June 4, 2025 • 42 mins
A child drowns every day in America. The silence that follows devastates families, communities, and changes lives forever. But what if these tragedies could be prevented?
Meet Heidi Burnett, founder of Swim Sprout and a woman on a profound mission to stop drowning before it happens. With drowning being the leading cause of death for children ages 1-4 and claiming 320,000 lives worldwide annually, Heidi's work isn't just teaching swimming—it's literally saving lives.
Heidi shares her remarkable journey from competitive swimmer to senior master instructor who's trained over 30 swimming instructors. Her scientifically-based methodology uses operant conditioning and reinforcement schedules to teach even infants as young as nine months old how to roll onto their backs and float—a skill that can mean the difference between life and death.
"I felt like he saw something in me that I probably hadn't seen in myself yet," Heidi reflects on her business growth, expanding from a solo operation to a team of 15 instructors across multiple states. Her story illuminates how passion combined with mentorship can transform both a business and countless lives.
The conversation takes a powerful turn when host Chris shares personal stories of his own children using their survival swimming skills, including a moment when his son fell into a pool fully clothed and executed his training perfectly. These aren't just swimming lessons—they're insurance against unimaginable grief.
Discover how Heidi's partnership with the Quentin Hunter Love Foundation is bringing swim lessons to underprivileged children and support to families who have experienced loss. Her work reminds us that while we cannot eliminate every danger, we can equip our children with the skills to survive them.
Ready to learn more about drowning prevention or find survival swimming lessons for your child? Visit SwimSprout.com and help ensure water remains a source of joy rather than tragedy for your family.
Did you know you can now Help Us Continue Making Awesome Content for Listeners Affected by Grief!
Thanks for listening! Follow us on twitter or follow us on Facebook. You can also find us on LinkedIn.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Real Talk with Life After Grief, chris,
where we talk about relevantissues as it relates to
individuals in grief as theynavigate finances and the
advisors who help them.
We help clients in griefnavigate financial matters.
We also teach advisors how toemotionally and financially work
with clients in grief throughan unparalleled process.
This week's episode issponsored by Life After Grief
(00:24):
Financial Planning and LifeAfter Grief Consulting.
Hello and welcome to anotherepisode of Real Talk with Life
After Grief, chris.
Have you ever met someone thatprevents grief?
Well, I have.
Let me introduce you to HeidiBurnett.
(00:45):
Heidi is the owner and founderof Swim Sprout.
Swim Sprout's mission is toteach students the necessary
skills and confidence to survivean aquatic accident and build a
foundation for lifetimeenjoyment of water activities.
I was fortunate to meet Heidi alittle over eight years ago,
when my wife and I were lookingfor someone to train Eli, my
(01:07):
oldest son, not to drown.
Amory and I heard hundreds andhundreds of stories of swimming
accidents where children did notsurvive.
We did not want to be astatistic.
Amory and I are both veryfortunate that we learned how to
swim at an early age, and I areboth very fortunate that we
(01:27):
learned how to swim at an earlyage.
We have even had a familyfriend whose grandchild did not
survive a swimming accident.
We came to know Heidi through aseries of recommendations.
After a grueling interview bymyself, we employed Heidi and
her company.
Heidi is a dynamic lady who hasa passion for teaching kids the
necessary skills to survive anaquatic accident.
Heidi and her family have evenbecome extended family to my
(01:51):
family as well.
Nervous coming onto the podcasttoday, and I tend to throw
Heidi under the bus she's notthat great at technology, so I
had to walk her through somethings as well to make her
comfortable.
(02:11):
So, heidi, please tell us aboutyourself, what you do, why
you're so good at it, and thankyou for being on my podcast.
I'm really humbled that yousaid yes.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Good morning, chris, and thank you for having me.
You said yes.
Good morning Chris, and thankyou for having me.
It's an honor to be here and Idefinitely hesitated to say yes
when you asked me to do this, sothank you for making me once
again step out of my comfortzone, like you always do.
(02:41):
My number one priority isteaching infants, toddlers and
young children swimming andfloating skills, so if they're
faced with an aquatic situation,they have a fighting chance to
save themselves by utilizingtheir skills.
Educating the parentsthroughout their journey their
child's journey is also abyproduct of me teaching their
children.
My second priority is mentoring15 instructors under my Swim
(03:05):
Sprout umbrella.
The 15 instructors initiallyundergo a seven-week training
with 40 hours of hands-on inwater along with academic study
to parallel each weekend lessonswith a student.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Let me interject something, Heidi, really quick.
So that's a very importantasset of your business that you
have 15 instructors.
Is that what you said under you?
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Yes, sir.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
I'm too young to be called a sir.
How did you get to that pointof getting 15 instructors?
And that's very important,because what I see you doing
from the time that I first metyou to now is you've expanded
your reach and say that you'reable to meet I don't know, maybe
(03:49):
100 families yourself in anygiven season, and now you're
able to replicate that 15 times.
I want to know about thataspect.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Okay.
So I trained under the InfantSwimming Resource umbrella and I
worked with them for 12 years.
After 12 years I decided that Iwas going to branch out and
take my own experience andtraining to a whole other level.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
So you became an entrepreneur.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
I did.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
I did.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
And in that first year is when I met you.
So I was in the beginningstages of just starting to build
Swim Sprout.
I had two instructors when Imet you and with my previous
company I had trained over 30instructors at that time.
(04:43):
I had worked for them for 12years and I went.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
So I don't mean to interrupt you.
So you training instructors wasnothing new.
That's what I'm kind of seeinghere is that you trained so many
instructors.
It was kind of a naturalevolution of you building your
own business, is that right?
Speaker 2 (05:03):
That is correct.
Training was my forte, for sure, between children and training
instructors.
That was definitely my fortewhen I lacked the intellect and
was on the business side, whichis where you came in.
I had several years ofexperience training several
(05:24):
instructors throughout theUnited States and I wanted to
bring that home so that I couldbe home with my young adult or
my young teen children, andthat's what led me to branch out
and start this on my own.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Your young adult daughters, who were babysitters
for my young boys for many years.
So this is a pretty intimaterelationship.
So I spoke about that at thebeginning, but we are definitely
extensions of our own family.
So I just like to plug some ofthose things in.
Heidi, keep going.
I didn't mean to interrupt you.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
That's okay.
You didn't want to plug in thatwe all raked leaves for several
years as well.
That's correct.
So didn't want to plug in thatwe all raked leaves for several
years as well.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
That's correct.
So we're going to get offsubject a little bit here.
So, yes, her daughters, who arevery responsible young ladies.
I employed them, and Heidi mayhave come over once or twice to
help.
But we have an oak tree thatspits off thousands and
(06:28):
thousands of leaves, and so Iemployed her daughters because I
knew they were responsible andthey weren't afraid of hard work
.
So they came over for manyyears to rake leaves in kind of
my absence, because it wasgetting to be too much for one
person.
So I digress, heidi, but yes,thank you very much for the help
Lending your daughters to me.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
How I became a master instructor and eventually
became a senior masterinstructor.
So I had the capability oftrying to build the base of
instructors that I eventuallywanted to, trying to build the
base of instructors that Ieventually wanted to.
To become a master instructor,I went through an additional 10
weeks of theoretical developmentand trained side by side with a
(07:14):
master instructor and then,after five years of being a
master instructor, I then becamea senior master instructor and
I went through an additional 10weeks of training, and that's
what.
That's what led me to where Iam today.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
So if I could put a master instructor, then a senior
master instructor, because,again, even though I've been
around you for a long time, soin my simplistic mind, could a
senior master instructor kind ofbe the equivalent of a doctor
(07:50):
in swimming, teaching, swimmingsurvival?
Could I equate the two?
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Sure, I think I know everything.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
So if I could put some categories so a master
instructor would be someone thathad a master's degree and then
a senior master instructor withsomeone that would be someone
that has a doctorate degreeWould that be a fair comparison
in what you do?
Speaker 2 (08:11):
That's such a compliment.
Thank you, Chris.
Yes.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Okay, so we're clear about that.
All right, so you're highlyskilled and you're highly
educated at what you do in yourprofession.
Go ahead, carry on.
I didn't mean to interrupt you,but I continue to interrupt you
.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
I want to make sure that some things get pulled out
as we go through.
Okay, so I'm going to go backto the training part of what an
instructor, what it all entails.
This is structured so they havehands on from day one with a
student and train them throughthe entire swim float swim
process.
(08:51):
The training process for bothchild and student instructor
consists of scientifically basedmethodology of operant
conditioning and the use ofschedules and reinforcement,
which is used to shape any andall behaviors in and out of the
water.
This allows the young studentto learn through sensory motor
learning, which is why theretention rate is so high with
(09:13):
the swim float swim method andis such a successful approach.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
So, as a parent, your doctorate degree, so to speak,
in teaching children the swimfloat, swim method, me as a
parent, understanding where andI'll just use Eli where he comes
and he has no ability to dothat on his own and watching him
(09:39):
under your tutelage for eightweeks, 10 weeks, 12 weeks,
whatever the amount of weeks isthere's a tremendous turnaround,
because I see the way that youtouch him and you guide him and
you force him to do things thatare uncomfortable, but they are
in a manner that is teaching himthe necessary survival skills.
(10:03):
And I transfer that to when weare interacting in a pool
outside of your lessons.
The progression that I see fromhim week to week and I'll share
a story about actually gettinga little bit later, but I see
the progression as a parent, andso it really works.
(10:26):
All the scientific theory Idon't get into all that because
that's your specialty, but whatyou do works and you've done it
for thousands and thousands offamilies and children and even
some adults.
You've helped as well.
So continue on, heidi, you'redoing a great job.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Okay.
So going to what you just saidwas about you know, when I went
back and I was explaining,educating the parents throughout
the child's journey is aby-product and it is a
by-product Educating you andAnne Marie was very important to
me for you to understand.
It builds a value andAnne-Marie was very important to
me for you to understand.
(11:06):
It builds a value for what I dothat I'm not just a regular
swim instructor.
I try to emulate a lot of orincorporate a lot of theory in
there and when you guys got inand you practiced with Eli and
Gideon they were both theystarted to make the emotional
turn of.
This is very hard work with you, but I can definitely see how I
(11:30):
can incorporate this with mymom and dad and maybe have fun.
So you going home on theweekends and you practicing what
we, what I taught youthroughout the week became a
very important aspect of themgrowing independently on their
own.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
And something else that I noticed.
There's a lot of things thatkind of go through my mind when
we had our initial experienceswith you and your staff.
And your business goes beyondjust teaching survival, swimming
lessons and one of the thingsthat I noticed on the pool deck
(12:09):
you know, sitting there for fouror five days a week for several
, several weeks is that theparents got an opportunity to
know and understand each otherand all the parents were kind of
going through the samestruggles and you have an innate
ability to connect people andthat's something that's very
(12:31):
special because as a parent, youknow not having any expectation
of what's going on.
You can talk to other parentson the pool deck and you know we
can all cheer each other's kidson, because and you know we can
all cheer each other's kids onbecause sometimes it seems like
a madhouse that you know thekids are yelling and screaming
and they're just being kids, butyou know you have a command of
(12:59):
really what's going on and thenafterwards you check in and you
know you connect the families.
You know outside of, justpurely on the swimming deck, and
can you talk about that whyyou're such a good connector.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Why am I a good connector?
Because I love people, Chris.
You know that.
You see that.
I love people.
I think that everybody thatcomes on my pool deck is meant
to be there.
I'm meant to meet them.
They're they're meant to be inmy life for some reason or a
specific period of time,whatever, and I love people.
(13:32):
So the one thing that I I don'tthink that I'm great at is
really knowing exactly whateveryone that comes on my pool
deck does.
So there are times when I don'tthink that I maximize knowing
what everybody does, but somehow, some way, I have an ability to
eventually find out what peopledo and connect one another
(13:55):
through various sports, medicalprofessions, activities.
What have you so?
Yes, I meet a lot of people andI do love to connect people
together.
Yes, for sure.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
Well, as I mentioned before, I came to know Heidi as
a recommendation from one of mybest friends who had never met
or had no interaction with Heidi.
He just heard about her and herabilities and said, Chris, you
might want to just check her out.
And that's kind of really howwe came to know each other.
So you're doing something rightthere, Heidi.
(14:32):
I think what you say is youropportunity.
I think it's a definitestrength.
I wanted you to just kind oftalk a little bit about some of
the statistics.
You don't have to go into agreat deal, but some of the
statistics around aquaticaccidents with children, I don't
(14:52):
know infants, young childrenAgain, that's your specialty,
it's not mine.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
Okay, so first I want to talk about why I do it and I
want to go back and really giveyou a little bit of history.
I was taught to swim at a youngage myself.
I think that my dad might haveprobably just thrown me, tossed
me in, and it was flight orfight, I don't really remember,
it doesn't really matter at thispoint, but from a very young
(15:22):
age I just knew I knew how toswim.
I grew up swimming in lakes inNew York, in Vermont.
I swam competitively my wholelife and most people just
thought I was a mermaid.
If I wasn't in a pool,competitively swimming, I was
playing in our backyard pool,going to the beach.
I love the water.
(15:42):
You couldn't keep me out of it.
However, my mom was not a greatswimmer, so when we moved from
New York to Florida back in theearly 80s, she insisted on
finding a program that wouldteach children necessary skills
to survive, since we weresurrounded by water.
And at the age of 15, I watchedmy twin cousins learn to roll
back and float at nine months ofage.
(16:03):
Watched my twin cousins learnto roll back and float at nine
months of age.
I say I was as amazed as Icould be as a 15-year-old, but
for the next several years, thenext 15 years, I watched every
child in my family continuethrough the swim method with ISR
, with Infant Swimming Resource.
After watching my twinsparticipate in these types of
(16:25):
lessons, I was encouraged by mymom and dad to get back in the
water in some capacity to dosomething that I loved.
At that time, the drowningepidemic really wasn't my why in
the beginning stages.
My why was about finding aprofession that I loved and
serving with a purpose.
I fast learned drowning, whichmy daughters were 18 months at
(16:52):
the time when they went throughlessons.
When I started to become moreeducated about the drowning
epidemic, it definitely becamemy purpose.
So now I'd like to go into thedrowning statistics.
Drowning claims 320,000 people ayear worldwide, according to
the CDC.
Every year in the US, anestimated 3,900 fatal
(17:15):
unintentional drowning deaths,which is an average of 11 deaths
per day.
8,080 non-fatal drownings,which is an average of 22 a day.
Non-fatal drownings can resultin long-term health problems and
costly hospital stays.
Drowning of ages one throughfour is the number one leading
(17:36):
cause of death, which I'vealready said, and the second
leading cause in children agesfour through 14.
When you think about it.
Many parents are working fromhome these days, so they try to
save money by keeping theirchildren home and through the
COVID pandemic, child drowningsincreased in Florida from 69
(17:59):
deaths to 98 in a year, and thatwas a huge increase for us.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
From what Heidi just described in regards to aquatic
accidents, you can see why Idescribed her as someone that
prevents grief, and especiallywith children.
And if you've listened to mypodcast on children and grief,
you know that losing a child isvery, very traumatic, and if
(18:29):
there's any one thing that aparent can do is especially
around water, is to get yourchild swimming and structure so
they can have the ability tosurvive an aquatic accident.
It is powerful.
I'm going to give you a storyhere in regards to my son Gideon
(18:50):
my son Gideon.
So again, anne-marie and I wereon the forefront of getting the
boys swimming survival skillsat a very, very early age under
a year old for both of them, andit was one because we didn't
want to have any sort of anaccident, but we were always in
(19:12):
the water and I wanted them tohave independence in the water
and not just clinging to me.
And so there was one time wherewe were going to our community
pool in our community and theboys this is after they had been
to under Heidi's tutelage foryears and they were both going
(19:33):
up to the pool's edge, they hadalready put their sunblock on
and I was back under one of thechairs and as they were walking
up, there was a mom that wasfrantic and she was watching me
as the boys were approaching thewater and I could see out of
the corner of my eye.
She starts to approach the boysas they are going to the water,
(19:55):
and Gideon at this point.
He's small but Gideon can swim,so as they're running up, she
proceeds to start running up aswell.
And I looked at mom and I saidmom, don't worry about it, the
boys have both been trained tohave survival swimming skills
and they can both swim.
Because of Gideon's size, atthe time she still wasn't
(20:19):
believing me.
But once we got in the waterand she saw that they were able
to progress and swim, she wasreally surprised and she said
you know, wow, he's so small andhow is he able to do so much?
And I said well, we've been toSwim Sprout and that's where
they have gotten all this skill.
And I said that's why I don'thave to worry about my boys when
(20:42):
we're around water.
Obviously, as a parent I have aclose swaths, full eye.
But Gideon also, in Heidi's poolhe fell in.
I believe he fell in fullyclothed.
I think he was fooling aroundon the pool deck and he fell in
and Heidi just said wait, thisis an opportunity to show his
stuff, and he certainly did.
He did his little swim, float,swim, and so we knew he got it.
(21:05):
So that is all thanks to Heidi,and that is a parent I'm very
appreciative and that's, youknow, less of a worry for us.
I never want my children to bein a situation to where they're
scared of water or, you know, ifthey get in a situation where
they're not going to be able to,you know, take care of their
own.
So, heidi, thank you for thatand thank you for all you do.
(21:29):
Is there anything that I missed?
I'm going to go into some otherthings too, but is there
anything that I missed?
Speaker 2 (21:35):
I'm going to go into some other things too, but is
there anything that I missed orI didn't give you an opportunity
or I cut you off, like Icommonly do?
The only thing that I thinkthat I want to say, I think this
is a great opportunity for mejust to basically say exactly
what lessons consist of.
They're one-on-one.
They're tailored to eachindividual child based on their
previous history.
(21:55):
We work a lot with specialneeds children and so the
one-on-one really helps be ableto completely tailor to their
needs.
The lessons are Monday throughThursday.
They're 10 minutes each.
28 to 32 lessons can train theaverage child who is walking for
(22:19):
at least six to eight weeks tosuccessfully swim, float swim,
and if they're not, I should becontacted.
There are various instructorsaround central florida.
We are expanding to thepanhandle this spring.
We have one instructor in Texasand we can be reached at
swimsproutcom.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
I'm not going to let you go that easy.
I'm going to give you anotheropportunity to plug your website
and how you can be contacted aswell.
Heidi, from how you describedyour training of children to do
their swim float swim technique,I liken it to me as a financial
(23:01):
planner building a financialplan for a client, and there's
some similarities, some verydrastic similarities, and the
similarities are for each childthat you basically build a plan
for them, and it's unique tothat individual child and it is
(23:23):
not unlike the way that I builda plan for a client and for each
client that I build a plan for,it is unique to their
individual situation.
So I see some parallels, eventhough that we're doing
different things.
There are some very distinctparallels between the two.
As you know, I'm watching Heidiand the initial stages of her
(23:46):
training, eli.
I witnessed some other thingson the pool deck and again you
are sitting there with otherparents and you're watching an
inflow of.
It seemed like droves of kidscome through and get trained
correctly.
And I'd mentioned earlier thatyou have a knack for connecting
(24:09):
folks and you said that you likefolks and that's why you
connect people For some reason.
And you said that you likefolks and that's why you connect
people.
For some reason you like me,even though I give you such a
hard time, and maybe it'sbecause you like the punishment,
I don't know.
And you know, you and yourstaff and you're obviously, you
know, very, very good with yourfamilies.
(24:30):
And I'm going to sidebar here.
So her husband I gave him thenickname of staff, you know,
when we were on there becauseHeidi would command her husband
at points to do things like inthe house and you know, make
sure this is on or make surethis is off, or do this or do
that.
So I started to call him staff.
(24:50):
And again, you know I had becomecurious about Heidi and her
business and her growthopportunity.
So I took an opportunity Ithink it was an off day and it
was just me, eli, on the pooldeck I got to ask Heidi a lot of
questions about her businessand I got to disclose a lot of
(25:12):
things that have happened in mylife and that was, I think, a
turning point that Heidi and Ireally connected and it led me
to want to help Heidi in thegrowth of her business.
I saw the power of what shecould do and again she alluded
to.
She is very good at what shedoes the technical theory in the
pool and, you know, trainingkids through her methods.
(25:36):
So I was like, well, this maybe an opportunity for me to help
Heidi.
You know, beyond what she isdoing now, and something I don't
often talk about and I don'tthink I've really mentioned it
too much on the podcast beforeis that I had a wealth of
business knowledge that I gainedfrom my father over the years
(25:56):
and he often took me to businessmeetings.
He often engaged me in businessscenarios and business dealings.
He did that as far back as Icould remember and then, as I
got to be an adult, things juststarted clicking for me in the
business world and I couldanswer questions and I had no
(26:16):
idea, like why you're not goingto answer this question or that
question, and it just hit me.
You know my father was takingme on these meetings and so
Heidi and I had a conversationand I thought I could help her
and I said, hey, you know howwould you like some help to grow
your business?
So I kind of became Heidi'sbusiness coach of sorts and,
(26:39):
heidi, I'm going to let you takeit from there and you know
where you were, what your visionwas and then kind of how this
helped you in your businesshaving a business coach.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
Do you really want me to take it from here Because
you were scared?
I?
Speaker 1 (26:57):
wouldn't ask if I didn't want the truthful answer,
so I was scary.
Yes, I intimidate a lot ofpeople.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
Yes, chris was a scary dude, but that wasn't like
a new task, a new thing for me,my husband, but I'm not really
scary, that's just Heidi.
So I took him on.
I actually took the bull by thehorns and I said, yeah, I'm
going to tackle this guy, I'mgoing to see what he has to
(27:26):
offer me.
So when I first met Chris andreally I think he vetted me for
a long time, as much as Iprobably vetted him because he
did command respect he was kindof serious and he asked a lot of
questions, more than I reallywanted to.
He wanted to see proof of myinsurance.
(27:48):
He wanted to see proof of myCPR, he wanted to see proof of
anything that had he wanted tosee.
So I produced it.
But what I liked about him andwhy I gravitated toward him,
toward him was because he didcommand the respect and I felt
like he saw something in me thatI probably hadn't seen in
(28:11):
myself yet.
I was just I really don't wantto say that I was winging it
because in my head at the time Ifelt like I had all of my ideas
.
I had tasks, I had my thoughts,I had lists I do lists for days.
So I felt like I was disciplinedenough to build my business.
I felt like I had the toolsthat I needed to train
(28:32):
instructors, but what I didn'thave was the business sense at
all, and I learned that veryfast through a business, hiring
a business attorney, havingChris take me under his wing,
and so I had to start putting alot of trust in him and we went
to work.
He'd give me an assignment,he'd give me a deadline, and
(28:55):
because he was investing in me,I wanted him to see that I too
had the utmost respect for him,and I had to complete the task
days before he really wanted it,because I wanted to impress him
, I wanted to show him somethingthat maybe he hadn't seen in
somebody.
So that's really where itstarted, and very quickly,
(29:17):
working with Chris, he realizedI was working every aspect of my
business and swiftly forced meto find people whom could do the
same work I was doing, so Icould then work on the things I
needed to to grow, which Iwasn't.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
Delegation Delegation .
Speaker 2 (29:37):
I would have stayed there for a long time because I
was not willing.
I didn't think anybody couldsell me or sell my business like
I could, and I hired employees.
So after that, chris and I wentto work on assignments on how I
would grow, what my visionswere, what was my academic
(30:01):
material like, and we just keptmoving forward.
One week after another, weargued a lot, that I had a lot
of thoughts in my head, butnothing on paper.
That was a pivotal turningpoint for me was putting it all
on paper.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
So, heidi, what I can say about you?
Heidi, you're a hustler, ahustler in a good way.
My boys and I read the TrueMeaning of a Hustler and
sometimes it gets a littlemisconstrued.
And sometimes it gets a littlemisconstrued.
So, in regards to Heidi as ahustler, I'm referring to her
having a task and getting afterit, regardless of what is in her
(30:40):
way, and she'll get it done.
And that was really what I sawin Heidi dealings over the years
with lots of people.
I have found very few peoplethat have the get after it
mentality that Heidi has.
And I knew about her mentalitybecause taking, you know, the
(31:03):
theory and the training that shehas done for another company
and then transferring that toher own company, and not only
transferring it but transferringit and then growing to 15
instructors.
That's pretty powerful andthat's pretty successful.
And you can't do that kind ofsitting idly on the sidelines
and not putting the work in andthe time.
(31:25):
And Heidi is, all in all,invested and you know her life
circulates around what she doesVery, very passionate.
And that was really what I sawin Heidi that somebody was as
passionate about what they do asI am passionate about what I do
(31:45):
, and so it was reassuring tosee that and, like I mentioned
before, I keep my inner circlepretty small, but there are a
few people that you know forcetheir way into my inner circle.
Heidi is one of those folks.
There's another gal that isgoing to be on a podcast as well
who is in my inner circle.
(32:06):
But I really respect Heidi andyou know what she's done and how
she handles her business andhow she handles her family life
and you know just theprofessional that she is, looked
(32:36):
at an avenue to where she couldtransfer her skill set into a
nonprofit organization and giveback to the community.
So I want to give you anopportunity to plug that as well
, heidi.
Speaker 2 (32:41):
Okay, Mid last year, a lady by the name of Bernadette
.
It's all about connections,honestly.
The connection started off withthe owner of Bonefish.
Speaker 1 (32:55):
Bonefish Grill.
It's a restaurant.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
He knew that I was a swim instructor.
He knew that there was a ladythat worked for Halifax.
Just one one avenue led toanother.
Speaker 1 (33:06):
honestly, Halifax Medical Center.
It's a hospital.
Speaker 2 (33:11):
And put me in touch with a lady that worked for
Halifax who was working directlywith a family who had lost
their son in 2013 on a carnivalcruise to drowning, and I
immediately was drawn to.
This could be my partneringnonprofit and I met Tashara
(33:38):
Hunter back in September of 2021.
And I was deeply connectedinstantly.
So we kind of talked back andforth and I worked a little bit.
I just basically told herwhatever you need from me, let
(33:58):
me help.
I want to become a partner,became a partner, and by January
I was meeting with her andCassell, her husband, and they
asked me to join the board andwanted me to become their
drowning prevention specialist.
So I pondered on it for about aday and accepted the position,
(34:22):
and here we are.
So our very first function thatwe're going to do for 2022 is
actually going to take place inAvalon Park, florida.
On April 2nd, the Kiwanis Clubin Avalon is hosting an event.
It's called the Caring Festivaland this event is to connect
(34:43):
family and community to caringservices and resources, bringing
awareness the light of loss,bringing awareness, the light of
loss.
And so this completely ties inwith drowning drowning
prevention.
The mission of the foundationis to provide swim lessons for
(35:04):
underprivileged children to be aplace of comfort.
(35:27):
When Tashara and Cassell losttheir son, they had chaplain,
they had chaplain support, theyhad meals brought to them.
The services that they plan toprovide, moving forward, are
grief services and providescholarships for kids to have
(35:48):
survival swim lessons.
Speaker 1 (35:50):
Can you expand on some of the services under the
kind of the grief servicesumbrella that they plan to
provide?
You'd mentioned food forfamilies and some of those other
things.
Speaker 2 (36:02):
Yes, their long-term goal, their five-year plan, is
to have one building and underthat building they want to have
a pool with instructors.
They want to have a kitchen sothat we can cook food for
families during this time.
(36:23):
We'll have a chapel.
They will have a chaplain.
They will have arrangementswith funeral homes to help serve
during that time and providefinancing for those families.
Speaker 1 (36:41):
So a very, very good foundation is what you have
simply lined yourself up with.
And again, what I see is youare all in to what you do, and
this is just a replication ofwhat you do, and you're giving
back to the community.
So I commend you for doing that100%.
(37:02):
So can you name the foundationagain, and how can the
foundation be found online, andhow?
Speaker 2 (37:11):
can the foundation be found online?
The name of the foundation isthe Quentin Hunter Love
Foundation.
You can find the foundation bygoing to tqhlfoundationorg.
That's the Quentin Hunter LoveFoundationorg.
Speaker 1 (37:29):
I also want to give you, heidi, the opportunity to
plug Swim Sprout, because you dosuch a wonderful job and people
love you endlessly.
So how can folks find you Ifthey want to be part of your
organization, if they want yourgreat tutelage or any of your
(37:51):
instructors, mrs Senior, master,instructor, plus plus, plus.
How do they find you, heidi?
Speaker 2 (37:59):
I'm a pretty easy person to love though, aren't I,
Chris?
Speaker 1 (38:02):
Yes, you are Heidi.
Speaker 2 (38:06):
So you can find us at SwimSproutcom.
There are plenty of tabs therewhere you can find me.
There is training opportunitiesfor you.
To connect with me directly,you can contact me at 7047sprout
to find us online.
Speaker 1 (38:27):
Heidi, is there anything that you wanted to
speak about or you didn't havethe opportunity to talk about?
And as I have to do with Heidisometimes, I'm going to put
Heidi on a time limit.
Go, Heidi.
Speaker 2 (38:43):
So the one thing that I do want to finish.
I want I'm going to finish bysaying Chris transformed my
business and I want everyone toknow how, because it was a very
pivotal moment for me.
A very pivotal time for mewhich was probably a list of
four things he specificallywanted me to protect my brand
(39:06):
through trademarking it.
I didn't think that that wasimportant.
I learned fast that it wasbecause somebody tried to
incorporate swim into their namelocally here, growing Swim
Sprout Instructors withintimelines I created in my head.
He forced me to put that visionon paper.
(39:28):
He forced me to create adevelopment process to ensure
quality control for the companyto provide safe and effective,
efficient lessons for childrenfrom every instructor.
He started to provide input,continuing personal
relationships and how we mustcreate that amongst clients.
He got me to create a communityamongst my instructors so that
(39:52):
they could see that they couldbuild and grow both individually
and with us as a team.
Speaker 1 (39:59):
Well, Heidi, I appreciate the opportunity to
work with you professionally.
I appreciate our friendship andI appreciate you taking me at
face value, giving me trashalong the way to keep me humble,
and I appreciate you keeping mykids out of trouble.
So thank you.
It's been a very, very goodfriendship.
(40:22):
More than anything else, youknow above and beyond, so I
appreciate you.
A few things are thinking aboutthat are going through my head.
You had mentioned your mom,Dixie, who is one of my favorite
people in the world.
So I just love Heidi's familyto death and we've interacted so
many times.
Heidi knows Uncle Mike, I'vemet a lot of folks in her family
(40:48):
and we share a lot of goodtimes together as extended
family.
So I'm very, very appreciativeof that.
Heidi, and, as always to any ofour listeners, thank you for
listening.
I really appreciate it and feelfree to pass this episode on to
any friends, family members orcolleagues.
(41:19):
Colleagues, Thank you forlistening to our podcast.
If you are a client and arelooking to work directly with me
, Chris and or my firm head onover to life is for
financialplanningcom.
If you are an advisor lookingto emotionally and financially
work with your client in grief,or if you are a client looking
to get your advisor's head inthe game, head on over to
(41:41):
lifeaftergriefconsultingcom.
That islifeaftergriefconsultingcom.
Any information referenced inthis week's podcast will be
located here in the podcastsection and, as always, please
feel free to share this week'spodcast with any friend, family
member or colleague.
Thanks for listening.
(42:02):
See you next week on the nextepisode.
Welcome to Real Talk with Life After Grief, chris,
where we talk about relevantissues as it relates to
individuals in grief as theynavigate finances and the
advisors who help them.
We help clients in griefnavigate financial matters.
We also teach advisors how toemotionally and financially work
with clients in grief throughan unparalleled process.
This week's episode issponsored by Life After Grief
(00:24):
Financial Planning and LifeAfter Grief Consulting.
Hello and welcome to anotherepisode of Real Talk with Life
After Grief, chris.
Have you ever met someone thatprevents grief?
Well, I have.
Let me introduce you to HeidiBurnett.
(00:45):
Heidi is the owner and founderof Swim Sprout.
Swim Sprout's mission is toteach students the necessary
skills and confidence to survivean aquatic accident and build a
foundation for lifetimeenjoyment of water activities.
I was fortunate to meet Heidi alittle over eight years ago,
when my wife and I were lookingfor someone to train Eli, my
(01:07):
oldest son, not to drown.
Amory and I heard hundreds andhundreds of stories of swimming
accidents where children did notsurvive.
We did not want to be astatistic.
Amory and I are both veryfortunate that we learned how to
swim at an early age, and I areboth very fortunate that we
(01:27):
learned how to swim at an earlyage.
We have even had a familyfriend whose grandchild did not
survive a swimming accident.
We came to know Heidi through aseries of recommendations.
After a grueling interview bymyself, we employed Heidi and
her company.
Heidi is a dynamic lady who hasa passion for teaching kids the
necessary skills to survive anaquatic accident.
Heidi and her family have evenbecome extended family to my
(01:51):
family as well.
Nervous coming onto the podcasttoday, and I tend to throw
Heidi under the bus she's notthat great at technology, so I
had to walk her through somethings as well to make her
comfortable.
(02:11):
So, heidi, please tell us aboutyourself, what you do, why
you're so good at it, and thankyou for being on my podcast.
I'm really humbled that yousaid yes.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Good morning, chris, and thank you for having me.
You said yes.
Good morning Chris, and thankyou for having me.
It's an honor to be here and Idefinitely hesitated to say yes
when you asked me to do this, sothank you for making me once
again step out of my comfortzone, like you always do.
(02:41):
My number one priority isteaching infants, toddlers and
young children swimming andfloating skills, so if they're
faced with an aquatic situation,they have a fighting chance to
save themselves by utilizingtheir skills.
Educating the parentsthroughout their journey their
child's journey is also abyproduct of me teaching their
children.
My second priority is mentoring15 instructors under my Swim
(03:05):
Sprout umbrella.
The 15 instructors initiallyundergo a seven-week training
with 40 hours of hands-on inwater along with academic study
to parallel each weekend lessonswith a student.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Let me interject something, Heidi, really quick.
So that's a very importantasset of your business that you
have 15 instructors.
Is that what you said under you?
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Yes, sir.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
I'm too young to be called a sir.
How did you get to that pointof getting 15 instructors?
And that's very important,because what I see you doing
from the time that I first metyou to now is you've expanded
your reach and say that you'reable to meet I don't know, maybe
(03:49):
100 families yourself in anygiven season, and now you're
able to replicate that 15 times.
I want to know about thataspect.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Okay.
So I trained under the InfantSwimming Resource umbrella and I
worked with them for 12 years.
After 12 years I decided that Iwas going to branch out and
take my own experience andtraining to a whole other level.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
So you became an entrepreneur.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
I did.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
I did.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
And in that first year is when I met you.
So I was in the beginningstages of just starting to build
Swim Sprout.
I had two instructors when Imet you and with my previous
company I had trained over 30instructors at that time.
(04:43):
I had worked for them for 12years and I went.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
So I don't mean to interrupt you.
So you training instructors wasnothing new.
That's what I'm kind of seeinghere is that you trained so many
instructors.
It was kind of a naturalevolution of you building your
own business, is that right?
Speaker 2 (05:03):
That is correct.
Training was my forte, for sure, between children and training
instructors.
That was definitely my fortewhen I lacked the intellect and
was on the business side, whichis where you came in.
I had several years ofexperience training several
(05:24):
instructors throughout theUnited States and I wanted to
bring that home so that I couldbe home with my young adult or
my young teen children, andthat's what led me to branch out
and start this on my own.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Your young adult daughters, who were babysitters
for my young boys for many years.
So this is a pretty intimaterelationship.
So I spoke about that at thebeginning, but we are definitely
extensions of our own family.
So I just like to plug some ofthose things in.
Heidi, keep going.
I didn't mean to interrupt you.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
That's okay.
You didn't want to plug in thatwe all raked leaves for several
years as well.
That's correct.
So didn't want to plug in thatwe all raked leaves for several
years as well.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
That's correct.
So we're going to get offsubject a little bit here.
So, yes, her daughters, who arevery responsible young ladies.
I employed them, and Heidi mayhave come over once or twice to
help.
But we have an oak tree thatspits off thousands and
(06:28):
thousands of leaves, and so Iemployed her daughters because I
knew they were responsible andthey weren't afraid of hard work
.
So they came over for manyyears to rake leaves in kind of
my absence, because it wasgetting to be too much for one
person.
So I digress, heidi, but yes,thank you very much for the help
Lending your daughters to me.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
How I became a master instructor and eventually
became a senior masterinstructor.
So I had the capability oftrying to build the base of
instructors that I eventuallywanted to, trying to build the
base of instructors that Ieventually wanted to.
To become a master instructor,I went through an additional 10
weeks of theoretical developmentand trained side by side with a
(07:14):
master instructor and then,after five years of being a
master instructor, I then becamea senior master instructor and
I went through an additional 10weeks of training, and that's
what.
That's what led me to where Iam today.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
So if I could put a master instructor, then a senior
master instructor, because,again, even though I've been
around you for a long time, soin my simplistic mind, could a
senior master instructor kind ofbe the equivalent of a doctor
(07:50):
in swimming, teaching, swimmingsurvival?
Could I equate the two?
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Sure, I think I know everything.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
So if I could put some categories so a master
instructor would be someone thathad a master's degree and then
a senior master instructor withsomeone that would be someone
that has a doctorate degreeWould that be a fair comparison
in what you do?
Speaker 2 (08:11):
That's such a compliment.
Thank you, Chris.
Yes.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Okay, so we're clear about that.
All right, so you're highlyskilled and you're highly
educated at what you do in yourprofession.
Go ahead, carry on.
I didn't mean to interrupt you,but I continue to interrupt you
.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
I want to make sure that some things get pulled out
as we go through.
Okay, so I'm going to go backto the training part of what an
instructor, what it all entails.
This is structured so they havehands on from day one with a
student and train them throughthe entire swim float swim
process.
(08:51):
The training process for bothchild and student instructor
consists of scientifically basedmethodology of operant
conditioning and the use ofschedules and reinforcement,
which is used to shape any andall behaviors in and out of the
water.
This allows the young studentto learn through sensory motor
learning, which is why theretention rate is so high with
(09:13):
the swim float swim method andis such a successful approach.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
So, as a parent, your doctorate degree, so to speak,
in teaching children the swimfloat, swim method, me as a
parent, understanding where andI'll just use Eli where he comes
and he has no ability to dothat on his own and watching him
(09:39):
under your tutelage for eightweeks, 10 weeks, 12 weeks,
whatever the amount of weeks isthere's a tremendous turnaround,
because I see the way that youtouch him and you guide him and
you force him to do things thatare uncomfortable, but they are
in a manner that is teaching himthe necessary survival skills.
(10:03):
And I transfer that to when weare interacting in a pool
outside of your lessons.
The progression that I see fromhim week to week and I'll share
a story about actually gettinga little bit later, but I see
the progression as a parent, andso it really works.
(10:26):
All the scientific theory Idon't get into all that because
that's your specialty, but whatyou do works and you've done it
for thousands and thousands offamilies and children and even
some adults.
You've helped as well.
So continue on, heidi, you'redoing a great job.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Okay.
So going to what you just saidwas about you know, when I went
back and I was explaining,educating the parents throughout
the child's journey is aby-product and it is a
by-product Educating you andAnne Marie was very important to
me for you to understand.
It builds a value andAnne-Marie was very important to
me for you to understand.
(11:06):
It builds a value for what I dothat I'm not just a regular
swim instructor.
I try to emulate a lot of orincorporate a lot of theory in
there and when you guys got inand you practiced with Eli and
Gideon they were both theystarted to make the emotional
turn of.
This is very hard work with you, but I can definitely see how I
(11:30):
can incorporate this with mymom and dad and maybe have fun.
So you going home on theweekends and you practicing what
we, what I taught youthroughout the week became a
very important aspect of themgrowing independently on their
own.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
And something else that I noticed.
There's a lot of things thatkind of go through my mind when
we had our initial experienceswith you and your staff.
And your business goes beyondjust teaching survival, swimming
lessons and one of the thingsthat I noticed on the pool deck
(12:09):
you know, sitting there for fouror five days a week for several
, several weeks is that theparents got an opportunity to
know and understand each otherand all the parents were kind of
going through the samestruggles and you have an innate
ability to connect people andthat's something that's very
(12:31):
special because as a parent, youknow not having any expectation
of what's going on.
You can talk to other parentson the pool deck and you know we
can all cheer each other's kidson, because and you know we can
all cheer each other's kids onbecause sometimes it seems like
a madhouse that you know thekids are yelling and screaming
and they're just being kids, butyou know you have a command of
(12:59):
really what's going on and thenafterwards you check in and you
know you connect the families.
You know outside of, justpurely on the swimming deck, and
can you talk about that whyyou're such a good connector.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Why am I a good connector?
Because I love people, Chris.
You know that.
You see that.
I love people.
I think that everybody thatcomes on my pool deck is meant
to be there.
I'm meant to meet them.
They're they're meant to be inmy life for some reason or a
specific period of time,whatever, and I love people.
(13:32):
So the one thing that I I don'tthink that I'm great at is
really knowing exactly whateveryone that comes on my pool
deck does.
So there are times when I don'tthink that I maximize knowing
what everybody does, but somehow, some way, I have an ability to
eventually find out what peopledo and connect one another
(13:55):
through various sports, medicalprofessions, activities.
What have you so?
Yes, I meet a lot of people andI do love to connect people
together.
Yes, for sure.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
Well, as I mentioned before, I came to know Heidi as
a recommendation from one of mybest friends who had never met
or had no interaction with Heidi.
He just heard about her and herabilities and said, Chris, you
might want to just check her out.
And that's kind of really howwe came to know each other.
So you're doing something rightthere, Heidi.
(14:32):
I think what you say is youropportunity.
I think it's a definitestrength.
I wanted you to just kind oftalk a little bit about some of
the statistics.
You don't have to go into agreat deal, but some of the
statistics around aquaticaccidents with children, I don't
(14:52):
know infants, young childrenAgain, that's your specialty,
it's not mine.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
Okay, so first I want to talk about why I do it and I
want to go back and really giveyou a little bit of history.
I was taught to swim at a youngage myself.
I think that my dad might haveprobably just thrown me, tossed
me in, and it was flight orfight, I don't really remember,
it doesn't really matter at thispoint, but from a very young
(15:22):
age I just knew I knew how toswim.
I grew up swimming in lakes inNew York, in Vermont.
I swam competitively my wholelife and most people just
thought I was a mermaid.
If I wasn't in a pool,competitively swimming, I was
playing in our backyard pool,going to the beach.
I love the water.
(15:42):
You couldn't keep me out of it.
However, my mom was not a greatswimmer, so when we moved from
New York to Florida back in theearly 80s, she insisted on
finding a program that wouldteach children necessary skills
to survive, since we weresurrounded by water.
And at the age of 15, I watchedmy twin cousins learn to roll
back and float at nine months ofage.
(16:03):
Watched my twin cousins learnto roll back and float at nine
months of age.
I say I was as amazed as Icould be as a 15-year-old, but
for the next several years, thenext 15 years, I watched every
child in my family continuethrough the swim method with ISR
, with Infant Swimming Resource.
After watching my twinsparticipate in these types of
(16:25):
lessons, I was encouraged by mymom and dad to get back in the
water in some capacity to dosomething that I loved.
At that time, the drowningepidemic really wasn't my why in
the beginning stages.
My why was about finding aprofession that I loved and
serving with a purpose.
I fast learned drowning, whichmy daughters were 18 months at
(16:52):
the time when they went throughlessons.
When I started to become moreeducated about the drowning
epidemic, it definitely becamemy purpose.
So now I'd like to go into thedrowning statistics.
Drowning claims 320,000 people ayear worldwide, according to
the CDC.
Every year in the US, anestimated 3,900 fatal
(17:15):
unintentional drowning deaths,which is an average of 11 deaths
per day.
8,080 non-fatal drownings,which is an average of 22 a day.
Non-fatal drownings can resultin long-term health problems and
costly hospital stays.
Drowning of ages one throughfour is the number one leading
(17:36):
cause of death, which I'vealready said, and the second
leading cause in children agesfour through 14.
When you think about it.
Many parents are working fromhome these days, so they try to
save money by keeping theirchildren home and through the
COVID pandemic, child drowningsincreased in Florida from 69
(17:59):
deaths to 98 in a year, and thatwas a huge increase for us.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
From what Heidi just described in regards to aquatic
accidents, you can see why Idescribed her as someone that
prevents grief, and especiallywith children.
And if you've listened to mypodcast on children and grief,
you know that losing a child isvery, very traumatic, and if
(18:29):
there's any one thing that aparent can do is especially
around water, is to get yourchild swimming and structure so
they can have the ability tosurvive an aquatic accident.
It is powerful.
I'm going to give you a storyhere in regards to my son Gideon
(18:50):
my son Gideon.
So again, anne-marie and I wereon the forefront of getting the
boys swimming survival skillsat a very, very early age under
a year old for both of them, andit was one because we didn't
want to have any sort of anaccident, but we were always in
(19:12):
the water and I wanted them tohave independence in the water
and not just clinging to me.
And so there was one time wherewe were going to our community
pool in our community and theboys this is after they had been
to under Heidi's tutelage foryears and they were both going
(19:33):
up to the pool's edge, they hadalready put their sunblock on
and I was back under one of thechairs and as they were walking
up, there was a mom that wasfrantic and she was watching me
as the boys were approaching thewater and I could see out of
the corner of my eye.
She starts to approach the boysas they are going to the water,
(19:55):
and Gideon at this point.
He's small but Gideon can swim,so as they're running up, she
proceeds to start running up aswell.
And I looked at mom and I saidmom, don't worry about it, the
boys have both been trained tohave survival swimming skills
and they can both swim.
Because of Gideon's size, atthe time she still wasn't
(20:19):
believing me.
But once we got in the waterand she saw that they were able
to progress and swim, she wasreally surprised and she said
you know, wow, he's so small andhow is he able to do so much?
And I said well, we've been toSwim Sprout and that's where
they have gotten all this skill.
And I said that's why I don'thave to worry about my boys when
(20:42):
we're around water.
Obviously, as a parent I have aclose swaths, full eye.
But Gideon also, in Heidi's poolhe fell in.
I believe he fell in fullyclothed.
I think he was fooling aroundon the pool deck and he fell in
and Heidi just said wait, thisis an opportunity to show his
stuff, and he certainly did.
He did his little swim, float,swim, and so we knew he got it.
(21:05):
So that is all thanks to Heidi,and that is a parent I'm very
appreciative and that's, youknow, less of a worry for us.
I never want my children to bein a situation to where they're
scared of water or, you know, ifthey get in a situation where
they're not going to be able to,you know, take care of their
own.
So, heidi, thank you for thatand thank you for all you do.
(21:29):
Is there anything that I missed?
I'm going to go into some otherthings too, but is there
anything that I missed?
Speaker 2 (21:35):
I'm going to go into some other things too, but is
there anything that I missed orI didn't give you an opportunity
or I cut you off, like Icommonly do?
The only thing that I thinkthat I want to say, I think this
is a great opportunity for mejust to basically say exactly
what lessons consist of.
They're one-on-one.
They're tailored to eachindividual child based on their
previous history.
(21:55):
We work a lot with specialneeds children and so the
one-on-one really helps be ableto completely tailor to their
needs.
The lessons are Monday throughThursday.
They're 10 minutes each.
28 to 32 lessons can train theaverage child who is walking for
(22:19):
at least six to eight weeks tosuccessfully swim, float swim,
and if they're not, I should becontacted.
There are various instructorsaround central florida.
We are expanding to thepanhandle this spring.
We have one instructor in Texasand we can be reached at
swimsproutcom.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
I'm not going to let you go that easy.
I'm going to give you anotheropportunity to plug your website
and how you can be contacted aswell.
Heidi, from how you describedyour training of children to do
their swim float swim technique,I liken it to me as a financial
(23:01):
planner building a financialplan for a client, and there's
some similarities, some verydrastic similarities, and the
similarities are for each childthat you basically build a plan
for them, and it's unique tothat individual child and it is
(23:23):
not unlike the way that I builda plan for a client and for each
client that I build a plan for,it is unique to their
individual situation.
So I see some parallels, eventhough that we're doing
different things.
There are some very distinctparallels between the two.
As you know, I'm watching Heidiand the initial stages of her
(23:46):
training, eli.
I witnessed some other thingson the pool deck and again you
are sitting there with otherparents and you're watching an
inflow of.
It seemed like droves of kidscome through and get trained
correctly.
And I'd mentioned earlier thatyou have a knack for connecting
(24:09):
folks and you said that you likefolks and that's why you
connect people For some reason.
And you said that you likefolks and that's why you connect
people.
For some reason you like me,even though I give you such a
hard time, and maybe it'sbecause you like the punishment,
I don't know.
And you know, you and yourstaff and you're obviously, you
know, very, very good with yourfamilies.
(24:30):
And I'm going to sidebar here.
So her husband I gave him thenickname of staff, you know,
when we were on there becauseHeidi would command her husband
at points to do things like inthe house and you know, make
sure this is on or make surethis is off, or do this or do
that.
So I started to call him staff.
(24:50):
And again, you know I had becomecurious about Heidi and her
business and her growthopportunity.
So I took an opportunity Ithink it was an off day and it
was just me, eli, on the pooldeck I got to ask Heidi a lot of
questions about her businessand I got to disclose a lot of
(25:12):
things that have happened in mylife and that was, I think, a
turning point that Heidi and Ireally connected and it led me
to want to help Heidi in thegrowth of her business.
I saw the power of what shecould do and again she alluded
to.
She is very good at what shedoes the technical theory in the
pool and, you know, trainingkids through her methods.
(25:36):
So I was like, well, this maybe an opportunity for me to help
Heidi.
You know, beyond what she isdoing now, and something I don't
often talk about and I don'tthink I've really mentioned it
too much on the podcast beforeis that I had a wealth of
business knowledge that I gainedfrom my father over the years
(25:56):
and he often took me to businessmeetings.
He often engaged me in businessscenarios and business dealings.
He did that as far back as Icould remember and then, as I
got to be an adult, things juststarted clicking for me in the
business world and I couldanswer questions and I had no
(26:16):
idea, like why you're not goingto answer this question or that
question, and it just hit me.
You know my father was takingme on these meetings and so
Heidi and I had a conversationand I thought I could help her
and I said, hey, you know howwould you like some help to grow
your business?
So I kind of became Heidi'sbusiness coach of sorts and,
(26:39):
heidi, I'm going to let you takeit from there and you know
where you were, what your visionwas and then kind of how this
helped you in your businesshaving a business coach.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
Do you really want me to take it from here Because
you were scared?
I?
Speaker 1 (26:57):
wouldn't ask if I didn't want the truthful answer,
so I was scary.
Yes, I intimidate a lot ofpeople.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
Yes, chris was a scary dude, but that wasn't like
a new task, a new thing for me,my husband, but I'm not really
scary, that's just Heidi.
So I took him on.
I actually took the bull by thehorns and I said, yeah, I'm
going to tackle this guy, I'mgoing to see what he has to
(27:26):
offer me.
So when I first met Chris andreally I think he vetted me for
a long time, as much as Iprobably vetted him because he
did command respect he was kindof serious and he asked a lot of
questions, more than I reallywanted to.
He wanted to see proof of myinsurance.
(27:48):
He wanted to see proof of myCPR, he wanted to see proof of
anything that had he wanted tosee.
So I produced it.
But what I liked about him andwhy I gravitated toward him,
toward him was because he didcommand the respect and I felt
like he saw something in me thatI probably hadn't seen in
(28:11):
myself yet.
I was just I really don't wantto say that I was winging it
because in my head at the time Ifelt like I had all of my ideas
.
I had tasks, I had my thoughts,I had lists I do lists for days.
So I felt like I was disciplinedenough to build my business.
I felt like I had the toolsthat I needed to train
(28:32):
instructors, but what I didn'thave was the business sense at
all, and I learned that veryfast through a business, hiring
a business attorney, havingChris take me under his wing,
and so I had to start putting alot of trust in him and we went
to work.
He'd give me an assignment,he'd give me a deadline, and
(28:55):
because he was investing in me,I wanted him to see that I too
had the utmost respect for him,and I had to complete the task
days before he really wanted it,because I wanted to impress him
, I wanted to show him somethingthat maybe he hadn't seen in
somebody.
So that's really where itstarted, and very quickly,
(29:17):
working with Chris, he realizedI was working every aspect of my
business and swiftly forced meto find people whom could do the
same work I was doing, so Icould then work on the things I
needed to to grow, which Iwasn't.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
Delegation Delegation .
Speaker 2 (29:37):
I would have stayed there for a long time because I
was not willing.
I didn't think anybody couldsell me or sell my business like
I could, and I hired employees.
So after that, chris and I wentto work on assignments on how I
would grow, what my visionswere, what was my academic
(30:01):
material like, and we just keptmoving forward.
One week after another, weargued a lot, that I had a lot
of thoughts in my head, butnothing on paper.
That was a pivotal turningpoint for me was putting it all
on paper.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
So, heidi, what I can say about you?
Heidi, you're a hustler, ahustler in a good way.
My boys and I read the TrueMeaning of a Hustler and
sometimes it gets a littlemisconstrued.
And sometimes it gets a littlemisconstrued.
So, in regards to Heidi as ahustler, I'm referring to her
having a task and getting afterit, regardless of what is in her
(30:40):
way, and she'll get it done.
And that was really what I sawin Heidi dealings over the years
with lots of people.
I have found very few peoplethat have the get after it
mentality that Heidi has.
And I knew about her mentalitybecause taking, you know, the
(31:03):
theory and the training that shehas done for another company
and then transferring that toher own company, and not only
transferring it but transferringit and then growing to 15
instructors.
That's pretty powerful andthat's pretty successful.
And you can't do that kind ofsitting idly on the sidelines
and not putting the work in andthe time.
(31:25):
And Heidi is, all in all,invested and you know her life
circulates around what she doesVery, very passionate.
And that was really what I sawin Heidi that somebody was as
passionate about what they do asI am passionate about what I do
(31:45):
, and so it was reassuring tosee that and, like I mentioned
before, I keep my inner circlepretty small, but there are a
few people that you know forcetheir way into my inner circle.
Heidi is one of those folks.
There's another gal that isgoing to be on a podcast as well
who is in my inner circle.
(32:06):
But I really respect Heidi andyou know what she's done and how
she handles her business andhow she handles her family life
and you know just theprofessional that she is, looked
(32:36):
at an avenue to where she couldtransfer her skill set into a
nonprofit organization and giveback to the community.
So I want to give you anopportunity to plug that as well
, heidi.
Speaker 2 (32:41):
Okay, Mid last year, a lady by the name of Bernadette
.
It's all about connections,honestly.
The connection started off withthe owner of Bonefish.
Speaker 1 (32:55):
Bonefish Grill.
It's a restaurant.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
He knew that I was a swim instructor.
He knew that there was a ladythat worked for Halifax.
Just one one avenue led toanother.
Speaker 1 (33:06):
honestly, Halifax Medical Center.
It's a hospital.
Speaker 2 (33:11):
And put me in touch with a lady that worked for
Halifax who was working directlywith a family who had lost
their son in 2013 on a carnivalcruise to drowning, and I
immediately was drawn to.
This could be my partneringnonprofit and I met Tashara
(33:38):
Hunter back in September of 2021.
And I was deeply connectedinstantly.
So we kind of talked back andforth and I worked a little bit.
I just basically told herwhatever you need from me, let
(33:58):
me help.
I want to become a partner,became a partner, and by January
I was meeting with her andCassell, her husband, and they
asked me to join the board andwanted me to become their
drowning prevention specialist.
So I pondered on it for about aday and accepted the position,
(34:22):
and here we are.
So our very first function thatwe're going to do for 2022 is
actually going to take place inAvalon Park, florida.
On April 2nd, the Kiwanis Clubin Avalon is hosting an event.
It's called the Caring Festivaland this event is to connect
(34:43):
family and community to caringservices and resources, bringing
awareness the light of loss,bringing awareness, the light of
loss.
And so this completely ties inwith drowning drowning
prevention.
The mission of the foundationis to provide swim lessons for
(35:04):
underprivileged children to be aplace of comfort.
(35:27):
When Tashara and Cassell losttheir son, they had chaplain,
they had chaplain support, theyhad meals brought to them.
The services that they plan toprovide, moving forward, are
grief services and providescholarships for kids to have
(35:48):
survival swim lessons.
Speaker 1 (35:50):
Can you expand on some of the services under the
kind of the grief servicesumbrella that they plan to
provide?
You'd mentioned food forfamilies and some of those other
things.
Speaker 2 (36:02):
Yes, their long-term goal, their five-year plan, is
to have one building and underthat building they want to have
a pool with instructors.
They want to have a kitchen sothat we can cook food for
families during this time.
(36:23):
We'll have a chapel.
They will have a chaplain.
They will have arrangementswith funeral homes to help serve
during that time and providefinancing for those families.
Speaker 1 (36:41):
So a very, very good foundation is what you have
simply lined yourself up with.
And again, what I see is youare all in to what you do, and
this is just a replication ofwhat you do, and you're giving
back to the community.
So I commend you for doing that100%.
(37:02):
So can you name the foundationagain, and how can the
foundation be found online, andhow?
Speaker 2 (37:11):
can the foundation be found online?
The name of the foundation isthe Quentin Hunter Love
Foundation.
You can find the foundation bygoing to tqhlfoundationorg.
That's the Quentin Hunter LoveFoundationorg.
Speaker 1 (37:29):
I also want to give you, heidi, the opportunity to
plug Swim Sprout, because you dosuch a wonderful job and people
love you endlessly.
So how can folks find you Ifthey want to be part of your
organization, if they want yourgreat tutelage or any of your
(37:51):
instructors, mrs Senior, master,instructor, plus plus, plus.
How do they find you, heidi?
Speaker 2 (37:59):
I'm a pretty easy person to love though, aren't I,
Chris?
Speaker 1 (38:02):
Yes, you are Heidi.
Speaker 2 (38:06):
So you can find us at SwimSproutcom.
There are plenty of tabs therewhere you can find me.
There is training opportunitiesfor you.
To connect with me directly,you can contact me at 7047sprout
to find us online.
Speaker 1 (38:27):
Heidi, is there anything that you wanted to
speak about or you didn't havethe opportunity to talk about?
And as I have to do with Heidisometimes, I'm going to put
Heidi on a time limit.
Go, Heidi.
Speaker 2 (38:43):
So the one thing that I do want to finish.
I want I'm going to finish bysaying Chris transformed my
business and I want everyone toknow how, because it was a very
pivotal moment for me.
A very pivotal time for mewhich was probably a list of
four things he specificallywanted me to protect my brand
(39:06):
through trademarking it.
I didn't think that that wasimportant.
I learned fast that it wasbecause somebody tried to
incorporate swim into their namelocally here, growing Swim
Sprout Instructors withintimelines I created in my head.
He forced me to put that visionon paper.
(39:28):
He forced me to create adevelopment process to ensure
quality control for the companyto provide safe and effective,
efficient lessons for childrenfrom every instructor.
He started to provide input,continuing personal
relationships and how we mustcreate that amongst clients.
He got me to create a communityamongst my instructors so that
(39:52):
they could see that they couldbuild and grow both individually
and with us as a team.
Speaker 1 (39:59):
Well, Heidi, I appreciate the opportunity to
work with you professionally.
I appreciate our friendship andI appreciate you taking me at
face value, giving me trashalong the way to keep me humble,
and I appreciate you keeping mykids out of trouble.
So thank you.
It's been a very, very goodfriendship.
(40:22):
More than anything else, youknow above and beyond, so I
appreciate you.
A few things are thinking aboutthat are going through my head.
You had mentioned your mom,Dixie, who is one of my favorite
people in the world.
So I just love Heidi's familyto death and we've interacted so
many times.
Heidi knows Uncle Mike, I'vemet a lot of folks in her family
(40:48):
and we share a lot of goodtimes together as extended
family.
So I'm very, very appreciativeof that.
Heidi, and, as always to any ofour listeners, thank you for
listening.
I really appreciate it and feelfree to pass this episode on to
any friends, family members orcolleagues.
(41:19):
Colleagues, Thank you forlistening to our podcast.
If you are a client and arelooking to work directly with me
, Chris and or my firm head onover to life is for
financialplanningcom.
If you are an advisor lookingto emotionally and financially
work with your client in grief,or if you are a client looking
to get your advisor's head inthe game, head on over to
(41:41):
lifeaftergriefconsultingcom.
That islifeaftergriefconsultingcom.
Any information referenced inthis week's podcast will be
located here in the podcastsection and, as always, please
feel free to share this week'spodcast with any friend, family
member or colleague.
Thanks for listening.
(42:02):
See you next week on the nextepisode.
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