--- title: "Big Blue Swim School Builds Impressive Board of Directors to Guide Strategic Growth and Ensure Swim School Category Leadership" url: https://burnaze.com/article/370fbf22-9579-4131-ae71-fc54467ac8e0 source: "1851 Franchise" original_url: https://1851franchise.com/big-blue-swim-school-builds-impressive-board-of-directors-to-guide-strategic-growth-and-ensure-swim-school-category-leadership-2711940 category: "Swim" industry: "Education & Childcare" segment: "Swim" topics: ["People"] published: 2020-02-05T05:00:03.000Z modified: 2026-11-01T02:28:34.621Z image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/a661bf5d11f89be562810df77ba93981622.jpg --- # Big Blue Swim School Builds Impressive Board of Directors to Guide Strategic Growth and Ensure Swim School Category Leadership **TL;DR:** Big Blue Swim School targets 150 units by 2021 with $3 billion market potential, and has built an impressive board of directors to guide strategic growth. Level 5 Capital Partners acquired a stake in the company in January 2017. *originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2020-02-05. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/big-blue-swim-school-builds-impressive-board-of-directors-to-guide-strategic-growth-and-ensure-swim-school-category-leadership-2711940).* ## Key facts - Big Blue Swim School aims for 150 units by 2021 - Level 5 Capital Partners invested in the company - Total investment to start a Big Blue Swim School is $1,825,500 to $3,687,000 ## Story **Big Blue Swim School** **is emerging as a leader in the $3 billion per year swim school industry thanks to best-in-class consumer offerings, a strong brand, leadership support, proprietary technology, and a strategic growth plan to reach 150 units by 2021.** **With** **strong unit economics** **and a highly-scalable model,** **Big Blue Swim School** **caught the eye of private equity company** **Level 5 Capital Partners****, the third-largest national yoga studio operator and largest CorePower Yoga franchisee, who acquired a stake in the company in January 2017 .** ## Leadership team growth **Today, Big Blue boasts an** **impressive leadership team** **and a strong Board of Directors,** **including franchise industry veterans who are helping position the brand for explosive success** **with strategic guidance and operational expertise. Among the board is Catherine Monson, a Certified Franchise Executive who is the 2020 International Franchise Association Chairperson and current** **FASTSIGNS International, Inc.** **CEO.** **“When Level 5 reached out to me with an offer of becoming a board member, I knew it was an exciting opportunity,” Monson said. “There is nothing more precious and important than the safety of children around water and I immediately knew Big Blue was a marvelous and unique concept that has the potential to help children and parents across the country. I look forward to working with the brand as we make it a household name."** **Another high profile board member is Bill Selonick, Executive Managing Director at Newmark Knight Frank, the global commercial real estate firm. Selonick has a long history with the Big Blue brand and acted as the initial, exclusive real estate representative for the franchise.** **“I’ve always been an avid swimmer and initially crossed paths with** **the founder of Big Blue, Chris DeJong****, at the Northwestern University pool during my time earning a graduate degree,” said Selonick. “My background is in commercial real estate and I have in-depth experience in site selection work for national retailers, including major franchise players such as Panera Bread. I look forward to sharing my expertise help to this growing company expand nationwide.”** ## Board member backgrounds **Before Big Blue was formed, Selonick assessed the North Shore region of Chicago and concluded it was in need of quality swim school locations. When DeJong prepared to build Big Blue’s first pool, Selonick was impressed by the business model and signed on to assist with the real estate process as one of the initial investors, helping negotiate the first four leases in the greater Chicago area.** **“Coming at it with a real estate market understanding, I knew what was possible from landlords at that time, and that continues to be the focus of my involvement on the board,” said Selonick. “Landlords today are struggling to replace apparel tenants who are no longer viable in the traditional mall, and** **Big Blue offers an Amazon-proof model because it encourages thousands of trips to the shopping center each week****. While landlords were skeptical of this type of model eight years ago, they now see experiential businesses as a valuable traffic incentive.”** ## Growth and franchising **The franchising knowledge and experience Level 5 brings to the Big Blue team is unlocking a huge amount of potential value for the company, said Selonick. In early 2019, former PepsiCo Director of Global Innovation in Plant Nutrition,** **Brooke Mallick, joined Big Blue Swim School as VP of Marketing and former Premium Service Brands and College Hunks Hauling Junk executive, Justin Waltz** **joined as VP of Franchise Operations.** **Other team members include** **Michael Chin, President of Real Estate Services, who heads an eight-person team of real estate professionals, including a designer, construction director and a facilities manager; Ashley McKenzie, who works as the franchise field support to franchisees across all functions; Morgan Egan and McKenna Meyers, the New Pool Opening marketing experts and Dennis Campbell, VP of Franchise Development.** **This expert brand leadership, which is rare in the** **swim school** **segment, combined with a strong board of directors, a best-in-class product, a targeted growth model and proprietary technology,** **Big Blue is well on its way to meeting its goal of 150 units in development by 2021****.** ***The total investment necessary to begin operation of a new Big Blue Swim School is $1,825,500 to $3,687,000, (refer to item 7 in FDD). To learn more or inquire about Big Blue Swim School*** ***franchise opportunities******, visit*** *** ## Entities - 1851 Franchise (publication) - unit expansion (topic) - franchise growth (topic) - Education & Childcare (sector) - private equity (topic) - Big Blue Swim School (company) - Panera Bread (company) - Chris DeJong (person) - Level 5 Capital Partners (investor) - Catherine Monson (person) - Justin Waltz (person) - board of directors (topic) --- Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/big-blue-swim-school-builds-impressive-board-of-directors-to-guide-strategic-growth-and-ensure-swim-school-category-leadership-2711940). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/370fbf22-9579-4131-ae71-fc54467ac8e0).