Support

As the President of British Swim School, Ashley oversees all aspects of the business and leads the team to drive growth and ensure strong franchisee support.

Prior to joining the team in 2019, Ashley accumulated more than a decade of marketing experience on the senior leadership team at a marketing agency in Norfolk, VA, managing omnichannel marketing programs for 40+ clients across the US and Europe and contributing to the overall health of the agency. Prior to that, she served for several years at Dominion Enterprises in a marketing analytics role. She graduated from James Madison University with a degree in Business Marketing.

As a mother of three boys – all British Swim School students – Ashley and her husband enjoy a chaotic and albeit happy life filled with sports, Nintendo, and driveway basketball.

As Director of Marketing, Julia works to develop and implement marketing strategies for the franchise system, focusing on customer recruitment and retention, increased business and bottom line profitability at the local level. Prior to joining the British Swim School team, Julia managed client relationships at several agencies specializing in direct response marketing, working within a variety of industries. Julia is from the Hampton Roads area and currently lives in Virginia Beach with her husband and two sons.

As Marketing Manager, Emily works as part of the Marketing Team to research and gather information on methods of marketing, distribution, and competitors. She assists and supports public relations coverage, franchisee requests, franchise recruitment efforts, and works with leadership on projects, events & company-wide communications. Prior to joining the British Swim School team, Emily has many years of experience managing several different programs and their marketing, branding, and social media accounts, as well as their web presence and media outreach and coverage. Emily is from the Northern Virginia area and currently lives in Virginia Beach with her husband and daughter.

As Marketing Assistant, Chanae works closely to ensure that all marketing campaigns are executed effectively and efficiently. She supports franchise recruitment and consumer marketing efforts by creating and distributing compelling content. Prior to joining the British Swim School team, Chanae executed and marketed events and weddings. She has a diverse background in event planning, digital marketing, and creative writing. Chanae is from the Hampton Roads area and currently resides in Virginia Beach, Va.

As the Director of Aquatics, Melissa works with the aquatics team to provide and implement training. She also supports both new and current owners, ensuring that the aquatics program is being delivered the “BSS” way. Working with other industry leaders, Melissa’s passion is always to make safety a priority, with an emphasis on drowning prevention and creating safer communities. Working closely with the Operations and Marketing teams, the Aquatics department focuses on safe and profitable swim schools! Prior to joining British Swim School, Melissa was the childcare and pool operations manager for the largest fitness club in Canada, learning valuable lessons in customer service, leadership, and child development. Melissa currently resides in London, Ontario, Canada with her husband and their two Miniature Schnauzers, Theodore, and Angus.

• USSSA Special Abilities Training Certification
• Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Workplace
• American Red Cross First Aid
• American Red Cross Lifeguard Management Training
• Pool Operator Level 1 – Lifesaving Society
• Safesport
• AODA, WHMIS, CPR, Health and Safety training

As the Aquatics Training Manager, Darlene offers onboarding support and training for all new Owners and Aquatic Leaders. Darlene’s passion is to educate and share her vast knowledge of the British Swim School aquatics program with everyone she works with. This extensive knowledge comes from her experience with British Swim School since the first franchise opened in 2011. Her past roles include Aquatics Director and Regional Trainer, and she was a British Swim School Owner for five years. When she’s not traveling, Darlene enjoys spending time with her family at home in Boston, being a grandmother, reading, exercising, kayaking, doing puzzles, and listening to music.

• Starguard Instructor Level 2
• StarGuard Level 3 (Lifeguard+Instructor Trainer)
• Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Workplace
• Safesport

As Aquatics Specialist, Paige assists in educating new franchise owners on the aquatics side of the business. While overseeing the Special Abilities aquatics programs, she assists in creating new training materials to better support franchise owners and their aquatic leaders. Paige started as an instructor for BSS of Northern Baltimore, then was promoted to Aquatics Director, and now works on the Aquatics team at corporate. She also has a background in speech therapy and working with children with a variety of special needs. Paige is originally from Maryland and now lives with her husband and son in southern Virginia.

• beTI certified (“be Trauma Informed”)
• Swim Angelfish Swim Whisperer Level 1 Certification
• Level 2 Starguard certification
• Safesport

As an Aquatic Program Specialist, Crystal assists in the creation, updating, and implementation of aquatics programs throughout the British Swim School curriculum. While a math teacher by degree, Crystal has spent most of her adult life engaged in aquatics in some capacity. She has been a swim team coach and aquatics director, taught thousands of swim lessons across every age and skill level, and created original aquatics programming. She is driven by the thrill of streamlining processes and brainstorming creative tools to help swimmers, instructors, and owners succeed in their aquatics’ aspirations. Outside of the water, Crystal enjoys using power tools, exploring new cities, hiking, and catching live music with her husband, son, and daughter.

• StarGuard Instructor (Level 2)
• StarGuard Lifeguard
• USMS Certified Adult Learn-to-Swim Instructor
• Safesport

As an Aquatic Program Specialist, Madison supports the creation, updating, and implementation of aquatics programs throughout the British Swim School curriculum. With a background in competitive swimming and coaching, she provides support for the Barracuda Swim Team and Stronger Swimmer programs, as well as crafting materials to support franchisee owners and aquatic leaders in those programs. Prior to joining BSS, Madison built nearly a decade of experience in aquatics in a civilian position within the Navy working for a fitness, aquatics, and recreational organization. She started as a lifeguard and swim instructor, then worked her way up to an Aquatics Program Director for the Navy’s east coast Master Jet Base in Virginia Beach. Originally from North Carolina, Madison resides in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, and enjoys lounging around at home and spending time with her dogs in her down time.

• StarGuard Level 3 (Lifeguard+Instructor Trainer)
• ARC Lifeguard Instructor (+Waterfront)
• ARC Water Safety Instructor
• FitOur Aqua Aerobics Instructor
• Safesport

Steven joined British Swim School in 2012, and in addition to overseeing technology needs for our system, serves as a Business Coach to ensure that franchisees’ businesses are running smoothly. When not on a plane for work, play or to recharge his Britishness in the UK, Steven indulges in wine flights around Canada’s growing wine regions.

Susan joined British Swim School in November 2015 and serves as our Director of New Franchisee Onboarding, where she manages new franchisee onboarding and ongoing training for the full British Swim School system. Susan holds an MBA in franchising operations and has worked in the franchising industry for over 30 years. Susan loves spending time in Spain with her grandson Leo and impressively, holds several medals from prior shooting competitions.

After working for another franchisor for the previous decade, Jay joined the team in 2019 as a Franchise Business Coach. Jay has become an integral part of the growth and development for our franchisees, working alongside them to tackle challenges and guiding them on recommended actions to help grow their businesses. He now serves as the Director of Operations for British Swim School. While not working with franchisees to locate a great new pool partner, Jay can be found on the beach, at a concert or in his backyard grilling a good steak.

James joined the British Swim School team in 2019 after working for a large transportation company. In his role as Operations Manager, he assists and guides franchisees in all aspects of their business, always looking for operational efficiencies to allow them to provide more swim lessons in the most productive way. In between raising his young daughters and working, James enjoys date nights with his wife, working out, golfing, and sporadic get togethers with his friends.

Grayson joined British Swim School as a Franchise Business Coach after spending 18 years in the food service industry as a manager and franchise owner. He works to help our franchisees maximize their potential and grow successful businesses. When he is not mentoring he loves to spend time with his wife whom he has been with for over 11 years, educating himself about finance, and enjoys reading everything from fiction to personal improvement.

Cade graduated from Hampden-Sydney College with degrees in both Economics and Fine Arts. After starting multiple businesses and working at Koenig Distillery in Idaho, Cade joined the British Swim School team as Franchise Business Coach. Cade assists franchisees in all their IT and support system needs, as well as providing training on these systems to new owners. Cade enjoys playing hockey, guitar, mountain biking, and skiing. In the summer, you can find Cade spending his downtime on his boat and at the beach surfing.

Cassaundra graduated from Old Dominion University with a Bachelor’s of Science, and Regent University with a Master’s in Business Administration. She spent 14 years working in Virginia Beach Parks and Recreation managing various recreational programs for all ages. She spent the last year working for Aramark and managing AT&T Center Facilities in San Antonio, Texas. Cassaundra joined the British Swim School team as Franchise Business Coach. She works to help our franchisees maximize their potential and grow successful businesses. Cassaundra enjoys spending quality time with friends and family, reading, going to the beach, playing softball and sand flag football.

After graduating from Old Dominion University with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration Kelsey joined British Swim School in September 2023 as an Operations Support Specialist where she assists franchise owners with all of their IT and support system needs. Her experience includes creating new viable territories, drafting and distributing agreements, identifying new pool opportunities, and providing operational guidance and support to franchisees.

Dave was born and raised in Alaska, and serves as the Vice President of Franchise Development for British Swim School. He spent 30 years in Sacramento, California and now resides in Thomasville, Georgia. Dave has been in franchise development for more than 12 years and loves helping people feed their entrepreneurial spirit and free up time through scaling a business. The former VP of Development at Deka Lash enjoys the outdoors camping, fishing, and spending time with his family and four-legged friends.

In 2010, Rita had the opportunity to transition from Tourism to Franchising by joining an emerging health food franchise and quickly fell in love with the industry. Working with hopeful entrepreneurs became more than an interest—it became a passion. Guiding someone through the journey to business ownership is extremely rewarding and just one of the many reasons she enjoys Franchise Development as much as she does! Rita currently lives in Central Florida with her husband, Christian, and their loyal “delivery man guard dog,” Louie. She is a major bibliophile with a yearly goal of 75-100 books. She also loves traveling, live music, paddle boarding, and hosting themed dinner nights with family and friends during her free time.

Austin James was born and raised in Norfolk, VA and is a proud alum of James Madison University. He started his career with Buzz Franchise Brands and has held prior positions on both the operations and finance side of the business. Now, as a Director of Franchise Development, Austin enjoys getting to know prospective franchise owners and helping guide them through the discovery process. In his free time, he enjoys going to the beach, biking, and boating. He is also a foodie and enjoys cooking new cuisines and tasting different craft beers. Austin lives with his girlfriend Amanda and their Goldendoodle Kylo.

Matthew grew up working in his family’s restaurant and catering business, so he has first-hand experience inside what it is like to run a small business. Matthew has been in the franchising industry for the past 7 years and is thankful for the relationships the industry has allowed him to build. Having two young kids as well, Matthew loves the mission behind British Swim School and the opportunity it provides to help people everyday. The professional, top-notch, and most importantly fun approach to branding is a small bonus.

Matt Cullen was born and raised in Norfolk, VA and currently lives in Virginia Beach with his wife, Cherie, and his four children. He has joined our team here at Buzz Franchise Brands as the Franchise Development Coordinator. He has many years of customer service and account management experience and is a veteran of the United States Army. In his free time, he enjoys quality family time, coaching our youth in baseball and always enjoys a good laugh. Matt is goal-oriented, outgoing, and always wanting to learn something new.

Jackie has spent the past 18 years in the franchise industry. She has a passion for connecting clients to exciting business opportunities, allowing them to become entrepreneurs. Most recently, Jackie was selling preschools to individuals who really want to make a difference in educating and providing a safe, creative and social environment for small children. Jackie understands the value and importance of teaching young children safety and survival techniques. Jackie currently resides in a beach community in Delaware and in her spare time enjoys spending time in the ocean, golfing and biking.