PORTLAND – Hannah Kubiak knows how to make sailing bags, and she’s at ease on the waterfront.
Beth Shissler has years of business experience; she’s managed global distribution at a multinational corporation.
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Six years ago, Kubiak’s and Shissler’s careers intersected when they joined forces to run Seabags, a maker of tote bags made from recycled sailcloth.
Since then, with Kubiak managing production and Shissler overseeing the business, Seabags, based on the Custom House Wharf, has flourished.
Outside her shop last week, Kubiak, 37, called out to a passing group of dock workers.
“Hey fellas, how you doing?” asked Kubiak, who is now engaged and lives on Munjoy Hill.
“Just fine, Hannah,” one of the guys yelled back.
Raised in Kennebunkport, Kubiak started working on a lobster boat when she was 12 years old.
She pulled pots throughout her teens, then moved to Boston and New York City.
Kubiak took college classes in management, psychology, English and history.
“I was testing the waters to see if I wanted to be a college student,” she said. “And I really didn’t.”
Kubiak got back into the water world, taking a professional maritime training course at the Chapman School of Seamanship in Stuart, Fla.
In 1995, she moved back to Maine, and, in 1999, launched Seabags with partner Dorset Norby.
“We scraped together $2,000 each and started the business,” she said.
Dorset eventually left the company, so Kubiak carried on alone.
All the while, Beth Shissler, who is now 42, built a business career. A native of Isle au Haut, Shissler attended Heidelberg University in Ohio, where she graduated with a degree in business and international studies. She also has an MBA from Boston University.
After school, Shissler worked in Japan, then joined Phillips Electronics, where she managed a global semiconductor distribution account.
The job paid well and took her around the world, but the travel schedule was grueling. Shissler was home only 18 days during the last year she was at Phillips.
Soon, she began thinking about a career change. She wanted to work at a start-up company; to build a business using skills she learned at business school.
Shissler left Phillips and joined Kubiak as a Seabags partner in 2006.
The decision was exciting, but frightening.
“I was so reluctant. My whole family told me I was crazy,” said Shissler, who now lives in Harpswell. “I had a generous company and a great position, but it didn’t allow me to be home.”
Shissler said she has never looked back.
“Growing (Seabags) has been a challenge, a struggle and hugely rewarding,” she said. “It was what I was lacking in my career.”
Jonathan Hemmerdinger can be reached at 791-6316 or:
jhemmerdinger@mainetoday.com
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