June 5, 2025 • 43 mins
Ocean conservation is more than protecting ecosystems—it’s about empowering people to lead change. In this episode of How to Protect the Ocean, Andrew, Serena, and Amanda explore the WaveMaker identity, what it means to be part of a movement, and how The Undertow is creating a community where action and support go hand-in-hand.
WaveMakers aren’t just scientists or campaigners—they’re everyday people standing up for the ocean. This episode is a behind-the-scenes look at the launch of The Undertow and the people who are already making waves in ocean conservation worldwide.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(01:00:00):
Welcome back to the podcast, everybody.
Thank you for joining us.
Today, we're gonna be
diving deeper into the undertow.
Last episode, we unveiled the undertow
with Serena and Amanda, my co-host.
And today we're gonna be diving deeper
by talking about the wave maker
and what we define as a wave maker.
Maybe you are either a wave maker now
or the next wave maker.
(01:00:20):
We're gonna be talking
about why it's important
for wave makers to be supported,
why it's important for them
to be a part of the undertow,
and why we're gonna be introducing to you
some amazing people
over the next little while
to talk about ocean conservation.
And it's really interesting
because each and every one
of us, Serena, Amanda, myself,
we are wave makers in and of itself,
and we are getting together
(01:00:41):
to support other wave makers.
That's what we focus on today,
why it's important for
them to be supported,
why it's important for
them to have a community
like the undertow, and I
can't wait to talk about it.
So we're gonna reflect on our progress
around the undertow and the wave maker,
share a few behind the scenes insights,
and of course, that'll
give you a little sneak peek
into how we're shaping
this movement together.
(01:01:03):
So let's get started on this episode
of the "How to
Protect the Ocean" podcast.
Let's start the show.
Hey everybody, welcome back
to another exciting episode
of the "How to
Protect the Ocean" podcast.
I'm your host, Andrew Lewin,
and this is the
podcast where you find out
what's happening with the ocean,
how you can speak up for the ocean,
what you can do to live for a better
ocean by taking action.
Now on today's episode, like I mentioned,
(01:01:24):
we are going to be
talking more specifically
about the undertow's wave
maker, what a wave maker is,
how you can become one
unless you're already one,
and how we are going
to be supporting them
through the undertow.
I've been doing this
podcast for about 10 years now.
I'm coming up on 10 years this month,
and it is something that I've seen a
while, the wave maker.
(01:01:45):
I haven't categorized
them as wave makers,
but I've seen these people who
independently start projects,
start projects like beach
cleanups on a regular basis
or a hashtag on the
internet that goes viral
or starts to pick up a lot of steam,
starts a podcast or is a content creator
or does something with a
project that's above and beyond
and maybe in the outer part
(01:02:06):
of what your traditional marine
conservationist could be.
So that could be someone who's working
for a nonprofit organization
or someone who's working in government.
But these are the people
who kind of step outside
the boundaries.
These are side projects
that become a full-time project
or as somebody who's just
doing something so incredible,
it doesn't really fit within the confines
of what we consider a marine biologist,
(01:02:27):
marine conservationist, someone who does
mindfulness with the oceans,
or there's a number of
business with the ocean,
there's a number of different ways you
can do stuff with marine conservation,
but not everybody's
supported the same way.
And so today we're going to be diving
into what a wave maker is
and why did he help basically is what
we're really going to be talking about.
So I'm joined again by Amanda and Serena,
(01:02:49):
my co-founders here at the undertow for
this second episode.
I can't wait for you to
listen about the wave maker
and I'd love to hear your feedback.
So here is the interview
with myself, Serena and Amanda,
enjoy and I'll talk to you after.
Hey Amanda, Hey Serena, welcome back to
the how to protect the ocean podcast.
Are you ready to talk about the undertow?
We are always.
(01:03:10):
Oh, wonderful.
Like this is the second
episode of our undertow series.
This is an introduction
to what the undertow is.
We talked a lot about
it in the last episode,
but we're going to talk a
little bit about like today,
about the wave maker and what a wave
maker is and what our
community is supposed to build.
So I'm looking forward to
getting into all of this.
But before we do, I know we just did it
(01:03:31):
over the last episode,
but why don't we remind each other or
remind our audience who
we are and what we do.
So let's start with Amanda.
Why don't you just remind the audience
who you are and what you do.
I'm so excited to have made some progress
since our last episode.
I'm Amanda Horn.
I am a Canadian ocean advocate.
(01:03:52):
I am a scuba diver.
I'm a free diver and
an ocean entrepreneur.
And I am just so excited to be building
this with you guys and just
creating a place for everyone.
And anyone who's been trying to navigate
their pathway into
taking action for the ocean.
That's why we have the undertow.
Awesome.
Awesome.
And Serena, how about yourself?
(01:04:13):
I am Serena Gwen.
I am also an ocean advocate scuba diver.
New or a scuba diver though, then I'll
say that Amanda, a free diver.
And actually more recently now also a an
ocean children's book author.
Yes, very exciting.
And I've been doing a strategy consulting
(01:04:35):
on ocean innovation,
how to build your strategies to
incorporate or ocean
solutions into your businesses.
So this is just a part of the journey,
but such a critical one that I've seen
over the last 10 years or
so in the innovation sector.
So I'm excited to kind of
bring all my worlds together.
(01:04:57):
Absolutely.
And it's so fun to be able to work with
with both of you over the
last almost last year, really,
to be able to bring the undertow to
everybody else, which
is, which is amazing.
Why don't we just admit it?
Why don't we just go through just in case
people missed last
episode and I highly recommend
people watch or
listen to the last episode.
But once you just go through the mission
(01:05:18):
of the undertow, because we're going to
be focusing on that today and really
focusing on the wave maker, but it really
comes down to the mission.
So why don't you just kind of
let people know what that is?
Yeah, absolutely.
So the undertow, we say that we are a
mission driven marketplace for ocean
knowledge and ocean action.
And the biggest thing that I think all of
(01:05:41):
us connected over was that once you
connect with somebody about water and
what inspired them to how that has shaped
their personal life, their professional
life and inspire them
to take action for it.
That seemed to be really the common
thread of these incredible change makers,
whether they were coming from the
creative side, from the sciences, from
policy advocacy, there was some sort of
(01:06:03):
connection in their personal life that
made them want to commit and dive in at whatever point in time.
And for some people, that was very early
on, like they knew right away that going
into marine biology was the thing.
But for a lot of other people, there
seems to be a very dramatic pivot or
water awakening, if you will.
And so it's been, yeah, a really
(01:06:25):
interesting and collective
vision that it is coming together.
It feels like we're building the thing
that we all needed in previous careers as
a place to convene and really catalyze ocean.
Action. So the undertow's mission is to
unlock 10 million new ocean connections
by World Ocean Day 2030.
But most importantly, as well as unlock 5
(01:06:48):
million in ocean in investments for ocean
towards ocean action, which is great
because I mean, obviously we agree on
this because we're driving this mission,
but it's something that I feel is needed.
And especially with these connections to
help guide that awakening. I think a lot
of people, once they get that awakening,
I'm someone who's had it since I was a
(01:07:09):
kid, always wanting
to be around the ocean.
But some of the people who are in their
adult stage or even any stage of life
where they're just
like, what do I do now?
And they feel overwhelmed. And then
sometimes that leads to inaction. We want
to lead them to an action that they feel
comfortable with, which I
think is really important.
I feel a lot of people when I talk to
(01:07:29):
them about the ocean, it's like, well, I
don't know where to
start. I don't know what to do.
And then maybe I'll just forget about it
and like move on with my life, but still
get that little bit of anxiety.
You know, we've heard that the term
climate anxiety, ocean anxiety, and we
want to get rid of that and start putting
people on a path to guiding.
So I love that. I love that. Actually, I
(01:07:50):
mean, and so you've been doing that
through through business and through, you
know, on the on the business stand front.
What was that that catalyst that really
made you like switch? You talked a little
bit about earlier about, you know, being
a newer scuba diver.
What was really that catalyst that made
you like switch and then actually take
action through, you know,
your own personal career?
(01:08:11):
Yeah, I think, you know, I think I should
this and part of this story in the first
episode, but I've always
had a bias, you know, younger.
I was like, oh, like I care about the
environment. I remember doing like a
little like project and
like presentation on it.
I started a little extracurricular
volunteer thing about it.
(01:08:33):
And then the pressures of life and
responsibility kind of took over and I
took a more traditional path and that
part of me quieted down.
Right. And I think over the last three or
four years, as I matured in my
professional life and my career, I really
started to ask myself, like, what, what
do I want to leave behind?
(01:08:53):
What's what's the impact I want to make?
I shared, you know, I've always been a
snorkeller and a water lover and starting
to see the differences in the coral life
in my water experiences and then really
asking myself, like, I want to I want to
save this for my future family.
(01:09:14):
How am I going to start doing that? I'm
working all of these hours. I'm so tired.
You know, like we kind of had I hit that
wall and I had to ask myself, what am I
dedicating that time and that legacy and
that impact professionally into?
And that's when I started to that was
kind of like the tipping point, if you
will, kind of like that personal trigger.
(01:09:37):
And then to your point, Andrew, I'm one
of those people that like kind of
awakened later in life.
And so I started diving into all of the
information and the stories and, you
know, what is it going to take to be able
to take my kids snorkeling and
diving and all of this stuff?
And it was overwhelming. I connected and
(01:10:01):
I was listening to your podcast,
actually, you know, I was I was trying to
like educate myself.
And so I had internally awoken through my
own passion and through my own love for
the water and then being able to ask
myself, OK, well, why do I care about it?
And what do I want to do for? And for me,
(01:10:21):
it was like, well, I'm working all these
hours and I'm doing all this
stuff in my professional life.
Why don't I gear it a little bit more
towards something that I want to share in
the future with generations to come, my
kids being one of them?
So that trigger point happened. And then
I Amanda and I connected over over this
(01:10:42):
last year or a couple of years ago at you
in Ocean Decade where I was like and I
started like kind of getting lost in the
science and all the stories and all the
information that was out there.
And I was like, I wish there was just
like one place where I could learn about
how people were starting to make those
pivots in their lives, how they connected
and made changes in their daily lives.
(01:11:03):
And, you know, I wanted to start going
plastic free and, you know, it's hard to
tell what's not green washed and or blue
washed and what is real and what isn't.
But I learned a lot through your podcast,
through the storytelling that I
experienced with people
who had shared their journey.
And I just started to copy it and I was
like, wouldn't it be great if it was just
(01:11:24):
in one place? Like it wasn't wouldn't it
be great if I could go somewhere I could
listen to those stories and then I could
actually make some changes where and when
I was willing knowing that these people
have dedicated their lives or are just as
committed as I am and have started the
research themselves.
And so it's kind of like that trusted
(01:11:46):
community crowdsourcing marketplace
concept where we didn't see it out there.
And so we said, can we create it instead?
Yeah. And I think what's what's
interesting about each one of our stories
and how we all we all met is we all had
our different projects that we were that
we were doing. Right.
Right. Like Amanda, you were on your
(01:12:07):
entrepreneurship journey with and
continue to be with with bringing sort of
great products that are also
good for the environment. Right.
Having those values there, but also
really helpful products for women and and
and so forth. And I think
that was that was really good.
And then you're helping corporations
really understand their relationship with
(01:12:29):
water, their relationship with the ocean,
protecting the ocean.
And for me, we mentioned the podcast.
We're on it right now to help drive that
information there, guide people into less
than that anxiety and just be like, look,
if you just want to learn that this is
where you learn, if you want to take
action, you can take action.
We all have what we call ourselves wave
makers. Really, you know, this is where
(01:12:50):
it really got like coin for us was just
like we're each on this individual
journey with different homes in space,
you know, whether it be on the Internet
space, whether it be the corporate space
or the entrepreneurship space.
But we didn't really there was really no
space for wave makers to have an audience
(01:13:12):
or build an audience or even provide the
messaging as well as any sort of products
and services. And so, I mean, I want you
to talk a little bit about that wave
maker aspect here with the undertow and
say, look, this is
what we want to be doing.
We want to be supporting, you know,
people who are doing very
similar to what we're doing.
(01:13:32):
Yeah, and I love that we've all asked
this question like, are we wave makers
yet? Like, have we actually done enough?
But that's also kind of the beautiful
thing about letting this community grow
and evolve organically because the idea
is whatever your superpowers, whatever
your skill set is, the ocean needs it.
So it's not to say this is exclusively
(01:13:52):
only for people who are academics and
researchers and working directly on the
science because we
need everybody together.
So we started looking at how all of our
paths kind of intersected. And like I
said before, we're building the thing
that we all individually needed in
previous careers. And the thing that I
like to challenge people when we refer to
it as a marketplace is as an
(01:14:13):
entrepreneur, biggest question I get is
how are you going to find your customers?
Find your customers who cares about
swapping a more sustainable option? And
my biggest dilemma when I was in
marketing was I worked in wine. So we
would always say just get liquid on lips,
like get them to try
it before they buy it.
And if they can taste it, they're going
to love it. But so often, those free
(01:14:35):
samples, they're not only wasteful, but
they're very expensive. And if you're not
actually targeting the people who want to
shop values aligned when we're speaking
about ocean safe, water conscious
products, solutions, services, there
needs to be a place that has that group
ready and waiting and
willing to hear from you.
And in my case, test something that looks
(01:14:56):
very ugly, but is functional at an early
stage. I'm very excited to be able to
allow the community to test our early
prototypes. So basically, wave makers are
people who have really committed to the
fact that the ocean or water has had such
a profound impact on their life that they
(01:15:16):
wanted to dedicate their
work and their purpose for it.
And they have been the initiator on
whether it's on a project, maybe they're
the head of an end, they're a founder of
an NGO or they're the founder of a
podcast or they have designed a new
product and they're a founder.
There are infinite ways to be considered
a wave maker, but ultimately, it's
(01:15:37):
somebody whose relationship to water
radically changed their life. And now
they're taking positive action in the
ocean through a pathway of their own.
And the goal is to be able to give you a
place to come and deepen your knowledge
of the different ways that people are
connecting and taking action for the
ocean and inspiring you to find somehow
(01:15:58):
that maybe you could latch on to that or
get inspired to start your own piece.
But the other thing is we really wanted
to be able to showcase who is working on
what because there's so much duplication
of effort. And it's really about
empowering people to just be very clear
on what their specific skill set is and
what they could
potentially lend and collaborate.
(01:16:20):
And it's about how do we become more
efficient when we're trying to
collaborate and co design and network
with each other and
really connect with intention.
And yeah, I think that's what excites me
the most about it is having this
connected network of incredible change
(01:16:40):
makers who as we say are leading the way
by making waves and wave makers we see
that term and all the ocean puns thrown
around a lot when it comes to branding
and things in the ocean.
But for us, it's so specific that it's
pathways and the waterways that have led
you to your path and purpose into the
sustainable ocean economy.
I'll leave it at that.
(01:17:01):
I think you covered it off so great and
the intentionality behind I know wave
makers is thrown around, but we spell it
as in W.A.Y. first because they're
providing other ways for people to get
pulled into ocean action.
Whether that is by first telling their
(01:17:21):
story and connecting on a human and
emotional level to kind of drive that
water awakening, if you will, whether
that story is because they people want to
find a way to sustainably travel or to
make swaps in their everyday life to
bring this to their
company's vision and mission.
(01:17:43):
And then providing those solutions. So
Amanda, you've got your products. I've
got the business and then the consulting
side and the storybooks.
And you've got the podcast, the media
side of things covered off. And in
between all of that are the everyday life
changes that we've made through purchase
swaps, through volunteer hours, through
(01:18:06):
initiatives that we've either supported
in various ways, whether that's like
human resource, capital
resource or otherwise.
I think what's really important here when
you are a wave maker and creating new
ways for people to connect in its story,
but also the work that you do because the
(01:18:28):
other challenge that a lot of our wave
makers face is SDG 14 is the lowest
funded SDG of all of them.
We have a fraction of the amount of
capital that is being invested in climate
solutions going to the ocean.
(01:19:02):
And so we're going to be able to provide that to people who are interested in the future, whether that's being able to make
those purchases of ocean safe products,
whether that is volunteer hours, whether
that is donations, whether that is
finding ways to support in bigger ways.
(01:19:24):
And so I think that's really important
because it's going to be an everybody
effort and we want to be able to provide
that not only place to land that you know
that platform that infrastructure to
start centralizing things.
We want to provide a community to drive
that ongoing learning because I can
assure you I'm not going to go back to
school to become a marine anything.
(01:19:46):
I think that's a simple path to taking
action, whether that is everyday
products, projects and or company
initiatives, this kind of thing.
Yeah, you hit the nail right on the head
when you just said that.
I've met a lot of people over my time
where they get that awakening and all of
a sudden, like, I need to go back and
become a marine biologist. I need to
(01:20:07):
become a science. I need to do four years
of undergrad, even though I already did
four years of undergrad, or maybe I need
to do a master's or maybe I need to a
PhD, which if that's their choice, I
always say, go ahead, do that.
But a lot of times people are well into
their careers. They might have families.
They might have financial obligations
that they have to be there where that
commitment and that sacrifice
to go back to school is a lot.
(01:20:29):
You know, it's a difficult thing. And I
always tell people like, look, we have a
lot of scientists. We have a lot of
marine biologists out there. Obviously,
we need more, but there's a competition
for funding and it's not easy to get jobs
when you're doing that.
And we need more people in different
places and different career paths,
different sectors to really have that
(01:20:49):
mindset of what can I do with my skill
set right now to be able to put it on
there? And I think that's where the
guidance becomes a little wishy washy,
for lack of a better term.
And it's where do I go from here? How do
I apply it? And do I need to join a board
(01:21:10):
for a nonprofit, which that could be a
great way to support your local nonprofit
or do I need to start my own project?
And I think over my time, I've done this
for 10 years now, right? And with this
podcasting, and I've been in the marine
biology business for a long time, like
almost more than 20 years.
God, I'm old. This is crazy.
But anyway, regardless, like I've been in
(01:21:31):
this for a while and I've met a lot of
people doing the podcast. I've talked to
a lot of people and I've seen some great
things from from people like from my
guests and talking about different
projects, but
everybody's doing it on their own.
You know, a lot of the times they there's
what I've noticed is there's this
category of people and doesn't happen
(01:21:52):
with everybody and that's fine. But
there's a category of people who are just
they've got such a passion for what they
want to do that. They just they do it on
their own. They just go ahead and do it.
And they may get funding another way,
whether it's through Patreon or whether
it's through a service
or a product or whatever.
But they do it no matter what at a
sacrifice of their own time of their own
(01:22:12):
lifestyle and or they change their
lifestyle to do it because they have a
real passion for it. But it doesn't fit
within the mold of our traditional marine
biology, marine conservation, nonprofit
or even government model.
And they may not get support through that
through their own company or through
their own whoever they're working for. So
they started on their own, but they're
(01:22:32):
all it's all individual. It's all on
their own. And I feel like they're there
and they felt like this for a long time.
And when Undertow came along, I'm like,
yes, this is this is it. There needs to
be a place where people can come share
their projects, share their missions and
then also have that infrastructure to
build a business around it and get
supported financially through it because
(01:22:53):
these are important things that could do it.
And it doesn't only drive the next big
wave of change that we've seen and and go
beyond what we see the traditional join a
non profit organization get paid very
little. You know, there's nothing wrong
with making money and still doing good
for the ocean, you know, and I've been a
big advocate of that for the last, you
(01:23:13):
know, 1012 years and and I'm still going
to be that for going forward.
going forward. So I love to like once we
started talking about the WaveMaker and
defining what that is, I can see people.
You know we have a list of people that
you know we are going to invite and we're
inviting it already to join as a
WaveMaker and this is exciting because
now we get to provide a place where they
(01:23:37):
are supported, where they can share with
each other, they can
share with us. I mean
we're all you know we've kind of coined
ourselves WaveMakers because we've been
doing this so we know a lot of the
struggles, we know a lot of what what's
necessary and I know and both of you
ladies know too like building a
community, being part of a community,
doing something that may be different
will really help support us and that's
(01:23:59):
that's what I'm really excited about you
know around this time like obviously the
need for you know building that in for
helping them build that infrastructure,
having a community and building that
community for them but also just being
able to talk to somebody else who's
gone through the same thing and share the
woes and share the successes you
know and support each other because like
I don't know about you ladies but
(01:24:20):
like there have been a lot of times where
I'd be like am I is this right is this
what I'm like should I really be doing
this I spend a lot of time on this like
is this what I really need to be doing
and the answer is yes every time but
sometimes it helps because we all the
three of us talk about it's like no
we're doing the right like this is all of
us individually are doing what we
need to do and then collectively like
(01:24:41):
yeah this is what we need to do we need
to help support through I think you were
about to say so yeah like it's funny
because we're early enough to that the
beauty of this is our community and our
way makers get to shape the rest of this
infrastructure we're we're just the
catalyst of this all right because we had
such a desire to be like where do I
(01:25:01):
get this information oh I met that person
along my journey and I met that
person along my journey and they're
really cool and I'm like how do I keep
track of them all you know how do I keep
track of them all and the progress
that they're making in the products are
creating or the initiatives that they're
kicking off how do I share that with
people because you know as I dove into
(01:25:23):
this sector people are like Serena like
what is the blue economy like why the
ocean and I start to share what I've
learned over the last little bit they're
like oh yeah you know what I've always
had a connection to the ocean and I'd
love to do something but like where do I
start back to kind of like what people
were saying you right and so now when I
have those conversations with people who
(01:25:44):
first off question why I made the change
and to want to know how they can
support me or want to make changes in
their life and say like I'd love to help
somehow but you know I'm too busy like
can you just point me in the direction I
can invite them to the the undertow and
they'll have a place where they can hear
more stories like mine probably
(01:26:05):
strengthen their connection to the water
learn a little bit more but also take
that action right so infrastructure
community the action pathways like
they're they're all such a fundamental
part of this community right now and we
hope that everybody will participate in
helping us continue to evolve it and
(01:26:26):
continue to give them the experience that
maybe they were looking for and so kind
of put this on the back burner because it
was overwhelming and there was too many
options and it was hard to tell what was
real versus you know on its way to being
real versus maybe something that
(01:26:46):
that could use a little bit more research
yeah absolutely well I think I
think also it's interesting too is like
we I when I meet someone who is a wave
maker or who we define as a wave maker I
get so inspired I get excited I get
giddy when it when I when I mean it like
just the other day posted an
(01:27:06):
interview I've had him on a number of
times and dr. Andrew Thaler it's always
doing these individual projects you know
working with this you know local
government you know being on and
commissions and stuff like I spending a
lot of time doing this stuff just for his
local town you know of a small town
getting over flooding and all this kind
of stuff and he comes up with all these
projects and you get inspired by it
(01:27:29):
you're just like oh this is awesome and
I think having wave makers in the
undertow community will help I think
inspire people who join the community who
may not have that project just yet or
that individual sort of like goal yet but
might get inspired by what other
people are doing but oh maybe I can do
(01:27:49):
something similar or I've always wanted
to do this and just finally pull that
trigger and say yes like like this is it
just like kind of what we all went
through in a different pathway so man
like you meet a lot of people you know
who were doing different things in and
outside of the ocean was there one point
where you were just like so you met
somebody and you were just like oh wow
(01:28:10):
like this person is a wave maker like
this person I would love to either work
with this person or just get completely
inspired in what they're doing yeah and
so when I first was starting my company
because I decided I need to pivot from
the wine industry figure out how to be a
marketer in the ocean space not gonna go
(01:28:32):
be a marine biologist but I love
scuba diving so maybe I can find a way
for the ocean scuba diving to be in my
life as a communications professional and
so I needed to build a network I
needed to talk to people who are in it
but no idea the vastness of opportunities
that existed and so I was trying to
(01:28:53):
develop products and develop a brand I
didn't have time to blog so I'm like I'm
gonna start a podcast I just love
documenting these conversations with
people who's amazing again personal
connection to water has inspired them to
initiate something cool and it started
as just a way for me to all be able to
look back like once I had launched a
(01:29:13):
business and think of all the cool
intersections of people so like I talked
to water some l.a.s who had like health
scares and that was their path into
educating people on the importance of
clean safe drinking water and health
and hydration I did a citizen science
project of my own and I talked to the
founder of that she was a Canadian she
established a product project in
(01:29:35):
Nusa Penida Indonesia and now has scaled
that project to multiple sites
all over Asia and being able to bring
people along to educate pairing them up
with marine biologists on the ground
involving them in their coral research
so I was meeting mermaids like I was
meeting all these super cool people
with interesting stories people who
consistently felt like even though they
(01:29:58):
were doing so much they felt like it
wasn't of value and so it was also a way
to remind people that whatever small
action you are taking
whether you've chosen now
to eliminate plastic in your bathroom or
shorten your shower
time all the way up to like
establishing a citizen science project
whatever you're doing it's
important and we need to bring
(01:30:19):
awareness to it so that people don't feel
irrelevant or
undervalued and starting with
your story and your connection and your
why behind why you're
doing your work and it's such a
beautiful and sometimes complicated thing
to have your personal life
intersect so much with your
work like because there's no separation
sometimes but um it was
(01:30:43):
also a struggle for me as I was
trying to navigate who am I in this ocean
space am I amanda the
marketer am I an ocean advocate
I'm not really a credible ocean advocate
yet what do I need to become
that how do I build products
that people who work on the sciences
would actually validate and want to use
um so that's been a whole
(01:31:04):
very interesting I don't want to be
another greenwashing marketer that was my
reason for wanting to leave
um the industry and create real change
from the outside and
hopefully bring that back into supply
chains and when you're doing all of this
mission driven work and you're an
individual or independent
you have you wear a lot of different hats
you've all these different
projects doesn't matter what
organization you work for it starts with
(01:31:26):
you and what your connection is and then
you're the sum of all of those
experiences your own knowledge
maybe you're not considered you don't
consider yourself an expert but your
lived experience and
knowledge is just as important um in a
different way so it's how did we create
this organic ecosystem
where people can show up as they are um
(01:31:47):
leading with themselves leading with
their personal story
that's where people connect and those
were the conversations that were having
the most impact on me
was when I can tell somebody like oh my
first love is dance and now all of a
sudden I'm meeting like somebody who is
working with dancers underwater
and playing with freediving techniques
and doing this I don't know needing
(01:32:07):
stuntmen and like who are the
avatar freediving team like there are
infinite intersections in
ways that everything connects
to water so that's what inspires me
there's not one that stands out and I've
been I have this running record of over
like 200 names now of people that like
you're away from here like anyone so um
(01:32:29):
I'm so excited to see
this grow and have people
be inspired to refer and nominate each
other and that's I think the
thing that I want us to always
be conscious of is that Serena, Andrew
and Amanda like we are not the undertow
it is this collective
and it's everybody as individuals so
(01:32:50):
three of us came together as individuals
underneath this umbrella
and anybody else who is taking positive
action for water like you belong here and
whether like it's as a wave maker or is
as a community member
like that's that power of small like
individual collective action that is
going to add up to a positive impacts
(01:33:11):
yeah and I think the big thing here is as
part of this community is collaboration
right like that's a big
thing we are from an industry
no matter where you come from science
business you know marketing
communications it is a community that
continues to talk about collaboration
a lot of times fails with collaboration
(01:33:32):
you know on a on an over you know just an
overview site even in
in the when you get into the weeds of it
all and that is the the most
frustrating part of working
with an industry is the lack of
collaboration and a lot of times it's not
necessarily one or two
organizations or people it's just the way
the system is set up it's
this it's you know people are
competing for the same funding over and
(01:33:55):
over again and people are competing for
just different aspects of it and it just
forms this me against you type of thing
and I need to get ahead and and that's a
big problem which we're trying to
cut away you know in in the undertow with
with wave makers is to collaborate there
might be some wave makers that
speak about the same things or have very
(01:34:15):
similar missions and you
know they're they might do well
by combining might do well by supporting
each other they might do well you know
interacting with each
other and still be able to
succeed both of them or more than one or
or however that might be and I think that
is one of the the
foundations that we've been
wanting to discuss because we've all gone
through it and and it sucks and when
(01:34:37):
we're come together and we
collaborate that's when we really start
to start to really see
change happen and I think that's
something that I'm looking forward to
seeing in the undertow and
providing in the undertow and
and it takes a lot from each individual
to just be like yeah look I want to see
you succeed I want you to do well and I
think that's what it really comes down to
(01:34:58):
when we see these wave makers get
inspired like I wanna do something that
helps you know build whatever business
you have whatever services orproducts that you have.
have what are their services or products
that you have what can I
do to help and let's provide
a community for that. So I think this is
this is really great in
terms of of WaveMaker. Let's
let's now people might be listening to
this like like I think I'm a
(01:35:19):
WaveMaker or I want to join
the undertow as a community member or
thing. I mean why don't we just talk a
little bit about like
how they can join and and what the next
step. Wait can I jump
in Andrew because I think
I think you know you frame that up so
well and and it's a
great lead and and so like if
(01:35:39):
we've talked about all the components so
if we were to summarize
this if you're a WaveMaker
right what I'm hearing slash what I know
because we're building
this is we're going to be that
that place for you that infrastructure
for you to plug your years
of work dedication research
(01:36:00):
commitment to whether it's the products
you've been creating the
services the initiatives
and the story that started at all yeah
we're going to give you
that place we're all going to
be a part of this collective community on
this mission to drive 10
million new ocean connections
and drive more funding five million in
(01:36:21):
ocean action and we're
going to create the action
pathways for people who don't really know
where to start to be able to
start making those everyday
changes in their lives in their personal
lives in their communities and
hopefully at at a later stage
in the companies that they might
represent and be advocates for and within
(01:36:43):
so that's our WaveMakers
and for our community side the 10 million
of you hopefully we
bring together because you're
inspired by Amanda's story you're
inspired by Andrew's story
maybe you're inspired by mine or
Amanda the the folks that you met the 200
the list of 200 folks
you have on your list
Andrew the I don't know I don't even know
(01:37:05):
what number episode
you're on to be honest
episode a million of the podcast that you
brought through like our
community has a place now to come
be inspired by those stories learn build
their ocean knowledge and then take those
action pathways so now Amanda you know I
(01:37:26):
I think this is a great
site I wanted to summarize
everything that I heard I think that we
talked about it in pieces
but Amanda over to you that's
perfect excellent segue there's so many
things to do um so we're
excited because right now
tomorrow I guess is uh the start or this
(01:37:47):
week is the start of world
ocean week or ocean month and
we always reach this dilemma oh it's
earth month like just do a social media
post it goes so much
beyond that like how are you now
integrating and weaving in these
conscious actions in your
everyday life I love now when people say
oh you're really into the
environment I'm like well we kind
of have to be and that's not like a trend
(01:38:09):
it's not a hot new thing so
we're excited that the first
action that if you have no idea where to
start join the community and
that means that what you're
going to have access to is you're going
to hear and it gets to the
chance to explore a new ocean
connection every month um we're going to
(01:38:29):
whether that's art that's
music mindfulness travel
conservation coral will get super
specific depending on who
the wave maker and what their
story is but we invite you to explore and
open your mind to a new way
that you never thought life
was interconnected to the ocean through
the life and the lens of
whoever that featured wave maker
is as a storyteller that month and from
(01:38:52):
there you'll be invited to
shop around the marketplace
whether it's something in action that you
can take in your personal
life um or if it's a solution
maybe it's you work for your you're like
looking for a b2b solution of a new
plastics replacement
to pull into your your supply there are
infinite things that are
(01:39:13):
going to appear on here all the
way to immersive water experiences so you
can get yourself in the water
and really feel connected to
what it is that we're talking about
because reconnecting with
nature I can tell is just
driving people's new passion for saving
the environment and once you go
underwater you snorkel on a coral reef
(01:39:35):
when that is alive and thriving you never
forget it like whether you love spending
time just by the water or on it it's
physically being connected to it that is
going to be the most inspiring and the
best way that we can do in a virtual
context um is to bring you as many
different stories and perspectives as as
we can and that's a whole other
conversation on like building an online community and that's what we're talking about.
(01:39:57):
um from a community and what this looks
like from a design side but we know that
community driven initiatives are the most
effective and digital infrastructure
underlies a lot of what we do how we can
coordinate and collaborate in a more
effective and efficient way and build new interesting social enterprise like business models that are actually going to help flow funding into the issuesum and the sustainable develop goals that we that we care the most about so join the community that's that's a really important thing to want.
and efficient way and build new
interesting social enterprise like
business models that
(01:40:17):
are actually going to help flow funding
into the issues and the
sustainable development
goals that we care the most about.
So join the community.
That's your first action.
Come on in, start joining our monthly
events, meeting other
people whose lives and work
have been inspired by water.
And I guarantee there's no shortage of
(01:40:38):
inspiration in this group of
people that is lurking below
the surface.
Absolutely.
I love that.
I love that.
And to do that, if you want to sign up,
you can do so
speakupforblue.com forward slash
the undertow.
So that's speakupforblue.com
forward slash the undertow.
I'll put the link in the show notes so
that people can get access to it.
(01:40:59):
Sign up.
We'll be in touch with you on how to join
and everything like that.
And as we're getting this online
community ready for you,
but we want to announce it
because this is something we
want people to be a part of.
We want people, we want to
see you in this community.
We want to see you taking action.
We want to see you
taking part in conversations.
It's a fantastic way to be able to see
(01:41:22):
all the different
conversations that are going
around about the ocean, whether you're a
marine biologist, whether
you're in business, whether
you're in marketing,
whether it doesn't matter.
You know, you want to be a part of the
ocean that you get to
be a part of the ocean.
So we're looking forward to doing that.
So speakupforblue.com
forward slash the undertow.
Ladies, it's so great to
have you on the podcast.
Obviously, this is not the last time
we're going to have you on.
(01:41:43):
We're going to have you on
more to talk about the undertow.
We'll have our own little series here on
the how to protect the ocean podcast.
But thank you so much for joining me.
Just to let people know, this is we're
recording this really early
in the morning because our
schedules are so busy because we are wave
makers and we have a
lot of stuff going on.
So I really appreciate you guys taking
the time to come out and
talk about the undertow
(01:42:03):
and wave makers.
And for everybody else,
thank you so much for joining us.
Thank you very much.
Awesome. Thank you.
Thank you, Serena.
Thank you, Amanda, for joining us today
on the how to protect the ocean podcast.
You're going to hear a lot more from both
of those two
incredible women because one,
they're wave makers to
they're my co-founders.
And the how to protect the ocean podcast
(01:42:25):
is now powered by the undertow.
We're doing a full on integration.
I can't wait for this.
There's going to be some
podcasts that are coming in.
Remember, we have beyond jaws and we have
the how to protect the ocean podcast as
part of the Speak up for Blue network.
This is going to be amazing what we're
going to be putting together as we move
forward with the undertow.
(01:42:45):
So I can't wait for you to
be a part of it to do so.
All you have to do is go to speak up for
blue dot com forward slash the undertow.
Just go on a list.
We'll give you some information when we
fully and functionally
launch this online community.
You're going to love it.
I can't wait to be a part of it.
We're going to be having a lot of things
going on community like virtual meetups
and so forth is going to be a lot of fun.
(01:43:06):
But you get to the podcast.
You know, there's no algorithms.
It's basically as information comes in,
you're going to get to know about it.
That's going to be a lot of fun.
You're going to get to
meet our wave makers.
So keep connected.
Speak up for blue dot com
forward slash the undertow.
Put your email in.
You will remain connected with us.
And it's not just for this podcast, but
for building a community for the ocean to
do 10 million connections and five
(01:43:28):
million dollars in action.
I can't wait for you
to be a part of this.
And thank you so much for listening to
this episode of how to
protect the ocean podcast.
I'm your host, Andrew Lewin from the true
North strong and free.
Have a great day.
We'll talk to you next
time and happy conservation.
Welcome back to the podcast, everybody.
Thank you for joining us.
Today, we're gonna be
diving deeper into the undertow.
Last episode, we unveiled the undertow
with Serena and Amanda, my co-host.
And today we're gonna be diving deeper
by talking about the wave maker
and what we define as a wave maker.
Maybe you are either a wave maker now
or the next wave maker.
(01:00:20):
We're gonna be talking
about why it's important
for wave makers to be supported,
why it's important for them
to be a part of the undertow,
and why we're gonna be introducing to you
some amazing people
over the next little while
to talk about ocean conservation.
And it's really interesting
because each and every one
of us, Serena, Amanda, myself,
we are wave makers in and of itself,
and we are getting together
(01:00:41):
to support other wave makers.
That's what we focus on today,
why it's important for
them to be supported,
why it's important for
them to have a community
like the undertow, and I
can't wait to talk about it.
So we're gonna reflect on our progress
around the undertow and the wave maker,
share a few behind the scenes insights,
and of course, that'll
give you a little sneak peek
into how we're shaping
this movement together.
(01:01:03):
So let's get started on this episode
of the "How to
Protect the Ocean" podcast.
Let's start the show.
Hey everybody, welcome back
to another exciting episode
of the "How to
Protect the Ocean" podcast.
I'm your host, Andrew Lewin,
and this is the
podcast where you find out
what's happening with the ocean,
how you can speak up for the ocean,
what you can do to live for a better
ocean by taking action.
Now on today's episode, like I mentioned,
(01:01:24):
we are going to be
talking more specifically
about the undertow's wave
maker, what a wave maker is,
how you can become one
unless you're already one,
and how we are going
to be supporting them
through the undertow.
I've been doing this
podcast for about 10 years now.
I'm coming up on 10 years this month,
and it is something that I've seen a
while, the wave maker.
(01:01:45):
I haven't categorized
them as wave makers,
but I've seen these people who
independently start projects,
start projects like beach
cleanups on a regular basis
or a hashtag on the
internet that goes viral
or starts to pick up a lot of steam,
starts a podcast or is a content creator
or does something with a
project that's above and beyond
and maybe in the outer part
(01:02:06):
of what your traditional marine
conservationist could be.
So that could be someone who's working
for a nonprofit organization
or someone who's working in government.
But these are the people
who kind of step outside
the boundaries.
These are side projects
that become a full-time project
or as somebody who's just
doing something so incredible,
it doesn't really fit within the confines
of what we consider a marine biologist,
(01:02:27):
marine conservationist, someone who does
mindfulness with the oceans,
or there's a number of
business with the ocean,
there's a number of different ways you
can do stuff with marine conservation,
but not everybody's
supported the same way.
And so today we're going to be diving
into what a wave maker is
and why did he help basically is what
we're really going to be talking about.
So I'm joined again by Amanda and Serena,
(01:02:49):
my co-founders here at the undertow for
this second episode.
I can't wait for you to
listen about the wave maker
and I'd love to hear your feedback.
So here is the interview
with myself, Serena and Amanda,
enjoy and I'll talk to you after.
Hey Amanda, Hey Serena, welcome back to
the how to protect the ocean podcast.
Are you ready to talk about the undertow?
We are always.
(01:03:10):
Oh, wonderful.
Like this is the second
episode of our undertow series.
This is an introduction
to what the undertow is.
We talked a lot about
it in the last episode,
but we're going to talk a
little bit about like today,
about the wave maker and what a wave
maker is and what our
community is supposed to build.
So I'm looking forward to
getting into all of this.
But before we do, I know we just did it
(01:03:31):
over the last episode,
but why don't we remind each other or
remind our audience who
we are and what we do.
So let's start with Amanda.
Why don't you just remind the audience
who you are and what you do.
I'm so excited to have made some progress
since our last episode.
I'm Amanda Horn.
I am a Canadian ocean advocate.
(01:03:52):
I am a scuba diver.
I'm a free diver and
an ocean entrepreneur.
And I am just so excited to be building
this with you guys and just
creating a place for everyone.
And anyone who's been trying to navigate
their pathway into
taking action for the ocean.
That's why we have the undertow.
Awesome.
Awesome.
And Serena, how about yourself?
(01:04:13):
I am Serena Gwen.
I am also an ocean advocate scuba diver.
New or a scuba diver though, then I'll
say that Amanda, a free diver.
And actually more recently now also a an
ocean children's book author.
Yes, very exciting.
And I've been doing a strategy consulting
(01:04:35):
on ocean innovation,
how to build your strategies to
incorporate or ocean
solutions into your businesses.
So this is just a part of the journey,
but such a critical one that I've seen
over the last 10 years or
so in the innovation sector.
So I'm excited to kind of
bring all my worlds together.
(01:04:57):
Absolutely.
And it's so fun to be able to work with
with both of you over the
last almost last year, really,
to be able to bring the undertow to
everybody else, which
is, which is amazing.
Why don't we just admit it?
Why don't we just go through just in case
people missed last
episode and I highly recommend
people watch or
listen to the last episode.
But once you just go through the mission
(01:05:18):
of the undertow, because we're going to
be focusing on that today and really
focusing on the wave maker, but it really
comes down to the mission.
So why don't you just kind of
let people know what that is?
Yeah, absolutely.
So the undertow, we say that we are a
mission driven marketplace for ocean
knowledge and ocean action.
And the biggest thing that I think all of
(01:05:41):
us connected over was that once you
connect with somebody about water and
what inspired them to how that has shaped
their personal life, their professional
life and inspire them
to take action for it.
That seemed to be really the common
thread of these incredible change makers,
whether they were coming from the
creative side, from the sciences, from
policy advocacy, there was some sort of
(01:06:03):
connection in their personal life that
made them want to commit and dive in at whatever point in time.
And for some people, that was very early
on, like they knew right away that going
into marine biology was the thing.
But for a lot of other people, there
seems to be a very dramatic pivot or
water awakening, if you will.
And so it's been, yeah, a really
(01:06:25):
interesting and collective
vision that it is coming together.
It feels like we're building the thing
that we all needed in previous careers as
a place to convene and really catalyze ocean.
Action. So the undertow's mission is to
unlock 10 million new ocean connections
by World Ocean Day 2030.
But most importantly, as well as unlock 5
(01:06:48):
million in ocean in investments for ocean
towards ocean action, which is great
because I mean, obviously we agree on
this because we're driving this mission,
but it's something that I feel is needed.
And especially with these connections to
help guide that awakening. I think a lot
of people, once they get that awakening,
I'm someone who's had it since I was a
(01:07:09):
kid, always wanting
to be around the ocean.
But some of the people who are in their
adult stage or even any stage of life
where they're just
like, what do I do now?
And they feel overwhelmed. And then
sometimes that leads to inaction. We want
to lead them to an action that they feel
comfortable with, which I
think is really important.
I feel a lot of people when I talk to
(01:07:29):
them about the ocean, it's like, well, I
don't know where to
start. I don't know what to do.
And then maybe I'll just forget about it
and like move on with my life, but still
get that little bit of anxiety.
You know, we've heard that the term
climate anxiety, ocean anxiety, and we
want to get rid of that and start putting
people on a path to guiding.
So I love that. I love that. Actually, I
(01:07:50):
mean, and so you've been doing that
through through business and through, you
know, on the on the business stand front.
What was that that catalyst that really
made you like switch? You talked a little
bit about earlier about, you know, being
a newer scuba diver.
What was really that catalyst that made
you like switch and then actually take
action through, you know,
your own personal career?
(01:08:11):
Yeah, I think, you know, I think I should
this and part of this story in the first
episode, but I've always
had a bias, you know, younger.
I was like, oh, like I care about the
environment. I remember doing like a
little like project and
like presentation on it.
I started a little extracurricular
volunteer thing about it.
(01:08:33):
And then the pressures of life and
responsibility kind of took over and I
took a more traditional path and that
part of me quieted down.
Right. And I think over the last three or
four years, as I matured in my
professional life and my career, I really
started to ask myself, like, what, what
do I want to leave behind?
(01:08:53):
What's what's the impact I want to make?
I shared, you know, I've always been a
snorkeller and a water lover and starting
to see the differences in the coral life
in my water experiences and then really
asking myself, like, I want to I want to
save this for my future family.
(01:09:14):
How am I going to start doing that? I'm
working all of these hours. I'm so tired.
You know, like we kind of had I hit that
wall and I had to ask myself, what am I
dedicating that time and that legacy and
that impact professionally into?
And that's when I started to that was
kind of like the tipping point, if you
will, kind of like that personal trigger.
(01:09:37):
And then to your point, Andrew, I'm one
of those people that like kind of
awakened later in life.
And so I started diving into all of the
information and the stories and, you
know, what is it going to take to be able
to take my kids snorkeling and
diving and all of this stuff?
And it was overwhelming. I connected and
(01:10:01):
I was listening to your podcast,
actually, you know, I was I was trying to
like educate myself.
And so I had internally awoken through my
own passion and through my own love for
the water and then being able to ask
myself, OK, well, why do I care about it?
And what do I want to do for? And for me,
(01:10:21):
it was like, well, I'm working all these
hours and I'm doing all this
stuff in my professional life.
Why don't I gear it a little bit more
towards something that I want to share in
the future with generations to come, my
kids being one of them?
So that trigger point happened. And then
I Amanda and I connected over over this
(01:10:42):
last year or a couple of years ago at you
in Ocean Decade where I was like and I
started like kind of getting lost in the
science and all the stories and all the
information that was out there.
And I was like, I wish there was just
like one place where I could learn about
how people were starting to make those
pivots in their lives, how they connected
and made changes in their daily lives.
(01:11:03):
And, you know, I wanted to start going
plastic free and, you know, it's hard to
tell what's not green washed and or blue
washed and what is real and what isn't.
But I learned a lot through your podcast,
through the storytelling that I
experienced with people
who had shared their journey.
And I just started to copy it and I was
like, wouldn't it be great if it was just
(01:11:24):
in one place? Like it wasn't wouldn't it
be great if I could go somewhere I could
listen to those stories and then I could
actually make some changes where and when
I was willing knowing that these people
have dedicated their lives or are just as
committed as I am and have started the
research themselves.
And so it's kind of like that trusted
(01:11:46):
community crowdsourcing marketplace
concept where we didn't see it out there.
And so we said, can we create it instead?
Yeah. And I think what's what's
interesting about each one of our stories
and how we all we all met is we all had
our different projects that we were that
we were doing. Right.
Right. Like Amanda, you were on your
(01:12:07):
entrepreneurship journey with and
continue to be with with bringing sort of
great products that are also
good for the environment. Right.
Having those values there, but also
really helpful products for women and and
and so forth. And I think
that was that was really good.
And then you're helping corporations
really understand their relationship with
(01:12:29):
water, their relationship with the ocean,
protecting the ocean.
And for me, we mentioned the podcast.
We're on it right now to help drive that
information there, guide people into less
than that anxiety and just be like, look,
if you just want to learn that this is
where you learn, if you want to take
action, you can take action.
We all have what we call ourselves wave
makers. Really, you know, this is where
(01:12:50):
it really got like coin for us was just
like we're each on this individual
journey with different homes in space,
you know, whether it be on the Internet
space, whether it be the corporate space
or the entrepreneurship space.
But we didn't really there was really no
space for wave makers to have an audience
(01:13:12):
or build an audience or even provide the
messaging as well as any sort of products
and services. And so, I mean, I want you
to talk a little bit about that wave
maker aspect here with the undertow and
say, look, this is
what we want to be doing.
We want to be supporting, you know,
people who are doing very
similar to what we're doing.
(01:13:32):
Yeah, and I love that we've all asked
this question like, are we wave makers
yet? Like, have we actually done enough?
But that's also kind of the beautiful
thing about letting this community grow
and evolve organically because the idea
is whatever your superpowers, whatever
your skill set is, the ocean needs it.
So it's not to say this is exclusively
(01:13:52):
only for people who are academics and
researchers and working directly on the
science because we
need everybody together.
So we started looking at how all of our
paths kind of intersected. And like I
said before, we're building the thing
that we all individually needed in
previous careers. And the thing that I
like to challenge people when we refer to
it as a marketplace is as an
(01:14:13):
entrepreneur, biggest question I get is
how are you going to find your customers?
Find your customers who cares about
swapping a more sustainable option? And
my biggest dilemma when I was in
marketing was I worked in wine. So we
would always say just get liquid on lips,
like get them to try
it before they buy it.
And if they can taste it, they're going
to love it. But so often, those free
(01:14:35):
samples, they're not only wasteful, but
they're very expensive. And if you're not
actually targeting the people who want to
shop values aligned when we're speaking
about ocean safe, water conscious
products, solutions, services, there
needs to be a place that has that group
ready and waiting and
willing to hear from you.
And in my case, test something that looks
(01:14:56):
very ugly, but is functional at an early
stage. I'm very excited to be able to
allow the community to test our early
prototypes. So basically, wave makers are
people who have really committed to the
fact that the ocean or water has had such
a profound impact on their life that they
(01:15:16):
wanted to dedicate their
work and their purpose for it.
And they have been the initiator on
whether it's on a project, maybe they're
the head of an end, they're a founder of
an NGO or they're the founder of a
podcast or they have designed a new
product and they're a founder.
There are infinite ways to be considered
a wave maker, but ultimately, it's
(01:15:37):
somebody whose relationship to water
radically changed their life. And now
they're taking positive action in the
ocean through a pathway of their own.
And the goal is to be able to give you a
place to come and deepen your knowledge
of the different ways that people are
connecting and taking action for the
ocean and inspiring you to find somehow
(01:15:58):
that maybe you could latch on to that or
get inspired to start your own piece.
But the other thing is we really wanted
to be able to showcase who is working on
what because there's so much duplication
of effort. And it's really about
empowering people to just be very clear
on what their specific skill set is and
what they could
potentially lend and collaborate.
(01:16:20):
And it's about how do we become more
efficient when we're trying to
collaborate and co design and network
with each other and
really connect with intention.
And yeah, I think that's what excites me
the most about it is having this
connected network of incredible change
(01:16:40):
makers who as we say are leading the way
by making waves and wave makers we see
that term and all the ocean puns thrown
around a lot when it comes to branding
and things in the ocean.
But for us, it's so specific that it's
pathways and the waterways that have led
you to your path and purpose into the
sustainable ocean economy.
I'll leave it at that.
(01:17:01):
I think you covered it off so great and
the intentionality behind I know wave
makers is thrown around, but we spell it
as in W.A.Y. first because they're
providing other ways for people to get
pulled into ocean action.
Whether that is by first telling their
(01:17:21):
story and connecting on a human and
emotional level to kind of drive that
water awakening, if you will, whether
that story is because they people want to
find a way to sustainably travel or to
make swaps in their everyday life to
bring this to their
company's vision and mission.
(01:17:43):
And then providing those solutions. So
Amanda, you've got your products. I've
got the business and then the consulting
side and the storybooks.
And you've got the podcast, the media
side of things covered off. And in
between all of that are the everyday life
changes that we've made through purchase
swaps, through volunteer hours, through
(01:18:06):
initiatives that we've either supported
in various ways, whether that's like
human resource, capital
resource or otherwise.
I think what's really important here when
you are a wave maker and creating new
ways for people to connect in its story,
but also the work that you do because the
(01:18:28):
other challenge that a lot of our wave
makers face is SDG 14 is the lowest
funded SDG of all of them.
We have a fraction of the amount of
capital that is being invested in climate
solutions going to the ocean.
(01:19:02):
And so we're going to be able to provide that to people who are interested in the future, whether that's being able to make
those purchases of ocean safe products,
whether that is volunteer hours, whether
that is donations, whether that is
finding ways to support in bigger ways.
(01:19:24):
And so I think that's really important
because it's going to be an everybody
effort and we want to be able to provide
that not only place to land that you know
that platform that infrastructure to
start centralizing things.
We want to provide a community to drive
that ongoing learning because I can
assure you I'm not going to go back to
school to become a marine anything.
(01:19:46):
I think that's a simple path to taking
action, whether that is everyday
products, projects and or company
initiatives, this kind of thing.
Yeah, you hit the nail right on the head
when you just said that.
I've met a lot of people over my time
where they get that awakening and all of
a sudden, like, I need to go back and
become a marine biologist. I need to
(01:20:07):
become a science. I need to do four years
of undergrad, even though I already did
four years of undergrad, or maybe I need
to do a master's or maybe I need to a
PhD, which if that's their choice, I
always say, go ahead, do that.
But a lot of times people are well into
their careers. They might have families.
They might have financial obligations
that they have to be there where that
commitment and that sacrifice
to go back to school is a lot.
(01:20:29):
You know, it's a difficult thing. And I
always tell people like, look, we have a
lot of scientists. We have a lot of
marine biologists out there. Obviously,
we need more, but there's a competition
for funding and it's not easy to get jobs
when you're doing that.
And we need more people in different
places and different career paths,
different sectors to really have that
(01:20:49):
mindset of what can I do with my skill
set right now to be able to put it on
there? And I think that's where the
guidance becomes a little wishy washy,
for lack of a better term.
And it's where do I go from here? How do
I apply it? And do I need to join a board
(01:21:10):
for a nonprofit, which that could be a
great way to support your local nonprofit
or do I need to start my own project?
And I think over my time, I've done this
for 10 years now, right? And with this
podcasting, and I've been in the marine
biology business for a long time, like
almost more than 20 years.
God, I'm old. This is crazy.
But anyway, regardless, like I've been in
(01:21:31):
this for a while and I've met a lot of
people doing the podcast. I've talked to
a lot of people and I've seen some great
things from from people like from my
guests and talking about different
projects, but
everybody's doing it on their own.
You know, a lot of the times they there's
what I've noticed is there's this
category of people and doesn't happen
(01:21:52):
with everybody and that's fine. But
there's a category of people who are just
they've got such a passion for what they
want to do that. They just they do it on
their own. They just go ahead and do it.
And they may get funding another way,
whether it's through Patreon or whether
it's through a service
or a product or whatever.
But they do it no matter what at a
sacrifice of their own time of their own
(01:22:12):
lifestyle and or they change their
lifestyle to do it because they have a
real passion for it. But it doesn't fit
within the mold of our traditional marine
biology, marine conservation, nonprofit
or even government model.
And they may not get support through that
through their own company or through
their own whoever they're working for. So
they started on their own, but they're
(01:22:32):
all it's all individual. It's all on
their own. And I feel like they're there
and they felt like this for a long time.
And when Undertow came along, I'm like,
yes, this is this is it. There needs to
be a place where people can come share
their projects, share their missions and
then also have that infrastructure to
build a business around it and get
supported financially through it because
(01:22:53):
these are important things that could do it.
And it doesn't only drive the next big
wave of change that we've seen and and go
beyond what we see the traditional join a
non profit organization get paid very
little. You know, there's nothing wrong
with making money and still doing good
for the ocean, you know, and I've been a
big advocate of that for the last, you
(01:23:13):
know, 1012 years and and I'm still going
to be that for going forward.
going forward. So I love to like once we
started talking about the WaveMaker and
defining what that is, I can see people.
You know we have a list of people that
you know we are going to invite and we're
inviting it already to join as a
WaveMaker and this is exciting because
now we get to provide a place where they
(01:23:37):
are supported, where they can share with
each other, they can
share with us. I mean
we're all you know we've kind of coined
ourselves WaveMakers because we've been
doing this so we know a lot of the
struggles, we know a lot of what what's
necessary and I know and both of you
ladies know too like building a
community, being part of a community,
doing something that may be different
will really help support us and that's
(01:23:59):
that's what I'm really excited about you
know around this time like obviously the
need for you know building that in for
helping them build that infrastructure,
having a community and building that
community for them but also just being
able to talk to somebody else who's
gone through the same thing and share the
woes and share the successes you
know and support each other because like
I don't know about you ladies but
(01:24:20):
like there have been a lot of times where
I'd be like am I is this right is this
what I'm like should I really be doing
this I spend a lot of time on this like
is this what I really need to be doing
and the answer is yes every time but
sometimes it helps because we all the
three of us talk about it's like no
we're doing the right like this is all of
us individually are doing what we
need to do and then collectively like
(01:24:41):
yeah this is what we need to do we need
to help support through I think you were
about to say so yeah like it's funny
because we're early enough to that the
beauty of this is our community and our
way makers get to shape the rest of this
infrastructure we're we're just the
catalyst of this all right because we had
such a desire to be like where do I
(01:25:01):
get this information oh I met that person
along my journey and I met that
person along my journey and they're
really cool and I'm like how do I keep
track of them all you know how do I keep
track of them all and the progress
that they're making in the products are
creating or the initiatives that they're
kicking off how do I share that with
people because you know as I dove into
(01:25:23):
this sector people are like Serena like
what is the blue economy like why the
ocean and I start to share what I've
learned over the last little bit they're
like oh yeah you know what I've always
had a connection to the ocean and I'd
love to do something but like where do I
start back to kind of like what people
were saying you right and so now when I
have those conversations with people who
(01:25:44):
first off question why I made the change
and to want to know how they can
support me or want to make changes in
their life and say like I'd love to help
somehow but you know I'm too busy like
can you just point me in the direction I
can invite them to the the undertow and
they'll have a place where they can hear
more stories like mine probably
(01:26:05):
strengthen their connection to the water
learn a little bit more but also take
that action right so infrastructure
community the action pathways like
they're they're all such a fundamental
part of this community right now and we
hope that everybody will participate in
helping us continue to evolve it and
(01:26:26):
continue to give them the experience that
maybe they were looking for and so kind
of put this on the back burner because it
was overwhelming and there was too many
options and it was hard to tell what was
real versus you know on its way to being
real versus maybe something that
(01:26:46):
that could use a little bit more research
yeah absolutely well I think I
think also it's interesting too is like
we I when I meet someone who is a wave
maker or who we define as a wave maker I
get so inspired I get excited I get
giddy when it when I when I mean it like
just the other day posted an
(01:27:06):
interview I've had him on a number of
times and dr. Andrew Thaler it's always
doing these individual projects you know
working with this you know local
government you know being on and
commissions and stuff like I spending a
lot of time doing this stuff just for his
local town you know of a small town
getting over flooding and all this kind
of stuff and he comes up with all these
projects and you get inspired by it
(01:27:29):
you're just like oh this is awesome and
I think having wave makers in the
undertow community will help I think
inspire people who join the community who
may not have that project just yet or
that individual sort of like goal yet but
might get inspired by what other
people are doing but oh maybe I can do
(01:27:49):
something similar or I've always wanted
to do this and just finally pull that
trigger and say yes like like this is it
just like kind of what we all went
through in a different pathway so man
like you meet a lot of people you know
who were doing different things in and
outside of the ocean was there one point
where you were just like so you met
somebody and you were just like oh wow
(01:28:10):
like this person is a wave maker like
this person I would love to either work
with this person or just get completely
inspired in what they're doing yeah and
so when I first was starting my company
because I decided I need to pivot from
the wine industry figure out how to be a
marketer in the ocean space not gonna go
(01:28:32):
be a marine biologist but I love
scuba diving so maybe I can find a way
for the ocean scuba diving to be in my
life as a communications professional and
so I needed to build a network I
needed to talk to people who are in it
but no idea the vastness of opportunities
that existed and so I was trying to
(01:28:53):
develop products and develop a brand I
didn't have time to blog so I'm like I'm
gonna start a podcast I just love
documenting these conversations with
people who's amazing again personal
connection to water has inspired them to
initiate something cool and it started
as just a way for me to all be able to
look back like once I had launched a
(01:29:13):
business and think of all the cool
intersections of people so like I talked
to water some l.a.s who had like health
scares and that was their path into
educating people on the importance of
clean safe drinking water and health
and hydration I did a citizen science
project of my own and I talked to the
founder of that she was a Canadian she
established a product project in
(01:29:35):
Nusa Penida Indonesia and now has scaled
that project to multiple sites
all over Asia and being able to bring
people along to educate pairing them up
with marine biologists on the ground
involving them in their coral research
so I was meeting mermaids like I was
meeting all these super cool people
with interesting stories people who
consistently felt like even though they
(01:29:58):
were doing so much they felt like it
wasn't of value and so it was also a way
to remind people that whatever small
action you are taking
whether you've chosen now
to eliminate plastic in your bathroom or
shorten your shower
time all the way up to like
establishing a citizen science project
whatever you're doing it's
important and we need to bring
(01:30:19):
awareness to it so that people don't feel
irrelevant or
undervalued and starting with
your story and your connection and your
why behind why you're
doing your work and it's such a
beautiful and sometimes complicated thing
to have your personal life
intersect so much with your
work like because there's no separation
sometimes but um it was
(01:30:43):
also a struggle for me as I was
trying to navigate who am I in this ocean
space am I amanda the
marketer am I an ocean advocate
I'm not really a credible ocean advocate
yet what do I need to become
that how do I build products
that people who work on the sciences
would actually validate and want to use
um so that's been a whole
(01:31:04):
very interesting I don't want to be
another greenwashing marketer that was my
reason for wanting to leave
um the industry and create real change
from the outside and
hopefully bring that back into supply
chains and when you're doing all of this
mission driven work and you're an
individual or independent
you have you wear a lot of different hats
you've all these different
projects doesn't matter what
organization you work for it starts with
(01:31:26):
you and what your connection is and then
you're the sum of all of those
experiences your own knowledge
maybe you're not considered you don't
consider yourself an expert but your
lived experience and
knowledge is just as important um in a
different way so it's how did we create
this organic ecosystem
where people can show up as they are um
(01:31:47):
leading with themselves leading with
their personal story
that's where people connect and those
were the conversations that were having
the most impact on me
was when I can tell somebody like oh my
first love is dance and now all of a
sudden I'm meeting like somebody who is
working with dancers underwater
and playing with freediving techniques
and doing this I don't know needing
(01:32:07):
stuntmen and like who are the
avatar freediving team like there are
infinite intersections in
ways that everything connects
to water so that's what inspires me
there's not one that stands out and I've
been I have this running record of over
like 200 names now of people that like
you're away from here like anyone so um
(01:32:29):
I'm so excited to see
this grow and have people
be inspired to refer and nominate each
other and that's I think the
thing that I want us to always
be conscious of is that Serena, Andrew
and Amanda like we are not the undertow
it is this collective
and it's everybody as individuals so
(01:32:50):
three of us came together as individuals
underneath this umbrella
and anybody else who is taking positive
action for water like you belong here and
whether like it's as a wave maker or is
as a community member
like that's that power of small like
individual collective action that is
going to add up to a positive impacts
(01:33:11):
yeah and I think the big thing here is as
part of this community is collaboration
right like that's a big
thing we are from an industry
no matter where you come from science
business you know marketing
communications it is a community that
continues to talk about collaboration
a lot of times fails with collaboration
(01:33:32):
you know on a on an over you know just an
overview site even in
in the when you get into the weeds of it
all and that is the the most
frustrating part of working
with an industry is the lack of
collaboration and a lot of times it's not
necessarily one or two
organizations or people it's just the way
the system is set up it's
this it's you know people are
competing for the same funding over and
(01:33:55):
over again and people are competing for
just different aspects of it and it just
forms this me against you type of thing
and I need to get ahead and and that's a
big problem which we're trying to
cut away you know in in the undertow with
with wave makers is to collaborate there
might be some wave makers that
speak about the same things or have very
(01:34:15):
similar missions and you
know they're they might do well
by combining might do well by supporting
each other they might do well you know
interacting with each
other and still be able to
succeed both of them or more than one or
or however that might be and I think that
is one of the the
foundations that we've been
wanting to discuss because we've all gone
through it and and it sucks and when
(01:34:37):
we're come together and we
collaborate that's when we really start
to start to really see
change happen and I think that's
something that I'm looking forward to
seeing in the undertow and
providing in the undertow and
and it takes a lot from each individual
to just be like yeah look I want to see
you succeed I want you to do well and I
think that's what it really comes down to
(01:34:58):
when we see these wave makers get
inspired like I wanna do something that
helps you know build whatever business
you have whatever services orproducts that you have.
have what are their services or products
that you have what can I
do to help and let's provide
a community for that. So I think this is
this is really great in
terms of of WaveMaker. Let's
let's now people might be listening to
this like like I think I'm a
(01:35:19):
WaveMaker or I want to join
the undertow as a community member or
thing. I mean why don't we just talk a
little bit about like
how they can join and and what the next
step. Wait can I jump
in Andrew because I think
I think you know you frame that up so
well and and it's a
great lead and and so like if
(01:35:39):
we've talked about all the components so
if we were to summarize
this if you're a WaveMaker
right what I'm hearing slash what I know
because we're building
this is we're going to be that
that place for you that infrastructure
for you to plug your years
of work dedication research
(01:36:00):
commitment to whether it's the products
you've been creating the
services the initiatives
and the story that started at all yeah
we're going to give you
that place we're all going to
be a part of this collective community on
this mission to drive 10
million new ocean connections
and drive more funding five million in
(01:36:21):
ocean action and we're
going to create the action
pathways for people who don't really know
where to start to be able to
start making those everyday
changes in their lives in their personal
lives in their communities and
hopefully at at a later stage
in the companies that they might
represent and be advocates for and within
(01:36:43):
so that's our WaveMakers
and for our community side the 10 million
of you hopefully we
bring together because you're
inspired by Amanda's story you're
inspired by Andrew's story
maybe you're inspired by mine or
Amanda the the folks that you met the 200
the list of 200 folks
you have on your list
Andrew the I don't know I don't even know
(01:37:05):
what number episode
you're on to be honest
episode a million of the podcast that you
brought through like our
community has a place now to come
be inspired by those stories learn build
their ocean knowledge and then take those
action pathways so now Amanda you know I
(01:37:26):
I think this is a great
site I wanted to summarize
everything that I heard I think that we
talked about it in pieces
but Amanda over to you that's
perfect excellent segue there's so many
things to do um so we're
excited because right now
tomorrow I guess is uh the start or this
(01:37:47):
week is the start of world
ocean week or ocean month and
we always reach this dilemma oh it's
earth month like just do a social media
post it goes so much
beyond that like how are you now
integrating and weaving in these
conscious actions in your
everyday life I love now when people say
oh you're really into the
environment I'm like well we kind
of have to be and that's not like a trend
(01:38:09):
it's not a hot new thing so
we're excited that the first
action that if you have no idea where to
start join the community and
that means that what you're
going to have access to is you're going
to hear and it gets to the
chance to explore a new ocean
connection every month um we're going to
(01:38:29):
whether that's art that's
music mindfulness travel
conservation coral will get super
specific depending on who
the wave maker and what their
story is but we invite you to explore and
open your mind to a new way
that you never thought life
was interconnected to the ocean through
the life and the lens of
whoever that featured wave maker
is as a storyteller that month and from
(01:38:52):
there you'll be invited to
shop around the marketplace
whether it's something in action that you
can take in your personal
life um or if it's a solution
maybe it's you work for your you're like
looking for a b2b solution of a new
plastics replacement
to pull into your your supply there are
infinite things that are
(01:39:13):
going to appear on here all the
way to immersive water experiences so you
can get yourself in the water
and really feel connected to
what it is that we're talking about
because reconnecting with
nature I can tell is just
driving people's new passion for saving
the environment and once you go
underwater you snorkel on a coral reef
(01:39:35):
when that is alive and thriving you never
forget it like whether you love spending
time just by the water or on it it's
physically being connected to it that is
going to be the most inspiring and the
best way that we can do in a virtual
context um is to bring you as many
different stories and perspectives as as
we can and that's a whole other
conversation on like building an online community and that's what we're talking about.
(01:39:57):
um from a community and what this looks
like from a design side but we know that
community driven initiatives are the most
effective and digital infrastructure
underlies a lot of what we do how we can
coordinate and collaborate in a more
effective and efficient way and build new interesting social enterprise like business models that are actually going to help flow funding into the issuesum and the sustainable develop goals that we that we care the most about so join the community that's that's a really important thing to want.
and efficient way and build new
interesting social enterprise like
business models that
(01:40:17):
are actually going to help flow funding
into the issues and the
sustainable development
goals that we care the most about.
So join the community.
That's your first action.
Come on in, start joining our monthly
events, meeting other
people whose lives and work
have been inspired by water.
And I guarantee there's no shortage of
(01:40:38):
inspiration in this group of
people that is lurking below
the surface.
Absolutely.
I love that.
I love that.
And to do that, if you want to sign up,
you can do so
speakupforblue.com forward slash
the undertow.
So that's speakupforblue.com
forward slash the undertow.
I'll put the link in the show notes so
that people can get access to it.
(01:40:59):
Sign up.
We'll be in touch with you on how to join
and everything like that.
And as we're getting this online
community ready for you,
but we want to announce it
because this is something we
want people to be a part of.
We want people, we want to
see you in this community.
We want to see you taking action.
We want to see you
taking part in conversations.
It's a fantastic way to be able to see
(01:41:22):
all the different
conversations that are going
around about the ocean, whether you're a
marine biologist, whether
you're in business, whether
you're in marketing,
whether it doesn't matter.
You know, you want to be a part of the
ocean that you get to
be a part of the ocean.
So we're looking forward to doing that.
So speakupforblue.com
forward slash the undertow.
Ladies, it's so great to
have you on the podcast.
Obviously, this is not the last time
we're going to have you on.
(01:41:43):
We're going to have you on
more to talk about the undertow.
We'll have our own little series here on
the how to protect the ocean podcast.
But thank you so much for joining me.
Just to let people know, this is we're
recording this really early
in the morning because our
schedules are so busy because we are wave
makers and we have a
lot of stuff going on.
So I really appreciate you guys taking
the time to come out and
talk about the undertow
(01:42:03):
and wave makers.
And for everybody else,
thank you so much for joining us.
Thank you very much.
Awesome. Thank you.
Thank you, Serena.
Thank you, Amanda, for joining us today
on the how to protect the ocean podcast.
You're going to hear a lot more from both
of those two
incredible women because one,
they're wave makers to
they're my co-founders.
And the how to protect the ocean podcast
(01:42:25):
is now powered by the undertow.
We're doing a full on integration.
I can't wait for this.
There's going to be some
podcasts that are coming in.
Remember, we have beyond jaws and we have
the how to protect the ocean podcast as
part of the Speak up for Blue network.
This is going to be amazing what we're
going to be putting together as we move
forward with the undertow.
(01:42:45):
So I can't wait for you to
be a part of it to do so.
All you have to do is go to speak up for
blue dot com forward slash the undertow.
Just go on a list.
We'll give you some information when we
fully and functionally
launch this online community.
You're going to love it.
I can't wait to be a part of it.
We're going to be having a lot of things
going on community like virtual meetups
and so forth is going to be a lot of fun.
(01:43:06):
But you get to the podcast.
You know, there's no algorithms.
It's basically as information comes in,
you're going to get to know about it.
That's going to be a lot of fun.
You're going to get to
meet our wave makers.
So keep connected.
Speak up for blue dot com
forward slash the undertow.
Put your email in.
You will remain connected with us.
And it's not just for this podcast, but
for building a community for the ocean to
do 10 million connections and five
(01:43:28):
million dollars in action.
I can't wait for you
to be a part of this.
And thank you so much for listening to
this episode of how to
protect the ocean podcast.
I'm your host, Andrew Lewin from the true
North strong and free.
Have a great day.
We'll talk to you next
time and happy conservation.
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