For four City of Hilliard employees, a first job as a lifeguard meant more than teenage workplace experience. It sparked careers in public service centered around the Hilliard community.
Recreation Supervisors Megan Goudy, Kristan Turner, and Hayley Bush, along with Human Resource Specialist Laurel Rozenman, each began their careers as City of Hilliard lifeguards and returned as full-time employees.
Turner, Goudy, and Bush all joined the City in the 1990s as 15-year-old lifeguards. Rozenman followed in 2010, having her first-ever job interview with Goudy.
For all four, becoming a Hilliard lifeguard was a childhood dream that started in the pool. As young swimmers at the Hilliard Family Aquatic Center, then known as the West Pool, and CBS Community Pool, formerly East Pool, they looked up to the lifeguards on duty.
“Because I was on the swim team, I already knew I was going to be a lifeguard from the time I was eight years old,” said Goudy.
Rozenman’s story is similar.
“I grew up spending my summers going to the Hilliard pool with friends and family. I even took swimming lessons there as a kid, so it was my high school dream job to be a lifeguard there,” she said.
It wasn’t just the familiarity that drew them in. The lifeguards they watched became role models.
“The lifeguards all knew our names,” said Goudy. “You looked up to them, and you wanted to be one of them.”
Bush remembers the camaraderie, both on the pool deck to after-shift hangouts at the sand volleyball courts and bowling alley.
“Those were your people, and those are the people that have stayed consistent throughout my life,” she said.
For Bush, Goudy, and Turner, becoming a pool manager was a natural next step.
“I loved being that mentor to those young lifeguards,” said Bush. “The pool did that for me and so I felt honored to do that for others.”
All four explored other career paths but ultimately returned to the City.
Bush spent eight years as a Hilliard City Schools teacher before returning full-time to the Recreation and Parks Department. She now oversees seasonal park staff, shelter house rentals, community gardens, and created the City’s volunteer program.
Goudy worked as a social worker with Franklin County Children Services before realizing that her passion lay in the work she had been doing with the City. She has since held nearly every supervisory role in the department and now oversees parks maintenance.
Rozenman discovered her passion for human resources while studying organizational psychology in college. When a HR position opened in her hometown, she knew she had to apply. Today, she works with employees across the City, including onboarding new staff and lifeguards.
Turner spent five years as a 911 dispatcher for Hilliard Division of Police and Norwich Township Fire Department before returning to Recreation and Parks. She now plans and organizes the 30-plus annual events that bring the community together and credits her time as a lifeguard with instilling in her the “lead-by-example” work ethic she values today.
“There’s nothing that our leaders asked us to do that they wouldn’t do,” said Turner. “And now we’re that way.”
For all four, lifeguarding taught lessons that extended far beyond lifesaving skills.
“You learn how to speak to people, how to communicate, especially in stressful situations. We always had each other’s back,” Turner said.
Rozenman agrees.
“Lifeguarding taught me a lot about teamwork,” she said. “You rely on each other in the chair.”
Her advice to anyone interested in following in her footsteps?
“Grab a friend and have them join, too.”
For these four Hilliard lifeguards-turned-city employees, the job created more than summer memories. It built friendships, taught leadership and teamwork, and helped lay the foundation for lifelong careers serving their hometown.
