“At the time we had two young kids,” she said. “Our little boy was 4 and our little girl was 2 and I wanted to kind of get into a company that we could make a family business and all do together.”
Strozier said she also loved Goldfish Swim School’s main priority being educating children on water safety while teaching them how to swim and respect the water.
Goldfish Swim School provides swim lessons and water safety instruction to infants and children ages 4 months to 12 years, teaching children how to be safer in and around the water. Each school offers swim lessons and programs using a proprietary philosophy, The Science of SwimPlay, to build life skills both in and out of the water using play-based learning in a fun and safe environment.
“We also … do assembly style classes where we teach water safety even at the kids’ elementary schools or daycares,” Strozier said. “We’re really trying to raise awareness in just helping kids have a safer future.”
In addition to spending 40-plus hours a week at the swim school, Strozier has established partnerships with Dayton Children‘s Hospital and Safe Kids Greater Dayton to spread the important message of water safety, while also donating thousands of dollars in swim scholarships to the Miami Valley Down Syndrome Association and providing opportunities with grant funding from the USA Swimming Foundation.
Strozier said she stays involved in numerous philanthropic and community-based activities because she really likes helping children.
“I don’t think that learning to swim should be a privilege,” she said. “Not everybody can afford swim lessons, so giving back to kids that are in need has just always been what we’re passionate about.”
The business used federal funding to help reopen during COVID and give area children “a little brightness through all of these trying times” that saw them spending more time than ever at home, she said.
Strozier’s hard work both inside and outside the franchise recently was recognized on the national level. She was honored with the International Franchise Association’s Franchisee of the Year Award, a major nationwide franchise industry award.
Presented during the association’s annual convention award ceremony March 1 in San Diego, California, the annual recognition recognizes leading franchisees who exemplify at least one of IFA’s “Open for Opportunity” core pillars: Community, Workforce, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and Veterans.
Strozier said it was an honor to be recognized with the award.
“It’s always nice to get that recognition that you’re doing a good job and that you are standing out in your community,” she said. “It inspires you to keep doing it. We just always love that reminder of what we’re doing is making a difference and it matters.”
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