Welcome to Students Incorporated. I'm your host,
Mr. Jason. Join me weekly as my students and
I bring you content that's informative, positive,
fun and uplifting. This podcast is created and
produced with the help of students from the International
Community School of Bangkok. In today's episode,
we're setting sail into the intersection of adventure,
luxury and ethical business. Have you ever wondered
what it takes to run a high -end international
company that operates entirely on the ocean?
It's a career path that sounds like a dream,
but comes with unique, complex challenges. Today,
I'm also joined by co -host Highlight and Proud.
Our guest today is the co -founder of a world
-renowned liveaboard diving business, Velocean,
which was recently ranked as one of the world's
best. We're thrilled to welcome Mrs. Ice. We're
going to be talking about balancing the thrill
of travel with the serious responsibilities of
running a world -class travel business and what
it really means to build a successful niche business
in the modern travel industry. So get ready for
an inspiring conversation about turning a passion
for the sea into a powerful purpose -driven enterprise.
But first, let's hear our quote of the day and
get some headline news. Our quote of the day
comes from St. Augustine. The world is a book
and those who do not travel read only one page.
This quote is so relevant to our conversation
with Mrs. Ice today. It reminds us that gaining
real world perspective, the kind you need to
run an international business like Velocian,
requires getting out there and experiencing different
cultures and environments firsthand. It's about
more than sightseeing. It's about seeing the
full, complex narrative of the world. For an
entrepreneur, every new page you read, every
new country you visit provides valuable lessons,
expands your market, and inspires innovative
ideas that you just can't find sitting in one
place. And that's our quote of the day. Now,
on to some headline news. Thank you for our quote
of the day. Now, here's some headline news from
around the world. Our first headline comes from
Hong Kong and the global travel tech industry.
The travel booking giant Kluk has filed for a
U .S. IPO back in November, thus revealing impressive
financial momentum in its public documents. The
company reported a jump in revenue over the past
two years, reaching $470 million U .S., driven
largely by the surge in post -pandemic international
travel and a rise in experiential booking like
tours, activities, and local attractions. Kluk
has also emphasized on stronger growth in market
like Japan, South Korea, and Europe. Analysts
say that this filing signals renewed investor
confidence in global tourism, with Cook positioning
itself as the next major Asian travel tech company
to go public. Our next headline comes from Egypt,
where tourism is becoming a national priority
once again. As part of his strategy to revive
international travel demand, Egypt is preparing
a massive global push around the opening of the
Grand Egyptian Museum, located next to the Pyramids
of Giza. The museum will house 5 ,600 artifacts
from King Tut's tomb, many of which have never
been displayed before. Officials hope this will
attract higher spending cultural tourists and
restore Egypt's status as one of the world's
top historical destinations. The Financial Times
report that Egypt is also expanding infrastructure,
improving visitor safety, and promoting new experiences
to draw travelers who stay longer and spend more.
And finally, our last headline comes from India,
where tourism leaders are going global. A tourism
minister is set to lead an official delegation
to the World Travel Market in London, one of
the world's biggest travel industry events. The
state's goal is to showcase its cultural heritage,
including traditional crafts, coastal destinations,
temple architecture, and local performances to
attract international partnerships and boost
foreign visitor numbers. Delegation will also
promote regional delicacies such as traditional
sweets and local spices, as the government aims
to position Andhra Pradesh as both a cultural
and culinary tourism hotspot. And that ends our
news for this episode. Welcome to the show, Mrs.
Ice. To get us started, could you please introduce
yourself and tell us a little bit about what
you do? Hi, everyone. So my name is Ice. I'm
a co -founder and a marketing director of Velocian
Liveboard, which is a diving liveboard in Indonesia.
Wow, that's very interesting. We'll delve deeper
into Velocian and a lot about that later on,
too. But to start off, too, could you share a
travel experience that has helped shape your
worldview? Yeah, I actually could give you a
very fancy answer, but I have decided to stay
true and giving you like a very simple answer.
Actually, I traveling to like many places around
the world, but what really shaped my experience
and perspective to the world actually earlier
this year, when I've been to Europe by myself,
I have traveling solo for like months. And I
get to do some cool thing like skydiving from
helicopter that I actually really scared to do
it. I get to run around beautiful city seeing
like a beautiful things. But the most important
things that I got from this is when you traveling
alone, you stay with yourself. you get a lot
of time to stay with yourself. And then you just
realize that you're too busy connecting with
outer world. But you have to coming back to connecting
with your inner world as well. So I get to talk
to myself a lot to understand myself so much.
And it's time that I have time to know what I
want to do next in my life, what my purpose is.
And also, I get to have time to be grateful.
say thank you to myself as well. So I think it's
really good to pause and feel thankful for yourself
for how far you have come. So I would recommend
you guys once in a lifetime of your life, if
you have time, trying to do a solo travel and
you'll get things more than you thought. I would
say going on a solo trip has always been in my
bucket list too, but I'm still like so scared
of like, wait, going alone, but then like...
listening to this i would definitely do it too
so can you also describe how you balance the
thrill of travel with the responsibilities of
running a business yeah sure um back to the first
one a little bit i have to say that you have
to choose the safe place and choose the place
that you love to go yes somehow you're gonna
feel a little bit lonely but you get a lot of
things much more than that so go for it okay
and for the next one is um how do i balance my
life between my exploration and my business i
have to say that But I believe that in order
to manage the business good, you have to have
a happy mind and to clear your mental mind. So
one thing that I'm not giving up is to travel,
which is the thing that I love. So since my work
is all around the world, I always spare some
weeks before or after my work to traveling. And
the good thing is it's kind of helped me. I really
want to work hard as well because after that,
I know that I get to explore things. And to travel
and explore a hotel has really helped me to understand
the update of the hospitality world and how they
are doing in this world. And I get to take pictures,
send to my teams, and I get to use this to adapt
to my birth and making sure that we are up to
the global level. Wow, maintaining a healthy
work -life balance and gaining inspiration from
the trips you from the trips abroad is definitely
like one of the most important and like awe -inspiring
moments right so with that being said i'd like
to ask about the lotion liveaboard diving business
what are some challenges you face in this unique
and niche industry i have to say that um the
challenge in this um when i start is we are trying
to do something different that no one ever did
before which is put the luxury into the diving
boat so um the challenge could be like We never
know how it's going to be. But what I have to
say that when you really study your market good
enough, you do some homework and then you just
like trust in what are you doing and you just
doing your best and it will be fine. So in doing
our research, we learned that Velocian was ranked
in the 2024 list of the world's best scuba diving
liveaboards and has been named one of the top
three most luxurious liveaboards in the Pacific.
So what have been some of the valuable lessons
you have learned from your work and experience
so far? Thank you so much. Okay, I have to say
that I would love to talk about this in a general
way to make sure that it's really benefit everyone
who's listening right now. I feel like that what
I learned so much about this is I could make
it like a formula and it's four things. So the
first thing like you have to start with your
big dream. What big dream means anything that
making you feel like so excited and scare you
at the same time. So that's the big dream that
you should go for it. Yes. And when you aim at
your big dream, next thing is. You have to believe
that you can do it. Believe that you can do it
is very important because that's how you prompt
your brain to see the possibility in life. And
when you really believe that you can and you
feel like you can do it, you definitely can do
it. And the next thing is you have to give your
best shot in it. Everything that I did, I was
doing my best to make sure that I would never
ever regret when I look back. And when you do
your best, I really believe that everything will
be working out. And the final one is never give
up. When you do things and it's not really giving
you the result yet, it doesn't mean that it's
not happening. Somehow you're very, very close.
to your goal to be success so it's very very
important for you to keep going and never give
up and that's what I did and I believe that is
really brought me to where I am right now so
it's kind of four things that I really hope that
you could try to apply this in the future and
in your life big dream believe you can do your
best and never give up Those four big steps to
achieving your dreams. I truly agree with that.
And I believe that like priming is also like
a psychological concept that remains super influential
in terms of like trailblazing a way for you to
persevere and achieve your dreams. Yeah, true.
And can I add a little bit that actually when
I was young, I used to travel to exhibition in
Japan. I saw a paper and it say the best boat
in Maldives and they write it with their handwriting.
And when I walking past it, I was thinking that,
oh, one day. really want to have the boat that
would be like the best in the world and then
I think that would be my big dream and then when
it's really happening I was thinking back and
oh yeah I used to have that big dream before
so what's important for you is aim for something
really big it you it doesn't have to be realistic
you can be delusion first until you become like
a smart person so yeah go for it wow Seems like
a full circle moment after witnessing that encounter.
So speaking of luxurious living on a yacht, I've
got one more question before we take our short
break. And it's a little more lighthearted. Mr.
Jason wanted me to ask you this. I assume clients
can customize their trips to some degree. So
without disclosing any names, what are some of
the most interesting requests clients have asked
when they've booked with your company? Okay,
it is going to be fun. So I'm trying to be careful
to choose it. Okay, so one request would be the
size of the slice of the garlic that you shop.
I know it's quite fun. Like the size of the sliced
garlic must be the right size that the chopstick
can like really take it up to eat. So I hope
this could answer your message, Jason. Kickstarting
2026, Thailand's tourism sector is poised for
renewed growth in 2026, with projected international
arrivals rising to around 34 to 35 million. The
steady recovery is expected to revitalize key
industries from hospitality and retail to transportation
and entertainment, while domestic and regional
travel continue to strengthen as travelers favor
short, flexible, wellness, and culture -focused
trips. A major shift shaping 2026 in Thailand's
move toward quality -driven tourism. Instead
of maximizing volume, the country is prioritizing
high -value travelers seeking immersive, sustainable,
and meaningful experiences. Wellness retreats,
ecotourism, cultural heritage sites, and community
-based programs are expected to gain momentum
as visitors look for deeper engagement rather
than fast -paced sites. Despite the positive
outlook, challenges remain. Average spending
per tourist is predicted to stay below pre -pandemic
levels, and competition from neighboring destinations
continues to intensify. Still, with expanding
airline routes, enhanced digital tourism tools,
and upcoming international events, Thailand enters
2026 with resilience and ambition. positioning
itself for a pivotal year of strategic, sustainable
growth. So before we get started with our first
question on the second segment, I really have
to touch on on this quote after like listening
to your four steps guide what are your opinions
on the quote delulu is this lulu oh my god i
really really believe in that that delulu is
also my motto in doing things somehow because
i believe that you have to be delusion first
before you can get things in your life like i
say have a big dream and big it doesn't have
to be so realistic Like if you can imagine it,
if you can see it, it means that it can really
happen in your life because things are actually
happening twice. Once it's in your mind and then
second time it's in your reality. So delusional
is the key to success, everyone. So I'd also
like to ask about sustainability. sustainable
travel since many travelers are more aware of
this topic now. So could you describe some of
the tensions that are observed between luxury
travel, services, and sustainability? And what
does that look like within your industry? All
right. So I feel like luxury doesn't have to
mean worse. It can mean thoughtful design, good
materials, and also the choice that we can help
protect the ocean as well. What we're trying
to do is we're trying to give our guests the
experience, a really good experience while we're
still taking care of our environment. So what
is one thing that is a small action that we keep
doing is on Melotion, we have a high -quality
reusable bottle to give to everyone. And it seems
like a small action, but until today, we can
reduce almost 8 ,000 plastic bottles used on
board already, which I think is really cool and
is really controlling that. Anything that you
want to start, you can start small and keep doing
that. And it's always going to be something really
helpful. Yep. Yeah. Starting small is also one
of the keys. Apart from the Lulu, it's the salute,
right? So, yeah. So could you describe a time
when something didn't go as planned and how you
adapted and what you learned from it? Okay, this
is going to be so fun. Actually, Relation Liverpool
is launching exactly at the same time with COVID
-19. Yes, like when it launched on the ocean
of the building like for years is when the COVID
-19 hit. And at that time, actually, we... We
get fully booked for almost two years in advance,
which just means that we have to move everyone.
And I know that time is like first year. People
were so scared to going out. But we are so ready
to welcome everyone, which just means we have
the total crews on board. We have everything
set already. And it means that we have costs
to taking care of. But what I always believe
that in every circumstance or obstacle, there's
always an opportunity if you want to see it.
So every darkness have the light. And at that
time is the time that I just realized that our
bird doesn't have to be a diving only. So we
can be a leisure charter trip as a Yosh. So I
see that opportunity and I welcome it and I try
to do something new. And actually, it becomes
so interesting, like people coming to charter
our bird. and somehow they like take the private
jet to come and so still traveling and yeah we
we have so much um so much fun and really a good
time and finally we we and we also welcome anything
every opportunity normally we're doing like a
week for diving but for the leisure trip we accept
everything three days to night dinner proposal
family trip we're trying to do something new
and then The result is actually we're not only
losing, but we're also making profit for the
year after. And we're making enough money to
take care of our crews. And it's also the time
that actually Velocian become more popular because
of those times, because of people in Indonesia,
they cannot fly now. So all the celebrities and
everything, they're coming and make our boat
become more well -known. So what's important
here is like, When you're looking for opportunity,
you will find it. Yeah. I remembered COVID -19
was huge and like everyone's so scared of it.
And then like you really turn adversity into
opportunity, right? So our last two questions
are on a personal note. At Student Incorporated,
we believe that we can learn a lot from the stories
and journeys of others and maybe in a way apply
those lessons to our own lives. So are there
any personal rituals or habits you practice that
keep you grounded and inspired? Okay, I have
to say that actually what I might reassure that
to keep me grounded and I love it so much every
day is meditation. I know that you heard about
it so much from everyone around the world, but
I really want to confirm that it's really working.
i actually started like for five minutes first
with a guided meditations and then i increasing
it to be 20 minutes and this month i actually
activate to be one hour a day so every day i
would wake up at 5 a .m 4 30 to 5 a .m because
it is a time that um it could be like only your
time like no work no one can contact you So when
I wake up and I'm doing the meditation, what
is good about meditation is it's really keeping
you to be present. And being present is the most
generous moment that you can create your life
more. You can think more of today, no past, not
to worry about future. And it's really the thing
that keeps me grounded and be more creative.
And I love that. Yeah, it's great to hear that
meditation allows you to be grounded in the present
and enables your thoughts to settle and stew.
So now panning out a little bit and looking ahead
to the future, what type of impact would you
like to see your business make in the future?
Or like even from a personal growth aspect would
be great too. And what kind of legacy would you
like to leave personally? Personally, I would
like to... live that i really hope that i could
be a little light or i could encourage and inspire
people no matter how old you are to really believe
in yourself because actually you have power more
than you thought you have and really following
up your dream no matter what it is because everything
you need is just like all within you like when
you realize that then you can do everything and
When I say dream big and follow your dream, I
believe that all of you here and everyone who
is listening, you all have the capability to
not just only in this country, but also in a
global stage as well. I mean, if like I can do
it, other people can do it. So you all can do
it as well. So I hope you all will follow your
dream. Yeah, you're definitely setting like motivational
precedents, like representing Thailand and also
your business abroad too. So what's your personal
philosophy behind this when it comes to networking
and building long lasting, even global connections?
Okay, for me, everywhere that I go, I really
believe in that whatever you give out is what
you receive. So there are three things that I
carry with me. First is a Second is respect.
And third is always showing up with kindness.
So sincerity means that everywhere I go, when
I speak, I really mean it from my heart. Or when
I compliment someone, it really means it from
my heart. And I know that people can feel it
when you're sincere to people. And when you give
the sincerity out, it's how you give sincerity
back. And the second one is to be respectful
to people. And in the world that full of like
chaotic, the easiest way to show the respect
to people is to fully be with that person. Turn
off your phone, put your phone down, really pay
attention to what people speak to you and really
listen to what they say. I think they can feel
your respect. And the last one is like always
showing up. With kindness, I always believe in
being kind because you never know what people
is going through in their lives. So be kind is
the right choice. And one day people will forget
what you do, what is your business is, what is
your title, but they will never forget how you
make them feel. So really just treat people like
how you want to be treated. Right. The key, key
aspects of that. And so we like to end each interview
by asking our guest for advice. So our final
question is, what advice would you give to young
people who are pursuing a dream on a certain
vision for their future? OK, that is the word
saying that. stepping up the stair can take you
further than staring at the stairs so no matter
what idea that you have in your mind just take
the first step you never be ready to do things
that you want to do but you will learning about
it and you will really understand it along the
way when you start the first step everything
else will come and don't forget to believe in
yourself because that's all that matter As we
end this episode, we want to say thank you to
Mrs. Ice for joining us and for sharing her insights,
experiences and the realities of navigating the
yacht, traveling and liveaboard diving industry.
Her journey reminds us that the world is full
of opportunity when we're willing to explore
beyond the familiar. To our listeners, thank
you for sailing along with us today. We hope
this episode inspires you to dream bigger, travel
deeper, and approach every adventure, whether
in business or in life, with curiosity and courage.
And as always, this podcast would not be possible
without the hard work and support of our international
student production team. All music and sound
effects are a courtesy of Pixabay .com, a vibrant
community of creatives sharing copyright -free
images, videos, and music. And we are signing
off until next time. We are Students Incorporated.
Because your voice matters.