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 Georgia with her husband and two sons.

As Marketing Specialist, 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.

Melissa has served as the Director of Operations since 2017, managing all aspects of British Swim School’s Aquatics program. Prior to that, she worked with Good Life Fitness, Ontario, for 13 years, ultimately serving as the National Kids Program and Pool Operations Manager, managing over 150 locations in that capacity. Melissa loves hanging out with her Miniature Schnauzer Bentley at their home in London, Ontario and listening to their vast vinyl collection.

Darlene grew up in a small town in the Finger Lakes of New York state, and went to school in Buffalo, NY.  She enjoyed a career as an engineer with an environmental company for about 20 years, and then decided she needed a change.  She moved to Maryland in 2011 and joined the first British Swim School franchise.  Since then, she has had many roles, including General Manager, Regional Aquatics Director & Franchise Owner.  Her passion is teaching and training.

When she’s not in the pool, she enjoys spending time with her family, being a grandmother, reading, exercising, kayaking, doing puzzles of all kinds, and listening to music.

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.

Elyse joined British Swim School in May 2017 as Director of Location Services, previously serving as a human resource manager for the Target Corporation. Elyse has an extensive background in HR, operations and logistics, making her an invaluable resource for our franchise owners in their pool scouting process and for any insurance needs they may have. Elyse lives in Florida with her husband, three sons and two dogs.

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 as a Senior Franchise Business Coach after working for a large transportation company. In his role 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 daughter and working, James enjoys date nights with his wife, working out, golfing, and sporadic get togethers with his friends.

Shaun joined the British Swim School team after working as a Business Coach for five years in the cleaning industry.  He aims to support and develop strategies for franchisees, through continued support focusing on profitability, operations, marketing, and human resources. When not helping franchisees achieve their goals, Shaun enjoys working out and singing, and that’s if he is not hiking with his dogs Tyra Banks and Roman.

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 the Operations Support Specialist. 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.

Dave was born and raised in Alaska, and serves as the Director 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.

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.

As a Franchise Development Coordinator, Josh has been with British Swim School since August of 2021. Josh works on bringing new franchisees into the British Swim School business. His experience includes creating new viable territories, drafting and distributing agreements, coordinating Meet the Team Days, and other compliance work. Since his start, Josh has helped bring many new franchisees to the British Swim School team.