In this episode of Creative women, leading change, hosts Mirjana Arlaud and Shea Karssing sit down with Hanli Prinsloo, a record-holding freediver, ocean advocate, and founder of the I AM WATER Foundation.
From growing up on a horse farm far from the sea to diving alongside whales and speaking on the world’s biggest stages, Hanli shares how her journey into freediving became an inward exploration, and how that inner stillness evolved into powerful, evidence-based ocean advocacy.
Together, they explore why people protect what they love, how authentic storytelling moves audiences from awareness to behaviour change, and why connection is one of the most effective tools for conservation.
This is a conversation about courage, vulnerability, leadership — and what happens when we help people fall in love with the natural world.
Episode highlights
-
How Hanli discovered freediving and why it felt like “coming home”
-
Why authenticity and vulnerability are essential to meaningful advocacy
-
The philosophy behind the I AM WATER Foundation’s ocean connection work
-
How ocean experiences create measurable, long-term behaviour change
-
Why awareness alone doesn’t change behaviour, but connection does
-
What gives Hanli hope for the future of ocean conservation
Quotes by Hanli
“I found that sense of wilderness again that I had on the farm as a kid. And sort of lost in my life as a teen. And that was the window that became the door into freediving.”
“If statistics and data and awareness really changed behavior, we wouldn't be where we are because we've known so many of these things for so long… Now we need to translate it in a way or share it in a way that it touches people and that they actually want to change.”
“Something we've heard in almost all the areas we've worked in is children coming up and saying, ‘When I was in the ocean and floating, snorkeling, looking down, feeling the water, I felt like all my troubles were so far away’.”
“People protect who and what they love.”
Resources and actions from this episode
- Support the I AM WATER Foundation
- Watch the TED Talk: The way we think about charity is dead wrong
- Read All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katharine K. Wilkinson
- Reflect → What’s one way you could experience nature this week?
