We’ve Only Just Begun
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ore than 2,000 years ago the Greek philosopher, Heraclitus, said, “Change is the only constant.” A little more than 200 years ago, Benjamin Franklin put his own spin on that concept saying, “When you are finished changing, you are finished.” We have always lived by this philosophy at the Guy Harvey organization. We’re constantly evolving, updating and changing directions to stay on the leading edge. More than two decades ago, we were one of the first entities to embrace “cause marketing” by putting our marine research and conservation efforts on equal footing with our for-profit goals. We focused on protecting our oceans, and financial success followed. These days, it’s hard to find a business that doesn’t have some sort of sustainability initiative. If companies don’t have a conservation cause, they are, as Ben Franklin aptly said, finished. Many of our pursuits may seem the same, such as creating and selling art, apparel and other GH-branded items. We continue to be focused on marine scientific research and using 8 | GuyHarvey.com
the data we collect to influence responsible fishing regulations. However, all of those projects have branched out in various directions. For example, Dr. Mahmood Shivji, who directs the Guy Harvey Research Institute at Nova Southeastern University, is now collaborating with the Charles Darwin Institute in research on scalloped hammerhead and silky sharks in the Galapagos. In the past year, a major change was closing our warehouse and opening up a beautiful Guy Harvey retail store on the popular shopping corridor of Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale. We shifted gears from an industrial park to a highly visible storefront. Our grand opening was in February, and so far, business has been brisk. The store offers Guy Harvey-branded products: original art, prints, apparel — basically everything in the GH lineup all in one store. We’re already looking to expand in other locations. The other massive change we’ve taken on within the last two years is providing marine science and conservation education to K-12 students and teachers — all for free. As you might imagine, building an exciting and
relevant education platform is a monumental undertaking. Fortunately, our capable staff mobilized around this initiative, and we’ve added a number of extremely talented individuals who are subject-matter experts in the education space. Our CEO, Steven Roden, comes from an education background and knows the pathway to mass distribution and acceptance. Valerie Gaynor, who was a teacher and science supervisor for many years, has been leading the charge in curriculum development along with Cathy Christopher of Ocean First Education. They’ve also been training teachers to spread the good word. I also taught Valerie how to fish about 10 years ago, so she was a perfect candidate. More recently, we added Betty Bergnes, another former high-energy educator, as our new director of education. Betty, Valerie, Cathy and the GHOF team are training teachers to be Guy Harvey marine science disciples and take the message to districts across the country and, eventually, globally. Teachers, most of whom are overworked and underpaid, are the front-line workers for our children’s future. Their value cannot be
