Inside Sailtrek, Secrets of the Caribbean: Sheila Ruffin, THE BOSS at Soca Caribbean Yacht Charters

Sheila Ruffin, a Hampton University and Howard University School of Law graduate, was born on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, where she was exposed early to the boating life. Her grandfather, “Big Rich,” was an avid boater on the Chesapeake Bay, and at age 6, her mother taught her about the travel industry by planning family vacations. As the tourism manager for a Caribbean carnival company, Sheila made history by coordinating the first U.S. group to participate in a festival in Cuba, which hosted 120 represented countries and 90,000 attendees.

In 2012, Sheila worked on issues relating to yacht marina construction, boating pollution, public beach access, and cruise port congestion in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Since 2015, she has examined commercial marinas, boat storage facilities, and impacts to recreational water activities as an energy attorney in Washington, D.C. Sheila is a board member of the U.S. Sailing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee and was selected for Boating Industry’s 40 Under 40 award in 2021. Sheila earned her travel agent certification from the Travel Institute, and founded Soca Caribbean Yacht Charters as a dedication to her grandfather and her desire to “make waves & rock the boat” in the yacht industry. Source: LinkedIN

To contact Sheila:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheila-ruffin-a3907b16/

For more on Soca Caribbean Yacht Charters:
https://www.socayachtcharters.com/

To view the show Secrets of the Caribbean:

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/secretsofthecaribbean

@socayachtcharters

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