Gabby Shepard learned to scuba dive and immediately wanted to share what she found. The underwater world she discovered was stunning, but in her early years of diving, she rarely came across another Black diver. She started documenting her experiences and sharing them online. People connected with her enthusiasm and began asking to join her on trips. That organic response inspired Black Girl Blue World, Gabby’s business that now takes groups of divers to destinations across Europe, Africa, Asia, and beyond.
The early days of Black Girl Blue World were analog and homegrown. Every booking started with a lengthy email. Every inquiry required back-and-forth. Every payment ran through a different app. Gabby was spending more time managing logistics than leading trips.
When she moved her business onto Squarespace, that changed. With a professional, easy-to-navigate website handling trip information, deposits, and payments in one place, customers could find what they needed and book without any friction. The back-and-forth stopped. Gabby got her time back. And in the second year of running her business through Squarespace, bookings grew by more than 600%.
Seventy percent of Gabby’s customers book directly from their phones. Flexible payment options and a seamless mobile checkout mean interest converts to reservations without extra effort on her end. For a solo founder running a global travel business, that kind of operational efficiency isn't a convenience. It's what makes the whole thing possible.
We spoke with Gabby about how she built a thriving international dive travel community from scratch, what it takes to run a global service business as a small team , and how having everything in one place on Squarespace has let her focus on the part of the work she loves.
What inspired you to launch Black Girl Blue World?
I launched Black Girl Blue World to show the underwater beauty that I’d discovered after I learned how to scuba dive for the first time. My educational background is in filmmaking, so it was my natural instinct to tell the stories that I found in the ocean. When I first started, I very rarely came across another diver of color on my solo dive trips, and I wanted to change that.
Many people that I met would tell me I was the first Black diver they ever saw, which was shocking, but also filled me with determination. I was completely enamored by the freedom that I felt underwater, and I wanted more of the Black community to be encouraged to try it, so they could feel it too. As I started sharing my journey online, people connected with my passion and enthusiasm and began asking to join me. That’s how it grew into hosting group dive trips around the world.
Photo by Ocean Light Photography.
Why did you choose Squarespace as the digital home for Black Girl Blue World? What problems were you looking to solve?
I chose Squarespace because I’m not a particularly technical person, and the platform was incredibly user-friendly for me in starting a brand-new business by myself. I needed a professional website that could manage all on my own. Squarespace has it centralized all in one place: elevated website designs, easy tools to modify, and simple ecommerce systems. Suddenly, starting the business became attainable at the click of my fingertips.
“Squarespace has it centralized all in one place: elevated website designs, easy tools to modify, and simple ecommerce systems.”
What has changed most in your business since switching to Squarespace?
The biggest change has been my growth in efficiency and credibility. Before, everything was manual and took me a lot of time to give out specific details. I used to send out very lengthy emails and go through a lot of back and forth.
Now, people can go to my site, get all the information they need, and book. It’s made my business feel more established and allowed me to reach more people.
How do you use Squarespace tools to win and onboard new business?
My business allows people to book international scuba diving vacations with me as the host of the trip. The Squarespace website makes it very easy for people to get information on the trip and pay the initial deposit to secure their spot. The payment process is straightforward and gives you flexible payment options. It also allows me to customize the booking information I need to onboard clients seamlessly.
“[My] Squarespace website makes it very easy for people to get information on the trip and pay the initial deposit to secure their spot.”
How have Squarespace's financial tools, such as flexible checkout options, deposits, and branded invoicing, streamlined the way you get paid?
Before, I was collecting payments across multiple platforms and apps, which was very time consuming. Now everything runs through one system on Squarespace. It’s easier to manage, easier for customer tracking, and keeps my bookkeeping clean. Having flexible payment options like credit card and Apple Pay also makes it easier for people to participate.
Photo courtesy of Gabby Shepard.
What has been the biggest advantage of running your business on one connected platform, rather than using multiple tools? Can you share any data points that support your growth using the Squarespace platform?
The biggest advantage of running everything through Squarespace has been the simple booking
process. Before, it took me a lot of time to manually give information to each individual inquiry and guide people through various payment options. Now that all of my information and payments are standardized, it makes it easy for people to book smoothly.
My bookings have grown over 600% from year one to year two of running my business through Squarespace. What’s been especially powerful is how well it performs on mobile devices. Seventy percent of my audience is booking straight from their phones, and having a platform that supports that has made a huge difference.
“My bookings have grown over 600% from year one to year two of running my business through Squarespace.”
As your business and revenue have grown, what new operational challenges or growing pains have you started to face?
The biggest challenge now is keeping up with demand. Optimizing my time leaves more space for me to create new trips for people to go on. People are now booking multiple trips at once, sometimes years in advance! So now that I’ve grown to have such a reliable customer base, I’m excited to fill their need for travel and adventure.
How have your customers’ expectations evolved?
The destinations for my group trips have become further and more unique as I expand and evolve my business. My divers now look forward to what the next exciting trip announcement will be.
In the beginning, I found comfort in taking groups to more local destinations in the Caribbean, because it’s close and familiar to me. Now, I’m hosting trips in Europe, Africa, Asia, and beyond!
My business has encouraged me to explore outside of my own comfort zone, which leads me to instill that curiosity in those around me. I love introducing my groups to locations that may have seemed out of reach or intimidating before. I’m passionate about encouraging people to get out and explore cultures and worldviews different than our own back home.
“70% of my audience is booking straight from their phones, and having a platform that supports that has made a huge difference.””
Can you share a moment when you realized your business had reached a new level of growth or legitimacy, and how Squarespace played a role?
I sat down with an accountant at the end of the second year of my business to analyze everything that I had built. I was shocked at how quickly the growth shot up. Until that moment, I treated the business as something that I just loved doing and hadn’t invested much into the institution of it. But at the end of that meeting, he looked at me and said, “You have a real business!” And we both cheered. After that moment, I’ve been working on ways to elevate and scale my company so that I can continue to lead with passion while also fulfilling the needs of the industry.
Looking ahead to the next phase of your business, what are your biggest goals?
I’m excited to expand the branding of my business beyond trips. Black Girl Blue World has a very loyal and supportive community base, so my goal is to develop eco-responsible products that are useful in their everyday lives. I would like to bring a bit of my big blue world to theirs.
What advice would you give someone launching a business today?
Build from the heart, and the rest will follow. My success was organic and homegrown; I found the necessary tools along the way. The early days were very analog, but my community trusted my passion, and that carried me through.
How Squarespace supports service sellers
Squarespace is designed to make it easier for service sellers to grow a business without growing their overhead. For businesses selling experiences, consulting, or any offering centered on human connection rather than a physical product, the platform brings booking, payments, client communication, and marketing into one place.
If you sell services and want to run your business more efficiently, here are some of the Squarespace tools that can make a real difference:
Booking and payments: Let clients find trip details, pay a deposit, and reserve their spot directly on your site. Flexible payment options including installment plans, invoicing, and digital wallets reduce friction at checkout and help convert interest into confirmed bookings.
Mobile-optimized design: A clean, professional website built on Squarespace works seamlessly across devices. For service businesses where a significant share of clients book from their phones, that experience matters.
Built-in SEO and AIO tools: Get found by the right people without relying on paid acquisition. Squarespace's built-in SEO and AI visibility features make it straightforward to optimize your site for search, even without a technical background.
Email marketing: Capture client interest and stay in touch with your audience using integrated email tools. No separate platform required.
Squarespace Premium: For service sellers ready to scale, Squarespace Premium offers the lowest credit card processing rates available on the platform through Squarespace Payments, capped ACH fees, a dedicated account manager for hands-on support and ongoing optimization, and advanced features including multi-site management and optional single sign-on for teams managing multiple websites or brands.
Running a service business well means staying focused on the experience you deliver. Squarespace handles the operational layer so you can do exactly that. Get started at jgxxmj.com/services.
Lead photo by Ocean Light Photography.