At 16, Jessica Watson sailed around the world. Her next move was one no one expected.

When Jessica Watson sailed back into Sydney Harbour at 16 years old, Australia stood still. The teenager, who'd spent 210 days alone at sea, was the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe solo, non-stop and unassisted.

We called her a hero. A national treasure. A modern-day explorer. And the question on everyone's lips was simple: What's next?

Now, Jessica has shared her story on Mamamia's podcast Pivot Club.

From her days on the water, to every twist and turn that followed.

Watch: Jessica Watson pulls into Sydney Harbour. Post continues after video.

When Jessica's family introduced her to sailing at a young age, ironically, she was reluctant to get on the water.

"I actually found it quite scary and intimidating," Jessica, now 32, told Pivot Club host Sarah Davidson.

Then, in just one night, everything changed.

"Of all things, it was a bedtime story that mum read to me about Jesse Martin who sailed around the world aged 18," said Jessica.

From there, the seed was planted. And the 12-year-old knew she too would sail the world one day.

But, there was one problem: Jessica lacked confidence.

"It was consciously going, if I want to do that, I need to change who I am. I can't be this fearful, timid kid who falls apart as soon as the weather turns a bit bad, and it's a bit scary," she explained.

So, Jessica spent the next few years mentally preparing and visualising her time at sea. And by 16 years old, she knew she was as ready as she would ever be.

At the end of 2009, the teenager set off on the journey. She had faith in her abilities, but there were uncertain moments.

"[I was] wondering how my boat and I were going to withstand the force of what we were experiencing in terms of waves and knockdowns, the boat being rolled upside down," she said.

During one particularly bad storm, the 16-year-old was convinced she wouldn't make it.

"It was really hard to comprehend how we could survive… my head was probably quite blank in those few hours."

Despite these scary scenes, Jessica knew giving up wasn't an option.

At 16 years old, Jessica Watson sailed around the world. Image: Getty

"It's not to say it wasn't incredibly hard… I had good old crying sessions and all of that sort of messy stuff… but there were a lot of positive strategies for coping, and I got better at it," she said.

"Also, when it really comes down to it, I didn't have a choice."

210 days later, in 2010, Jessica returned to Sydney harbour. Her legs were jelly as she stepped off the boat to raucous applause.

At first, life after the voyage was a blur of media and awards. But when the quiet came, Jessica knew something needed to change.

"I realised I've got to keep putting challenges in front of myself and keep having things that are going to keep me fulfilled," she told The Pivot.

That's when she decided to go back to school, earning a project management diploma and a Master of Business Administration (MBA).

Of course, entering the corporate space came with its own fears.

"I was very wary," said Jessica. "My colleagues are incredibly bright people, and then there's a little old dyslexic me who didn't really finish school."

But before she even found herself behind a desk, Jessica faced a life pivot that would make everything else pale in comparison.

In 2021, Jessica's partner of 10 years, Cameron Dale, died suddenly from a stroke. He was 29 years old.

In 2021, Jessica Watson's partner Cam died of a stroke. Image: Instagram/@jessicawatson_93

"It's crazy for me to talk about life pivots without acknowledging that this is the biggest of them all," Jessica said.

"We had that 10 years together and had just assumed that there was the future forever. So the extent to which that has shaped me is just extraordinary."

For Jessica, the grief was incomprehensible. 

"I would never have imagined it and there's no silver lining… there's absolutely nothing that makes it okay in any way," she said.

"But that cliché around being grateful and leaning into the good things for me is just so powerful.

"Just realising you have to take life and really grab it and squeeze everything good it gives you, 'cause you just don't know what's around the corner."

Grief, said Jessica, was like "recalibrating a compass." And work became her anchor.

"That gave me some stability and routine through the period where I was re-orientating," she said.

These days, Jessica works as a management consultant for Deloitte; a job she'd held for more than seven years.

Listen to the full episode of The Pivot below. Post continues afterwards.

Entering the rat race came with an adjustment period, but Jessica treated it like a voyage.

"The first few weeks of a sea voyage are often going to be very tough," she said. "You might be a bit seasick and getting your sea legs, getting used to bad sleep cycles…  And I think I probably did approach starting at Deloitte with that same mentality of that it's going to be a tough first few months… the important thing is it's going to get better."

And though her job is not without its challenges, Jessica loves what she does, particularly how it has allowed her to carve an identity out of the water.

"I did come to it with this real drive to want to have something that was separate from that 16-year-old me. I think I was, particularly at that point, going through a real period of being pretty over myself and my own story," she said.

Despite the fatigue that comes with it, Jessica has learnt to "embrace" her past, and even speaks about it at corporate events.

"I think Cam's death has really taught me to get out of your own way," she said. "Just tell people the stories they want to hear… it's not actually about me, let other people enjoy it.

"I'm so privileged to have the attention of sometimes hundreds of people."

While she takes nothing for granted, Jessica is "very content" with the quiet life.

"I like the routines and the privilege of being around friends and family," she said. "There are so many good things in life, I don't want to throw them all away and go off sailing in the tropics," she said.

"Who knows what the future holds, but I'm not worrying ahead too much."

Feature Image: Getty