Why The 20K Team Went Pro

Abby Rennick   Jan 20, 2022

Imagine waking up in the morning and being excited for your day at work. Imagine travelling and diving with amazing sea creatures. Imagine making connections and meeting people from all over the world. This could be your life. Making a living AND living life to the fullest at the same time. Some call them modern day hippies, some call them pirates, but most people know them by Divemasters and Scuba Instructors. Find out why our team decided to Go Pro and make scuba diving their career.

Alan

When Alan was in the Marine Corps, he was fascinated with reef tank aquariums. Everyone was always talking about the bright, beautiful colors of the corals and fish. When he was sent to Hawai'i, Alan snorkeled in the ocean and fell in love with it. Being from a small town in Tennessee, he'd never seen anything like it before. He knew he needed to get into scuba diving so that he could go deeper and stay longer. He decided to get Open Water certified when he left the Marine Corps, but never intended on becoming an instructor. He immediately started down the technical diving path and trained in dark and cold water. One day he was around a group of instructors and it just clicked.

"I could do that," he thought to himself.

So, he started his journey on becoming a divemaster and soon after an instructor. His goal was to make people better. He saw that people had potential and wanted to make them the best diver they could be. Alan has inspired and pushed many people to become amazing divers. Besides inspiring people, he loves diving with the fish and corals and living like Jimmy Buffet.

Alan always says, "Diving has given me more than I could've ever imagined and I'm grateful for it everyday!"

 

Marshall

When Marshall was young, he did a Discover Scuba class on a family vacation. He loved every second of it however, like most people, life got crazy and nothing else happened with it. Luckily, scuba came back into his life a few years later. He fell in love with the sport and wanted to share his love with other people. He figured he would be able to share his passion as a divemaster, so he started his journey. When he was working with future divers, he realized how rewarding it was to see people take their first breath underwater. He wanted to do even more so, he become an instructor! After hard work and dedication he started instructing on the weekends while also working a full time job. As time went by, Marshall realized he wanted to teach full time and switch career paths. He started 20,000 Leagues Scuba and Aquatics and was in his dream career! Today, Marshall has created an environment for people to come together and share their passion for diving. He wants everybody to feel like they are a 'Dive Buddy For Life'. Marshall has given all of the team members of 20K amazing opportunites and is always helping everyone grow. While creating a successful business, he also travelled the world and became an amazing underwater photographer! Marshall is a great example of changing your life around to do something that you love!

 

Chris

When Chris had the opportunity to travel to Hawai'i, he couldn't say no. One day when he was exploring the island he saw an advertisement for a Discover Scuba class. 

"Why not try diving," he thought, "I already love snorkelling and the ocean."

Chris immediately fell in love with scuba diving. As soon as he got out of the water he asked his instructor how he could become certified. Since he didn't have time to finish up in Hawai'i, he researched dive shops as soon as he got back to Georgia. Chris became Open Water certified and quickly continued his education to Master Diver.

His course director asked him, "Have you ever thought about becoming an instructor?"

Chris never thought about it, but he was intrigued. He went home and watched PADI videos and was sold.

Chris thought, "Maybe I could eventually certify my niece and newphew."

That was the icing on the cake for him. He went back to his course director and started the process. Today, Chris is busy teaching and in his free time he is a volunteer diver at the Georgia Aquarium. Better yet, his niece and newphew are currently in the Bubble Maker program! He will soon be able to certify them as divers, which was always his dream!  

 

Abby

Just over 2 years ago, I was sitting in my student apartment in Canada, freezing thinking about warmer weather. Some of my family moved down to Georgia, so I thought, "I should go there and see what it's like."

After randomly packing my things and leaving school with no notice, I found myself in Georgia not having a clue what I was going to do next. My dad and I decided to take a motorcycle trip down the Gulf coast of Florida and up the Atlantic side. When we arrived in Key West, I knew I needed to be doing something that revolved around the water. I stopped by 20K to become Open Water certified and the rest was history! Since then, I have been travelling and diving in amazing places. Besides travel, I have pushed myself to achieve amazing things I thought I could never do, such as becoming tech certified and becoming a divemaster. I want to inspire other people to take the leap; you can do whatever you put your mind to! 

 

Everyone decides to GO PRO for different reasons. With over 70% of the Earth being water, why wouldn't you want to explore it and make an amazing career out of it! If it's your side gig or a full time career, you will never have another job as fun and as adventurous as being a Scuba professional.