Today we’d like to introduce you to Diana Goodwin.
Hi Diana, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Back when I was studying for my Bachelor of Commerce degree at the University of Toronto, I worked as a swim instructor at community pools around the city in my spare time. As an avid sportswoman, it was the perfect job for me, but I quickly became frustrated at the lack of attention I could give students due to the large class sizes. I witnessed firsthand the impact a one-size fits all teaching approach had on children, from slower development to learning improper techniques and, in some cases, being discouraged from the sport altogether and decided there had to be a better way.
In 2011 I started my own swim school and began offering private at-home swim lessons to clients in the Greater Toronto Area — despite Canada’s snowy reputation, you’d be surprised by the number of backyard pools! As demand increased, I started hiring other swim instructors and began expanding my business, AquaMobile, across Canada and into the US and Australia. Since we launched, we’ve taught more than 10,000 students how to swim and provided more than 75,000 lessons!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The biggest challenge I faced was finding a way to meet my business’s increasingly complex scheduling demands as we expanded our service areas. All swim instructors I employ have the freedom to set their own schedules. Couple that with the fact we offer on-demand lessons in clients’ homes rather than at a fixed location, and you can imagine the headaches it caused to try and coordinate all that manually!
Unfortunately, there weren’t any software options out there that were suitable for my business model or that could support AquaMobile as we continued to scale. So, I decided to build one! AquaMobile now runs on MarketBox, the software I developed that automates all the manual processes that come with running a service business. I might be biased, but I believe it’s been instrumental in helping us grow the business to the level we now operate at. It’s also freed up a lot of my time, which I’m able to put back into growing my software company, MarketBox, so that more service businesses can benefit from the software and avoid all the challenges I had to go through with AquaMobile.
We’ve been impressed with AquaMobile, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Even though we’ve grown considerably from the days when it was just me in the pool, the ethos of the business remains the same. Today, the focus at AquaMobile is still very much on providing convenient access to swimming lessons and building confidence through sports for swimmers of all ages.
Teaching water safety is a big part of what we do and forms the foundation of all our lessons, which are tailored to each student’s skill level, confidence, and ability. We’re a big believer that everyone can benefit from developing the important life skill of swimming and that you’re never too old to learn, which is why we offer lessons for students aged 6 months and up.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
As a business owner, the most important qualities you can have are passion, resilience, and humility. Without passion for what you’re doing, it makes it so much harder to build that resilience that you need to weather the setbacks and challenges you’ll face along the way.
I think humility is an underrated quality in business, but it’s so important. Without humility, and the ability to recognize that your business isn’t perfect, you’ll miss out on the lessons and ideas that come from the not-so-positive feedback you’ll receive about your idea. In my experience, those outside perspectives are the key to growing and succeeding in business.
Pricing:
- $54+ / lesson
Contact Info:
- Website: https://aquamobileswim.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aquamobile/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aquamobile
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AquaMobile
Image Credits
Tara Noelle Photography (Headshot)
AquaMobile Instructors (swim lessons)
