Two friends chart a path from pain to agency: Layne Beachley examines the drive behind seven world titles and finds a search for self-worth, while Tess Brouwer turns a hidden spinal injury and a hospital-bed reckoning into a mental fitness toolkit. 

Together, Layne and Tess are the co-authors of the book Awake Academy, wherein they share the life altering changes that shook their respective senses of purpose.   

Layne details the comedown from her 19-year professional surfing career, and Tess, former head of partnerships for Virgin Australia, shares the tumultuous road to recovery after injury in frozen water. 

Their stories and friendship led to the creation of the Awake Academy workshop, and the book adaptation of that popular workshop features their personal stories, positive psychology principles and practical exercises to boost energy, emotional intelligence and empathy.

They talk us through adoption, shame, midlife freedom, and why labels become lenses that shape every relationship and result. There’s no toxic positivity here, just candid stories and actionable tools for stress management, trauma recovery, and sustained success—at work, in sport, and at home. 

This episode is live from The Byron Writer’s Festival –  a celebration of the act of creation, of writing and art making, community building, and the good, hard work of progress. Courtney Miller joins as cohost - she’s chair of the Byron Writer’s Festival, relentless advocate for art and community engagement  and a veritable surf rat. 

If you’re curious about cultivating resilience, mental health, high performance, and the kind of friendship that tells the truth, this conversation will land.

Send us a text

...

Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave Rastovich

Sound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander

Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll

Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander

Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast

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You'll get water-centric reading and listening recommendations, questions worth asking, and ways to take action for the wellbeing of Planet Ocean delivered straight to your inbox.

You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk.

Every mid-aged Aussie bloke's favourite surfer? That's Margo. 

Widely recognised as the first paid freesurfer - Brenden 'Margo' Margieson is famed almost as much for his gentle demeanour as his explosive power surfing. 

We traced some of his undulating journey through a surfing life's highs and lows. From early days being propelled by legendary filmmaker Jack McCoy, to unexpectedly winning a major contest against World Tour pros, Brendan's career defied conventional paths. His distinctive "pendulum" surfing style - flowing with gravity rather than muscling through - contrasted dramatically with his contemporaries and continues to influence surfing aesthetics today.

Perhaps most inspiring is Brendan's midlife renaissance. After stepping away from surfing for half a decade, he's back in the water fresh enthusiasm. Now in his fifties, Margo is experiencing an unlikely career resurgence: complete with new sponsorships and a growing social media presence. Throughout it all, his parallel passion for bird watching reveals a sensitive man who finds joy in careful observation, whether it's reading a wave or identifying rare species.

Ready to hear how one of surfing's most beloved figures navigates the balance between risk, responsibility, and rediscovery? This episode offers wisdom for anyone seeking to maintain their passions through life's changing seasons.

Send us a text

...

Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave Rastovich

Sound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander

Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll

Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander

Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast

...

Get monthly musings and behind the scenes content from the podcast by subscribing to our newsletter.

You'll get water-centric reading and listening recommendations, questions worth asking, and ways to take action for the wellbeing of Planet Ocean delivered straight to your inbox.

You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk.

How does change happen when we, and the world, seem stuck in our ways? 

We’re curious about how change happens – and what people are doing on the ground, in our community, to create the causal pathways to shift social and environmental ideas, norms, and policy. 

Listen in for stories from the 2025 Waterwomen Camp Out put on by the NGO Surfers for Climate. 

The Waterwomen Camp is an annual weekend of women in nature coming together to help shape the future of surf culture and protect what we love. Through a series of workshops, wellness, connection and celebration we focus on educating and empowering women to own their place in and out of the water.

We hear from a range of attendees - from twenty to seventy-somethings. From those new to environmental work, to those five or more decades into their activism. These are stories about women seeing needs in their community and rising to meet them – from climate policy, to first aid, cultural reconciliation, right to the hands-on nitty gritty of cleaning our local river water, so the waterways, and the surfspots that catch them, stay clean and healthy – so we can, too.

One thing we know for sure about cultural change: it doesn't happen alone. We need each other, and we need strong communities. 

This episode is part of a two part mini-series exploring theories of change. Later this year, Dave will take us to a local River Festival involved in revitalising waterways. 

Thanks to Caitlin Fine, Nidala Barker,  Zoe White, Lucy Ewing, Courtney Miller, Aunty Lois Cook, Emjay Freeman, Kate McMahon, Tilly Hiscock, Stella, Emily, Britney, Dianne Tucker, Aunty Leila, and everyone who shared stories at the Waterwomen Camp Out 2025. 

Send us a text

...

Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave Rastovich

Sound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander

Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll

Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander

Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast

...

Get monthly musings and behind the scenes content from the podcast by subscribing to our newsletter.

You'll get water-centric reading and listening recommendations, questions worth asking, and ways to take action for the wellbeing of Planet Ocean delivered straight to your inbox.

You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk.

Is there a particular fear that's still holding you back? 

Holistic surf therapist and coach Holly Beck talks us through the way she sees terrestrial life play out in the water -  in terms of how we behave and how we engage with others and with the ocean. 

Holly spent 10 years as a professional surfer, where she pioneered new pathways for women in the industry as a competitor, savvy freesurfer and as president of International Women's Surfing, a largely forgotten union to push for equal pay and opportunity in the early 2000s. 

In the year 2000, Holly took home the Teen Choice award for Female Extreme Athlete. She was also one of surfing’s first reality TV stars: as one of seven pro surfers filmed and followed on Oahu’s North Shore during the 2002 Triple Crown of Surfing.

Holly moved to Central America at age 30, eventually building a tiny off-grid home that pulled focus on her values. 

Holly has a degree in psychology, an MBA, and a master’s in counselling. She is the founder Surf With Amigas – an all-inclusive surf and yoga retreat for adventurous women – which she’s run for the last 15 years from her homebase in Central America. 

Today she is part of innovating the space of therapeutic surf coaching – a modality that combines experiential and talk therapy with surf coaching to elucidate clients mental wellbeing, while also improving their surfing.

Send us a text

...

Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave Rastovich

Sound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander

Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll

Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander

Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast

...

Get monthly musings and behind the scenes content from the podcast by subscribing to our newsletter.

You'll get water-centric reading and listening recommendations, questions worth asking, and ways to take action for the wellbeing of Planet Ocean delivered straight to your inbox.

You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk.

Who's your youngest friend? 

We just met one of ours: 11-year-old surfer, shaper and filmmaker Hunter Williams. 

This year, Hunter won the grom shorts category at the Noosa International Surf Film Festival with his movie Heirloom. 

Informing an impressive depth of knowledge about surfboard building and design, is Hunter’s spectral surfing skill – he talks us through peak moments of tube time and critical hang tens. 

We meander with Hunter through the way he gathers inspiration from the living world, his startling phone call with George Greenough, and what it meant to meet Jack Mccoy at the last film screening of Jack's life. 

When was the last time you had your mind blown by a young person's refreshing take on life? 

Hunter’s infectious wonder and curiosity are a potent reminder of the importance of intergenerational relationships in all of our lives, for all of our lives. 

...

This episode is made possible by our generous partners:

Patagonia is in business to save our home planet. 

...

Primal Water, by Alkaway, is an at-home water filter that mimics nature and is boosted with molecular hydrogen. 

Head to Alkaway.com and use the code waterpeople for $50 off your first purchase. 

Send us a text

...

Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave Rastovich

Sound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander

Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll

Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander

Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast

...

Get monthly musings and behind the scenes content from the podcast by subscribing to our newsletter.

You'll get water-centric reading and listening recommendations, questions worth asking, and ways to take action for the wellbeing of Planet Ocean delivered straight to your inbox.

You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk.

Rites of passage, once central to marking life’s transitions, have faded in modernity. As we navigate rising anxiety, social fragmentation, and a world where technology permeates nearly all aspects of our shared human experience, what role could a revival of rites of passage play in reclaiming our resilience and our capacity for social cohesion?

Dr Arne Rubinstein is the CEO and Founder of the Rites of Passage Institute. His goal is to make Rites of Passage mainstream once again. He has over 30 years experience as a medical doctor, counsellor, mentor, speaker and workshop facilitator. 

He has developed programs, seminars and camps attended by more than 350,000 people globally and has effectively implemented rites of passage frameworks into some of the largest schools in Australia.

His work emphasises the importance of recognising and reflecting on key moments in our lives and pausing to understand them deeply before moving forward.

...

This episode is made possible by our generous partners:

Patagonia is in business to save our home planet. 

Its unique ownership structure reflects that Earth is its only shareholder: Profits not reinvested back into the business are paid as dividends to protect the planet.

...

Primal Water, by Alkaway, is an at-home water filter that mimics nature and is boosted with molecular hydrogen. It's a game-changer.

Head to Primal-water.com and use the code waterpeople for $100 off your purchase until June 30th, 2025.

Send us a text

...

Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave Rastovich

Sound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander

Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll

Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander

Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast

...

Get monthly musings and behind the scenes content from the podcast by subscribing to our newsletter.

You'll get water-centric reading and listening recommendations, questions worth asking, and ways to take action for the wellbeing of Planet Ocean delivered straight to your inbox.

You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk.

What moves you through the world? In the most literal sense, it's the same answer for all of us: muscle. 

In On Muscle, Bonnie Tsui brings her signature blend of science, culture, immersive reporting, and personal narrative to examine not just what muscles are - but what they mean to us. 

Bonnie attended Harvard University, where she rowed crew, snowboarded, and studied American literature. She came to surfing in her late 20s after relocating to California. 

Today, Bonnie lives, swims, and surfs in the Bay Area and contributes regularly to the New York Times.  

She is the author of four books: American Chinatown: A People’s History of Five Neighborhoods, Why We Swim,  Sarah and the Big Wave, and her latest, On Muscle: The Stuff That Moves Us and Why It Matters

Bonnie talks us through the purpose of the brain (!), learning to surf as an adult, the gendered cultural narratives around strength, the name of a whale's powerful butt muscle, and the inevitability of age related muscle loss (and what we can do about it). 

More about Bonnie here & here

...

This episode is made possible by our generous partners:

Patagonia is in business to save our home planet. 

Its unique ownership structure reflects that Earth is its only shareholder: Profits not reinvested back into the business are paid as dividends to protect the planet.

...

Primal Water, by Alkaway, is an at-home water filter that mimics nature and is boosted with molecular hydrogen. It's a game-changer.

Head to Primal-water.com and use the code waterpeople for $100 off your purchase until June 30th, 2025.

Send us a text

...

Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave Rastovich

Sound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander

Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll

Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander

Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast

...

Get monthly musings and behind the scenes content from the podcast by subscribing to our newsletter.

You'll get water-centric reading and listening recommendations, questions worth asking, and ways to take action for the wellbeing of Planet Ocean delivered straight to your inbox.

You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk.

How much has your homebreak shaped you - your life, livelihood, the person you've become? 

The quirkiness of Dylan Graves'  Puerto Rican homebreak shaped a lifelong obsession, and subsequent career in chasing, riding, and documenting Weird Waves around the globe. Tidal bores, standing waves, wedges, glacial calving swells; Dylan's Youtube channel shares an astonishing diversity of wavelengths. 

While the focus of Dylan's wildly successful series is taking viewers to obscure and novel waves on the periphery of surf culture, in the process Dylan masterfully un-earths the heart and vibrance of surfers around the world  – and the living cultures of stoke blossoming in unexpected places. 

Dylan's lightness, warmth and positivity are underscored by the adversity he's faced. He candidly shares the impact of losing his father at a young age. This loss brought him and his brother, surfer Josie Graves, closer together, reinforcing their love for surfing as a way to connect with their father's memory. 

Dylan talks us through the his DIY filmmaking process, the joy of not chasing perfection, and the cyclical experience of becoming a father. 

...

This episode is made possible by our generous partners:

Patagonia is in business to save our home planet. 

Its unique ownership structure reflects that Earth is its only shareholder: Profits not reinvested back into the business are paid as dividends to protect the planet.

...

Primal Water, by Alkaway, is an at-home water filter that mimics nature and is boosted with molecular hydrogen. It's a game-changer.

Head to Primal-water.com and use the code waterpeople for $100 off your purchase until June 30th, 2025.

Send us a text

...

Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave Rastovich

Sound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander

Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll

Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander

Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast

...

Get monthly musings and behind the scenes content from the podcast by subscribing to our newsletter.

You'll get water-centric reading and listening recommendations, questions worth asking, and ways to take action for the wellbeing of Planet Ocean delivered straight to your inbox.

You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk.

Besides being a professor of chemistry, Dr. Sarah Gerhardt was the first woman to ride one of the world’s most feared waves, Mavericks in icy Northern California. She is a mother of two and acknowledged as the first female tow-in surfer. 

 Amidst a tumultuous childhood, Sarah found stability in an unexpected place: The Periodic Table of Elements. Sarah learned to surf in the late '80s at Pismo Beach, California. In time, surfing became her escape from the hardships of home and faith became the guiding force in her life. She started experimenting with heavy water and big waves during her freshman year at college.

One Winter Story, a documentary about Sarah's big wave pioneering and scientific inquiry, came out in 2003. 

More recently, Sarah featured in the groundbreaking documentary The Big Sea, wherein she lays out the chemical composition of neoprene - the material all of our wetsuits have been made of until very recently. 

She talks us through some surprising chemistry - and the big impact seemingly small choices can make. 

....

This episode is made possible by our generous partners:

Patagonia is in business to save our home planet. 

Its unique ownership structure reflects that Earth is its only shareholder: Profits not reinvested back into the business are paid as dividends to protect the planet.

...

Primal Water, by Alkaway, is an at-home water filter that mimics nature and is boosted with molecular hydrogen. It's a game-changer.

Head to Primal-water.com and use the code waterpeople for $100 off your purchase until June 30th, 2025.

Send us a text

...

Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave Rastovich

Sound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander

Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll

Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander

Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast

...

Get monthly musings and behind the scenes content from the podcast by subscribing to our newsletter.

You'll get water-centric reading and listening recommendations, questions worth asking, and ways to take action for the wellbeing of Planet Ocean delivered straight to your inbox.

You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk.

When was the last time you followed a spark of curiosity all the way to some distant shoreline?

Kiana Weltzien's ocean adventures began in 2016 when she left her real estate career in Miami for a year of travel. Along the way, she met a mentor and moved onto his boat; a replica Polynesian double-canoe. She sensed that this was her new way of life.

In 2018, Kiana acquired her own boat, Mara Noka, a modern Polynesian double-canoe. Despite her limited sailing knowledge, Kiana navigated challenging passages, often sailing alone to avoid the responsibility of others.

Kiana crossed the Atlantic to North Florida in late 2020, to begin her 14-month boatyard restoration of Mara Noka. In 2022, she captained the Women + the Wind  North Atlantic crossing,  her first voyage with a crew. 

After that, Kiana sailed through Madeira, the Canaries, and Cape Verde, aiming for Brazil. She completed a 43-day solo crossing from Santiago to Ilhabela. 

We caught up with Kiana remotely from the cabin of her boat in Brazil (the audio is pretty dodgy at times).

She talked us through the making of her forthcoming documentary Women and the Wind, the work of life at sea, what drew her to Wharram craft and the challenge of addressing plastic pollution. 

Send us a text

...

Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave Rastovich

Sound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander

Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll

Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander

Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast

...

Get monthly musings and behind the scenes content from the podcast by subscribing to our newsletter.

You'll get water-centric reading and listening recommendations, questions worth asking, and ways to take action for the wellbeing of Planet Ocean delivered straight to your inbox.

You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk.