With Cori Myka, co-owner of Orca Swim School and creator of the Foundations of Change learning method. For over 20 years Cori has been taking adult non-swimmers from fearful beginning to realizing their wildest dreams.

Her unique teaching is so highly regarded because it is based on training and healing the mind so you can learn physical steps. Taking swimming beyond the pool and into life.

Based in Seattle, WA Cori has been training students and teachers locally and across the US as well as in the UK and Singapore.

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Biggest takeaways (or quotes) you don’t want to miss:

•  “The root of the problem- the solution starts in our brain.”
• “Fear is normal”

Check out these highlights:

3:45 The roots of Cori’s career and the path that brought her to teach swimming.

18:22 The shift Cori made in her business to reach more people.

29:00 “It’s fascinating to observe that we come up with that fear and then the capacity to face it.”

How to get in touch with Cori

On social media:

https://www.facebook.com/OrcaSwimSchool

https://www.instagram.com/orcaswimsch

http://www.twitter.com/OrcaSwimSch

https://www.linkedin.com/in/cori-myka-62314a18

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Cori Myka co-owner of Orca Swim School and creator of the Foundations of Change learning method. For over 20 years Cori has been taking adult non-swimmers from fearful beginning to realizing their wildest dreams.

Her unique teaching is so highly regarded because it is based on training and healing the mind so you can learn physical steps. Taking swimming beyond the pool and into life. Based in Seattle, WA Cori has been training students and teachers locally and across the US as well as in the UK and Singapore.

Learn more about Cori here.

Imperfect Show Notes

We are happy to offer these imperfect show notes to make this podcast more accessible to those who are hearing impaired or those who prefer reading over listening. While we would love to offer more polished show notes, we are currently offering an automated transcription (which likely includes errors, but hopefully will still deliver great value), below.

GGGB Intro 0:00
Coming up today on Guts, Grit and Great Business.

Cori Myka 0:05
In the case of in the water with students, oftentimes they will feel nervous and scared before they’re even in the water. It’s just even the anticipation of going to the deep end, let’s say, a lot of people will then find in the show and but when it goes over my head, right, that’s, that’s what makes or breaks it for people. And this is just because our mind is sending those messages, and our body’s reacting to them. So it’s just really noticing them at first, because the body tells you if you’re calm, or if you’re losing it. Way before you’re you recognize the thought pattern that’s going on.

GGGB Intro 0:47
The adventure of entrepreneurship and building a life and business you love, preferably at the same time is not for the faint of heart. That’s why Heather Pearce Campbell is bringing you a dose of guts, grit and great business stories that will inspire and motivate you to create what you want in your business and life. Welcome to the Guts, Grit and Great Business podcast where endurance is required. Now, here’s your host, The Legal Website Warrior®, Heather Pearce Campbell.

Heather Pearce Campbell 1:19
Alrighty, welcome. I am Heather Pearce Campbell, The Legal Website Warrior®. I am an attorney and legal coach based here in Seattle, Washington. Welcome to another episode of Guts, Grit, and Great Business. I am super excited about the guest we have today. It’s an unusual topic and I think it’s gonna be really fun to tackle. We have Cori Myka with us here. Welcome, Cori.

Cori Myka 1:47
Thank you, it’s good to be here.

Heather Pearce Campbell 1:49
Yeah, you’re welcome. Well, and for those listening, Cori Myka, is co-owner of Orca swim school and creator of the foundations of change learning method. For over 20 years, Cori has been taking adult nonswimmers from the fearful beginning to realizing their wildest dreams. Her unique teaching is so highly regarded because it is based on training and healing the mind. So you can learn physical steps, taking swimming beyond the pool and into life. Based in Seattle, Washington, Cori has been training students and teachers locally and across the US as well as in the UK and Singapore. So a fun thing about Korea, we’re practically neighbors. I mean, we live in the same city, I think that counts as neighbors. And we were also introduced through a mutual friend. And so I’ve known about Korea’s work now for a few months. And it took us a little while to get this scheduled. But it’s a great topic because so many people and I think part of what we’re going to talk about is how you’ve transitioned during this highly unusual time right into doing your training online. And so for those of you listening, that are thinking like, Oh, I can’t do what I’m doing online and invite you to listen today and maybe reevaluate that. So welcome, Cori. I’m super excited to hear about your work.

Cori Myka 3:11
Thanks for having me here. It’s always wonderful to meet new people and to share new things.

Heather Pearce Campbell 3:19
New information. Absolutely. Well, and we were just talking before we hit record it you know, Cori is in a different area of Seattle, but she looks out her window at a swimming pool. And she is describing how people are out in the pool learning to swim in the rain. We’re having lots of rain right now in Seattle. But look, Cori, take us back to how you got into teaching swimming. What are the roots of your career?

Cori Myka 3:45
Sure, my roots are long and deep. In the Swimming World, I am one of these people who started something when I was back in middle school like I wanted to just hang out at the pool and I started volunteering at the pool when I was you know, young in middle school because it was better for me to do that than it was to go to some summer camps that I didn’t want to go to around the water. So I really started way back then. And it was my job all through high school and college right that summer job that to go back to each time. And then actually when I moved up here to Seattle, I moved up here for a year-long volunteer program that was a part of and so of course after being a volunteer post-college, being a volunteer for a year, going back into the swim industry was the easy next step while I transitioned into my real job I don’t like so I was figuring that out and working at the pool. I said to my then-boyfriend. Well, why don’t we start a swim school? Why not but the heck, we’ve got nothing to lose, right? We didn’t have kids. We weren’t Barry, we none of that stuff. And we knew we were this was something that we were good at. So it’s just kind of an on a whim. We said, Sure, let’s do it. Let’s go for it. And we did. 21 years later, two kids later, one off in college now and I’m still doing this. He’s, he’s moved on to another career. He’s sort of the, the behind the scenes guy.

Heather Pearce Campbell 5:33
That’s awesome. Well, I love that the roots go way back. I love that this is something that you just recognized you loved as a kid, you know, being around the water and swimming. It’s funny, there was one summer I actually worked at our public pool in I grew up in Walla Walla, I came back and it was the one summer I ever came back and was at home with my family, I have four younger siblings. And I don’t even know how I think a friend was working there. And she was like, Oh, we need you know, we need another team member, whatever. And I’m not a swimmer. And I did not grow up around swimming pools, and really don’t consider myself somebody that’s super comfortable. But I was just the front desk person. And the thing that was enjoyable about that summer is I got to greet everybody and like, you know, do the little transaction and let them in. But then I just read like a crazy person. So I would just bring books to work, right? Because I had to sit there and you know, observe and pay attention. But also, you know, oftentimes, there were long stretches of time where, you know, people were not coming in. And so I could just read? Yeah, it sounds like a perfect. So it was for me, it was Yeah, so it was actually really fun. So when you talk to us a little bit about the time of starting the swim school, what that took what it was like to get started and do it as your own thing versus working for somebody else.

Cori Myka 6:59
Yeah, that’s interesting. I haven’t reflected on that in a while because it was a while ago now.

Heather Pearce Campbell 7:08
Feel scary? Or did it just feel like the right thing to do? Like you were ready for it? And it wasn’t, you know,

Cori Myka 7:14
I think it felt like the right thing to do, I think, you know, particularly at that time in our lives, we it didn’t feel risky to us. Right. And, and it was something that we knew we were good at, we knew we could bring, we saw where there are deficits, and there were holes in a current way that it was offered. And we did mostly kids from lessons at that time. And, and so it was real easy to see, gosh, we can really position ourselves differently than the traditional program. The traditional programs serve a certain purpose and sector and we could serve another purpose in sector. And so that made it easy in that regard.

Heather Pearce Campbell 7:59
Oh, got it. So this differentiation that you have, like you saw, even back when you started, what the gaps were and you set yourself apart.

Cori Myka 8:09
Yes, yeah. Yeah, I think that’s really what gave us the confidence to kind of do that of just being very clear. what it was that where that hole was in? Yeah. And it didn’t need to, we didn’t need to say there’s anything wrong with what was currently being offered. Right. There just was space and a desire for something else. And a need for something else as well.

Heather Pearce Campbell 8:32
So and was that based around the fear part? Is it the mindset part that you deal with? Like, what was it that made your approach different than others at the time?

Cori Myka 8:42
Yeah, well, at that time, that part of it wasn’t so clear to us. At that time, it was just really knowing that that, again, working with mostly children, that the relationship was so important, right, like most traditional swim lessons, you have a teacher that you whatever you sign your kid up for six weeks or something. If you like that teacher rate, and then the end of six weeks, hopefully you get to sign up for the next session, you have no idea which teacher it’s going to be, you know, that kind of thing. So we really knew the relationship was super important. And we knew that it also there was a lot of trust that needed to be there. I mean, there are some people who just like kick it in and they can do it. And they’re going to be swimmers, no matter who their teacher is. And there’s other people who need because it really does strike a primal area, right? You go underwater, you can’t breathe. This is your life force. It’s a big deal.

Heather Pearce Campbell 9:40
It’s a big deal. You know, it’s interesting when I look back, and I don’t know if I’ve shared this yet on my podcast, but like in childhood, there were a few experiences that you know, were quite scary for us. And for me, one of them was swim lessons. So my mom I was five at the time, so this would have been I’ll age myself here really quickly, sort of been 1982. She took my brother and I to the public, the local public pool, and literally just dropped us off for the, you know, the public swim lesson or whatever. And so we were there by ourselves and by ourselves with our instructor who was making us jump off the high dive as the introduction to our swim lesson. Right that it was like you’re doing this and I think I’m pretty sure I was bawling. Like, it was super stressful. And I did it. And it was traumatic. And we It was so upsetting to us. We never went back. My mom could not make us go to another swim lesson. Like, that was the beginning and the end of our swim lessons.

Cori Myka 10:49
Yeah, yeah. I mean, I hear a lot of stories like that from regular students of like, that uncle who just said, I’m going to teach you this. The sink or swim method.

Heather Pearce Campbell 11:02
Yes. Well, and it is interesting, like how much that sticks with me. And I’ve always wondered like, Huh, my relationship to water has never been that strong. This is funny, because even as a little tiny person, like in the bathtub, my mom called me a fish, you know, but now I look at it. It’s like, no, somewhere, that change and water became a scary seeing, and we didn’t have a lot of experience with water. And so we just, I personally never got that comfortable with it.

Cori Myka 11:30
Yeah, yeah. Well, that trust was broken there. And there was nobody there to help you heal it.

Heather Pearce Campbell 11:37
Totally. Totally.

Cori Myka 11:39
Yeah. Yeah.

Heather Pearce Campbell 11:41
Yeah. So tell us share with us a little bit about how your, your approach to your lessons and the way that you work has evolved, right, because now you’ve got a very specific focus we share with us a little bit about that. We do.

Cori Myka 11:56
Yeah. So we did work with kids. And we were kind of a generalist, right. I mean, specific in terms of slightly different than the standard that was out there. But, but still pretty general. And then we honed down really, because I had a real interest in it. I would work we would work with adults. And I could get an adult to swim across the pool. And I’d say, Well, how was it and they’d say, I have no idea. And I thought, all right, I’m doing something wrong. They’re doing everything I asked him to do, but I’m missing something. So I had connected with a woman who really, she worked with this and develop this. And really, it was the concept, she taught me the concept that you have to first be in your body to learn a physical skill. And when you’re in panic, right, you’re outside of your body, we see these things like, you know, you’re nervous. And so you kind of have like cold feet, or you’re weak in the knees, you’re paralyzed with fear like this, this imagery of your energy leaving your body when you go from calm to stare, to panic. And if we don’t take care of that part first, if we don’t help people understand how that works, and how to how to connect with their body and how to prevent panic really, then we can’t teach them what to do with their arms and legs. If they’re not there to control them. So when I started learning about that, and learning really been diving in, I guess what you call it more the psychology part of it, the life coaching part of it, but how do you how do I deal with the mental part? This is what really unlocked and what has kept me in the industry this long, you know, I didn’t think when I was 18, I’d still be doing the same thing a long time later. But it’s so interesting to help people really transform themselves at that deep level to really get to the root of the problem and the root of the solution. Right, the root of the problem, the solution starts in our brains what’s going on in our brain. So yeah, so I started teaching adults in that sort of method about 15 years ago and have really been honing that skill and training teachers in that particular skill. We’ve got to deal with our minds, so we can access hamburgers Nice.

Heather Pearce Campbell 14:34
Yeah, yeah. Well, and definitely, I mean, for any of us who’ve ever had physical struggles, like that importance of presence, like whether it’s swimming, whether it’s something else, like really being present, to observe what’s happening and feel, if we’re not breathing deeply enough that you know, I was just talking to a friend that was went live just before this and we were talking about the compounding effects of what’s happening. happening right now the compounding pressure and the ways that you know, stress shows up and the ways that we’re all carrying, I think a lot of pressure right now. And you know, the importance of just pausing and focusing on breath and being present to our physical self, it’s really easy to be very busy in our minds and be very occupied other places. And so I can imagine that, especially around swimming, which really brings up a lot of anxiety and panic for some people, you know, super, super important to start there. So how do you get people back in their bodies? Yeah.

Cori Myka 15:37
Well, I mean, it’s we Well, first of all, we don’t start in the water, we start on that. So when people show up, there’s, we spend a considerable time having a talking session in teaching about how this works, and to start to break down a lot of the beliefs and misconceptions, right, because we have a lot of beliefs about ourselves as learners or beliefs about, in this case about the water. And we have, as you were saying, lots of things that go in our mind, our minds running all these places. And we treat all of those thoughts as if they’re real. Mm hmm.

Heather Pearce Campbell 16:19
Oh, my gosh, I love I love that. You said that. I have a rock that and my son who’s eight found it the other day, and it says, and I’m one of those people that whatever, I love phrases on rocks, so people can laugh, but it’s this one, I really dislike the phrase, Don’t believe everything you think. Yeah. And my son was asking me like, why does it say that mom? Right. And I was like, sometimes our thoughts are not correct. And he totally understood it was like, Oh, yeah, okay. But I love Yes, I love that you’re starting.

Cori Myka 16:51
So important. So I mean, in the case of in the water with students, oftentimes, they will feel nervous and scared before they’re even in the water, right? Like, it’s just even the anticipation of going to the deep end, let’s say, that’s what really gets most people, a lot of people is in finding the show in but when it goes over my head, right, that’s, that’s what makes or breaks it for people. But when they’re sitting on the desk next to the pool, not even in, they might be feeling this sense of the fight or flight, right? A sense of nervous anxiety as if there’s a problem. And this is just because our mind is sending those messages, and our body’s reacting to them. Mm hmm. So it’s just really noticing them at first, like noticing to feel like you said, People use breathing breath work is used a lot to help people come into their body. So it’s just noticing the sensations in the body. Because the body tells you if you’re calm, or if you’re losing it.

Heather Pearce Campbell 17:58
Totally.

Cori Myka 18:00
Yeah. Toby before you’re you recognize the thought pattern that’s going on.

Heather Pearce Campbell 18:04
Right, right. Yeah. Well, and I meant to ask you like, when you transition, and I can’t remember how far into you know, launching your own thing you transition from working with kids to working with adults, right? Because now you I think you work exclusively with adults. Is that right?

Cori Myka 18:21
Yes, yes.

Heather Pearce Campbell 18:22
When did you make that transition?

Cori Myka 18:26
Let’s see. So we made that transition. It’s been, you know, time flies, like five years, we actually made that transition when we made about a year before we made a big transition our own family. I, we had a big wild dream goal for our family to travel around the US for a year, you know, via RV travel to us for the year homeschool the kids. So I’m like okay, this is the year before we did that we sold our kids program to one of our staff and then honed ourselves into just doing the adults just doing the thing that I really loved and was really really good at and making that impact and you know honing it down before I turn the keys over so to speak somebody else for a year while I traveled.

Heather Pearce Campbell 19:20
Yes. Well how fun and what a fun prompt is the work the same like is it similar what you’re doing with kids or teenagers versus what you’re doing with adults when it comes to even the prep work right? The mindset work or getting them started for does that look different?

Cori Myka 19:39
It’s a little different because with the adults with adults, you we do have the conversation we have the explicit conversation because with adults you have to feed that analytical thinking part of the brain, right? That they that you know a lot of adults are like I  kind of just didn’t like the water didn’t really swim. But I feel like I’ve gotten more frayed over the years, things like that. And that’s normal because the adult brain can anticipate things and thinks about the future and the past and all this kind of stuff where a child’s brain doesn’t do that so much. I mean, you’ve got little ones. So you’re right in the middle of lack of impulse control. Right, right. It’s just the where their brain is developed is normal, you know, for their brain. So you don’t have to have that kind of conversation with children. But you do that is where our original sites and our original impetus of saying you have to have that relationship, though. And play and fun. Kids.

Heather Pearce Campbell 20:42
Yeah, that’s so interesting. So talk to us a little bit about this fear of swimming, right, and fear and anxiety, because I think a lot of people have it, especially if they’re not competent in the water. Right. I think it’s probably pretty normal.

Cori Myka 21:02
Yeah. So there’s a Gallup poll survey that was done a bit ago. It’s a little old now. But I think it’s still accurate. It’s 64% of adults are afraid and deepwater ocean Oh, right. So yeah, so you have to open water, definitely more than half. And then it’s like 46%, in swimming pools. So okay, so I kind of go with, it’s about half the adult population, right. And it is, I like that you said, feeling fear is normal, because I can’t remember if we said this before, before he hit record or not. But when you are underwater, you can’t breathe. And if you were ever in a situation where you couldn’t breathe, the normal human reaction would be to feel the fear. Right? It’s really healthy. If you can’t breathe, to feel fear, you know, like to have your adrenaline your fight or flight come in, right? That is a normal thing to feel. So this is one of the rules, we say that you always have to be able to get air easily. Most swimming lessons starts with teaching people how to get air in pretty advanced, complicated ways. And so people don’t understand. They’re like, why can’t I get this? Why is this so frustrating? And it’s because it’s so complicated. And you’re dealing with your primal instincts. They’re my air is at risk.

Heather Pearce Campbell 22:33
Mm hmm.

Cori Myka 22:35
And so how am I supposed to figure out what to do with my arms and my legs and rotating to the side.

Heather Pearce Campbell 22:39
All at the same time.

Cori Myka 22:43
Too much. Yeah. Full stop. Yeah. So I do love that. You said, fear is normal, it’s normal. If your heirs doesn’t feel sure that you would have fear come up.

Heather Pearce Campbell 22:56
Well, and it makes so much sense the dots you connect about adults, obviously, being able to anticipate locations and the problems that could come up. And, you know, it’s interesting because I went paddleboarding with my son a little while back, and we just went out on Lake Washington. And obviously, we both had life jackets on like, I knew whatever happened, we were going to be okay. But it was still like we got a ways out. And I still had this discomfort. Like I’m on a device. I have a you know, a flotation device, like literally on my body. And still, it was like, Huh, we’re in really deep water in it. I mean, it’s, you know, it’s, it’s still there was still present. So it is really interesting to observe.

Cori Myka 23:39
Yeah. Well, and that I would say that fear that you described right there is because your safety was coming not from you. from the shore, or from where the bottom is, like, it’s a question. I never asked how deep Lake Washington is, you know, when I swim in Lake one, I don’t care. It doesn’t matter. It’s irrelevant. And because my safety comes from within me, and that’s where that disconnect comes for people.

Heather Pearce Campbell 24:12
No, that’s interesting. That’s a really important highlight. So how do you get people to do this that are literally like, petrified of water? Do people show up who are that fearful of water and sign up for slip swim lessons?

Cori Myka 24:26
Yes, yeah, we do. We have people who have anxiety and who I mean, I advise students that they’re the most amazing human beings in the world. I really think I mean, because it isn’t something they have to do, right. It’s something they say I have this thing. I want to grow. I want to like not be held back in my life. And even though I’m totally terrified of it, and you know, it’s not like going to learn to give a speech. You everybody’s like, well, nobody’s died standing up on stage, which is true. I mean, maybe there’s somebody tripped. But people do lose their life in the water. So, I mean, it’s so so it’s very real. So I think they are the most amazing human beings who come out. And like, I’m more than this, you know, this. And so we break it down into tiny steps. So like I say, we start with the talking, we start with understanding how the mind body connection work. We teach them the tool that they need to stop themselves from panicking, which is to feel right now. Because in the present, right, your adult brain will go to the future. But you can’t do anything about the future. We needed to come to the right now that’s where like you would have noticed, okay, right now, I’m totally safe on this paddle board. Right? If my thoughts about some, the bottom of the lake, you know, is what makes you know, then I start to feel fearful. And I lose, you probably lost balance on the board, you start to think about that didn’t feel as balanced. And then when we get in the water, I mean, we started off with saying I was seeing people on in our pool, swimming, doing swimming lessons in the rain, because we don’t have our pool covered yet. But our waters 93.

Heather Pearce Campbell 26:27
Yeah, super warm, warm water.

Cori Myka 26:30
Yeah. And we start with just the very simple foundational things. And that we’re getting connected to the water and understanding things like when you put your chest in the water, it feels different in your chest than it does in other parts of your body. And people are usually so busy when they get into the water, trying to manage all the things and do all the things that they don’t notice something as simple as, Oh, I’m reacting to the way my chest feels in the water never slowed down enough to notice that that feels a particular way. And I haven’t reconciled how that feels. I just assumed I’m supposed to feel this sort of, and it gets related to anxiety usually like this breathlessness or heavy chested. They make these these these thoughts up about it. Taking the time to be like, no, let me just investigate it and get to know it and to demystify it. and have it be part of my normal experience or take a break from it stand up. And don’t you know, let yourself read completely, you know, until you feel invited and curious to feel it again, and be a part of it again.

Heather Pearce Campbell 27:49
That’s so fascinating. Well, and that, you know, the, again, coming back to present and how important that is, it’s really interesting, because I think we come I mean, the thing that’s fascinating about humans is we come with, obviously sometimes some natural fears or something that becomes a big fear because of a childhood event or something else happening. And, and yet we also, I think many people come with an innate desire to overcome their fears, right. So it’s fascinating to me that people that are deathly afraid of swimming or water, or showing up to get swim lessons. But you know, I think about it there. There was a time in my life. I did a hike in college with a group of friends and it involved both water and heights. We went to a place called Havasupai falls. And then we did a hike from there. But we reached a ledge where you looked across and if you jumped into the water below, you’re jumping basically into the bottom of a waterfall that’s coming down from the other side. But it was a good jump, right. And then it goes down river It was probably a 50 or 60 foot jump. And it was so weird because one I’m not a great swimmer. I mean, I can swim. But it’s not my natural place. Right. And like I also feel like there’s this natural fear of heights that’s in most of us because we’re human. And you know, most of us didn’t grow up on Cliff sides. But I got to this place and I realized like, I have to face this fear, and I knew I could not leave that area without doing that jump. It was the weirdest thing and yet I was also deathly terrified of it. And yeah, I to be able to jump I literally stood and the little cliff side that I was on was like maybe a foot deep and I had my back against the rock behind me and I had to like close my eyes and focus on my breathing for like 10 minutes. It took me so long to actually get up the courage to jump because I really thought I could die. Yeah, there was a part of me that was like, I don’t know, you know, I’ve never done this before. Anyways, it was one of those extreme is like I forced myself to do. And I probably would never do. Again, I’ll be honest. But I just felt this really strong drive to face that fear in that moment and to not leave that place without facing it. So like when I think about people showing up to do something that they’re really, really afraid of, I think it’s just fascinating to observe that we come with the capacity for that fear and also the capacity to face it.

Cori Myka 30:27
Yes, absolutely. Yeah. And that capacity to face it. I mean, you, it’s, I would say you gathered yourself in, right. And we see that with our students, that’s what we’re giving them space to do is to gather themselves until they feel ready, and ready to just experience what they’re going to experience stay in it. Right to not leave like, Okay, I’m, I know, and you know, when you’re ready, you know, within yourself when you’re ready. It doesn’t help to have the other people going around, go out and come into yourself. Yes. Yeah, I would say, you know, we have people who come, our students, they’re not like all sitting around being terrified of water, they actually are like you and they go out and they do stuff. I had a student recently, who came in and was doing some stuff, and they said, You know what, I thought I was just going to come to learn to swim because it’s a good life skill. I never thought it was possible that I would actually enjoy it. And love the water. This is he just kept coming up. Like, this is really fun. This is really fascinating. And Nice work.

Heather Pearce Campbell 31:45
Nice work. Yeah, a huge compliment to you.

Cori Myka 31:49
Yeah. So you just know he’s on the right. Yeah, right. You’re learning if you’re in that environment. Yeah.

Heather Pearce Campbell 31:54
Well, yeah, to get to that point where something that you were afraid of now feels fun, you know, reminds me of my son who’s eight. But the good thing is, he’s really persistent. And so even when he’s frustrated, even when something feels hard, if he really wants to do it, he will stick with it. And it’s like skateboarding, we did some skateboarding lessons for quite a while before the pandemic hit. And, you know, he was doing things by the end of that period, that at the start, he was just like, terrified of even thinking about, you know, and it’s just, I don’t know, I love I love seeing that when, you know, people can round that corner into enjoying something that really previously scared them, or they kept themselves out of

Cori Myka 32:40
When it’s such a bridging thing to other things. Yes, you see him do that. And you’re like, Okay, I know that he’s going to be able to take on something else in his life.

Heather Pearce Campbell 32:50
Right? those skills translate. Yeah, totally. Absolutely. And I think that’s one of the things that probably drives a lot of people to face their fears, right, is that deep knowing that this is going to translate for them into something else? That’s awesome. So I’m really curious, given the times that we’re in about how you have made this transition and how you are doing your work. Now, can you share, because I think for some of our listeners, this is going to be a really juicy part of how do you do something like swim lessons and take that online?

Cori Myka 33:26
Yeah. Well, we Fortunately for us, I had been working on this before the pandemic. But we actually have been doing a lot of it beforehand, but really sort of leaning into it. And during this time, and I’m grateful that I had been starting it beforehand. But the big thing, I think really is recognizing the pieces of what we’re doing one that are universal, this the overcoming fear the being able to break something down into small enough steps that you can actually learn them know, our foundation of change process, that’s the part that I actually really pulled out this year is the process of how the learning works. Right? The foundation, that that the skill of swimming sits on top of. And that’s very much the mental piece of it that can be applied to anything, not just swimming. So looking for these kinds of pieces that are the universal pieces to what we do and bringing that to people. And then we also realize that well, it’s a very physical skill, obviously in person and it’s and people are highly successful when they’re with the teacher in the water, but having the information for them again, and we’re finding higher success when people preview the information content. Person classes, and then have the information again after the classes. Because, I mean, we’re really setting people up. And I think most companies are, you’re not setting people up to do everything of your company with you, it’s really to empower somebody to do something in their life, and to use you as the expert, and to help move you to the next level kind of thing. And so this is why I’d love to go on everybody’s vacation with them, right. So I really am about setting them up, and giving them the tools to be able to keep going on their own, and to keep expanding. And so the online space is a really great space for me to get information off to them, you know, so when they’re practicing at their local pool, or they go on vacation, they have the information that I already have access to them. So it’s looking for these ways that my client can be enriched by the online space and really grow their learning process and really support them.

Heather Pearce Campbell 36:02
Yeah. Well, it sounds like you’ve watched them for opportunities to break out information that can be taught separately from the physical act of just doing the swimming, right. So the mindset piece, or some of you know, what you call the foundation of change, does then the rest of it to be able to help them transition that skill set to the water? Is it really just breaking down in simple steps? Like, here are some exercises you can do? Are you having them do print off so that they know, you know, step by step what they should be trying? What does that look like bridging that gap between the teaching and the doing? Yeah, so

Cori Myka 36:40
We do. So we do have the whole mental piece, that’s one course. And then we have the actual Learn to swim courses that are in there too. And so they combine both the mental and the physical. And so I do, I take what we do in our in person courses and stretch it out even more. Because when you’re in an in person course, you’re using the trust of the teacher, right to guide you through and you can and you feel safe to do more things with the teacher. So when we do it online, all of your safety has to come from yourself. And so I break it into even smaller steps for them, actually, you know, to go to the pool and do this, this and this and observe this, this and this about yourself, right? So these are the things I want you to pay attention to. And to notice, don’t just go in I know people can just go to the pool and do some stuff. But I want Where do I want them to be focused. And then I have quizzes in there and feedback, right? they come back and they journal about it. And I actually read those. And I can see I when we first started testing it, I was just amazed at the feedback. I was the woman, the first woman who did it, she actually lives up in Vancouver, BC. And she fill out my feedback things and I thought, Oh my gosh, she’s saying the exact same thing that my inperson students say, This is amazing.

Heather Pearce Campbell 38:04
It’s about having that information and knowing what to go do, right? Yes. But I love the interaction of then coming back and doing the check in.

Cori Myka 38:13
Yeah, yeah. And they. And ultimately, she told me, she said, You know what, I think I learned more doing it on my own than I would have in a class. Because I really had to listen to the instructions. And I really had to trust myself and I really had when you said go slow, I really had to go go slow, because I knew I didn’t have anybody to just like, take over for me. And so she said, I just I feel like I’ve learned it so much deeper than I think I would have learned even in an in person class. So that was pretty neat.

Heather Pearce Campbell 38:53
Well, and especially I think that part about trusting yourself, right? learning to trust yourself in the water. Like if you’re doing this kind of a journey where you’re, you know, you’re being set up for support and success in advance and being told specifically what to do. But the doing part is, you know, on your own. I think it does open the doors a little wider to really have a journey of you know, self exploration and self trust and learning to apply. You know what you’ve been told in a way that works for you? It’s Yeah, it’s really fascinating to hear about.

Cori Myka 39:29
Yes, yes. Because that’s ultimately people are they need to trust themselves. And we prepare people like even within our in person courses, we say we only provide he can prepare you for so many situations is our job to really give you a system so that you can go out to a new place and figure out how do I navigate this new place? How do I trust myself in this new place? What do I need to get myself into new place to be safe and to be able to be calm and these kinds of things. So that system is more important than XYZ skills and checking skills off the list. Mm hmm. And that’s what they’re really the online delivers for people.

Heather Pearce Campbell 40:17
Yeah, no, it’s so interesting. Is that Is it set up where people then they take the information? It’s not like they’ve got a live phone with the video right next to the pool? No,

Cori Myka 40:30
No, I give them a little. I thought about that. Could I, you know, get into that kind of technology to have low app on their phone. But yeah, phones and phones aren’t great. I mean, you can get an iPad and put it in a waterproof cover. And I just thought, Oh, that sounds complicated. Yeah, so I do have I, what I have is I have little PDFs for them to actually print out, right. And I have it so they can fold it up in a way that there’s two lists on there. And one is the mental part. And one is the physical parts that they’re supposed to do that day. And I say, fold it up, put it in a Ziploc bag, put it next to the pool, the people at the pool, are gonna think is your workout, right?

Heather Pearce Campbell 41:18
They’re gonna think it’s your ID and some other little pit, you know, whatever.

Cori Myka 41:22
Yeah, and you’re gonna like, check on it. Oh, yeah, that’s what I was gonna do. And then you go do what you’re gonna do and check on your list. You know, it helps anchor people to like, Okay, I have my official little thing, you know, you guys are doing whatever you’re doing. That’s okay. I have my little piece of paper to be doing here today.

Heather Pearce Campbell 41:39
Yes, no, it makes so much sense. That’s what I was imagining when you’re talking about, you know, walking through steps and the to dues for people. But it’s it’s really fun. I mean, for folks listening. And, you know, I just I think it’s really, really fun to see how creative can we get and make simple changes maybe to the way that we’re already delivering information or doing something, including for folks that have maybe thought about going online or have wanted to go online for a while and just haven’t done it yet. You know, I think so many people are in a place now of just having to do it, having to figure it out. And I think what’s really fun about this example, is the invitation into creativity about how do you change your process a little bit or how you deliver the information so that it’s still very doable, and people can still go do the work and you know, do what it is that they need to do, but without you necessarily being there right by their side?

Cori Myka 42:38
Yeah, yeah. I mean, we have we as business owners, if we’re being successful in the marketplace, there’s something unique about us in our processes. So I mean, that’s what really going in the online spaces is not competing with all the everybody, everybody, it’s your unique thing, your unique way of doing it. Yeah. And if that has come through in in person business, there’s a way for that to come through online too.

Heather Pearce Campbell 43:09
I love that. Did you in this process of going online? Did you feel like you hit any hiccups? Or did you get any feedback that ever made you question? You know, should I be doing this online? Or was it a pretty smooth path for you?

Cori Myka 43:26
Um, let’s see. When you say hiccups, I mean, most of the hiccups I mean, that came right to my mind is like, oh, technology. Yes. For myself.

Heather Pearce Campbell 43:38
Yes, I think that’s a big conversation.

Cori Myka 43:41
Yeah. So it most of the hiccups were internal hiccups, I would say in that regard, and learning some new technology things and you know, I am not a videographer, I am not a computer person. And I would not put my online classwork up to anybody who has skills in that regard, because it still is a little rinky dink, you know, solving. But it’s um, it gets the message across. Yes. I mean, I feel like good grief if I can figure out how to do this.

Heather Pearce Campbell 44:19
Well, I actually love this part of the conversation, because I truly think that it is technology that keeps a lot of people from going online. Right, I think it’s actually less about how to deliver the work and more of like you say, that internal conversation about, can I do it, you know, can I figure this out? And it’s, you know, it’s a really important topic, especially now, it’s interesting because I had a conversation with a woman A day or two ago. She’s a new introduction, and we were talking about her business and she’s very successful. She’s made millions of dollars already. She’s done a specific thing so far to this point, and now she’s going in a new direction and I asked her, I said, Well, what is it that you, you know, that you’re really up to like, in talking about this new direction? And she said, You know, I used to think it was all about making the money or doing the building a business or whatever. And she’s like, now I just know that it really is all about mindset. And if I could do one thing, now, I want to teach people mindset, and you know, skills for mindset, because she’s like, between you, and whether it’s money between you and a business that looks a certain way between you and you know, the relationship you want. She’s like, it’s the same thing. It’s mindset. And I and I, you know, I think this piece, especially around going online, and technology, like mindset around technology is huge. The number of people who say, Well, I’m just not a techie person, or I’m not a, like, if you’re using a phone and a microwave, and a drive in a car, like you’re a techie person, right. And I it’s just reality, like, you really can’t live in modern day and not have some familiarity with technology and enough that will allow you to actually do what you want online.

Cori Myka 46:04
Right. And so I think when it’s recognizing those thoughts, when you say things like, I’m not a techie person, that is what your brain is going to go looking for. Yes. All the ways that you are not a techie person, you will build a whole evidence, right? A lot of evidence to support whatever comes out of your mind now is

Heather Pearce Campbell 46:27
Mine first, and then your mouth. Right?

Cori Myka 46:30
Right. Yeah. So you have to that is where, yes, that’s totally where we start with, it’s gotta start with the mind, what is it that you are saying, What is this your thinking? And how is that or is that not producing the results that you want? No, I love that. Yeah, maybe you don’t want the result of going online? Right? You’re pretending like you do. But you know, it’s just really noticing that for yourself, see what you are choosing.

Heather Pearce Campbell 46:56
Totally, totally know that internal voice is just so interesting. And it is it becomes a powerful thing when we can observe it and notice, like, Oh, my gosh, I just said that and look at my reality. Right. And yeah, transitioning online is like transitioning in anything else in life, like, we have the chops to do it. And truthfully, in my mind, it’s really less about the tools. There’s a gazillion tools, or platforms or software’s that people could choose to do the thing that they need to do. It’s really about making the choices.

Cori Myka 47:31
Yes, yes, yeah, to make a choice, do the choice. And like my online platform that I use right now. I’m not positive. It’s the best platform I you know, five years from now, I expect I will not be on this platform, maybe even a year from now. I won’t be on this platform. But I just needed to choose one. Totally. I chose one. And once I made the choice, just do it, figure it out. And then yeah, there’s other things out there. But it’s okay that I didn’t choose those other things to begin with. Right? just needed to get going. Right.

Heather Pearce Campbell 48:05
So I’ve got one more question for you. And then I want to talk to you for a minute about where people can find you how you like to connect? What has making this transition to the online world? What is it done for you? What is it brought into your life?

Cori Myka 48:23
Well, let’s see that that’s a good question it has. Well, one of the things is, it is really gotten the knowledge that I have out of my head into a documented place into a place where it’s more accessible. I, the reason why I started training teachers is because I knew I couldn’t teach everybody to swim, that wanted to learn to swim. And I knew the work that I do, literally saves lives. And it transforms people’s lives. Right, it gives them access to so many other things, as we talked about. And so I feel very passionate for that cause and I only can spend so much time in the water.

Heather Pearce Campbell 49:13
There’s only one of each of us.

Cori Myka 49:15
Yes. So to be able to have a place where I can really get that out and answer you know that you get asked the same question over and over again. I mean, I’m sure most industries are like that. Right. Right. Everybody likes to think they’re special. But you know,

Heather Pearce Campbell 49:32
No, but if you look at it, right? If we all look at our client path, there’s very there’s a lot of consistent things that we say each time we take somebody through the work.

Cori Myka 49:42
Exactly, yes. So super. It’s been really great for me to you know, I started with the client side, and then just I’ve been moving into the teacher training side and getting it all and it’s just really helping me with seeing all the systems of my business. And a way to really get everything out of my head. And that’s really where I’m going towards looking at that big picture, get it all out of my head all out where other people have access to it. And of course, it will always be more because I keep growing and developing great. But it gets that basic stuff out there. And so more people have access to it, you know, I go way bigger impact in the world. And that is exciting. That is Yeah, freeing for me, and life giving to just think about all those people who now can have access that couldn’t have been born.

Heather Pearce Campbell 50:41
No, I love that that piece about being able to amplify your impact and your results. And I’m so glad you said the word freeing, because when you’re no longer bound to being the person that has to do all the work and input, you know, it’s I think that’s what a lot of people want to be able to achieve, right? Is that sense of freedom in the sense that their work can live in the world without them necessarily having to put the time in every single time to get it out?

Cori Myka 51:13
Yes, yes. Yeah. I think it’s neat to I mean, like, I think that’s why people write books, too. I mean, it’s part of it, people write books. But, you know, online class, like, I can update the unit, I can, you know, come when I’ve learned something new, I can just pop in and add an addendum to it, you know, very easily. So it’s very flexible in that kind of regard. Whereas published a book and you learn something new.

Heather Pearce Campbell 51:39
I love that. All right, yes. The flexibility even within that. Well, I love that so much. And I’m just super excited for you. This is a cool thing to be teaching online. Where do you like for people to connect with you? Maybe somebody listening? That’s like, you know what, it’s time I take swim lessons. I’m gonna do this. Where do you like for people to reach out and for folks listening? I’m going to share whatever links Cori wants me to share on the show notes page, which you can find at legalwebsitewarrior.com/podcast. But where do you like to connect Cori?

Cori Myka 52:17
Yes. So the best way is go directly to our website. Okay, it is orcaswimschool.com, Love it. So that’s the that’s the best way. But I also have a YouTube channel. They name Orca swim school. So I release a lot of videos on there to show people the steps you can get that kind of Oh, yes, I’d love to share that as well. Yeah. And we have a Facebook page and that. And we’re in Instagram, okay. So there’s posts on there as well. But yet directly through our website, and I’m not sure when we’re gonna when this is going to go live. But we we do putting out a FREE Mini a new mini course on the website to really all this stuff. We’ve been talking about the mindset, right that for I have a tool on there. That’s a simple tool to help people right now today to start to feel better, right? That works around that mindset piece of it. So awesome. So that’s a free mini course. Yep. Or a free mini course that’s on our website. So well, it’s not on the website today. But I don’t know that we’ll be out today.

Heather Pearce Campbell 53:22
Yeah, well, and you can keep us updated on that, because I’m happy to include that information in the little spiel ahead of your links that we share. So that will be exciting. And if you’re listening, be sure to watch for that in case it is live by the time this episode airs. Yes, Cori? What Final Thoughts? This has been such a fun conversation. But what final thoughts do you have? What would you like to leave our listeners with today?

Cori Myka 53:48
Well just want to say thank you. This is super fun. I really appreciate the conversation and sitting with a fellow seattlelite.

Heather Pearce Campbell 53:56
Yes, absolutely.

Cori Myka 54:00
And, um, you know, I just would like people to leave with the idea of letting themselves dream big. You know, I’ve just let yourself dream big. And there’s steps to get there, right? It’s not that you go from where you are today to that huge dream. But there’s many micro steps in between. and as long as we’re just taking the mini micro steps in between, you’ll get to those big things. Let yourself dream big because it opens up your mind your possibility and brings in new and wonderful things that maybe you never expected.

Heather Pearce Campbell 54:41
Oh, I love that. And I love the Association also with the micro steps like let it be easy, right? dream big and understand there’s a way to get there. Yeah, so fun. Well, thank you so much for joining us today. I’m really excited to share this conversation. I’m very happy that we’re neighbors. I hope that The rest of you know hunkering down. We were just talking about the rains hitting and obviously on top of the pandemic. We’re all just kind of hunkered down here. But I hope that things continue to go very well for you. Thank you. You’re welcome. Talk to you soon.

GGGB Outro 55:18
Thank you for joining us today on the Guts, Grit and Great Business podcast. We hope that we’ve added a little fuel to your tank, some coffee to your cup and pep in your step to keep you moving forward in your own great adventures. four key takeaways links to any resources mentioned in today’s show and more see the show notes which can be found at legalwebsitewarrior.com/podcast, be sure to subscribe to the podcast and if you enjoyed today’s conversation, please give us some stars and a review on Apple podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcast so others will find us to keep up the great work you are doing in the world and we’ll see you next week.