4 strokes of life with Laurie Karr

 

I am so happy to share my lovely conversation with Laurie Karr. She is the founder/owner of the Buckeye Swim Club. I have been a part of the Buckeye swim club for the past 3 years. It was a very engaging conversation with her. I was intrigued by her journey and learnt a lot. I couldn't wait to start writing this blog. Here are the questions I asked:

1. How long has your journey been building the Buckeye swim club and what were some of the first challenges you faced when you started, after you got your first 50 swimmers and now?

Laurie started the business in 1989 as a winter program for summer league teams. Laurie’s club did not have a name. In 1995, her team was invited to go down to The Ohio State and become the Buckeye swim club. Laurie had 150 swimmers at that time and they did really well for a long time. The Ohio State decided to build a new recreation center and the teams that were renting the place could not rent it anymore so there was no place to practice. Laurie’s team struggled to find a place for the team to practice which led to losing many swimmers. She then found the Columbus North sports club and made that their new training facility.

2. What are the qualities that you look for in your coaches?

Laurie looks for experienced coaches who can communicate really well with kids of all ages and can care for them during their swimming journey. They should also have the technical expertise to train the swimmers. Along with this, she is also looking for the coaches to have a lot of enthusiasm and passion for the sport.

3. How do you deal with managing so many different swimmers and their parents who may have different goals or expectations for them?

It’s a three way relationship between the swimmer, parent and the coach. If the coach does well in training the swimmer and then sets different goals throughout the season the swimmer will succeed and the athlete's parents eventually want to see their child athlete do very well.

4. How do you set goals for your swimmers and then the team?

Laurie sets overall goals for the team and then communicates it to everybody. She then spends time motivating each swimmer and discussing individual time goals. After the race is complete, she shares feedback with every swimmer whether they have done well or need improvement. She thinks to herself in areas she can communicate better with each swimmer.

5. Building a new pool facility like in Powell, costs money. How did you go about raising money to build a new pool?

Covid helped her business in a lot of ways. Laurie could expand her business even more. At that time she was looking into retail spaces and she got one easily because retail spaces were struggling to get businesses at that time. Later she got an SBA loan. SBA stands for Small Businesses Association who help small businesses with managing their money. The landlord gave Laurie a long lease for the space. The landlord also spent $500,000 for all the improvements for the space except the pool. This was her journey to set up the pool in Powell.

6. How do you feel when swimmers leave the club and how do you manage yourself at that time?

She feels sad but Laurie takes a moment to realize that this club is not the best for everybody. After people leave she will continue to improve her coaching skills and abilities. She feels bad especially from the swimmers point of view because of the lost opportunities to experience, feedback and improve to make a difference.

7. What is your dream for the Buckeye Swim Club?

Laurie has so many dreams for her business. For the swimmers, she would like to get more of her swimmers to the Junior Olympics and Olympic trials. Not only is she thinking about the present day goals, she is also thinking about the future goals she would like to accomplish. For example, she wants to get even more kids to see how amazing and fun swimming can be.

8. Were there any special moments that occurred while building your business?

Laurie used to train her swimmers at an empty pool with no program. It was one hour away and it really touched her heart that her swimmers are coming an hour away to swim. However, Laurie later found out that all her swimmers were driving right past an empty YMCA pool and then they started to train there for a period of time. Another special moment for her was when she had an exchange student who came from Japan and was learning and being coached by her. He was the Japanese record holder in the 100 meter butterfly. When he returned to Japan he broke the record again in the same event.

9. As a female founder what advice would you give to me and other athletes or entrepreneurs who would like to follow in your footsteps?

Laurie says that you have to persevere in life. Coming from a time where there were not many female founders, she had to work very hard to build her business even more. She is amazed to see where the business is today compared to when it started. In addition to working hard there can be times where you need to release every single thought and start fresh. Emotions are tough to manage for everyone and if you are using your emotions it shows how much effort you put into your job or business.

I had such a heart touching experience with Laurie. I learnt a lot and was inspired by her journey. I’ve experienced her passion and love for the sport everyday I go to practice. I would like to thank Laurie for her time and I hope you all enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed interviewing her and writing this blog. 

If you would like to reach out to her, here are his social media links down below.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/35476524380

Website: https://www.buckeyeswimclub.com

I would really love to hear your feedback and comments. Please reach out to me@hanikachhajer.com.