Today we’d like to introduce you to Alex Huynen.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Alex. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Jump Start Swimming was founded in 2014 by Caitlyn Verdugo and I. Jump Start Swimming started out providing swim lessons to swimmers at a backyard pool in Fountain Valley and we would send a few traveling instructors to home and community pools in the surrounding areas. It was a small business that basically ran out of our backyard. In 2015, we added an additional backyard pool in Huntington Beach. From 2014-2015, Jump Start Swimming was able to provide water safety swim lessons to over 250 swimmers. By the end of the 2015 summer season, Jump Start Swimming out grew the two backyard pools and began looking for a more permanent location.
In May 2016, I transitioned Jump Start Swimming from a partnership to a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. Becoming a nonprofit organization allowed Jump Start Swimming to partner with other local non-profits to achieve a common mission. Jump Start Swimming also transitioned to providing lessons at Ocean View High School with the help of another nonprofit organization, OC Riptide Aquatics. Jump Strat Swimming continued to offer traveling lessons at families’ home pool. With the help of OC Riptide Aquatics, Jump Start Swimming was able to work with 300 swimmers in 2016.
In May 2017, Jump Start Swimming started its fourth summer season with a staff of qualified instructors who teach water safety and swimming techniques to swimmers at Ocean View High School and at home pools in Orange County.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been a smooth road! I do not have a background in business and my co-founder has a limited background in business, so the backside of the company has always been a learning experience. I have a Master’s in Education and my co-founder has a BA in Child Development, so together we have been able to develop a swim program that is effective and can be taught to a wide range of swimmers. Despite this, we have had to learn a lot of new skills along the way in order to keep our business open. Being a small business in California is not an easy thing to accomplish, but knowing that what we are doing could save a child from drowning, makes all the work worth it.
Another challenge for both me and my co-founder, was being business owners while continuing our education and career goals. Both Caitlyn and I never intended to make swim lessons a career when we started Jump Start Swimming. We have both completed degree programs and have continued working in the field of special education, while running Jump Start Swimming. It has been challenging but everything we have worked hard to accomplish has helped us become more effective in teaching both swimmers and instructors. We take pride in the instructors we hire, and work hard to help them become the best they can be in order to better help our swimmers.
Please tell us about Jump Start Swimming.
Jump Start Swimming provides private swim lessons to children and adults in the Orange County area. We currently offer lessons at Ocean View High School in Huntington Beach and will send traveling instructors to home pools in the surrounding areas.
We specialize in teaching water safety skills such as the water safety sequence. This involves teaching a child or adult how to survive an accidental fall into the water by utilizing skills such as rolling onto their back, floating, and calling for help. This is a common water safety sequence that is used by many swim schools; however, we are able to provide a more personalize structure that is unique to each swimmer.
Jump Start Swimming is most proud of its diversity. We offer lessons to children and adults off all ability levels, including those with disabilities. Many of our instructors have experience working with children with mild to severe disabilities both in and out of the water.
Because we are a small business, we are proud to offer personalized service to all of our families and are willing to work with low income families by offering partial or full scholarships.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
The majority of my memories from my own childhood involve being by the pool. My parents got me in the pool before I could walk and I was swimming soon after that. I started swimming competitively when I was 6 years old and never stopped. The childhood memories that are my favorite, all involved the water. Whether it was running in the sprinklers, playing in a kiddie pool in the backyard, using a slip-n-slid, or swimming for hours until my fingers were all wrinkly, I was always in the water! I can’t imagine ever being scared of the water. My goal for Jump Start Swimming is to help others decrease their fears of the water and learn to love it as much as I do.
Pricing:
- 10 Thirty Minute Private Lessons = $320
- 10 Thirty Minute Semi-Private Lessons = $250
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jumpstartswimming.com
- Phone: 855-577-7946
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jumpstartswimming/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jumpstartswimming
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/jumpstartswimm
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/jump-start-swimming-huntington-beach
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