EP 13 | Zara Hoogenraad - kitesurfing, building community and being open online

Zara Hoogenraad is one of the most recognised names in Big Air kitesurfing — a GKA tour competitor, two-time King of the Air runner-up, world champion, Capital.com and Mystic team rider, and one of the only women in the sport building a genuinely engaged community around the reality of being a female professional athlete. She started kitesurfing at 23, partying her way between sessions in Tarifa from a converted camper van. Seven years later she was world champion.

This is a wide-ranging, honest and deeply personal conversation. They cover Zara's origin story and the turning point that took her from festivals to full-time training, how she spiralled into negative self-talk and isolation early in her career and what therapy and journaling changed for her, the shock of being dropped by Core after five years and how she processed it, and why she genuinely believes performance alone is no longer enough to sustain a career in professional kitesurfing. There's also an excellent thread on strength training and why lifting changed her riding, her plans for a women's coaching boat trip and girls' day, the algorithm and bikinis debate, what it's actually like to edit YouTube videos in CapCut when it keeps crashing, and why her biggest goal right now is still to win King of the Air.

Raw, funny and refreshingly grounded. 🌊

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction01:21 From party girl to professional athlete — Zara's origin story05:33 Therapy, journaling and the mindset shift07:15 Starting late and becoming world champion10:13 Aging as an athlete — fear, injury and changing how you train13:33 What the party years taught her17:51 Journaling methods and the Mind Journal21:30 Training alone with the guys and feeling isolated24:36 Opening up to her boyfriend and her community28:44 The Diary of a Kitesurf Girl — building a female YouTube community31:10 Being dropped by Core — processing it and moving forward35:09 Adapting to new kites and rebuilding confidence39:00 Teaching girls to kite loop — and why understanding beats just going for it41:36 Plans for a women's coaching boat trip43:42 The mental side of coaching girls — fear, comparison, confidence47:03 Social media, likes, the algorithm and bikinis52:00 What content creation actually costs — time, editing, boundaries55:41 Morning routines, dog walks and brainstorming with AI58:22 Filming angles, gear quality and content creativity1:07:00 Cold Hawaii, injury, and getting back on the water1:09:00 Becoming world champion — the setbacks, the proof, the moment1:11:42 Goals, King of the Air and how to handle not reaching them1:16:02 Focus on what you can contro1:19:18 How Zara's workout posts got Sasha lifting1:20:32 Strength training for kitesurfers — why it matters more than you think1:24:05 A secret Mystic design?1:25:23 Closing thoughts