Meet the owners of Sharkie’s Swim & Scuba

Husband and wife team, Jessica and Rhett Garrard are Cobb County residents and have two girls, Gracelyn is 6 and Ruby is 13. It was far from easy and filled with many hurdles, but this dynamic duo followed their dreams and opened Sharkie’s Swim and Scuba Academy in 2016. They are dedicated to teaching and certifying families in our community to swim and scuba dive confidently, while having loads of fun!

Our Town was able to catch up with Jessica…trust me, in her busy world that was no easy feat.

OTM: Owning a business, being part of a community and raising a family at the Q&Asame time is certainly no easy task, what made you decide to open “the family business”? Jessica: This wasn’t planned at all! Rhett’s father had owned a local scuba business called “The Dive Shop” for over 40 years in hopes that Rhett would take over when he was ready to retire. Unfortunately, this was never able to come to fruition.

After Rhett left the military (Army Ranger for

LIFE!) he succumbed to a horrible addiction to opioids. This lasted for years causing turmoil within the whole family. After 17 total rehab stints, I had enough and went to the furthest extent possible for Rhett to get the help he needed. This was extremely difficult for everyone, but it finally worked, and Rhett had come out a different man!

But by this time The Dive Shop was completely closed and there was no more business for him to take over. Rhett had to rise by himself. He started working as a swim instructor on Concord Road in Smyrna however within six months of taking the job we were told the swim school was closing. Fortunately, they asked us if we would want to take over the lease and create our own swim school, and BONUS, add scuba!

It took 24 hours to say, YES! But we had nothing. No money, no curriculum, no students…NOTHING. What were we thinking?!?!

Rhett’s parents loaned us a credit card with an 11K limit on it. That’s all we had, literally, and had to create a business that needed to open its doors in 30 days!

With no real experience creating websites, building a practice management system, marketing or much of anything we had to learn and build and learn and build some more. We got to work.

By August 1st, 2016, Sharkie’s Swim and Scuba

Academy became a reality! (Our very first customer now owns a business on South Cobb Dr.!)

1318 Concord Rd. Smyrna, GA 30080

OTM: Sharkie’s is such an important part of our community. I always tell my kids that playing in the water is fun, but safety is the number one priority. What ages do you recommend starting lessons and what services do you offer?

Jessica: The earlier, the better! We start our Baby and Me classes at 6 months old. Babies are naturalists in the water. If we can get them in young enough, the safety aspect is molded into their already self-awareness of water. Plus, getting them before fear kicks in is key. But we know not everybody can start that young and that’s ok! We can accommodate any age in our private lessons.

OTM: You opened the swim schools but what made you decide to expand into scuba?

Jessica: Scuba was a given, Rhett can teach scuba in his sleep. He is a natural and it is his passion. Fun Fact: Rhett is the youngest certified diver in PADI history.

OTM: You are both so fun and energetic, I know the community enjoys the energy of Sharkie’s (including the music and the island feel) but you guys have upped the fun with scuba trips. What is this all about?

Jessica: It’s the best part of our job! We LOVE to take students to amazing dive locations around the world. We know your whole experience in the dive world can be ruined by certain dive locations and we want you to truly see how amazing and relaxing this new sport can be for you. With over 40 years of diving experience, we know all the great spots!

When seeing our students, be it dive or swim, have that “light bulb” moment is worth everything! Something just clicks, and they become unstoppable!

Shark Dives anyone?

OTM: Swimming, diving, and unbelievable adventures, WOW…but that is not all you offer, right?

Jessica: Our motto is Swim Hard. Dive Deep. Save Lives. A part of saving lives is being CPR/AED certified. We offer classes on the first Saturday of every month and are also capable of coming to your house or business! Our goal is to have at least half of our community certified by 2025!

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