Scuba diving and tech startups don’t appear in the same sentence very often. But for Alexis Jabbour, becoming an entrepreneur in the scuba industry was a way to pair her love for diving and the ocean with her unique background in app development and advertising.

The result was Buddy, an app designed by divers to have multiple capabilities, including a digital dive log and a social media platform for finding nearby buddies, as well as other resources for traveling divers.

Growing up outside of Atlanta with parents who dived recreationally, Jabbour got certified in her teens. But it didn’t become a passion until she took a summer job babysitting for a family of divers. “I started diving more frequently because we’d go to the Florida Keys every summer and dive together,” Jabbour says. “After college, once I started working and could afford vacations, I spent all my free time diving.”

Her initial career path was creative advertising, working on campaigns for major brands like Porsche and Volkswagen, while also learning the ins and outs of app development and marketing. “I’ve done so many car and toilet paper ads,” she says. “I wanted to do something I loved.”

Jabbour first got the idea for Buddy on a dive trip to Colombia. “I realized there wasn’t an easy, digital way to tip my dive crew,” she explains. This simple inconvenience, paired with her observations of challenges faced by both divers and dive pros, sparked the concept of a community-focused platform that integrates online social connection with practical features such as a streamlined way to log dives and send and receive tips.

In the early stages, Jabbour used her savings to start Buddy while freelancing in New York City. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, she moved to Hawaii to fully commit to her venture. She started talking to dive operators around the island to learn firsthand about the business challenges they face. “I made it a point to make friends with people in the dive shops and work on my continuing education as a diver,” she says.

Related Reading: Life as a Dive Computer Engineer and Test Diver

Jabbour got Buddy off the ground with a couple of developers and a designer, but as the app has grown in capabilities and users, the company has grown too. “Now we have a leadership team of six people, and nearly 15 more team members across engineering, design and marketing,” she says. “Our team is continuing to grow.”

Entrepreneurship is never easy, and it can be even more challenging in a specialized industry like scuba diving. Jabbour says that her background in advertising and digital startups was helpful while starting out, but perhaps more importantly, she has been immersing herself in the world of diving so she can understand the challenges that divers and dive professionals would like to see solved by new technologies.

“Of course, there’s a base-level business knowledge you need to operate, but nondivers don’t really understand what divers need in a product,” she says. “For anyone interested in being a scuba diving entrepreneur, I’d say start with what you’re passionate about—then go out and learn the technical and business skills you need to make it happen.”

Job Requirements

Degree: Education in business, marketing or app development is helpful, but not required

Salary: Based entirely on the success of the business

Certifications: PADI Open Water Diver, plus any certifications relevant to the product or service being developed