We recently connected with Bret Whitman and have shared our conversation below.

Bret, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s jump right into the heart of things. Outsiders often think businesses or industries have much larger profit margins than they actually do – the reason is that outsiders are often unaware of the biggest challenges to profitability in various industries – what’s the biggest challenge to profitability in your industry?

I think the biggest challenge with making a profit, and this industry is the fact that it’s such a niche market. Not a lot of people, Spearfish, and the ones that have successful businesses center their business around doing guided trips or charters. I never wanted to make that part of my business plan. I think there’s room for something different in our community that can be both profitable and serve a different purpose. I tend to focus more on the coaching aspect, and the knowledge gained over the years of participating in this activity. To me, knowledge is priceless. I use my business not so much focused on turning a profit, but perfecting a product that might lead to other things in the industry.

Bret, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Bret Whitman I’m 44 and I’ve centered my life around the ocean. Spearfishing has been a part exclusively of my life for over 20 years. I started my company Spearfactor, because I thought that the climate and the culture in our industry was missing some thing. I knew for people trying to get into the sport they would run into difficulty and be discouraged. People were even losing their lives based on a lack of knowledge about diving or at a minimum, just not enjoying themselves in the ocean. My goal was to establish a platform to help people get started and continue to grow their knowledge of Spearfishing in order to increase environmental awareness. My company is centered around knowledge and one of the ways I distribute that knowledge is through my podcast. Other ways I distribute the knowledge is through my website and other social media platforms.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

And Spearfishing, we have certain fish species that we target. Some are much harder to shoot than others as you grow in your own Spearfishing experience, you tend to shoot less and less fish and you’re targeting more unique and specific traits within a certain fish species. For example, you might have shot 100 California yellowtail in your life all around 20 pounds. After years of doing this, you tend to start looking for a bigger ones, and so you allow the smaller ones to swim by. This process almost happens very naturally, and you may not even be aware that it’s going on. For me, I have hunted California white Seabass for years with little success. Due to my own journey and struggle with this particular fish species, I have made a point to document it so as I learn little tips and tricks to increase the likelihood of landing one of these fish, I can share it with others, I feel that my struggle might be unique and someways to me however, there are parallels for everybody in our sport maybe just with a different fish species or characteristic. So by me documenting this and sharing that allows for others to learn as I learn.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

For one thing, the idea of working harder is not always the best practice. With having another full-time job, I had to learn how to work more efficiently, not necessarily putting in long hours, but taking advantage of the time that I had an a more streamlined approach. For example, rather than sitting at my computer typing up write ups on certain fish species I could film it and talk about it, which would be much faster and posted on the website.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.SpearFactor.com
• Instagram: @the_spearfactor.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bret.whitman.3?mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@SpearFactor
• Other: For online Spearfishing Courses or Coaching www.spearfishingmentor.com

Image Credits
Chase Weir Toan Ven