We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Oliver Parody a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Oliver, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea
So it all started when I thought I would buy a sailboat and take two years off of work and then go back. I envisioned a life a sailing in the Bahamas and around the world in those two years. But this was 2019 and 2020, along with the sailboat I purchased, had something different planned. Instead of the two weeks it thought it would take to get the boat on the water it took two years! The same two years I decided to take off of work and “relax’…. Ha.
In that two years I stayed on the boat in the boat yard up in Edenton NC working relentlessly on the boat. Never having owned such a boat in the past it was a big undertaking. I used Youtube and one boat builders book to fix almost everything on the boat. I also jumped on and Captained a 70 foot schooner. I sailed it from NC to FL to Space X in Texas across the Gulf of Mexico and then back to FL. This was 5 months of the two years. I was also able to Captain for 8 weeks in Wisconsin sailing the Great Lakes by Door County.
I also went to school for my captains license right before covid locked everything down.
Once I got my boat in the water I took it straight to FL Keys to learn the boat well enough to take guests out in my city without making a fool of myself.
I started taking people out two years ago and made a business out of it.
Oliver, 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?
I off 2 hour Sailing Charters for $70 per person max 6 guests.
I run 4 Charters a day 10:00/12:30/3:30/6:30.
People are welcome to bring whatever adult beverages they like. Snacks too!
I have over 300 five start reviews combined on my platforms.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Once I got my boat to the FL Keys for the first time I had run into a problem… After about two months in the keys my engine breaks down. No one in FL is available/affordable or wants to work on a random guys sailboat during the heat of May/June.
I got onto Facebook and joined a group called Diesel Engine enthusiasts to try to get advice. I ended up offering to pay anyone that wanted to fly to FL and stay on the boat to come help me fix this engine and get paid one thousand bucks.
I had one guy fly in from Detroit that night we had the engine in pieces and a storm rolls up at 1:30am. An unattended sailboat in the harbor breaks off its anchor chain and runs into me during the storm breaking my anchor chain and pinning me up against a bridge breaking a lot of stuff on my boat. The fire department boat came to out rescue and pulled them off towed my to safety.
We get my engine fixed on day three. Then it breaks again in another spot….. mechanic flys home….boat is still broke…
I had a tow boat tow me off shore about a mile passed all the bridges and million dollar boats that I would otherwise have not been able to sail through no engine. Once I was out in the ocean I sailed home 7 nights 8 days in the open ocean going about 75 miles off shore at one point.
I sailed up to southport nc where I got towed to a boat yard and then started the long process of engine swaps on a sailboat…..
Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?
Previous to the sailing business I worked for 11 years with Outback Steakhouse. I started as a server with $300 and worked my way to Owner of a location outside of Atlanta Ga.
In order to keep. team happy you need to fire the bad attitudes and people who only lookout for themselves. If you don’t hire this type of person, or if you unfortunately do and don’t realize it till later and then fire them, this alone can keep a very high moral. You make your work environment a place your staff can come work where they want to be. This can be their time to not only work hard and make money but have fun too.
Treating people fairly and explaining why you ask them to do the things they are asked to do are important. Also treat people how they want to be treated…. NOT necessarily how YOU want to be treated.
I have many more and can elaborate better in the interview if needed.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ravensnestsailing.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ravensnestsailingco/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ravensnestsailingco
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/ravens-nest-sailing-wilmington?osq=ravens+nest+sailing
Image Credits
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