Sarah Christenson
Title: Founder, Sunsational Swim School
Age: 30
Education: Bachelor's in economics, University of Colorado
Favorite Books: Rich Dad, Poor Dad; The E-Myth Revisited
In 2009, Sarah Christenson was on a path to get her master’s degree in teaching, until a Craigslist ad for swim lessons plunged her into the deep end of entrepreneurship.
The ad, meant to just generate some summer work, turned into a business, and now Christenson has built her company, San Diego-based Sunsational Swim School, into a firm that was recognized by international entrepreneurship firm Empact as one of the nation’s 308 best companies run by a young entrepreneur
The private swim lesson firm, which today employs more than 1,200 seasonal workers in 23 metro areas, was featured in the Empact Showcase, one of several programs Empact puts on each year to encourage entrepreneurship in communities around the world by exposing and celebrating success stories. The showcase was sponsored by Entrepreneur Magazine and hosted by the United Nations Foundation at the U.N. headquarters, as part of the foundation’s commitment to improve local communities by fostering and supporting small businesses.
The object of the annual showcase is to highlight young entrepreneurs and the influence they have on the economy.
Together, the 308 companies, started an average of five years ago, employed 6,260 last year and earned $1.3 billion in revenue. To be eligible, all of their founders had to be under 35 years old and had revenue of at least $100,000 in 2012.
Sunsational Swim School was one of five San Diego companies featured in the 2013 showcase, which Forbes dubbed as one of its "must-attend conferences for entrepreneurs" this year.. Christenson’s was the only San Diego firm founded by a woman.
Small Business News - The latest small business stories
San Diego Companies in Empact Showcase 2013
Shake Smart: Blended drink retailer specializing in protein shakes and meal replacements, founded by Kevin Gelfand (age 24) and Martin Reiman (24)
Golden Shine: San Diego house cleaning service, founded by Jeremy Yamaguchi (26)
Güd Technologies: Web application development firm started by Mike Zhang (23)
JFEN Holdings: Marketingn agency founded by Jeffrey Fenster (30)
She stopped by the U-T to share her story with us and talk about how she has managed her company's explosive growth.
Q: What happened to change your track from teaching to offering swim lessons?
A: I had just come back from Australia. I was there with a pretty high-profile Los Angeles family, working as their private tutor and studying to get my master's to teach. And when we were in Australia, they had a private swim instructor come and teach the children.
I've always been on the swim team, and I decided to try teaching private swim lessons, because it combined my love of children and swimming. When we got back to Los Angeles, I posted an ad on Craigslist, and because of all the nice homes there with private swimming pools, it was really popular.
Q: At what point did you decide to take this from part-time summer job to a full-fledged business?
A: I kept getting customers, so I decided to make a website, and before long I ended up having to hire another girl to help me teach. After that summer, which ended in September, I went to Taiwan to teach and came back in the spring and went to Orange County and decided to expand from Los Angeles to OC and San Diego. I had about 30 instructors that summer.
source : Utsandiego
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