing, that I actually ever think
(14:48):
I would be an Eddie invite, you know, because I
didn't grow up trying to be a big wave surfer,
like I grew up trying to be a professional surfer
on the World Tour and then naturally pivoted into big
wave because that's what I just love. But you know,
I'm surfing against like my idol was my heroes, like
or in my heats because men and women don't compete separately,
they compete all together. So yes, pretty wild. I was
just pretty grateful that morning.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Actually, did you have a moment when you were in
the water for your heat, either rope before it or
during it while you were waiting for a set that
it sunk in?
Speaker 2 (15:17):
Yeah? I was so every heat in so I think
there was six heats, right, and in every heat there
was two women, and so the other girl who was
in my heat was Page Arms. And I've known Page
for a long time and we've got a competitive history
together big wave surfing, and we've also served a lot
of together and spent a lot of time together. And
when I looked at the drawer and I saw that
her name was in my heat, I was so stoked
(15:38):
because we just we just really get along. And I
was like, yes, I'm so stoked to see like a
familiar face out there. And we walked down to the
beach together like we waited for each other. We walked
down together and waited for the skis together to get
you know, the lift out to the lineup, and having
her in the water and looking across to her was
actually just so like reassuring, I guess, because yeah, we've
(16:02):
just there's a different sort of intensity that guys bring
to competition. And so basically how it works. The format
of this event is there's six heats and there's two rounds,
and so the first round, like when I was out there,
I could feel the intensity of the men and the
you know, the testosterone and stuff but they were a
lot more giving in the first heat, and I think
(16:22):
because this event does hold such reverence and such you know,
once you win an event like this, you're cemented. Once
you're in it, you're cemented into serving history. But once
you win something like this, it makes your career. And
so in the second round when we went out there,
the men that were in my heat, well one of
them was the eventual event winning Land and McNamarra. He
was in both of my heats and fire out he's
(16:44):
left amazing. But and then there was Kyle Lenny, There
was Ian Walsh, there was Carl Rothman. You know, these
are big, heavy Hawaiian hitting names. There are guys who
were cemented in the big wave industry and community, and
there was just this intensity there and I was like whoa, whoa, WHOA,
Like I don't really want to get involved in that,
and I just it was just so nice to have
another woman in the hate and look to her and
be like, yes, we're doing this together.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Well because it's like you said, it's not just about
the winning, but it's about the trail that you guys
are blazing. And Page is one of those women who
has been paving away for women in big wave surfing
long before she was invited to the EDDY a few
years ago. Yeah, and so what do you think is
the thing? Because now there's been two classes of women
who've gotten to compete in the EDDY. And so, like
you said, even though you weren't necessarily a big wave surfer,
(17:24):
but even if you were drawn to that, my gosh,
in your teens in early twenties, it wasn't it wasn't
possible because I think kk, I think, hey all it
was the first one ever invited, and it was like
twenty seventeen. Yeah, yeah, yeah, like that right, So twenty seventeen,
my gosh, that's like five seconds ago. So even if
you dreamed of big wave surfing, yeah, you didn't have
a reason to believe that you could compete in the EDDY.
And now girls who were in their teens in their
(17:46):
early twenties and starting out surfing have these women that
they can look up to you, Laura PAIHKK, So I
mean all these women. What do you think it does
for women's big wave surfing to see not just you
guys get invited, but to see the event run and
to see the vast majority of you absolutely charging these waves.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
I think growing up for us, like you just mentioned,
there was that barrier because there was no women in
the EDDY until KK was the first invitee. And as
soon as that happened, obviously doors start opening, you start
dreaming and you can start imagining.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
Right.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
I can't imagine what that must do for the younger
generation now seeing that you know, there's twelve women now
invited to the EDDY, which is absolutely insane. And I
think all you need is one person. I mean for me,
that one person's KK, you know, and just being like wow, okay,
like that's the goal, and like you know, oh, that's
the bar and I can achieve that she's doing it.
(18:47):
I can't. You know, it's that whole thing. If you
can't see, you can't be it. And I just think
that it's going to do things for the evolution of
the sport, and it's going to grow quickly, you know,
even just getting us in front of just how many
people were down there on the beach and just as
far as women in sport, and we all know how
much it's taken off in the last year, especially since
the Women's World Cup soccer, Like I mean, it's one
(19:07):
of the most when we were talking about it the
other day. One of the most profitable markets to get into, right, Like,
it's incredible for sharing our stories, for getting our names
out there, for sponsorships, for endorsements. It just does so much.
So I can't extress you know, how grateful we are that,
you know, you know, the content directors are including us now,
and it's just feels it's about time, and it feels
right and the levels, like the level is there, so
(19:31):
I you know, just opening up the floodgates. I guess really,
I mean it it's just going to keep It's just
the snowball effects, it's just going to keep growing.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
It feels like it's it's just inevitable that this is
the beginning. And like I'm so glad that we keep
mentioning you know, KK McCarney Andrea Mouler, Like there's so
many women and we talk about this all the time
about how trailblazing is so necessary and can also be
so lonely. Yeah, because if there was a lot of
(19:59):
people doing it, you wouldn't be lonely. It won't be
a trail blazer, right, And so you've been a part
of that though in surfing for your whole career in
a lot of ways. And so I want to go
back now that people have an idea of the badassory
that you're doing right now, I want to know how
did that start. You grew up in Margaret River's in Australia,
which this is a mainly US based audience, so please
(20:20):
describe to us what it was like growing up in
Margaret River.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Yeah. Look, I think you make such a good point
about like, if you're going to push any sort of barrier,
you're going to be lonely doing it because you're breaking barriers,
like it is going to be lonely. You got to
push that new ground for me growing up where I did.
Like it's a small country coastal town. It used to
be a dairy farming town. It's three hours south of
Perth driving in the car.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
My growth is the other side of Australia from the US.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
So it's kind of like if you're flying from Los
Angeles to New York basically like you do in five hours.
So it's a five hour flight from Sydney to Perth
and then a three hour drive down to Margaret River.
And there were hardly any girls growing up surfing when
I was surfing, and I was literally there was you know,
on the East coast of Australia. There was definitely a
few more on the West coast. You know, I could
count on one hand how many girls are actually surfed,
(21:08):
and most often I was only surfing you know, by myself,
well with my dad. But my community where I grew
up in Margaret River was very supportive however, like i'd
go surfing. You know, it's Western Australia is known for
being rugged, wild, raw and like these big, powerful ways,
and I guess that's why naturally I segued into big
wave surfing, like I started off shortboarding, you know, qualified
(21:30):
for the World Tour, and then after a couple of years,
segued into big wave. But when I was growing up there,
like I was often you know, the only girl in
this sea of blurry like hardened Aussie men, you know, tradesmen,
beards like really rough, rugged, you know, raw around the edges,
and then it just made me bopping around like a
(21:51):
ten year old girl. Like but they were all really
good to me growing up. And I'm pretty lucky because
I've heard other stories of women growing up and not
feeling welcomed and that sort of toxic masculinity in the
lineup and just also just that toxic localism sort of
thing in the lineup as well, and in some degrees,
there's the other argument that I do agree with that
I'm getting very like so specific here. But anyway, so
(22:13):
I grew up there and basically I lived a pretty easy,
you know, just a normal life, Like I didn't really
think much about like, you know, what I was wearing
all the way I was coming across and I was
just this little kid running around. I had. I have
two younger brothers, basically Dad's number one son. He just
treated me like one of the boys. And yeah, I
was just I lived there until I was maybe like sixteen,
(22:37):
then started traveling and competing full time. My dad was
my coach. We had, you know, a tumultuous relationship, but
it all turned out alright in the end. He coached me,
you know, from that's a hard thing to do, being
a parent being a coach. And so many other people
that listened to this that you know, had a parent
that was the ultimate soccer ad or mum and getting involved,
(22:57):
like it's such a bullet.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
Yeah, it was so far for me, and my dad
was soft phone coach for like US.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
Season, and then it was like, yeah, no, yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
I don't know if this is the best thing for
our relationship. Shout out to the ones who can figure
it out. Yeah, but for us as separation, yeah necessary.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
Well sometimes I'm like, what DoD we have done better
like that or worse anyway? So nah, But my dad, honestly,
he did a good job with sort of the tools
that he had. So, like you said, my dad traveled
with me up into a certain age, and we also
didn't have that much money growing up. Like my dad
was literally, you know, trying to just make it work
(23:31):
so that he could come as much as possible. But
then there came a point when he was like, I
just can't afford this anymore. As much as I want
to come with you, I can't, And You're gonna have
to go on some trips by yourself. And so i'd
be you know, fourteen, sixteen, eighteen years old, you know,
those super impressionable years when you're traveling around the world.
And at the time, I was with a certain brand.
I'd been with that brand for over sixteen years, and
(23:53):
you know, in those early stages of being sponsored by
that brand and within the industry. We were taken on
ten troops all around the world. You know, lots of
similar stories like what's his name, Larry Nassa Na, Yeah,
so lots of similar stories have come out, you know,
within the surf industry, similar things like that, not publicly
but within our own internal groups. So to be actually
(24:15):
quite interesting one day to actually what actually gets said
about that. Fuck, I don't even know if we can
probably say that, but anyway, so I think like the
biggest thing for me that was probably the hardest was
just where our industry was at, where the surf industry
was at, because we grew up in a time or
(24:36):
my generation, was when sex sold and the surfing industry
became hyper sexualized and basically, you know, women were getting
paid more for looking a certain way as opposed to
actually how they performed. And not that that's actually a
line set and a contract, but you know you can
read between the lines with what people are getting paid,
and like, you know, it was just it was an
(24:59):
interesting time to be part of. And you know, I
even myself, like I struggled so much with body image
and confidence, and I think because you know, just silly
little things that were commented to me as I was
growing up in the industry, and you know, obviously I
was a girl going through puberty, hormones, whatever I'm going
(25:19):
to change, it's just absolutely natural. It's every human on
the planet goes through that. But because of just the
time of the industry, you know, I was told things
about like, you know, you really need to lose five kilos.
You you know, if you want to stay on this team,
and if you want to keep you know, basically if
you want to have a contract, you need to lose this.
(25:40):
You need to lose five kilos. And for me, as
a sixteen year old seventeen year old, that cuts deep,
Like and then you're thinking, hang on a set, Like
I look back at images of myself at that point,
there's nothing wrong with me. I'm literally the same weight
as what I weigh now. I'm not going to say
how much I weigh. There was nothing wrong with me.
I was just like my weight was fluctuating a little bit.
I was a teenager going through puberty, and I became
(26:04):
obsessed with the way I looked, and you know, basically
developed an eating disorder over that time because I was like,
holy shit, like if I don't lose these five heroos,
and I'm not going to have a contract, and then
I can't do my job and what I'd like to do.
And then during that time, you know, the brands were
only using sample size, which is like you know, which
(26:27):
is what most brands carried when they were doing photoshoots
around the world. Was only a sample size model, and
so I only had this one representation of what a
body looked like, and I was like, shit, my body
needs to look like that. But I'm an athlete, so
then how does my body look like that? And I
still do my sport it doesn't. And so then I
became obsessed with like not having broad shoulders and my
(26:48):
thighs were way too big, and just like obsessing and
nitpicking and definitely have body dysmorphia, developed an eating disorder,
and that went on for about five to six years.
And I look back with photos of myself after you know,
three years of doing that heavily, and I'd lost like
twelve kilos, and I look back to myself and over
that time, I'd stopped competing, I'd as much, and I'd
(27:09):
started being thrown way more into these like lifestyle photo
shoots for the brands, you know, and I was like.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
Oh, you're almost You're more model than surfer.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
Yeah, yeah, hundred percent, one hundred percent. I was. I
was way more of a lifestyle more than what I was,
a professional server and an athlete athlete, And I just
looked back and photos of myself at that time, I'm like, WHOA, Like,
it's actually crazy to see that. I think that I
used to still think that I was like fat, were
all like overweight, or I wasn't my idea of what
perfect was. And then I look back at that now
(27:39):
and I'm like, huh, you are really sick. And it
took a long time for me to come out of that,
Like I had to get professional help, I had to
be around people like women in my life that were
actually saying really positive things to me instead of negative.
And you know what better even more is that you know,
I would go to contest, go to different modeling shoots
(27:59):
around the world, people would say, oh, you look so good.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
Yeah, because the positive it leads into it and you're like, oh,
I'm getting a positive reaction. This must be a good thing,
because for me it was, I mean, gymnastics, we were
always Yeah, I feel like that's one of the worst
and well, but it's similar in the way that like
it's one thing to struggle to sort of go through
being a female athlete when you're wearing a jersey and
(28:23):
shorts and like not that there aren't their own issues
and that it's invalid to experience this. With that, I
think there is a level of added scrutiny when you're
in when you're in a bikini, when you're in a leotard,
so much of your body can display.
Speaker 2 (28:38):
That, and we're at a beige and it's we basically
follow somewhere around the globe, like right, and those values
of back then were sex. So it was crazy, you know,
like I mean, you like it. It's actually nuts to
go back and think about that. And even when I
go back through like the years of my Instagram analytics
(28:59):
of like when I was growing up, when I was sixteen,
for like eighteen twenty, like just so heavily geared towards
men because I was posting like so many lifestyle model
shots because I knew that I had KPIs and contracts,
you know, if I got certain X amount of followers
that I would get a bonus, and like so I
would just be like posting these photos, and it's just weird,
(29:19):
Like it's taken a long time for me told to
shift that as well, like because like now I use
my platform so much, like and I rely on that
as an income as well. But like brands might want
to associate with mete with me, like they want my
demographic of like eighteen to twenty four or twenty four
to thirty to thirty five, and they want that to
be women. They don't want it. Most of the brands
that I want to associate with anyway. You know, the
men are great men keep following us, but you know
(29:41):
what I mean, it's just like it's just such a
sign of the times and it's just completely changed, and
it's I'm not fucking out here to hate on men,
but I'm just saying that, Like it was a crazy
time in our industry, and I'm just so grateful that,
you know, serving industries come a long way and the
grums of today will never ever have to worry about that.
It's so based on like the white you perform is
as to the white you look.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
And like bringing your own individual style, which I think
going back to when you were competing in competitive surfing,
when I was in gymnastics. There really was one side yea.
It was like and that's why it's so epic to
see women like Alonamar from the rugby right world see
her just own it, and my gosh. The thing that
hit me. A few weeks ago, she did an interview
on CNN and the interview asked her, I think it
(30:23):
was CNN. She didn't be imposed to one yeah, where
the interviewer asked her, do you experience imposter syndems And
she was like, no, I don't think I have that.
And the interviewer was like, what are you talking about?
It runs my life, and she said something on the
lines of I don't have imposter syndrome because I believe
that I deserve everything that I have gotten, not because
I'm entitled to it, but because I've worked my ass
(30:44):
off she posts. I mean, before she blew up, before
the Paris Olympics, she was still consistently posting three to
four tiktoks a day. She was putting herself out there,
her personality, her body, he struggles all these things, and
the reporter couldn't even fathom that she didn't struggle with
imposter syndrome. And that hit me so hard because I
think that our generation, it's like, now, that's almost the
(31:08):
like you have to be grateful and so you like
there's an element of like I struggle with imposter syndrome,
even when it's like I study, I prepare, I know,
I've worked my ass off to get whether it's commentating jobs.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
I think that's also that overnight sensation thing for sure, know, like,
oh my god, I just like blew up overnight. It's like,
we'll hang on a second. No, I didn't know that
it's actually been so much that's gone into these yeah,
and I think that's just, yeah, that's self belief thing.
But I think, yeah, exactly what you're taught to be
hum more grateful, you know whatever.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
It's a load of shit And it's just so cool though,
because like now it's so I feel so excited to
be a part of this generation of women in sport,
because I think every generation moves the baton forward. Yes, yeah,
and my god, if we can be a part of
the one that says, hey, not only are there opportunities,
but own the.
Speaker 2 (31:57):
Fact that you belong.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
Yeah, Like, how of a legacy for our daughters someday
to look at us and be like, no, my mom
is a badass. How do I know that because she
told me, because I saw it, because she wasn't she
was grateful and she was hard working, but she wasn't
humbled to a fault. You know. I think that that's
something that I've felt a shift and even I mean,
(32:18):
so we've been working together on different surfing commentary gigs
around the world for the last two or three years,
and it's something that we've talked about a ton, which
is owning the space that we're in and being proud
and you know, like like we've earned this right. Yeah,
we're good at our jobs. We're good at we bring
something to the table, and that's why we're here, not
(32:40):
just because we're lucky or we got sort of dubbed,
but because we really worked hard.
Speaker 2 (32:44):
Yeah, it's taken a while though, Gosha happened long, like
it really has. Like you know, and even I think
you're right when you say that every generation moves that
bat and forward, you know, because even when the other
night we're in a room of you know, generations before us,
the women within the surf industry, and they're saying, you know,
like this happened, and this happen and this happen. It's
just like you know. It also speaks to that conversation
(33:06):
we're having before about if you're a trailblazer in the
industry or you're going to stick your neck out a bit,
like it is going to be lonely, it's going to
be tough, but I think you just do it for
that next generation.
Speaker 1 (33:15):
But I think the thing that I'm excited about is like,
for a long time, women viewed each other as competition, right.
Speaker 2 (33:20):
Because there was one seat oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
And I think now what's been cool is as a collective,
instead of looking at each other and seeing the competition,
it's like we're looking up at the ones at the
system that says we're the competition.
Speaker 2 (33:32):
Yeah yeah, We're like no, oh anymore. Yeah yeah. I
think that's super important. I think far out, like this year,
I'm really taking on that. I think for so long
we were pitted against each other, and like, you know,
there's that real scarcity mindset that play women in sport,
and I feel like for years we have been pitted
against one another in whatever kind of capacity that is
(33:53):
not even a sport, whatever industry it is. You've always
taught that, you know, women are here to cut each
other down and we're always bitching about each other. And
also that's a fucking narrative as well, and I think
like it's up to us to say fuck you and
fuck that narrative and basically reframe what it means to
be a woman and lift each other up and support
each other because there is enough opportunities. We're just speaking
to it that women in sport is like one of
(34:13):
the biggest growing industries in markets, like absolutely righter off
that people are saying that, And I'm just so proud
that we're proud of that generation that's kind of saying no,
we're not subscribed to that bullshit.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
Yeah, because I think it's so easy, right when you
get the crumbs, you like look around at who else
is getting crumbs, and you're like, oh, I want, I
need those because I don't have enough. But then really
it's like, you know, the person who's deciding that we
only get crumbs, yes, is the collective problem. Yeah, Yeah,
that's and I think that's like been the coolest shift
that I've seen from even just women in sports media. Right.
It's like I've been in this aspect of the industry
(34:45):
for twelve fifteen years and that's been the narrative shift
is like, no, I don't. If you're gonna tell me
there's only one seat at your table for a woman, fine,
I'm gonna go build another table. And I just think
it's so fun and being friends with you and Laura
and a lot of the other women that we get
to travel with in such an impactful aspect of my
shift of mindset personally, because up until this job, I
(35:08):
was the token woman. At every job I worked in,
I was the token woman. And not that I didn't
deserve to be there, not that I didn't work hard,
not that I wasn't good, but there's only one of me,
and so up until this one, I didn't have a
lot of female colleagues. I didn't have a lot of
female coworkers. Yeah, And so getting a chance to work
with other women, it's like, oh good, we'll all get
a chance to come together. And I think that's the
power of just community and like minded people. And it's
(35:30):
been I don't know, it's been one of my favorite
things about many.
Speaker 2 (35:34):
One of my favorite things to aj probably with the
go gangs.
Speaker 1 (35:38):
Oh my gosh, we get into some chaotic adventures around
the world. The one last year Waikiki karaoke.
Speaker 2 (35:45):
Oh yeah, that was of the best. Working so much,
but we're really here for work on a holiday.
Speaker 1 (35:53):
And he's in a boot and so it's just like
getting you around Waikiki and.
Speaker 2 (35:58):
Brought me my foot and I had surgery. I thought
it was in a boot and couldn't walk, and then
AJ decided that you would piggybacking everywhere. So it's fantastic.
Between the karaoke bars, we just.
Speaker 1 (36:07):
Had so much fun. So we're a shift segments. Now
we're going to go to something to sip on. It
is brought to you by these sports bra and is
the women's sports bar in Portland, Oregon. So Flicky, I've
shared many a drink with you around the world, different countries,
maybe maybe more than a many. What are you sipping on?
Speaker 2 (36:25):
I am the biggest fan of Margaraeda, but not a
traditional margarator a Tommy's Margaraedah, so Tommy's migrator there. The
differences is we're adding a gave so tequila a gave
juice ideal.
Speaker 1 (36:40):
Anyway we're having tonight.
Speaker 2 (36:41):
Yeah, it's beautiful, it'll margrator is always a fun time.
Tequila is always a fun time.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
Yeah, this is this is where we differ. I tend
to go for the whiskey and you go for the tequila.
Speaker 2 (36:51):
Yeah, but it's great.
Speaker 1 (36:54):
Keeps us on our Okay. Next up is our powered
up segment. So this is where I tried to get
you to answer questions rapid fire. I'm terrible at this, Sorry,
pod Squad. Do you guys know that I say this
literally every episode? But I'm just gonna ask you rapid questions.
Give me as quick as an answer as you can.
Speaker 2 (37:11):
I've got major brain fulm today, guys, because I'm like
recovering from the idea, So you should be into tiny
How quick I can answer?
Speaker 1 (37:17):
Great? Okay, Okay, copy your tea, coffee, favorite ice cream flavor,
coos and crad. Go to meal before or after surfboard writing.
Speaker 2 (37:25):
A smashb on tars, preferably gluten frey, marinated goats, feta,
valsamic dot com, spinach, tomatoes.
Speaker 1 (37:41):
Eggs, scrabble bougie. Yep, you're making breakfast tomorrow? Are you
an early burder in Idol?
Speaker 2 (37:48):
Ellie?
Speaker 1 (37:48):
What's a favorite place that surfboard writing has taken you?
Speaker 2 (37:51):
Tahiti Ah? I love that place.
Speaker 1 (37:53):
If you were not a surfer and you got to
compete in an Olympic sport? What would you compete in?
Speaker 2 (37:58):
Does it have to be Olympic?
Speaker 1 (38:00):
Na?
Speaker 2 (38:00):
Okay, this is a long shot. But when I was
a kid, my dream was to run away with a
circus and be on the flying trap piece. Wow. I
know it's never too late.
Speaker 1 (38:10):
We should find a trappeze, I should.
Speaker 2 (38:12):
Pivot next career move next, he's run off with the circus.
Speaker 1 (38:16):
Now, it wouldn't be the most shock to be honest
with you. What's your favorite dessert?
Speaker 2 (38:21):
Some like chocolate lava cake with vanilla ice.
Speaker 1 (38:24):
Cream, super fudgy.
Speaker 2 (38:25):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (38:26):
Yeah? Where is your dream vacation spot? I knew you're
going to say, what is the best piece of space
you've ever gotten?
Speaker 2 (38:34):
The quality of your life is determined by the quality
of your relationships.
Speaker 1 (38:38):
That's the b I love that. Wow, that's great. What
is the Oh gosh, I don't even know if I
want to ask you this question because I know there's
been Okay, what is the wildest mishap you've ever experienced? Sport?
Speaker 2 (38:55):
I don't even know. Why are we going to go with?
What are you thinking of out?
Speaker 1 (39:01):
Well, let's see, I'm actually thinking of one.
Speaker 2 (39:05):
I once pushed so hard in a turn when I
was surfing that I shot a tampon out of my vulva.
Speaker 1 (39:11):
Wow, I didn't know that one there.
Speaker 2 (39:14):
You put that in apartment, smoke it.
Speaker 1 (39:18):
Put that on your podcast and play it. Oh my god. Okay, yep,
that's great. Okay, on a different on a slightly same tangent,
but slightly different. What is the one piece of equipment
you would not compete in your sport with it without
(39:38):
board like safety equipment, growthy equipment.
Speaker 2 (39:44):
Yeah, look, it'd probably have to be the inflation suit
or jet ski safety.
Speaker 1 (39:50):
Driver because the inflation suit can you describe really quickly
when you use that.
Speaker 2 (39:54):
So an inflation suit is basically there to save your
ass when you've been held out of the water log. Basically,
it's got these It's an inflatable life jacket. Got they
see a two cartridges usually two to four. That'sit. Inside
the vest there's little pool touggles on the outside. The
vest also has foam inserts in it to keep you buoyant.
When you have a wipeout, you pull the vest the
best inflates you shoot to the surface.
Speaker 1 (40:14):
So going back to the eddy, you cut a few waves.
Speaker 2 (40:17):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (40:17):
In the eddy. How quickly do you make the decision
to pull a night?
Speaker 2 (40:21):
I pulled straight away. I had a really bad experience.
It's a long story, but almost drowned. And it's because
I took a really long time to pull my vest
and I was super far down, like under the ocean,
and the vest was having troubles expanding because it was
so deep. Because it's the depth anyway, So I just
pulled every single time. I trained so hard anyway, It's
like I trained to take the stairs that take the
(40:42):
elevator in the surf.
Speaker 1 (40:46):
What do you reckon is the deepest that you've ever
been underwater?
Speaker 2 (40:49):
I don't know, like the wipeout when I had that wipeout. Like,
for instance, your boards ten foot long, and then your
late leash or your leg rope is another ten foot
or twelve, so that's twenty two feet deep. Shith So
if you're board is doing this thing called tombstoning where
it's like going like this in the water and then
you're lacious fully extended, and then you've got your leg
up in the air like this. So that's like pretty
far there. Yeah, And that's where my best didn't inflight
(41:11):
because of the pressure. Oh yes, so now it's cool
as soon as I like that.
Speaker 1 (41:15):
Okay, And the last question I have for you felicity, Yes,
Valmer is formal. What does powerful mean to you?
Speaker 2 (41:23):
Pow h e er f you will don't tread your
authenticity for agroogle. That's it.
Speaker 1 (41:29):
I love it, what it would end. We've been everywhere
in this podcast and I shouldn't have expected anything different.
Thank you so much for joining us, Flicky. This has
been the best and so Friday.
Speaker 2 (41:38):
Oh thanks having me.
Speaker 1 (41:41):
Lovely night, Love you mate. We'll be back next to
week for another episode of the Powerful Podcast. This is
a reminder to check us out every Tuesday everywhere you
get your podcasts, and if you really enjoy this and
don't want to miss an episode, be sure to hit
that subscribe it
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