Nikola Marincakova

I never had an American Dream, but America picked me because people saw my athletic build and shoulders and recognized the huge need for kids to learn how to swim. For the past 11-12 years, I've never advertised myself - everything has been word of mouth. People see me teaching kids to swim and they want to book me. I've had clients from all over the world come to Miami, and I've been called to LA, New York, the Dominican Republic, and have clients coming from Monaco. Everybody who sees me teaching wants to book me because my approach is so science-based that it looks like I'm just playing with the kids, but nobody understands the tricks under that playing which teach the child to swim. I don't go around the pool advertising myself - people look at me, they look at my work, and that's how I've been getting clients for the past 10 years.

The best advice came when I was a professional swimmer, and it was to never stop, never give up. You're going to fail 300 times, but then you're going to win a hundred times - you just never stop, never stop, never stop. You can fail as many times as you want, but you never stop, you continue. The best advice is always from my mom: never give up. Even when there are obstacles and challenges, I never give up. There is no option, there is no plan B.

First of all, they need to have proper certification, proper liabilities and insurance, and proper training. They need to have a lot of experience, which takes a lot of time. That's why I'm very good with reactions - this is a very sensitive thing with kids. But I would really encourage girls who love kids, who love water, and who are comfortable working in the water. There has to be a combination of loving kids, loving water, and working in the water. Do it, because it serves the community, it helps, it saves lives, and it heals people. There is the benefit of incredible satisfaction of helping someone - your job is actually helping someone, and that's more than anything, anything else.

The biggest challenge is cold weather, because that's when I cannot teach. Teaching for me is not work, it's a pleasure. I love it and I'm in the present moment, but when I get cancellations because children are sick or there's cold weather, I'm not able to work. That's the challenge - the funding is challenged because kids are sick, the weather changes, and not every month is in season. Another challenge is that I can't work when conditions aren't right, and I don't have funds to expand for equipment. It's also a little bit challenging to go viral, even though I'm insured and doing private lessons. I have opportunities to teach teams, but I like one-on-one. With my knowledge, expertise, and specialty, I know I need to go viral because there are many things people need to know. I want to spread awareness about the power of water and healing properties, and we need to lower the high number of drowning deaths in Florida, which unfortunately happens every year. I'm now working towards stepping into social media as an influencer, selling e-book content for parents about what to do without a swimming instructor, and focusing on aquatic therapy because it can heal many chronic diseases, both mental and physical. In water there is buoyancy, so there's low impact on joints, which can help elderly people or those who are overweight and don't want to go to the gym.

The values most important to me in both my work and personal life are perseverance, community service, prioritizing the safety and health of others, helping and healing people through my work, and committing to continual self-education and growth.