Meet Whitney Boyle of Undersea Divers in Beverly

Today we’d like to introduce you to Whitney Boyle.

Whitney, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Our store opened up in 1986 by my father Bob Boyle in the times where the scuba diving industry was booming. I started working for my father back in 2010 after graduating from Endicott College with a Business Degree. I learned everything I could from my father with the plan that I would one day take over the family business. My father was sick for many years and passed away in June of 2015. I took over the business and have been the owner ever since. The business is thriving with the changes we have made over the years. We enjoy what we do, it’s a passion and we love sharing that passion with customers. We love that we are getting people outside, enjoy nature, getting them away from their glowing screens. We look forward to creating new programs and evolving the business every year. We are in the business of fun!

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It has not been a smooth road. I’m thinking most small business owners always feel as though it’s a struggle. I would have to say the 2 biggest struggles I have dealt with are the loss of my father and trying to switch hands of ownership along with trying to compete with the internet. It’s hard to be a brick and mortar store these days since people want the cheapest price and the quickest delivery. The days of feeling/seeing a product, trying it on and having a personal relationship with the people running the business are fading. As a business you have to always be evolving and be willing to change and look at things differently. Times change, therefore you have to change the way you sell. To paraphrase Charles Darwin, “It’s not the strongest, but the most adaptable that survive.” I find this saying is ever so true in any business.

Please tell us about Undersea Divers.
We are a retail scuba diving store. We teach classes from beginner to advance. We lead underwater group tours twice a week to local divers. We also have a dive travel program where we run trips from the Caribbean to the South Pacific. We also have a photography club that meets once a month where we share member photos and have guest speakers. We sell many brands of gear and have many choices in our store.

We are very proud of our local dive club called the Dive Society. This group is local divers looking to meet new people and seeing new dive sites. Sometimes we have 20 people showing up to a dive. We create friendships and lifelong passions which is our favorite thing to do.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
If I were to do anything differently I would say I would seek out other professionals to get advice from. For a while I thought I could do everything on my own. I’ve realized networking is needed and that’s how you can run a successful business. You don’t always need to know the details of everything but have access to people who do.

Contact Info:

• Website: dive@underseadivers.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/undersea_divers/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Undersea-Divers-Inc-132493023490857/