She studied Biomedical Sciences dreaming of becoming a forensic detective. She trained at Le Cordon Bleu and discovered she did not actually enjoy cooking. She ran a learning centre. She launched a lingerie brand, and through every single one of those chapters, she kept a quiet conviction that she was building toward something, even when she could not yet see what it was.
That woman is Umitta Musawa Imam. And the something she was building toward is Aqua-Tots Swim Schools Dubai.
Born in Kaduna to a family of twelve children, raised between Nigeria and the United Kingdom, Umitta’s path to entrepreneurship was never straight. It was a series of turns, honest admissions, and restarts, each one teaching her something the last one could not. A learning centre in Nigeria. A lingerie and nightwear brand in Lagos. Time at the University of Manchester. Time at Le Cordon Bleu in London. A life built across continents and experiments.
And then, unexpectedly, an idea in Dubai that became her most ambitious venture yet.
Today, Umitta is the co-owner of Aqua-Tots Swim Schools Dubai, a business that is still growing and a story that only makes sense because of everything that came before it. Looking back at all the chapters that did not stick, she does not see detours. She sees a curriculum.
Entrepreneurship, she will tell you, was always the thread. She just had to live through enough chapters to see it.
In this conversation, Umitta opens up about the journey that brought her to Dubai, what Aqua-Tots Swim Schools has taught her about building something that truly lasts, and what she wants every woman who keeps starting over, and wondering if she is doing something wrong, to know about what that persistence is actually building.
You are a Nigerian entrepreneur, education advocate, and the founder of the largest Aqua-Tots Swim School facility in Dubai. Before every business and every border, who is Umittah, and what shaped her?
Before the businesses, titles and the boarders, Im simply Umitta, a mother of three, a wife, a daughter, a sister and a friend. I’m a peoples person at heart, and what drives me is being able to make a difference, create opportunities and positively impact the people around me.
Growing up, I was surrounded by incredible women, my mothers, aunties and other women in my family. Many of whom desiccated themselves to their homes and families. I deeply valued that role and for many years, I lived it too. I was happy raising my children and building a beautiful family life, but personally, I always felt there was another part of me that was still unfulfilled. I wanted to build something of my own, something with purpose that could impact people beyond my immediate family.
I’ve also been inspired by the successes I’ve seen around me, from my sisters, in-laws and including my business partner Dalal, who has spent 13 years building Aqua Tots in Kuwait into an incredible success story.
Ultimately what shaped me was family, but also the inner desire to create something meaningful and make a difference, create opportunities and leave a positive mark on people around me.
You grew up in a prominent Northern Nigerian family, built businesses in Lagos, studied in the UK, and now run a world-record facility in Dubai. What has that journey actually demanded of you?
The journey has demanded a lot of resilience and willingness to keep starting again.
I’ve lived and studied in the UK, tried my hand at a few thing in Nigeria, and moved around with my husband and family. Along the way, I’ve also had my share of things that didn’t quite work out as planned. For example we set up Iqraa Learning Center in Lagos (a Quran and Arabic learning center for kids in Lekki Lagos) with 3 partner/family members, but eventually all of us “japa’d” out of Nigeria, and the center couldn’t carry on as planned. Thankfully it was taken over by the community.
Then coming to Dubai meant starting again in a completely different environment. Building a business in a foreign country is challenging enough, but bringing in a franchise from another country meant learning a whole new system, the regulations, approvals, culture and way of doing things here.
So I would say the journey has demanded patience, adaptability, perseverance and lots of sleepless nights. Ive learnt that not everything you start will succeed but every experience teaches you something that prepares you for the next experience.
You were watching a friend’s daughter take a swim lesson in Texas and walked away with a business idea. What did you see in that room that changed everything?
Honestly i just fell in love with the brand Aqua Tots.
I was watching my friends daughter having her swim lesson, and it was the whole experience that caught my attention. The customer service, the environment from the caribbean music playing to the comfortable seating to the lovely coconut smell of the lobby, everything just felt right.
I remember watching a special needs child having a full swim lesson, he was enjoying himself, the instructor was fully in control teaching him and his parent was sitting in the sidelines watching. There was something about that moment that felt right.
It wasn’t one big thing, it was all those little details together. I remember thinking, “I want think in Lagos”. That was really where the Aqua-Tots journey began.
Getting from that Texas swim lesson to opening the world’s largest Aqua-Tots facility in Dubai is not a small story. Walk us through what that actually took.
It definitely wasn’t a straight line from Texas to Dubai.
When i first discovered Aqua Tots, my intention was actually to start it up in Lagos, because that was where we lived at the time. But life change, we moved to Dubai.
Eventually i met my business partner Dalal, who is the Aqua Tots Master Developer for the Middle East schools and had spent 13 years successfully building Aqua Tots in Kuwait. We shared the same belief in the brand, and i think our strengths really complemented each other.
From there it took a huge amount of planning, investment, patience and perseverance. Finding the right location, designing and building a facility of this scale, navigating approvals and putting together the right team. There were so many moving parts and many challenges along the way
Sometimes i have to remind myself how far that tag along visit in Texas has travelled with me.
Most businesses sell a product. Yours reduces drowning rates and teaches water safety to children across the Middle East. How does that mission show up in the way you lead every day?
For me that mission changes everything because we’re not just simply selling swimming lessons, we’re teaching a life saving skill.
That means there has to be a real sense of responsibility behind everything we do. From the quality of our instructors and the way we train them, to the safety of our facility and the experience we give every child and parent the standard has to be high.
I also want our team to understand the impact they are having. Every child who becomes confident and safer in the water is one more child who is better equipped to protect themselves.
So yes we are building a successful business but ultimately I want us to build something that matters. If we can help create a generation of stronger, safer and more confident swimmers across this region then for me this is success.
You ran a language school and a fashion business in Lagos before any of this. What did those years teach you that you still use today?
Those businesses were much smaller than what I’m doing today, but I learned so much on those journeys.
Iqraa Learning Center (what you refer to as language school) was actually a non profit project but we still ran it as a business that needed to sustain itself. With that I learned that when parents entrust you with their children, their money and time (3 very important things to any parent), they really are entrusting you with something incredibly precious. It taught me about responsibility, consistency and the importance of creating an environment where both children and parents feel comfortable and cared for. I definitely carry that with me.
With Lily Rosa, (my lil nightwear and lingerie business) that was even smaller and completely different, I learnt about customers, understanding what people want, presentation, branding and ultimately how to sell. That business was simply run from my bedroom and I was running it all by lonesome.
But I think both experiences taught me one of the most important lessons of entrepreneurship. You start, you learn, you make mistakes and then you adjust and keep going. I’ve also had a few failed attempts since moving to Dubai. But all of them have given me something to take away to the next one. Alhamdulillah.
You are a Northern Nigerian woman running a global business in the UAE. What has it taken to build credibility and trust across cultures that are very different from where you started?
I think one of the reasons I’ve enjoyed living in Dubai so much and ultimately why we decided to stay here is its diversity. I genuinely enjoy meeting people from different walks of life, learning about their cultures and understanding different perspectives.
So I’ve never really seen being a Northern Nigerian woman as something I’ve had to overcome. I see myself as simply adding my own culture and experience to the melting pot that is Dubai. Even with my team at Aqua Tots Dubai, we have such a beautiful mix of people, from India, Syria to Sudan to Ecuador, Czechia, Cameroon and many more, I can’t even name them all. I love it.
My upbringing also gave me values that I carry with me everywhere, modesty, respect, dignity and consideration for others. Interestingly that aligns beautifully with one of our core values at Aqua Tots. “Seek first to understand before trying to be understood”. For me, that means listening before judging, understanding where someone is coming from and recognising that not everyone will think or communicate the way you do. That mindset is incredibly important when you’re leading a team and serving families from so many different nationalities and backgrounds.
Ultimately I think trust crosses cultures. If you respect people, listen to them, keep your word and remain genuine about who you are, you can build meaningful relationships almost anywhere.
You are raising three children and running one of the world’s largest swim school facilities. What does a hard day actually look like and how do you keep going?
Honestly, some days it feels like I’m raising four children. My husband actually always jokes that all Aqua-Tots has become my fourth child and that I’ve abandoned him.
I have three children at completely different stages at school. One at Senior school, one in Middle school and one in Junior school, so even family life alone comes with three different schedules and three different sets of needs. Then adding running a business to that.
A hard day can mean dealing with something urgent at Aqua-Tots, like eg, a crack in the pool desk or some power challenge, staff issues or some other operational problem, while also remembering that i have parent teacher meeting or something happening at my children’s school, a family that needs to eat and a husband who would like to see his wife at home.
I think the hardest part is that I genuinely want to give 100% to every part of my life and I’ve had to accept that sometimes there simply aren’t enough hours in the day to do that.
So I prioritize. I deal with what needs me the most at that moment. I try to delegate some things to someone else and not be too hard on myself about what has to wait and then I wake up the next day and do it all again. Some days are beautifully organised and some days are a complete chaos, but I think that’s just the reality of building something while raising a family.
What do you want every Nigerian woman with a bold business idea to know about what is possible beyond her borders?
I would tell her not to let where she comes from define how far she believes she can go. There is so much talent, creativity and entrepreneurial spirit in Nigerian women, and sometimes we just need to give ourselves permission to think beyond what is familiar to us.
My own journey wasn’t mapped out, actually my dream job is to be a criminal detective or maybe work for Dubai Police but alas here is where i found myself and loving every minute of it. An idea that came from watching a swim lesson in Texas, meant for Lagos, eventually brought me to building something in Dubai. I couldn’t have predicted that when I started.
So I would say, be bold enough to start, be willing to learn, and don’t be afraid to enter rooms that are unfamiliar to you. You don’t need to have the answers or funds to begin.
Most importantly, take your identity with you. Being Nigerian is not something you leave behind when you step onto the global stage, you should carry it right in front of you. Sometimes an idea can take you much further than you ever imagined, you just have to be willing to follow where it leads you.
