I teach people how to swim in the Hamptons. Many of my clients are incredibly high-profile people who value their privacy and appreciate my high standards.
Courtesy of Elizabeth Parry
- Elizabeth Parry runs her own company, Hamptons Swim, which provides swimming lessons.
- Although 95% of her clients are high-profile, she also gives back and teaches scholarship families.
- Parry says her instructors are trained on how to speak to the clients and always be "Switzerland."
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Elizabeth Parry, a 43-year-old swim instructor in the Hamptons and owner of Hamptons Swim. It's been edited for length and clarity.
I grew up in the Hamptons in a town called Water Mill, and I've been teaching swimming for 22 years.
Today, I run my own company, Hamptons Swim, where we provide swimming lessons for all ages and levels. My clients own multi-million dollar homes in the Hamptons and are incredibly high profile.
My upbringing was modest
I grew up as a Hamptons local, not one of the rich city people who came out in the summer. The contrast in lifestyles, made particularly evident when wealthy New Yorkers seasonally migrated to the beach, entrenched in our small-town society an "us vs. them" mentality.
However, for me, this disconnect was natural. Almost everyone in my family worked doing something related to catering to these fabulous people. Still, it was very hard not to feel like less. In the Hamptons, the richest of the rich come together to spend a relaxing and luxurious summer in their $300 million homes on the ocean. The town even has a street known as "Billionaire Lane."
Growing up near the ocean, I spent many years swimming and lifeguarding and finally decided to become an instructor. Once I started out, I found that I not only loved it, but that I had a natural rapport with the luxury community.
Soon, business was booming
When COVID-19 hit, there was a massive exodus out of the city. People didn't want to be confined to their high-rises, and Europe was closed. My business started growing faster. Suddenly, I couldn't handle all the demand by myself.
I now have 16 instructors and charge $120 per half hour or $240 an hour. I look for people with similar experience and teaching credentials as my own, plus I do background checks and intensive training. We're still hiring and looking to expand.
There really is a need for my niche business in this luxury world
Everybody should learn how to swim, and accessibility for pools in the city is limited. The clients I work with don't want to take their kid to the YMCA; they think it's gross. They prefer to have them learn in their personal pools.
They can have whatever they want, and what they want is for their child to have a really good experience with an excellent instructor.
My high standards make my business successful
It's what allows me to raise my rates and still have clients refer me to their friends. Thankfully, a lot of my instructors have been living in the Hamptons for years, so they already know how to deal with these high-profile personalities. I'm not pulling somebody out of a cornfield and teaching them about rich people.
Still, my training does include what the expectations are, how to speak to the client, and how to always "be Switzerland." Always say: "Yes, ma'am," "No, ma'am." Arrive early, because there's going to be a gate and there might be somebody who meets you at the door. Try not to go into the house; try to go around (especially during COVID-19).
A lot of times, the parents aren't even there. The nanny or somebody else on their staff is with the child.
I'm also very big on privacy
It's a small community, after all, and they all know me. I've had many clients say to me: "Oh, if it's one of your people, totally send them over." I take good care of their children, and my instructors are the same. They know there won't be any gossiping from us.
Although 95% of my clients are high-profile, the Hamptons is not just rich people. I'm a big fan of giving back to the community, so I have two scholarship families that I teach at my parents' pool. Swimming is so essential that it shouldn't just be for the rich and fabulous.
This range has allowed me to realize that a lot of the stereotypes present in my community growing up were false. There was an attitude of putting rich people in a certain category, assuming they were going to treat us badly or like we were less. The older I get, the more I realize that if you treat people with kindness, you'll get treated with kindness back.
I love the families I work with. I've worked with some of them for 10 years, and they've always treated me with the utmost respect and kindness. I've been hugged and given gifts from some very powerful and influential people that, if you looked them up in the media, people might not say such nice things about them.
from Business Insider https://ift.tt/D0jhinm
No comments