Sharah G. Connor founded Mahogany Yacht Charters (MYC) with three other Black women and serves as its COO and managing partner. The Washington, D.C.-based company provides a variety of luxury yachts for private charter, events, and special occasions.
Connor told the Voyage Baltimore, “Two of the major struggles that the MYC Team dealt with along the way was having to get Brokers and Salespeople to take us seriously. The Boating and Yachting world tends to be mostly men and very few people of color. 4 Black Women starting a Yacht Chartering company in Washington DC was unheard of! Thankfully we had a network of people that were willing to assist and point us in the right direction.”
Connor, who is now among the 10% of women in the boating industry according to the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA), was motivated to found Mahogany Yacht Charters in 2020 after she and her friends became dissatisfied with the lack of luxurious experiences that met their requirements while searching for ways to enjoy boating.
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Her passion for boats, which she developed during her formative summers in Providence, Rhode Island, led her to pursue the idea even though it wasn’t quite obvious.
Along with her business partners — Nicole Boyce, Chief Financial Officer; Tiffany French-Goffe, Chief Administrative Officer; and Natasha Austin, Chief Marketing Officer — she combined her passion for the sea with her expertise in business as a general manager of one of the largest real estate investment trusts to launch Mahogany Yacht Charters, offering a fresh approach to the boating scene in Washington, D.C.
She told Essence, “Audacity is a very big word for me because you have to have the audacity in order to make a lot of these things happen especially when you’re faced with a lot of nos and a lot of different obstacles.”
She admitted “Sometimes it is difficult, and I definitely feel a lot more of the stress than my business partners because I am here in DC, and for the most part I’m kind of the face of the company. When everyone hears Mahogany, they immediately associate it with me. And so I feel as though I do carry the reputation of the company on my back, so I do find that at times I am probably a lot harder on myself than I need to be because I care so much about the company, about the reputation, and just making sure that I’m able to see this through.”
Connor also exemplifies her commitment to promoting opportunities for women of color to engage and prosper in the boating industry by way of mentorship programs and collaborations with regional groups like Miss Black USA and other Black-owned businesses.
Connor is excited about the future and hopes to expand Mahogany Yacht Charters into new areas, such as the Caribbean and the Mediterranean, in addition to the Potomac River.
Even so, she stated that she was dedicated to providing the greatest services possible to her customers, saying, “I want people to walk away from a Mahogany Yacht Charters experience feeling refreshed, rejuvenated, and inspired.”
“Being able to curate a beautiful, relaxing, and memorable experience is what keeps me going,” she added.
