Bonnie Hancock

Why you should listen

At the age of 17, Bonnie Hancock moved to the Gold Coast, Australia, to become a professional Ironwoman. She spent the next decade racing in the professional Ironwoman series, with golden beaches as her daily training ground. In 2020, she set off on her surf ski and finished a clockwise loop around the country in 254 days, breaking the previous Guinness World Record by two months and raising $120,000 for mental fitness. She also managed to break the record for the furthest distance paddled in 24 hours (on the open ocean) by a woman, completing 235 kilometers in a single day. While records are nice, Hancock doesn’t think this was the most rewarding part of the journey. The real fulfillment came through leaning on the team around her. In shark- and crocodile-infested waters, five- to six-meter swells and freezing water, her crew got her through it. She believes that while Australia is harsh and rugged, it is also stunningly beautiful. And as she found out, Mother Nature is one hell of a teacher.