When I was younger, around 13 I got my first job selling minnows to the bait shops in Brigantine. I worked everyday all summer in the back bays of Brigantine. My job consisted of catching the high tide and getting on my 1968 13' Boston Whaler that I rebuilt with my dad and popop, and going over to the marina I worked out of to get all the bait out of the freezer. Then from there I would fly throug
h shallow water, narrow creeks in the back bay trapping minnows after I picked up and re-baited all the traps I then sold them to the local shops. From this job I learned how to plan out the next day with my work schedule since the tide changes every day. As well as to be on time and independent as I was getting up sometimes 4:30am and taking my boat to the marina by myself. I did this for the next 3 years running under the name 'Minnow Supply' (The start of the entrepreneurial journey). On the third summer when I was going to turn 16 I decided I wanted to work more and expand my network. I started out in April passing out flyers to neighbors for lawn care. Later in May I picked up a job at the tackle shop in Brigantine called Riptide Bait and Tackle. I went after school everyday and weekends until summer when I began trapping minnows again. At this time (mid June) right after school let out for summer break I was juggling 3 jobs. After a while working at Riptide I cut my days back to only weekends because that's when the owner Andy Grossman needed me most. One day I got a call from a local charter captain running the boat “Treemendous” asking if I wanted to be a mate on his boat. So now I'm juggling 4 jobs at the start of July. I was known as a hard worker throughout the island of Brigantine by many business owners. I got recognized by a lot of the other charter boats. Now with all the jobs I have piled up I continued to work all day and everyday. A typical charter day would be to get up around 7:00am to get to the boat at 7:30 go out for a 4 hr. Then come back to the dock for an hour and go right back out for a second one. Returning around 5:00 pm and most days when the tide is right I would be going out to get minnows for an hour and a half. And if I was backed up on lawns I would have to mow lawns until 7:30pm. Throughout the summer I learned if you want something to work for it. I have many skills with showing up on time, working hard, and customer service since I worked on a charter boat. After the summer was over I had a decent amount of money saved up and the plan was to save it to buy a truck. But I came across the opportunity to buy out 3 local tackle shops and start an online tackle shop. I took the opportunity to take that risk. Now with accounting skills, business management skills, marketing skills, and website management skills. I have a fully functional online business as the name of “Tackle Center”. The following summer I went onto starting a power washing business in Brigantine called "AmeriWash Power Washing", It was a rough start but I did it. Passing out doorhangers day after day, Facebook posts. I would do the jobs on the weekends when I didn't have school, time was limited. Finally after a few weeks I had the ball rolling. Getting through the summer with a few jobs here and there and a fully functioning business at 16. I Owe it to my dad that year fully, he would drive my trailer from job to job since I didn't have my License. Once I turned 17 I got my license and decided I needed something to do in the winter, Auto Detailing! The second branch of AmeriWash has started. With Nemours cars a day and week by week I was doing good. The spring of 2023 was my best by far! Nearly 4x'ed AmeriWash. Worked day after day sometimes 10-12 hours a day all spring and summer. Then august hit and I thought to myself, why don't I focus on Tackle Center? I decided to rebrand it to 7 Seas Tackle and run it full force! That's the story of 7 Seas Tackle Company,
Thank You,
Alan Weidner
