To say Allison Fontaine-Trainor was a reluctant scuba diver is an understatement.
The Rhode Island native grew up avoiding the beach and refused to put her head underwater. But she was also eager to prove people wrong, so when a friend who owned a scuba diving shop challenged Fontaine-Trainor and her husband to take a class, she agreed.
“I was the most horrible student there was,” she said. She “overanalyzed everything” – helpful in her job on the accounting team for Citizens Bank, but not for preparing to dive into the open ocean.
But reluctance turned to reverie, and by the end of her class, Fontaine-Trainor was hooked, trekking out to Fort Wetherill State Park in Jamestown to dive multiple times per week and becoming a certified scuba diving instructor. She loved it, so much so that when the Cumberland scuba shop owner decided to close in 2016, Fontaine-Trainor bought the business.
Early on, she struggled to stay afloat. Dive On It Scuba had some name recognition and a small but loyal following of scuba enthusiasts who took classes and bought gear from the retail store.
Fontaine-Trainor had no business experience, however. Everything from financing the business to scheduling classes and contracting with instructors, ordering supplies and setting up times to rent public pools, was new to her. Never mind that she was still working her full-time banking job.
“I had no clue what I was getting into,” she said.
But the same stubborn mindset that forced her into the pool kept her going as a business owner. By 2019, she hit her stride, with a growing roster of instructors, several of whom were former students, and a steady business of classes filled with tropical vacation-goers, aspiring marine biologists, kids, and 20-somethings looking for a hobby. She and her husband, Christopher Trainor, who also serves as an instructor, also organized group diving trips to Cozumel, Mexico, the Dutch island of Bonaire off the coast of Venezuela, and Florida.
When COVID-19 hit, her carefully constructed business fell apart. Public pools, where she hosted the non-classroom part of training, closed. She taught a few lessons out of a friend’s backyard swimming pool, while anxiously waiting and watching for the government go-ahead to reopen.
“It was a crapshoot,” Fontaine-Trainor recalled. “We really didn’t know which way it was going to go.”
She attributed Dive On It Scuba’s survival to loyal employees and a little luck. Though the pandemic has eased, supply chain woes continue to cause headaches, forcing her to risk buying from “weird online places” rather than her brand-name, go-to suppliers. Certain specialty items such as hooks and clips for deep-sea divers have been out of stock for over a year, she said.
Running the business gives Fontaine-Trainor less time to scuba dive for her own enjoyment, though she recently returned from a trip to Cozumel. But her wonder for the underwater world remains strong. She’s always looking for ways to share her passion with others, with plans to start a children’s scuba dive camp this summer.
“I think everyone should try it at least once, and then decide if it’s not for you,” she said.
OWNER: Allison Fontaine-Trainor
TYPE OF BUSINESS: Scuba dive shop and training center
LOCATION: 1000 Mendon Road, Cumberland
EMPLOYEES: Two
YEAR FOUNDED: 2017
ANNUAL REVENUE: $500,000
