This week Nicola and Di chat with the extraordinary Layne Beachley AO. Layne is widely regarded as the most successful female surfer in history. She is the only surfer, male or female, to claim six consecutive world titles, and she then went on to win a 7th world title in 2006 before retiring from the World Tour in 2008. Since retiring, Layne is a highly sought after speaker and is the co-author of a new book Awake Academy: Know yourself, grow yourself to live a happier, more purposeful life, which she wrote with Tess Brouwer. Layne and Tess’ book, as well as their online courses and events, give people life-changing tips and tools to turn ideas and intentions into actions, so they can become the champions of their life.

This is a really powerful episode where Layne opens up about her personal challenges and the adversity she’s had to overcome since the very early days. Layne shares all about her childhood, being adopted at birth, and then losing her mum at the age of 7 when a cosmetic surgery went horribly wrong. A year after her mum died, the local kids were starting to ask questions about why Layne looked so different from the rest of her family, and so her dad sat her down at 8 and told her she was adopted. 

Layne talks about how learning that she was adopted shattered her sense of self, and in that moment, at the age of 8, she decided that the only way she would be loveable was if she became a world champion at something. 

This was the fuel that propelled Layne to become the most successful surfer in history, but Layne talks about the moment a friend opened her eyes to what was really driving her, and how whilst she was externally successful, it was an unhealthy and unsustainable success that was driven by an inner fear and lack of worthiness. 

We talk about the inner work that Layne had to do to overcome her fears and recognise her innate worth, and the practices and tools she now lives by to be healthy, happy, purposeful and have sustainable success. 

This is such a powerful and deep chat, but it is also FULL of laughter and light. Layne is an absolute joy and this conversation had the perfect mix of everything - you get to ride the waves of Layne’s life with us. We hope you enjoy it! 

This episode is proudly sponsored by Eir Women. Use code OTBF20 at checkout to receive a 20% discount on any purchase. 

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Find out more about Layne’s online courses here 

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