Today we’d like to introduce you to Douglas McComb.
Hi Douglas, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Sorry this is so long. To paraphrase Mark Twain, I didn’t have time to write a short history, so I wrote a long one.
A career in aquariums was the most predictable career path for me as I’ve been working in aquariums my entire life, 30 years to be exact, with additional years as a hobbyist. Like many aquarists, I started working in the retail aquarium industry. I worked for a few stores in my high school years before moving on to better paying jobs when I started my undergraduate work the U of MN.
That’s when my life began to derail. I started getting sick and the doctors couldn’t figure out why. Years later I would learn it had been non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma when I was diagnosed in stage-IV. I took a leave from school, taking incompletes in most of my classes and began treatment. Between chemo and eventual stem cell transplant I took a job at another tropical fish store and was reminded of my love for aquariums. It was during the long treatment process that I decided that I wanted have a career that I found fulfilling. Something that wouldn’t hurt my soul when my alarm sounded on Monday mornings. I decided that I wanted a career in aquariums.
I recovered, graduated, and began looking to the future. My eyes were on a career in public aquariums. My plan was to go to graduate school and eventually put myself in a warm place to live and work hard, move up fast, and hopefully be a curator by 30 years old, and eventually to run the whole show. The only problem is that going to school and being sick with cancer (and trying to have a social life) meant that something had to give…and that something turned about to be scholastic achievement. So, instead of entering a “normal” graduate program, I started a grad certificate program in Zoo & Aquarium Studies from Western Illinois University, with the classes held in the basement of the Shedd Aquarium.
As part of that program I had to do a practicum, and by virtue of my proximity, I started volunteer work at the Shedd as the first stop in my public aquariums career. A year later, at 25 years old, I had aged out of my parent’s insurance, and as a cancer survivor I found myself uninsurable (this was pre-ACA). Thus I was forced to make a difficult decision: continue in graduate school and work towards the goal of the PhD or quit to start my career. I found the opportunity to difficult to pass up and ultimately abandoned school to take an Aquarist job at the Shedd. It was a great start to my career but it wasn’t where I ultimately wanted to be. The job was great, but it’s tough to make it in Chicago without at least an average income and Aquarists roles typically make far less than that. I tried to find myself a new role, preferably in someplace warm, but ultimately found myself on the outside looking in when it became obvious to management that not only was I not happy and would never consider staying, but that I’d checked out mentally. It was a growing moment that I’ve never forgotten.
So I returned home. Both to MN and to the retail fish store. I never stopped looking for another public Aquarist position, and it didn’t take long before one opened up at the MN Zoo and I jumped at the chance, and was lucky enough to be chosen for the role. That was a better fit and a job I could really embrace. There I renovated the MN Lodge paludariums (reptiles/amphibians/turtles), with much of that work still on display 20 years later. I also ushered the zoo’s coral reef display into it’s modern iteration, with my efforts at coral propagation behind the scenes now integrated into their public display and interpretive story-telling.
However, I still wanted more. I was fast approaching 30 and nowhere closer to my proximate goal of curating. To compound my frustrations, my growing family needed income, and wages were frozen at the zoo. That’s when I decided to start Fish Geeks, a company that could provide aquarium services as I had done early in my career, leveraging my reputation and resume to help attract business. I borrowed some money from my dad to buy a computer, built my first website (teaching myself as I went), and paid a friend to help me design a logo. Perhaps it was beginner’s luck, perhaps it was just dumb luck, but Cabela’s was the one of the first clients to reach out.
Fish Geeks curated the Cabela’s aquariums first in their Owatonna location and soon the Roger’s location wanted my services as well. That allowed me to extricate myself from my stagnant zoo career and launched my new entrepreneurial effort as my full time focus. It wasn’t long before we were doing their Woodbury location as well. And while I wasn’t a curator by 30, curating three locations in my early thirties definitely assuaged my concerns.
We did the Cabela’s aquariums for 8 years, ultimately losing the contract not long after Bass Pro bought Cabela’s. That’s when things started to derail for me again. First it was the pandemic, and if that wasn’t bad enough, bad luck started rearing its ugly head. Two herniated discs in my neck stole months of productivity from me and the months that followed that recover, a spontaneous lung-collapse stole another couple. My business was reeling and so were my family’s finances. My wife convinced me to find a job, just until the financial pinch was over.
So for the first time in decades, I attempted to get back into the job market. I wanted something part time. Something that I could be anonymous. Something I could walk away from at a moment’s notice. What came next surprised me as much as anybody.
The aquarium at the Roseville mall was hiring for a maintenance worker. It paid like garbage, but I figured my work history would get me in the door. I was right. I got my interview, it was one-question long, “So, you’re here to interview for the Marine team?”
“No,” I said, “I’m just here to interview for a maintenance role.”
“Just a minute,” he said before heading out to converse with his supervisor.
He returned several minutes later and informed me that they would have to reschedule the interview for “another time.” Confused, I left, handing my business card to the woman who had greeted me upon my arrival. Once back in my vehicle, I did a quick internet search of the organization with some skepticism of the wisdom of this group seemingly disinterested in a career aquarist. That’s when I discovered the notorious history of Sea Quest and also when my arrogance got me into trouble.
I was thinking that since I had turned around several Cabela’s aquariums, surely I could do the same here. So, I reached out to them in an email and told them that I could turn around their Roseville facility. And in what could be considered the silliest move of my career, I successfully interviewed my way into a GM role and put much of my Fish Geeks business aside to focus on what my career had always been leading up to, running the whole show.
It wasn’t long before my folly became apparent to me as SQ filed for bankruptcy inside my first month of employment. Undeterred, I stayed on and worked my tale off. I brought in a new curator who was a legit rock star. I worked on culture. Accountability. Doing the right thing. I was making progress too. Our USDA inspector called it a “night and day” improvement. I’m still in touch with that VMO today, and I can proudly say that she stands as a professional reference.
It’s unfortunate that it wouldn’t be long before I’d need that reference as the SQ closed it’s doors shortly thereafter, cutting short my tenure. To say that it was a low point in my career is an understatement. Because beyond the embarrassment of working for that notorious organization in the first place, worse yet, I felt as though I had failed my staff.
In as much as it’s a good thing that aquarium is no longer running, I was now back where I’d started…only worse. Fish Geeks was no longer making what it had been prior to needing the part time job, and to say my career was derailed at that point would be an understatement.
The next few months found me doing a lot of soul-searching. I worked on my website. I did my best to attract new business, but revenue was in short supply. I needed to either re-invest in Fish Geeks to reinvigorate the business or I needed an off-ramp. Perhaps aquariums as a career was ill-conceived
That’s when I noted the open position at the Sea Life. They needed a GM, but I was filled with self-doubt. I reached out to my former curator, now GM’ing a veterinary hospital, and recommended that she interview. I knew how talented and hard-working she is, and figured if anybody, Sea Life would see that too. However, I applied too. Even though I was starting to doubt myself, there was no way I was going to pass up an opportunity to vie for my dream job. It was no surprise that they invited her for an interview, it was a shock that they’d invited me to interview as well. Now more than ever, the presence of SQ on my resume filled me with shame.
However, the interview wasn’t about husbandry, it was about running a business, a topic that I was comfortable talking about. They discussed guest engagement, a topic that fills me with joy. I spoke about passion for the natural world, enthusiasm for marine life, and communicating with authenticity. I spoke about channeling the spirit of Jane Goodall, David Attenborough, and of course Steve Irwin. I talked about how true joy is infectious and about how I wanted to bring that spirit to their facility.
I was shocked when they invited me back for another interview. It wasn’t a surprise when they asked me to justify my involvement with SQ, how could they not? I answered candidly. I thought I could change them. I was wrong. But it didn’t change my passion and ultimately I remained undeterred.
I cried when they offered me the position of GM a few months ago. It was pure joy of the kind that rivaled the days my children were born or the day I married my wife.
Fish Geeks is still doing business, no bigger or smaller than it was when I took a job with the notorious SQ, but it’s no longer my full time. It’s no longer my passion. It’s now exactly what it was when it started, a side job to my main public aquariums career. Only I’m no longer inexorably buried on the depth chart, now I run the whole show.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Welp, looks like I addressed question one and two in one fell swoop.
Obviously I faced a lot of struggles, and many of my career choices were heavily influenced by outside factors. Personal health was a continuous struggle, something that I have frequently characterized as “terrible bad luck.”
Cancer at 19 years old.
Herniated discs in neck because my Labrador took an unexpected leap while I was holding the leash.
A collapsed lung (spontaneous pneumothorax) that was pure bad luck.
Sure, money was tight, as it is for many people. The odds were long, as many people have experienced. Being the sole breadwinner isn’t easy, especially as an entrepreneur.
Working in an industry that I often characterize as, “Being so small as to fit on the point of a needle,” sure wasn’t easy either.
Perhaps toughest of all was being so damn passionate about what I do that I resisted a pivot at every single stage.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I started in aquariums, specifically the husbandry side. I moved on into aquarium science, the chemistry, biology, and engineering side. As a public aquarist I refined public speaking and learned about interpretation and story-telling.
I pivoted into the entrepreneurial world and learned book-keeping, web design, and graphic design.
A pivot back into aquariums refocused my passion, but also required that I learn to lead: motivation and true leadership.
Being laid off gave me a lesson in humility, empathy, and accountability.
This new opportunity has taught me the power of positive attitude and persistence.
What am I known for? That depends on who you ask.
Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
I’ve heard Scott Galloway give people advice about what should they do when they find themselves lost in their careers. He says, “What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?” With that answer being the thing that person should pursue.
While I cannot speak to the wisdom of that advice given the hardships I’ve had to endure, I can assert that the joy that has come with finally being able to do what I set out to accomplish in my career, Galloway sure has a solid point.
That and being talented is secondary to being persistent and having a positive attitude.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.fishgeeks.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FishGeeks/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dba-douglas-mccomb/
- Other: https://douglasmccomb.online/
