1 00:00:00,400 --> 00:00:02,800 Elizabeth Sneed: Welcome back to She Pivots. I'm Elizabeth Snead. 2 00:00:13,080 --> 00:00:16,599 Emily Tisch Sussman: Welcome back to She Pivots, the podcast where we talk 3 00:00:16,680 --> 00:00:19,279 Emily Tisch Sussman: with women who dare to pivot out of one career 4 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:23,880 Emily Tisch Sussman: and into something new and explore how their personal lives 5 00:00:23,960 --> 00:00:34,760 Emily Tisch Sussman: impacts these decisions. I'm your host, Emily Tish Sussman. Today's guest, 6 00:00:34,840 --> 00:00:39,120 Emily Tisch Sussman: Elizabeth Snead knows what it means to transform hardship into strength. 7 00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:43,279 Emily Tisch Sussman: She is now the founder behind Kirby surfer Girl, a 8 00:00:43,320 --> 00:00:47,000 Emily Tisch Sussman: body positive women's surfing movement where she leads a community 9 00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:50,479 Emily Tisch Sussman: of women around the world finding empowerment in the waves. 10 00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:52,879 Emily Tisch Sussman: She even got me in the water and gave me 11 00:00:52,880 --> 00:00:55,400 Emily Tisch Sussman: and my kids a personal surf lesson after our interview. 12 00:00:56,080 --> 00:00:59,480 Emily Tisch Sussman: But her path yere was anything but easy. Elizabeth grew 13 00:00:59,560 --> 00:01:02,960 Emily Tisch Sussman: up in rural East Texas and a childhood marked by 14 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:06,560 Emily Tisch Sussman: instability and difficulty. Even then, she carried with her a 15 00:01:06,560 --> 00:01:09,600 Emily Tisch Sussman: love of animals, a connection to nature, and a drive 16 00:01:09,720 --> 00:01:14,360 Emily Tisch Sussman: to carve out something more for herself. That determination first 17 00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:17,480 Emily Tisch Sussman: led her into the world of politics, where she built 18 00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:20,800 Emily Tisch Sussman: a career navigating high pressure environments and learning how to 19 00:01:20,920 --> 00:01:24,920 Emily Tisch Sussman: use her voice to create change. But Elizabeth's most defining 20 00:01:24,959 --> 00:01:28,039 Emily Tisch Sussman: pivot came not from her professional life, but from a 21 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:32,760 Emily Tisch Sussman: moment of personal fear. At just fourteen, she nearly drowned 22 00:01:32,800 --> 00:01:36,039 Emily Tisch Sussman: in the ocean. The experience was so traumatic that she 23 00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:40,039 Emily Tisch Sussman: swore she would never go back. Yet years later she 24 00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:44,080 Emily Tisch Sussman: felt an undeniable pull back to the water, a sense 25 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:47,080 Emily Tisch Sussman: that the ocean was calling her, tied to her body 26 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:50,520 Emily Tisch Sussman: and her spirit. Instead of running from it, she took 27 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:53,520 Emily Tisch Sussman: the risk to face her fear head on and learned 28 00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:57,320 Emily Tisch Sussman: to serve. That decision opened the door to a completely 29 00:01:57,440 --> 00:02:01,760 Emily Tisch Sussman: new life. Elizabeth now inspires her hundreds of thousands of followers, 30 00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:06,240 Emily Tisch Sussman: empowering women of all shapes and sizes to find joy, strength, 31 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:10,480 Emily Tisch Sussman: and belonging in the waves, something she herself didn't feel 32 00:02:10,480 --> 00:02:15,040 Emily Tisch Sussman: from the surfing industry. And she's actually changing the industry 33 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:18,919 Emily Tisch Sussman: and is pushing companies to create products that fit bigger bodies. 34 00:02:19,639 --> 00:02:23,040 Emily Tisch Sussman: And she didn't stop there. She has now centered ocean 35 00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:26,679 Emily Tisch Sussman: conservation and women's issues in the Curvy surfer Girl community. 36 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:31,239 Emily Tisch Sussman: Her story is a powerful reminder that sometimes our deepest 37 00:02:31,280 --> 00:02:35,119 Emily Tisch Sussman: fears hold the key to our greatest passions. Let's jump 38 00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:35,560 Emily Tisch Sussman: right in. 39 00:02:39,919 --> 00:02:43,400 Elizabeth Sneed: My name is Elizabeth Snead, and I'm a surfer. Founder 40 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:46,720 Elizabeth Sneed: of the Body positive women's surfing movement in Honolulu. 41 00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:50,640 Emily Tisch Sussman: Juway, So we're going to start way back, little Elizabeth, Like, 42 00:02:50,960 --> 00:02:52,320 Emily Tisch Sussman: what is your earliest memory? 43 00:02:53,040 --> 00:02:56,000 Elizabeth Sneed: This is an excellent question. I would say my earliest 44 00:02:56,080 --> 00:03:00,639 Elizabeth Sneed: memory is with my dogs, growing up on over ten 45 00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:05,600 Elizabeth Sneed: acres in rural northeast Texas and beginning the journey of 46 00:03:05,639 --> 00:03:07,160 Elizabeth Sneed: a very wildlife. 47 00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:09,920 Emily Tisch Sussman: You said it's a very small town, like tells Moore, 48 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:11,160 Emily Tisch Sussman: set the seat that tells more about it. 49 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:14,600 Elizabeth Sneed: Yes, So I was born at Parkland Hospital in Dallas, 50 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:17,440 Elizabeth Sneed: which is where John F. Kennedy was taken, and then 51 00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:21,360 Elizabeth Sneed: grew up in this really rural, small East Texas town. 52 00:03:21,480 --> 00:03:24,200 Elizabeth Sneed: The first town I grew up in was called Brownsboro, 53 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:28,320 Elizabeth Sneed: and I would move many times throughout Texas until I 54 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:31,840 Elizabeth Sneed: was eventually relocated to Arizona with my aunt and uncle. 55 00:03:32,120 --> 00:03:35,840 Elizabeth Sneed: But these towns are super small, very much impoverished, you know. 56 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:39,520 Elizabeth Sneed: The only jobs really were labor jobs on the oil 57 00:03:39,600 --> 00:03:43,520 Elizabeth Sneed: fields or truck drivers, usually less than a thousand people. 58 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:49,880 Elizabeth Sneed: So I had quite a tumultuous childhood and both of 59 00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:54,480 Elizabeth Sneed: my parents were unfortunately some form of very severely mentally ill, 60 00:03:55,080 --> 00:03:58,520 Elizabeth Sneed: and so I grew up really like the first seven 61 00:03:58,600 --> 00:04:01,680 Elizabeth Sneed: years of my life in a vain traveling around the 62 00:04:01,760 --> 00:04:08,400 Elizabeth Sneed: United States. They were radicalized apocalyptic evangelicals, and so I 63 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:10,640 Elizabeth Sneed: was kind of in between living life in a van 64 00:04:10,960 --> 00:04:14,680 Elizabeth Sneed: and then living in a trailer on about ten acres 65 00:04:14,720 --> 00:04:17,719 Elizabeth Sneed: of land in East Texas. You just know that, you know, 66 00:04:17,760 --> 00:04:20,200 Elizabeth Sneed: we're getting in the van and we're going somewhere, and 67 00:04:20,279 --> 00:04:22,279 Elizabeth Sneed: that was life, you know, it was life on the road. 68 00:04:22,279 --> 00:04:24,479 Elizabeth Sneed: And then we would get back to the trailer on 69 00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:26,520 Elizabeth Sneed: this big plot of land, and you know, I had 70 00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:30,640 Elizabeth Sneed: my dogs and my little lifestyle there, and that was it. 71 00:04:31,160 --> 00:04:34,440 Elizabeth Sneed: I knew that there were other people that were living 72 00:04:34,920 --> 00:04:39,080 Elizabeth Sneed: not this lifestyle. I was a very intelligent young child, 73 00:04:39,640 --> 00:04:43,080 Elizabeth Sneed: and so I mean I gathered like this was not usual, 74 00:04:43,560 --> 00:04:46,360 Elizabeth Sneed: you know, going into churches and asking for money and 75 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:49,880 Elizabeth Sneed: you know, living in a van, going all over the place. 76 00:04:50,520 --> 00:04:51,640 Emily Tisch Sussman: When did you start school. 77 00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:56,880 Elizabeth Sneed: I started school in first grade, and there was you know, 78 00:04:57,000 --> 00:05:00,200 Elizabeth Sneed: lots of extensive child abuse that I went through all 79 00:05:00,200 --> 00:05:04,520 Elizabeth Sneed: through my younger years, which I've shared very publicly. So 80 00:05:04,560 --> 00:05:07,960 Elizabeth Sneed: I was navigating that and that was just normal for me. 81 00:05:08,080 --> 00:05:10,040 Elizabeth Sneed: Like you came home and you got beaten nearly half 82 00:05:10,080 --> 00:05:12,800 Elizabeth Sneed: to death, and then you go back to school the 83 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:15,760 Elizabeth Sneed: next day and pretend like you you know, fell or 84 00:05:16,240 --> 00:05:19,360 Elizabeth Sneed: did something else to hurt you, and you just continue 85 00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:21,200 Elizabeth Sneed: on like that was just normal. 86 00:05:21,640 --> 00:05:24,200 Emily Tisch Sussman: Did the teachers ever ask you about it? Anyone ever 87 00:05:24,320 --> 00:05:24,600 Emily Tisch Sussman: catch on? 88 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:28,000 Elizabeth Sneed: You know, when you grew up in rural country environments 89 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:29,680 Elizabeth Sneed: like that, all the kids are kind of bruised up 90 00:05:29,680 --> 00:05:32,960 Elizabeth Sneed: one way or another. And in East Texas in particular, 91 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:35,359 Elizabeth Sneed: at least in that time period, it's very hard for 92 00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:39,200 Elizabeth Sneed: anybody to prove child abuse and then have it land anywhere. 93 00:05:39,279 --> 00:05:42,520 Elizabeth Sneed: So it has to be really radical, which not that 94 00:05:42,560 --> 00:05:46,520 Elizabeth Sneed: ours wasn't, but it has to be visibly radical. And 95 00:05:46,720 --> 00:05:50,160 Elizabeth Sneed: both of my parents, despite being very mentally ill, were 96 00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:54,400 Elizabeth Sneed: highly intelligent people, and they knew how to disguise everything 97 00:05:54,400 --> 00:05:55,640 Elizabeth Sneed: that was going on quite well. 98 00:05:56,320 --> 00:05:58,400 Emily Tisch Sussman: How and when did you eventually leave the house. 99 00:05:59,279 --> 00:06:02,839 Elizabeth Sneed: So the abuse had escalated to a point where it 100 00:06:02,880 --> 00:06:06,560 Elizabeth Sneed: was pretty undeniable by this point, even to members in 101 00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:11,440 Elizabeth Sneed: the public and community, and my mom essentially tried to 102 00:06:11,480 --> 00:06:14,280 Elizabeth Sneed: kill me on our front lawn in front of CPS, 103 00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:18,880 Elizabeth Sneed: and I was immediately removed because there was clear evidence 104 00:06:18,920 --> 00:06:21,640 Elizabeth Sneed: that my life was in danger. So they made a 105 00:06:21,640 --> 00:06:23,800 Elizabeth Sneed: phone call and there was a court order place for 106 00:06:23,920 --> 00:06:26,560 Elizabeth Sneed: my immediate removal, and I was sent inside to get 107 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:29,560 Elizabeth Sneed: put whatever my belongings were in trash bags, and from 108 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:32,560 Elizabeth Sneed: that point on I was thirteen years old. That anniversary 109 00:06:32,600 --> 00:06:35,559 Elizabeth Sneed: is coming up. I left June thirteenth of two thousand 110 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:39,479 Elizabeth Sneed: and three for foster care, and I ended up in 111 00:06:39,520 --> 00:06:43,880 Elizabeth Sneed: two shelters and then eventually my first foster home, which 112 00:06:43,920 --> 00:06:47,520 Elizabeth Sneed: was very abusive, and then finally a second foster home, 113 00:06:47,520 --> 00:06:50,760 Elizabeth Sneed: which was extraordinary. That was where I started my martial 114 00:06:50,839 --> 00:06:55,919 Elizabeth Sneed: arts career, was with my foster mother, gree who decided 115 00:06:55,960 --> 00:06:58,120 Elizabeth Sneed: she wanted to enroll all of the foster girls that 116 00:06:58,160 --> 00:07:00,880 Elizabeth Sneed: she had. They were about four of us in martial arts, 117 00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:04,520 Elizabeth Sneed: so that we were never subjected to physical violence and 118 00:07:04,520 --> 00:07:08,080 Elizabeth Sneed: couldn't defend ourselves. And that was where I took second 119 00:07:08,080 --> 00:07:11,080 Elizabeth Sneed: in the state of Texas, and taekwondo was through her, 120 00:07:11,640 --> 00:07:15,200 Elizabeth Sneed: you know, enrolling us in these self defense programs and 121 00:07:15,240 --> 00:07:20,400 Elizabeth Sneed: molding us as future athletes really and then subsequent to that, 122 00:07:20,680 --> 00:07:22,840 Elizabeth Sneed: my aunt and uncle would gain custody of me that 123 00:07:22,960 --> 00:07:25,760 Elizabeth Sneed: summer and I was nearly fifteen years old, and then 124 00:07:25,800 --> 00:07:28,960 Elizabeth Sneed: I moved to Arizona and they took extraordinary care of me. 125 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:33,560 Emily Tisch Sussman: Just a year after getting out, she started to develop 126 00:07:33,640 --> 00:07:37,320 Emily Tisch Sussman: symptoms for an autoimmune disease, something she has dealt with 127 00:07:37,400 --> 00:07:38,000 Emily Tisch Sussman: ever since. 128 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:43,360 Elizabeth Sneed: If you're familiar with the a studies that were conducted, 129 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:47,080 Elizabeth Sneed: I believe they started in the seventies. They have now 130 00:07:47,440 --> 00:07:51,200 Elizabeth Sneed: after studying thousands of people that have gone through extensive 131 00:07:51,760 --> 00:07:55,520 Elizabeth Sneed: child abuse and traumas children, they've been able to identify 132 00:07:55,560 --> 00:07:59,840 Elizabeth Sneed: that autoimmune diseases are very prevalent in this population of people. 133 00:08:00,480 --> 00:08:04,120 Elizabeth Sneed: And I developed the autoimmune disease that I have now 134 00:08:04,160 --> 00:08:06,400 Elizabeth Sneed: at the age of fourteen, and then it has only 135 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:08,800 Elizabeth Sneed: progressively become more and more severe as I've aged. 136 00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:14,400 Emily Tisch Sussman: I mean, that makes sense, Like it totally makes sense now. 137 00:08:14,440 --> 00:08:16,600 Emily Tisch Sussman: Just around that same time, when you were fourteen, you 138 00:08:17,120 --> 00:08:21,360 Emily Tisch Sussman: volunteered in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Yes, how did 139 00:08:21,360 --> 00:08:23,760 Emily Tisch Sussman: that come about? Can you tell us about what happened? Sure? 140 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:29,200 Elizabeth Sneed: So on part with you know Texans and tradition. I 141 00:08:29,320 --> 00:08:31,920 Elizabeth Sneed: was required to go to a church the entire time 142 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:34,600 Elizabeth Sneed: I was in high school. You just don't have an option, 143 00:08:34,920 --> 00:08:38,440 Elizabeth Sneed: you know, even if you don't want to. So I was. 144 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:41,120 Elizabeth Sneed: You know, when my aunt and uncle gang custody of me. 145 00:08:41,640 --> 00:08:44,360 Elizabeth Sneed: They're amazing people. They went to church and I was 146 00:08:44,400 --> 00:08:46,920 Elizabeth Sneed: required to attend with them, whether I wanted to or not. 147 00:08:47,760 --> 00:08:51,640 Elizabeth Sneed: There was a youth humanitarian group being organized to go 148 00:08:51,760 --> 00:08:56,160 Elizabeth Sneed: to help relieve Hurricane Katrina. And I've always been a humanitarian, 149 00:08:56,200 --> 00:08:57,560 Elizabeth Sneed: even from a young age. I was like, I have 150 00:08:57,600 --> 00:09:00,440 Elizabeth Sneed: no issue with humanitarian work. I'm happy to go and 151 00:09:00,480 --> 00:09:04,240 Elizabeth Sneed: help rebuild and assist communities anywhere and everywhere I can. 152 00:09:04,440 --> 00:09:06,960 Elizabeth Sneed: That spoke to me I didn't necessarily need to do 153 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:09,560 Elizabeth Sneed: it in the name of religion, so to speak, but 154 00:09:09,880 --> 00:09:12,920 Elizabeth Sneed: that was where the opportunity presented itself. So I went 155 00:09:12,960 --> 00:09:17,320 Elizabeth Sneed: with this church youth group to Mobile, Alabama, in the 156 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:22,079 Elizabeth Sneed: southern part of Alabama on the coastline, and started helping 157 00:09:22,080 --> 00:09:26,679 Elizabeth Sneed: rebuild schools and other infrastructure in the community. And on 158 00:09:26,679 --> 00:09:29,960 Elizabeth Sneed: one of those days, I was asked as part of 159 00:09:29,960 --> 00:09:32,640 Elizabeth Sneed: the group to swim out to a sandbar at the 160 00:09:32,720 --> 00:09:35,280 Elizabeth Sneed: end of a very long pier. And I didn't know 161 00:09:35,280 --> 00:09:37,880 Elizabeth Sneed: how to swim, Like, I didn't properly know how to swim. 162 00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:40,080 Elizabeth Sneed: I knew how to doggy paddle and maybe tread water 163 00:09:40,160 --> 00:09:42,360 Elizabeth Sneed: for a little bit, but this was about a quarter 164 00:09:42,400 --> 00:09:44,880 Elizabeth Sneed: of a mile offshore and it was a long swim, 165 00:09:44,920 --> 00:09:47,520 Elizabeth Sneed: and so I got really peer pressured into doing it, 166 00:09:47,600 --> 00:09:50,360 Elizabeth Sneed: despite a lot of resistance. It was like the whole 167 00:09:51,200 --> 00:09:53,720 Elizabeth Sneed: youth group was going out there, and these were upper 168 00:09:53,720 --> 00:09:56,600 Elizabeth Sneed: middle class kids, you know, that had grown up with 169 00:09:57,000 --> 00:10:00,360 Elizabeth Sneed: resources to take swimming lessons and have swimming pools in 170 00:10:00,400 --> 00:10:02,600 Elizabeth Sneed: their backyard, and a lot of them were on the 171 00:10:02,600 --> 00:10:05,880 Elizabeth Sneed: swim team at this very prominent high school in my area, 172 00:10:06,559 --> 00:10:08,560 Elizabeth Sneed: and so they all just kind of pressured me and 173 00:10:08,559 --> 00:10:10,880 Elizabeth Sneed: they were like, no, we'll help you if something happens. 174 00:10:11,600 --> 00:10:14,079 Elizabeth Sneed: And looking back on it, I was like, wait, you're 175 00:10:14,080 --> 00:10:17,200 Elizabeth Sneed: gonna help me if something happened. But I doggy paddle 176 00:10:17,280 --> 00:10:19,560 Elizabeth Sneed: a quarter of a mile out to the sandbar. We'd 177 00:10:19,559 --> 00:10:22,880 Elizabeth Sneed: been out there for a couple hours, and I was like, okay, 178 00:10:22,960 --> 00:10:24,960 Elizabeth Sneed: I mean, it's just a bunch of sands, Like, I'm 179 00:10:24,960 --> 00:10:27,920 Elizabeth Sneed: over it. Let's go back to shore. I'm hungry, I'm thirsty. 180 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:31,680 Elizabeth Sneed: We've been building houses all day. Moving on, and so 181 00:10:31,800 --> 00:10:34,440 Elizabeth Sneed: I got two other girls to swim back with me, 182 00:10:34,640 --> 00:10:38,400 Elizabeth Sneed: and on the swim back, the weather had very aggressively 183 00:10:38,480 --> 00:10:43,920 Elizabeth Sneed: changed almost instantly, and we were lost at sea, and 184 00:10:44,559 --> 00:10:48,880 Elizabeth Sneed: the three of us we survived because of fishermen found us. 185 00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:52,520 Elizabeth Sneed: But there was another young man that was kind of 186 00:10:52,600 --> 00:10:55,240 Elizabeth Sneed: in between the pier and the sandbar that was swimming 187 00:10:55,280 --> 00:10:59,199 Elizabeth Sneed: and playing about our age fourteen, and we watched him 188 00:10:59,240 --> 00:11:03,079 Elizabeth Sneed: drown to death. It was very traumatic. We were completely 189 00:11:03,080 --> 00:11:05,600 Elizabeth Sneed: convinced that we were not going to make it out alive, 190 00:11:05,640 --> 00:11:10,680 Elizabeth Sneed: and we had made peace with that outcome, and I thought, 191 00:11:10,840 --> 00:11:12,600 Elizabeth Sneed: you know, if I survived this, I'll never go back 192 00:11:12,640 --> 00:11:13,600 Elizabeth Sneed: in the ocean ever again. 193 00:11:15,120 --> 00:11:19,679 Emily Tisch Sussman: Elizabeth got on with life, avoiding the ocean, but dreaming 194 00:11:19,720 --> 00:11:23,079 Emily Tisch Sussman: of a bigger life. She eventually started school at Arizona 195 00:11:23,120 --> 00:11:25,800 Emily Tisch Sussman: State University, planning to become a veterinarian. 196 00:11:27,400 --> 00:11:30,520 Elizabeth Sneed: So at a young age, I think I remember having 197 00:11:30,559 --> 00:11:33,800 Elizabeth Sneed: consciousness about this. Around four, I decided I was going 198 00:11:33,840 --> 00:11:38,920 Elizabeth Sneed: to be a veterinarian, and that became my survival response 199 00:11:38,960 --> 00:11:42,400 Elizabeth Sneed: to everything. I had recognized at a very early age 200 00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:48,800 Elizabeth Sneed: that people associated doctors and academic achievement with success, and 201 00:11:49,280 --> 00:11:52,400 Elizabeth Sneed: very early on I recognized that if I was going 202 00:11:52,440 --> 00:11:56,319 Elizabeth Sneed: to escape this hell that I was in, I was 203 00:11:56,400 --> 00:11:58,200 Elizabeth Sneed: going to have to succeed my way out of it. 204 00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:01,920 Elizabeth Sneed: And so that's what I did. I dedicated myself to 205 00:12:01,960 --> 00:12:07,679 Elizabeth Sneed: being a veterinarian. I became absolutely obsessed with animals, animal physiology, psychology, 206 00:12:07,720 --> 00:12:10,959 Elizabeth Sneed: you name it. I got accepted to pre veterinary school 207 00:12:11,120 --> 00:12:12,920 Elizabeth Sneed: and then went through three and a half years of 208 00:12:12,960 --> 00:12:17,520 Elizabeth Sneed: that until I had a revelation at about twenty twenty 209 00:12:17,520 --> 00:12:21,200 Elizabeth Sneed: one years old that this was a survival response for me, 210 00:12:21,640 --> 00:12:23,959 Elizabeth Sneed: and I had gone very I mean, I can tell 211 00:12:23,960 --> 00:12:27,480 Elizabeth Sneed: you so much about animals, it's unreal, But I loved 212 00:12:27,520 --> 00:12:30,439 Elizabeth Sneed: animals like that was my passion as a child, as 213 00:12:30,440 --> 00:12:33,560 Elizabeth Sneed: an adult, even still to this day. You'll see there's 214 00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:36,600 Elizabeth Sneed: a lot of wildlife featured on my page. And that 215 00:12:36,840 --> 00:12:40,280 Elizabeth Sneed: was how I succeeded my way out of poverty and 216 00:12:40,320 --> 00:12:47,719 Elizabeth Sneed: foster care and survived some very violent, emotional and physical 217 00:12:47,760 --> 00:12:50,560 Elizabeth Sneed: abuse for the majority of my life. 218 00:12:52,040 --> 00:12:54,800 Emily Tisch Sussman: While she forged her way working toward her dream of 219 00:12:54,840 --> 00:12:58,280 Emily Tisch Sussman: becoming a veterinarian, she also had her site set on 220 00:12:58,320 --> 00:13:00,800 Emily Tisch Sussman: another dream. 221 00:13:00,920 --> 00:13:03,400 Elizabeth Sneed: There were three places I wanted to see my entire life. 222 00:13:03,480 --> 00:13:07,760 Elizabeth Sneed: It was Hawaii, New York, and Alaska. I came into 223 00:13:07,800 --> 00:13:10,200 Elizabeth Sneed: the world wanting to visit these three places. I have 224 00:13:10,280 --> 00:13:14,000 Elizabeth Sneed: no clue who what when we're haw Wahi. My little 225 00:13:14,080 --> 00:13:16,920 Elizabeth Sneed: childhood brain chose them, but it did. I said that 226 00:13:16,960 --> 00:13:19,800 Elizabeth Sneed: since I was like three years old. So Hawaii was 227 00:13:19,840 --> 00:13:22,880 Elizabeth Sneed: the first one I got to and it was supposed 228 00:13:22,920 --> 00:13:27,360 Elizabeth Sneed: to be a present for graduating my high school, my 229 00:13:27,440 --> 00:13:31,200 Elizabeth Sneed: high school graduation present. However, it fell through. We just 230 00:13:31,320 --> 00:13:35,280 Elizabeth Sneed: logistically it didn't quite organize, and so my sophomore year 231 00:13:35,559 --> 00:13:40,600 Elizabeth Sneed: of my university fall break, I called U my aunt Mom, 232 00:13:40,840 --> 00:13:43,760 Elizabeth Sneed: who's a flight attendant, and I said, I booked myself 233 00:13:44,280 --> 00:13:47,600 Elizabeth Sneed: a round trip ticket to Hawaii, and I'm just going 234 00:13:47,679 --> 00:13:50,000 Elizabeth Sneed: to go, Like I've always wanted to go there. I've 235 00:13:50,000 --> 00:13:52,319 Elizabeth Sneed: always wanted to see it. I've never seen blue water. 236 00:13:53,280 --> 00:13:55,560 Elizabeth Sneed: I needed to confirm it wasn't a conspiracy theory in 237 00:13:55,640 --> 00:13:59,720 Elizabeth Sneed: magazines that were just photoshopped. My whole life really exist. 238 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:02,959 Elizabeth Sneed: So it was just just very like I'm going to 239 00:14:03,040 --> 00:14:07,360 Elizabeth Sneed: go see why casual. I didn't think anything of it, really, 240 00:14:07,840 --> 00:14:12,360 Elizabeth Sneed: And then I got there and I had a very powerful, moving, 241 00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:16,280 Elizabeth Sneed: almost spiritual experience, and I just knew that that's where 242 00:14:16,320 --> 00:14:17,800 Elizabeth Sneed: I wanted to spend the rest of my life. 243 00:14:18,040 --> 00:14:20,120 Emily Tisch Sussman: Did you go into the water right away like that 244 00:14:20,200 --> 00:14:21,400 Emily Tisch Sussman: must have been? Yeah? 245 00:14:21,440 --> 00:14:24,280 Elizabeth Sneed: I can absolutely not. I could not imagine. Yeah, I 246 00:14:24,320 --> 00:14:27,480 Elizabeth Sneed: was still very much traumatized from the ocean at this time. 247 00:14:28,200 --> 00:14:30,520 Elizabeth Sneed: But I've told the story a handful of times and 248 00:14:30,560 --> 00:14:32,880 Elizabeth Sneed: it seems a little bit woo woo, and I don't 249 00:14:32,920 --> 00:14:35,040 Elizabeth Sneed: really know how else to describe it. This is what 250 00:14:35,200 --> 00:14:39,360 Elizabeth Sneed: really happened. I get to Hawaii. I had been landlocked 251 00:14:39,400 --> 00:14:42,360 Elizabeth Sneed: my entire life. I went from Texas to Arizona, so 252 00:14:42,400 --> 00:14:45,840 Elizabeth Sneed: I'd never really met the ocean properly other than when 253 00:14:45,840 --> 00:14:50,280 Elizabeth Sneed: I was nearly you know, exiting stage left. And so 254 00:14:51,160 --> 00:14:55,880 Elizabeth Sneed: I'm there. I'm in a little hostel. It's right by 255 00:14:55,920 --> 00:15:00,960 Elizabeth Sneed: the ocean, and I could feel the ocean inside of 256 00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:04,200 Elizabeth Sneed: my body when the tide would go out, pulling on 257 00:15:04,240 --> 00:15:07,000 Elizabeth Sneed: the earth. I don't know how or why I experienced 258 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:11,840 Elizabeth Sneed: that phenomenon, but I could feel it. And I would 259 00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:15,400 Elizabeth Sneed: go to the beach where all of the beach boys 260 00:15:15,520 --> 00:15:19,080 Elizabeth Sneed: who go back to the eighteen like turn of the centry, 261 00:15:19,120 --> 00:15:21,880 Elizabeth Sneed: turn of the twentieth century, this is a tradition that 262 00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:25,520 Elizabeth Sneed: goes back that far. I would go to the beach 263 00:15:25,560 --> 00:15:28,480 Elizabeth Sneed: boys every morning at the exact time the tides were 264 00:15:28,480 --> 00:15:32,040 Elizabeth Sneed: going out, and they were like, how do you keep 265 00:15:32,080 --> 00:15:35,400 Elizabeth Sneed: showing up exactly when the tides are going out? And 266 00:15:35,440 --> 00:15:37,680 Elizabeth Sneed: I said, I can feel it in my chest. I 267 00:15:37,680 --> 00:15:40,720 Elizabeth Sneed: can feel the ocean pulling on the earth, like on 268 00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:44,960 Elizabeth Sneed: the island. And they were like, there's no way I 269 00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:47,760 Elizabeth Sneed: And they kept timing it every day and I was 270 00:15:47,480 --> 00:15:50,680 Elizabeth Sneed: I was showing up exactly when the tide was going out, 271 00:15:51,120 --> 00:15:51,680 Elizabeth Sneed: like it was. 272 00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:52,640 Emily Tisch Sussman: Pulling me with it. 273 00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:56,080 Elizabeth Sneed: And so then they convinced me to take a surfing 274 00:15:56,160 --> 00:16:00,520 Elizabeth Sneed: lesson in Waikiki and kind of assured me that, you know, 275 00:16:00,560 --> 00:16:04,479 Elizabeth Sneed: I wasn't going to be ripped out to see again. Yeah, 276 00:16:04,520 --> 00:16:07,640 Elizabeth Sneed: and so that was my reintroduction to the ocean. 277 00:16:08,280 --> 00:16:11,400 Emily Tisch Sussman: I was a pretty big reintroduction to go from I 278 00:16:11,440 --> 00:16:13,160 Emily Tisch Sussman: can't put my toe in more than a couple of 279 00:16:13,240 --> 00:16:14,640 Emily Tisch Sussman: inches too, I'm going to try surfing. 280 00:16:14,800 --> 00:16:18,640 Elizabeth Sneed: Yeah, it was. But thankfully in Waikiki the waves are 281 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:21,600 Elizabeth Sneed: really beautiful. The Hawaiian people or some of the most 282 00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:24,400 Elizabeth Sneed: special people in the earth. They were clearly seeing that 283 00:16:24,480 --> 00:16:27,120 Elizabeth Sneed: I wanted to have a relationship with the ocean, but 284 00:16:27,120 --> 00:16:29,960 Elizabeth Sneed: that I was terrified of it. And so that was 285 00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:33,440 Elizabeth Sneed: when they intervened and was like, you know, let us 286 00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:37,120 Elizabeth Sneed: take you out. Let us like reintroduce this this space 287 00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:40,600 Elizabeth Sneed: to you and help you heal. They shepherded me through 288 00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:45,720 Elizabeth Sneed: that experience and it changed my life. 289 00:16:44,640 --> 00:16:48,080 Emily Tisch Sussman: For the time being. Elizabeth had to go back to university, 290 00:16:48,920 --> 00:16:51,280 Emily Tisch Sussman: back to what she thought was her dream of becoming 291 00:16:51,320 --> 00:16:55,280 Emily Tisch Sussman: a VET. When we come back, we learn about Elizabeth's 292 00:16:55,320 --> 00:16:57,200 Emily Tisch Sussman: first pivot stay tuned. 293 00:17:11,520 --> 00:17:13,240 Elizabeth Sneed: By the time I was ready to go to VET school, 294 00:17:13,240 --> 00:17:16,640 Elizabeth Sneed: I had over three thousand shadowing hours and I dedicated 295 00:17:16,640 --> 00:17:19,159 Elizabeth Sneed: literally a whole lifetime to it from five to twenty. 296 00:17:19,520 --> 00:17:22,240 Elizabeth Sneed: I was very much like every summer was spent in 297 00:17:22,359 --> 00:17:26,040 Elizabeth Sneed: VET offices and it was my life dream. And so 298 00:17:26,080 --> 00:17:28,280 Elizabeth Sneed: I had a bit of an existential crisis when I 299 00:17:28,280 --> 00:17:31,160 Elizabeth Sneed: had to change my major. It was genuinely a full 300 00:17:31,160 --> 00:17:34,439 Elizabeth Sneed: scale existential crisis. And I was very late in my 301 00:17:34,840 --> 00:17:37,439 Elizabeth Sneed: career when I did it. At university, I was a 302 00:17:37,520 --> 00:17:40,000 Elizabeth Sneed: junior because I was preparing to go to VET School, 303 00:17:40,440 --> 00:17:43,040 Elizabeth Sneed: So I had to really make a decision. At that point. 304 00:17:43,160 --> 00:17:45,280 Elizabeth Sneed: There was an intersection, and it's like, well, you either 305 00:17:45,280 --> 00:17:46,840 Elizabeth Sneed: stay committed to this and you're going to go to 306 00:17:46,920 --> 00:17:50,320 Elizabeth Sneed: VET school, or you have to change now otherwise you're 307 00:17:50,359 --> 00:17:52,520 Elizabeth Sneed: not going to be able to get a degree. So 308 00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:56,280 Elizabeth Sneed: I talked to any and every mentor I had, and 309 00:17:56,320 --> 00:17:58,960 Elizabeth Sneed: we were just grasping at straws at this point about 310 00:17:59,160 --> 00:18:03,200 Elizabeth Sneed: what I could do to grad and landed on I'm 311 00:18:03,240 --> 00:18:08,280 Elizabeth Sneed: really great with languages, I'm a natural with history, and 312 00:18:09,080 --> 00:18:11,040 Elizabeth Sneed: why don't you just go and see if there's something 313 00:18:11,040 --> 00:18:13,760 Elizabeth Sneed: in international business that you can major in? Because I 314 00:18:13,800 --> 00:18:17,080 Elizabeth Sneed: was at a business school, WP Carrie at Arizona State University, 315 00:18:17,720 --> 00:18:19,760 Elizabeth Sneed: and so I was like great international business. It's the 316 00:18:19,800 --> 00:18:22,520 Elizabeth Sneed: cross sections between most of the things that I care about. 317 00:18:23,119 --> 00:18:25,520 Elizabeth Sneed: Turns out they didn't have that as a major. And 318 00:18:25,560 --> 00:18:28,680 Elizabeth Sneed: I'm like, what major institution in the United States does 319 00:18:28,720 --> 00:18:31,479 Elizabeth Sneed: not have international business as a bachelor's degree, Like what 320 00:18:31,520 --> 00:18:33,600 Elizabeth Sneed: are we doing? And so they're like, well, we have 321 00:18:33,720 --> 00:18:36,280 Elizabeth Sneed: other business degrees that you can choose from, and they're 322 00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:38,439 Elizabeth Sneed: like half and half. You know, you get half a 323 00:18:38,480 --> 00:18:40,760 Elizabeth Sneed: business degree in this and then you get half in 324 00:18:40,840 --> 00:18:45,440 Elizabeth Sneed: something else so that you're more marketable when you graduate. 325 00:18:45,960 --> 00:18:48,080 Elizabeth Sneed: And I was like, okay, what are the options. And 326 00:18:48,119 --> 00:18:50,960 Elizabeth Sneed: it was like supply chain management and da da, da da, 327 00:18:51,359 --> 00:18:53,920 Elizabeth Sneed: all these different things. And one of the I said, well, 328 00:18:53,920 --> 00:18:57,639 Elizabeth Sneed: what's the closest you've got to international business. Let's simplify this, 329 00:18:58,200 --> 00:19:02,560 Elizabeth Sneed: and they said global business politics. And so I was like, fine, 330 00:19:02,640 --> 00:19:05,639 Elizabeth Sneed: sign me up for that. Whatever that is. That's I'll 331 00:19:05,680 --> 00:19:07,720 Elizabeth Sneed: call it international business on my resume if I have 332 00:19:07,760 --> 00:19:10,600 Elizabeth Sneed: to at this point. And so I started taking all 333 00:19:10,600 --> 00:19:13,480 Elizabeth Sneed: of these political science classes because it was essentially half 334 00:19:13,560 --> 00:19:16,359 Elizabeth Sneed: of a political science degree and half of a business degree, 335 00:19:16,600 --> 00:19:18,879 Elizabeth Sneed: which I didn't realize at that time. I just was 336 00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:21,680 Elizabeth Sneed: trying to get international business so I can market myself 337 00:19:21,760 --> 00:19:25,080 Elizabeth Sneed: after I graduated and do something. Turns out I was 338 00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:26,239 Elizabeth Sneed: really good at it. 339 00:19:26,960 --> 00:19:28,520 Emily Tisch Sussman: Did you have a vision of what you would do 340 00:19:28,560 --> 00:19:31,520 Emily Tisch Sussman: with this quote international business degree once you created it? 341 00:19:31,600 --> 00:19:33,600 Elizabeth Sneed: I had no idea. I was so lost, Like I 342 00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:36,560 Elizabeth Sneed: was so emotionally devastated about not becoming a veterinarian, and 343 00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:39,480 Elizabeth Sneed: I had all of this medical and science and biology 344 00:19:39,480 --> 00:19:42,159 Elizabeth Sneed: and chemistry behind me, and now I had to pivot 345 00:19:42,440 --> 00:19:46,000 Elizabeth Sneed: really hard to go. This route was nothing I had 346 00:19:46,080 --> 00:19:48,520 Elizabeth Sneed: been studying for my whole life. But I was naturally 347 00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:50,600 Elizabeth Sneed: very good at it. I was always interested in history. 348 00:19:50,600 --> 00:19:53,680 Elizabeth Sneed: I always loved it. Like I said, by this point, 349 00:19:53,680 --> 00:19:56,560 Elizabeth Sneed: I was already minoring in French, and so I was 350 00:19:56,640 --> 00:19:58,159 Elizabeth Sneed: just like, I'll figure it out. I guess as I go. 351 00:19:58,640 --> 00:20:03,000 Elizabeth Sneed: And I took a Foreign Pol class and I was like, oh, 352 00:20:03,840 --> 00:20:07,919 Elizabeth Sneed: this is my vibe. This is my vibe. I go 353 00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:10,639 Elizabeth Sneed: up to the professor and I'm like, how do I 354 00:20:10,720 --> 00:20:13,439 Elizabeth Sneed: do this? That's what I want to do. I literally 355 00:20:13,520 --> 00:20:17,440 Elizabeth Sneed: want to shape the world. And he was like, well, 356 00:20:17,480 --> 00:20:19,359 Elizabeth Sneed: you can only go one place to do that. There 357 00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:21,480 Elizabeth Sneed: well two places, really, he was like, you either go 358 00:20:21,520 --> 00:20:23,640 Elizabeth Sneed: to the UN or you go to DC. 359 00:20:24,240 --> 00:20:25,080 Emily Tisch Sussman: And I went to both. 360 00:20:27,640 --> 00:20:29,640 Elizabeth Sneed: I mean, you talk about girl, bossing to the SUN. 361 00:20:29,920 --> 00:20:32,800 Elizabeth Sneed: I was like, we are not going backwards, that's for sure. 362 00:20:32,920 --> 00:20:35,159 Emily Tisch Sussman: No, no, no, we only go forwards. Okay, So tell us 363 00:20:35,200 --> 00:20:36,960 Emily Tisch Sussman: about each of those, the UN and d Space. 364 00:20:37,040 --> 00:20:40,600 Elizabeth Sneed: Yeah. So I decided I was going to move to 365 00:20:40,600 --> 00:20:44,840 Elizabeth Sneed: Switzerland to study French full time, because you need, you 366 00:20:44,880 --> 00:20:47,320 Elizabeth Sneed: need to have a real good grasp on a foreign 367 00:20:47,400 --> 00:20:50,000 Elizabeth Sneed: language if you're going to do anything in international affairs. 368 00:20:50,600 --> 00:20:52,960 Elizabeth Sneed: So I moved to Switzerland. I went to the University 369 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:56,119 Elizabeth Sneed: delos En and studied for a year in French. And 370 00:20:56,160 --> 00:20:58,440 Elizabeth Sneed: then the UN was just in Geneva, so I got 371 00:20:58,440 --> 00:21:01,000 Elizabeth Sneed: to frequent the UN and you know, visit and do 372 00:21:01,040 --> 00:21:04,720 Elizabeth Sneed: little programs that they had for you know, foreign exchange students. 373 00:21:05,160 --> 00:21:08,000 Elizabeth Sneed: And then of course I was studying international affairs at 374 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:11,399 Elizabeth Sneed: the University in Lausanne as well, along with my French degree. 375 00:21:11,840 --> 00:21:14,480 Elizabeth Sneed: And then I was able to travel all throughout Europe 376 00:21:14,600 --> 00:21:19,560 Elizabeth Sneed: with just extremely little resources, but I did it nonetheless. 377 00:21:20,119 --> 00:21:24,480 Elizabeth Sneed: And then I returned from Switzerland and was on to 378 00:21:24,560 --> 00:21:26,439 Elizabeth Sneed: the next and I said, Okay, the next thing I 379 00:21:26,480 --> 00:21:29,600 Elizabeth Sneed: have to conquer is Washington, d C. And you've got 380 00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:34,399 Elizabeth Sneed: to remember, I'm doing Washington, d C. From like I 381 00:21:34,440 --> 00:21:36,680 Elizabeth Sneed: didn't realize it at the time, but I was only 382 00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:40,680 Elizabeth Sneed: five years removed from foster care and like extreme poverty 383 00:21:40,760 --> 00:21:44,879 Elizabeth Sneed: and extreme child abuse. But I was so hyper focused 384 00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:48,119 Elizabeth Sneed: and determined that I was just like, I will find 385 00:21:48,160 --> 00:21:51,479 Elizabeth Sneed: a way to make it in Washington, d C. I 386 00:21:51,520 --> 00:21:55,520 Elizabeth Sneed: had no money. I used one thousand dollars tax return 387 00:21:55,920 --> 00:22:01,359 Elizabeth Sneed: and the institute I went to in DC. I convinced 388 00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:05,560 Elizabeth Sneed: this institution to make me one of their scholars, which 389 00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:08,800 Elizabeth Sneed: was like a divine intervention fee because I was competing 390 00:22:08,840 --> 00:22:12,280 Elizabeth Sneed: against people that were in Harvard and Yale and all 391 00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:14,800 Elizabeth Sneed: of these other very prestigious institutions that were going to 392 00:22:14,840 --> 00:22:17,720 Elizabeth Sneed: this Foreign Policy Institute in Washington, d C. I mean 393 00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:20,880 Elizabeth Sneed: this was for like wealthy people's children that were about 394 00:22:20,920 --> 00:22:24,200 Elizabeth Sneed: to become ambassadors by appointment, you know, because they made 395 00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:27,760 Elizabeth Sneed: the right amount of a donation to a campaign that's 396 00:22:27,760 --> 00:22:30,520 Elizabeth Sneed: who I was on part with. And I was like, yeah, 397 00:22:30,520 --> 00:22:32,040 Elizabeth Sneed: I'm going to compete with you, and I'm going to 398 00:22:32,080 --> 00:22:33,760 Elizabeth Sneed: do it. I'm going to figure it out, and money's 399 00:22:33,800 --> 00:22:37,359 Elizabeth Sneed: never going to stop me, because that's not allowed in 400 00:22:37,400 --> 00:22:38,120 Elizabeth Sneed: my universe. 401 00:22:38,200 --> 00:22:38,400 Emily Tisch Sussman: Yeah. 402 00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:41,600 Elizabeth Sneed: So I went door to door in my entire community. 403 00:22:41,680 --> 00:22:45,399 Elizabeth Sneed: I asked for donations, I fundraised. I went to small 404 00:22:45,440 --> 00:22:47,720 Elizabeth Sneed: businesses in my community, and I said, look, you know, 405 00:22:47,760 --> 00:22:49,520 Elizabeth Sneed: I want to study foreign policy and I want to 406 00:22:49,520 --> 00:22:52,680 Elizabeth Sneed: be on the world stage, and I would really appreciate 407 00:22:52,680 --> 00:22:55,399 Elizabeth Sneed: if you would support helping send me to Washington, d C. 408 00:22:56,119 --> 00:22:58,639 Elizabeth Sneed: And I fundraised a small amount of money, convinced the 409 00:22:58,680 --> 00:23:02,280 Elizabeth Sneed: institution to make me want of their scholars and I 410 00:23:02,320 --> 00:23:06,840 Elizabeth Sneed: was able to complete a full study of foreign policy 411 00:23:06,880 --> 00:23:09,760 Elizabeth Sneed: in Washington, d C. And that's where I was introduced 412 00:23:09,760 --> 00:23:12,600 Elizabeth Sneed: into becoming a lobbyist, which would be my career for 413 00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:13,520 Elizabeth Sneed: the next ten years. 414 00:23:14,800 --> 00:23:18,040 Emily Tisch Sussman: Elizabeth dove into the world of politics, where she worked 415 00:23:18,040 --> 00:23:21,359 Emily Tisch Sussman: with the Armed Services Committee, running into some of DC's 416 00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:23,040 Emily Tisch Sussman: biggest names. 417 00:23:23,760 --> 00:23:27,200 Elizabeth Sneed: I had met Senator John McCain on the plane ride 418 00:23:27,800 --> 00:23:32,480 Elizabeth Sneed: to Washington, d C. And the odds of that were 419 00:23:32,480 --> 00:23:35,800 Elizabeth Sneed: a million to one. And I walked up to him 420 00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:38,760 Elizabeth Sneed: on the airplane and I introduced myself and I said, 421 00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:41,120 Elizabeth Sneed: I would I would love to get a picture with 422 00:23:41,200 --> 00:23:45,520 Elizabeth Sneed: you as I'm entering Washington, d C. Because the scholarship 423 00:23:45,560 --> 00:23:49,280 Elizabeth Sneed: that I was given from this institution involved documenting my 424 00:23:49,320 --> 00:23:52,840 Elizabeth Sneed: whole experience in Washington, DC. And I said, what are 425 00:23:52,880 --> 00:23:55,159 Elizabeth Sneed: the odds that I ride on the plane with one 426 00:23:55,200 --> 00:23:59,119 Elizabeth Sneed: of the most recognizable US senators in American history and 427 00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:02,680 Elizabeth Sneed: st John McCain such an amazing man. I was at 428 00:24:02,680 --> 00:24:06,440 Elizabeth Sneed: the back of the airplane and he told his chief 429 00:24:06,480 --> 00:24:08,359 Elizabeth Sneed: of staff that there was a young woman that wanted 430 00:24:08,359 --> 00:24:10,359 Elizabeth Sneed: to meet him and take a picture. And he waited 431 00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:13,440 Elizabeth Sneed: for me for over thirty minutes to deboard the plane 432 00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:17,760 Elizabeth Sneed: at Reagan International. And it changed the trajectory of my 433 00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:20,560 Elizabeth Sneed: life because when I came back from Washington, d C. 434 00:24:21,280 --> 00:24:25,040 Elizabeth Sneed: He was up for reelection and I went to one 435 00:24:25,040 --> 00:24:27,520 Elizabeth Sneed: of his campaign events and I said, Senator John McCain, 436 00:24:27,560 --> 00:24:29,040 Elizabeth Sneed: I don't know if you remember me. I was the 437 00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:30,919 Elizabeth Sneed: young woman on the airplane that I asked you to 438 00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:33,720 Elizabeth Sneed: stay behind. And he said, of course I do. You're Elizabeth. 439 00:24:33,760 --> 00:24:37,600 Elizabeth Sneed: And I'm like, you're kidding you. Of all, you remember 440 00:24:37,680 --> 00:24:40,080 Elizabeth Sneed: my name. He's like, yes, of course I do. And 441 00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:42,520 Elizabeth Sneed: I was like, this is the most impressive thing I've 442 00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:47,120 Elizabeth Sneed: ever seen in my life. And then I told him that, 443 00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:49,879 Elizabeth Sneed: you know, I was looking for an opportunity to continue 444 00:24:49,960 --> 00:24:52,760 Elizabeth Sneed: staying in my field for you know, everything I had 445 00:24:52,800 --> 00:24:55,800 Elizabeth Sneed: been studying. And he offered me a role on his 446 00:24:55,880 --> 00:24:59,639 Elizabeth Sneed: campaign team as a field organizer, and so I helped 447 00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:03,919 Elizabeth Sneed: with his reelection in twenty sixteen, and of course he 448 00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:07,920 Elizabeth Sneed: was reelected, and then after his successful campaign, he helped 449 00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:11,520 Elizabeth Sneed: place me in an environmental nonprofit where I would then 450 00:25:11,600 --> 00:25:15,640 Elizabeth Sneed: go on to advocate for our natural resources. So, as 451 00:25:15,680 --> 00:25:19,800 Elizabeth Sneed: you can imagine, right around that time, things drastically begin 452 00:25:19,880 --> 00:25:23,840 Elizabeth Sneed: to politically change with the election of President Trump in 453 00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:27,359 Elizabeth Sneed: his first term, and so most of the work that 454 00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:31,400 Elizabeth Sneed: we had done was being undone by the administration on 455 00:25:31,520 --> 00:25:38,000 Elizabeth Sneed: the conservation fronts, and so the nonprofit it really didn't 456 00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:42,600 Elizabeth Sneed: have anywhere to go, and so I was laid off. 457 00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:45,199 Elizabeth Sneed: And when I was laid off, I just said, I 458 00:25:45,320 --> 00:25:48,760 Elizabeth Sneed: don't know what I'm doing anymore. I was in DC, 459 00:25:49,080 --> 00:25:51,080 Elizabeth Sneed: I was in Switzerland, I was in all of these 460 00:25:51,600 --> 00:25:54,919 Elizabeth Sneed: places where we broke our power. And I think what 461 00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:57,800 Elizabeth Sneed: I was trying to do the entire time was attempt 462 00:25:57,880 --> 00:26:00,159 Elizabeth Sneed: to prove that I had meaning and that I had 463 00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:02,840 Elizabeth Sneed: purpose to the world other than growing up as this 464 00:26:03,040 --> 00:26:06,400 Elizabeth Sneed: very poor East Texas girl. I just wanted to show 465 00:26:06,440 --> 00:26:08,880 Elizabeth Sneed: everybody that, you know, I was going to be somebody, 466 00:26:08,880 --> 00:26:11,120 Elizabeth Sneed: and I was going to be something. But then when 467 00:26:11,200 --> 00:26:14,560 Elizabeth Sneed: you grow up, it's like, well, who are these imaginary 468 00:26:14,600 --> 00:26:17,919 Elizabeth Sneed: people You're trying to prove this too? Now there's nobody left, 469 00:26:18,440 --> 00:26:22,080 Elizabeth Sneed: like nobody knows your story. Nobody really cares or is aware. 470 00:26:23,040 --> 00:26:26,720 Elizabeth Sneed: You're girl bossing so hard and you're doing it really well. 471 00:26:26,800 --> 00:26:30,320 Elizabeth Sneed: But I was not happy. Ultimately. I was really just 472 00:26:30,359 --> 00:26:34,720 Elizabeth Sneed: trying to prove my worth to society through achievement. And 473 00:26:34,760 --> 00:26:37,200 Elizabeth Sneed: I thought the more I achieved and the more I did, 474 00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:41,520 Elizabeth Sneed: and the more I was around successful, powerful people, that 475 00:26:41,760 --> 00:26:45,960 Elizabeth Sneed: I would be seen as worthy and lovable and important. 476 00:26:46,640 --> 00:26:50,320 Elizabeth Sneed: And I finally had a breakthrough that that's really not 477 00:26:50,440 --> 00:26:54,200 Elizabeth Sneed: the answer of how I'm going to find self actualization. 478 00:26:55,240 --> 00:26:58,080 Elizabeth Sneed: And I gave it up, and I said, you know, 479 00:26:58,200 --> 00:27:01,399 Elizabeth Sneed: I wanted, what my soul really wants and has always wanted, 480 00:27:01,640 --> 00:27:06,480 Elizabeth Sneed: is to live in Hawai, become a surfer, and I'll 481 00:27:06,520 --> 00:27:08,600 Elizabeth Sneed: do whatever I need to do when I get to Washington, 482 00:27:08,680 --> 00:27:11,000 Elizabeth Sneed: d C. Or when I get to Hawaii, maybe I 483 00:27:11,040 --> 00:27:15,439 Elizabeth Sneed: can become a environmental activist there, you know, with the 484 00:27:15,480 --> 00:27:18,520 Elizabeth Sneed: Pacific Ocean and the Pacific peoples. I didn't really know 485 00:27:18,560 --> 00:27:20,119 Elizabeth Sneed: where the world was going to take me. I just 486 00:27:20,200 --> 00:27:22,800 Elizabeth Sneed: knew that my future was there and that somehow my 487 00:27:22,880 --> 00:27:24,400 Elizabeth Sneed: purpose was connected to Hawaii. 488 00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:30,399 Emily Tisch Sussman: So she packed up her life and headed back to Hawaii. 489 00:27:31,160 --> 00:27:34,400 Emily Tisch Sussman: After the break, we dive into how Elizabeth made her 490 00:27:34,440 --> 00:27:38,200 Emily Tisch Sussman: pivot into social media and the creation of Kirby Surfer Girl. 491 00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:53,160 Elizabeth Sneed: So I moved to Hawaii and I got a job 492 00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:56,040 Elizabeth Sneed: doing anything I could. I became an executive assistant at 493 00:27:56,080 --> 00:27:59,880 Elizabeth Sneed: a little nonprofit and then they would go bankrupt about 494 00:27:59,840 --> 00:28:02,359 Elizabeth Sneed: a year later, and I would find myself kind of 495 00:28:02,400 --> 00:28:05,880 Elizabeth Sneed: in the same position. I was just questioning, like, how 496 00:28:05,880 --> 00:28:08,120 Elizabeth Sneed: am I going to move forward. I had to become 497 00:28:08,160 --> 00:28:11,360 Elizabeth Sneed: an Uber driver for two years because I was simply 498 00:28:12,160 --> 00:28:17,720 Elizabeth Sneed: just too overqualified for most of the positions that were available. 499 00:28:17,760 --> 00:28:21,359 Elizabeth Sneed: Even at the Hawaii State Capitol. It was really hard 500 00:28:21,400 --> 00:28:24,000 Elizabeth Sneed: to get a job because people were like, well, you've 501 00:28:24,040 --> 00:28:26,159 Elizabeth Sneed: lived in DC and you've done all of this, and 502 00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:28,320 Elizabeth Sneed: you could do my job. I don't want to hire you, 503 00:28:28,359 --> 00:28:30,200 Elizabeth Sneed: and then you take my job. And I was like, 504 00:28:30,240 --> 00:28:32,800 Elizabeth Sneed: I don't want your job. I just want a job, right, 505 00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:35,840 Elizabeth Sneed: Please just hire me. I'm driving Uber and I have 506 00:28:36,040 --> 00:28:40,400 Elizabeth Sneed: three degrees, and like, please something. And it just knows 507 00:28:40,480 --> 00:28:42,880 Elizabeth Sneed: everywhere I turned, and it was really devastating. I was 508 00:28:42,960 --> 00:28:46,360 Elizabeth Sneed: unemployed for two years of my life. I started having 509 00:28:46,360 --> 00:28:50,720 Elizabeth Sneed: nervous breakdowns and a full scale identity crisis because I 510 00:28:50,720 --> 00:28:55,040 Elizabeth Sneed: had worked so hard my entire life to gain an 511 00:28:55,080 --> 00:28:57,440 Elizabeth Sneed: inch for all of it to be stripped away from me, 512 00:28:57,640 --> 00:29:00,440 Elizabeth Sneed: like my whole identity was stripped away from me at 513 00:29:00,440 --> 00:29:04,680 Elizabeth Sneed: that point. Your academic accomplishments don't matter, Your professional accomplishments 514 00:29:04,720 --> 00:29:08,680 Elizabeth Sneed: don't matter, like you're a glorified taxi driver. And I 515 00:29:08,760 --> 00:29:13,080 Elizabeth Sneed: was like, is this dream worth pursuing? Or have I 516 00:29:13,160 --> 00:29:16,400 Elizabeth Sneed: made a critical error in judgment at this point? And 517 00:29:16,440 --> 00:29:18,880 Elizabeth Sneed: people were asking me that every day I woke up, 518 00:29:18,920 --> 00:29:21,560 Elizabeth Sneed: which was leading to more and more anxiety and panic 519 00:29:21,640 --> 00:29:25,720 Elizabeth Sneed: and uncertainty. And I said, all I know is that 520 00:29:25,800 --> 00:29:29,600 Elizabeth Sneed: this is where I belong. I don't belong back in Washington, 521 00:29:29,680 --> 00:29:31,840 Elizabeth Sneed: d C. I already did that, and I was not 522 00:29:32,040 --> 00:29:35,160 Elizabeth Sneed: finding fulfillment. And I don't want to live a whole 523 00:29:35,280 --> 00:29:40,120 Elizabeth Sneed: human life unfulfilled. It's just not fair and it wasn't 524 00:29:40,160 --> 00:29:42,000 Elizabeth Sneed: serving me. And I said, I know that I can 525 00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:45,320 Elizabeth Sneed: accomplish something greater if I am in alignment with my 526 00:29:45,360 --> 00:29:49,240 Elizabeth Sneed: core values. And my core values were Hawai. I wanted 527 00:29:49,280 --> 00:29:51,720 Elizabeth Sneed: to be by an ocean. I wanted to have a healthy, 528 00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:56,600 Elizabeth Sneed: balanced life. I wanted to enjoy and find joy in life, 529 00:29:56,680 --> 00:29:58,880 Elizabeth Sneed: which I hadn't been able to do up to that point. 530 00:29:59,600 --> 00:30:02,719 Elizabeth Sneed: And so I made a commitment that no matter, no 531 00:30:02,760 --> 00:30:05,360 Elizabeth Sneed: matter what, happened. I was going to make it in 532 00:30:05,400 --> 00:30:08,760 Elizabeth Sneed: Hawaii and that just failure was not an option. And 533 00:30:08,840 --> 00:30:14,240 Elizabeth Sneed: so my initial contact relationship working on this long term 534 00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:18,640 Elizabeth Sneed: was with my surf coach, Chelsea, and Chelsea changed my life. 535 00:30:19,080 --> 00:30:22,520 Elizabeth Sneed: She has been one of the figures that I don't 536 00:30:22,520 --> 00:30:24,320 Elizabeth Sneed: even know what my life would look like if I 537 00:30:24,320 --> 00:30:28,600 Elizabeth Sneed: didn't meet her. I was still having really severe or 538 00:30:28,680 --> 00:30:31,520 Elizabeth Sneed: extreme reactions to the ocean. Every time I would go 539 00:30:31,600 --> 00:30:34,760 Elizabeth Sneed: in it, I would have the convulsions and the crying 540 00:30:34,840 --> 00:30:38,800 Elizabeth Sneed: spells and the hyperventilation, even if I was just sitting 541 00:30:38,800 --> 00:30:41,080 Elizabeth Sneed: on a surfboard in less than ten feet of water. 542 00:30:41,720 --> 00:30:47,240 Elizabeth Sneed: And so she was really pivotal in my recovery psychologically, 543 00:30:47,720 --> 00:30:50,680 Elizabeth Sneed: while she was also teaching me how to surf. And 544 00:30:51,360 --> 00:30:53,680 Elizabeth Sneed: I can't even explain the type of person it takes 545 00:30:53,720 --> 00:30:57,320 Elizabeth Sneed: to sit with someone that's having very extreme panic attacks 546 00:30:57,320 --> 00:31:00,000 Elizabeth Sneed: in the middle of the ocean and trying to teach 547 00:31:00,200 --> 00:31:03,800 Elizabeth Sneed: them a very difficult skill at twenty six years old. 548 00:31:04,080 --> 00:31:08,360 Elizabeth Sneed: That she's a saint among people, and I've been so 549 00:31:08,480 --> 00:31:11,280 Elizabeth Sneed: blessed to know her. So she teaches me how to surf, 550 00:31:11,360 --> 00:31:14,880 Elizabeth Sneed: and around the same time I had discovered free diving 551 00:31:15,400 --> 00:31:19,200 Elizabeth Sneed: and being landlocked. My whole life. I didn't even know 552 00:31:19,400 --> 00:31:22,800 Elizabeth Sneed: human beings could do this. Yeah, you can just hold 553 00:31:22,840 --> 00:31:26,760 Elizabeth Sneed: your breath and go deep down into the ocean. I 554 00:31:26,760 --> 00:31:29,120 Elizabeth Sneed: thought you would die if you did that. Yep, confidently. 555 00:31:29,480 --> 00:31:32,360 Elizabeth Sneed: I was like, there's no way that people can do this. 556 00:31:32,360 --> 00:31:37,000 Elizabeth Sneed: This is like other marine mammals. But indeed humans can 557 00:31:37,120 --> 00:31:40,520 Elizabeth Sneed: and do, and they're quite good at it. We're on 558 00:31:40,600 --> 00:31:42,920 Elizabeth Sneed: par with some other marine mammals, believe it or not. 559 00:31:43,880 --> 00:31:47,200 Elizabeth Sneed: So I was like, oh, okay. So then that became 560 00:31:47,280 --> 00:31:49,400 Elizabeth Sneed: part of my rehabilitation as well. 561 00:31:50,200 --> 00:31:52,160 Emily Tisch Sussman: When you think about it as like a relationship with 562 00:31:52,200 --> 00:31:54,520 Emily Tisch Sussman: the ocean, like what did that mean to you in 563 00:31:54,560 --> 00:31:55,120 Emily Tisch Sussman: that moment? 564 00:31:55,920 --> 00:32:01,120 Elizabeth Sneed: Well, previously, the ocean was a space that was extremely negative. 565 00:32:01,160 --> 00:32:05,120 Elizabeth Sneed: I associated it with death, destruction. I just couldn't even 566 00:32:05,240 --> 00:32:07,680 Elizabeth Sneed: understand it to be anything else other than a source 567 00:32:07,720 --> 00:32:12,560 Elizabeth Sneed: of danger negativity. And you know, it's like only seeing 568 00:32:12,720 --> 00:32:17,600 Elizabeth Sneed: a very very small perspective, like peeping into a key hole, almost, 569 00:32:17,960 --> 00:32:21,720 Elizabeth Sneed: Like the ocean is such a magnificent living entity of 570 00:32:21,760 --> 00:32:25,400 Elizabeth Sneed: our planet that to only associate it with those feelings 571 00:32:25,400 --> 00:32:28,680 Elizabeth Sneed: and identities was very much unfair to it as a whole. 572 00:32:29,120 --> 00:32:30,840 Elizabeth Sneed: But it was the only experience I had had in 573 00:32:30,880 --> 00:32:33,760 Elizabeth Sneed: it in my whole life, and so I had to 574 00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:36,920 Elizabeth Sneed: build a relationship with it. And to build a relationship, 575 00:32:36,920 --> 00:32:39,560 Elizabeth Sneed: whether it be with a person or nature, you have 576 00:32:39,600 --> 00:32:43,040 Elizabeth Sneed: to continually go back and learn about it and you know, 577 00:32:43,160 --> 00:32:47,600 Elizabeth Sneed: experience it in different ways to understand how this operates. 578 00:32:47,640 --> 00:32:49,760 Elizabeth Sneed: It's a living thing, you know, just like all of 579 00:32:49,840 --> 00:32:53,000 Elizabeth Sneed: us are our living, breathing things. So I had to 580 00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:55,680 Elizabeth Sneed: re establish that relationship with it and learn that it's 581 00:32:55,720 --> 00:33:01,000 Elizabeth Sneed: not this whole black hole of terror just going to 582 00:33:01,280 --> 00:33:04,280 Elizabeth Sneed: you know, get up and pull me out again. And 583 00:33:04,360 --> 00:33:07,400 Elizabeth Sneed: so that kind of was where it started, was with surfing. 584 00:33:09,400 --> 00:33:12,560 Emily Tisch Sussman: Elizabeth was finally living out her dreams, but she was 585 00:33:12,600 --> 00:33:15,280 Emily Tisch Sussman: still working her nine to five in politics to financially 586 00:33:15,320 --> 00:33:16,160 Emily Tisch Sussman: support herself. 587 00:33:17,720 --> 00:33:20,880 Elizabeth Sneed: And I ended up working for one of the most 588 00:33:21,200 --> 00:33:26,000 Elizabeth Sneed: esteemed representatives at the State of Holoy, Representative Cynthia Thlen, 589 00:33:26,720 --> 00:33:30,440 Elizabeth Sneed: and she was one of the most incredible bosses I 590 00:33:30,480 --> 00:33:33,160 Elizabeth Sneed: have ever had in my whole life. And I was 591 00:33:33,200 --> 00:33:35,840 Elizabeth Sneed: so happy to finally have a job back in my field, 592 00:33:35,960 --> 00:33:38,440 Elizabeth Sneed: doing what I could do in the place that I 593 00:33:38,480 --> 00:33:41,880 Elizabeth Sneed: wanted to be. And then the pandemic hits and the 594 00:33:42,080 --> 00:33:46,560 Elizabeth Sneed: entire state capital was laid off. The entire state capital 595 00:33:46,680 --> 00:33:49,880 Elizabeth Sneed: was completely laid off, and the only opportunity I was 596 00:33:49,920 --> 00:33:55,880 Elizabeth Sneed: given was to help with unemployment, processing unemployment documents for 597 00:33:56,160 --> 00:33:59,640 Elizabeth Sneed: millions of people in HOOI on not just a wall 598 00:33:59,640 --> 00:34:03,240 Elizabeth Sneed: who but all of the islands, because people weren't trained 599 00:34:03,280 --> 00:34:06,640 Elizabeth Sneed: and there weren't enough people to do it, and everybody 600 00:34:06,800 --> 00:34:10,240 Elizabeth Sneed: was now unemployed and didn't have resources to feed themselves 601 00:34:10,280 --> 00:34:13,480 Elizabeth Sneed: with their families, and so they needed a small army 602 00:34:13,520 --> 00:34:17,400 Elizabeth Sneed: to start processing unemployment documents so that people could start 603 00:34:17,440 --> 00:34:20,279 Elizabeth Sneed: receiving money. And so I joined that team as a 604 00:34:20,400 --> 00:34:23,160 Elizabeth Sneed: volunteer and was recognized by the governor of HOOII at 605 00:34:23,160 --> 00:34:26,640 Elizabeth Sneed: that time. But I had nowhere to land, and I 606 00:34:26,680 --> 00:34:30,319 Elizabeth Sneed: was terrified. I pretty much had a nervous breakdown. I 607 00:34:30,400 --> 00:34:32,920 Elizabeth Sneed: paddled out into the horizon of the ocean on my 608 00:34:33,000 --> 00:34:36,160 Elizabeth Sneed: surfboard and I was crying. I was speaking to the 609 00:34:36,160 --> 00:34:38,680 Elizabeth Sneed: ocean and I said, I mean, I really poured my 610 00:34:38,719 --> 00:34:40,239 Elizabeth Sneed: heart out, and I said to the ocean, I said, 611 00:34:40,280 --> 00:34:43,440 Elizabeth Sneed: I don't know why I'm here and what my purpose is. 612 00:34:43,640 --> 00:34:46,200 Elizabeth Sneed: All I know is that I want to be in 613 00:34:46,280 --> 00:34:48,520 Elizabeth Sneed: the ocean, and I want to serve a purpose greater 614 00:34:48,600 --> 00:34:52,400 Elizabeth Sneed: than myself in connection to the ocean. And I just 615 00:34:52,480 --> 00:34:56,080 Elizabeth Sneed: kept saying that over and over and over until I 616 00:34:56,160 --> 00:34:59,400 Elizabeth Sneed: had cried so much that my eyes were dry, and 617 00:34:59,400 --> 00:35:03,040 Elizabeth Sneed: then back in and the moment that I sat down 618 00:35:03,040 --> 00:35:06,279 Elizabeth Sneed: in my car, I was given It was almost like 619 00:35:06,320 --> 00:35:09,960 Elizabeth Sneed: a divine inspiration. I literally saw and was given the 620 00:35:10,040 --> 00:35:12,680 Elizabeth Sneed: idea for Curvy Surfer Girl. I was given the name, 621 00:35:13,480 --> 00:35:17,160 Elizabeth Sneed: the idea, the concept. I used all of my grassroots 622 00:35:17,200 --> 00:35:21,799 Elizabeth Sneed: campaigning work to build a grassroots movement around women in 623 00:35:21,880 --> 00:35:25,239 Elizabeth Sneed: this space, and I said, this is how I'm going 624 00:35:25,320 --> 00:35:27,279 Elizabeth Sneed: to try and do this. I had to take an 625 00:35:27,440 --> 00:35:30,960 Elizabeth Sneed: enormous risk. I used my rent money to hire a 626 00:35:31,560 --> 00:35:35,720 Elizabeth Sneed: well established surf photographer and that was the very beginning 627 00:35:35,760 --> 00:35:37,919 Elizabeth Sneed: of Curvy Surfer Girl and the rest of its history. 628 00:35:37,960 --> 00:35:40,000 Elizabeth Sneed: It took off. It had over ten thousand followers in 629 00:35:40,080 --> 00:35:43,880 Elizabeth Sneed: ninety days. Six years ago, I made a life changing decision. 630 00:35:44,000 --> 00:35:46,280 Elizabeth Sneed: I moved to Hawai to chase my dream of becoming 631 00:35:46,320 --> 00:35:49,040 Elizabeth Sneed: a surfer. For years, I covered my body and hid 632 00:35:49,080 --> 00:35:51,719 Elizabeth Sneed: my psoriasis, afraid of what people would think of me 633 00:35:51,840 --> 00:35:54,840 Elizabeth Sneed: and my skin. But I decided it was time to 634 00:35:54,840 --> 00:35:58,040 Elizabeth Sneed: get real clear about my skin disease. I learned not 635 00:35:58,200 --> 00:36:01,680 Elizabeth Sneed: to be defined by my body. Beginner to intermediate surfer, 636 00:36:01,960 --> 00:36:04,200 Elizabeth Sneed: I am on a growth journey twenty four to seven, 637 00:36:04,400 --> 00:36:06,600 Elizabeth Sneed: and this is an example of that. I posted a 638 00:36:06,680 --> 00:36:09,200 Elizabeth Sneed: video last week where I missed back to back waves 639 00:36:09,280 --> 00:36:11,800 Elizabeth Sneed: as a form of encouragement for anyone that may be 640 00:36:11,880 --> 00:36:13,920 Elizabeth Sneed: struggling on Most of you know me as a body 641 00:36:13,960 --> 00:36:16,200 Elizabeth Sneed: positive surfer, but you might not know that I've been 642 00:36:16,239 --> 00:36:18,480 Elizabeth Sneed: living with siriasis most of my adult life. 643 00:36:18,600 --> 00:36:21,319 Speaker 3: Now there's an organization helping encourage what suits for all 644 00:36:21,400 --> 00:36:24,040 Speaker 3: body types. I welcome this, but even more than that, 645 00:36:24,120 --> 00:36:27,440 Speaker 3: they're promoting body positivity among female surfers. And on the 646 00:36:27,440 --> 00:36:29,200 Speaker 3: line right now to talk about it is the founder 647 00:36:29,239 --> 00:36:31,440 Speaker 3: of Kirby's Surfer Girl, Elizabeth. 648 00:36:31,440 --> 00:36:32,759 Emily Tisch Sussman: That's up, Elizabeth. 649 00:36:34,040 --> 00:36:37,520 Elizabeth Sneed: Oh oh Kelly, Oh my god. 650 00:36:38,320 --> 00:36:40,680 Emily Tisch Sussman: Wow. Okay, So when you say that you had the idea, 651 00:36:40,880 --> 00:36:43,960 Emily Tisch Sussman: the vision, what was that like? What can you articulate 652 00:36:43,960 --> 00:36:45,960 Emily Tisch Sussman: for us what the vision was and has it evolved 653 00:36:46,000 --> 00:36:46,439 Emily Tisch Sussman: since then? 654 00:36:47,120 --> 00:36:49,719 Elizabeth Sneed: So at the time, as you all know, I have 655 00:36:49,800 --> 00:36:53,400 Elizabeth Sneed: the severe autoimmune disease which affects many parts of my body, 656 00:36:53,440 --> 00:36:57,640 Elizabeth Sneed: one being my metabolism. There for my weight, and I 657 00:36:57,760 --> 00:36:59,480 Elizabeth Sneed: was at the heaviest I had ever been when I 658 00:36:59,520 --> 00:37:01,960 Elizabeth Sneed: had started surfing. I was two hundred and twenty pounds 659 00:37:02,000 --> 00:37:06,640 Elizabeth Sneed: at five feet tall and it was very abnormal to 660 00:37:06,680 --> 00:37:09,279 Elizabeth Sneed: see somebody in this body type surfing, and it was 661 00:37:09,440 --> 00:37:14,799 Elizabeth Sneed: never represented within surf culture prior to colonialization, because prior 662 00:37:14,840 --> 00:37:18,720 Elizabeth Sneed: to colonialization, the Native Hawaiians of all different body shapes 663 00:37:18,760 --> 00:37:23,959 Elizabeth Sneed: and sizes were represented, were welcomed, were depicted throughout time 664 00:37:24,000 --> 00:37:29,040 Elizabeth Sneed: and history in these spaces. Post colonialism into the age 665 00:37:29,080 --> 00:37:34,000 Elizabeth Sneed: of capitalism, that all changed and women became objects for 666 00:37:34,280 --> 00:37:38,680 Elizabeth Sneed: men within surfing. And so to meet that objectification, the 667 00:37:38,719 --> 00:37:43,200 Elizabeth Sneed: standard was blonde, young, and very small. And that's how 668 00:37:43,239 --> 00:37:47,000 Elizabeth Sneed: it was for the last over one hundred years until 669 00:37:47,239 --> 00:37:51,480 Elizabeth Sneed: we showed up. And that was where the very beginning 670 00:37:51,480 --> 00:37:54,160 Elizabeth Sneed: of the body positive movement on social media was starting 671 00:37:54,160 --> 00:37:57,880 Elizabeth Sneed: to rise. And I had seen many body positive influencers, 672 00:37:58,360 --> 00:38:00,279 Elizabeth Sneed: but once again it was in the lens of a 673 00:38:00,280 --> 00:38:04,399 Elizabeth Sneed: more male gaze, more male objectification of women. They were 674 00:38:04,400 --> 00:38:09,360 Elizabeth Sneed: often lingerie models or in you know, scantily claud swimwear 675 00:38:09,680 --> 00:38:13,440 Elizabeth Sneed: in larger bodies. But I was an athlete, and I 676 00:38:13,480 --> 00:38:17,480 Elizabeth Sneed: was like, why can't we see athletes in larger bodies 677 00:38:17,719 --> 00:38:21,319 Elizabeth Sneed: doing sports and athletic things. And at this time, in 678 00:38:21,360 --> 00:38:25,040 Elizabeth Sneed: twenty seventeen, all the way up through twenty twenty, this 679 00:38:25,280 --> 00:38:28,200 Elizabeth Sneed: just was not a thing you know, we've come so 680 00:38:28,360 --> 00:38:31,120 Elizabeth Sneed: far even in five years, but at that time, you 681 00:38:31,239 --> 00:38:34,799 Elizabeth Sneed: just were not seeing female plus size athletes in any 682 00:38:34,840 --> 00:38:35,640 Elizabeth Sneed: athletic space. 683 00:38:36,520 --> 00:38:39,160 Emily Tisch Sussman: Had you been getting as you had started surfing during 684 00:38:39,200 --> 00:38:43,400 Emily Tisch Sussman: that time, had you found barriers in the gear, in 685 00:38:43,440 --> 00:38:46,960 Emily Tisch Sussman: the community, Was it not welcome? Did you get external 686 00:38:47,680 --> 00:38:51,520 Emily Tisch Sussman: like the opposite of validation, like external like a form 687 00:38:51,520 --> 00:38:55,439 Emily Tisch Sussman: of rejection, Yeah yeah, non belonging, Yeah yeah. I would 688 00:38:55,480 --> 00:38:59,560 Emily Tisch Sussman: say it wasn't vocal or in your face. It was 689 00:38:59,760 --> 00:39:03,160 Emily Tisch Sussman: very subliminal, like if you get on social media or 690 00:39:03,200 --> 00:39:05,040 Emily Tisch Sussman: you're walking into a surf shop. 691 00:39:05,560 --> 00:39:09,000 Elizabeth Sneed: At no point is any of this marketed towards women 692 00:39:09,239 --> 00:39:13,520 Elizabeth Sneed: like us, anyone like us, if you're not thirteen to 693 00:39:13,600 --> 00:39:17,359 Elizabeth Sneed: twenty years old, in a certain body type, age demographic, 694 00:39:18,040 --> 00:39:23,680 Elizabeth Sneed: meeting certain standards, it's just obvious in a subliminal, non 695 00:39:24,160 --> 00:39:27,160 Elizabeth Sneed: you know, like verbal way, this is not for you. 696 00:39:27,760 --> 00:39:30,640 Elizabeth Sneed: We don't make swimsuits for you. We don't take pictures 697 00:39:30,680 --> 00:39:33,239 Elizabeth Sneed: of women like you surfing, We don't take videos of 698 00:39:33,280 --> 00:39:37,280 Elizabeth Sneed: people like you surfing. You can, I guess if you want, 699 00:39:37,400 --> 00:39:39,360 Elizabeth Sneed: you know, I'm paraphrasing what was kind of going on 700 00:39:39,400 --> 00:39:41,560 Elizabeth Sneed: in my own mind. It's kind of like, well, if 701 00:39:41,600 --> 00:39:43,840 Elizabeth Sneed: you want to be in this space, like, sure, I 702 00:39:43,840 --> 00:39:46,600 Elizabeth Sneed: guess it's the ocean. Anybody can be in it, but 703 00:39:46,760 --> 00:39:50,320 Elizabeth Sneed: like you don't belong in it. There's nothing for you 704 00:39:50,320 --> 00:39:52,480 Elizabeth Sneed: you can go into at that time. You could go 705 00:39:52,560 --> 00:39:57,319 Elizabeth Sneed: into any corporate surf store, you could go on any 706 00:39:57,480 --> 00:40:00,319 Elizabeth Sneed: social media page dedicated to surfing, and you would never 707 00:40:00,440 --> 00:40:03,840 Elizabeth Sneed: see a woman of a certain body type or age 708 00:40:04,040 --> 00:40:07,560 Elizabeth Sneed: represented in this industry. It just did not happen. And 709 00:40:07,840 --> 00:40:10,720 Elizabeth Sneed: I just kind of said to myself when this vision 710 00:40:10,760 --> 00:40:14,759 Elizabeth Sneed: came to me, the voice I heard was, You're going 711 00:40:14,800 --> 00:40:17,640 Elizabeth Sneed: to be the Ashley Graham of surfing. And I was 712 00:40:17,719 --> 00:40:20,600 Elizabeth Sneed: like very scared. I mean, I was terrified. I'd only 713 00:40:20,640 --> 00:40:25,280 Elizabeth Sneed: been surfing for three years, and I felt extremely unqualified 714 00:40:25,360 --> 00:40:30,000 Elizabeth Sneed: to be someone leading a women's movement in surfing. I'm 715 00:40:30,160 --> 00:40:31,960 Elizabeth Sneed: I feel like this should be going to somebody with 716 00:40:32,080 --> 00:40:35,000 Elizabeth Sneed: way more time in the ocean, way more credibility, way 717 00:40:35,040 --> 00:40:37,959 Elizabeth Sneed: more skill. But it turns out all of those things 718 00:40:37,960 --> 00:40:40,000 Elizabeth Sneed: that I was afraid of ended up being my greatest 719 00:40:40,080 --> 00:40:43,240 Elizabeth Sneed: asset because because I was still learning how to surf, 720 00:40:43,360 --> 00:40:46,600 Elizabeth Sneed: I was relatable to tens of thousands of women, and 721 00:40:46,680 --> 00:40:50,920 Elizabeth Sneed: because I took on this advocacy role that you don't 722 00:40:50,920 --> 00:40:54,080 Elizabeth Sneed: have to be part of the one percent elite to 723 00:40:54,160 --> 00:40:59,399 Elizabeth Sneed: have representation in surfing. That was starting to dismantle this 724 00:41:00,120 --> 00:41:02,640 Elizabeth Sneed: prestige around surfing that you have to be of a 725 00:41:02,680 --> 00:41:05,719 Elizabeth Sneed: certain level or of a certain pedigree to participate in it. 726 00:41:06,239 --> 00:41:09,120 Elizabeth Sneed: That was the beginning of dismantling all of that and 727 00:41:09,160 --> 00:41:13,120 Elizabeth Sneed: then building something new through this grassroots movement of women 728 00:41:13,160 --> 00:41:15,600 Elizabeth Sneed: around the world, and that's how it developed. 729 00:41:16,360 --> 00:41:18,759 Emily Tisch Sussman: Did you have specific goals when you started, like did 730 00:41:18,760 --> 00:41:20,879 Emily Tisch Sussman: you want to get to a certain follower count? Did 731 00:41:20,880 --> 00:41:22,600 Emily Tisch Sussman: you want to get sponsors? Like what did you use 732 00:41:22,640 --> 00:41:24,400 Emily Tisch Sussman: your vision of how you would have known that you 733 00:41:24,440 --> 00:41:25,759 Emily Tisch Sussman: had made it? 734 00:41:26,360 --> 00:41:29,960 Elizabeth Sneed: Honestly, I started this on pure faith. I had no 735 00:41:30,080 --> 00:41:33,120 Elizabeth Sneed: idea if this was going to reach people or not. 736 00:41:33,719 --> 00:41:35,960 Elizabeth Sneed: I used my rent money and I was like, well, 737 00:41:36,120 --> 00:41:37,960 Elizabeth Sneed: I guess you know, if I have to sell a kidney, 738 00:41:37,960 --> 00:41:42,240 Elizabeth Sneed: I'll sell a kidney. But yeah, I mean I knew 739 00:41:42,280 --> 00:41:45,400 Elizabeth Sneed: that it was picking up steam and momentum at that point, 740 00:41:45,920 --> 00:41:49,520 Elizabeth Sneed: and then it just continued. And like the metrics of 741 00:41:49,560 --> 00:41:52,360 Elizabeth Sneed: success I used were, you know, definitely follower account, but 742 00:41:52,440 --> 00:41:57,160 Elizabeth Sneed: really impact, Like I wanted to see change, and if 743 00:41:57,200 --> 00:42:00,000 Elizabeth Sneed: I wasn't seeing change, then I knew I wasn't accomplished 744 00:42:00,239 --> 00:42:02,840 Elizabeth Sneed: my mission, not just for myself but for women around 745 00:42:02,840 --> 00:42:07,240 Elizabeth Sneed: the world, like having swimsuits for women in different body types. 746 00:42:07,719 --> 00:42:10,520 Elizabeth Sneed: One thing that people were not aware of at the time, 747 00:42:10,680 --> 00:42:14,400 Elizabeth Sneed: especially as a woman, is that women's surfing was marketed 748 00:42:14,440 --> 00:42:18,759 Elizabeth Sneed: to women, but everything that was manufactured was manufactured in 749 00:42:18,880 --> 00:42:22,280 Elizabeth Sneed: junior sizing. Yeah, wrap your head around that for a second. 750 00:42:23,040 --> 00:42:27,440 Elizabeth Sneed: All of the swimwear and clothing for quote, women's surfing 751 00:42:27,920 --> 00:42:32,040 Elizabeth Sneed: was manufactured in juniors sizing, and it's actually to this 752 00:42:32,160 --> 00:42:34,640 Elizabeth Sneed: day still on some of the corporate websites that you 753 00:42:34,640 --> 00:42:36,600 Elizabeth Sneed: would go on to if you're going to buy anything 754 00:42:36,640 --> 00:42:40,400 Elizabeth Sneed: from the site, that sizes are in juniors sizes, but 755 00:42:40,520 --> 00:42:45,440 Elizabeth Sneed: it's marketed as women's surfing. And so these were things 756 00:42:45,440 --> 00:42:48,319 Elizabeth Sneed: that I started taking on and I said, this is unacceptable. 757 00:42:48,360 --> 00:42:52,319 Elizabeth Sneed: You can't market women's surfing to women and then be 758 00:42:52,400 --> 00:42:56,279 Elizabeth Sneed: making these in child size clothing. And women around the 759 00:42:56,320 --> 00:42:59,439 Elizabeth Sneed: world are having nervous breakdowns and fitting rooms because they're 760 00:42:59,480 --> 00:43:02,840 Elizabeth Sneed: thinking they're unworthy because of their body, or because of 761 00:43:02,880 --> 00:43:05,840 Elizabeth Sneed: their strength, or whatever the case. Whatever the narrative is, 762 00:43:05,880 --> 00:43:08,640 Elizabeth Sneed: they're telling themselves as a result of not being able 763 00:43:08,680 --> 00:43:12,120 Elizabeth Sneed: to fit into the uniform of what it means to 764 00:43:12,120 --> 00:43:14,680 Elizabeth Sneed: be a surfer, and so my goal was to begin 765 00:43:14,800 --> 00:43:18,680 Elizabeth Sneed: changing those metrics. So it started with swimwear, and then 766 00:43:18,719 --> 00:43:23,919 Elizabeth Sneed: it was media representation and getting even larger media representation 767 00:43:24,160 --> 00:43:27,200 Elizabeth Sneed: so that women could genuinely start seeing themselves in this 768 00:43:27,320 --> 00:43:30,880 Elizabeth Sneed: space and saying, you know what, I've never thought about it, 769 00:43:30,920 --> 00:43:33,279 Elizabeth Sneed: but I do belong in that space. And I never 770 00:43:33,320 --> 00:43:35,040 Elizabeth Sneed: thought about it. But when I went to go try 771 00:43:35,080 --> 00:43:37,200 Elizabeth Sneed: on those swimsuits, It's not my fault that I'm not 772 00:43:37,239 --> 00:43:40,279 Elizabeth Sneed: the right size. It's that the industry was making things 773 00:43:40,280 --> 00:43:43,000 Elizabeth Sneed: that could never fit a standard sized woman to begin with. 774 00:43:43,560 --> 00:43:47,520 Elizabeth Sneed: So I started dismantling those conversations and then starting new 775 00:43:47,560 --> 00:43:52,320 Elizabeth Sneed: ones around increasing sizing and women's swimwear for performance athletics 776 00:43:52,320 --> 00:43:56,080 Elizabeth Sneed: and ocean spaces, and it just kept evolving and developing. 777 00:43:56,360 --> 00:43:57,799 Elizabeth Sneed: An advocacy was huge for that. 778 00:43:58,560 --> 00:44:00,360 Emily Tisch Sussman: Did you always do it full time that at what 779 00:44:00,400 --> 00:44:02,400 Emily Tisch Sussman: point could you monetize it to a point that it 780 00:44:02,600 --> 00:44:05,160 Emily Tisch Sussman: could be your full time job or did you have 781 00:44:05,239 --> 00:44:08,400 Emily Tisch Sussman: to have a different form of employment for revenue and 782 00:44:08,480 --> 00:44:10,880 Emily Tisch Sussman: then work on this as your advocacy and your mission. 783 00:44:11,760 --> 00:44:14,319 Elizabeth Sneed: So I still had to continue being an uber driver 784 00:44:14,719 --> 00:44:17,279 Elizabeth Sneed: because it does still take a long time to get 785 00:44:17,280 --> 00:44:20,640 Elizabeth Sneed: to a point where you're established, even within social media. 786 00:44:21,200 --> 00:44:23,319 Elizabeth Sneed: But I knew that I never wanted to put the 787 00:44:23,360 --> 00:44:28,120 Elizabeth Sneed: burden of income on my audience, which you know some 788 00:44:28,160 --> 00:44:32,080 Elizabeth Sneed: people do very successfully, like they offer different courses and 789 00:44:32,640 --> 00:44:36,080 Elizabeth Sneed: you know, subscription models. And I knew that I wanted 790 00:44:36,080 --> 00:44:41,239 Elizabeth Sneed: to have a community of very amazing, empowered women and 791 00:44:41,440 --> 00:44:43,959 Elizabeth Sneed: I didn't want to have to ask women to pay 792 00:44:44,080 --> 00:44:47,120 Elizabeth Sneed: to have access to this community because I grew up 793 00:44:47,160 --> 00:44:48,920 Elizabeth Sneed: in poverty. So I was like, I'm not going to 794 00:44:48,920 --> 00:44:52,600 Elizabeth Sneed: put more barriers up to women gaining access to something 795 00:44:52,640 --> 00:44:55,480 Elizabeth Sneed: that they already want and need access to by putting 796 00:44:55,520 --> 00:44:59,400 Elizabeth Sneed: the burden onto my followers and my community. And when 797 00:44:59,440 --> 00:45:02,280 Elizabeth Sneed: I say mind, it's really our because it was developed, 798 00:45:02,960 --> 00:45:05,400 Elizabeth Sneed: it was co conspired with everyone that's a follower on 799 00:45:05,400 --> 00:45:07,319 Elizabeth Sneed: this account. I mean, it took everybody to get where 800 00:45:07,320 --> 00:45:10,560 Elizabeth Sneed: we are, But I knew that as the founder of it, 801 00:45:10,640 --> 00:45:12,840 Elizabeth Sneed: I didn't want to put that burden on them, and 802 00:45:12,920 --> 00:45:16,680 Elizabeth Sneed: so my goal was to partner with larger brands both 803 00:45:16,760 --> 00:45:20,920 Elizabeth Sneed: to amplify the voice of this community that we had 804 00:45:21,440 --> 00:45:24,480 Elizabeth Sneed: and then to use their resources to further the mission. 805 00:45:25,160 --> 00:45:27,600 Elizabeth Sneed: And that was always my goal from day one. I 806 00:45:27,680 --> 00:45:29,680 Elizabeth Sneed: was like, I don't want anybody to have to come 807 00:45:29,719 --> 00:45:31,520 Elizabeth Sneed: to Curvy Surfer Girl and think that they have to 808 00:45:31,560 --> 00:45:35,000 Elizabeth Sneed: spend money to exist in this space. I want everyone 809 00:45:35,040 --> 00:45:37,960 Elizabeth Sneed: to immediately know that they're welcomed here and that they 810 00:45:38,000 --> 00:45:40,920 Elizabeth Sneed: belong here, and that whatever resources I have is also 811 00:45:40,960 --> 00:45:46,080 Elizabeth Sneed: their resources. So I started working with large brands that 812 00:45:46,320 --> 00:45:48,920 Elizabeth Sneed: I felt we're in alignment with our mission and our 813 00:45:48,960 --> 00:45:53,759 Elizabeth Sneed: core values and really represented women well in athletic spaces 814 00:45:54,360 --> 00:45:59,120 Elizabeth Sneed: and supported authentically the message of women's body positivity. And 815 00:45:59,440 --> 00:46:02,799 Elizabeth Sneed: then cantinued using those resources I would gain from campaigns 816 00:46:02,800 --> 00:46:05,719 Elizabeth Sneed: to reinvest in the mission of Curvy Surfer Girl to 817 00:46:05,719 --> 00:46:09,680 Elizabeth Sneed: reach more women and strengthen our community. 818 00:46:09,760 --> 00:46:10,919 Emily Tisch Sussman: Do you think you'll pivot again? 819 00:46:11,600 --> 00:46:16,279 Elizabeth Sneed: I'm confident at some point yes, But whatever the pivot includes, 820 00:46:16,400 --> 00:46:19,320 Elizabeth Sneed: I always intend to have it connected to the ocean 821 00:46:19,480 --> 00:46:22,160 Elizabeth Sneed: in one capacity or another. It's been a crazy life 822 00:46:22,200 --> 00:46:25,400 Elizabeth Sneed: and a wild ride, but I'm so thankful for women 823 00:46:25,600 --> 00:46:29,560 Elizabeth Sneed: like you that amplify other women's voices and you know, 824 00:46:29,600 --> 00:46:32,560 Elizabeth Sneed: bring these things to the public because I think it's 825 00:46:32,560 --> 00:46:36,400 Elizabeth Sneed: so important and it's a topic that it's not often considered. 826 00:46:37,040 --> 00:46:38,920 Emily Tisch Sussman: Well, right after this, you're going to teach me to 827 00:46:38,960 --> 00:46:40,000 Emily Tisch Sussman: surf for the first time. 828 00:46:40,239 --> 00:46:42,880 Elizabeth Sneed: Yes, And I'm so excited about that. This is like 829 00:46:43,239 --> 00:46:46,000 Elizabeth Sneed: this is what brings me joy, like introducing women to 830 00:46:46,080 --> 00:46:49,120 Elizabeth Sneed: the ocean. And I think surfing is such an amazing 831 00:46:49,200 --> 00:46:51,879 Elizabeth Sneed: vessel for that because it really reveals to you your 832 00:46:51,960 --> 00:46:56,880 Elizabeth Sneed: strength as a woman and your connection, your inherent connection 833 00:46:57,000 --> 00:47:00,560 Elizabeth Sneed: to nature, and you're belonging to nature through that journey 834 00:47:00,600 --> 00:47:01,200 Elizabeth Sneed: and process. 835 00:47:01,920 --> 00:47:04,120 Emily Tisch Sussman: I'm very excited about this. I've always felt connected to 836 00:47:04,160 --> 00:47:06,799 Emily Tisch Sussman: the ocean. I got a tattoo of a mermaid when 837 00:47:06,800 --> 00:47:07,520 Emily Tisch Sussman: I was seventeen. 838 00:47:07,880 --> 00:47:08,319 Elizabeth Sneed: I love this. 839 00:47:08,360 --> 00:47:10,279 Emily Tisch Sussman: I've always felt very connected to the ocean. But I've 840 00:47:10,320 --> 00:47:12,799 Emily Tisch Sussman: had my own body journey that my body was really 841 00:47:12,800 --> 00:47:15,480 Emily Tisch Sussman: destroyed by having three kids in three years, and so 842 00:47:15,520 --> 00:47:18,200 Emily Tisch Sussman: it took me a couple of years to get really 843 00:47:18,239 --> 00:47:20,640 Emily Tisch Sussman: strong and now I'm the strongest that I've ever been. 844 00:47:20,719 --> 00:47:22,520 Emily Tisch Sussman: And so this is the first time that I've ever 845 00:47:22,600 --> 00:47:24,319 Emily Tisch Sussman: felt strong enough to try surf. 846 00:47:24,360 --> 00:47:28,000 Elizabeth Sneed: It really Yeah, So this is a myth that I 847 00:47:28,000 --> 00:47:31,319 Elizabeth Sneed: have to constantly debunk, you know, especially with women, and 848 00:47:31,960 --> 00:47:34,520 Elizabeth Sneed: I think women are so extraordinary and so much more 849 00:47:34,560 --> 00:47:37,600 Elizabeth Sneed: powerful than they're ever even aware of, even from a 850 00:47:37,640 --> 00:47:41,719 Elizabeth Sneed: physical capacity. I'm constantly reinforcing like it doesn't really take 851 00:47:41,840 --> 00:47:44,680 Elizabeth Sneed: much to get started surfing. The journey is on the 852 00:47:44,800 --> 00:47:48,279 Elizabeth Sneed: learning pretty much anybody can go into the ocean day 853 00:47:48,320 --> 00:47:50,680 Elizabeth Sneed: one as you are right now, as we're sitting on 854 00:47:50,719 --> 00:47:54,040 Elizabeth Sneed: this couch together, and as long as they have a 855 00:47:54,080 --> 00:47:57,160 Elizabeth Sneed: surf instructor with them, you can successfully surf on day one. 856 00:47:57,960 --> 00:48:00,480 Elizabeth Sneed: But surfing is a lifelong journey and it's thing that 857 00:48:00,560 --> 00:48:03,839 Elizabeth Sneed: you develop through time, and you get better and better 858 00:48:03,880 --> 00:48:06,120 Elizabeth Sneed: at as you stay committed to it. And you'll see 859 00:48:06,160 --> 00:48:08,719 Elizabeth Sneed: this as we go into the ocean today, You're going 860 00:48:08,800 --> 00:48:11,560 Elizabeth Sneed: to be using muscles in your shoulders and chests that 861 00:48:11,600 --> 00:48:15,280 Elizabeth Sneed: you've never used before, and they get very fatigued very quickly. 862 00:48:15,320 --> 00:48:18,359 Elizabeth Sneed: But I always remind people, whatever it is, surfing or life, 863 00:48:18,440 --> 00:48:20,240 Elizabeth Sneed: it may be hard, but you can do hard. 864 00:48:20,040 --> 00:48:24,480 Emily Tisch Sussman: Things exactly we do hard things right. Thank you so much, Elizabeth, Yes, 865 00:48:24,520 --> 00:48:30,920 Emily Tisch Sussman: thank you, thank you. Elizabeth still lives in Hawaii and 866 00:48:31,000 --> 00:48:34,760 Emily Tisch Sussman: serfs as much as you possibly can. I can attest. 867 00:48:34,960 --> 00:48:38,360 Emily Tisch Sussman: She is an amazing surfer and even got me close 868 00:48:38,400 --> 00:48:41,160 Emily Tisch Sussman: to up on the board. Be sure to follow her 869 00:48:41,200 --> 00:48:44,080 Emily Tisch Sussman: on Instagram at Kirby Surfer Girls so you can stay 870 00:48:44,160 --> 00:48:47,480 Emily Tisch Sussman: up to date on all her incredible happenings. Talk to 871 00:48:47,520 --> 00:48:51,840 Emily Tisch Sussman: you next week. Thanks for listening to this episode of 872 00:48:51,880 --> 00:48:55,000 Emily Tisch Sussman: She Pivots. I hope you enjoyed it, and if you did, 873 00:48:55,400 --> 00:48:57,880 Emily Tisch Sussman: leave us a rating and tell your friends about us. 874 00:48:58,440 --> 00:49:01,799 Emily Tisch Sussman: To learn more about our guests, follow us on Instagram 875 00:49:01,840 --> 00:49:04,920 Emily Tisch Sussman: at she pivots the Podcast, or sign up for our 876 00:49:04,960 --> 00:49:08,240 Emily Tisch Sussman: newsletter where you can get exclusive behind the scenes content 877 00:49:08,600 --> 00:49:15,080 Emily Tisch Sussman: on our website at she pivots thepodcast dot com. This 878 00:49:15,160 --> 00:49:19,320 Emily Tisch Sussman: episode was produced and edited by Emily Atavelosk, with sound 879 00:49:19,440 --> 00:49:23,080 Emily Tisch Sussman: editing and mixing from Nina Pollock, Audio production and social 880 00:49:23,120 --> 00:49:27,480 Emily Tisch Sussman: media by Hannah Cousins, research by Christine Dickinson, and logistics 881 00:49:27,480 --> 00:49:31,520 Emily Tisch Sussman: and planning by Emma Stopic and Kendall Krupkin. She pivots 882 00:49:31,640 --> 00:49:34,680 Emily Tisch Sussman: is proud to be a part of the iHeart Podcast Network. 883 00:49:36,000 --> 00:49:38,120 Emily Tisch Sussman: I endorse she pivots