She Built That: How Charli Hately's Carving Out A Surfing Career At Just 15

Welcome to She Built That, the podcast series where we discover incredible women and girls who didn't just dream big...they BUILT their futures! 

In this episode, you'll hear from Charli Hately, an amazing young surfer who has been carving out an incredible career on the waves at only 15 years old. She tells us how she turned her injury setbacks into an opportunity to work on her mindset. Hang ten with us to find out how Charli went from being a typical tween living on the Gold Coast to taking the global surfing community by storm.

This is a co-listening podcast for parents and kids to enjoy together.

She Built That was made in partnership with LEGO Girls.

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CREDITS:

Host: Annaliese Todd
Audio Producer and Writer: Thom Lion
Producer: Tina Matalov
Executive Producer: Courtney Ammenhauser

Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
You're listening to a Mother Mea podcast. Hello, old friend,
I'm Annalie Todd, host of Mumma MEA's new podcast, She
Built That, and I'm dropping into you. That's incredible feed
because I think you're going to love this just like
That's Incredible. It's a co listening podcast for you to
enjoy with your kids. She Built That is all about

(00:26):
courageous women who've turned their dreams into reality. These women
didn't just dream big, they built their futures. Each episode,
I sit down with inspiring female entrepreneurs, athletes, and game
changers who've created something extraordinary from the ground up. We
take you on a journey through storytelling with beautiful soundscapes,
diving deep into their winds, the hard times, and the

(00:47):
moments that sparked everything for them. So gather up the kids,
stick around, and if you love what you hear, make
sure you subscribe to She Built That wherever you get
your podcasts for more incredible episodes.

Speaker 2 (00:58):
Enjoy. Hello, future Builders, and welcome to She Built That,
the podcast where we discover incredible women who didn't.

Speaker 3 (01:10):
Just dream be, they built their futures.

Speaker 1 (01:13):
Every episode, we hang ten with young women who stacked
their talents wear the wipeouts and kept paddling until they
made a splash on their own terms. I'm your host
Annalise Todd, Mamma MIA's lifestyle writer and.

Speaker 3 (01:26):
Chief administrator of the Dreaming Department. And before we.

Speaker 1 (01:30):
Catch the swell of today's story, can you guess which
brilliant builder is starring in this episode? Make no mistake,
this is a competitive quiz, so grown ups, get your
thinking caps onto.

Speaker 3 (01:43):
Clue number one.

Speaker 1 (01:45):
This surf star started catching waves at around age nine
on Australia's famous Gold Coast and quickly fell for the
thrill of the ocean. Clue number two. She's also a
musician and artist, and one of the bravest things she's
ever done is get on a plane all by herself

(02:06):
at age fifteen and fly to the other side of
the world for a competition.

Speaker 3 (02:13):
Clue number three.

Speaker 1 (02:15):
She's impressed surfing scouts, inspired other young athletes, and has
made serious waves in major competitions.

Speaker 3 (02:23):
Can you guess who it is? How did you go?

Speaker 1 (02:30):
If you guess Charlie Hately, You're riding the perfect wave.
Today we're talking about determined surfer and rising star Charlie Hately,
who's building her legacy, one wave, one wipeout, and one
epic comeback.

Speaker 3 (02:44):
At a time.

Speaker 1 (02:45):
Get ready to suit up, because after the break, we're
paddling out with Charlie to discover how brave girls surf
into their dreams. The ocean is glassy before dawn. It's
waves rising and falling like calm. But on the sand,

(03:09):
young Charlie Hateley's pulse races harder than the water's crash.
Her toes dig into cold sand, surfboard tucked right beneath
her arm.

Speaker 3 (03:18):
The lineup looks daunting the sky, just a whisper of pink.

Speaker 1 (03:24):
This is that moment every surfer faces when both nerves
and excitement.

Speaker 3 (03:28):
Crash at once. Would she paddle out and nail her run?

Speaker 1 (03:32):
Or would the sea sweeper off her feet like the
first time she tried and tumbled under its fearsome power.
Imagine this a kid on Australia's famous Gold Coast, staring
at thundering waves and thinking, why just swim in this
when you can ride? That's Charlie, aged nine, all knees

(03:56):
and elbows and dreams. She was watching surfers slice along
the water, wanting burning to be one of them. She
begged for lessons, convinced her parents, and somewhere out there,
Charlie's mum is still ankle deep in sand, holding her
wet suit while driving to work, because, as we know,
your car will never be sand free after a trip

(04:16):
with your kids to the beach. Ever, from the start,
Charlie was different. While other kids built sand castles and
stuck to the safety of shallow waters, she built surf plants,
mapping imaginary courses through the biggest sets. Her questions next level,
what if I could do a turn no one had
ever named? How many boards do I have to try

(04:39):
before I.

Speaker 3 (04:39):
Find the one? Can waves see me the way I
see them?

Speaker 1 (04:43):
Hmmm?

Speaker 3 (04:45):
Charlie remembers those early days.

Speaker 4 (04:48):
Yeah, I guess the first waves I really remember surfing.
Her parents were putting on a big foami and I
had to throw a life jacket. The feeling you get
is it's so different to anything that I've ever felt before.
It's a mixture of like fear, it's the unknown, but
it's also this like beautiful, like I'm on something that's
creative in nature and I can do whatever I want

(05:09):
with it. Like it's this empowering kind of feeling that
you're like on the edge of being scared, but you're
also inspired and I can never forget it.

Speaker 3 (05:18):
But it wasn't all blue sky thinking.

Speaker 1 (05:20):
Those early sessions were rough, wipeouts, felt endless. There were
boys in the lineup who didn't make room or called
her brave instead of good.

Speaker 3 (05:30):
Sometimes she'd trudged back up.

Speaker 1 (05:31):
The beach, salty tears mixing with seawater. Still Charlie kept
coming back. That's what building looks like, getting knocked down,
getting up again, stacking courage a top talent.

Speaker 3 (05:45):
Paddle stroke after paddle stroke. Then came the pandemic.

Speaker 1 (05:50):
The world got quiet, but for Charlie, the waves were.

Speaker 3 (05:54):
Calling, with competitions on pause.

Speaker 1 (05:57):
She served to stay sane, which is much healthier than
turning your garage into a sourdough bread factory. Hey, don't judge,
we all did some weird stuff from the pandemic anyway.
Every morning in the cold, Charlie turned her love into
a calling board. Shorts not uniforms, ocean not classroom. She

(06:17):
spent hours of affecting footwork, learning how to read tides,
getting stronger, even when the only crowds were seagulls.

Speaker 4 (06:26):
During COVID, I just got soup into surfing, and I
just knew that I wanted to do it. I wouldn't
stop doing it. I just couldn't stop.

Speaker 1 (06:36):
When contests returned, Charlie came back sharper. She won heats,
placed high at state comps, and caught the attention of
surfing scouts. I asked Charlie how she prepares for these
big events.

Speaker 4 (06:48):
Preparing for a competition, There's a lot involved. It depends
where it is and what the wave bofellas like, but
there's a lot of discipline involved. It's a lot of
time in the water, practicing skills and certain things need
to work on for that particular event. Eating and food
it's definitely a big part of it, like getting enough protein,
getting enough cars, making sure you're not energy deficient. But

(07:12):
it comes down to practice at the end of the
day and how much time you spend in the water.

Speaker 1 (07:17):
Still, every medal was just a milestone on her way
to bigger goals, to surf with the world's best, to
inspire other girls, to show that surfing isn't just for boys,
or just for the locals or just the fearless. It's
for anyone who loves the water enough to try and
try again. But as Charlie was riding high, her love

(07:38):
of surfing would be put to the ultimate test.

Speaker 4 (07:41):
Yeah, I actually had a major setback. I injured my
knee and I had to have surgery. I was right
on the cut line to make the Challenger Series, which
is the next step up, and I didn't qualify because
I couldn't compete in the last comp. So that was
a major set like for me. But when I had
to stay out of the water, it was huge to
realize I want to be in the water, this is

(08:02):
what I want to do, Because sometimes you can be
going through the motions but really taking a step back
and realizing I want to spend the rest of my
life doing this, and I'm going to work as hard
as I can and do everything I can to get
back to where I was. Even more just because you
have a step back, the dream's still there.

Speaker 1 (08:21):
Unable to get in the water, Charlie embraced her creative
side to stay mentally fresh, writing music, singing, but also
finding expression through another handy outlet.

Speaker 4 (08:31):
I guess from a very young age, I was fielding
with lego blocks. Traditionally, like boys and men always taught
to build and they can do that, and I think
being able to show females that they can build whatever
they want and they can create whatever's in their head,
that's pretty incredible.

Speaker 1 (08:50):
This injury setback became a blessing in disguise because Charlie
went deep in her mental game so she'd be even
better when the next competition rolled around.

Speaker 4 (09:00):
Learning about intentions for me, was very important to know
that there's a different between like the outcome and the
wok you put in, and just knowing that if you
have the intent to want something and to do something
like that's enough and you're on the right track.

Speaker 1 (09:18):
Today, Charlie Hately is building more than her own story.
She's paving a track through the surf for the next generation,
making it normal for girls to charge hard, celebrate wipeouts,
and dream huge. You'll see her in interviews encouraging kids
to just have a go, that everyone's a builder of
their own journey, even if it starts one paddle at

(09:40):
a time. So what would Charlie say to anyone scared
to try something new starting in the shallows or trying
to stand up after a complete wipeout?

Speaker 3 (09:49):
Figuratively and literally.

Speaker 4 (09:51):
If you're wanting to create a profession or do something.
The gymming of if you want it, you've got to
work hard and never give up, no matter what anyone
is telling you, no matter who said this, or you're
not enough. If you' believing yourself, then you can one
hundred percent get there. And I think finding a support
group that wants you to get where you want to

(10:13):
be as well is really important. And just believing in yourself.

Speaker 1 (10:21):
Next time you watch the waves or face something that
scares you, remember Charlie Hately. She didn't just dream about surfing.
She built her way, wipe out by wipeout until she
was able to glide, spin and carve her name into
the water itself. Building your path, whether on land or

(10:41):
at sea, takes guts, patients, and a willingness.

Speaker 3 (10:44):
To fall a lot before you fly.

Speaker 1 (10:48):
Choose something you care about and promise yourself to try it,
just once more when it gets tough. Your challenge this
week Head to the water, your skateboard, or even your
own backyard and try something new, no matter how how
many times it takes. And the trick here, don't have

(11:09):
any expectations. Just give yourself a pat on the back
for having the courage to try, because That's how we
find out about ourselves, whether it becomes ten seconds of
discomfort or a lifetime of carving it up.

Speaker 3 (11:21):
The only way to know is to start.

Speaker 1 (11:23):
Great surfers and great builders are made by showing up
wave after wave. Thanks for listening to She Built That. Remember,
incredible girls don't just dream, they build. She Built That
was written by Tom Lyon. He also did the sound design.
Our executive producer is Courtney Ammenhauser and I'm Annalise Todd.

(11:46):
We'll see you next week as we fly into the
stratosphere to tell a story of a woman whose journey
launched her.

Speaker 5 (11:53):
Quite literally out of this world. See then, Mamma Mia.

Speaker 3 (12:05):
Acknowledge the traditional owners of the land.

Speaker 1 (12:07):
We have recorded this podcast on the Gadigul people of
the Eor Nation. We pay our respects to their elders
past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal
and torrest Rate islander cultures.