The outdoors industry, and specifically the sports we focus on at Board Women (surf, skate, snowboarding) are always at risk of feeling like they are a club. One that’s pretty tight knit when it comes to the people working behind the scenes. And yet, as I’m increasingly finding, it’s actually an incredibly supportive community of people who just love the space they operate in, and can’t quite believe their luck that they get to do this every day.
Hannah Bailey is one of those people, and when I first started this business, her name came up again and again as someone I should interview for the podcast, initially from a mutual contact in the agency world (it turns out we both spent time at this same agency, narrowly missing each other, small world).
“I wanted to be part of working in the industry, because if I could work in that space, I could push it to other people who’d not tried [these sports], and they would get the same benefits that I found. Because I really quickly found this connection to people, to community, to nature, to outdoors, to sport. It was just so fulfilling.”
Hannah has independently carved out a pretty enviable niche in the industry, chasing down female led stories across different mediums and sports, and highlighting the people and issues that rarely get coverage. It’s led her to create films like Thrawn (featuring Lesley Mckenna) for Patagonia, Wandering with Huck, Land of Skate with Skatistan, and more recently showing at Kendal Mountain Festival, ‘A Land for Everyone’ with Lyndsey, of Neighbourhood Skate Club. The latter involved a tour of the highlands in Scotland on boards and with hiking boots.
Outside her pretty illustrious film, writing and photography career, Hannah works with Lesley to provide access to the mountains and make it feel like an accessible space for all, through the guise of ‘Wandering Workshops’.
“People feel like they don’t belong. My job is to tell them I’m a kook too. On the last one I went a bit far - we were going to hike into a glen and we were packing our packs - peopel weren’t sure if they were doing their bag right - so I said “no-one knows how to use their pack properly” and half an hour later my helmet went flying off my pack down the glen”
Hannah clearly loves mountain life in Scotland. Whether it’s trail running, snowboarding, or split boarding, she’s out there, but things have been more challenging since having kids, and like any of us who are mums, it’s a battle between doing the things that make you happy (and arguably a better mum); and feeling guilty about taking time away, from work or from family:
“I’m quite an all over the place creative. I like to dip my toe into lots of different projects all at once, and I love that. But since becoming a mum I’ve learned to compartmentalise a little bit and that’s helped me a lot. Today I need to work on this project in the time I have. Today I need to be mum and I want to have fun with her, not looking at my phone. I try to find that balance where I’m working and can be financially ok, creatively fuelled, and then I’m not working.”
I love this interview for its honesty on what it takes to be a creative in a competitive industry; for the frank discussion on feeling like an imposter, and the general upbeat nature of talking to Hannah as someone who has so much enthusiasm for her work, and life.
We cover:
Why falling should still be fun as an adult, and we should do more of it
Giving up a job to work in Cambodia with Tony Hawk (and him not turning up) - and how it all worked out later
First experiences of a snowboard season in the Alps
Opening up the industry to others, particularly women
Documenting the women’s skate scene
Finding your priorities as a mum (and always getting outside)
This one’s a good one! Let me know what you think & please do share if you enjoyed it.
A few bits of news before we go:
We have our next Culture Skate event in London on Saturday June 6th - 2 hours in a private skatepark, lunch and then visiting the Southbank 50 exhibition - come join us!
It’s episode 50 (how did that happen?) We’d love to hear from you about the podcast. Who would you love to hear from in future? What would you love us to discuss? Feel free to DM on here, or on instagram - and remember to subscribe to the podcast on your favourite platforms - Spotify here and Apple here - so you don’t miss an episode
If you want to join our whatsapp groups for meet us - DM me on instagram. We’ve got lots going on in the south east, but we have tons of people joining from other areas of the UK, and from many different countries - so we are looking at a model with chapter leaders in different markets and locations. DM me if this is something you want to be part of.
See you next time for an interview with Gilly McArthur - cold water swimming coach and expert, snowboarder, and author of soon to be released Beauty of Cold - see you then!
Caroline x
Board Women Founder
