Cristina Zenato Instagram – The business of shark and ocean conservation
I recently received comments about loving my work but being disappointed about the commercial side of some of my posts. The comment shamed me for using an emotional connection to a token I was wearing that was part of raising funds for our work and told me they hoped I would find myself again.
I am all here that I can guarantee. I am commercial; I have to be commercial. I learned to be a little more as I used to feel guilty charging for my services, knowledge, expertise, and years of dedicated work.
Like everyone else, I have to make a living, and my living is made by being a professional scuba diver, providing unique encounters and experiences with sharks, teaching and guiding in caves, and using tech gear such as rebreathers.
I use products I love, I have purchased and used for years before we started to collaborate, and in exchange, we support each other in our work and mission.
It is an aspect we need to accept to keep functioning and being able to continue our contribution.
In return, I use my income to welcome students into my life, to teach them for free, to conduct online education free of charge, to explore, map, and collect data for caves we submit for review and conservation, to go out and remove hooks from sharks on our time off, to provide images and content to many who are seeking support for their educational and conservation mission and so much more.
Many of these actions we do not advertise; we do them.
Being commercial is one aspect of the business; it does not take away from who we are, what we do with all our heart, and the results of our efforts.
Image @kewinlorenzen
@neptunic_com | Posted on 16/Jan/2024 20:06:15
