I live in Connecticut. I'm not sure where I plan to make a career in diving, I'm mostly focused on getting certified to have that option. I think the dive industry can benefit from better dive instructors and the only way to become one would be to start as a new one.
I think that's a great attitude. But I fear you may become disillusioned when you struggle to find an employer (dive shop, etc.) who shares your enthusiasm for improving the overall quality of instruction in the industry. I have not been involved in the industry, but I have read instructor gripes about their shops being focused on cranking out new divers at a profitable pace.
As others have said, if you want to head down this road, take it slowly and get a lay of the land as you go. Dive as often as possible to gain experience. Mix it up, doing dives of different kinds. Travel to some warm water and have fun with that. But also learn to dive in the colder waters of NE if that's where you live. Alternate this kind of diving with taking further classes: take a class, then do lots more diving, take a class, more diving, and repeat. Don't be one of those people who only does the minimum number of dives to meet some prerequisite--do more. In taking classes, you will meet instructors, dive shop personnel, boat operators and others, and you will get a better feel for how the industry really works. You might find yourself in a position to get some work at a shop. If you do, you may be able to get training and gear at a discount. Don't be so focused about "climbing the ladder of certifications," but rather focus on the journey (as someone else said above).
Then again, you could travel to Thailand or various other places with reputations as "instructor factories" and go from knowing nothing to being an instructor in six months or a year--a route disparagingly called "zero to hero" (as someone mentioned above). If you want to attempt to make a real contribution in the industry--which, as I said, I believe is difficult to do--then zero-to-hero is not the way.
