Natalie Allport was a professional snowboarder but has now decided to pursue a new challenge.

NATALIE ALLPORT grew up in an adventurous family and found herself snowboarding at a young age. She went on to compete for the Junior National Team and competed in events and competitions around the world.

Today Natalie is focussed on completing her business degree and has ambitions to start and run a media and marketing company. She is also passionate about CrossFit and is currently working on an exciting project which you can read more about here.

In this exclusive interview Natalie talks to us about what keeps her motivated and some of her biggest career and life accomplishments to date.

When did you realise you had a passion for adventure and who and what were any strong influences early on in life?

I guess I was always adventurous growing up! My family moved a few times growing up and we also spent every summer at our family cottage so I think that influenced my sense of adventure. I spent a lot of time on my own or with my brother those summers and there wasn’t much else to do other than go on adventures. We didn’t watch much TV and we were never allowed video games (which we despised at the time)! Also, my mum always talked about all her dream travel destinations and that wanderlust kind of passed down to me.

When did you start snowboarding and could you tell us about some of your  achievements in the sport?

I started snowboarding when I was 11 or 12. I started competing in 2009 in small local competitions. In 2011 I won a competition called the ‘Billabong Flaunt It’ and that was when things kind of took off! I was 17 at the time and beat out some older girls that I had seen in snowboard magazines, so that was pretty cool for me.

Natalie is currently focussed on finishing her business degree and running her own media and marketing company. photo Matt Zambonin (@zambonin)

Where in the world did your snowboarding career take you and what were some of the highlights?

That summer Slopestyle Snowboarding was announced as an Olympic sport, and I was put on the newly formed Junior National Team. During my snowboard career I got to go to lots of dream destinations. I’ve been all around North America, competed in Spain, and even competed in Turkey!

My highlights were definitely the Junior World Championship trips (Spain and Turkey). Hanging out with all the other athletes from around the world was pretty cool. Getting to represent your country is a really incredible feeling. Competing at World Cup events are always something I will remember as well as I got to compete against my childhood idols and the best snowboarders in the world.

My career highlight was probably placing ninth at Junior World Champs in 2012. I had gotten pretty sick that trip so it felt good to put a run down and come top ten in the world!

Could you tell me more about the project you’re currently working on and where can our readers find out more?

For various reasons, personal and otherwise, I’ve decided to ‘retire’ somewhat from competitive snowboarding. I’m currently concentrating on finishing up my business degree and running my own media and marketing business! I provide social media management services for several businesses. I’m also really into CrossFit and have a project I’m working on with photographer Matt Zambonin. It’s kind of a behind the scenes look into my life and CrossFit training. The link to that is here.

Do you have any goals or ambitions after that and what gives you the inspiration to keep motivated in everything you do?

My goals are to keep training and pushing myself in CrossFit and reach a high level in that, keep learning and growing as a person, and to expand my business! I also want to keep going on adventures around the world. My solo trip to Bali has me hooked on doing that sort of thing. These are all things that make me happy and that I enjoy doing so it’s easy to stay motivated on making them happen! Some days I definitely need some extra inspiration which I get from my friends and family who all exemplify what it means to work hard to accomplish your goals.

Natalie is passionate about CrossFit and is working on a project with photographer Matt Zambonin.

What would your message to those, especially women, who are inspired by your confidence and life achievements?

My message would be to truly believe you can accomplish anything because with that mindset and a hard work ethic, you’ll achieve great things. Also to have the confidence to let go of anything that no longer feeds your soul. Sometimes you change what you want, and sometimes you have to give things up to make room for greater things and that’s all normal and okay.

To follow Natalie’s adventures find her on Instagram @natalieallport or visit her website www.natalieallport.ca.