Today we’d like to introduce you to Chad Mead
Hi Chad, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I was a bartender at a busy restaurant on Gulf to Bay and would meet many people always asking “What do we do around here, Chad?” I would meet them at the non-touristy spots and bring them out on the water. They would always rent “other” vendors kayaks or boards and come out saying “How it was the best day of their vacation and why I didn’t do this for a living?” 💡 Lightbulb 💡 came on inside my head and I was always thinking how I could turn my passion (paddle boarding) into a living. Fast forward a little bit and I wasn’t doing so great with my life. Drinking to much, toxic relationships, and just not where I wanted to be in life. Of course that led to me being fired from the restaurant and I just had, had enough of the service industry. Moved back home, Minnesota at that, and ended up hanging gutters with a friend I had met. A few things happened at this time. I realized how much I really disliked hanging gutters (I’m a very social person) and how I had to step up in my life and get my act together. I’ve always been a VERY HARDWORKING person! Point in case do whatever I had to do to make a living (like climbing up tall ladders and using snips all day) and then one of the most important phone calls of my life came through. One of my “regulars” who I befriended down in Florida called and asked “What I was up to?” I told him “nothing good or anything I’m enjoying. Well….a long story short he owned Cove Cay Marina in Clearwater and wanted me to come run it. I basically had one condition and that was I could start a kayak company there. We talked for a few months and after Thanksgiving I packed my truck and everything I owned into it…. a yeti cooler, two paddleboards, a road bike, my longboard, and four totes of clothes and drove my ass back to Florida. (Within the first week my bike and cooler got stolen). We met over lunch and came to an agreement and worked our butts off to “revamp” the marina and put “Chadillac Adventures over in the corner. Why “Chadillac Adventures,” you ask? Cause one of my favorite people ever said “every time you go out with me it’s a crazy adventure “ hence the name of the company. Now all this was right before Covid hit, literally. We didn’t know what was going to happen cause the tourist definitely weren’t traveling. But…..on the down low the marina stayed open and I had never had so much fun in my life. I was living on a boat, meeting so many people, nobody had nothing to do but go kayaking and boating, and networking which made the company better than ever. Fast forward 5 years and lots of hard work cause I could go on forever, We now have multiple locations with boats, kayaks, and paddleboards. A fun thing we are doing this year is gloflokayaking.com with night tours in the lit up clear kayaks. With the help of some great people and LOTS of hard work the company just keeps getting better. We love showing people the “real” Florida. We are not a tourist trap. Don’t book if your into that. We are regular down to earth individuals and everything is a little more personalized. Come see us if your in the Tampa/Clearwater area.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It’s never smooth starting a business. A lot of people think you have the best job but sacrifices come with it. Hurricanes have wiped out our locations. Long days and hours. Health issues with all the heavy lifting. Bad decisions you make for your business but you live and learn. Off season is hard as there’s no income.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Chadillac Adve?
We take people to the prettiest destinations in Florida. We aren’t a tourist trap. What’s sets us apart from others is we break the rules. Lots of fun. Real people and down to earth. I’m proud of all the hard work we do to earn our ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ reviews.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
We are expanding each and every year and feel we will have multiple locations all over Florida and Georgia.
Pricing:
- 79.99 to 99.99 for tours
- 125.00 an hour for boat trips with a captain
- 35 for single kayak rentals (all day)
- 45 for tandems and paddleboards rentals (all day)
- 55 for canoe rentals (all day)
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Chadillacadventures.com
- Instagram: Chadillac_adventures
- Facebook: Chadillac Adventures
