Dawn Riley - Professional Sailor, Speaker and Author

Name: Dawn Riley

Age: 44

Occupation/Job Title: Professional Sailor, Speaker, Author

Description of where you work, and what you do:

I work anywhere there is work. I’m currently based in Michigan and mainly work on the coasts of the US.

Education: Describe the education, apprenticeships, or any learning experiencesthat were necessary to learn the skills for your job, to acquire the credentials or degrees, and to qualify you to do your job.

My degree in Advertising may on the surface have nothing to do with my professional choices but when you look a tiny bit deeper it becomes obvious that this advertising education has helped me in everything from gaining sponsorship for my campaigns to helping to promote myself in my speaking career.

History: Describe the history that led you to doing “what you love,” as a career:early interests, experiences, motivation.

I grew up sailing with my family. I started competing when I was about 13. I worked on boats to put myself through college and when I couldn’t find a ’real job’ I took a boat job in Florida. Before I knew it I had progressed from working and sailing on race boats to being hired just to race. I always knew that I loved sailing and competing but it took me a while to realize that it WAS possible to make it a career. I now spread the word whenever I can that “if you can dream it – you can do it”.

Obstacles: Describe any obstacles you had to overcome to do what you do now.

Of course being a woman in this sport has been an obstacle. When we were doing the 1st around the world race there were quite a few sponsors who declined our offer because they thought that we would die and they didn’t want to be responsible for our deaths. The media thought we were a publicity stunt and initially the other sailors didn’t really like having us around and didn’t take us seriously. In the end we raced around the world, finishing in 2nd place and the media loved us. The most important part for us though was that our fellow sailors were the first to realize that we were skilled and quickly became our biggest supporters.

Mentors: Describe others who affirmed your goal of doing “what you love,” and/or helped you in some way to reach your goal.

There were quite a few other sailors who supported me from the time I was about 15. They were all men because there were no women at the top level. I have been lucky to have supportive friends throughout my life.Advice: Is there any advice that you would give to a young person about doing “whatyou love?” see quote above – also always have more than one goal and when you see the chance open up to follow that dream – be flexible enough to chase it.