Educational Blogs & Other Highlights
Water Adventure Safety Planning
Water Adventure Safety Planning
Interviews
In this episode of Back Up to Level Up, recorded live at Atlassian Team '26 in Anaheim, California, Janet Khoshaba sits down with Britton, founder of Cooper's AquaArmor, a neon swimwear line designed to keep children more visible in and around water. Britton shares how a 3 AM research spiral during pregnancy led her to discover a gap in the market that no one had filled for boys. With a husband who spent 10 years in the Coast Guard doing search and rescue, they turned a late-night conversation into a self-funded swimwear brand built around a simple but powerful idea: being seen can save a life.
Key takeaways:
- Why the specific hue of neon matters for water visibility and why it was not available for boys
- What it took to go from idea to prototype while balancing a newborn and a day job
- Why switching from Squarespace to Shopify was a painful but necessary infrastructure decision
- How leaning into the personal story behind the brand changed everything
- What is next: the big kids line is live and a Memorial Day sale is on now
If you are a parent, a founder building something with genuine purpose, or someone who has ever turned a late-night fear into a product, Britton's story is one you will not forget.
Can one simple design decision help make children safer around water?
In this episode, Richard Taliaferro talks with Britton Kent, co-founder of Cooper’s AquaArmor, about the surprising research that inspired her company and her journey from government contractor to entrepreneur.
After overcoming her own lifelong fear of water while pregnant, Britton discovered research showing that many popular swimsuit colors make children much harder to see underwater. That insight sparked the creation of Cooper’s AquaArmor—a children’s swimwear company focused on visibility, safety, and practical design.
In this conversation, you’ll learn:
✔ Why swimsuit color matters for child safety
✔ The research behind water visibility
✔ What it’s really like to launch a startup while working full-time and raising a child
✔ Manufacturing challenges for first-time entrepreneurs
✔ Lessons about marketing, infrastructure, and building a mission-driven company
✔ Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs
If you’re interested in entrepreneurship, parenting, product development, or starting a purpose-driven business, this episode offers practical insights and an inspiring story.
Connect with Britton Kent
https://aquaarmorswim.com