Meet Lauri Armstrong | Swim School Owner & Entrepreneur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Lauri Armstrong and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Lauri, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
Balance is the key to success. I did not always know this. I would push myself to the limit in almost everything I did. It has taken time, understanding, great mentors, my family, and friends to teach me the importance of balance.
My hard work set a foundation for me, though, and enabled me to do many great things. I have a bachelor’s degree in Biology from Colorado College (CC), and a Master’s degree in Leadership from the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs (UCCS). I did undergraduate research in Belize and Guatemala, and assisted in several published papers in graduate school, all before I turned 25 years old. I started purchasing homes in my early 30s and have several short term rentals (Airbnb’s) in Colorado and Florida, around the same time we started having children. I also own an automotive dealership that my brother-in-law operates. My main focus, and where I spend my days, is at Little Fins Swim School. We teach 2,000-3,000 one-on-one swim lessons a month, and hundreds of infants and toddlers a month in our parent participation classes.
At this point in my life, I have structured my businesses in a way that enables me to work remotely and spend quality time with my family and friends. I trust my staff and my management team implicitly. Trusting others to run a business that I worked many years to build took a huge leap of faith for me. My management team and staff run the day-to-day processes of the business with so much care and passion that I am able to support and supervise them from anywhere in the world. While I love to be at the pools and in person with our swimmers and my staff, I also love to travel, spend time with my family, read, cook, craft, and help our community through nonprofit work. I am fortunate to be able to travel with my kids and my husband, my parents, or my friends at least once a month, while I can work from anywhere.
Confucius said, “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” I am blessed to have built this type of life. It has not always been easy. There have been long days, weeks, months and years (COVID 2020 comes to mind), but I have so much passion and love for what we do, that it drives me. I “work” every single day, but I do it because I want to, and because I love what we have created at Little Fins Swim School and through my other endeavors.
In the beginning it was a lot of hustle and grind. There was not a lot of balance in my life. It was just a lot of work. I did this because I thought that is what I needed to do in order to be successful. Do not get me wrong, hustle and grind are definitely key ingredients, but they cannot sustain a healthy and fulfilling life. I found that when I connected our business to our community, to giving back, to raising money for nonprofits, and offering scholarships to families in need, the meaning behind “work” changed for me. I have had the opportunity and pleasure of raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for local nonprofits that my staff, family, and I love.
When we hire our new employees, we explain to them that giving back and being an active part of the community is essential to our success. This is also something that is lacking in schools and our youth today. We ask each staff member what they are passionate about, what drives them, and the things they hold near to their hearts. If there is an organization or cause that they are passionate about, we get involved in it. If we can sponsor an event, provide a scholarship, do a fundraiser, or participate in a run/walk as a staff, then we do it. We host and set-up monthly volunteer events and hours for our staff to participate within our community. We work with organizations like Children’s Hospital Colorado, Care and Share Food Bank, Susan DiNapoli Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation, our local Elks Lodge, and many more. Our staff has created and hosted clothing drives, made food baskets for local families in need, done baseball and lacrosse equipment donations, supported local schools, and raised money for many youth organizations, using the influence of our business following. We average 30-40 swim instructors throughout the year, each who donate their time, every month, in a positive way to our community.
Our brand and business is incorporated into everything my family and I do. My businesses connect me to the community in a much deeper way. Doing all of these things brings meaningful balance to my life.
Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Little Fins Swim School is our family’s dream and passion. We have taken water safety and survival to the next level, and had a true effect in our community as a leader in water safety, drowning prevention, swimming skills, and developmental learning through water exposure.
I started teaching swimming as a teenager, and never thought that my lifeguarding and swim instruction days would turn into something else. I taught swim lessons through high school and my undergraduate years at Colorado College (CC). Again, I never saw a correlation. After graduating from CC, I worked in the non-profit sector for 10 years, and earned my Master’s Degree, before starting my own family. It was not until my first baby was a few months old that I came back to the swim world.
I always loved teaching, and swimming, but I did not know how important it was, especially in our Colorado community. I wanted to get our daughter in survival swim lessons as soon as I could, but this proved to be very difficult in Colorado Springs.
Drowning is the leading cause of accidental death in children ages 1-4 years old; and, the second leading cause of accidental death in children under the age of 14 years old. After our close family friends lost their boys in a river accident in the mountains, these statistics took on a whole new power and meaning for our family. It became more important than ever to make sure our kids knew how to swim. But not just our children, all of the kids in our community should have the opportunity to learn to swim.
In many places in the United States, and the world, children grow up around water. There are oceans and backyard pools everywhere, but in Colorado, we have very little access to water, and very few (if any) backyard pools or public pools. Our children do not grow up knowing how to be safe around water. They barely have the opportunity to be in water at all, except for the short summer months when our public pools are open (Memorial Day to Labor Day). If we do not teach our kids how to be water safe, they will not be water safe. It is a gift that we must choose to give our kids in Colorado. This meant, as a business, we had to find places we could teach lessons year-round. This can only be done at indoor pools. We currently have 2 indoor locations in Colorado Springs, and service an outdoor private pool during the summer months, and we look forward to future growth.
At Little Fins Swim School, we start infant survival swim (ISS) lessons at 6 months old and teach up to swim team level. We have children of all ages and abilities who swim with us, and we work one-on-one to meet them at their level and their pace. We have grown over the past 8 years from a program teaching 200 lessons a month to now teaching 2,000-3,000 lessons a month. We specialize in 1-on-1 lessons using the swim-float-swim method. Every swimmer must demonstrate consistent water safety and survival techniques before continuing through our progressive swim program. Our lessons also encourage babies and young swimmers to improve cognitive skills, emotional skills and social skills, as well as motor function, gripping and balance skills.
Little Fins Swim School started a campaign called #NoChildDrowns, and we are a global leader in the fight against drowning. We have received recognition world-wide, even being featured on Good Morning America, Fox & Friends, Romper, BuzzFeed, and all of the local news stations, and more. We have several viral videos, highlighting my nieces (we are family owned and operated business) teaching infant survival swim lessons. This has given us the opportunity to have a global presence and share #NoChildDrowns on a much larger scale. We save lives everyday, and offer many scholarships to families who cannot afford our services or who are going through a difficult time.
While it is amazing to be recognized nationally, we hold true to our mission and vision: We strive to create a community of water safe children through collaborative and innovative instructional methods. Our program is designed to develop life-long, life-saving skills in addition to fostering cognitive, emotional, social and motor functioning skills. Always learning, growing, and improving, Little Fins Swim School aims to create strong, confident, resilient swimmers, and community members. At Little Fins we are passionate about children, child safety and development.
Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
ITINERARY: Day 1
Breakfast: Quijotes has some of the best breakfast burritos in Colorado Springs.
Head up the road to the Olympic Training Center for a tour.
Lunch: Patty Jewett golf course. Great drinks and food, and some of the best views of Pikes Peak in the city.
Swing by Palmer Park for a quick hike and check out the overlook of the city. Easy trails and tons to see.
Dinner: IV by Brother Luck
Day 2
Take a short road trip up the pass to Lake George. We will stop at Rudy’s BBQ on the way out of town, just outside of Manitou Springs/Old Colorado City, to take up to our family cabin for the day. We will kayak, paddle boat and fish on the lake, side-by-side and hike around 11 Mile.
Dinner: Back to the Springs for a panino at Panino’s West Side. Family owned and operated Italian restaurant.
Nightcap: Elks Lodge #309. Great drinks at a great price. Good company.
Day 3
Air Force Academy for a tour, and nice drive around the base.
Lunch: Food trunk Wednesday off of Woodman and Powers – it’s a great way to try lots of local vendors. Some of our favorites are Chef Bob’s Lobsta Trap, Piglatin, Miggy’s Meltdown, and Scratch Mobile Kitchen.
Garden of the Gods is one of the most photographed places in the United States. There are tons of trails to hike or walk, or you can drive through with lots of lookout points and places to stop and explore.
Dinner: Bourbon Brother’s and maybe a concert at Bootbarn Hall on the north-end
Day 4
Breakfast: Wooglin’s Deli
Hike and explore Seven Falls before we hit the Broadmoor Spa to relax and rejuvenate. The food at the Broadmoor is 5 star, along with the service.
Before we leave the area, we will grab a yard of beer at the Golden Bee.
Dinner: Skirted Heifer, featured on Dives and Diners on the food network, this locally owned burger place is not to be missed.
Day 5
Driving east to Calhan to visit the Painted Mines. A beautiful (hidden) area with white rocks and a 3 mile trail. This is a great place to take photos.
Lunch: Rooster Grille and Pizzeria in Calhan. You can get rocky mountain oysters here!
Downtown for dinner and drinks!: Jax Fish House Oyster Bar is incredible food, with knowledgeable staff who can teach you all about the different types of oysters and flavors, how to pair them and eat them.
Rabbit Hole for drinks. Nosh for late night snacks.
Day 6
Lunch: Drifters Hamburgers, local greasy spoon, burgers, fries and shakes that make In and Out look like beginners.
Head to Red Rocks Amphitheater for a concert or event. This venue is s an open-air amphitheater built into a rock structure. Artists and musical superstars come here from all over the world to perform in this unique and acoustically brilliant space.
Day 7
Breakfast: Monica’s Tacos and Burritos
Drive to the top of Pikes Peak or take the Cog Railway to see Colorado Springs from a whole new perspective.
Lunch: Leon Gessi’s New York style pizza, followed by soft-serve next door at BJ’s Velvet Freeze
Dinner: Marigold’s Cafe and Bakery, french inspired dining, with incredible homemade desserts
Other fun things to do: feed the giraffes at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, say hello to Carlos at Carlo’s Bistro on the westside, take an art class at Bemis Art School, shop in Manitou, visit the Magic Town at the Michael Garman Museum & Gallery in Old Colorado City, or stop by a farmer’s market and support local farms.
Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
One book I always recommend to all young entrepreneurs and business-minded people, was published in 1936, and still holds true to this day, “How to Win Friends and Influence People,” by Dale Carnegie. Anything and everything you could ever want to know is in a book.
A few people who have influenced my path:
Sylvia Mendez, Ph.D., Department Chair and Professor, Leadership, Research, and Foundations at UCCS.
Marc Synder, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Organismal Biology & Ecology, Colorado College.
Jeff Cathey, Assistant Vice Chancellor, Appalachian State University.
Lynnette DiRaddo, Worner Center Manager & Interim Director of Arts & Crafts, Colorado College, retired.
Lori Ann Summers, Vice President for Institutional Advancement, Newberry College.
Dr. Raymond Ross, Lodge Coordinator and Scholarship Coordinator, Elks Lodge, retired.
I would not be where I am today without my family and friends, mentors, and my incredible staff. It takes an army to raise a family and run businesses. Thank you to:
My parents, Nanette and Stuart Thomas.
My siblings, Jeff and Heather Thomas, Austin and Jenni Fisk, and Jack, Mary, Casey and Max Armstrong.
My girls, Amy, Casey, Heathz and Tisha.
My nieces, who are an integral part of my daily life and who innovate our business, and keep me hip: Lexi, Haley, Anna, Jill, Storrie, and Kailey.
All of the children in my life, who shape me, teach me, and push me to continue to grow and improve what we do: Presley and Jaxson Armstrong, Colby and Brody Thomas, Dallas and Frankie Fisk, Brayden Ford, and Rowan Cruz,
My husband, Jimmy Armstrong, who has made our life a possibility. He listens to all my stories, supports me through every crazy idea, he brainstorms with me, pushes me, calms me, and loves me fiercely. He is the best partner and friend.
Website: www.LittleFinsSwimSchool.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/littlefinsswimschool/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/littlefinsCO
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LittleFinsSwimSchoolColorado
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@colittlefinsswimschool8391
Image Credits
Whiskey Shots Photography, Emily Brumley Photography