Everyone who works in the wave pool world at this point in time wears several hats. Partly because the industry is so young that clear-cut job titles are still years off. We’ve heard of CEOs taking on social media duties, fixing dings and handing out singlets to customers. There’s a wonderful we’re-all-in-this-together vibe among staff at the world’s wave pools. Waco Surf’s Director of Sales and Marketing is no different.

When BSR went silent, off the radar and then re-emerged as Waco Surf we had the pleasure of corresponding with Amy Hunt. Attached to each email query we sent requesting photos, information, pricing, etc (we can be quite demanding here at WavePoolMag) were Amy’s cheery sidenotes and liberal use of exclamation points. We had to meet this effervescent office jockey. Amy Hunt is WavePoolMag’s Employee of the Month.

What is your job title and what do you do at Waco Surf?
I’m the Director of Sales and Marketing here at Waco Surf in Texas. Boy, I do all kinds of things here – from booking in private guests and working on making their trip special, to replying to comments on Instagram, I also head up our Waco Surf retail merchandise line. Oh, and I dabble in the interior and exterior design of the new rebrand. I’ve got a finger in every pie!

Did you know about wave pools before you got this job and how did you get this position?
I’m originally from the Northern Beaches of Sydney, Australia so I had heard about the wave pool in Waco through my friends! My background is in surf fashion design, and I happened to stumble into this role through my handsome husband/General Manager Mike Schwaab here at Waco Surf. We moved to Waco from San Diego and I was planning to take a little break and catch some waves – then boom, 3 weeks in I was offered this position to which I replied “shit yeah I’ll take it and try my best!”.

Run us through a typical work day for Amy Hunt at Waco Surf.
I usually start the day with a Pinewood coffee and breakfast taco from our Surfside Shack, and have a little chat with the front desk crew to see what we have on the books for the day. Then it’s full email mode for about 3 hours straight. We have the rad business problem of running at 100% capacity all the time, but it’s hard from a customer service standpoint as we have to work out schedules so we can stoke out as many guests as possible. I usually try to sneak into a beginner session around noon, and then jump on the phone to chat brands we partner with for the afternoon. The evening wraps up around 6pm with a cold bevvie in my office and a debrief with whoever pops into my office for happy hour.

What’s the hardest thing about this job?
Definitely bumming people out and telling them we’re fully booked. We’re booking out about 2-3 months in advance this year and it makes for an awkward conversation with guests who assume they can show up and surf with us…

What’s the best thing about this job?
Our huge campus is incredible! When my emails start to get a little blurry I walk myself all around campus catching up with people who have traveled to be here with us specifically – from locals floating the river, to groups from across the country and globe looking to experience what I get to live in everyday.

What would tell someone who wants to do the same job?
If you’re a creature of routine – this ain’t for you! Every day is different, and you need to be flexible and nimble to allow yourself time to enjoy the perks, whilst also getting into the nitty-gritty side of things.

What else would you like to add?
This year my focus is on trying to communicate to guests ALL that we have here on the site – the wave lagoon can put blinders on guests visiting because it is so stunning. But we have almost 500 acres of property with hotels, cabins, houses, skate ramps, boats, lakes and even trampolines.