Idea napkin # 2

I started my nonprofit 5 years ago and have used my knowledge of sharks, marine biology, media and conservation to build a successful program, community and audience. Combining my diverse background and skills, along with building a team of experts, has allowed us to create something difficult to replicate. My knowledge comes from having worked with sharks for over 15 years. My aspirations are to build an interactive and unique learning experience for students. I have dedicated most of my adult life to saving sharks and teaching others about them. This is my passion. I have built this nonprofit from an idea and now we are working with students around the world. Shark education is my passion and it’s what I want to do with the rest of my life. This education center will be a physical extension of this work.

The shark education center will give students and educators direct access to experts in the field of shark and marine science, underwater filming and photography and conservation. They will not read about in a book or watch on a video, they will learn directly from these people, including myself. Access to this expertise will be what sets us apart. Each program will be customized to meet the need of the group as well as deliver age appropriate content. It will also be designed as a one on one program, connecting with a single group each session. This will create a far more interactive opportunity for each group and each student coming to the center. The product will come in the form of programs for schools, home school groups, community groups like Girl Scouts as well as days open to the general public. We will offer something for everyone, but our focus will be students and educators.

We will offer these programs to teachers, students, group leaders and the general public. Our main target audience will be teachers within 100 miles of the center. This includes K-12 teachers and home school teachers. These programs will be offered during school hours during the week. We will also work with after school programs and clubs/groups such as scouts or diving clubs. Evening presentations will feature scientists, divers, photographers and other experts in ocean related fields. They will be kid friendly, but definitely cater to a more adult audience. Our weekends will offer specialty classes as well as just having the center open for the general public to visit. We will need to offer a diverse range of programs to a diverse range of people in order to keep generating income to support the center.


People will care because they are realizing more and more how much we need to do to save our oceans. They will also care because they hear about sharks in the news. They hear good stories and bad, so will want to learn facts. They want to learn what is happening in their own backyard, but also how this connects all of us globally. They want interactive and unique educational opportunities for their kids and students. People are becoming more and more aware of conservation issues and they want to be part of a solution; they want to be involved.


Ultimately our shark knowledge and experience sets us apart. Myself and my co-founders each have over a decade of experience working with and studying sharks around the world. We have also been educating students for a decade and working in the media world for as long. The ability to combine these facets makes us unique. We each have a broad range of experience and when we combine that, it’s not something another center in South Florida, possibly the US has. People can learn about sharks and share facts, but no one can gain a decade of experience without doing a decade’s worth of work. We are experts in the fields of shark ecology, shark research, shark filming and shark conservation. This allows us to create a program which will not be easy to replicate. Our team is really what sets us apart.

I believe all of these elements work together and will allow us to build a tremendous program. I think the challenge will be keeping a steady flow through the center to generate enough income in the beginning. We already have a large community, but I am not sure it is big enough. I believe we will need to start marketing the center before it is completed, so that we have people walking through the door on day 1.

I didn’t receive a lot of feedback ( 1 comment), so it’s difficult to adjust anything. The comment didn’t offer any ideas of change. I think in looking at my previous napkin, I’ve learned a lot more about the segments we will need to target and how to appropriately market to each. This will not be a one size fits all approach, as our segments have different ways in which they seek answers for the needs they have. I think I have also learned how unique our product is because of who we are and the knowledge we have. Sharks4Kids and my personal instagram pages have over 102K followers. We need to look at our influence and use it to promote the opportunities we are creating.