Spearfishing, Motherhood, and Cooking What You Catch with Kimi Werner

0:05Off the coast of Oahu, Kimi Werner holds her breath and dives down 70 to 100 feet below the surface of the ocean.

0:15Kimi Werner:The more time that you spend in the water and the more time that you take baby steps into learning to slow down your heart rate, learning to calm your nervous system, it becomes the most calming feeling in the world. There's no other place like it. It is a place that just demands my presence to this day. And I love that the only thoughts going through my head are present thoughts. They're thoughts in observing what's in front of me. And that is the most cleansing feeling that I could ever ask for.

0:57Deep underwater, Kimmy hears the sound of her heartbeat and the slow rhythm of the ocean as she looks for fish to catch. In 2008, Kimmy won the largest spearfishing competition in the world. She still spearfishes multiple times a week, but these days she's more focused on connecting with nature and feeding her friends and family. Food has always been a central part of Kimmy's relationship with the ocean. She has a big garden at home, and she loves preparing the fish she catches with homegrown and local ingredients. This spring, she's coming out with a cookbook that's part recipes and part memoir called Kimmy's Kitchen.

1:38This is the second time we've had Kimmy on the show. When we last spoke in 2017, her career was just taking off. Since then, it's flourished, and she's also become a mom to her six-year-old son, Buddy. I'm Shelby Stanger, and this is Wild Ideas Worth Living, an REI Co-op Studios production presented by Capital One and the REI Co-op MasterCard.

2:08Kimmy Werner, welcome back to Wild Ideas Worth Living. I'm really, really excited to talk to you. First off, since we last talked, so much in your world has changed. You got married, You have a baby who's not a baby anymore, a young little boy, buddy. And you have a new book baby. So much to talk about. So thank you for coming back on the show. I really appreciate it.

2:33Kimi Werner:Thank you so much for having me. Yeah, it is quite incredible. I remember being just so engaged with our first conversation. And it feels absolutely nostalgic to be back here talking to you again, especially after so many huge milestones in life. it's just been really exciting to watch your evolution. I don't even know where we start, but I remember there was this memory for me on our last conversation and you were very vulnerable and authentic, which is like one of the pieces of your brands I respect so much, your authenticity. And then since then you've gone on, you have these huge shows. I saw you recently with like Gordon Ramsay, Brad Leone, who was on this show.

3:13Where do you want to start? I'm going to let you pick it?

3:17Kimi Werner:I mean, I guess when you asked me where I want to start, what has been the most substantial thing since I can't help but just have to start with motherhood. You know, since we last talk, I like you said, I had a baby who's no longer a baby now he's about to turn six. But But that was definitely the biggest game changer of all, for sure. Tell me how it changed your life. I mean, I see videos of Buddy all over your Instagram. And now he's fishing with you and doing all sorts of fun things with you. And he's cooking. And he probably has the best lunches out of any kid I know because you make them.

4:00Yeah.

4:00Kimi Werner:And he's definitely a foodie. I love his appreciation for food. We share that a lot. But I would say one thing that was always clear to me in this outdoor space, and especially when it comes to the underwater world, one thing I never saw were mothers. I never saw mothers continuing on, you know, and I think that was something that always made me kind of sad. I mean, first of all, when it comes to freediving, spearfishing, there weren't really a lot of women in that space to begin with. And so in my mind, I think the message I started to get and the own narrative I started to create was that I really had to put that off, put it as far in the future as I could because I was so in love with freediving.

4:51Kimi Werner:I was so into spearfishing for my own food. And almost everyone that I did that with, they were men. And I watched them become fathers one by one and whatnot. and they would always like encourage me and say, see, you can do it too. But I just look at them and like, your wife is at home nursing your baby. Like, it's not the same. And then I started to make a living off of doing this. I started to get professional sponsors and partners like Patagonia and Yeti and Olukai and all these other great brands that I felt so, so grateful for. But I couldn't help when I found out that I was pregnant, And I couldn't help but think like, of what value am I going to be now?

5:35Kimi Werner:Like, I know that when I have this baby, I'm going to want to stay put for a while. At that point in life, I was just flying all over the world, doing all types of adventures underwater. And my bags were just pretty much always packed or in the process of being repacked. So there was a lot of fears and a lot of vulnerability going into that phase. Tell me a little bit about some of those adventures you were doing then. Because I think a lot of people don't know. I mean, you were the world champion spearfisher woman, which is like a very interesting sport. What is it to be a national spearfishing champion?

6:13Kimi Werner:Yeah, so to be a national spearfishing champion felt amazing. When I won that title, it was actually my first time ever diving outside of Hawaii in my life when I entered that competition, which was the national championships. And a lot of hard work and also a lot of good luck all kind of came together that day. And I did walk away with that title. And it felt wonderful. It felt wonderful to represent my home and just to truly accomplish a goal. But my time spent competing was pretty minimal after that because I also realized that that's not exactly what my heart was into. My heart wasn't into really looking at fish as points or spearfishing as competition as much as it was like a sustainable lifestyle to feed me and to get me to truly explore.

7:09Kimi Werner:Like it was never lost on me how grateful I was to be doing this and how much I loved it.

7:20After winning the championship in 2008, Kimi landed brand sponsorships that sent her traveling the world. She swam with narwhals in the Arctic, orcas in Norway, and penguins in Antarctica. But after nearly a decade of constant travel, Kimi missed Hawaii and she found herself craving a deeper sense of home. Around that same time, she became pregnant with her son Buddy. Kimmy knew that motherhood would reshape her career, but she was able to make it work. Today, Kimmy dives in the ocean near her home as often as she can, hunting, filming, and exploring the marine landscape. Every day is a little bit different, and that's part of the thrill.

8:12I recently started dabbling into free diving. I won't even call it free diving. I'll say snorkeling while diving deeper to collect some things. And I've never felt such a, you can't help but calm your nervous system and feel absolutely incredible underwater. I think the other thing about underwater exploration is like on land, we have all trails. Like there's so much of it is predictable a little bit. Underwater, like nothing is predictable. So there's so many moments to experience awe and magic and wonder and mystery and discovery.

8:48Kimi Werner:It's absolutely true. I mean, today I went in the water and it was just the most calm, clean, like serene ocean you can imagine. And I found myself just getting lost in the magic of the bubbles just getting lost in the magic of coming up from a dive and seeing how the sun is shining through the surface and just like flickering and distorting itself and I was just like how could you not believe in magic just looking at this and all I was looking at was light and bubbles and yesterday I was in the ocean and we were spearfishing we were we were looking for these big pelagic fish called Wahoo to bring home.

9:31Kimi Werner:And there are so many sharks and big Galapagos sharks, and they're being really aggressive. And there are cute little hammerhead sharks and there are whales breaching everywhere. And it was just insane. Where exactly were you? Yeah, this is right on the North Shore of Oahu. And yesterday it was just my husband and I. So it is always really important when you go freediving to always have a dive partner. A lot of times it's just my husband, Justin, and I, and that's how it was yesterday. And so we went out, we were probably in close to 200 feet of water. And so we're like in the deep blue sea. And we're in an area where we know that these pelagic fish swim through.

10:17Kimi Werner:You know, it's very hit or miss when you're going for pelagic fish or as we say, like blue water fish. It's not like you're diving to the bottom of the ocean, finding structure or reefs or places where, you know, habitats where you know you can find fish. It's like you're out in the blue and you might see nothing like today or you could just see a lot. And so yesterday we did see some Wahoo or we call them Ono here in Hawaii. and um and and so there are these you know large um predator top of the food chain fish they're big and they're absolutely delicious um but but yeah so one came in it wasn't wasn't a very big one was maybe like 16 to 18 pounds and my husband Justin was able to shoot it and it's only um his second time it's like that's his second ono he's ever shot so i was just cheering him on so proud of him just trying to like poke my head up and coach him and be like okay now keep tension on it and start bringing it in and right as i said that we just saw these sharks and there were there were no sharks around prior to that or at least that we didn't see them but um the vibrations of a fish that, you know, had just been speared.

11:39So the fish in distress, I mean, that will bring sharks in way faster.

11:45Kimi Werner:Like people think like, oh, blood will bring sharks in and it can, but nowhere near as fast as the dinner bell going off of like of a fish in distress. You know, sharks have these lateral lines on their body just made specifically for picking up vibrations. And so it was crazy. When I put my head back in the water and I just saw this huge Galapagos shark just like swimming vertically up from the depths at a speed that I can't even fathom. Like it is insane. It's like it's something that you can't even grasp. And now I'm seeing it's not just that shark. There's another one and another one. They're all coming up.

12:26Kimi Werner:And if that one shark commits and takes a bite, like the minute one bite is taken, that's when the frenzy starts. And so as soon as I saw that, I just swam towards that shark. And I'm not recommending people to do this. But I just heard myself underwater roar like a lion. Really just from the gut, I roared and I just swam at the shark. And it's not that I'm not scared. This shark, again, was so fast that it's very counterintuitive to be swimming at it. but it's more like I almost just need to psych myself up so much right now with so much like alpha energy because that's the energy that this shark is giving off and so I just like roared like a lion hoping that energy would even go through the water too but more so it's just like my body length of just like swimming at that shark and thank goodness at the last second it turned and And then we had a jet ski that we were diving off of.

13:29Kimi Werner:And so he was swimming towards the jet ski and pulling the fish in. And then another shark did the exact same thing. And I, again, had to, like, meet it head on. And so while he was trying to get his fish on the ski, I was just basically there, like, poking off sharks, you know. And I actually did have to just, like, push a few away, you know, with my spear. I didn't pull trigger or anything, but I'm definitely just like, that's how close we are. So it's really, really important. And that was really hard with just two people, you know. Hold on. That was just a Thursday. That was yesterday morning.

14:04Kimi Werner:Yeah. That's bananas, Kimmy. It's right out there in the yard. I was going to bring it into my office and show you what we landed. It's really cool. So were you scared when you charged the shark? That was fear for sure. Like I think when people see me do that, they're like, wow, you're so fearless. But no, that's actually pure fear. It's just transforming it into something different. And I think that is like literally a skill I've had to learn in life that the sharks have taught me is that because when I see sharks and they're charging, it's not that I don't feel scared. It's just that I understand that I need to turn my fear into something more useful.

14:46Kimi Werner:And I know that I have to not freeze in fear or not swim away in fear. Because although that might feel like the instinct that fear tells you to do, it makes absolutely no sense to swim away and flail your fins and act like prey in front of an angry predator. Like that would be way dangerous. And so it's like it's like legitimately doing the safest thing by harnessing that courage and matching that energy. And and sharks like teach me so much in life because they certainly taught me public speaking because I I. Oh, man, talk about a fear like that was something that I was just petrified of. And when I was in college and I would try to, I had to like give talks and reports in front of the class.

15:39Kimi Werner:I just sucked at it so badly. And I would know my material. I would know what I wanted to say. But the minute I got up in front of a crowd of people and I heard my voice, I could hear the fear. I could hear the nervousness in my voice. And when I would hear it, I would think about it more. and then I would try to speak a lot faster to hurry it up because it was so uncomfortable. And I was trying to suppress my fear so much that I was focused more on suppressing my fear than I was on remembering what I had to say. And it was terrible every single time. And finally, one of my best friends just said to me, she's like, you know what's interesting?

16:20Kimi Werner:She said, if you can actually harness that stress and know that it's there to serve you, you might be able to turn it into something more useful. And instantly I thought about the sharks and I thought about like, it's not that I'm not scared of them. I'm totally scared. But I know I I know that that energy can serve me if I turn it into something powerful. and so when I did my first TED talk all the same things started happening and this time instead of trying to fight it and suppress it I just said you know hey beating heart you're here again and you're really making a presence you know and hey sweaty palms I still will never understand what your purpose is and why you show up but I know that you guys are showing up because you are some form of energy that is going through me because you know I'm about to deliver.

17:13Kimi Werner:And I think basically that's what fear is. Fear is not the enemy. Fear is a friend that we need to invite to the table.

17:35If your wild ideas include trailheads, navigating uneven terrain, or even just recharging by the campfire, let me introduce you to the Teva Hurricane XLT3. Built for hiking and all-day wear, it's the next evolution of a Teva favorite, but with an extra 5mm of added foam underfoot for even more comfort and an updated outsole for improved traction. But don't worry, the Hurricane XLT3 keeps everything you loved about the original. Quick dry straps, a padded heel, and Teva's adjustable universal strapping system for a dialed in fit. The cherry on top, the straps are made from 100 % reprieve recycled plastic so you can feel good about every step.

18:17Check out the Hurricane XLT3 at your local REI or at REI.com. See you on the trail.

18:34The day before our interview, Kimmy Werner and her husband were spearfishing off the north shore of Oahu when they hooked a giant tuna. As they swam to the surface, sharks began circling. Instead of trying to retreat, Kimmy charged straight toward the sharks. It was a moment of instinct and clarity, a perfect example of how she's learned to recognize fear, harness it, and turn it into courage. But I couldn't stop thinking about what came next.

19:08Kimi Werner:What happened when you got back onto the jet ski? Once we got back on the jet ski, they were just swarming around us. And I mean, the fins were out of the water. We like took our time because so much of Justin's shooting line and stuff was tangled. We still needed to just take care of, open up a fish bag, fill it up. We had to do a lot of stuff. And so it took us a good amount of time. And the whole time we were on that jet ski, we just kept looking down and like, my gosh, these sharks are still just following us. Like they stuck with us for a really long time. And on a jet ski, you're not that high out of the water.

19:44Kimi Werner:no, no, not at all. And it's not that big. Like we are two people on one ski. It's a very small and now a big fish, you know? So it's like very limited real estate, but we were just so happy. After that, we, we enjoyed the ocean a bit more. We went in, I was like, I don't want to dive with any more sharks today. So we went a little shallower and spent some time in the shallows. And then we were both like, we don't need, we don't need more fish. Like, um, let's go home and just get this thing in a cooler. And so we were just stoked, like just so happy. I'm really excited for you to eat this. Like when, when is, are you cooking it tonight for dinner?

20:25Kimi Werner:We are debating cutting it. So the thing about these fish is, I mean, they're, they're so great. They're so delicious. And, um, I think a lot of people have the misconception when it comes to like fish that make really good sashimi, you know, just really high quality fish that the fresher, the better, you know, but in actuality, when a fish is this good, you don't want to cut it the same day that you caught it. You want to let it rest on ice. You want to ice it, take really good care of it. You know, always keep the plug of your cooler cracked open because you don't want it to ever sit in fresh water.

21:04Kimi Werner:You only want it to touch ice, but not ever be submerged in fresh water. And you can cut it the next day. So you can cut it on day two, day three, day four. Those are prime times. Just letting it age on ice for a day or two and letting that protein just relax. That's what's going to make the sashimi extra soft, extra buttery, extra melt in your mouth. If you try to cut it the same day that you catch it to eat it raw, it'll still be delicious, but it will be a little more chewy. It'll definitely just not be the same melt-in-your-mouth bite of fish. If you're going to cook it, it doesn't really matter.

21:47Kimi Werner:Go ahead. But we plan on doing everything. We plan on eating this in an assortment of ways. We definitely plan on sharing it with our community. And I would say most people in the community know the value of this fish and are going to want to eat it raw. And so we considered cutting it today. But now we're both feeling like we think tomorrow is the right call.

22:15How's it been teaching Buddy to fish?

22:18Kimi Werner:I almost it's like these pinch me moments when I get to spend time with Buddy on the water or, you know, or I'm spearfishing and he's floating along next to me. And I think because I knew that I wanted that so much with him, I was so careful that I didn't want to ever push push it on him, never want to force him to do it. And when we first started taking him out to the ocean, oh, my goodness, he's he was the most seasick baby you could imagine. And so I was like, wow, you know, this might not happen. And he still gets seasick here and there, but he's getting a lot better. He's acclimating a lot more.

22:54Kimi Werner:But I'm so happy that it is something that he keeps coming back to. And to see him swimming around like a little fish, you know, while I'm spearfishing and just trying to help me, you know, help me bring it in or help me whatever. Like it is, those are my favorite memories for sure. I think it's so cool that you've brought buddies so deeply into your world as a mother. And I know you were scared to tell brands that were sponsoring you, hey, I'm now having a kid. But your own father taught you how to spearfish. It was passed on by a parent. Talk to me a little bit about that. Yeah. So I got introduced to the underwater world.

23:35Kimi Werner:And I got introduced to the whole concept of free diving and spearfishing from my own dad. And I was buddy's age when I did. I was five years old. And basically, at that time, my parents didn't have much money at all. They're struggling to make ends meet financially. And so that is why my dad went diving is because that was his way of feeding us. That was his way of saving money. We lived in the boonies. We lived in this little shack in Haiku, Maui, and he would go diving whenever he could to put food on the table. And when I was five, he started letting me tag along with him. And so I never touched a spear, nothing like that, but I would just tag along with him.