Anchors Aweigh

Wanda Kenton Smith has worked in the boating industry since 1980. A journalist, she launched her career as editor of Water Ski and Windsurf magazines, and later worked as editor on additional trade titles in both the sailing and watersports sectors. She also has served as the marketing columnist for Soundings Trade Only since 1998, a post she still holds today. Wanda previously served as vice president of marketing for Regal Boats for 11 years prior to launching her own award-winning, full service advertising and PR firm for 13 years that serviced more than 35 global and national marine accounts. Today, Wanda serves as chief marketing officer of Freedom Boat Club, continues to consult on select accounts, speaks at industry events and is active in several marine industry initiatives. She is president of Kenton Smith Marketing, president of Marine Marketers of America and chairperson of the RBLC’s New Market Task Force.  She also is the event producer and publicist of Boaterz n Bikerz of America: Hull of a Tour

Zenon Bilas is a 7-time USA Barefoot Water Skiing Champion. He has over 30 years of teaching all levels of water skiers, including national and world champions. He has performed barefoot shows and water ski clinics on four continents with stops in the USA, Sweden, Belgium, Brazil, Japan, Lebanon, and China, including one show for over 500,000 people in Yueyang, China. He has authored hundreds of articles on boat tests, product reviews, and water ski coaching tips. And, you may remember a certain cartoon tiger waterskiing in a TV commercial for Frosted Flakes….that was Zenon skiing as Tony the Tiger’s body double! Zenon and I discussed how he got started on the water, tips for training, finding a coach, and driving the boat for tow sports, innovation on the manufacturing side, and more. With all Zenon has done and continues to do, it was impossible to cover everything we wanted to get to. I really hope I can get him on again for a follow up episode (or two!). Enjoy!   On what got him interested in being on the

Episodes 6-10 featured a wide range of boating experts and industry people: Betty Bauman, Founder/CEO of Ladies Let’s Go Fishing; Dan DeGeorge, VP of Sales for Docka; Stephanie Vatalaro, VP of Communications, Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation; Diane Seltzer, Marketing Director, SureShade, Founder/Editor myboatlife.com and boaterkids.com; and Kristen Frohnhoefer, President of SeaTow International.   Safety: With the timing of these episodes falling around National Boat Safety Week, we touched on a lot of safety issues. Kristen and the SeaTow Foundation are working hard to promote the Designate a Sober Skipper Campaign and National Safe Boating Week. National Safe Boating Week is the kick off week but safe boating is a year-long effort. Freedom Boat Club participated in a national PFD awareness effort. Diane and I discussed raising safe boating children and that starts with getting them accustomed to wearing their lifejackets as soon as they step on the dock. Start the good habits young! We also ta

Leading up to National Safe Boating Week, I was excited to speak with Kristen Frohnhoefer, President of Sea Tow International. Sea Tow has been the on-water assistance fleet of choice for boaters since 1983. A franchise-based marine assistance organization headquartered in Southold, New York, Sea Tow was founded in 1983 by Captain Joseph Frohnhoefer after the U.S Coast Guard stopped responding to non-emergency calls. Since that time, Sea Tow has grown into a thriving network of over 100 locations across the United States with additional offices in Europe and the Caribbean. Sea Tow Services International is a family-owned and family-run business. As the daughter of the founder, Kristen Frohnhoefer has spent over 25 years working for Sea Tow learning about every aspect of the business. As President, Kristen is responsible for overseeing all internal operations including the membership program, marketing, sales, communications and call center operations. Kristen also serves as President of the Board of Directors

You could say Diane Seltzer is a jack-of-all trades in the marine world. In her day job Diane is the Marketing Director for SureShade. SureShade designs and manufactures innovative retractable sunshade systems for the marine industry that enhance and facilitate the boating experience. Diane is responsible for branding, public relations, social media implementation, advertising, web site management and marketing communications…and in her 8 years with the company has won multiple Marine Marketer of America awards and has seen it go from concept to factory installed option on over 100 boat models! Diane is also the founder and editor of multiple boating websites for boating enthusiasts including myboatlife.com and boaterkids.com. On the industry side, Diane is founder and editor of Marine Marketing Tools, a collaborative site to share marine marketing best practices, tools and resources - exclusively for boat dealers, marinas, boat builders, marine suppliers, boating product manufacturers and boating service pro

Stephanie Vatalaro was recently promoted to Vice President of Communications for the Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation. RBFF’s mission is to implement an informed, consensus-based national outreach strategy that will increase participation in recreational angling and boating and thereby increase public awareness and appreciation of the need to protect, conserve and restore this nation's aquatic natural resources. Stephanie has been with the RBFF for over 10 years and has helped steward the Take Me Fishing and Vamos A Pescar national campaigns, providing the tools to help people get started. RBFF’s digital assets, TakeMeFishing.org and VamosAPescar.org, are the most comprehensive fishing and boating websites nationwide and are the key destinations for individuals to learn, plan and equip for a day on the water. They have now exceeded 12 million! Pageviews under Stephanie’s watch. After boating on Lake Erie as a young child, Stephanie’s family moved at the age of 7 to Florida where her father became

Dan DeGeorge is VP of Sales for Dockwa. Founded in May 2015 and since Featured in Forbes, the NY Times, Boating Magazine, the Boston Globe, and more, Dockwa is changing the way boaters and marinas connect and reserve dock space. It allows boaters to search, reserve, and pay for transient dockage from their mobile device. It also allows marinas to manage their inventory online and connect with thousands of customers like never before. At the time of our recording Dockwa featured over 400 marinas and though boater numbers are not disclosed it was in the six figures. That is a lot of boaters connecting to marinas! Just prior to our conversation, Dockwa acquired Marinas.com, the world’s most extensive online marine directory of more than 75,000 marine locations, including 15,000 marinas, yacht clubs, and shipyards. Marinas.com was the first online resource of its kind for the marine industry, pioneering a comprehensive guide for boaters worldwide and amassing more than 100,000 users. With this acquisition, Dockwa

All I can think about is fishing after speaking with Betty Bauman, the Founder and CEO of Ladies Let’s Go Fishing/Executive Director of the LLGF Foundation, Founder and CEO of MetroMedia, and Program Manager for Save-Fish.com. Betty started her career as a PR Manager for Wellcraft, Donzi, and Aquasport before starting her own agency. Along the way she has supported the Fort Lauderdale Billfish Tournament and Treasure Cay Billfish Tournament. Betty is a frequent radio guest on Fish Talk Radio with John Henigin and Mike Ritz broadcast to millions of listeners including iHeart Radio, and on Bill Kelly's fishing radio show in Islamorada, FL SUN FM 103.1 and iHeart Radio. As Program Manager of Save-Fish.com, Betty created and launched a go-to informative website on how and why to release fish, partnering with the Save Our Seas Foundation, an internationally-based nonprofit with the mission of preserving oceanic habitat. Finally, Betty has helped over 8,000 women graduate from Ladies Let’s Go Fishing! The seminar s

I learn so much in every episode, it is sometimes hard to keep track of it all! Every once in awhile, I'll do a little recap. The first five episodes featured Dan Glickberg, CEO of Dan Glickberg Food; Lisa Almeida, owner of Freedom Boat Club Jacksonville; John Giglio, President and CEO of Freedom Boat Club; Barry Slade, VP of International Sales, Regal Boats; and David Karpinski, President of Taylor Made Products. Here are some great tidbits on equipment, destinations, boats, and advice if you are thinking about getting into the boating lifestyle! Equipment: My guests are very focused on safety which is great! Being a safe boater definitely makes it a more enjoyable experience. John mentioned a PFD (personal flotation device) as the best investment anyone can make. He also recommended a handheld GPS, something that can make sure you get out safely and get back in safely. Dan made a great point about protecting your eyes and making sure all your senses are operating well with a good pair of polarized sunglasse

David Karpinski, recently named President of Taylor Made Products, has been boating since he was 10 years old. Dave is a graduate of Syracuse University at Utica College where he earned a BS degree in Business Administration and Marketing.  He joined Taylor Made Products in 1993 as Mid-Atlantic Regional Sales Manager; responsible for growing the brand’s market share with the territory’s two-step distributors and marine retailers.  From 1994-1997, he served as National Sales Manager of Taylor’s Hardware Division.  He was in the role of Vice President of Sales & Marketing from 1998-2016, where he has directed worldwide independent rep organizations, created branding and advertising programs, and managed new product and category introductions. He currently serves as a board member on the National Marine Distributor’s Association, as Chairman of the Capital Region Salvation Army Board and as Executive Director of the Parkhurst Field Foundation, a non-profit foundation he formed.  He still boats on the Lake he

Barry Slade is currently the VP of international sales for Regal Marine, where he is responsible for sales and marketing efforts supporting 72 international dealers in 51 countries. Barry has overseen over half a billion dollars of boat sales in his career and has been involved in every aspect of the boat business – starting as a First Mate, running a charter boat, and a variety of roles and responsibilities at some of the top boat manufacturers. Barry’s illustrious career includes stops at Anchor South Management where he oversaw management of multiple facilities featuring over 1500 slips and 74 houseboats; Sea Ray Boats as Director of International Operations and Global Brand Management, coordinating sales activities for Sea Ray and Boston Whaler brands; Baja Marine as VP of global sales; Director of Sales at Azimut where he helped launch Azimut USA; and Hatteras as International Sales and Marketing Director. Barry’s experience as a licensed captain as well as a recreational boater and industry leader on th

It was a real treat speaking with John Giglio. John is President and CEO of Freedom Boat Club, the world’s largest and oldest private boating club in the nation now celebrating its 27th anniversary. With 15,000+ members in 115+ locations in the US and Canada and sporting a fleet of more than 1200 boats, Freedom Boat Club offers an attractive alternative to boat ownership and delivers memories that last a lifetime. John, his wife Lisa and two daughters live in Venice, FL where the corporate headquarters are based. John purchased Freedom Boat Club in 2012, having previously worked for the company for several years in both senior level operations and sales capacities. Freedom Boat Club has doubled its growth since he took the helm. The company has received multiple recognitions both within and outside the marine industry. It has been named to the Entrepreneur’s Magazine “Top 500 Franchisees” for the past five years, as well as being ranked in the Inc. Magazine’s “Top 5000 Fastest Growing Companies.” Boating Indu

Wow, I had so much fun recording this episode with Lisa 'The Boatanista' Almeida. Born and raised a Floridian, who claims to bleed salt water when she gets cut, Lisa turned a successful career in Sales and Marketing into her current role as the Owner of Freedom Boat Club, Jacksonville and St. Augustine. Before owning her Freedom Boat Club locations, Lisa rose to Director of Marketing for the nine state Bellsouth region. During her tenure, she was continually recognized for her innovative, creative problem solving, and her ability to engage an audience with her speaking skills. In 2007, when she took an early retirement from Bellsouth to make a career change, she followed her passion for being on the water. Lisa is a member of the Captains Club, The Jacksonville Power Squadron, The Jacksonville Marine Association, and serves on the City of Jacksonville’s Boating Committee. As an Aquaholic she has done many charity boat rides for underprivileged children, and was instrumental in saving the Jacksonville lighted

This was such a fun conversation to record. Dan is one of my oldest friends and the person who introduced me to boating. Dan was on boats before he could walk and it wasn’t long after that he was fishing. My earliest boating memories are on Jinx, the Torres fishing boat Dan’s dad would take us out on in Montauk. Dan is currently CEO of Dan Glickberg Food, a venture capital family office and media company, and a partner at Rodeo CPG, an advisory services and venture capital fund. Previously, he was the fourth-generation founding family member at Fairway Market. This is where Dan truly became THE expert on fish and seafood as Fairway had one of the top seafood departments in the country. At Fairway he quickly earned the nickname “the face of Fairway Market.”  Dan took an active role in promoting the company through his cooking demonstrations, both in the stores and on TV. He also lent his expertise on "At The Table" segments on WOR Radio’s Joan Hamburg Show and on "To The Market" segments on WOR Radio’s Joe Bar