Noelani Eichner

I attribute my success to my incredible determination and the amazing community of women I train with. When I was inspired to try triathlon at a birthday party after seeing a father who had exhausted himself so completely he could sleep through chaos, I thought, I'd really like to feel that amount of exhaustion from a physical event. Mind you, I couldn't swim - I could frolick, but as far as an actual stroke with some kind of mechanics, I had no idea. This was in May, and there was a triathlon in September, and I thought, I wonder if I could do it. I went to a pool and swam 25 yards and was gasping for air, thinking how am I going to do this? But from May to September, I just applied myself. The best part about that first triathlon was that it was an all-female triathlon, and I find in an all-women's group, there's just a lot more patience and a lot more grace. When I crossed the finish line, I peed my pants, I went and hugged my kids, it was absolutely amazing, and then the following year I did 4 more. On my 40th birthday, I did my first half Ironman, and that was when I picked up a coach. The women I train with - like my friend Monique who is probably the most amazing female athlete I know, a two-time Boston qualifier who still holds records at her high school in Portland, Maine at 62 years old - they inspire me every day. I've climbed Mount Washington with some of these people. Everyone has a struggle - cancer survivors, people who have lost loved ones, people who have tried to commit suicide, people who have gotten divorced - and we all bring it to this similar table where we feed off of each other's good energy. This is what got me through my divorce, through all my trials and tribulations since 2013, and helps me with my anxiety.

The best advice I can share comes from the incredible women in my life, particularly my friend Monique who I train with often. She is probably the most amazing female athlete I know - a swim coach who still holds records at her high school in Portland, Maine at 62 years old, a two-time Boston qualifier who just ran it last year. She's also done half Ironmans and is an amazing cyclist. Her nickname in our group is calves of steel because she has the most insane calves I've ever seen. She's the most well-rounded athlete - usually in our group there's one thing you're very good at, like I'm a strong cyclist, I'm okay with the run, I get through the swim alright, but she's strong in all of them. Not only that, she's just an amazing human. I was running with her one day and she's definitely a faster runner than I am, but she allowed me to tag along. At the end, I know there's a quarter mile left to go to the car, and I told her, you just go, go for it, I know how you're feeling, I'll meet you at the car. I tapped her on the shoulder and I said, I admire you more than you'll ever know, and then I pushed her and she took off. The lesson I've learned from Monique and all these incredible women - cancer survivors, grandparents, from every walk of life - is that we all bring our struggles to this similar table where we feed off of each other's good energy. That support and camaraderie has been invaluable to my journey.

I would say, by all accounts, never let anything stop you that is within your control. I say this to my daughter often because she's got high anxiety and she worries and worries and worries, and I just look at her and tell her to focus - you need to not worry about the things that are in your control. Everything else is just noise. It's there to be a hurdle or a speed bump, you know, somebody's opinion that is whispering in the back of your brain that someone said, or a rumor that you heard - no, those are the things that you need to really just put in a ball and throw in the trash because it's not in your control. You can't control how people feel or how people think, but you can always control your reaction to those things in a way that is positive, whether it's positive physically or mentally or all of the above. That is the greatest accomplishment that you can give to your own health. I think that a lot of young women - and I see this because I have a 19-year-old daughter - are being influenced by social media, TikTok and whatnot, by outside sources that are just toxic. You have to get to a point where your mood doesn't shift based on insignificant actions of somebody else. Focus on your internal and your dreams, drown out those noises and the worries outside, and focus on what is in your control in the here and now.

One of the biggest challenges in Noelani’s field is adapting to the mental demands of remote work, especially maintaining focus, balance, and creative momentum outside of a traditional studio environment. She also points to the lasting impact of pandemic-related layoffs and the broader mental-health strain affecting younger generations, particularly in relation to social media and constant digital comparison.

The values that are most important to me 100 percent are accountability and really being the CEO of your own life. Everything that happens to you is because of you, it is not because of outside influences. I try to drill this into my daughter because I feel like this next generation is constantly playing the blame game when something goes wrong - because this happened, or whatever. No! It's not just the things that are negative, I'm talking about positive things too. You know, my daughter is a D3 volleyball player, and I'm very proud of her. She earned that and worked her tail off for it, and she is accountable for that. I saw her last weekend and she's telling me, oh, I've got this project due on Tuesday and I really don't want to do it, and I looked at her and I was like, suck it up, girl, you just gotta do it, you just gotta make it happen, because if you're gonna get a bad grade, you can't look back and blame anyone else but yourself. You will never pass whatever it must be if you don't take accountability. Whatever God wants, things will happen in your life, but you have to own your part in it.