From Bartender to Boat Captain: How Lauren Warren Turned Her Hobby Into a Career

Lauren Warren never imagined she’d run a boating school. 

Growing up in Newark, Delaware, Lauren’s connection to the water started when she was young, occasionally tagging along on her grandfather’s boat in Florida. He had served in the Coast Guard Auxiliary, and those early memories planted a seed.

The real spark, though, ignited when her mom bought a boat when Lauren was sixteen.

“We had no idea what we were doing,” Lauren recalls. “We just went out there and kind of took a lot of guesses, made a lot of mistakes, but made a lot of great memories. And I just fell in love with the water.”

As she got older, boating became more than a weekend hobby. While bartending, she found herself regularly taking friends out on the water. As their requests increased, she jokingly asked, “When are you guys going to pay me?”

That joke turned into a serious idea: Perhaps boating could be more than a hobby.

Finding the Right Fit

When Lauren started looking into captain’s license courses, she knew a traditional classroom setup wouldn’t work. 

“There’s a place about two hours away from me that does a captain’s course in person,” she shares. “A two-week course, in person, nine to five. I didn’t have the means, personally, to take two weeks off of work. I didn’t have the means to find a place to stay locally.” Plus, Lauren worried about cramming all the extensive information for the captain’s license exam into such a short, intensive period. 

Mariners Learning System stood out for its flexibility. The online format allowed Lauren to study according to her own schedule and at her own pace.

“They really gave you a lot of options,” she says. “You could start here and take your time and go through the course at your leisure. And that was super helpful to me.”

The Mariners Learning Experience

Lauren took advantage of the OUPV/Six-Pack course’s self-paced structure, taking 11 of the allotted 12 months to thoroughly master the material. She appreciated being able to take her time, especially because she hadn’t considered herself a strong student in the past.

“I honestly still can’t believe that I did this course online,” she marvels. “In high school […] I was just not a great student.”

But Lauren’s passion for boating and for earning her captain’s license pushed her to move forward: “When I found Mariners Learning System, I really buckled down and dialed in, and they made it super helpful.”

When a module proved particularly strenuous, Lauren liked that she could step away to take a break. “I was able to take a week away from it as well and kind of rest,” she says. “And then come back and jump back into where I needed to go.”

By the time she finished the material, Lauren felt prepared and confident for the upcoming exam. “Mariners, I thought, did a really great job of preparing you for the exam with the questions they had during the quizzes and during the module tests,” she says. “I love that I was able to take my time with it, absorb the material necessary, and prepare for the exam appropriately.”

Lauren even enjoyed the more challenging parts of the course, like chart plotting. “I ended up really grabbing hold of it and loving it and enjoying it,” she recalls. “I was able to just explore the waterways with that paper chart without actually being there.”

Later in her career, when Lauren was delivering a boat through an area she’d only explored on paper, she called upon her studies to support her journey. “It was a full-circle moment,” she says.

How a License Can Change Everything

Getting her captain’s license opened new doors for Lauren, completely altering the course of her career.

“I would have never in a million years really thought that I’d be able to get a captain’s license and live off of my captain’s license,” she shares. But shortly after earning her license, Lauren began making deliveries, moving up and down the East Coast on various vessels — something she hadn’t expected, but which she loved.

Later, Lauren returned to Mariners Learning System to upgrade to a Master Captain’s License and then again to earn her Towing Endorsement. Along the way, she used the Mariners’ partnered service, MM-SEAS, to handle her licensing paperwork, a service she strongly recommends. “It’s worth every penny,” she says. “It’s been a godsend. I still use it.”

Today, Lauren’s captain’s license is at the heart of her career. Moving beyond deliveries, she now owns and runs Upper Chesapeake Boat School, an educational business focused on boating safety and confidence.

“I try to create a friendly environment for people to come to really learn about boating, our area, what to do, what not to do,” she shares. “Whatever I can do to make our waterways safer through my boat school, but also make people more comfortable with going to different places and anchoring out with their family.”

Her passion is helping others avoid the same early mistakes she made, calming anxieties about boating, and building a stronger, safer community on the water.

Advice for Aspiring Captains

When asked what advice she would give to someone contemplating pursuing their captain’s license, Lauren is direct and enthusiastic.

“Don’t wait,” she says. “The only thing I regret about my captain’s license is not doing it sooner.”

For anyone considering a captain’s license course, especially online, Lauren unreservedly recommends Mariners Learning System. 

“I can’t say enough great things about them,” she says. “They helped me throughout my entire career. I’d use them over and over again.”

Start Your Own Journey

Lauren’s story shows how the right program can provide not just a license, but a pathway to a fulfilling career on the water.

“I love my job,” she says. “I love where this career has taken me, and I’m really happy with what I did, how I did it, and glad I went where I did.”

Sometimes the hardest part is getting started. If earning your captain’s license has been on your mind, try taking a simple first step: Review the USCG captain’s license requirements, or check out some course options. You might be surprised how practical your dream can be with the right tools and support!