For the past 16 years, I’ve been honored to serve as the CEO of Aggressor Adventures. During that time, I have guided the company through many changes — some in response to events outside our control, such as the pandemic, and others for the benefit of our guests. At Aggressor Adventures, we want to be more than just a liveaboard and adventure travel company. We want to give you a memorable experience that will allow you to better understand the ocean and the world, expand your perspective and inspire you to pursue your dreams.

On a personal level, owning a worldwide, multi-destination business checks off so many boxes in my ever-churning brain. I absolutely love to learn. I still take classes on extremely varied topics, gorge myself on reading technical documents, and watch technical documentaries, as well as read about and watch anything dive-industry-related.

For me, achieving these lofty goals begins with a check of the myriad things that can impact our business. Owning a global business has made me rethink my daily routine from day one. This is in no way a complaint or negative part of my business, but rather a glimpse into how I jump-start my brain and my day — though the tasks may seem mundane, they are undertaken with a passion for our great industry and they also demonstrate how every CEO must adapt to their unique business model. When I was in the restaurant business, I checked my email each morning for exception reports my software generated and kept an eye on the local economy. My daily routine starts with checking currencies from the top 10 countries that guests come from. A significant devaluation of their currency has the effect of making our adventures more expensive, and sometimes, it is significant enough that I can see a downward trend in reservations from them. That has a domino effect that can impact other aspects of our business.

I also get digital newspapers from our top destinations that I devour every morning so that I can keep an eye on their economic and political outlook as well. Of course, the pandemic added an entire new set of matrixes I had to follow, as they changed almost daily. I have a full email box because we operate in all times zones around the globe — our business is essentially operating 24/7. My morning coffee routine is accompanied by the sound of hundreds of keystrokes as I respond to those that I can while forwarding some for additional answers. Still others are flagged for follow up.

Weekdays finds me at the office multi-tasking with typical business matters such as finance, insurance, banking, legal and others that every business owner deals with routinely. Tuesday is my chosen day to meet with all my departments after everyone has had time on Monday to answer and follow up on their weekend emails and issues. I start with Operations, and then IT, Conservation & Outreach, Marketing & Advertising, and end with our Boutique & Production department. Even though it makes for a long day with few breaks (and I normally eat lunch at my desk), I prefer to have all these the same day to ensure I have the remainder of the week to dig into the areas we cover in all those meetings. This affords me the time to ensure a thorough completion. The rest of the week also finds me going through each of the new or potentially new destination folders I have stacked on my desk. Some take years to come to fruition while others move at a much quicker pace. Finding new and exciting destinations for our guests to feed their passion for adventure is always my favorite part of owning and running what has become the largest adventure business in the world.

I usually end my day with returning guest phone calls and emails. I find that if I try to tackle those first thing in the day, I am too distracted to give them my full attention. There are exceptions if they are in a time zone that is many hours different from mine — that has included a few 4 AM calls. Rather than look at email and cell phones as a burden or distraction, though, I see it as allowing me to have the most productivity I could ever imagine! As I write this, I am in the North Carolina mountains and can still have great internet access and cell phone service to complete tasks that have an upcoming deadline, just as if I was sitting at my desk back in the office.

Of course, owning and running Aggressor would not be complete without me joining one of our adventures for the week with guests. I try to schedule at least three every year. Of course, I love the travel and adventure, but spending a week with guests — where I can get real-world feedback on how we are doing and what they would like to see done differently — keeps us continuously adapting to the current environment. This is essential for any business that wants to continue to grow and expand. For those businesses that don’t understand just how important this is, they will cease to exist. Just think Kodak and Kmart, for starters.

I am asked repeatedly about my retirement plans. My honest answer is always: “I have no plan!” It is an absolute pleasure going to the office, working with such a great team and providing our guests with their adventure fixes. Besides, my brain would implode if I ever tried to shut it off!

Aggressor’s vision statement is “To be the adventurer’s choice for world-class, intimate and artful adventures on ocean, river or land.” CEOs are responsible for more than financial success. It is important that a company communicate their values and visions, and then put those into action. I hope you are realizing your dreams and considering an adventure travel vacation in your future — it is one of the most memorable and meaningful ways to learn, discover and experience joy.