Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sarah Williams. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Sarah, thanks for joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
Drowning is the leading cause of death for children ages 1-4, and the second leading cause of death for children 5-18, second only to car accidents. The difference? Drowning is 100% preventable.
It is estimated that nearly 1,000 children fatally drown each year, just in the United States. The deaths of these children are preventable when “layers of protection” are implemented. Some of these layers include: self-latching pool fences, door and pool alarms, constant supervision and survival swim lessons.
I believe that every child should be given the opportunity to learn to swim. My primary focus is teaching children – some as young as 12 months old – to do the “survival float” ; that is, learning to roll to float upon falling in the water. Mastering this “Survival float” is the the best way to keep your child safe around the water.
I know people grow tired of hearing me talk about these things, but my hope with Swim with Sarah would be to eliminate injury and death for these precious children by getting them skilled in the water, as well as help to educate families on how to protect their children.
Sarah, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
From a young age I was in and around the water often, as water safety was important to my mother. She had me in swim lessons at 6 months and by 3 years old I could jump in and swim across my neighborhood pool. Growing up, I was on swim team, helped run swim camps and worked as a lifeguard. I saw countless accidents in and around the pool, where small children were pushed or fell in, or simply made it to the water alone and were not adequately prepared to save themselves. Preventing these accident is something I became increasingly passionate about and thus Swim with Sarah was born.
My hope is for all children to have access to survival swim lessons, so they are able to roll to float, get air, and SURVIVE should they find themselves in the water. Swim lessons that teach this “survival float” are hard to come by, especially for children with special needs. Special needs children are at a higher risk of drowning, and many traditional swim places are unable to accommodate them, so they are turned away and refused lessons. My degree in occupational therapy has helped me develop my swim lesson “curriculum” to leave room to accommodate for sensory, behavioral and processing special needs.
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
No amount of marketing, advertising and social media promotion will ever compare to word of mouth recommendations. Years ago I taught my neighbor’s kiddos to swim, she recommended me to someone at their church, and so on. I’ve taught 6 kiddos that went to daycare together and 4 kids whose older brothers were on the same baseball team, because one mom found me and recommended me to her friends. When the parents like you, and you’re good at your job, they will tell their other mom friends!
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
To be truthful, I have not put much time into growing and promoting Swim with Sarah’s social media. I post what I want; drowning prevention education, my students showing off, and of course all their cute faces and underwater photos (with parents’ written permission of course!) My social media accounts do not have a huge following, so I’m afraid I don’t have any advice. Except maybe: If you post pictures of your swimmers, their parents will share them to their page, which can help grow your following!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/swimwithsarah2020/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/swimwithsarah2020
