White-sand beaches, wetsuits and a whole lot of blue fill Jillian Blakkan-Strauss’ Instagram feed, where she inspires her followers as @jilliandidwhat. But her life today is not at all where she once imagined. Six years ago, she was living in the heart of New York City, working in a fast-paced party planning and events career. Then, she traveled to Hawaii to visit friends. Today at age 39, she’s a PADI Course Director, a Freediving Instructor Trainer, a DAN Instructor Trainer and high on life. Here’s her story.

You had a career before diving. Tell us about that.

Before this began, I was living in New York City, working in events management. I had been considering a return to teaching theater, which is what my background is in. But then on a break from work in 2018, I traveled to Hawaii. On a whim, I took a Discover Scuba course with Waikiki Dive Center. Something clicked.

What came next?

As soon as I was back in Manhattan, I did my Open Water training with Pan Aqua. I chose it not just because it was a 10-minute walk from my apartment, but because their training promised to be thorough. I ask a lot of questions, so that was perfect for me.

When did you decide to go pro?

I was vacationing in Belize and diving with Scuba School. I loved how they ran things so much that on my dry day before flying, I asked if they offered a divemaster program. They told me they did, but that it takes longer than most. That was exactly what I wanted. It was during this divemaster program in 2019 that I realized I wanted to teach diving. During the course, my instructors were very encouraging and I was having so much fun. Several times, I rebooked my plane ticket so I could stay. I went on to become an instructor that year, getting my training in Roatan, Honduras, with Coconut Tree Divers.

What was your first job after you went pro?

I was really anxious about finding a job because I was so green. I thought about working in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, because I speak Spanish. I also debated working in Chicago as my parents are in Michigan. In the end, the Belize shop I did my divemaster with asked me to come for the holidays. Because Americans can’t be employed in that country, I was only able to do an internship, but gained a lot of experience.

After returning to the U.S. at the beginning of 2020, I decided to drive to Florida and search for work. It seemed like the area with the most opportunity and job possibilities, and also, it’s warm! In February 2020, I found work with Pura Vida Divers in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Related Reading: A Land-and-Sea Tour of Hawaii's Big Island

Tell us about that job.

I was hired to do shop work and crew work. After only a month and a half on the job, COVID-19 hit, and we closed down. The management team was able to stay on, but I was the newest hire and wasn’t expecting to be invited back to work during the pandemic. I was making plans to start teaching as an independent scuba instructor when Pura Vida called, asking me to come back to work. I told them I was very excited to work again, but really wanted to come on as an instructor. They said yes, and I ended up logging a lot of hours. Florida had so much tourism, and it was wonderful to stay active teaching.

You’re still with Pura Vida. What’s your quality of life like?

I am much happier here in Florida than I was in New York City. I loved living in Hell’s Kitchen, but my apartment was so small, and there was only so much nature in the city. It was refreshing to come to Florida and have so much more living space for less than I was paying in NYC. Now, when I walk outside, there’s grass instead of concrete. I live right next to what I love: the ocean and diving.

Related Reading: What It's Like to Be a Scuba Instructor

What’s your advice on how to be successful as a dive instructor?

Where I see people struggling is that they are waiting for work to come to them. To be successful, you need to be excited about teaching that next class or guiding the next dive. If you wait for classes to be assigned to you, you will never get as much work as you want or need.

If you don’t know how to sell continuing education and don’t want to learn, it will be hard. But if you’re good at marketing, if you take on additional roles at your dive center and if you get divers to take other courses with you, you will do well.

I actively encouraged my students to come back for courses like Rescue Diver and various specialties. I also worked with my divers to do gear consultations and volunteered for our shop’s social nights. I loved being at the shop and took advantage of different opportunities to help out. I started volunteering to review course paperwork for accuracy. That led one of the owners to ask me if I wanted to be more involved in training instructors. That really started the conversation toward bigger things. That was August 2020.

You became a director of training. What was that job like?

In that role, most of my work was administrative and management-based. I was also involved in shaping and managing the training department, making sure we put on the best dive classes possible. I was also working to make sure things ran smoothly at the shop and our training sites. It involved a lot of oversight, scheduling, logistics and mentoring (which was my favorite part!)

Where did your career lead next?

Over time, being director of training and continuing to teach dive classes became a lot to have on my plate. Especially because, along the way, I became a course director in 2022. I like to do a good job at everything I take on. But it started to feel like there wasn’t enough time in the day to do everything. I felt like I wasn’t hitting the marks both as an instructor and as the director of training. Eventually, I talked with the owners and asked to step down as director of training. But I’m still an active course director with Pura Vida Divers.

How did you get into freediving?

I started freediving right before I became a course director. But let me back up. I did the mermaid course before I ever took a freediving lesson. My friend (Kaleigh McBride, PADI Freediver IT) had space for another student in her mermaid course, so I said yes because it sounded fun, especially with my background in acting. That said, I was a scuba diver first and was intimidated about not having a tank.

During the mermaid course, I had to do a dynamic swim while wearing the tail, as well as a static breath hold. Afterward, my instructor told me that I had essentially accomplished the breath hold requirements for the freediving course. That gave me the confidence to move forward with freediving.

Then I fell in love with freediving. It’s calming and athletic in a different way than scuba.

You started your own freediving business. How did that come about?

In the back of my mind, I’ve always wanted to run my own business. When friends asked me to teach them to freedive, I saw opportunity. I began Zephyr Freediving and it dovetails nicely with everything I love. Now, I split my time between instructor training at Pura Vida and teaching freediving.

Follow Jillian's adventures at:

@jilliandidwhat

@zephyrfreediving