Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Senna Leith. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Senna, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

When I was 15, I took the risk of deciding to specialize within the sport of snowboarding and chase a career racing professional snowboardcross. I was an avid, competitive snowboarder up until this point, but I hadn’t chosen a specific discipline to specialize in. I had come to a crossroads in which path I wanted to take with my snowboarding. I knew that I loved racing snowboardcross, and it was a sport that I had a decent amount of natural talent to build upon. At this point I had the opportunity to join the International Snowboard Training Center (ISTC) – an international private team, and the most successful of its kind in the world. I knew doing this was entirely jumping in the deep end, and meant fully committing to a career in snowboardcross. I was all for it though. I was ready for the level of intensity and training that the ISTC program was going to bring to my career. The ISTC provided me with the coaching and tools that I needed, and from there it was entirely up to my own hard work and discipline to make it to the professional level that I desired. My first year on ISTC introduced me to an international level of competition for the first time. My second year saw me start to have some success racing at that pro-am level and qualifying for my first Jr World Championship team. My third year saw me gain my first podium on the pro-am level. My fourth year saw me achieve my first win on that stage. My fifth year saw me win the North American overall title, securing a spot for myself on the World Cup stage for the following season. My sixth year saw me reach a World Cup podium in the team event. My seventh year saw me achieve my first top-6 result on the World Cup stage in the individual event – securing myself a spot on the US Snowboard Team for the following season. Committing to the pathway of racing snowboardcross, and by joining the ISTC team, I turned a dream of becoming a professional snowboarder into a reality. Joining the ISTC and following the path set for me by my coaches allowed me to qualify onto the US Snowboard Team, and from there I have continued to reach milestones I dreamed about as a kid – such as standing on the World Cup podium in the main individual event. I knew at the time that joining the ISTC team was a risk in terms of where I was committing that chapter of my life towards. I had goals, and I was hungry to achieve them. Looking back, what I viewed as a risk at the time, turned out to be the most influential decision I ever made within my snowboarding career.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I am a professional snowboarder and photographer – born and raised in Colorado. I was introduced to snow sports at a young age. I started skiing when I was 4, and I started snowboarding when I was 7 – I haven’t been back on skis since. Snowboarding was a huge passion of mine since I was a little kid, and as I grew up I started to get involved in small , local competitions. Over time I progressed to larger scale competitions. By age 15 I had started to compete on an international level, and at age 19 I started traveling the world full-time competing on the World Cup stage. Snowboarding has become my primary work – my full time job. Throughout my journey in snowboarding, I became extremely passionate about photography. The travels provided by my snowboarding career aided in the development of my photography skills. Over time, photography became a serious second passion of mine, and I started to create an additional career using my camera. The connections and opportunities that I had forged through my snowboarding career helped in jumpstarting my photography career. I became able to travel and work in multiple ways. Snowboarding is entirely my main focus, but everywhere I go you can find me shooting landscapes, adventures, portraiture, product and brand work.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Life throws lots of curveballs at all of us. This past spring/summer I was thrown many of these curveballs all at once. I was dealing with different conflicts and trauma, and I knew I needed to do something drastic. I decided to go and live out my truck for a month and a half and visit a bunch of national parks all across the western half of the United States. I needed to find myself again, and grow. I needed to get outside of my comfort zone and push myself. I feel whenever life is challenging us, it’s a call for us to grow, and to pivot along our journey. I didn’t have a plan for this trip, and I didn’t even know where I was going to sleep the first night I left. The lack of planning was great though, and allowed me to healthily challenge myself every day. These challenges allowed me to progress personally in so many ways. This road trip I took ended up having profound effects on the personal and professional aspects of my life. My mental health developed, my physical training developed, I learned new skillsets, I learned new ways to manage my time and workflows, I created many new friends and networking connections, and learned knew philosophies in how to navigate life. This was without a doubt the biggest period of growth I have ever had. All aspects of my life, whether that be personal or professional, progressed in many ways. Sometimes when dealt with lots of adversity, we can use that adversity for growth and to pivot by finding a new way forward that better suits us.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

I wish that earlier in my career I was more comfortable in reaching out for help. There’s a desire to be independent in all of us, and sometimes that can limit us from reaching our full potential. It’s important to surround ourselves with role models we admire, and to constantly have a desire to improve ourselves and our skillsets. There’s no shame in reaching out for help or advice from those you value and look up to. By reaching out, you can capitalize on your own time. Our time is finite, and we don’t want to waste it. If you can aid in your personal progression by reaching out to a mentor or role model, do it.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sennaleith.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sennaleith/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/senna.leith/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/SennaLeith
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@SennaLeith
• Other: Athlete Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/SennaLeithSBX/ Photography Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/shotbysenna/