The relief that Hurricane Fiona, having been downgraded to a Category 3 tropical storm did not cause the devastation that she might have, must have been considerable for Mark, having established himself as one of the top water sports tour operators in the industry. Between a World of GoPro October 2019 Million Dollar Challenge Q&A interview, and another September 2020 Destination Magazine Q&A interview/article written by Hanna Barnard, I learned that his reputation grew over the years since he and his partner Nat registered the business in 2017. Not surprisingly, their fleet of water sport vessels and the staff they employed to operate them grew as well.
In the interviews, Mark recounts moving to Turks and Caicos in 2013. He was a personal trainer then, but was also becoming known for his personal Instagram account, which was garnering quite a bit of attention with all of his antics out on the water, filmed and then featured on it. When he wasn’t personal training clients, he was spending every moment of the next few years wakeboarding, paddleboarding, ‘n’ jetskiing – and personally training himself how to use GoPro technology to best capture it all for the ‘gram.
While recording his exploits on the water, he also tried to figure out how to make his vocation his occupation. He wouldn’t have to ponder it long, as he eventually met his future business partner, who already worked in the watersports charter industry. The two hit it off, bonding over their shared passions.
Their mutual love of the water and interest in building a business to capitalize on it, was the catalyst for Wake to Wake. Nat’s experience and Mark’s social media skills, combined with them both working hard and smart, assured that the business was able to get up, running and almost immediately, viable.
Today, it is far more than viable. The enterprise has been so successful, in fact, that they had to relocate their growing business to a much more ideal parcel of land, with their design team transforming it into a perfect operational setting for the whole crew and all the watercraft; every girl, boy, buoy and toy.
The rise in social media use by billions – especially the millions in their target demographic – and Wake to Wake’s embracing it, their and their client’s escapades out on the water are seen by their rabid followers around the world daily on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok. Another reason for their immense popularity is the relationship dynamics between the team, which includes his pet dog, Zyzza, and local wild dolphin JoJo, each of them seeking the other out for some hide and seek when Zyzza’s in the water at depth.
When Mark isn’t spending time with the newest arrival to the family, you would most likely find the unabashed adrenaline junkie preparing for a Rugby Americas North match in his role on the Flamingos, Turks and Caicos’ national team, in a sport he clearly excels at, having been recognized as one of the top 7 players in the 2021 RAN rugby tournament, hosted in the Turks and Caicos Islands then.
With his athletic abilities, he’s also well known for “throwin’ flips”, and in 2018, picked up a GoPro Challenge cash prize by submitting a winning clip of his spectacular gainer off of a local shipwreck, down into the shining, shimmering turquoise T.C. waters. With their penchant for one-upping each other, pushing the limits of their physical abilities along with the technical limits of GoPro’s equipment, there is no doubt the R&D on both fronts is going to accelerate their product by, ahem, leaps and bounds.
In those chats we had in my condo gym, he spoke about gaining his inboard/outboard engine mechanic credentials, as to have any chance at all of his venture being viable, he’d have to learn all about them, so he could maintain his boat(s) and all of the other motorized water toys himself. Considering his strategic, proactive plan, I smile at how my new-found acquaintance found a great way to “make more monie”. In Mark’s case, my smile remains, thinking of not only how he found a unique way to make his passion viable, but of his finding a way to make it go viral.
Disclaimer: The information contained herein should not be construed or considered professional advice. Nonetheless, thanks for reading! If it resonates, there’s “plenty more where that came from” on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X ‘n’ YouTube.