Isabelle Autissier is an extraordinary woman. In 1991 at the age of 34, the French yachtswoman realised her childhood dream to sail around the world when she took part in the BOC Challenge. She is the first woman to have completed such an undertaking.
She is an iconic figure in France who is admired for the courage, determination and understatement on which she leads her life.
In this interview she has a message for young people: “Dream, there is so much going on around you. Go, take a look, and try out opportunities. Then choose two or three topics that really interest you and be prepared to work hard.”
Today, Autissier is President of WWF France and a staunch advocate for the environment. “These ever more frequent pandemics are due to the fact that we are destroying the environment in the name of profit. We have to stop thinking that GDP is the only thing that counts otherwise we will reach a point of no return. The sea has taught me that nature is not at our disposal, it does not belong to us…”
Many more key learnings came from her time at sea as she tells us in this video interview.