Chasing Mavericks

Why you should do what you can’t.

Published in

The Startup

5 min readAug 10, 2019

“A pirate, they have all the treasure! No, wait, 🤔I’d be a lifeguard so I can swim all day and wear those cool shorts. No, no, no what am I saying, I’d definitely be a fighter pilot, I’m going to be just like Tom Cruise in Top Gun!”

What did you want to be as a kid?

When we’re young the possibilities are endless, the ideas overflowing and the notion of, “you can’t,” doesn’t seemingly register as an end game.

Fast-forward twenty years however and you’ll most likely find the majority of those young eager souls have swapped their emphatic ideologies for more “realistic” grown-up ambitions.

The notion of being realistic is something many seem to think will inevitably catch up with you. After all, most of us have probably at some point in our life heard the phrase, it’s time to grow up and do something with your life.

Did you end up where you thought you’d be? Are you a fire fighter, jet pilot, doctor, lawyer or any of the other things you so proudly proclaimed you’d be whilst playing in the sandbox?

Do what you can’t

What does that mean I hear you ask? Well, it means exactly that. If you look for it you will notice that all too often in life people feel the need to proclaim, “you can’t”. You can’t kite surf like everyone else, you’re disabled, you can’t fly drones you’re just a girl, you can’t start your own company you don’t have any clients.

If you hear this enough in your life, subconsciously it starts to sit in your brain like a disease and before you know it, boom, you start to think it yourself without ever really realising where this paralysing self doubt came from.

Look out for this pesky little phrase, if you hear it, question it with everything you’ve got because chances are, you can.

Did you know it’s possible to make a living sailing boats around the world? You can even make a good career out of being the person on a boat that takes the pictures! You can get paid to travel to some of the most exotic hotels in the world purely to give your opinion. If you’re a luxury hotel lover then why can’t you start your own travel magazine? Like to write? Ever thought of writing a book? Do you love being in the water? Then what about becoming a marine biologist, running research projects on remote islands in the Maldives?

If your gut instinct to any of these questions is, yes I’d love to but no I couldn’t possibly. Someone’s got to be responsible, feed the dog, pay the mortgage, put the kids through school, I’m not 20 anymore. If any of this even crosses your mind then I think it’s safe to say you are completely and utterly normal.

Surround yourself with Mavericks

In my life I’ve had the honour of being surrounded by people that push boundaries, who, “do different”, without seemingly a sideways glance. The really incredible thing is most of them are stunningly humble about it. Like the book The Dao of Pooh will teach you, they just are. These are people deaf to the term, you can’t, these words just fuel their resolve and encourage them to go out and attack the world anyway.

What’s a Maverick?

A Maverick is something or someone that breaks the norm, is unorthodox, unapologetically different and happy to be so. They’re not out to prove they’re better than you, they just thrive on the prospect of why not and what if.

I have a theory about chasing Mavericks, both personally and in your career, which is that most people will never even look.

If you do look and you’re lucky enough to find them, they’re like unicorns, something to be treasured. Don’t get me wrong, finding your Maverick will test you and throw your comfort zones all out of whack. In my experience this discomfort is fleeting and one day that anxiety will turn into a story you grow old telling.

Chasing Mavericks

Since starting my company I have flown drones over waves the size of skyscrapers (even though as a girl no one ever assumes you’re the pilot). I’ve climbed up the mast of a grand prix racing yacht to get the perfect shot, chased boats in rough seas until I’m soaking wet, climbed cranes in shipping yards and helped launch crowdfunding campaigns without a clue how to do it. There were moments of paralysing self doubt and incredible discomfort but looking back I remember only the adventure and the pride that came with giving it a go.

These are what I call the Mavericks, the projects, people and places that a lifetime of stories are built on, and if you’re lucky enough, your career as well.

So if you were the kid with big ambitions, what would you say to that kid today?

Would the eight year old you be proud of where you ended up? Are you doing what you can’t, loving what you do and rocking the world? If not then why not?

If you’re looking for an excuse not to get out there and chase your own Mavericks, I can tell you right now there will be plenty of them. Sometimes you’ve just got to say screw it, let’s do it. I wager this decision will rarely disappoint you.

So go do what you can’t

Growing up I never played with remote control planes with my Dad and my brother, I had no idea about accounting, none of the skills to film a video and avoided conflict like the plague.

Today I’m a qualified drone pilot following the stories of amazing brands around the world. From photos to videos, websites and alternative content, I do it all, but only because I found the things that excited me and went hunting for more.