Ep.165 I Deciding to Survive a Decade at Sea: From Shipwreck to Scholar with Suzanne Heywood
What’s it like to be pulled from your home at just seven years old and set adrift on the open ocean? How do you survive ten years of brutal storms, danger, and isolation on a small yacht with your family?
In this episode, Suzanne Heywood shares the chaos of her childhood spent sailing around the world—constant physical and emotional storms, tight living spaces, and the fight to hold onto hope. She reveals how those raw, unpredictable years forged a resilience that she carried into her career, pushing boundaries and thriving in the corporate world.
KEY TOPICS
- How Suzanne’s father’s quest for status put his family through storms, running low on food, and life at sea for ten years.
- Living in perpetual motion: How Suzanne coped with isolation, chaos, and a lack of control over her own life.
- Why Suzanne clung to education as her lifeline—and the extreme lengths she went to just to get off the boat.
- From isolation to Oxford: The pivotal steps Suzanne took to earn her freedom and chart her own course.
CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro: Defeating Bad Decision-Making in Life and Business
00:50 When Sanger Lived on Ramen
03:13 Introducing Suzanne Heywood
04:21 Suzanne’s Family’s Decision to Sail Around the World
06:37 Early Childhood Questions About the Voyage
09:00 Suzanne’s Father’s Motivation for the Voyage
11:25 Questionable Parental Decisions
13:41 Dangers and Limited Food on the Boat
16:04 Life at Sea: Loneliness, Limited Friendships, and Schooling
18:28 Food Shortages
20:46 Stuck on the Boat
23:10 A Manipulated “Vote” to Keep Sailing
32:55 Education as Suzanne’s Escape from the Boat
40:01 Limited Communication and Correspondence Challenges
47:08 Sacrifices Made to Pursue Education
49:33 Struggles of University Life and Financial Hardships
51:56 Suzanne’s Reflections on Parental Choices and Financial Strain
57:26 Suzanne Heywood’s Decision-Making Tip for Business Owners
57:48 Key Takeaways
59:47 Message from the Producer
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CONNECT WITH SUZANNE HEYWOOD
Website: www.suzanneheywood.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzanneheywood
Facebook: www.facebook.com/suzanne.heywood
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/suzanneheywood1
Suzanne Heywood’s story is anything but typical. At just seven years old, she was pulled from her home and set adrift on a small yacht with her family, facing ten years of brutal storms, danger, and isolation on the world’s most unforgiving oceans. It’s a tale of grit and survival that shaped her into the powerhouse she is today. Now a respected business leader, Suzanne is here to share her wild, unfiltered journey, captured in her memoir, Wavewalker.