Kimber Greenwood, Water Bear Photography & Blue Rides

So nice to meet you! First off, what’s your name? Tell our readers a bit about yourself—where you’re from originally and where you live now.

Hi, my name is Kimber and I specialize in helping people fall in love with both themselves and the water! Though I'm originally from the state of Ohio, I moved to the coast as soon as I could. I started SCUBA diving and lifeguarding at 15 years old, earned a degree in both Marine Biology and Nursing, and built two businesses (Water Bear Photography and Blue Rides) centered around the water. Now I'm based in Gainesville, Florida (Go Gators!), and love living near our crystalline freshwater springs and our stunning beaches. If I'm not in Florida, chances are I'm off SCUBA diving with my Blue Rides co-founder, Erol Bucholtz, in some incredible location.

Tell us one thing you love about where you live now?

When I first went to North Central Florida, I had no idea what a Florida spring was, but I'll never forget the moment I first laid eyes on one. I was absolutely floored that such beauty could exist here in the United States! The Florida springs are a collection of freshwater caves where your eyesight gives out before the visibility does. They're literal aquamarine gems framed by Spanish moss and no two are the same. They're often found between St. Augustine down to Orlando, but concentrated near High Springs and Gainesville (where I call home).

Tell us a little bit more about what your company does and how it started? How does it help your customers?

I'm a serial entrepreneur and for the last 10 years, I've worked as a full-time underwater portrait photographer, specializing in creative women's portraiture. I started Water Bear Photography as a means to care for my special needs child and it quickly became a passion of mine to pour into the women I'm privileged to have in front of my camera. Recently, I went through a huge life transition and realized that it was time to grow another dream alongside my work at Water Bear. That dream became Blue Rides - a liveaboard platform that was created by divers, for divers. After my co-founder had a terrible experience with another liveaboard platform where he and his friends were literally abandoned on the side of the road after traveling to the opposite side of the planet, we knew that divers deserved better. Now we help divers connect to their dream diving destinations worldwide and they're backed by support from real human beings and complimentary dive insurance!

If someone wants to start a business, what advice would you give them?

Fail. Fail as fast and hard and as quickly as you can. I saw a quote the other day that said "entrepreneurship is when you pay money to find out which of your ideas is stupid," and while it's funny, it's also correct. The more failures under your belt, the more educated you are as you move forward. I truly think that tolerance to failure is what separates successful entrepreneurs from ones that return to corporate life within a few years. I have a lot of failed ideas and businesses under my belt, but do you know when I became successful? When I had a 6-month deadline to make something work or I had to leave my baby and go back to a full-time job. I gave myself no other choice but forward and I finally flew.

What was one feedback from a happy customer/client that you won't forget about?

Once in a blue moon, someone tells me that an image I captured of them feels like I truly captured their soul. And oof. What an incredibly powerful thing to say. Photos and liveaboard trips aren't vanity exercises - they're a moment of becoming. Of celebrating who you are and what you've been through to arrive at this point. They're self-actualization and dreams recognized. When I work with a client who loves an image so much that we print it huge for their wall - it's not because they're vain or narcissistic - it's because they finally feel seen for who they truly are and they want that powerful reminder each day.

Where do you see your company in the future?

Blue Rides is going to completely disrupt the liveaboard industry by setting a new standard for customer service, safety, trust, accountability, radically transparent pricing, and ease of use. We will become the gold standard for divers, much like DAN is for dive insurance (we offer FREE short-term dive trip insurance on each trip to each diver, by the way!). We will not only partner with major brands, but also smaller creators, because we recognize that the value is in the community, not just bookings.

Water Bear Photography will continue to be the light that it already is; celebrating women, creating unique images that people accuse of being AI, and just generally doing wild underwater work as safely as one can.

What is the biggest misconception about your industry?

The biggest misconception about both of my industries, the liveaboard industry for Blue Rides and the photography industry for Water Bear, is that it's all a cash grab. Yes, my child likes to eat and I need to be paid in actual dollars and not exposure. However, you last in these industries when you love them, you're transparent, and you work hard to always serve your clients. I see lots of photographers and dive operators breeze in and quickly fall off the map because they lack the passion to sustain them for the long term.

What has been one of your biggest struggle building your business and how did you deal with it?

My biggest struggle with building a business was that I had to build myself first and I didn't realize that initially. When you don't see your own value, how can others? When you don't trust yourself, how can you expect clients to? At Water Bear Photography, I ask women to trust me to keep them safe in big gowns in the water. At Blue Rides, people are traveling to foreign countries with expensive dive gear. These are not small things to ask for trust in.

I'm not saying to fake it 'til you make it - quite the opposite. Get the education, read, chase mentorship, really find out where your gaps are and fix them, and then you can confidently serve your clients. My team is about as educated, qualified, and certified as they come and we are constantly looking for ways to grow together. I am always reading at least one business book at a time and working on personal and professional development. As I build myself, I build my businesses. As I build my businesses, I build trust. And as I build trust, I build something more important than anything else - a true community.

Any shoutouts you want to make?

My best friend, Julie. This woman is the epitome of the delulu bestie archetype. She loves me maybe a little too well at times and encourages all of my dreams. She has walked with me through the lows, celebrated me during the highs, loved on my child like her own, and is ALWAYS on the other end of the phone for a pep talk. She has learned underwater modeling and safety to support me. She has helped me build sets. She believes in me more than I believe in myself and I just wish every single woman had a cheerleader like her.

I also want to shout out my Blue Rides co-founder, Erol Bucholtz. We met on a liveaboard in the Maldives and have since sailed on several others together. He founded Blue Rides after his own lackluster experience and I'm always so impressed with his work ethic and very German logical thinking. He truly wants to create a better and safer platform for divers and it's been a privilege to grow this alongside him. We may argue about what type of fins are superior (Dive Rite, obviously!), but his passion for the ocean and conservation are two things we're incredibly aligned on.