We recently connected with Carly Miller and have shared our conversation below.
Carly, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Taking care of customers isn’t just good business – it is often one of the main reasons folks went into business in the first place. So, we’d love to get a conversation going around how to best help clients feel appreciated – maybe you can share something you’ve done or seen someone do that’s been really effective at helping a customer feel valued?
I’m a big fan of sending handwritten notes, which is so rarely done anymore. At the end of each year, during the holiday season, I send personal, handwritten notes to all of my clients reviewing their progress throughout the year and expressing my appreciation for their business and loyalty.
I don’t often receive handwritten notes or thank you cards from clients or the athletes that I coach but I can tell you that when I do receive things like this, it is extremely impactful and very much appreciated. There’s nothing better than an athlete telling you the positive ways in which you’ve impacted their life.
Carly, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I grew up swimming but took many years out of the water after high school. In my mid-30s, after a long battle with various physical and mental health issues, when getting back into the work force, I wanted to make sure I was doing something that I loved. I started out teaching basic swim lessons to kids at the local JCC. Over the last decade or so, I’ve progressed into operating my own business, Stotan Swim Coaching, in which I work with adults and kids of all ages and abilities, from learn-to-swim to masters swimmers and triathletes to aspiring marathon swimmers. I worked as a Head Coach at the high school level for 5 years. I’m currently in my second season an Assistant Coach with the men’s and women’s swim programs at Chapman University. I’m also the Head Coach of a local masters swim team, LAPS (Los Angeles Peninsula Swimmers) and I teach swim lessons at The Bay Club as well. In my own right, I am an accomplished marathon swimmer, having completed solo swims of the Catalina Channel, Lake Tahoe, Santa Monica Bay, Manhattan Island, Key West and countless others.
I love helping people become water safe and helping others develop their experience in the arena of open water swimming. I would say that I am most proud of coaching two relay teams of Chapman University swimmers across the Catalina Channel in September 2025. Helping other people accomplish life-changing feats brings me lasting joy and pride that far eclipses that of my own swims.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
After my mother’s passing in 2005 from ovarian cancer, I struggled with severe clinical depression and anxiety, as well as addiction, for many years. For almost a decade, I didn’t work and I wasn’t an active member of society. I truly believe that swimming saved my life and I believe that what I’ve overcome, both mentally and physically, can inspire other people.
Once I got healthy again and started swimming, I began to set big goals for myself that included completing the California Triple Crown of open water swimming. I think that simply overcoming the mental and physical health challenges to become one of the few people in the world who can complete these types of swims is inspiring. But now that I’m sharing my story more, I truly hope that I can inspire more people to try and find their way through these types of experiences and that there is light at the end of the tunnel. In my coaching business and other coaching jobs, I try to help athletes navigate the mindset portion of the sport, in addition to the physical portion.
Years after my mother passed away, I found out that I was BRCA2+, which greatly increases my risk of developing breast and ovarian cancers in my lifetime. While this was of course scary, I used this information to help empower myself to make medical decisions that have potentially saved my life. I have also volunteered to help other people going through this journey and have raised more than $50,000 for FORCE (Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered), an organization dedicated to assisting people and families confronting hereditary cancer.
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
If I’m being honest, my most effective strategy for growing my clientele has been word of mouth recommendations. It’s only recently that I forced myself to build a website, create more social networking profiles, etc. But I do have interest in growing my business and client base so I’m trying to do more things like that now, which may be out of my comfort zone, but also seems like a necessity in the world we currently live in.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.carlyswims.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carlymillerswims/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cfmiller8
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carly-miller-04530232b/
Image Credits
Ken Pagliaro
Jim Grande