Secret Sauce

Interview 1: My mom. My mom has watched me grow my nonprofit from an idea to reality. She has seen my struggles and my successes. She said I have "grit," which is something I had not thought of. I definitely do not give up easily







Interview 2: Our business director and member of our board. He mentioned media production and creating unique content. This is something I had thought of, but realize it might be a really significant component to our secret sauce.

Interview 3: Jess is one our ambassadors and worked with us for a couple of years. She mentioned my network on social media. I had not thought of this, but having a large following, both on my personal page and our nonprofit page, is definitely an asset.

Interview 4:
One of my best friends whom I have done shark research with for 14 years. She is also part of our education team. She described my dedication. This is definitely something I thought of and it was amazing to see other people thinking it too.

Interview 5: Our outreach director mentioned my willingness and ability to work with others and make them feel part of something. This is part of the culture we have built and helps us keep volunteers for years.

I think my human capital is unique for several reasons:

1. Knowledge: I have nearly 16 years of experience working with sharks around the world. People can study sharks in school or through books, but hands on experience and knowledge is invaluable and definitely hard to duplicate.

2. Experience in science, media and education: I have a strong background in all of these fields and have combined them to build the nonprofit. There are lots of people with experience in one or two of these areas, but not all three. This gives me the ability to create unique content and collaborate with some amazing people. I also understand what schools want and need, so can tailor our programs to meet these.

3. Ability to create media: I am a professional photographer and videographer and one of myour co-founders is a professional cinematographer. This allows us/me to create unique shark and ocean related content without having to outsource. We own the rights and can use for a diverse range of educational tools.

4. Dedication: I won't quite. This is my passion and what I want to do with the rest of my life. All my career experiences have led me to this project and program. We have very little money, but we are making things happen. A small dedicated group of people CAN change the world.

5. Passion: Most of my adult life has revolved around sharks. It's why I live in the Bahamas and why I do this work. I love working with students around the world because they inspire me. I love what I do and this passion drives my dedication and determination.


It was amazing to hear people mention some of the human capital I think I have, but also really interesting to hear about things I had not thought of. These interviews are really valuable and have definitely helped me see a new perspective. It's a little weird asking people to speak about you skills and assets, but it was really a great learning tool. It will definitely help me focus on some of these additional assets and build more of the program around them. I am so happy to hear that people think our culture is important. I am so grateful for any person who has helped us, no matter what form it has taken. This could be time, donations, legal support, accounting, access to materials we need..etc. Although a bit awkward, I definitely learned a lot from these interviews!

I would not change my list, as I believe all of the things I mentioned were mentioned by others in some form. I would definitely add a few components and see how focusing on those could benefit the program. It's also really incredible to know people see my passion, dedication and determination. I think it means I am honest and authentic in my approach to the work I do.