This week on the SHIPSHAPE podcast, we caught up with Megan Piggott, Director of Workplace Development of the South Florida Marine Trade Association. An absolute ball of energy and former basketball coach, Megan gets us up to speed with her tips on how to break into the marine space as a young person, why Florida is still the number one hotspot for all things boating and the future of the industry as she sees it.

Check out the Marine Industries Association of South Florida

Brought to you by SHIPSHAPE

Transcript ——

Talha [00:00:00] Shiver me timbers. You’re listening to that Shipshape podcast podcast.

 

Merrill [00:00:15] Today on the Shipshape podcast. We have Megan Piggott. Megan is the director of Marketing and Workforce Development at the Marine Industry Association of South Florida, co-host of Salty Jobs and is a rising star in the industry. How’re you doing, Megan?

 

Megan [00:00:31] I’m doing great. How are you doing today?

 

Merrill [00:00:33] Pretty good. Pretty good. You know, the two co-hosts today are Merrill. I’m a liveaboard out in Boston, Massachusetts, on a Ta-Shing Tashiba 36 and T.

 

Talha [00:00:43] What’s up, guys? This is T. I’m on the podcast as well. We’re going to be talking to Megan and I’m Virginia now on my power boat. And it’s a beautiful day in Virginia. Welcome to the show, Megan.

 

Megan [00:00:55] Thank you. Thank you for having me.

 

Talha [00:00:57] Where you joining us from?

 

Megan [00:00:58] I am coming from sunny and hot South Florida, Fort Lauderdale.

 

Talha [00:01:03] Wow. What do you guys do in the middle of a heat spell as well, aren’t you?

 

Megan [00:01:07] We’re always in a heat spell.

 

Talha [00:01:09] Like. Okay. Okay. And so you have been with the Marine Industries Association now for a few years. You are also a co-host on Salty Jobs. I mean, we got them starting either one. They’re both very closely linked together. Right? Of which one do you like more?

 

Megan [00:01:29] Well, they are very closely linked. Salty Jobs is an initiative that the association started a few years prior to me even joining the team. So it’s just part of one of my duties and responsibilities here that I’ve taken on as I’ve joined the team and transitioned into my new role.

 

Talha [00:01:46] The video recording part or the marketing part.

 

Megan [00:01:49] I really do enjoy the video part. I enjoy learning all the different jobs. And actually now that I started behind the camera directing and then I go to in front of the camera and I really enjoy getting to actually experience some of the different jobs within the industry because there’s no better way to learn than with your hands and actually doing it. And so I leave those filming days with a new skill or at least new knowledge.

 

Talha [00:02:13] And I saw some of those episodes. It’s almost like Dirty Jobs. You actually go in there and get your hands dirty.

 

Megan [00:02:20] Yeah, So that’s really kind of where our team got the idea from when video is becoming such a big thing and to reach students and the youth, they have a very short attention span and everything and they’re connected to their cell phones. And video is a very powerful tool that they have on their cell phones. And so that’s kind of where it all stem from.

 

Merrill [00:02:42] So, you know, kind of getting into the beginning of how you got into the maritime industry, how did it really start? I know that you were a basketball star and there was the plywood regatta that was somewhere involved in it. So how do you tell us that background?

 

Megan [00:02:58] Yeah. So I came down to Fort Lauderdale to Nova Southeastern to play basketball, and in my senior year of playing, I was starting to get my master’s in marketing. And so I met with a professor that was on campus for her to help me kind of find an internship for my final year of playing. Well. I did school online and everything and she said, Well, actually I’m going to volunteer at this event this weekend that I do every year. It’s called the Plywood Regatta, and they’re always looking for extra hands or volunteers. Do you want to come join me? And I said, Sure, why not?

 

Talha [00:03:31] And this is, I think, a sailing regatta. So it was.

 

Megan [00:03:34] It’s called the plywood Regatta. And so I had no idea at the time. But what the event. It’s about 300 students of middle school students and high school students and teams of six and eight people. And they on Saturday they were given sheets of plywood, zip ties and 5200 caulking, and they build and decorate a boat. And I’m just curious. And then some day they come back in and they race them in the canal right there.

 

Talha [00:04:00] Oh.

 

Megan [00:04:01] Yeah, It’s very cool. Off the boat, become my favorite event that our association does, But I had no idea what I was going to going, getting myself into when I said yes for that weekend. And I went in with an open mind and met the team and everything. And then by the time I left there, I had talked to the CEO and President Phil Purcell and Lori Wheeler, and we’re on track to get start interning with them. When I returned from the summer.

 

Talha [00:04:27] Nights, I guess it was totally out of the blue that you sort of pulled into that you didn’t know this is going to happen at all.

 

Megan [00:04:33] I had no idea.

 

Merrill [00:04:36] Where you are a boater or anything prior to the plywood regatta. Did your family boat or anything?

 

Megan [00:04:42] I really wasn’t. I grew up my dad was in the military, the army specifically, and so not even the Navy or Marine. So he was land based. And so we weren’t always near the water either and just moving around a lot. So, no, I was always very into sports. I was a gymnast. I. I was a basketball player. But our family was not big boaters.

 

Merrill [00:05:03] And then eventually you had to be like, I’m getting into the boating industry. It looked like your career path was headed towards more sports.

 

Megan [00:05:10] Definitely. I definitely kind of entered college with that mindset and it quickly transitioned to where I was opening my mind to pretty much any opportunity I could step into. And it just happened to be that I chose a school down here that’s in the yachting capital of the world. So I feel like it might have been bound to happen.

 

Merrill [00:05:31] What scales from, you know, all the coaching and, and sports that you did transitioned over into maritime. You know, obviously you’re working with kids and so how do those skills translate?

 

Megan [00:05:42] I think being an athlete growing up my entire life, it really teaches you kind of hard work and working as a team, which at our association is a really big thing. We are a small team. There’s only five of us, but we are powerful. We all come together. And so I think having that experience of working with a team growing up my entire life has really transitioned well into the professional world. And something my one college coach always said was You have to get comfortable being uncomfortable and that kind of thing for sure, because you always want to challenge yourself, challenge others and keep growing and learning. And you only do that by putting yourself in uncomfortable situations.

 

Talha [00:06:22] Well, it’s funny you mention that. I had one of our Liveaboard guests just in the last episode. One of their tips of advice is exactly that at the end of it.

 

Megan [00:06:29] Really.

 

Talha [00:06:30] Be comfortable being uncomfortable. Yeah. And that’s huge. And so then so you you transitioned. Are you still doing sports in the background or have you just really left that sphere?

 

Megan [00:06:41] I no longer play basketball formally, but I am very into running and newly into pickleball.

 

Talha [00:06:48] What’s pickleball?

 

Megan [00:06:49] Pickleball. It’s like a combination of ping pong, tennis, volleyball, racquetball, anything of that nature to.

 

Talha [00:06:57] Beat the ball.

 

Megan [00:06:58] It’s like a wiffle ball from.

 

Talha [00:07:01] Very funny and you sort of getting professional in that level. It’s just a great thing. Not not.

 

Megan [00:07:09] At all. I I’ll have a future career in pickleball.

 

Talha [00:07:13] Okay. Okay. So where should we go next? So you are now an intern. I mean, like back then you joined it as an intern. You have finished your master’s, or it’s still going on, right?

 

Megan [00:07:25] My masters are still going on. Yes.

 

Talha [00:07:27] And then you finished your MBA, I guess, in marketing and stuff. And then these guys offered you a job and you’re like, Yes, please.

 

Megan [00:07:34] Yeah. So I finished playing and I had a year left to finish my masters, which was all online. And so I decided to stay with the team as an intern. Well, I finished my Masters and about halfway through that December, January of my last year of my Masters is when I transitioned to from intern to full time at the association. So that final semester I was working full time here and finishing my masters.

 

Talha [00:07:59] And so describe a little more. I don’t know if you had a good sense in the beginning, but you probably did once you were taking full time job. Like what does the Marine association entail? Like what? What even drew you to it?

 

Megan [00:08:12] So what really drew me to it initially was the team members here, they’re great to work with and seeing what they do. All the community events like the plywood regatta and our waterway cleanup that we put on each year, It’s really something very cool to be a part of. But our association is really we describe it as kind of like the Chamber of Commerce for recreational boating down here. So we represent hundreds of members who are marine businesses in the tri county area, which is Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade down here. And we kind of serve as the voice and we put on networking events for our members and we advocate on their behalf. And we just we’re like the Chamber of Commerce. That’s the best way to describe it.

 

Merrill [00:08:53] Well, even though you guys are the association of South Florida, you guys are, you know, one of the strongest trade associations that’s out there. And I know that you guys have definitely reached out to a lot of the other trade associations and kind of giving them pointers and tips on kind of outreach and trying to bring the youth into the industry. Can you talk a little bit about how Florida stacks up compared to the rest of the country in terms of boating?

 

Megan [00:09:20] Well, Florida is definitely the number one state for boating. It’s the number one state for registered voters and converting the population who own boats down here. And so we definitely lead the way in that sense. And we just love working with other associations throughout the nation. There’s nothing better than collaborating with them and seeing what they’re doing, what’s working for them, what they’ve kind of learned along the way, and sharing what we’ve done too. That’s the best way to get new ideas is by talking with others and collaborating.

 

Merrill [00:09:50] So what would you describe as like the key benefits of being part of a trade association? The end was.

 

Megan [00:09:57] Definitely there’s nothing better than the. Relationships that you can form with our association and your fellow members and the advocacy efforts that we do on behalf of the entire marine industry. We can just come together as one voice and different networking events, different events that we put on that that our members can get involved in. They can form these relationships with other Marine businesses, which will only strengthen their professional world, personal world and everything and our entire industry. So coming together makes us a stronger industry collectively.

 

Merrill [00:10:28] So salty jobs. Let’s talk a little bit about that. So you’re on. Is it season five right now?

 

Megan [00:10:34] We are finishing season four. Actually, we just filmed an episode this week.

 

Merrill [00:10:39] So. So how has that been? You know, it seems like it’s doing pretty well. It’s getting a lot of views and all that. And when I was up in I was up at New Bedford Vocational School, and they were actually playing some of your videos to their students. And that just caught me by surprise. I was like, Wow, you know what, outreach?

 

Megan [00:10:59] Well, that’s first of all, awesome to hear that you’re seeing that all the way up there. So, yeah, we’ve done we’ve just finished filming our 41st episode. And so I came to the association after this. So after all, two jobs have already been launched, I believe it was in between seasons two and three. And so like I said prior, I started out behind the camera. That was kind of my thing is directing and like having a good eye for what Look good, getting some ideas of what we could film. And then when the current the how was the time? Sean Smith When he left the association, he moved out of state. I had already sucked in for one or two episodes with him here and there, and so I kind of like transitioned that into full time co-host from there and really stepped in front of the camera, which is talk about being uncomfortable first, but it’s now become much easier after going through the first few episodes, and it’s something I really enjoy seeing coming from not much experience in the marine industry world at all, not growing up, boating or anything. I’ve learned so much on those filming days of taking part in those jobs, talking to the people who are actually working in those jobs at different companies. It’s amazing the wide range of skills and opportunities and just everything that is out there in the industry. It is not a one size fits all.

 

Talha [00:12:20] So it’s those more. So what was the funniest show was the worst shot?

 

Megan [00:12:24] Well, the worst job was definitely a pump out.

 

Talha [00:12:29] You’re lucky you don’t live on a boat, lady.

 

Megan [00:12:31] Yeah, exactly. Everyone always joked for the longest time with Sean when he was hosting was, Oh, we got to get you a job on the pump out. And somehow that was one of the first episodes I did.

 

Talha [00:12:42] But everybody does this. Everybody like you learn the ropes. And this is the worst one to learn. Yeah.

 

Megan [00:12:49] So I did do that. That was a little just got stuck on Dirty Jobs. That was a good one. But probably the most fun one I’ve done is where the U.S. Coast Guard, we did one with the radio station Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale down here, and they took us out on their cutter and we got to watch them do a helicopter rescue training simulation. And then the water.

 

Talha [00:13:11] The cutters are those big boats, right?

 

Megan [00:13:12] Yes. And then they took us out again. And we did a we did a rescue boat simulation drill where we had one of our board members actually was acting as a disabled boater who we threw the line to and rescued them and then actually jumped out into the water. And we did a man overboard. So they had me jump in and they circled way far away. And then they came and simulated rescuing a man overboard, which was me.

 

Talha [00:13:38] That is cool. And this was way out in the deep blue ocean.

 

Megan [00:13:42] Much further out than I thought we were going. And then they said, Jump in here. Yeah.

 

Talha [00:13:53] Wow. Okay. And then obviously everything in between. And like Maryland watching is one video where somebody was like shipping back a propeller and he was handing the hammer to somebody else. And how do you how do you find these interesting things?

 

Megan [00:14:09] So really, it’s all of our members that’s one of the things is you have to be a member of our association to be have your company in an episode and they will reach out to us. We’ve had a waiting list for so long of roommates who just want to be They want to show their job. They want to be a part of it. Salty jobs. I mean, it’s a great thing for the industry. It’s a great thing for their company. We don’t we promote the job more than the company, but of course, they get the benefit as well of being able to show that they were in an episode. So it’s a win win for everyone.

 

Merrill [00:14:40] Well, I love how the show really highlights the amount of different services that are in the maritime industry, right? It’s pretty easy to forget that maritime is just as complicated as as homes, right? Probably a little bit more. Right. So you’ve been able to see. So many different career paths and job choices. And in all of that, can you talk a little bit about the complexity of maritime?

 

Megan [00:15:07] Yeah, I think that’s a very big misconception that some people have as they think of the marine industry, and they might think of just people who work on board the boat. They say, Oh, it’s going up and down our river here. And they might just think of the captain or the crew that’s on board. But the number of jobs that that one boat creates, it’s probably on its way to a shipyard where it’s going to get service, where it might get a job or it might be having work done on its engine. And so I think just looking at it from that perspective of what that one boat does for our industry and our whole economy and the job that does create its soldier job has opened my eyes to that as we have not repeated the job really, and we still don’t see that happening in the foreseeable future. And so it just goes to show you how many different paths there are in our industry. And I think that’s definitely something that’s overlooked sometimes.

 

Merrill [00:16:00] And when you do these videos, Ryan, you’re doing all these jobs. How have you seen a lot of young people kind of already in those type of jobs or most of the companies are kind of like a little bit older up north? They’re definitely a little bit older.

 

Megan [00:16:14] Yeah. So definitely our industry, there’s without a doubt we’re an aging workforce. And so that’s really even what launched the job to begin with, to get that next generation interested, involved and just knowing about the industry and the opportunities that are within it. So we definitely work with companies that have been around with forever. Especially down here, a lot of them are family owned and operated and they’ve been around in the family for generations. But it’s also very cool because throughout the episodes we do interview who we’re actually working with that day, and if it’s a new tech on board or something and they’re younger, it’s really cool to get their story of how they personally heard about the industry because it’s never the same story of someone else. And I think that’s even powerful for our viewers to see to it. They might just pick up one little detail from that person on screen of, Hey, they did it, so I can definitely do it, or Oh, I see myself doing that. I relate to that person and they didn’t know what they wanted to do or they were working in the service industry or the automotive industry and they stumbled upon the marine industry and here they are today. So just sharing all those stories that it’s really for anyone out there.

 

Talha [00:17:23] And then do you guys have like an apprenticeship program or something.

 

Megan [00:17:26] That we do? So in 2019, our association with Atlantic Technical College, we started the Service Technician Apprenticeship program. And so that is a two year program where the apprentices work full time at one of our participating companies and then they attend class once a week at night and they get there learning multiple competencies, basically becoming a well-rounded shipyard, skilled for anything from welding to carpentry, shipyard safety, employability. They’re learning all those skills in the two year program to earn their certificate at the end of it.

 

Merrill [00:18:00] So you started at South Florida, pre-COVID. Right. And one of the things that I’ve seen and in the industry is that during the time of COVID, everyone had like blinders on to the amount of boat sales that were happening. And not a lot of people were looking at all the other components of maritime but post-COVID. It seems that there is a major push from many organizations about the the lack of service providers, the lack of, you know, that structure. Can you talk on that a little bit?

 

Megan [00:18:31] Yeah, I remember businesses down here are definitely looking and pushing to hire because now that there are and we did see such a big bump of new boat owners in during COVID because people realized what a great activity it was to do out in the water, away from everyone, that now there’s a very large population of new voters out there that may not fully know what they got themselves into. And so they’re learning it on as they go. So definitely filling many vacancies and job positions in the service world.

 

Talha [00:19:04] And there’s also so many new technologies coming out that like a place like Florida, is the forefront of those. Are you seeing that more in memberships for the association, like more solar companies, more electric motor company and stuff like that?

 

Megan [00:19:17] It’s definitely a trend we’re seeing just throughout the entire marine industry in general is the different electric boats that are coming out or the different technologies, different apps that make boating easier. It’s definitely on a cool path forward and trending as technology does.

 

Talha [00:19:33] So the train station obviously brings all these people together and you’re seeing all these trends change and new people come into the industry, both in terms of the service professionals and like you said, like so many voters are also now joining. How does a trade association sort of bridge that gap between, you know, the consumers and the producers?

 

Megan [00:19:53] We really are a way to bring everyone together. We are out in the community putting on the. Like I said like the plowed or got it and waterway cleanup up and so people who aren’t even working in the maritime the marine industry down here, they can still know about us and maybe their students can learn about us and maybe eventually get involved. And then collectively with our marine businesses, it really give them a chance to get to know one another more and just promote our industry as a whole throughout our entire community. That’s really one of our major pillars, if you will, of the association and promote our industry and what it does, because I mean, down here in South Florida, just in the tri county area, we’re a 12 and a half billion dollar industry. And so when you hear that number, it’s mind blowing sometimes of how big that actually is. There’s 149,000 jobs in our region, in the marine industry. And so the more we can promote that and get involved personally with our community and work with community partners who are in our industry, in a way we can all grow and keep moving forward.

 

Merrill [00:20:59] You guys set up the Fort Lauderdale boat show or how does that work?

 

Megan [00:21:03] Yeah, so we are owners of the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show and we work with Informa Markets is the largest trade show producer in the world, and they are our partners in producing the show.

 

Merrill [00:21:13] All the Fort Lauderdale boat show is like the biggest boat show in the world.

 

Megan [00:21:18] Yes, the largest In-water boat show. That’s correct.

 

Merrill [00:21:21] Yes. When I was there last year, it was the first time I’d been to Fort Lauderdale. And just the density of maritime down there, just like kind of blew me away. Right? There was so many different companies and so many boats where I’m coming from. New England, right? So the big ones that we have are like the Newport boat show, which was minuscule compared to Fort Lauderdale.

 

Talha [00:21:45] So, Megan, I had a question about again, you’ve been doing this for a few years and Florida might be different from the Northeast, but like you said, you had 140,000 reserves.

 

Megan [00:21:56] 149,000 jobs in the industry, in the region down here.

 

Talha [00:22:00] And so would you have a sense, maybe like not specific numbers, but would you have a sense of like what percentage would be like, are there more women coming into the industry, like out of that 449,000? How many are women?

 

Megan [00:22:12] I do not know exactly the percentage of how many are women, but there’s definitely a growing trend and push for women in the industry. And I think I mean, as a woman myself in the industry, it’s definitely something I really like to see. And even my boss here, Laurie, she has become a huge mentor in my life and leader. And she adds, especially as a female in the industry and seeing everything that she does and the way she works. It’s powerful when you can see someone like that doing so well in the industry and making such a big difference.

 

Merrill [00:22:43] You know, going out, talking about services is one thing and kind of all the different roles that go into it, like, you know, some person that’s going to be doing propeller repair, you have like videos for how that actually goes down, but you’re in the business of boating, right? And being in the business of boating. What does your job roles entail? Like what do you do on that front?

 

Megan [00:23:06] So my job here at the association is with marketing and workforce development. So one of those things is looking at ways we can engage the youth specifically and educate them on the entire marine industry and the opportunities that are within it. And then just marketing for our association. So our association has three really big major events that we do each year with our Fort Lauderdale International boat show our Waterway cleanup and plywood regatta. And so my role in that is really in the graphics, the marketing areas of those events and then just different ways working with school, different local partners like the Boys and Girls Club, YMCA. We put on field trips for those students to take them out onto the water, on our water, taxi up to local shipyards to tour them, any ways that we can build relationships with the community and partners and schools and just develop their interests and knowledge of the industry. That’s kind of been my role here.

 

Talha [00:24:04] To tell us more about the ocean cleanup. We’ve mentioned it a couple of times, but what’s happening there?

 

Megan [00:24:09] Yeah, so the waterway clean up is Broward County, its largest and longest environmental event. And so what this event is, is the first Saturday of March. Every year we have more than 35 sites across the county, and we bring in more than 1200 volunteers in that morning. And they come and clean up the waterways, the part the community all together. And then after the cleanup is over, we all come together and what we call the trash bash, where it’s just a thank you party for the volunteers for giving barbecue. And so it’s a very fun day.

 

Talha [00:24:42] Does it turn like are people swimming around collecting trash or is it just from the shores or what’s going on so.

 

Megan [00:24:48] They can cleanup by land or by boat? So most of the sites are accessible by boat as well. And so that people will take their kayaks or paddleboards their boats out and clean up together. Or they’ll just go along the shoreline and clean up. They can clean up many different ways.

 

Talha [00:25:03] To sound so cool. It sounds like such a good community building exercise.

 

Megan [00:25:08] It is something that has been around for a very long time in our county. And to see it grow and just to see the volunteers who return every single year or as they’re leaving the trash to the next year is definitely something that we have a lot of repeat volunteers every single year who love the event just as much as we do.

 

Talha [00:25:29] That’s cool. And what other sort of community building projects like that are there?

 

Megan [00:25:33] So we are two big ones in and our plywood regatta, which I mentioned earlier. We do work with a lot of other community partners like we’ve done Habitat for Humanity. We’ve built houses where some of our member businesses.

 

Talha [00:25:46] The houses on the water.

 

Megan [00:25:48] No, not on the water, just but we sponsored and helped build the houses in the community down here in South Florida. So not on the water, but we support local community partners like that. And then we also have started the Marine Research hub, which is really just promoting the blue economy down here in South Florida. We’ve partnered with local universities down here to help with their research and projects that they have ongoing. So we’re always looking for new ways to get involved out there in the community and different ways we can be at the table per day of different things that are happening.

 

Merrill [00:26:26] I got so many questions, you know, I just don’t even know where to start. So, you know, from your experience in seeing people that are in the industry and also like how to get into it, how would if someone’s listening to this right now, how would someone get into the industry, you know, like what would be a good avenue, a good approach? Like, you know, how would you navigate that?

 

Megan [00:26:49] There are many ways they could go about this. There’s definitely not a one size fits all approach.

 

Merrill [00:26:55] Give me one of them.

 

Megan [00:26:56] Getting into the industry. But I think just one of them is putting yourself out there and going out to the business. And if you’re a student finding an internship with one of the Marine businesses where you can learn on the job or entering getting hired by one of our company, one of our participating companies, and being an apprentice in our apprenticeship program, just any way you can start building those relationships with people who are already in the marine industry. Definitely it’s one way to get involved. Because so many times people say it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. And so the more you can, the more relationships you can build with those already in the industry and find a mentor who can help guide you and maybe introduce you to other people, another opportunity. I mean, that’s how I got involved in the industry was my a former professor introduced me to the association here, and so I have heard a thing for that relationship that was formed here and where I am today. So definitely find a mentor. I think that’s the best way to get involved and to find that marine industry mentor and professional you look up to and can learn from.

 

Talha [00:27:56] Sounds like good advice.

 

Merrill [00:27:57] How much entrepreneurship have you seen? You know, like obviously getting hired by an already established shipyard is one thing, but have you seen a lot of people kind of starting their own businesses out in your region?

 

Megan [00:28:11] I think definitely, yes. That’s one of the things that is a really cool opportunity within our industry is that, for one, you don’t need a four year university degree necessarily to enter our industry. You could get a certificate in welding or a certificate in any of the skilled trades, and you start working for a company and you start saving the money and everything and you make a good amount of money and and you don’t come out with a four year university debt that comes along with the diploma most of the time. And so the more you can save like that and then you have your skill, you have a toolbox and you have a truck and you can start your own service business with your skilled trade. And so it’s definitely someone who wants to be their own boss someday, because that’s always what you hear people saying is they don’t want to work for anyone is there’s plenty of opportunity for that in our industry.

 

Talha [00:29:00] Nice. And then, Megan, I wanted to you mentioned outreach with schools. I just wanted to sort of dig a little deeper then. Is it our schools that are actually offering courses now? Maybe. Am I being too optimistic? They are. They are.

 

Megan [00:29:15] So we have worked really closely with New River Middle School down here, who has a marine magnet program, and then South Broward High School, which also has a marine magnet program. And then there’s a another high school in the area that is just starting their own Marine program. And so we specifically work really closely with those two schools are great partners to have. We will bring them on field trips to the local shipyards with the students at the South Broward High School. We do what’s called the Marine Industry Elevator pitch competition. And so we go in and talk to them about all the different jobs that are in the industry, and they essentially pick one of their interested in and they create a one or two minute elevator pitch presentation of why they’re interested in that job and why they would be a good fit for that because. And they go through a couple of rounds of competition in front of. We bring in industry professionals who are actually working in the industry as judges, and we give out scholarships for that. We award the top five and then the overall winner gets a scholarship.

 

Talha [00:30:12] And so in turn, yeah, yeah.

 

Megan [00:30:15] And it’s amazing. Even we have an intern here at our association who actually won the competition this past year. And so talking about finding that mentor, getting your foot in the door and meeting someone actually in the industry is we had quite a few students who competed in the competition who then one of the judges saw it and was reach out to me and said, connect me with that student. I want to hire them for an internship or see what I can learn from them and bring them on to my team.

 

Talha [00:30:41] That’s huge. I wasn’t expecting that, so that’s good to know. Nice. That’s headway already. Right. That means like. And. But is that just in? You said those countries are just in relative. Do you think it’s spreading further into Florida as well?

 

Megan [00:30:54] It’s definitely spreading, especially in the tri county area. There are other maritime schools. There’s Palm Beach Maritime Academy and other maritime schools that students can get involved in. But from what I’ve seen, it’s very it’s much more popular down here in the tri county area.

 

Merrill [00:31:09] Nice. There’s another topic I want to bring up. Like a side note, we went to the Iris Career Day, which is International Yacht Restoration School, and we were speakers there. And when we were there, there were a lot of people that had booths trying to basically get these kids jobs right, but a good chunk of them weren’t necessarily in maritime, right? There was like NASCAR groups there trying to get these kids that are, you know, basically studying about boats. How does that have an impact on things? Right. You know, the other industries basically trying to come in and seeing the value of lessons learned through maritime and try to cherry pick our our people?

 

Megan [00:31:50] Well, from what I’ve experienced on here is that for those who have entered our industry, it’s very hard for them to leave. And so I think our industry is very unique in that once you’re and you kind of see the entire value of it, you have those relationships that you feel or with other professionals in the industry, other companies. And so I think it’s one of those unique industries that once you kind of get the bug, if you will, but you don’t want to leave it and you just want to keep growing or changing within it. And so I don’t think it’s too much to worry about in terms of finding it. Of poaching other industries, poaching our professionals. I think what we offer something that’s unique and different, and you’re not going to find that somewhere else.

 

Talha [00:32:34] Mm hmm. And what about Jamaica going forward? What are your plans? Are you going to stay more on the business side of things or are you going to get your hands dirty here by your own body, which you’re going to do?

 

Megan [00:32:45] I definitely love what I’m doing right now with the association, with the team that I get to come to work with every single day. Hands might get dirtier as we do more Salty Jobs episodes, so we’ll have to see what jobs we have coming up next. But I think I’m definitely I’m very happy with where I am now and just all the people I get to work with, all the people I get to learn from every day we get. Our association is very lucky in that we get to work with all of the different types of marine industry businesses and members out there. And with the boat show seeing that all come together. So hopefully I got a good thing going.

 

Merrill [00:33:20] So one of the things right is that if you look at recreational boating and marine, right, it hasn’t really been around that long. If you take a look at it like it kind of started in the sixties and I mean, your association tag, our viewers can’t see it. It says since 1961. So it’s pretty early on. And Marine, when you really think about it, you know where do you see the industry kind of headed in in what you do in the next five years, ten years, 20 years? Like what would be your optimistic impression of kind of how things are going?

 

Megan [00:33:51] I think there’s nothing that our industry can’t conquer and accomplish. You look at the way we advocated for our marine businesses to stay open and working during COVID, how we still hosted the Fort Lauderdale Boat show in 2020 as a live event when so many other events were being canceled. And so I think the way people can see our industry and specifically down here, our marine businesses, whether any storm, especially hurricanes, we get those as well, whether any storm and overcome it, I think that shows our resiliency and that we are on a good path forward and that there’s really no ceiling to what we can keep growing and doing as the association and the industry.

 

Merrill [00:34:39] Yeah, you know in boats it’s unique in the in the sense Right. Like auto right like cars last 12 years usually Right. And then they’re scrapped but boats are eternal with the fiberglass and a lot of the boats that were made in the sixties, seventies and eighties are still around. I mean I’m sitting on a boat built. In the eighties. And so it’s like there’s more boats being built every year and more people getting into the industry and also people staying into the industry that I feel like it’s such an untapped market that people don’t necessarily realize how vast it is, how it’s going to keep growing no matter what.

 

Megan [00:35:16] Definitely. And they say that the average boater will look to upgrade and get a new boat every 18 months. So when you think about it. Yeah. And so when you think about that and you think about Florida being the highest rate of conversion for registered voters with our population, the way it’s growing here. And so in the entire state of Florida and it’s all new boaters that are set to hit the water in the coming years is really crazy to think about.

 

Talha [00:35:45] And that’s funny. And you guys can sort of predict that in Florida because you’re one of the only states that needs the license to be on the water. Right?

 

Megan [00:35:52] Yeah. So you think about just all those boats on the water with the full tag, but then you also have our different ports down here that bring in boats. And we are definitely a.

 

Talha [00:36:01] Destination.

 

Megan [00:36:02] Powerhouse. Yes.

 

Talha [00:36:04] You know.

 

Merrill [00:36:05] I when I went to the Fort Lauderdale boat show, I was in one of the giant hotels and I was like looking out into the distance and I could see all these, like, crazy inlets that like Florida is made out of. Right. And coming from New England, which is a very kind of different boating mentality, a lot of bigger yachts, you know, a lot of sailboats. So Florida is just it’s hard to describe how much of a mecca boating is down there. And people are always telling me, oh, you should go down to Fort Lee, you know, stay down there. Why would you be in New England?

 

Megan [00:36:40] That’s definitely not a bad place to be down here.

 

Merrill [00:36:43] Oh, yeah. Sounds pretty hot later.

 

Megan [00:36:45] Yeah, I do live in Maine and New England for a few years, so I have experience the cold weather in the season, which are nice as well.

 

Merrill [00:36:54] Well, as we kind of wrap this up, you know, what tips would you give? You know, you talked about having mentors. What were some of the lessons that you learned through your mentors?

 

Megan [00:37:03] Definitely be open minded at all times. I had said earlier about the get comfortable being uncomfortable, but just be willing to say yes and put yourself out there. And just as I did in saying yes to volunteering at that pilot or got it, you never know what saying yes to could be actually an opportunity or a door opening. You may not even realize it is a door when you’re saying yes at the beginning. And so the more you can just keep challenging yourself, challenging those around you, that’s the best way to keep growing and becoming a better version of yourself.

 

Talha [00:37:37] It I want to get so Megan, maybe on the way out, maybe just let our listeners know where they can find you, where they can find out more about all the projects you guys are working on, all the events you guys are organizing. We’re going to find you.

 

Megan [00:37:50] You can find out more about the association we have across all social media platforms. We are. Am I a soft 61 or the Marine Industries Association in South Florida? And then you can follow our Salty Jobs video series on YouTube by simply searching salty jobs. And then we are on Facebook and Instagram for salty jobs at Salty jobs TV. So we are across a wide range of platforms.

 

Merrill [00:38:15] And we’ll we’ll put all the links in the description below.

 

Talha [00:38:19] Yeah. I really appreciate your time, Megan. Thank you so much.

 

Megan [00:38:22] I thank you for having me.

 

Talha [00:38:23] Yeah. Good luck on the on the ocean. Don’t get too far out, okay? Yeah.

 

Megan [00:38:29] Friends of the coastguard now, believe me.

 

Talha [00:38:31] Yeah, Or exactly. I make good friends in high places. Yes, but no. Thank you so much for all your insight. And we hope, like you do, that it helps bring more people onto the water. Living on the ocean, you know, jobs on the ocean, livelihoods on the ocean. That’s where we’re going for as well. So we’ll have you maybe on the show in a couple of years again, when you had some more adventures on the above.

 

Megan [00:38:52] Definitely. And hopefully we’ll see you at the Fort Lauderdale show this coming October.

 

Talha [00:38:56] Hopefully. Fingers crossed.

 

Speaker 4 [00:39:12] Check back every Tuesday for our latest episode and be sure to like, share and subscribe to shipshape. Dot Pro. Dot Pro.