It's Who You Know, Not What You Know

The first person who I contacted that is an expert in the industry is the general manager of Bradford Marine, Carlos Navarro, located in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Bradford is yacht brokerage and full service shipyard/ marina located in the heart of the intercostal for the past 50 years. Carlos was actually my boss this past summer where I interned in the yacht brokerage office. He is PADI master diver and USCG master license captain. He is the most knowledge person I know in the industry because he has worked in marine product sales, yacht sales and now manages a business that does both. I believe his expertise in the field and in the industry will cause me to look to him first if I was seeking guidance or advice. We have had a relationship over the years from my father and had kept in contact since I always interested in his line of work. Having him and keeping him in my close network will be beneficial in my career ahead because he has several high value contacts at his disposal if I were to ever need a recommendation. 

The person I contacted that I would consider an expert in this market is Hunter Hanson, a sales representative located in Tampa for Liquid Force, which is a wake boarding/ water sports brand. They sell an array of products from wakeboard ropes, wake boards and even life jackets. I sent him an email asking about the legitimacy of my product and what his thoughts and opinions were but unfortunately I received no answer. Hopefully I will receive one soon but not as I am writing this. If I receive no answer of this email I sent then I will attempt to contact him by phone. 

For the person who is considered a supplier to the industry and someone who is actively selling in the market place is Steve Weber, a sales consultant for Marine Max. Marine Max is one of the counties premier boat dealers and marine suppliers. I tried to call and email him but I have yet to receive a call back. I really hope to get one back in the near future because Marine Max is a company I would be interested in hanging my license if I decide to become yacht broker. My uncle actually recommend working at Marine Max over the brokerage he works at. He would be an amazing contacts for the future if I found myself wanting to explore that option and work there. This networking experience has been slightly different for me in a few ways. The first is that for two of the people I contacted I had no prior communication or connection with. Usually when I am going into situation like that I have an established connection with them from friends, family, or colleagues which tends to make things run a bit smoother. I would that was the biggest difference between past networking events and the networking required for this assignment.