Pro kitesurfer Michelle Hayward threw caution to the wind, quit her job and pursued an athletic career. Read on for a course in burning the rule book
“Sometimes I think, ‘Maybe if I were older I’d be taken seriously’,” says 25-year-old Michelle. That’s because when she tells people she’s a kite surfer, she’s not met with a selfie request. “They’ll immediately think, ‘Oh, you’ve just started!’ or ‘Can you get up on the board?’” Cue eye-roll emoji. “I say, ‘No, actually I’m a pro’. And they don’t believe me; they don’t think I can do what I can do,” she says. Fortunately Michelle has a lot of experience in proving herself against the odds. Here’s what she’s learnt along the way.
Push yourself
This story is from the September 2017 edition of Women's Health South Africa.
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This story is from the September 2017 edition of Women's Health South Africa.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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