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From AHS to paradise: Ashland High alum Wolf runs successful snorkel tours in Maui Ashland High alum Wolf runs successful snorkel tours in Maui Comment By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings DailyTidings.com By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Posted Apr. 20, 2015 at 8:20 PM Updated Apr 21, 2015 at 1:55 PM By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Posted Apr. 20, 2015 at 8:20 PM Updated Apr 21, 2015 at 1:55 PM » Social News Micah Wolf was hitchhiking across Maui only weeks after graduating from Ashland High School in June of 1994 when a man who gave him a ride also offered a tip, free of charge: real estate. There’s money to be had, the stranger said, if you’re willing to learn, and work. Three months later Wolf showed up in that stranger’s office, real estate license in hand. Wolf was only 18 years old, but his entrepreneurial spirit burned bright and more than made up for his lack of life experience. Now, more than two decades after he helped the Ashland High football team advance to the Class 4A state championship game three years in a row, Wolf has moved beyond a successful 10-year real estate career and a subsequent stint as a touring singer/songwriter into Maui’s ultra-competitive tourism industry. Wolf, 38, opened The Snorkel Store in Lahaina, Hawaii, in 2012 and has since opened two more stores, in Ka’anapali and Kihei . It hasn’t been easy — he works long hours and has a growing staff to manage — but the work satisfies Wolf in a way real estate never did and is expanding, despite the fact that many of his competitors have been in business for decades. “You have to try things out,” said Wolf, who was a receiver and defensive back for the Grizzlies. “You have to find things that motivate you, and for me I found out that doing a job where you were just motivated by money didn’t end up being fulfilling for me. So I’ve been searching for what that is. I’ve read books that say, ‘Do something that your heart’s in and everything else will fall into place.’ I enjoy being creative, so I think you can take creativity and add it to business, and that’s what’s been fun for me.” Wolf began looking for another way to make a living when it became apparent that the life of a touring musician, however rewarding creatively, proved to be incompatible with raising a family (he has three children from ages 8 to 14). So he researched the local economy and discovered that the snorkeling business offered the most potential for growth. It’s easy to see why. Maui has more than 30 beaches and bays, and with a host of micro-climates there is always someplace on the island where conditions for snorkeling are perfect. “I wish I could say that there was this massive calling to snorkeling,” Wolf said, “but it’s just the most accessible and most affordable (activity for vacationers) so it has the highest level of participation. So if you compare it to the helicopter business, there might only be about 6 percent of tourists who can afford that, whereas 100 percent want to get in the water and have fun snorkeling. And unless you put a mask on you’re missing half of what Maui has to offer.” What has helped set The Snorkel Store apart is its connection with world-class free divers who lead tours to the best local snorkeling spots. The Snorkel Store has received high marks on Yelp and Trip Advisor, and Wolf believes part of the credit for that should go to the local experts he employs. “We had this idea of tapping into the local talent,” he said. Besides snorkeling equipment, Wolf’s stores also rent out beach cabanas, boogie boards, chairs and umbrellas. And while snorkel tours are its specialty, The Snorkel Store can also hook up customers with a long list of other activities, including zip-line tours, helicopter tours and blue water rafting. The Snorkel Safari may be Wolf’s crown jewel. A free diver takes four to six passengers at a time on a two-hour tour of Maui’s spectacular undersea gardens. And though they can’t guarantee success every time, the divers can swim down to the ocean floor and usually bring back an octopus or red pencil urchin to give snorkelers a closer look. It seems simple, but Wolf says giving the customers what they want has been the key to The Snorkel Store’s success. “We listened to what our guests need and really provide to the best of our ability a seamless experience, and a lot of people are looking for that,” he said. He said his business philosophy was at least partly inspired by a book he read which stressed the importance of long-term goals at the expense of short-term success. “It’s the whole philosophy of putting the customer first,” he said, “and making hard decisions early and not just about making a profit. It’s a tough dance, doing that and being a father and dealing with the reality of having to support people. But it’s been amazing. Some of our competitors have been around for 25 years, so there was no lack of competition. We didn’t open up and do well because there was a ton of room in the market for another snorkel store.” Wolf looks back on his days in Ashland fondly. He said his family settled here when he was about 12 years old and he quickly connected with several local families. Another former Grizzly in the same graduating class, Jeremy Steinman, helps Wolf promote his business through website maintenance and other projects, and Wolf's step-father, Kindler Stout, is a local piano service expert. As an eighth-grader at Ashland Middle School , Wolf looked forward to eventually playing for the Ashland High football team, which captured its first state championship in 1989. Wolf’s arrival at AHS coincided with one of the most dominant runs in Oregon prep football history, as the Grizzlies won it all again in 1991 and were runners up in ’92 and ’93, losing only two games in a three-year span. “I just had exposure to a lot of different things as a young kid and could have gone different ways,” he said. “But at that time teachers and others funneled me into football. I think there used to be (thousands) of fans at the games, and that’s rare for a small town. That’s what I remember. The support and the fun, being a middle school kid and looking up to the first (Ashland) team that won the state championship and dreaming . We started working at it. We started thinking about playing state championship games in eighth grade, freshmen year. It was definitely a great program. Coach (Jim) Nagel and coach (Dave) Kitchell, they definitely invested a lot of time in the kids.” Wolf believes that experience also helped shape his business persona and strong work ethic. Today, he’s not afraid to take chances or put in a long day at the office — or beach. “Right now, we’re still a young company and we had to make bold moves to open three stores in a short amount of time,” he said. “Things are going well, but I’m trying to stay centered and grounded and take it one day at a time. “In the beginning I was covering shifts, but I’m doing that less and less. I did have fun working all day Sunday, though. The joys of being a small business owner.”  Joe Zavala can be reached at 541-821-0829 or [email protected]. By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings DailyTidings.com By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Posted Apr. 20, 2015 at 8:20 PM Updated Apr 21, 2015 at 1:55 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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