Life takes you to unexpected places if you are ready to take roads less traveled. Very few people embrace risks and dare to carve their own paths. Influencer Jason Borkland is one such individual who followed his passion for diving and led a life in the pursuit of adventure.
Jason belongs to a family well known for auto services in Austin, Texas. Growing up in East Austin, he recalls a tough life. “I grew up in Austin, Texas, where I own and operate collision facilities. I had what you could call a difficult upbringing, not much contact with my genetic mother. So, I was on my own a lot of the time growing up.”
His family business, Heritage Body and Frame, was initiated in 1986 during bad economic times. Having seen his father struggle to build his business, Jason always idolized the determination that led him to expand the business in multiple locations over a span of thirty years. Jason took over the family business at the age of 18 but has been around his father as a child. He had acquired all the necessary skills in the repair business from a young age. Heritage Body and Frame provides excellent repair and refinishing for fine autos and currently holds certifications from Honda, Acura, Tesla, Kia, Nissan, Infiniti, and more.
His passion for diving drove Jason to the blues despite having an entire business to run. “Diving was always a passion of mine; I was able to leave the business for longer time periods starting about five years ago. The direction I took was shark diving, which led me to underwater video and scientific diving,” he says.
Today, Jason’s obsession with diving goes hand in hand with his commitment to marine conservation. As a PADI dive instructor, he has inspired hundreds of people to see underwater beauties with their own eyes. According to Jason, diving under the ocean once and coming back above without a newfound sense of duty to conserve all those wonders is impossible. You always leave a piece of you down there, deep under the sea, and that part of your soul motivates you to work hard for the welfare of marine life.
There is boundless and glorious life under the sea, and as a diver who has witnessed it with his own eyes, he is compelled to share his experiences with the world. His passion for diving and unwavering determination to work for marine conservation has led him to capture images and share them with the world so they may know how harmless and beautiful it is down there and how humans are disrupting the natural fauna and flora of oceans.
Jason has volunteered at Texas State University’s protected marine area at Spring Lake. In the last few years, he’s become particularly involved in Ocean conservation efforts as a former member of Fins Attached, where he has played a significant role in raising awareness of protecting apex predators like sharks. He has also filmed alongside popular channels like Nat Geo and Discovery.
As an established business owner, accomplished diver, and content creator, Jason’s sole aim remains to enable people to reflect on the fact that we are at war with nature. If we win, that will perhaps be the biggest defeat in the history of humankind.
You can learn more about the adventures and travels of Jason Borkland here.
Website: www.jasonborkland.com
Instagram: @jasonborkland
