Paralegal to Paradise
By Bill Spring
Sierra Goodman went from drowning in a sea of paperwork to swimming in an ocean of dolphins. Once a stressed-out paralegal, she now owns and runs a thriving vacation destination and scientific research foundation in Costa Rica, where having fun goes hand in hand with preserving the environment.
It all started with a love of animals. When Goodman was growing up in Orange County, Calif., her family had cats and dogs.
"I wanted to be a veterinarian until I realized that this meant operations and blood!" she says. "I'm not sure when my dolphin and whale craze came about, but as I got older I started to collect little trinkets with dolphins and whales on them."
Goodman graduated from high school in 1982 and decided that she "wasn't the degree type." She liked learning on the job and chose to work as a paralegal for her father, an attorney.
But Goodman was also a dedicated environmentalist and this passion led her in 1989 to open a local chapter of EarthSave (www.earthsave.org), a group that focuses on how our eating habits affect the planet. She did this for three years before a broken ankle forced her to slow down.
At first the injury seemed like a setback because Goodman had left paralegal work to run the EarthSave organization full-time in Santa Cruz, Calif. Being immobile for six weeks meant that she could not commit to the job, so Goodman did some soul searching instead. One of the books she read was about communication between dolphins and humans, and she knew she had to experience this first-hand.
She returned to paralegal work — hours of paperwork, typing and extreme attention to detail. Although the work was not satisfying, it literally paid off. She received an unexpected $500 bonus that allowed her to take a life-altering trip to the Bahamas to swim with dolphins.
"When I finally saw the dolphins on the fourth day of the trip, my whole body felt a change. I felt that I found my family and my home and that my soul was complete."
After this her heart and mind were no longer on paralegal work. With the blessing of a supportive boss, Goodman, still based in California, started a side business booking dolphin trips in the Bahamas.
Opportunities to pursue her dream continued to present themselves to Goodman. In March 1998 a Florida boat captain asked her to coordinate dolphin tours. She left her full-time job security to pursue the touring business in Florida full time. But the biggest changes in her life had yet to occur.
Later in 1998 she took a trip to Drake Bay, Costa Rica, and fell in love with the remote, pristine area, with its lush rainforests, spectacular Pacific coastline and plentiful wildlife. While there she read an article discussing the untapped niche of dolphin and whale touring in the area and wondered if she could pull it off.
Then, on her trip home to the States, she coincidentally shared a Miami airport tram with the president of the Dolphin Foundation of Costa Rica.
Goodman relocated to Costa Rica and found a beautiful piece of coastal land for sale. After scrambling for a down payment, she convinced the owners to accept her offer over one from higher bidder. "When they decided to sell it to me," she explains, "they told me it was because of my plans for the dolphins."
Starting with a tent camp, she and her crew gradually built a fully functioning eco-lodge called Delfin Amor — "dolphin love" in Spanish — that rests between the jungle and the beach and is accessible only by boat. She and her employees now play host to travelers who come to swim and interact with the dolphins and live among the monkeys, toucans, macaws and other native creatures of the rainforest.
But Goodman's life is about much more than tourism. Now she's president of the Costa Rica Dolphin Foundation and is dedicated to studying and preserving the dolphins, whales and other species of the area.
Delfin Amor Eco Lodge also hosts scientists, assisting them with research, and often involves guests in the process. The scientists get help with their studies and the tourists come away with a greater appreciation of the wonder and fragility of nature.
As Goodman puts it, her journey has been "from paralegal to paradise," and every aspect of her new life brings her true joy. "I have followed my dreams and have been rewarded a thousand times over for taking the leaps of faith I have taken."
Each time she swims with the dolphins she knows she's swimming in the right direction.
On the Net: Delfin Amor: www.delfinamor.com; Costa Rica Dolphin Foundation: www.fundelfin-costa-rica.org
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