Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Audrina Hampton. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Audrina, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with the decision of whether to donate a percentage of sales to an organization or cause – we’d love to hear the backstory of how you thought through this.
Yes! Hampton Aquatics and Fitness donates around 20% of all proceeds to go towards our Safety First Swim Program. Our Safety First Swim Program was created due to the high percentages of drownings in our area. We understand that a lot of low income households are not able to afford swim lessons. The older the kiddos get, the more they will spend time at some sort of water source and if their friends peer pressure them into swimming, it can lead to a potential drowning or death. WE WANT TO CHANGE THAT! The Safety First Swim Program is free to any low income home with kiddos 7 years of age or older who do not know how to swim. We teach a series of survival strokes, into to swimming, and educate them on aquatic safety during the 6 week course!
All of our apparel proceeds go to our sister non-profit Hampton’s Guppies. Hampton’s Guppies provides free Aquatic Lessons of various types to individuals with special needs.
Audrina, 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?
I’ve had a love for swimming since I was only 3 years old. Growing up, I always felt like I was never enough, I was always reminded how I can do better or why can’t I be like so and so. I was not able to go to sport games (unless I was participating), hang out with friends, or go to birthday parties. My childhood was taken from me so I had to grow up faster than most. If I wanted to get out of the house, I had to do sports, so that’s what I did! My Freshman year of high school I tried every sport possible, even bowling, just to get out of the house. During Soccer season I developed a stress fracture in my leg due to all of the running. This was the push that made swimming my life! Growing up in this environment is what pushed me to put my all into everything I do, even if it is the smallest thing! I want to make a difference. I want someone to look at me and say “I’m proud of you and I see all of your hard work and accomplishments”.
Fast forward to 2015, I was working at a factory trying to make ends meet as a single parent to a toddler. It was then I meet my husband. We got married in 2017 and were expecting our first child together. After our son was born, I knew something was different and not right. At the age of 6 months, I had my son evaluated and it was then discovered he was severely delayed and not meeting any milestones. At the age of 15 months, he was diagnosed with non-verbal, Level 3, Severe Autism. Our world was turned upside down. I wanted to provide my son with nothing but the best but we couldn’t get him into daycares because they “didn’t know how to handle him” or “understaffed for his needs”. This required me to quit my job. He needed 24/7 support and that was me!
I couldn’t not work; so this was my time to get creative! I’ve always had a passion for swimming and teaching, that was something I KNEW I was good at. I started Hampton Aquatics and Fitness in 2018. I was able to make a flexible scheduled that meet my families demands. I started out seasonal traveling to individual’s homes or lake accesses.
In 2019 I started searching for places I could partner with in our area. I was told no, or you won’t be successful because you’re a woman. I was discouraged, but I couldn’t give up. This gave me drive to prove ALL of them wrong!
In 2020 COVID hit. This was a huge set back, I was not able to operate and the world stopped. This gave me time to fine tune all of my ideas and make sure my next interaction with a potential partnership they could only say YES!
In 2021 we expanded adding employees! We traveled as far as Holland and Frankenmuth. We gained our first partnership with the City of Battle Creek providing Water Fitness classes at an outdoor water park! Finally, progress!
In 2022 we obtained our first indoor swimming pool in Marshall and were able to officially operate all year round! This was HUGE for us! We were featured in our local shopper twice and made it to the front page of the Enquirer for our passion to raise awareness for Aquatic Safety!
In 2023 we obtained another partnership in Battle Creek and Albion with indoor pools! This now means we can provide aquatic services to all of Calhoun County! We started a Safety-First Swim program that provides free swim lessons to low-income homes with kiddos over the age of 8. We had so many submissions this is now a year-round program.
In 2024, we now have 23 amazing employees, three indoor pool locations, 11 partnerships around Calhoun County, and have been featured in two magazines and three online articles! Since we started, we have worked with over 3,000 families around Michigan providing services like aquatic classes for ages 6mo- adulthood, triathlon training, private lessons, water fitness classes, aquatic safety programs, Mermaid Lesa, summer travel lessons, Lifeguard for hire, Lifeguard training classes, CPR classes, and special needs programming.
I finally feel like I am enough, I finally feel like I’m making a difference. The love I receive from our community has shown me that I have been enough all along and I just needed to believe in myself! My childhood experiences helped shape who I am today and given me the drive to keep going despite all the obstacles.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
I started Hampton Aquatics in 2018 when I was only 25 years old. I approached multiple pools in hopes to partner or help restore their current pool. I was told “No” or “You won’t be successful” but the one time that sticks out to me the most is when I reached out to a local non-profit that had a pool that needed restoration work done to be functional again. I was so excited they wanted to entertain the idea! I had my proposal ready and our first meeting went wonderful! The non-profit spoke so highly of what their vision is and how they would love to partner with Hampton Aquatics to help bring aquatic safety to our community! I was excited, finally someone who will take me serious! After the second meeting, the third meeting, fourth, fifth, and sixth, I was now certain I was gaslighted. I requested one more meeting to ask the most uncomfortable questions because we have been talking in circles for almost 8 months now with them refusing to sign a contract. I sit down for the meeting and open with “I have a contract, I would like to leave here today with a signature and/or answers!” The non-profit then told me that being a woman I would not make it far and they didn’t feel comfortable with my husband being a different race than me. I asked them why they felt the need to drag me along for almost 8 months and they responded with I wasted their time by trying to bring unrealistic expectations to the community. After we parted our ways, I knew every single business move I made from there on out I wanted to show EXACTLY what this WOMAN in a bi-racial relationship can accomplish! And I’ve done exactly that, even surpassing all my wildest expectations. That denial gave me the strength to fight even harder every step of this journey.
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
Word of mouth is the BEST way to grow clientele! Making sure you show up and put your all into every encounter has made a huge difference. People notice and your work will talk for itself. I can’t tell you how many establishments that have NOTHING to do with aquatics I have walked into and they said they’ve heard about us and are amazed by how far we came in such little time. That is always the best feeling, knowing your work is making a difference and getting noticed.
Being a positive influence for your community is also a great way to grow clientele. Creating educational events, uplifting the younger population, and being a role model. When you’re passionate about your work and you give your all, people will notice!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.hamptonaquatics.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hampton_aquatics/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HamptonAquaticsandFitness
- Other: https://www.bbb.org/us/mi/battle-creek/profile/fitness-center/hampton-aquatics-fitness-llc-0372-38315050