Good Neighbor Podcast: Cooper City
Bringing Together Local Businesses & Neighbors of Cooper City
Good Neighbor Podcast: Cooper City
EP #194: Aquamotion Swim School with Adriana Vianna
Imagine transforming a personal passion into a beacon of hope for a community. That's the story of Adriana Vianna, the driving force behind Aquamotion Swim School, who sits down with me, Jeremy Wolf, to reveal how she channeled her dedication as a parent into combating Florida's alarming drowning rates. Her transition from the hospitality industry to founding a swim school is a tale of tenacity and vision, filled with insights from her background in swimming and physical education. As we celebrate Aquamotion's ten-year anniversary, Adriana shares the challenges and triumphs she faced, from persuading investors to nurturing her business into a community staple.
This episode isn't just a business chronicle; it's a reflection on the profound impact of water sports on our lives. While I recount my less-than-graceful surfing escapades in Costa Rica, Adriana illustrates the joy found in open water swimming and triathlons. Aquamotion Swim School emerges as more than a swim school—it's a family legacy, touching nearly 5,000 families with its personalized approach and fostering deep community connections. For anyone looking to make waves in their own life or dip their toes into the world of aquatic education, this conversation with Adriana Viana is the plunge you need to take.
Learn more: https://aquamotionus.com/
Call us: (954) 322-2782
Email us: swim@aquamotionus.com
Visit us: Pembroke Lakes Shopping Plaza, 10454 Taft St Pembroke Pines, FL 33026
Like us: https://www.facebook.com/AquamotionSwimSchool
Follow us: https://www.instagram.com/aquamotionus
This is the Good Neighbor podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Jeremy Wolff.
Speaker 2:Hello everyone and welcome back to the Good Neighbor podcast. I am your host, jeremy Wolff, and today I am joined by Adriana Viana, and Adriana is the owner of Aqua Motion Swim School, right down the road from us in Pember Pines. Adriana, thanks for joining us today.
Speaker 3:Thank you very much for having me, Jeremy.
Speaker 2:It is our pleasure and thank you to our listeners for tuning in to learn more about our wonderful community and the great businesses that serve us. So, adriana, please tell us a little bit about Aqua Motion Swim School.
Speaker 3:Okay, it always started, jeremy, when I had my kids, I myself taught them how to swim, as I have a background in swimming and physical education, and for me it was crucial that they would learn to swim, as we were always in the pool and at the beach.
Speaker 3:So in the meantime, I found out that the drowning ratio in the states of Florida was the largest one in the nation, and I remember how much that bothered me. At that time. I worked in the hospitality business and I wanted to do a job where I was more like a hands-on, so I decided to apply for a job as a swim instructor. I completely found myself backing in my element in the water and surrounded by kids which I really had a connection with. So within six months, working in this business, in this company, I became a manager of a three of their locations, three of their schools, and I helped establish two of them. And almost six years later, after going from instructor to manager, to head coach and trainer and had taught almost 2,000 children, I felt that was the right time to look for an investor and open my own school where I could use all the knowledge and experience I acquired and create my own swim program.
Speaker 2:And about how long ago was that. Was that the location in Pemberpines that you opened? Was that the first location you opened?
Speaker 3:Yes, that's my first location and we've been here for 10 years. October was our 10th anniversary.
Speaker 2:Oh, congratulations on that. That's wonderful.
Speaker 3:Thank you very much.
Speaker 2:So a lot to unpack there. You mentioned that you always had a background with swim and physical education, right? So that's you're talking about. Before you were in the hospitality business and industry, you had a background with those two things. Can you talk a little bit about that for a?
Speaker 3:second, correct. Well, I started with physical education in Brazil. I did not finish because that was the time when I moved to the United States. So I sort of have to rearrange my life, you know. And then I ended up going to the hospitality business, which was very nice at that time, you know, very fun. I was young, you know, I was in my 20s and everything. But I worked for like 10 years but I did not find myself doing that in the long run. And since I've been a swimmer in Brazil I've been, you know, do like swim team since I was a leader. I was a child I thought about like okay, maybe it's time for me to get back to where I started and where I started, you know, going to college or two. So that's when I reconnected. And when I said when I reconnected, when I got the job as a swim instructor, with the water and everything that I used to do, you know.
Speaker 2:Interesting. So you started working for another company as a swim instructor and you kind of it's like you help them build and grow their business before you started your own business, Going back to 10 years. I always like to ask business owners this question what were some of the or what was the biggest challenge, I guess, when you started your own business and you actually went on your own and you decided to do this for yourself, what was your biggest challenge?
Speaker 3:That was so many challenges because, first of all, I didn't have the whole budget to start the business, so I had to go after someone that would have believed and buy my dream.
Speaker 2:That's what it is yeah.
Speaker 3:So the challenge is always, you know, when you're a big company and you have a lot of money, you hire everybody. You hire contractors. You know engineers and architects and everything. But because my daddy was an architect, so I did learn a lot, you know, from watching him designing and everything. So the moment I found that place, you know, I did myself the whole, the whole design, the whole setup for the school.
Speaker 3:And it was always, you know, it was funny when I remember telling the business owner I mean the Plaza owner what I had intention to build in his Plaza, and when I mentioned there was a swim school, he was like kind of scary. He said, well, but I don't have it and there's no pool over here. I'm like, yeah, but I can't see here. Are you sure in this space you're going to be able to build us in the school? I'm like I definitely.
Speaker 3:So I show my little sketch. You know my design for him. And he was impressed and he's like, okay, let's do it. And then we signed the contract to which I consider him I'm very fond of him because he trusts me throughout the whole process. That took me a year and a half for the school to get ready because we went to a lot of setbacks, you know, with the permits and everything from the city and you know it was hard for him for during the year and a half seeing his story being like completely demolished, you know, and coming back, you know, to life. But it was good that he trust and now he see the results and he's super happy and all the our neighbors here in the Plaza they're very happy with the business as well.
Speaker 2:And the rest, as they say, is history Correct. Very good, so walk us through for anybody out there that's listening. My kids are. They already know how to swim. They're nine and 11. But I remember that time when they were growing up and I was looking for a swim instruction. I know that process can be a little daunting for parents out there finding the right place to take their children. There are a lot of options available. Walk us through Aquamotion, like what's your process? What can parents expect when they bring children in there? Tell us a little bit about some of your classes and what people can expect when they come in to see you guys.
Speaker 3:Yeah, aquamotion sets apart from other schools because our program offered classes as young as a year old without the parents in the water, which we found that that is not any other school in the neighborhood that does that, I don't know. They always require the parents to be in the water until the child is at least 36 months, you know. So we do believe the kids can learn quicker without the parents. They feel once they bond with the instructors, because the instructors are professional, they know exactly what they're doing, because a mom and me class is a different thing. You have to teach the parents what to do with their kids, so it's like a two-step thing. So in a sense it takes a little longer because the parents are also insecure. They're learning something new and everything.
Speaker 3:So we do offer those classes for babies that are one year old and we also teach adults at any age, at any swim skills level, from the basic to advancing. What do we do in our program for both babies or kids or adults? We teach the basic survival skills first. We teach them how to learn how to float in the back, how to tread the water and everything comfortable putting their face in the water, and from that we develop into swimming techniques. The, regardless of the age, all of them have to learn how to float in the back first. You know, and I have experience and I have, like, a lot of reasons why I think that's the most important thing to do.
Speaker 2:What are your thoughts on? And I don't know if I'm remembering this term correctly, but I remember when my kids were really small I was researching this and there was a term. Was it instant rescue swimming IRS? Am I saying that? I am sorry, right something like you take the child and you put them in and you let them kind of struggle for a minute to is that what that is, or what are your thoughts on?
Speaker 3:that. No, it is that program, it is. Our program is like that too. However, that's, the ISR is a program that is happens in a short period of time, normally within like five classes or 10 classes in a row, like day after day after day after day, for 10 minutes, you know.
Speaker 3:So, of course, you know the approach is a little more. I don't know how to really say the words. That is not going to defeat, you know what they're doing, but what can I say is our approach is a little more gentle. You know, we take a little more time, you know, to get to know the kids, to make it like we build up their confidence from day one Until they're like confidence to do like more advanced steps.
Speaker 3:So, for example, we wouldn't put a child completely under the water on the first or second or third day. We go gradually, you know, dipping them in the water until when they finally are completely under the water. They don't even realize on the fourth class, because we do like with games, and of course I'm not going to say there are no kids that are not going to be crying. Yeah, it does. Each child, you know, is different, but most of the time they take it better like that, progressing slowly, than you know the ISR program, but I'm sorry, the results at the end are exactly the same because we're both a focus on the survivor skills, on the flow to as a back, flow to as the main thing.
Speaker 2:That makes a lot more sense to me what you just said, which is to kind of slowly transition them into that, rather than because I don't see how it would be very helpful for To throw a child into a traumatic situation, because then they can associate the feeling of being in the water with that trauma of struggle and fear, so very very interesting.
Speaker 2:So what do you like to do? I know, as a small business owner of 10 years, I'm sure you occupy a lot of time at your business, but when you do have some downtime, what do you like to do for fun when you're not working? I'd like to go to the beach.
Speaker 3:If there's waves, I surf. I'm about to board. Yeah, since I was like 13, 14 years old, I got my first board and my first pair of fins church of fins from California. So I've been surf since then. Sometimes I travel to surf. Unfortunately, here in Florida there's no, no many waves. So, like at the end of December, we went to Cocoa Beach I don't know if you heard about it, it's the seat of Calis later the world champion, eight times world champion and when there's no waves, I swim. Ironically enough, that's what we love to do for fun. We're going to have to teach me how to surf.
Speaker 2:The only experience. One of my best friends in the world. He's a big, big surfer and the last time I tried to surf was back in college, way back, when we went to the beach. We went to Costa Rica and I went to Plyer Hermosa Big waves there. I went to Plyer Hermosa, rented a board and then paddled out into the waves. I swear I almost drowned. I couldn't even paddle back in the undertow Kept sucking me out, and that was the last time that I ever went into the ocean to surf.
Speaker 2:So maybe, maybe I'm probably not the best place to try to learn right.
Speaker 3:No, definitely not. I was going to say that I was a college kid.
Speaker 2:I was like I'll be fine whatever and then, he went out surfing one morning. It was like six o'clock in the morning, the sun wasn't even up, I couldn't even see, and he paddled out and surfed in the dark. No-transcript, some people are just meant to be in the water.
Speaker 3:I guess Exactly exactly when I opened the school a year later, one of the parents invited me to do an open water, a mild open water. I had never done open water before and I ended up going in with the two other parents it was the first time for two of them too. It was really good and it was in Kibiscaen. We did awesome, we were super stoked. So after that we continued doing open water, continued up to what we did like seven miles to in Kibiscaen, to the alligator lighthouse.
Speaker 2:So when you say open water, you're talking about just swimming in the ocean, right In the ocean. Yeah, in the ocean. Yeah, I just started running recently and I started watching video. Obviously, when you start focusing on things, youtube starts feeding you videos about that. So I started watching about marathons and all that. And then I got into the whole triathlons and I'm watching these people swim seven miles, then go cycle for like I don't know 200 miles and then run a marathon at the end.
Speaker 2:It's wild what people do. That's Ironman With Ironman. Yeah, triathlon, Ironman, Fun stuff. So that's what I'm training for now.
Speaker 3:Great Well, if you're going to need a partner for the swimming part, I can do it. That together, I wouldn't run, I can run.
Speaker 2:Oh, goodness, goodness, Okay. So before we wrap up here, why don't you share with our listeners the one thing that you'd like to leave them with, that you'd like for them to know about Aquamotion Swim School?
Speaker 3:Of course, yeah. Well, I would like our listeners to know that Aquamotion is a family business, literally a family business. I have my son, 25 years old, working in the office. I have my daughter, 23 years old, as one of my instructors. My husband is also a water aerobics instructor. He has a bachelor in physical education as well, so we're literally a family business, you know, and throughout these 10 years we have taught almost 5,000 families in our community with the utmost dedication, love and with successful results.
Speaker 3:We teach babies from, like I mentioned before, from six months old to 12 adults, and we have some families that have four, five kids swimming with us throughout the years.
Speaker 3:And there's many students that have been here with us for over six years Because, since we prepare our students for swim teams and we have 100% approval rates, some children continue with us for a long time. We build not only a future athlete, but even more, we build like bones with these families that become part of our commotion family. And there's a huge difference between being a business that is a corporation or that is a small business, a family business. We know there's a lot of larger schools opening recently, which is great, but of course, there's also its cons. We have many customers that mention that they feel that bigger schools they don't have that intimate relation with the family. They're more like a number to them. And if you read our reviews a lot of them mention that that oh, they know my kids by name, they recognize us, they ask them about personal questions because we get involved in their lives. So that sense of belonging at our commotion family is what settles all these families with us.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, it's always nice to walk into a business and be able to interact with the owner, because obviously the owner has a special passion for their business. And that's what this is all about Supporting local businesses, building bonds, strengthening our community. So, Adriana, so nice to have you on, but before we wrap up, let our listeners know how we could learn more. Maybe share your address, your phone number, your website. Let us know how we could find you guys and learn more.
Speaker 3:Sure, of course. Well, they can reach us at. We have our website, aquamotionuscom. Our phone number is 954-322-2782. We also have a very nice, very cute Instagram page full of videos of our classes, our babes and everything is aquamotionus, our Instagram page. And we have a Facebook page which is the name of the school, aquamotion Swim School, and we have a YouTube channel as well. We are located on 10454 Taft Street in Pembroke Pines and the zip code is 33026. They can reach us in mainly in the afternoon, after 3 pm, all the way to 8 pm.
Speaker 2:All right, wonderful. We will, of course, link in the description below to all of your contact information. Again, adriana, thanks so much for joining us. It was a pleasure getting the opportunity to meet you and learn about your great business, so thanks for coming on the show. Thank you very much, jeremy. Have a wonderful day. Okay, you do the same, and thanks to our listeners for tuning in and we will catch you next time. Everyone, have a wonderful day and take care, thanks.
Speaker 1:Thanks for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast, cooper City. To nominate your favorite local business to be featured on the show, go to GNPCoopersitycom. That's GNPCoopersitycom, call 954-231-3170.