"Until we have women in leadership and female owners, we are not going to make progress. If you have one woman on the board of directors it makes no difference because they are often seen as the token female. If you have two women, it starts to make a difference, and once you get to three you are making the company more successful because you have a different perspective. If you want to be competitive, you need to have different points of view, you need to have diversity."

Yes, the first Women's America's Cup trophy is a historic event, but it shouldn't be missed that women have competed at the America's Cup in the past. In fact, Dawn Riley was one of the sailors on the 1992 winning America's Cup team, and in 1995 Dawn was the team captain of an all women's team that competed for the America's Cup. So when considering questions like, what needs to change to enable greater gender equity in the sport of professional sailing? And is the Women's America's Cup trophy truly progress? It wouldn't be right to come up with answers without speaking to one of the trailblazers in the sport, and leaders creating opportunities for women in the sport of sailing.

From the importance of diversity in leadership, to staying true to yourself, being consistent, and the importance of being authentic, our conversation is both inspiring and eye opening. I hope you enjoy our conversation as much as I did.

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