In this interview, host Justin Henderson talks with Raymond Kidd, co‑owner of The Boat Shop in Shreveport, Louisiana. Kidd describes the dealership’s 12‑year history as a regional leader in marine sales, technology, and brand selection, emphasizing a strong team culture of winners. He explains the boat rigger position, which ranges from simple tasks like fueling and basic checks on a small Havoc duck boat to complex, high‑value installations such as a $55,000 Garmin electronics suite on a Vexus bass boat that required about 200 feet of Cat‑5 cabling and integration of trolling motor and power‑pole systems. Kidd highlights the need for an outdoor mindset, strong avionics/electronics knowledge, and a solid understanding of DC voltage, noting that these technical skills can be taught if the fundamentals are present. He stresses that the role is growing, varied, and never repetitive, and invites candidates—local or willing to relocate—to apply for the Shreveport position.
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What's cool about this is it's not the usual get a boat ready where we've got to pump some gas in it, check some fluids, and kick it out the door. We're installing thousands and tens of thousands of really cool electronics on these boats. We lake test them before the customer picks up to make sure they're perfect. So again, it's a position that if you love the outdoors and love boats and love doing a good job, it's a dream job. I mean, you're getting paid to do what you love.
So please introduce yourself to the audience.
Yeah, you bet. So my name is Raymond Kidd. I own this dealership with my brother Kevin. The boat shop, from its inception 12 and a half years ago, has been the leader of the marine industry in our area. And when I say the leader, I mean that in several instances. So not only the leader because we do a great job, the leader in new technology. The leader on bringing in the best boat brands that you can get. And in doing so, we've been able to surround ourselves with a bunch of winners, which is really cool. Nothing like coming to work and not having to worry about the guy next to you. We really have a good team of winners. We all win together, we celebrate together, we commiserate together sometimes too, but not— we try to keep that to a minimum.
Absolutely.
So a boat rigger in the simplest terms is getting boats ready. Or installing upgrades to boats. So give you a few examples. We may have a very simple boat to get ready. We sell a boat called a Havoc, really cool little duck boat for the backwoods and swamps, and it may literally be a matter of splashing some gas and checking all functions and it's done. We take it to the lake to make sure it runs good. Super simple job, hour and a half to 2 start to finish. On the other end of that spectrum, we We sold a Vexus bass boat last week that we installed $55,000 worth of Garmin electronics on. Each one of those Garmin electronics was networked not only to each Garmin unit, but it was also networked to the boat. The trolling motor spoke to the electronics, the Power-Pole spoke to the electronics. And so this whole one-boat network— and it's crazy to think that we had about 200 feet of Cat5 cable in a 21-foot bass boat. Absolutely. You know, we all love instant gratification, and there's nothing better than standing back and getting introduced to the customer, and the customer walks in and they cannot wipe the smile off their face. How did you do this? And how did you do that? Man, that's amazing. There's nothing better.
Wow, that's cool. So really, you're looking for somebody, Shreveport, Louisiana, either local or willing to move there.
Yep.
If you don't have the boating experience specifically with that, it's avionics, electronics, wiring.
Avionics, electronics. Yep. Really good understanding of DC voltage. If you've got a good understanding of DC voltage, the rest can be taught and trained.
Good. And having been an outdoors person.
Yeah, yeah.
Hanging out with outdoors people.
That's right. Being an outdoor person is what makes this job fun. Just know that it's a position that is growing. There's lots of room to grow. We have plenty of work all the time. We stay on the forefront of technology too, so it's not a job you're going to get bored of. You're not going to be installing the same thing every single day of the week. I'm heavily involved with it, as is my brother Kevin. No, no 2 days will be the same.
Yeah, even better. Well, great. Let me get this out to our community. We find that right human, we'll send them over to you. Excited to get it done.
