Suzanne Edwards’ Post

Surfing and the Metaphors of Life I started surfing when I was around 11 years old. Since we lived relatively close to the beach, my parents always took us to surf and have contact with the sea from a young age. I was never one of those people who are born with the talent; I was clumsy, and I think precisely because I overthought things, it was very difficult for me to stay on top of a surfboard (no matter how big the board was). 🌊 But the feeling of being in the sea always made me feel great, so I preferred to keep trying to surf rather than giving up the sport due to its difficulties. 15 years later, during a backpacking trip where I spent 3 months surfing every day, I achieved my big goal of riding a 2-meter wave on a shortboard (approx. 1.7m). It was, and still is, one of the most profound sensations I have within me. 🙏 Nowadays, I see how much surfing has taught me about living life, and I decided to share some of these lessons: - Always being in motion, even if the wave grows in the same place, it's essential to observe what's happening and how to position yourself in the perfect spot at the perfect time. - Patience, waiting for the wave you want to catch, the one that feels comfortable in size and strength. The biggest wave is not always the best. - Having fun, making sure that effort is accompanied by joy. Falling and making mistakes is human, so sharing a laugh is always a sign of health. - Learning to observe the surroundings, feeling a place, seeing the different components that impact its conditions, are key actions to connect with the place you are in. The shortboard phase may have passed, but surfing will always be a part of my life as a means of connection and learning. 🏄♀️

This week I am back from a surfing vacation at the Atlantic Coast. I wondered why surfing sparks so much joy for me and reflected how it relates to my work 🏄♀️ ⏱Timing and observation: If you don’t understand your surroundings/context you are lost. You need to be constantly observing to find your spot in the constellation of waves. If not, you won’t be able to stand up or even catch it. ⌛️Patience and persistence is rewarded with joy and success: Sometimes the wait for a good wave is endless, but if you patiently wait and know the wave you should surf in an approaching set, you will surf all the way to the beach. 😳Fear is not (always) your friend: Fear rising up when a big wave is approaching me can be quite scary. Accept and respect your fear, but don’t let it block you or let you perform worse than you would without fear. 🎯Stay focussed and centered: I had a few moments being rushy and unfocused in the water. It doesn’t do anything for me. Stay concentrated and the wave will take you where you want to go. 💜Team spirit and motivation: Surfing with your peers, helping and cheering for each other is key to success or even survival when it comes to the rough Atlantic Ocean. I would never go in alone. Surfing is quite a risky sport and so is working in a start-up. I feel that the above can be equally applied in both worlds and help me (amongst other things) to keep my head above the water.🌊 A change of perspective is always a gain for productivity and insight. What do you take to work from your vacations and sports? Leonie Wilken are you ready for the next set of good waves? 

Last week, I was in the beautiful Maldives living on a boat with a dozen other entrepreneurs... Every day, we went surfing several times a day... (see the video for one of my best waves!) It occurred to me that surfing is an excellent symbol for so many important themes in life and in our work... Surfing is all about… Mastery - It requires physical mastery (balance, coordination, and strength), emotional mastery (perseverance, courage), and intellectual mastery (strategy, innovativeness)... Control - Surfing teaches you to navigate a dynamic, powerful, and unpredictable environment. And while you can’t change the waves, you can control your reaction to them... Repetition - When it comes to surfing, practice makes perfect. The more times you put that board in the water, the better you will become... Authenticity - You can’t “lie” to the ocean. In the documentary “Step into Liquid,” legendary surfer Laird Hamilton sums it up when he says, “Surfing is an extension of who you are. When you’re in the ocean, you’re exposed. You’re not hiding behind anything. And so, it’s a great place to be able to express who you are.” Focus - Surfing is about setting and achieving goals—whether it’s catching a specific wave or learning a new maneuver... Humility - Surfing requires us to embrace failure. Wipeouts or miscalculations are part of the game. The more quickly we accept and learn from our mistakes, the better we will become... Courage - Surfing requires us to conquer our fear and persevere no matter how unconfident we might feel at any given moment... Simply put, surfing has all the same ingredients as leadership: courage, focus, authenticity, control, humility, and repetition... When you are on that board or at work, it is essential that you embrace all of these values...  When you do, you will become a true leader, making decisions and choices from a position of strength, rather than simply reacting to external influences or circumstances... I can't teach you how to surf (I’m still learning myself)...   But I can absolutely teach you how to become a leader at work (and by extension, in your own life)... DM me if you’d like to learn more about my Leadership MBA.

Around age 10, one of my friends suddenly had this new passion for surfing. We lived in Florida where that was a big thing. His walls were covered in posters. He could name every surfer, as well as the many types of waves. His encyclopedic knowledge of surfing was immensely impressive — until he actually surfed. I was surprised. He couldn’t even stand up on his board for more than two seconds. And to be fair, neither could I. But I hadn’t spent a mountain of time studying and talking about surfing. This speaks to a common issue in self-improvement. People read self-help books for hours. They listen to podcasts and attend seminars. They do all the things except the actual work. Yet by being near the problem, they feel like they are getting things done. This is why blogs with titles such as “tiny habits” are so popular — they imply massive change comes from small increments of effort. The easiest way to get better is to focus on one simple framework or set of advice. Put that reading time directly into the effort instead. Our brain can’t focus on twenty self-help priorities at once. It is focused efforts protracted across stretches of time that produce lasting change. In other words, dedication. Kelly Slater didn’t get good at surfing by just reading and thinking about surfing. Never underestimate the value of doing the actual thing.

In 2021, I lived in Costa Rica for three months. And was introduced to the exhilarating world of surfing. The first day I went out for lessons, it was windy, the surf was rough, and the area was crowded. Bam! Right in the face, the waves kept knocking me down. But after about an hour of relentless tries, I finally managed to get up and ride a few waves into shore. I was exhausted, both mentally and physically, yet there was a profound realization waiting to unfold. My surf instructor shared a piece of wisdom that resonated deeply: "Never fight the waves; they will always win." It was a simple yet powerful truth. I have learned the art of surrender. It wasn't about battling the waves but harmonizing with them, Understanding their rhythm, and using their energy to rise and ride. Being in the ocean, with waves coming at you fast and furious, forces you to be fully present. My mind, usually cluttered with a thousand thoughts, had only one focus: To stand up Ride the wave Not drown. I kept going out, and eventually, I was surfing. The ocean taught me that life, like surfing, It isn't about fighting the waves But learning to ride them. Finding your balance Don't fight the waves. Embrace them, Ride them Let them teach you The art of being fully present Because another one is coming soon.

Why is now the best time for Athletes & Coaches to start monetising their skills & knowledge? In the last post we explained the evolution of revenue models available for Pro Athletes in the Surfing world. We also shared our thoughts on why Surfing may be a structural winner but the endorsement deals / traditional stickers on boards / influencer models are structural losers. If the Surfing market is global and a structural winner, then surely it should be a no brainer for athletes and coaches to monetise their skills and for paying customers to benefit from their knowledge? So why has this historically not been a fruitful business model and what has changed to make this the right time for this model to work? To get good at Surfing takes a long time. If you don't live near the ocean, can't access it easily or don't have the time or money to commit to constantly trying to get waves then just forget about it. It takes years if not decades to build up the knowledge and skills to get any form of basic mastery to ride waves. Ironically that's also part of the fun, but with regards to demand for coaching, historically the most time and energy for progression comes from being in the water, learning the ocean, understanding a break, learning to read the wave, dealing with the line up (other surfers and the hierarchy of who gets to surf the next wave). There was and still is no substitute for time spent in the ocean learning these things, but the point is, they all focus around a Surfer trying to just catch a wave. A very small % of Surfers actually get to the point where they can catch proper waves, can do it as much as they would like and start to think about actually riding the wave. On water riding skills such as turns and barrel riding were traditionally just for the few. What's changed? Wave Pools take the weather, conditions, line up issues and having to read the wave out of the equation. It's not quite this simple but at a given time, you can enter the pool, paddle over to the markers for the wave setting and get 10+ waves in an hour. For most normal people 2 waves in a 2 hours ocean surf session would be great. What this means is that the number of waves a Surfer can catch and ride increases exponentially. It also also means their on water / ride time increases dramatically and that more people can get to this point and far quicker than ever before. Sessions can be video recorded, reviewed and shared. It has customers asking what's next, what am I doing wrong and how are they doing it? As these customers' progression accelerates faster than their peers, more and more people in the community are asking how they improved so quickly. The demand for knowledge has exploded with some coaches commanding $200 for 20 min debriefs via Zoom calls. The change in tech from the roll out of Wave Pools has changed the game and the demand for knowledge is going through the roof.

🚤🦯🏄🏻♂️ Although Tow-in Surfing is such a wonderfully fun sport, there’s much more that one needs to know and be aware of when your (and others) life may be at stake… Therefore, if you wish to go for Tow-In Surfing, it is mandatory to learn what to do and from someone that knows how to teach it properly, even if you’re not aiming for BigWave Riding! At @JetResgatePt you can find this and it goes like this: 🦺 Safety 🦺 First and most important of all the knowledge you need to achieve; ⛑️ Basic First Aid ⛑️ As a radical, motorised sport, there’s a lot of risks associated so you’d better learn what to do in case of hazards 😅 👨🔧 Technical 👨🔧 What to be aware of when going out in the sea so that you’re able to enjoy your surfing session and come back safe and sound; 🧑✈️ Piloting 🧑✈️ Learn and develop your JetSki driving skills on quick turns, slaloms and fast startings so that you can run away from the giant water mountains 😆 and so much more!; 🛟 JetSki Rescue 🛟 As a JetSki driver and piloting for Tow-In Surfers, free surfers or Big Wave Surfers with Gun boards you’d better know how to rescue them without getting caught by the waves 😬… 🏄🏻♂️ Tow-In Surfing 🏄🏼♀️ so much different, getting towed, getting on the wave, surfing a tow board, getting back on the sled or on the jet… super fun and super challenging! Last but not least 🧑🧑🧒🧒 Fraternal environment 🧑🧑🧒🧒 If you’re in, you can’t get out!!! It has been the 3rd time attending this formation (2017/2019/2024) and they just keep proving themselves a true force of fraternity welcoming every one as one of their own, once and forever making part of the JetResgate family!!! Highly recommend this formation to any waveriders and aquatic sports lovers!!! More about it on jetresgatept’s instagram 🎯(@jetresgatept)🎯 You can also find it on my IG personal profile (@elmurillodesaopedrodemoel) and on the IG company page (@murillosacademy) with the 🎼 original audio soundtrack 🎼! 📲 https://lnkd.in/dwQMazYs 📲 Full credits: 📇 Formation: @jetresgatept 🎥📸 credits: @kaiquephoto 💪🙏🤙 👨💻 edition: myself 🫣 🙏🥼special thanks to all the amazing staff: @ramon_laureano_ / @susana_laureano / @tonylaureano / @nandofernandees / @cec_surftrip_nazare.pt / @ulissesfreesurf / @rodrigo_almeida_pacheco 🧑🚀🧙♂️🦸♂️🧝🥷🦹♂️ cheers to the team 🫵⚡️🔥: @nuno__caetano__ / markhummel / @fabricio_s_tavares / @eugenio_barcelloni / @juni.cho / @valerio___rossi 💯🫶🦾🙌💣👊💥🤙 🏫 Thanks 🙏 to @murillosacademy, it’s staff and all it’s regular surfer students that make me want to push my limits further on!!! PS: so much more GoPro footages to include and pros of the formation to be said, but better done than perfect 😁

My resolution this year is to surf more. At it's core it boils down to exercise- But when I shared this with my team at Evenbound during our annual kickoff, my founder John Heritage shared Sahil Bloom's recent post on the surfer mentality (link in comments) and it sent me down a rabbit hole. As a former collegiate/semi-pro athlete, it was extremely difficult for me to "let-go" of my sport (soccer). Something I had dedicated 22 years of my life to was suddenly no longer my daily focus. Finding perspective and a new challenge in life was tough but thankfully I found surfing at that time. Surfing taught me so many things and similar to Sahil's experience I learned several key lessons: 1. Time on the water is the most important factor in learning to surf. The best way to learn a new skill is to practice it; bonus points if you can practice with/near people who are better than you. As someone diving into the more technical aspects of HubSpot I have been lucky enough to find great resources like the Sprocketeer and HubSpot Tips and Tricks communities to help me along the way. 2. Being present, patient, and open to risks is important. Just as with any experience in life, you need to find the opportune time to marry your experience/training with the right wave. Sometimes the best wave of the set is the last one, sometimes is the first one. 3. Know your limits and have a plan for when 💩 goes wrong - know what may go wrong and how to handle it. If you are confident in your abilities, you should be equally comfortable not going out (or telling a client something is not in your wheelhouse). That's ok, in fact it makes you a better surfer for it and if you do go out (see take on a project), be ready with a plan for when something goes wrong. So it was as I reflected on these lessons and others that I realized surfing is so much more than exercise. It's an experience packed with mindfulness, resilience, and adaptability. It's knowing when to paddle, when to ride the wave and when to pull back. And if you can apply these lessons in the water, imagine what you can do on land.