Founder and CEO, Wesley Haws turned tragedy into a brilliant business opportunity. After being severely injured while doing business in Africa, Wes was inspired to learn more about marine life through a small fish tank he received during recovery. Motivated to do more, he created a successful aquarium maintenance business and eventually built an aquarium in that same town, East Idaho Aquarium. The success of East Idaho Aquarium, in such a small market, was stunning, and Wes quickly realized the potential of this new business model. He’d learned that increasing interactivity from the traditional aquarium platform, utilizing 17,000 to 23,000 square feet and placing locations in landlocked markets was the key to high revenue. With research in hand and capital to get started, Wes created the first Blue Zoo in Spokane, Washington which, in its first month, grossed $543,000. Now, with Blue Zoo’s second location open in Oklahoma City, Wes is expanding to additional markets including Baton Rouge and looking for additional locations for this extraordinary business model.