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From Garage to Global: How Three Generations Built Ward’s Marine Electric
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Seventy-five years of family business excellence is a milestone worth celebrating, especially in the ever-evolving marine industry. Kristy Hebert, President and CEO of Ward’s Marine Electric, joins us to share the remarkable journey from her grandfather's garage-based operation to a marine electric powerhouse serving the world's finest yachts.
The story begins with a post-WWII veteran who loved boating and found a way to merge his passion with his generator expertise. What started as a small operation using his personal aircraft to deliver parts to boats in the Bahamas evolved into a cornerstone business that helped shape Fort Lauderdale's development as a global yachting center. Kristy reveals how her family played a pivotal role in the 1961 initiative to bring electric power to local marinas – a seemingly small change that transformed the region by encouraging vessels to remain docked and seek maintenance locally.
Kristy's own path into the family business wasn't predetermined. Initially helping with a catalog while applying to law school, she discovered an unexpected passion for the industry. Her leadership philosophy balances honoring their rich heritage while embracing innovation, as reflected in their podcast initiative and her tagline, "We're 75 and we're just getting started." The company's unique workforce structure – with half their team serving 30+ years and half under five years – creates a powerful blend of expertise and fresh perspectives.
Beyond their business success, Ward’s Marine Electric has become a powerful advocate for the marine industry. Kristy shares valuable insights on effective legislative engagement, explaining how focusing on economic impact rather than political differences has helped secure bipartisan support for initiatives benefiting marine businesses and their employees. When asked to distill what yacht owners ultimately seek, her answer is simple yet profound: "Freedom" – to explore, escape pressures, and create exceptional experiences with loved ones.
Ready to learn more? Visit wardsmarine.com and discover how this three-generation family business continues to power marine excellence worldwide.
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Welcome everyone. A 75-year history is impressive enough for any business, but when you consider the company I'm about to tell you about has been family-run for that entire time, I think it's safe to say it's even more impressive. I'm speaking about Wards Marine Electric, and throughout these past seven decades, three different generations of family have grown it from a garage in Fort Lauderdale, if you can imagine, to one of the most well-known distributors for multiple marine electronic manufacturers. Now you don't need to be an engineer or a captain of a superyacht, or even super techie to appreciate our guest today, or even super techie to appreciate our guest today. She is Christy Hebert, and she's the president and CEO of Wards Marine Electric and someone I have had the pleasure of knowing for many years. So I'm really excited to bring you her today. Christy, welcome to Megayacht News Radio.
Speaker 2:Hi Diane, Thank you for having me. I'm thrilled to have you.
Speaker 1:Good, good, this is going to be fun. So the story of Wards I love the backstory, the whole idea of starting the company in the garage and then growing it to where you are now, with multiple locations, multiple employees, multiple in-house specialties. I know that's a lot of territory to cover, a lot of years to cover, but how did it all evolve? And tell us also how you got involved.
Speaker 2:Well, it's actually it's a nice fun story, and I'll try to keep it pretty short as possible. You know, though, diane, you knew what you were getting into. Brevity's not my strong suit, so and anybody that knows me they'll learn.
Speaker 2:But so my grandfather did start it. You know he he came out of the war and and was working on generators, actually out in the Everglades, and was a very big into boating and loved fishing and being on the water and obviously was down, was down here in in Fort Lauderdale and with my grandmother and his wife and they had had my father in 1948 and then his sister shortly thereafter, and then the business started and it started in his garage because he was trying to figure out like there's got to be a way that I can enjoy boating and do generator work and electrical work, and that's how basically it came. It was. It was let me enjoy my hobby, and he was also an avid pilot. And so one of the things that set Ward's Marine Electric aside is that he would fly all the time to the Bahamas, because back in the 1950s not as many boats came to South Florida and stayed overnight which I'll get to as to why and and so he would fly over, and then eventually it became oh well, you're heading over to the Bahamas ward, could you take some parts for me? I have a boat that's over there. Hey, do you happen to have this in stock, so we carried parts. We had a couple of technicians and my grandfather would fly over to the Bahamas.
Speaker 2:My father joined the company in 1972 and he was a finance major in college and but also became an electrician and was very good at it. It really helped my grandfather scale the business and grow it to more than just a couple of technicians and flying over to the Bahamas. And before that, in 1961, the Marine Industries Association was formed, and the reason I bring that up is the number one goal that all of the members had at the time was to convince the city to have power at the marinas so the boats would stay. And if the boats stayed then they would get work done. So imagine they were fighting for 15 amp service on the docks. Fast forward over time. I joined the company in 1996. I was not going the only time I had worked for the company. I was grounded one summer, which we will not disclose as to what I did but I had to help input data into our computer system.
Speaker 2:I remember I was 14. So that's going to make it about 1986, in 1985. And we were entering in all of our product information into a computer system at that time and so I helped do it. It was for DOS and fast forward. I graduated from college and I was applying for law schools and my father said, hey, would you help your mom do a catalog? So my mom worked for the company, my brother did, my husband did at the time, and so then I joined the company part time to help do a parts catalog and I thought I was going to be there maybe about six months and it became everything I never knew, I always wanted and never left. And so I've been there since, been here since 1996. Amazing, I love it, yes.
Speaker 1:Yes, and I really love the story about how your grandfather's trips on his plane ended up helping down the line to influence keeping all these yachts in the US in Fort Lauderdale.
Speaker 2:Yes, absolutely. And he wasn't alone. I mean there were a lot of other, you know, I mean Frank and Jimmy's. I'm pointing out the window in case you can't see them. They're our neighbor. We've been on the same five block radius since 1951. And our neighbor has always been Frank and Jimmy's propellers, and so it wasn't just my grandfather, but there were a lot of marine businesses who are actually still here that were able to go to the city and go. You know, if you really give them a reason to stay, they'll stay and it'll help all of our businesses. And it was tremendous. I don't think they knew what an impact they would have, but what an impact they did.
Speaker 1:Right, right, something very simple ends up being huge, huge for our industry. That's terrific. I love it.
Speaker 2:That's advocacy at its finest, there you go, that's what it is. That's how I was born to be an apologist.
Speaker 1:Which we'll definitely get into in a couple of minutes. Sure, one of the things I wanted to ask you too is I imagine that most of your customers are probably either on the crew side, particularly the captains, since they know all the ins and outs of what's needed and what needs to be replaced and what they want to replace it with, or the owner support team. They're project managers, maybe perhaps they're brokers, so even maybe, in a couple of cases too, I think, maybe an owner's representative. Do you ever actually deal with any of the owners? The reason I ask is Absolutely you do. Okay, because I was curious, because there are more owners I'm finding who are getting much more hands-on in aspects that they never used to.
Speaker 2:I would say it's similar to and I don't have anything to back this up other than an.
Speaker 2:In my mind it's similar, but I feel like it's very similar to when you saw the rise of the do-it-yourself, you know, home renovations and all of these shows that you could tell that people. Really, you could just hire a general contractor or an interior designer and they would handle it. But I think people wanted to start knowing how does that work? I want my home to be this way, and so almost all of these super yacht owners are very particular about their homes and their AV systems, their planes, their businesses. They're very detail-oriented people. In my experience that I've gotten to meet some tremendous owners and they're very specific about that's how they've become so successful. They know exactly the details of the business, the details of their home, the details of their life, and so many of them just enjoy that element and choose to be that detail-oriented on their boat, and I love owners that want to be involved in the decisions because then they know it's their money, they know exactly what they're getting and they know exactly what their experience will then be.
Speaker 1:Very true. Years ago, when I started my career in yachting, I worked for Power and Motor Yacht Magazine and a lot of the readers were owners of 50-foot plus boats. So some of them were super DIY. They knew every little nook and cranny. They knew how many screws were on their boat. I mean, you ask them anything, they could tell you in incredible detail. But there were also a significant number of readers who never really wanted to do their own maintenance, but they 100% wanted to understand what was going on, what needed to go on, what the best product or the best solution was, so they could feel more empowered. That way they knew nobody was going to take advantage of them.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it's also.
Speaker 2:You know, boating is something that we don't talk about because we're all in the industry, but you really you're an explorer of sorts.
Speaker 2:I mean, once you get three or four miles offshore, which isn't very far, and you get in and it happens to be at night, you are in the wilderness, and so people talk about going on retreats and they go to these far off places.
Speaker 2:You know, go out into the ocean at night and get a little bit away from shore and light pollution and you are in the middle of nowhere. And then you have this entire, have a vessel, obviously that has more electric than your home, at least two to three times more in some cases. You have all of the niceties that you have at home and you have them out on the water. I think a lot of them want to make sure that they're taking their families, they're taking their grandchildren, they're taking the most important people in their lives, and I think we saw that a lot during COVID. They want to make sure that that's a safe and good experience for their family and that they can explore and do all of those things in a way that they will not be putting themselves at risk so far away from land and from home.
Speaker 2:Yeah so there's a lot of it that comes out of that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely Makes a lot of sense. So are these some of the things that you also discuss on your own podcast, because I know you launched a podcast just a couple months ago, correct?
Speaker 2:We did and so we launched a podcast because, well, a couple of reasons. One, I felt like there's so much of our industry history that a lot of people don't know, and especially even in our business, as we're evolving. You know, I have 52 employees and 26 of them have been with us and we have a very big dichotomy 26 of them have been with us probably less than five years, and and then 20 of those 50 have been with us 30 or more years. So you start looking at a very and and you so you have people in their fifties and people in their twenties and the people just entering into the industry. They don't. They don't know that there used to be down at the end of our street, which is downtown Fort Lauderdale Hatteras of Lauderdale was there, you know. They aren't aware that Rossioli had a Bob Rossioli.
Speaker 2:George Cable has a George Cable. Merritt Boatworks has a Roy Merritt, and I wanted to be able to tell some of those stories and I also kind of wanted to show that my tagline is we're 75 and we're just getting started. I didn't want to send a message that's like we finally got to the 75th year, thank God. That's been tiring, you know. It's like. No, I don't want to be that company that has the wood paneling and the plaques that shows we peaked in like 1986. I want to show things that we're doing today relevant charities that we're doing, relevant podcasts. You know what I mean Social media that you can still be a family business of 75 years and be relevant. You just have to surround yourself with young, smart people. That's the only thing I get credit for is that I am surrounded by plenty of smart people in our business and that's why we're successful.
Speaker 1:And that's all succession planning too. Any company that is smart needs to look at that upcoming generation and say how are we going to get them involved and how can we feel, how can we make them feel that they're not just a cog in the wheel, that they are really truly part of this company?
Speaker 2:I will say, like when we're still young. But when we were young, you know, like as kids, and I'm going to say in my twenties and thirties that my dad did a very good job of throwing a lot at us. We were not, I did not get the easy jobs, and I remember he came to me, you know, and I was out of college and then I had my, my first child at 26. So here I am, pregnant at my parents' business, you know, working on a catalog, and I remember him saying, like you know, I'm, I'm. You know you have to fight your own battles and you have to find what interests you and find your style and find your communication style and find the way that you want to interact and how this company is. And and so it was he. He was very good about being there, but also not micromanaging me and letting me find my own communication style and figuring out a way to to to interact.
Speaker 2:But I also had to work my way up. You know, when I first started with the company college degree and boss's daughter or not when you were the new hire you had to clean the bathrooms and empty the Coke machine and I did. The only thing I didn't have to do was the was the yard, because my brother agreed to do it on my behalf. But we used to have to do those and he was like you're not getting out of it because you started and the next person behind you will figure it out. And I think that was key, because we never got any advantages just by being related. In fact, I would tell you that I probably had to work two to three times harder than everybody else around me to make sure that I wasn't given too much of an advantage. That I had to learn the hard way.
Speaker 1:And.
Speaker 2:I'm appreciative of that.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, that makes total sense. I think a lot of people who run family businesses, where there's a heck of a lot of pride and Lord knows even more hard work, they do the same thing with their kids. It's not just well, here I'm just going to hand you everything that I've poured blood, sweat and tears into. They need to understand that. That's part of the deal. Yes, I agree wholeheartedly.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So I liked what you were saying about how your father said that you needed to learn your own communication style and what interested you, because that's actually a perfect segue into advocacy. Yes, 2016, 2017. I don't remember exactly which year it was, but it was the first year that I accompanied the USSA on the visits to Capitol Hill and I remember distinctly feeling, quite honestly, a little intimidated, saying here I am sitting with these senators, sitting with these representatives. Yes, I know our industry, yes, I know what we want to communicate, but how? How do I talk to them? I've never talked to a politician before.
Speaker 1:I'm also the one used to asking the questions, not providing the answers, so in my journalist role, it was a little odd for me to kind of have to switch hats. So I remember sitting and listening very intently to everybody, especially you, having done it several times. After you and the others were done speaking, they realized that there were unintended consequences from things that they were supporting or measures that they just hadn't really thought very much about. You're right. What are some of the biggest takeaways for you in all the advocacy work that you've done on behalf of the industry? The biggest takeaway I?
Speaker 2:would say is that we don't advocate enough. I'm a huge believer that what you were referring to. I'll explain a little bit. It was called American Voting Congress. It used to be called papers. We probably had 10 positions. We would all divide up, go see our representatives from our states and pitch our positions, and I'm a believer that that should be done 12 months out of the year, and not because you need something right away, but educating legislators that can impact your business needs to be a 24-7 job, and I know that it's difficult for not-for-profit associations to afford lobbyists. Lobbyists get a bad name like oh, you're a special interest group or you know you're lobbying. And what about the general middle-class American who can't afford a lobbyist? Well, I would say you can lobby on your behalf. These you know.
Speaker 2:in my experience, what I learned was you know, you go to you know, we go to House of Congress and we have the House of Representatives and we have the Senate and they're bicameral and there's 500 members and you say, well, gosh, where do I pick? Well, they have committees and then they have jurisdictions over you and I think you want to get to know the legislators that can impact your industry. So you know, and going and talking to them. So my points of advice to people for legislative these are people that their job is to talk to you. So, unlike where we're trying to sell something, we're not trying to sell something. They have to listen to constituents. Your job is to figure out how to make them feel like they have to listen to you. So, for example, if I'm going in, as you have to say, from a girl from South Florida, why am I visiting Virginia Fox from North Carolina at the time? Boy, I hope that's right. Duncan Smith kill me.
Speaker 2:But I want to say that I think and it could be she's from Virginia. Maybe I'll look that up, but anyway she was chairman of a committee that we had jurisdiction over and was probably like why, why is the person here from South Florida coming in? Well, because I can tell you, I have members in your district and this is how it's impacting your constituents and this is how your constituents are being impacted by this. So you're right, diane, nothing but unintended consequences. I mean, look what? 9-11 came and homeland security was developed in 90 days, and the unintended consequences against large yachts. Look at our visa programs, look at our flag states, look at our entry, our our customs and border protection. None of that, none of that was around pre 9-11, which was only 2001. And 24 years later, we're still getting unintended consequences.
Speaker 2:But I think what you can do is look at that and say, mr Legislator, you have a job to do.
Speaker 2:Or, mrs Legislator, you have a job to do, but help me not impact my industry and help protect your constituents. And I have found it does not matter what party and despite I will you know, people may vehemently disagree party and despite I will you know, people may vehemently disagree but Democrat or Republican, when you explain yourself and the industry and the impacts to their constituents. I've never had a legislator not understand and not be supportive of our industry, and I will be. I will tell you that some of my biggest legislative accomplishments not mine, but the industry's biggest legislative accomplishments occurred at a time with parties in place that people would not think were the majority party, but all legislators. It is your job If a legislator, if you leave a legislator's office and they didn't understand your issue, that's not their fault, that's your fault, and so I think if we take responsibility for that and we do our job, legislators will protect us time and time and time again and advocate on our behalf.
Speaker 1:It's our job to get the issues out there, yeah, yeah. And by that same token, too, people who are owners, owners representatives, the brokers, et cetera it doesn't matter where you are in the industry or on the consumer side they have voices. Their voices, rightfully, should be heard. That's the beauty of the United States. When you are a citizen, it is your right to contact your legislator, and I think the more that people realize that they not only have a voice but should flex that voice, the better off it is. One of the things I also found to be very interesting and it speaks straight to your point about it doesn't matter what side of the political aisle anybody is on was when they learned about the economic impact yes, when, to use the example you were using from someone from South Florida telling somebody from North Carolina it is North Carolina by the way it is good, I was correct.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay, okay, good, yeah, big whoop, thank goodness, yes, but being able to tell those Congress people my boat is one of 20 yachts that goes there every summer. I know all those other owners and we love the marina at XYZ destination, we love to go to this restaurant, we love to go to this bakery. They start listing all the small businesses who they spend money with and all of a sudden it becomes that aha moment for the legislators to realize, oh my gosh, this is money going to my constituents, it's tax dollars flowing into my area. That's what we want more of.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. Listen. One of our biggest legislative champions for our industry in the legislative work that I was a part of, which was modifying the Longshore and Harbor Workers Compensation Act to exclude the recreational industry, as it should have been, and it was designed to do so in 1984. I worked with Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who is very well known as she was head of the DNC, very staunch Democrat legislator that a lot of people would view as heavy or comment heavy progressive liberal would be anti-wealthy yacht owner and that's maybe some of that is true, maybe it's not, but I found when I worked with her office that when I explained that, for example, 90 percent of my employees live west of 95, all of my employees can afford a house, buy a house, live in a house, have their kids in schools, are paying property taxes. Those my employees which are being paid by those rich boat owners live in your district and we need help Done.
Speaker 2:I never, ever had to make a different argument. I never had to say I never have ever had a legislator and let me tell you I had meetings back to back with, let's say, debbie Wasserman Schultz and Colonel Allen West. You could not find two more opposite, both very much Lois Frankel, huge supporters of our industry. And if you do your job and explain it you're right, diane it doesn't really matter and these owners can explain to them that this is where I spend my money, this is. It's not just about having a rich yacht, it's the economic impact every place that corporation goes and and the, the, you know the provisioning, the fuel, the sorry, I told I know I'm going to go over on your time but I'll try to cut on off there. But you're right, a thousand percent.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. All that money trickles right into the community, a hundred percent. So, speaking of owners, one last question, and it's a question that I always love to ask people as the last question there are so many different phrases, so many different explanations that people in the industry use to describe what owners want. So if you could use just one word to describe really what the essence is of what owners want, what would it be? Freedom, good one, okay, elaborate.
Speaker 2:You know, owning a yacht, um, they want the freedom to be able to travel anywhere in the world. They want the freedom to be with their family, maybe where they're they're, they're not surrounded by media. They want the freedom to explore. They want the freedom to be out on the ocean and not be impeded by whatever pressures or challenges they have. And we give them that experience and that opportunity. But it's freedom from the constraints and holds on their lives that got them to that successful place.
Speaker 1:Perfect way to sum it up. I love it. Christy, thanks so much for being here on Mega Yacht News.
Speaker 2:Radio. Thank you so much for having me and I'm sorry if I went on too long, but I feel like we could have done an hour and a half.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we could have. Maybe we will do a part two and a part three.
Speaker 2:All right, there you go. Ok, you had great, great questions too. I could have gone on and on. I'm glad.
Speaker 1:I'm glad.
Speaker 2:Thank you.
Speaker 1:Everyone. To learn more about what Wars Marine Electric can do for you, you can visit their website, which is warsmarinecom. Until next Sounds great. Until next time. I'm Diane Burr.
