Today we’d like to introduce you to Amy Emde. Them and their team share their story with us below:
Amy was raised in Beaufort, SC. Growing up in a coastal sea island town, Amy developed a strong love for the water and swimming. She attended Charleston Southern University, where she obtained two Bachelor’s degrees in Psychology & Religion with an emphasis on Child Development. She started teaching swimming lessons in 2008 & quickly realized the need for psychology-based, results-driven swim lessons. She started her own company, Charleston Swim School, in 2010, which has now grown to be the number 1 rated Swim School in South Carolina and the 3rd rated on the entire east coast. Her company now teaches over 7500 swim lessons per year! Amy’s passion for helping others isn’t limited to swimming. Through the donations of her school, The Formation Project was able to fund North Charleston’s first Human Trafficking Drop-In Center! Amy is certified in Crisis Intervention Counseling, Domestic Violence Prevention, Applied Suicide Intervention Skills, The Impact of Trauma on Development through the Foster Care Support Clinic, Darkness to Light Abuse Prevention, and Positive Discipline for Toddlers, and is trained in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy. She is also finishing her certification course to become a Neurolinguistic Programming Practioner. She is happily married to her best friend, Marine Corps Captain Christopher Emde, and they live with their five fur babies in NC.
We all face challenges, but would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
My business grew organically. I was not given a textbook or outline for starting a business. So, I had to figure it out along the way. I had to fail forward. I see many people stuck in the idea phase of business launching because they are too afraid to fail or feel they need to learn more. The truth is, you are going to fail at some point in some way in your business. That is part of growth. To avoid failing is to avoid risk, and to avoid risk is to avoid growth.
As you know, we’re big fans of Charleston Swim School. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about the brand?
“We are not here to teach someone how to swim. We are here to change lives. We are here to empower, teach, love, and strengthen. We are here to be the difference makers.” -Amy Yvonne Emde, Founder of Charleston Swim School.
What makes Charleston Swim different?
Quality & Qualifications, Our staff goes through more screening and tests than any other Charleston swim school. All of our instructors have passed a phone screening, references, background check, CPR & 1st aid certification, in-person interview, swim test, and mock lesson test.
They are then trained in the following categories and more:
- Swimology: Our unique hybrid curriculum focuses on survival, adaptive teaching, fear reduction, and fun. We took the best techniques, games, songs, and styles about swim safety from multiple curriculums to form the best overall program.
- Parent-Child Interaction Therapy
- Neuro-linguistic Programming
- Harvey’s Happiest Baby on The Block Method
- Infant Self-Rescue Techniques
- Convenience
We offer more availability and flexibility than other swim schools.
Our classes range from 8a-7p Mon-Saturday. We offer online booking, transferring, canceling, and skill tracking. We also offer prorated monthly billing monthly payments rather than requiring you to pay all upfront as some schools require.
Service & Care
Swimming lessons are designed specifically for each student. We offer a do “whatever it takes” level of customer service surpassing the rest. After each lesson, you receive a detailed progress report about individual students’ needs: smaller groups and highly trained teachers.
Reliability & Credibility
Charleston Swim School has been around for over 12 years in Charleston! We are the number one rated swim school on Google and Facebook. Our company is also founded on Biblical principles, including donating 15% of all GROSS profit. This is a company you can trust!
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
“You will know them by their fruit.” Matthew 7:15-20. Imagine yourself in 5-10 years. What kind of life do you want to be living? How big do you want your business to be? Then find someone who is already there. I have found the most help in having multiple mentors for different areas of my life. For marriage, I have a couple who has an incredible wedding. For business, I have 3 mentors. The first mentor is successful in leadership and multiple businesses; the second is familiar with building swim schools and works as a vendor in many different swim schools; and the third is someone across the country who is a very successful swim school owner of 40+ years. Even if someone owns a business, they must make a good mentor. You also don’t need to pay for a mentorship program to guarantee success. Do what works for you. I found my mentors by staying alert and looking at my social groups (church, work, friends, etc.) I also found a very successful woman in my field by googling top-rated swim schools in the us. It’s important that if you find someone to mentor you in a specific field, you reach out to people far enough away that they wouldn’t feel you are competing. I also look for and join Facebook & networking groups that are specific to my industry. I look for and follow big names in my industry on social media and reach out to them that way, as well as allow them to mentor me by following the content they put out. I also recommend using books and podcasts to mentor you.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://charlestonswimlessons.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/charlestonswim
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CharlestonSwim/
