Third Chapter Curious, Vol. 10, PT 2

INTERVIEW X 

“Field of Vision” 

JENNIFER SZUNKO

Co-Owner, Discovery Cruises

NFT Strategist for Artists

President, New Way Properties, LLC.

Third Chapter Curious, Vol. 10, PT. 2

[Recorded December 10, 2024 at Discovery Cruises, Traverse City, Michigan]

“Life changes in the instant. The ordinary instant.“ - Joan Didion from The Year of Magical Thinking

My interview with Jennifer continues as we discuss her healing journey and foray into the NFT game, the art scene, and as co-owner of Discovery Cruises. Most importantly, her second act in life. 

INTERVIEWER:

“I’m grateful to hear that you’re cancer-free! That’s such an about-face situation—something that was horrible at the time yet turned out to save your life. If you hadn't had that accident, who knows how long it would have taken to get that diagnosis? It all worked out just as it was meant to.”

JENNIFER:

“Yes, a lot of the stars had to align for me. That’s happened many times in my life.

From deciding to leave my job, to finish the house, and get up on the roof that day … it all worked out.

Sometime later, I attended a monthly pitch event called ‘TC New Tech.’

Four or five entrepreneurs were sharing their ideas, and competing for a cash prize, hoping to catch the attention of investors and other people who could work with them; I was interested in hearing what new projects were out there.

After my first event, I got up on stage a couple of different times to pitch my ideas.

A year later, I was in the audience, and the executive director, and I looked at each other and she said, ‘Oh my gosh, Jennifer that is so you!’

After that encounter, I applied and interviewed, then in 2019, I took over as the first executive director of TC New Tech.

I love helping connect with entrepreneurs and the resources they need to launch their businesses.

It was a great experience but after a few years, I had the itch to start my own project once again.

After I stepped down from that position, a friend of mine told me about a tour boat in West Grand Traverse Bay. She said, ‘I think we should buy it together and operate a tour business.’ My friend owns the Wind Dancer sailboat in West Grand Traverse Bay, and also works with a national organization called Best Friends for Animal Rescue—she’s a busy individual. She contacted me and another friend of ours, Caroline; her idea was for the three of us to do this together. We worked on a business plan for several months, gathering financing. On April 27th of 2023, we launched Discovery Cruises.”

INTERVIEWER:

“After you took the role as the executive director for TC New Tech, did you have to figure out events during the COVID shutdown, and if so, what was that like? How did you make that happen?”

JENNIFER:

“We were only able to have one in-person event in February 2019 and then three weeks later, everything was shut down. I had very little time to figure out how to make it functional, virtual.

I went to our board—they initially thought that we would simply pause until things opened up again.

I said, ‘I think this is a great time for the tech community to figure out how to use the technology that's available to us and grow our audience.’ And that’s exactly what we did.

After that, we started reaching more people than just those who could come to the City Opera House in downtown Traverse City every month. Now, we're reaching people in California, New York, and Germany, and we actually had a guy pitch his tech idea from Italy. 

This was demonstrative of the beauty of harnessing technology for good, the human side of technology. Some of those things wouldn't have happened without the shutdown. It forced people to innovate. We actually used technology that was created by two college students out of Canada— they had started a platform based on their experience as gamers to connect with streamers on Twitch. Their company exploded out of COVID because so many people needed it. It was a simple technology in that, nothing had to be downloaded. It was all based on YouTube, but it was live. People could type in comments and questions and it was very well done. They did a great job solving a problem and it was perfect for us to utilize.”

INTERVIEWER:

“Was that something they presented as a pitch to TC New Tech?”

JENNIFER:

“We did have some pitchers that came out of TC New Tech, yes.

At Michigan State, the pitcher I was just speaking about created a platform for connecting with people so that if you came to a big conference, you would download his app and be promoted throughout the conference as a way for you to know who else was attending.

The app linked to their social media pages and websites as a business-related tool.

We used it in quite a few of our events and it created a way for us to continue networking, and it still has useful applications post-COVID.”

INTERVIEWER:

“Well it's a great idea and is one of those things that sounds simple and yet it's not—somebody has to come up with how to make the interface work.

It's a huge need in the business world, like entrepreneur speed dating. Coming back to your next move after TC New Tech after you started The Discovery and bought the boat, since you had experience with renovating houses did you have a hand in overhauling the boat and getting it ready to host people? How did that lead to and align with your decision to partner in the tour boat business? Was that based on your experience in the cruise tourism industry?”

JENNIFER:

“I believe they developed it as a dating app in 2018.

As for the boat, we had a multi-year journey to renovate the boat—he and his wife both had experience as tour boat operators.

She had experience in hospitality and concierge services at hotels—they wanted it to be more functional than just a ferry service.

They did a great job of running and renovating the boat and were ready to launch in July of 2021, which tthey operated until the summer of 2022.

That's when we stepped in, they were ready to move on and do something else.

So it was ready to go, very functional, and well planned out, and I also had a background in career travel.”

INTERVIEWER:

“What are the parallels between what you do now, what you did in the past, and what you want to do in the future?

You seem to have figured out ways to reinvent yourself, and that's something I've always seen as a trait of entrepreneurs—the industries they work in may be completely different, yet there's still a lot of alignment and synergy in what their specific role is.

There's a commonality, a thread that goes through everything that you do, then you look back and it all makes sense; this tapestry of things.

What you do with Discovery Cruises is such a great service to have up here, utilizing Lake Michigan and all the natural beauty that we have here.”

JENNIFER:

“There is a need for people taking tours on West Grand Traverse Bay, but I didn't really think of it on any deeper level until we started meeting the passengers and talking with people from past tours. We have passengers of all ages—some people are in their 80s and they've never been on the water before! It's a rewarding part of the business. The three of us went to launch this boat together and I truly didn’t think about the day-to-day operations.

I'd be out doing sales and marketing when I realized that they both have full-time jobs.

I didn’t know who was going to be on this boat day to day—big-picture stuff sometimes takes over. I've had to learn about hiring and training staff and licensed captains—I didn't really know what that entailed.

I'm now working on getting my captain's license and trained to go through all same the testing that all my crew do so I know exactly what they go through every day. That’s extremely important. I have to be connected and speak to what I’m doing. 

I'm over 60 years old and it gets harder to retain information. It’s taking me a little longer, but I work at it every day. You have to know not just about your boat and the boats that you encounter, but also have to know about ocean-going freighters and all of the rules and regulations.

I'm hoping that I'll be brave enough to take the test in the very near future.

I’m grateful to have crew members onboard that we have put through the program who have inspired me to do the same.”

INTERVIEWER:

“For the route you take on the Discovery, how far out on the lake do you go? Is it relegated to staying more inland?”

JENNIFER:

“We only travel at six knots, so not very fast. Our cruises are either an hour and a half or two hours long and we follow the shoreline in front of downtown Traverse City, then we come up Old Mission Peninsula, then just south of Power Island, across the bay to Leelanau Peninsula and head south back to port—about eight to 10 miles round-trip.

If the winds are strong out of a certain direction, it sometimes makes more sense for us to vary the itinerary so that we keep the boat more stable for our guests.”

INTERVIEWER:

“People underestimate the Great Lakes—they’re mini oceans.

They’re epicenters of agriculture and tourism, two industries that are requisite for the revitalization of the shoreline.

Downtown Traverse City has changed and expanded greatly, so this is an ideal time to own a business like yours.”

JENNIFER:

“I have a little library on the boat and we do a narration on the afternoon tours about the history of the area and the lake.

In the evenings, we do a sunset cruise—it's so spectacular and beautiful.

We start in early spring and wrap up the last weekend in October—we need to be out of the water by November 1st for insurance purposes and it's such a big vessel that we’re very limited as to where we can haul out.

Its about a 12-hour cruise up to St. Ignace where we store it with all the other ferry boats. We pull it right up on the land.”

INTERVIEWER:

I think about that a lot, where people store boats in the winter, in massive warehouses. It seems like a huge undertaking, and I didn’t realize for a long time that there's the part of the boat that you see on the water, of course, and then there's everything else underneath the surface which is most of its bulk. They’re so cool and complicated in a simplistic way.”

JENNIFER:

“They are very fascinating pieces of machinery, and there's something about being on the water that's very freeing and very exhilarating. We’re drawn to water as humans.

As a commercial vessel, we work with the Coast Guard regularly, and there are a lot of laws and regulations that we have to follow.

I'm focused on conservation as well. In 2006, the local Rotary Club donated this piece of property with the idea that it would be a place for water-related nonprofits to operate.

As part of their mission, they have a passion for water sustainability and introducing more people to aquatic activities that they might not have access to otherwise.

A few years later they were able to purchase what was the old coal shipping port. Until the 80s, this harbor we’re sitting in where our boats are stored was a big shipping port for coal. 

They would bring it in and dump it here. If you look at the parking lot, there are still big black shiny stones that are the result of coal being dumped there.

In 2018, the executive director and the Rotary board decided they wanted a couple of different commercial operations to work out of this space, so there are tall ships, charter fishing boats, our tour boat, and then the Michigan Heritage Alliance has other sailing vessels in the port.

We all collaborate on finding ways to bring people to the water.

If someone is physically disabled and doesn't have safe or attainable access to the water, the Rotary Club has created a fishing pier that is accessible, along with putting in a kayak launch.

We provide a number of tickets throughout the year for people who are involved in the Single Mom Ministry so that moms and their kids can get out on the boat, and also Big Brothers Big Sisters, can get on the boat for free.

The charter fishing boat takes people out as well on a pro bono basis working through the Rotary Club.”

INTERVIEWER:

“That’s a wonderful program to build, water access is such a privileged activity, something that a lot of people don't have access to because you have to have a boat or know someone with a boat to get out there.

You’re stewarding access to people, which is a beautiful thing.”

JENNIFER:

“That's a part of our mission—meeting the people that have been on the boat has made it more real.

We’re putting more energy into it every year trying to figure out ways to increase what we give back.”

INTERVIEWER: 

“I saw something on your LinkedIn that piqued my interest—Metaverse, NFT Explorer and Strategist for Artists. I read that and thought it was amazing. NFTs and artists aren’t usually combined in the same sentence. I'd love to hear more about that.”

JENNIFER:

“This is a project that I set off to explore right after I left TC New Tech.

I had a friend in his 70s and he's a traditional artist, making a living off of his art for most of his life. He’s at a stage where he's done shows everywhere, yet was having a harder time selling his art and finding community. Selling your art is a lot of work and I saw him become less mobile and not fluent with online sales.

I thought how great it would be if he could sell his art as an NFT. If the buyer of one of his pieces someday sells it, then the artist gets some money for it.

The way it works now if he has had art sell, who knows someday what it's all going to be worth?

I think of it as mailbox money—that can come back to him even if he's not out there selling.

Because of his health, he’s not been able to sell his art, so wouldn't it be great for any artist to make money down the road even after a piece has left their possession?

Someone who owns the rights to a movie deal or the rights to a book gets some royalties every time the movie is shown, or the music's played, or the book is sold. When a book is resold, that author doesn't get any money coming back to them. With an NFT, you could attach it to a book as well. I really see it working with just about anything to be able to see that chain of commodity deals where the providence of a piece of art is questionable.

I have a friend whose mother purchased a painting in a thrift store for $20 to give to her friend as a gift. When she brought it to her friend, they looked at it more closely and realized it was an original piece by a famous artist—I can’t remember who, but it was a very valuable piece. Art is a medium that doesn't lend itself to being able to sustain a passive income in the way of royalties. There's really not any opportunity.

The business side of arts is a full-time job, and it's brutal. Sometimes they're selling pieces for tens of thousands or they'll make $50 over a six month period. With an NFT on your work, you've essentially got a customer for life. If I sell you an NFT of my artwork and it comes with the original piece, then every time I create a new painting I can say, ‘Hey Cameron bought this painting, and here's a new one I made, would you like to add this to your collection?’ Because we've stayed in contact via the NFT.

I could see car manufacturers wanting to instead of having an NFT title rather than a paper copy because once the dealer sells a car to an individual, unless someone's filling out the warranty work and keeping careful records, the manufacturer has lost touch with that individual, and the vehicle.”

INTERVIEWER:

“I was attempting to do research to explain to somebody exactly how an NFT works, but it's still fuzzy to me. If I understand, it's sort of like an air tag.

I know it's application is largely for cryptocurrency, or that's how it started, but it's branching out into the art world, and the fashion industry is also utilizing NFTs.”

JENNIFER:

I think it's going to be a really interesting part of tech—it's such a different world, and I'm not necessarily tech-oriented but I've been trying to study and research more. What the metaverse really is, and once I started to understand that, it all started to click—to see and understand all these different applications.

When I get into the nitty-gritty of blockchains some of it goes over my head, the whole language of all these different things. It makes sense in my mind to see different applications for all these industries that I think may otherwise be overlooked. One of my favorite things is being a connector of people and I think that idea of making connections can spill over into other areas of life.”

INTERVIEWER: 

“Something I always like to know is what wisdom or advice can you share with my generation who is, for lack of a better term, in a bit of a slump right now.

I'm constantly trying to figure out what to do with this world.

It seems like there's never been more opportunity, but it's also never been harder to get onto a certain path or find an open door.”

JENNIFER:

“I have two kids that are in their upper-twenties so I can totally see life from that perspective. I think it goes back to establishing and maintaining connections, in person and at parties and just anywhere to talk to people.

I make almost a game of it, like I'm interviewing them to find out where our connections cross over, and it's amazing what that's led to, either friendships or business partnerships. At the very least, it's just an overall great feeling of being part of something bigger and part of a community.

Whether it's someone that maybe you have an affinity with because you play tennis or golf maybe you know nothing about chess but there's a chess club that meets at the bookstore every Wednesday and you go down there and try to learn how to play. Any way to make connections.

When I was first getting started in sales at Grand Traverse Resort I had to make a big presentation to an association so I joined Toastmasters.

I went in and met all these people who were a lot older than me but I've made lifelong connections. That was 40 years ago and I'm still friends with those people.

Through the years, it's opened doors for me.

You’ve got to have the guts to go forward and not be afraid of what you going to encounter.

I don't know if that's good advice or not but that's how I've always thought of life—not living in fear, taking chances, and knowing I can always start over.”

INTERVIEWER:

“I think that's great advice, to fail as quickly as possible so you can learn and go on to do something else and do better.

Maybe the ‘failure’ was meant to push you into what you're supposed to be doing. Things work out when you trust yourself.”

Recorded, Written, and Edited by C. Thompson for Third Chapter Curious, LLC, 2025