Molly Picklum, a 20-year-old surfer from Shelly Beach on NSW's Central Coast, is right now atop the World Surf League (WSL) standings.
Bu 10 months ago, that was the furthest thing from Picklum's mind after one of the toughest days in her short career.
"It was pretty low. It sucks when the results don't show where you feel like you should be," Picklum told ABC Sport's podcast Sport and Spice.
This was Picklum's headspace in May last year, when she fell victim to the new WSL rules that have a mid-season cut.
Nearly half the men and women on tour suddenly lost their place and had to go and battle it out for the rest of the year to attempt to get back the following season.
Some of our best surfers, such as Sally Fitzgibbons and Owen Wright, also saw their lives change on that day. It was brutal.
For Picklum, in her first season on tour, it cut her deep.
"When you get on tour, you're like, 'Here we go, this is what I've lived for, let's go', and then the season cuts dooms on you a little bit," Picklum said.
Picklum admitted she did not surf as well as she knew she could and in the days following her cut from the tour, it was hard to find a positive.
"There was a lot of, 'This sucks', and the biggest thing that got me is that I'm obsessed with trying to see how good I can get," she said.
"In my head I had [the thought] if I made the cut I'd have time off at the end of the year and be surfing better waves, all of it tracking for me to get better.
"And when I got cut I was like, 'Oh God, I've got this waste of six months to try and get back on track.'"
After some time wallowing in the pain, Picklum's team lifted her back up and helped shift her perspective.
"I'm pretty fortunate, I have a really good team and I honestly just leant on them … and it was a perspective change of, I'm not tracking development-wise but you're going to surf way more heats," she said.
"So let's learn how to surf really good heats. It was a new perspective, a better way to look at it and then grab the opportunity that you can grab what's in front of you and go use it."
Picklum's 'best win'
It was this perspective change that led to her maiden WSL victory at the iconic Sunset Beach in Hawaii last month.
It was not a win with big flashy moves or deep, heavy barrels: it was a grind and Picklum was experienced in that type of fight.
"I scratched the win and scratched through that whole event … It's my best win, it's the biggest one for sure," she said.
With a mix of legends and young stars in the water for each WSL event, winning on tour is not a given.
Picklum has soaked up what it means to come out on top, especially at such a special wave.
"Every bit of me wants to be like, 'The job's not done yet', but also wins don't come easy and I definitely want to enjoy that and take it as a feather in your cap," Picklum said.
"The result shows that I can do this and I'm not tripping. It gives you more confidence that you are believing in the right things."
The victory took Picklum to the top of the WSL standings, where she sits alongside Hawaiian Carissa Moore.
But it is surfing with eight-time world champion and fellow Australian Steph Gilmore that has given Picklum such a buzz.
"I'm so grateful I made the tour before she leaves … what an amazing person. She is the queen of surfing — not of Australia — of the world," Picklum said.
"She wears that crown. I'm so happy that she won the eighth world title. I wouldn't want anyone else to have the queen of surfing title."
Every queen needs a successor, so maybe Picklum is next in line for the throne.
