Jason Goldsmith’s mother had a restaurant and his father had a passion for sailboats. He never dreamed his life’s work would combine the two, but Goldsmith, 34, is celebrating his 11th year of employment with San Diego Harbor Excursion.

“It’s pretty much the old American dream story where you start out at the bottom and work your way to the top,” he says of his rise to director of operations. Originally, he took a part-time job as a Harbor Excursion bartender to help defray education costs at SDSU.

There weren’t enough bartending shifts, so he asked for more work at any position. He waited tables and bartended. “Then I became the beverage manager, then the assistant food and beverage manager, the director of charters, and just recently I was promoted to director of operations.”

Goldsmith’s duties include training, maintaining and scheduling staff; purchasing and budgeting; and making sure that at any given moment staff and 13 Harbor Excursion vessels, including the ferry to Coronado, are where they’re supposed to be

Goldsmith is responsible for the dining experience aboard Spirit of San Diego, California Princess, Quiet Heart and Monterey, which have galleys where all the food preparation is done. Everything is as fresh as it would be in a fine restaurant. Few come aboard a dinner cruise expecting the food to be outstanding. It brings Goldsmith satisfaction to exceed patrons’ expectations. “To make people happy for a living is pretty wonderful,” he says.

He is a member of the San Diego Regional, Chula Vista, East County and Hispanic chambers of commerce and the Asian Business Association. He participates in many regular area events and has received the Convention & Visitors Bureau Finest Service award.

“There are times on the boat, where I’m in the middle of everything, and I see the San Diego skyline. I just have to stop and give thanks for how lucky I am to be where I am.”

— Charlene Baldridge