Gabby Reece is a living volleyball legend: At Florida State University, she set school records as an attacker and then moved to California to play professional beach volleyball. She was extremely successful: In 1997, she captained her team to victory in the very first Beach Volleyball World Championship in the four-player discipline.
Anne Menke photographed Gabrielle "Gabby" Reece, born in 1970, an American sports icon, entrepreneur, bestselling author, and sought-after model, for Westlake Malibu Magazine.
But Gabby is also on the fast track as an entrepreneur: She was the first female athlete to design her own shoe in collaboration with Nike and became the first female face of their CrossFit division.
Together with her husband, big-wave surfing legend Laird Hamilton, she founded the successful brand Laird Superfood, which offers functional, plant-based foods. Furthermore, she co-founded the fitness and performance program XPT (Extreme Performance Training), which is based on the pillars of breathing, movement, and recovery (e.g., through ice baths and heat).
In her weekly podcast, 'The Gabby Reece Show,' she interviews leading medical professionals, scientists, and athletes from around the world on topics such as holistic health and mental strength.
Photographer Anne Menke is represented by the Munich-based agency Kristina Korb.