Today we’d like to introduce you to Carly Lobdell
Hi Carly, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I have been passionate about swimming for a long time. I was on the summer league swim team from age 5 to 18, so I have always loved the sport. I began teaching swim lessons when I was 16 years old at Lifetime Fitness in Johns Creek. This program sparked my love for teaching, and I loved working with kids and teaching them life-saving skills. I moved to Athens in 2019 to study Marketing at UGA. During the summer of 2020, I started my own swim lesson business called Swim with Carly. I would travel between neighborhoods and teach at private pools. After graduating in 2023, I realized I did not want to stop teaching. I emailed Oconee Aquatics and Recreation telling them about my interest in teaching. Together we decided to start a swim business for the facility Oconee Flippers LLC! I wanted to create a program to make swim lessons exciting and fun since so many children are anxious to learn how to swim. The program has grown since then, and we currently have five coaches!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Starting a business isn’t easy, but it is so rewarding. What I love about running my business is having the freedom and ability to get creative. I love putting together the treasure box rewards for my students. At the end of class, they get a toy and a lollipop to help motivate them to work their hardest. I also started doing Student of the Month to honor my hardworking students with a fun surprise. One of my biggest passions is working with students with special abilities and learning new teaching techniques to help them succeed. One of my special needs students has become an amazing swimmer. I named him student of the month and his mom was so happy because it was the first award he ever received. I think it is so important to give recognition to kids with special abilities because, with extra love and support, they can achieve amazing things! I also had a lot of fun working on my website. It was so much fun taking all the pictures and seeing my vision come to life online.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Our program specializes in teaching foundational skills to young children. A big part of our program is teaching kids safety floats, so they can save themselves if in distress. In the class, my goal is for students to learn as many skills as possible while having fun! I like to offer the students fun incentives for reaching new goals like going down the waterslide or swimming with flippers.
We also offer classes for babies ages four months and up. In the Baby Flippers class parents swim with their kids in a fun group setting. I want the babies to have a great first experience in the water, so we have lots of toys as well as a bubble machine. I highly encourage parents to expose their children to water at an early age so that they are ready to swim when they are older. The biggest barrier to teaching kids is the fear of putting their face in the water, so it helps to start at a young age.
We offer lessons to students of all experience levels and prepare students for swim team as well. I think it is so important that everyone knows how to swim, and I love how parents will take lessons after seeing their children enjoy it.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I would say that I have been very lucky in running my swim business. A lot of my success I owe to the support and encouragement of my clients and their recommendations. Athens is a small town and after teaching swim lessons in the city for four years I have come to know so many people! Some of my students have been with me for years, so it is incredible to see them grow and build upon their skills.
Pricing:
- Private Lessons: $60 per class or $216 for the month
- Group Lessons: $40 per class or $144 for the month
- Baby Class: $75 for the month or $20 drop in
- all lessons are 30 minutes in length
Contact Info:
- Website: https://oconeeflippers.com
- Instagram: @oconeeflippers
- Facebook: @oconeeflippers
