Think Big, Dream Bigger.
At the age of 21, Holly threw herself out of a perfectly good aeroplane for the first time in New Zealand. That sixty seconds of adrenaline (and sheer terror) changed the course of her life forever. It hadn’t occurred to her that people were getting paid to jump out of aeroplanes for a living! Funnily enough Holly’s school career’s advisor hadn’t mentioned this!
Background:
Holly decided that was the job she wanted - jumping out of aeroplanes! Six months later, with lots of training, dedication and hard work, she achieved her rather far-fetched goal. On reflection, she refers to this as the ‘boldness’ of youth as when she set herself that goal, she knew nobody in NZ, she knew nothing about skydiving or filming but none of that mattered because she knew she could learn those skills or at least try. Achieving this goal gave Holly immense confidence and self-belief that she could achieve whatever she set her mind too.
Following on with this positive mindset, Holly holds two world records under her belt so far, including being the first woman to skydive Everest and race semi-wild horses 1000 kms across Mongolia in just nine days.
Current work:
Documentary maker
Recently Holly immersed herself with the Black Mambas, an all female, front-line, anti poaching team in South Africa and she documented their work on film. Holly aims to inspire women globally by showing real life examples of ordinary women who achieve extraordinary things. The Black Mambas are a great example of this and are one of the projects ‘How Many Elephants’ is supporting. Holly’s next adventure is to hike the Great Wall of China in its entirety of 3000 miles to humbly carry out research into how elephant ivory fits into their culture and their deep rooted traditions and beliefs. Why? Because she’s curious and passionate about raising awareness of the elephant ivory crisis. Holly believes passion has the power to make a change, personally, locally and globally.
Education:
Four years ago, Holly graduated with a masters in Sustainable Design and this opened up a world of possibility, knowledge and passion for her.
Charity work:
Her award-winning charity ‘How Many Elephants’ was born. Holly’s adventures moving forward have a strong social and environmental purpose. She summited Mount Everest to raise awareness and funds for ‘How Many Elephants’. To date, Holly has raised £300k.
Her mantra is ‘Think Big, Dream Bigger’.
