Hi Charli! How did you become involved in the LEGO ‘She Built That’ initiative?
C: When I'd been asked to be an ambassador for the She Built That initiative, I jumped at the opportunity. Not only do I get to help inspire young girls to have confidence to build their dreams, I’ve also always been a huge fan of building with LEGO bricks! I would build for hours, and always looked forward to getting new LEGO sets every Christmas and Birthdays.
Building is more than just physically building. What’s something in your career so far that you’ve built that you’re really proud of?
C: I’m really proud of the passion that I’ve grown and the skill set I’ve built in surfing in such a short time. It's allowed me to travel the world from the age of 13 and now I’m competing against surfers from all over the world – that’s pretty cool
Why do you think the ‘She Built That’ message is so important and how can TGs get involved?
C: The ‘She Built That’ message is SO important for young girls as historically we haven’t had the confidence or opportunity that boys have and it's really a message to girls to say “hey, you are amazing! You can do anything you can dream of and if you believe in yourself nothing will stop you”.
Young girls just need to start with an idea. Start building whatever is in their heads, whatever they are passionate about. Building LEGO sets helps young girls to get creative and see what they come up with grows confidence. Hopefully they can use the confidence to build their dreams into a reality.
As well as being an awesome surfer, we also hear that you’re quite creative! Tell us about your other creative passions.
C: Surfing is such a creative sport and my love for art and music really resonates with that. I love being able to create both in and out the water. Singing, playing guitar and writing songs is kind of my way of expressing myself and drawing and painting also helps me make sense of what’s in my head. I love the endless possibilities with art - there’s no rules.
Where do you find inspiration for your creativity?
C: I tend to use the ocean as inspiration for my music and art. There’s a lot of emotion that comes with competitive surfing and social media. I use art and music to help me make sense of that.
What’s the bravest thing you’ve ever done?
C: One of the bravest things I’ve done was getting on a plane by myself to travel across the world to a competition. Mum and Dad couldn’t come and I desperately wanted to do it, so I funded the trip with my own money. I made the final of that comp and was so proud and happy that I had committed to chasing my dream as it had really scared me before I got there.
Wow! Who is someone that you look up to?
C: I look up to every woman who has competed at the Olympics for their country. To get to that point, you have to have had a dream and believed in it day in day out, made sacrifices and dedicated everything to chasing that dream.
Stay tuned for more of our chat with Charli in an upcoming issue of Total Girl! 🏄♀️
What's something that you've built that you're proud of, TGs? It could be something creative, or something important to you like kindness or confidence. Let us know in the comments!
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