Business Progress

SHAWN KIDD

Director of Operations

Island H2O Water Park Kissimmee, Florida, U.S.A. Shawn.Kidd@IslandH2OLive.com

WHAT IS YOUR EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE?

I had the good fortune of working for the Walt Disney Company for 15 years, serving in a variety of leadership roles across their three waterparks and six of their resort recreation properties. I only left the Disney company to become a 5-year consultant to them with Jeff Ellis Management. I subsequently spent 5 years with IAM StarGuard ELITE in both corporate and operations leadership roles. More recently, I’ve been the Operations Director at Island H2O Water Park since its opening in 2019.

WHAT CERTIFICATION OR LICENSING DO YOU HAVE?

I am a Level 5 Instructor with StarGuard ELITE. I’m authorized to certify candidates as lifeguards, instructors and Instructor Trainers and I’m a licensed auditor. It’s a great program.

WHAT HONORS, AWARDS OR SPECIAL RECOGNITION HAVE YOU ACHIEVED?

While I’m proud to have received a number of “excellence” awards during my Disney tenure, my biggest privilege was running lifeguard competitions. I’ve coordinated several big ones and it’s always rewarding. Lifeguards spend a lot of time on-stand by themselves and their performance can be easily overlooked. These competitions allow them a rare opportunity to showcase their skills and compete against the best of the best.

WHAT MADE YOU GO INTO THIS FIELD?

I grew up in Pennsylvania, but I fell in love with the pools and beaches of Florida over the course of several family vacations. After attending Penn State for college, I finally moved to Orlando and became a Lake Patrol Cast Member at one of Disney’s marinas. I’m not sure anything beats hanging out on a boat all day.

WHAT ASPECT OF THE WATERPARK INDUSTRY DO YOU LIKE BEST?

My underlying passion has always been aquatic safety. No one has a good time if they’re injured or worse. I built a base of knowledge by becoming an instructor and auditor for three programs: ARC, E&A and SGE.

WHO HAS MOST INSPIRED YOU IN YOUR CAREER?

Disney had an Executive VP named, Lee Cockerell. Lee is an extraordinary speaker on leadership and time management. I had his Great Leader Strategies cassette tapes on repeat in my early days. He taught me to focus on the people (our team members and our guests) and I’ve found that most things fall into place once you do. While Lee is retired these days, he still publishes books and podcasts and has his own leadership school.

WHAT HAS BEEN THE GREATEST CHALLENGE IN YOUR WATERPARK CAREER?

Without a doubt, my biggest challenge was when I left aquatics to learn another recreation line of business. I won’t be doing that again.

HOW DO YOU KEEP FOCUSED AND MOTIVATED?

Do what you’re passionate about and you won’t find yourself with focus and motivation problems. “Work” won’t seem like work.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE SOMEONE WHO IS INTERESTED IN WORKING IN THE WATERPARK INDUSTRY?

Everyone needs a niche, some area of mastery and expertise that sets you apart from others. For me, it was aquatic safety. At the same time, be sure to diversify your experience so you’re wellrounded. Just within the operations we need to remember admissions, parking, security, custodial, first aid, food & beverage and retail. And then there’s HR, maintenance, finance and sales/ marketing. If you someday want to lead the whole team, you can’t just focus all of your experience on one role.

WHAT BOOKS OR PUBLICATIONS DO YOU RELY ON MOST FOR INSPIRATION OR MOTIVATION?

Comically, I do a lot of Googling. We have an alldepartments ”breakout” meeting every morning

www.shadecreations.com

American Resort Management Specializes in the Consulting, Development, and Long-Term Management of Indoor and Outdoor Waterparks and Waterpark Resorts. As the operator for Epic Waters Indoor Waterpark, we’re proud to provide services that drive memorable guest experiences and boost top-line revenues and bottomline results.

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