Today we’d like to introduce you to Amy Hunt.
Hi Amy, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
My name is Amy Hunt, Director of Sales and Marketing here at Waco Surf.
My background is in surf fashion design, and I happened to stumble into this role through my handsome husband/General Manager Mike Schwaab. We moved to Waco from San Diego, and I was planning to take a little break and catch some waves – then about 3 weeks from us officially moving all our gear to Waco, Texas, I was offered this job and took it immediately.
I’m originally from the Northern Beaches of Sydney, Australia so I had heard about the wave pool in Waco through my friends for a few years prior to being involved. We happened to find ourselves living in the backyard apartment in San Diego of one of the owners/investors looking at acquiring Waco Surf (then BSR). Mike begin consulting and doing due diligence in 2020 for the potential new ownership group (braving the airports and airplanes during the pandemic to have boots on the ground in Waco, Texas). When it came time, we packed up our minivan, old pug and drove from San Diego to Waco to start a new chapter!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It’s definitely a new industry, so there is no playbook or rules to follow. That being said, Mike and I agree that’s what makes it fun and exciting. There’s new opportunities, movements, struggles, and problems to solve every day, so you really never know what the day holds until you’re on site. We’re one of a very few publicly operating wave lagoons in the world – so we’re figuring it out as we go and learning from our mistakes and wins. Overall, it’s a super fun place to work – and our staff and management are super supportive so even the “worst” days (if there is such a thing) don’t seem so bad.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Personally, I have a creative side that always seems to come in handy. When we took over the business officially in March 2021, there was an urgent need for a rebrand. The new ownership group saw the potential in this place immediately and wanted to showcase it in the way we all saw the property. We have almost 500 acres of space, with only about 100 acres of ‘activated land’ (land that the public uses and has access to). Playing into the weirdness of our location and property became as important as we rebranded. We pulled on local, internal, and external resources to build our new brand, logo, vibe, and amenities – always with our core belief in the potential of the property in mind.
What matters most to you? Why?
Guest experience.
There’s so many reasons this is our priority. Selfishly, because who wants to work at a place where people are bummed out?
Less selfishly, because we want to share our passion for this place with all of our guests. Whether it’s a local Texas guest coming in for the day to use the Wedge water slides or Lazy River, or someone flying from Australia and staying with us for a few nights to catch as many waves as possible in our Perfect Swell ™ wave lagoon.
We work overtime to ensure that the guests’ journey from the first thought they have of visiting Waco Surf to the moment they leave our property is as special and exciting as possible. We know there’s a lot to do and work on, but each day we’re refining processes, software, platforms, training, facilities, and manuals to ensure we’re better today than we were yesterday.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.wacosurf.com
- Instagram: wacosurf_tx
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wacosurf
- Twitter: WacoSurf
- Youtube: wacosurfTX
