RETAILING continued Doing things the same way over time just because, “this is the way we have always done it” is not a recipe for success. We must continue to educate and innovate while maintain- ing a high standard of safety. Internships are not the only jumping off point for mentoring future dive industry lead- ers. We have all experienced teaching those open water stu- dents that have an immediate interest in going down the divemaster, assistant instructor, and instructor pathway. Identifying these students and nurturing their passion and desire for dive leadership is an important part of building the future of our industry. Having well trained instructors and support staff is the foundation of our entire industry. A perhaps often overlooked source of future dive leaders can be found in your local community. Thinking outside of your traditional aquatics micro-community and tapping into less traditional micro-communities will lead to creating a larger and a more diverse team of leaders. Remove the ini- tial barrier for that person and open up their life to a future they never imagined. Here in the midwest, it is uncommon to grow up dreaming of becoming a scuba instructor. It is even less common to grow up dreaming of owning your own dive center, working for a scuba manufacturing com- pany, or even working at a dive travel resort. By doing something as simple as setting up a booth at a job fair, by
talking to a local boy scout or girl scout troop, or even post- ing a flyer in the office of a public safety building or a local business, you are creating an accessible pipeline to the dive industry for those that wouldn’t have necessarily discovered the world of scuba on their own. And as I mentioned before, we must recreate ourselves. What got you interested in scuba? What inspired you to turn it into a career? For me it was watching Sea Hunt with all the cute girls and the thought of being able to evolve my passion for photography to include underwater pho- tography. For Brooke it was her love of the underwater world and its creatures and her past as a swimmer and swim coach. We both pursued leadership roles because of the urge to share our passion with others. Seek out those that remind you of yourself and show them what they can cre- ate by sharing your experiences. If mentorship is not some- thing that you think comes to you naturally, give us a call. We’d love to help you unlock your wealth of knowledge and share it with your community. William Cline would also
love to have you write an article on any topic that you are passionate about. Let’s do more than keep this ship afloat…let’s build it up to be unsinkable.
email Brooke
email Tom
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