We recently connected with Meg Overland and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Meg thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

Littles In Training was created in response to soft parenting. Children today are often time seen as incapable, weak, dependent, and whiny by generations who grew up in the 70’s and 80’s. I am deeply passionate about empowering the next generation to become strong, capable, and independent.

Finding our way back to the old school mentality is what I am determined to do through my program Littles In Training. One way I strive to achieve this is by coaching survival swim.

It’s difficult to see 90% of kids ages 8 and under in a public pool wearing puddle jumpers. To make matters worse, most of these kids have taken “swim lessons” at some point in their lives. My research revealed, that these “swim lessons” were heavily emphasizing songs and toys so that kids will learn to love the water rather than teaching the core skills of swimming.

Upon that realization, I knew I had found the problem. Children should not be taught to love the water they should be taught to respect it. If you can teach a child how to first independently survive in water the love part comes naturally from the pride of learning.

This leads me to the second problem, time. Despite everyone having 24 hours in a day, time often flies by, and essential skills like swimming can often be less prioritized. In order to solve this time dilemma, I’ve carefully crafted a unique service of at home coaching. It consists of me driving to the client and giving lessons in their own backyards. Essentially, delivering my expertise directly to the parent without the hassle of complex scheduling or travel time.

Meg, 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?

Hi, my name is Megan! However, my 18 month old clients they know me as Meg so I respond to either one! I grew up on a farm in California with a regimen of 5 am animal feeding rounds before school and 2 hour sport practices after school. In 2008, I moved to Texas and attended Texas State University. During my college years, I began my triathlon journey and now train for Ironman’s with the goal of competing in Worlds in Kona, Hawaii.

Let me start by saying, I am a compassionate and empathetic person. I love deeply and have a keen understanding of children’s needs. This gift has earned me the nickname, which also is how I can be introduced by others, “the baby whisperer.”
Additionally, I have a strong and consistent work ethic in tune with my own athletic lifestyle.

My approach to my business very much mimics my athletic lifestyle. I strongly believe in routine and schedule, but also keep in mind the need for flexibility and course corrections where needed. I believe in a parent run home. I believe in developing independent play and skills, learning from experiences and delayed gratification is the key to developing patience. I don’t believe everyone should get a trophy and building character is everything.

My business, Littles In Training is an all encompassing service dedicated to empower kids. My two main focuses are Survival Swim Coaching and Child Sleep Training. These skills set children and their guardians up for success. Today, various anxieties and worries plague parents so intensely that it seeps into their children creating unnecessary fears. A goal with Littles in Training is to actually reach and heal parents through their child.

If I can teach a child the skills they need to be able to independently save themselves if they stumble into a body of water. In turn, I am able to alleviate some pressures and anxieties off the parent. Hopefully, allowing both child and parent to ultimately embrace their power over any fears they may face.

The name of my business truly says it all. My littles are in training to be able to take on this world no matter what life may throw at them. Even if it’s an un-gated backyard pool or a school field trip to a water park. Each child that goes through my program will leave with full hearts knowing and believing they are capable of conquering their goals regardless of stumbling blocks along the way.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I went to school to become a corporate event planner. I interned for a wedding planner and a city council. I was all in to find my dream job. However, for actual money I worked with what came natural – kids. I nannied and took up night nursing. In 2015 I started my own event planning company and pursued that full time—and it took off. However, not in the direction I wanted it to go, most of my events were children’s birthdays and baby showers. I was fighting tooth and nail to get into the cooperate world and while I had a few bigger clients I was still getting asked to coach, go on vacations with families and help solve their baby’s sleep issues.

It was in 2018 that I had a “come to Jesus” moment and realized event planning was not it. I had to let that dream go and pivot into my natural calling. It was then that I started Littles In Training with the focus of helping parents with their littles anyway I could. Over the years I have tailored and fine tuned what I really specialize in Sleep and Swim. I am so happy I made the leap when I did. I couldn’t even image working in the corporate world now.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

I have done almost zero marketing. My most effective strategy is word of mouth. I truly invest in my clients and get to know them as people. I only take on so many clients at a time, because I don’t ever want my clients to feel like they are not being seen. At the end of the day it is quality over quantity – bottom line.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: littleintraining

Image Credits

me