Looking for a Happy Life?

Go Where People Are Happy

Growing up in landlocked Vermont doesn't allow for too much by way of snorkeling, coconut palm trees, and beachside blender bars. Today however, that is what life is all about every day for two RUHS graduates.

Josh and Matt Slayton, sons of Chris and Jean Slayton of Randolph Center, live and work on St. John in the US Virgin Islands running their own powerboat day charter business.

Matt, a graduate of RUHS in ’96, VTC in ’99, and Bentley College in ’01 found himself living in Cambridge Mass. just one mile from his brother Josh two years ago. Josh, a graduate of RUHS in ’99 and Babson College in ’03 found himself living in nearby Brighton with the same discontented thoughts running through his head.

"We hated going to work every day surrounded by people who were unhappy about going to work."

Not that they had bad jobs. Matt was working at the Harvard Graduate School of Education as a faculty assistant, while Josh was working for Sears as a store manager. But both wanted to make better use of their business and marketing degrees.

"We simply wanted to be happy about where we lived and worked," Matt explained..

"After some basic brainstorming, we concluded that people on vacation are usually happy."

The idea was so simple: "Life is all about choices and that means choosing where you work too," he said.. "Charter guests ask what brought us to the Caribbean and we almost always respond, "wanting to surround ourselves with happy people."

Month of Volunteering

They started out by volunteering in June of 2005 to spend a month at Maho Bay Camps on St. John, where you work 20 hours a week in exchange for your board.

"After learning that I would be working in maintenance while at Maho, I let out a nervous laugh – what did I know about fixing boardwalks and repairing eco-tents?" Matt said. "I had spent the last three years working in front of a computer and now all of a sudden I had to work with a hammer every day."

They quickly learned that being able to fix and repair boardwalks outside was quite enjoyable, and left plenty of time to explore and enjoy their surroundings—and start to think some more.

"I guess our first thoughts of running a charter boat business came after an afternoon of freebie sailing on one of the large charter catamarans in exchange for helping get it ready for hurricane season. Free rum-punch, and an afternoon of sailing with 20 friends sounded like a fine trade to us."

It turned out the captain had sailed this vessel from the states a few years ago with his two other brothers. They built the boat, sailed it to St. John and started chartering it as a day sail snorkel boat. That sounded like an interesting career path, and Josh kept peppering the captain with questions.

At the end of the month, they hired on as full time staff at Maho Bay Camps, with a schedule that left them time to research the possibility of running a powerboat charter business.

"Sometime in September 2005 we finished our business plan and started soliciting finances to start our idea." Matt recalled.

On Their Own

By the end of the month they put a deposit on the boat "Lion In Da Sun" and knew that they were well on their way to becoming small business owners.

Just two months later, on Dec. 1, 2005, the brothers sent out their first charter—to Norman Island and Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands for snorkeling and island hopping.

"We had hired a full-time captain and our primary job (and concern!) was trying to get our boat booked each day."

That turned out to be easy. What really took time was keeping the boat running.

"We quickly became friends with a good mechanic and spent many days hitchhiking across St. John and St. Thomas getting parts for our boat and fixing it on days it wasn’t going out. There were more than a few days where we were up at 6 a.m. traveling and picking up parts, fixing our boat and getting back to Maho in time to work that day in the kitchen or on maintenance."

Even answering the phone to take bookings was a challenge because of the spotty cell service in the tents. "It is comical to think about now, but when the phone rang we would grab it and run out of our tent up the boardwalk to the highest point before answering it," Matt recalled.

In March 2006 they left Maho Camps to operate the business full-time. They decided that Josh would get a captain's license so they didn’t have to pay a full-time captain. They replaced the boat's engines, and created a better website.

Rewards

"One of the most rewarding experiences comes with seeing happy and excited guests board Lion In Da Sun in the morning," Matt said. "On the rare occasions when they arrive unhappy upon boarding, it’s even more rewarding at the end of the day when they step onto the dock exclaiming they had the best day of their vacation! Every day we have a charter we are helping build a memory in that person's life, and that is a great feeling.

"While it has taken countless hours and sleepless nights to get where we are right now, it certainly doesn’t feel like work. We’re happy to be in a place we love, working with people that are happy to be vacationing on such a beautiful island."

For more information or to contact Matt or Josh check out their new website:

Lionindasun.com or email:

info@lionindasun.com.

Helen—I think the inconsistency in upper case is OK