When you think of Jessica Watson you tend to think of a girl who followed her dream to sail solo around the world at 16. 

A girl, who despite severe criticism from the public, media and even politicians, followed her dream to be the youngest round the world, solo sailor, with the help of her little pink boat – Ella’s Pink Lady.

One of the keynote speakers at the Luminosity Youth Summit in 2018 she engaged the crowd on day one, talking of passion, struggle, practice and triumph.

“When I found my why, my passion, I weighed the risks associated, surrounded myself with the right people to help and made the choice to break my goal down into manageable pieces,” Jessica said.

“People are honestly surprised to learn that growing up I was the shy, timid child.

“Boats had always been a part of my family – we even lived on one for a few years – but for the most part I was dragged along the ride.

“I was terrified of everything, so much so, when we were on our boat in bad weather I would hide under the table ‘comforting’ our pet bird.

“I never was the adventure seeker and it got so bad my mum had a kind of campaign to try and make me less timid.

“To do this she would read adventure books to my siblings and I.”

And, Jessica said, it was by listening to the story about a young sailor called Jesse, that her world changed.

“When I heard Jesse Martin’s story I had an epiphany moment,” she said.

“He was just an ordinary guy who followed his dream and I thought if he could do that, what could I do?

“His story sparked a passion inside me and I had the audacity to dream but reality crashed down when I realised I was still a shy and timid girl.

“But you know what I did? I decided to pretend to be brave; I knew I had the skills and so instead of hiding under the table in bad weather, I pretended to be brave and it actually helped until I wasn’t that timid little girl anymore.”

She said learning to break down goals into manageable steps is how she ended up being able to tackle her round the world voyage – solo.

“Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than the outright danger itself.

“At the time, and even now, people question how my parents allowed me to head out to sea on my own.

“But the thing is, it wasn’t just me.

“I had my support crew back home and we had done years of planning to ensure we – my little pink boat and I – were ready.

“It had taken us a long time; we had asked for help and overcome a lot of challenges so by the time I left we were confident.”

READ MORE: Action from the 2018 Luminosity Youth Summit on day one.

Jessica also spoke about learning from failure and the need to have a lot of practice.

“Most people remember I sailed from my home in Queensland to Sydney to start my sail and during that time I crashed into a shipping container.

“It was in that moment I knew this would be my make or break moment.

“But after all the preparations and planning my training kicked in and I went into recovery mode, ensuring I was safe and my boat was okay.

“The next morning we woke to the world telling me I can’t go but it was in that moment I knew I had the confidence in myself.

“Not because I crashed but because when it came down to it, my training kicked and everything worked.

“A wise person said courage is not the absence of fear but rather doing it anyway.

“My dangerous idea came about because I was frustrated about always being overlooked, by being judged because I was the smallest, but when I heard Jesse’s story I had the audacity to dream and to make a choice.

“Because a dream is just a dream until you make a choice and with solid support and passion anything is possible.”