Always be yourself, unless you can be a mermaid. These are words to live by for junior Loree Morin, who spends the majority of her free time pursuing her childhood dreams in a fabric tail.

Morin became an instructor last September at AquaMermaid Austin, a school for people who desire to learn how to swim like mermaids. Now she spends her Saturdays in the water sharing her passion with others.

“Mermaiding calls to the child in your heart for almost everyone,” Morin said. “Like you see an adult and they see you in your tail and your makeup and jewelry and they are like, ‘Oh my gosh, look, it’s a mermaid’ and they get all excited. It makes people smile, especially if [they] are a kid.”

As a child, Morin said that she dreamed of being a mermaid, as they always seemed magical to her. She said that she was greatly inspired by the movie “The Little Mermaid,” and now is delighted to be living out her childhood dream.

“Whenever I found out about mermaid tails and I got really into them, it kind of just reignited that magic,” Morin said. “I firmly believe that people who still hold onto [their dreams] are very magical people.”

Morin said that the main reason she works at AquaMermaid is that she hopes to help others in pursuing their dreams.

“Whenever you’re in a tail and you’re swimming, you just feel so beautiful and super excited,” Morin said. “For me, the big reason I want to be a mermaid is to inspire people and to make kids smile.”

As an instructor, Morin teaches customers how to swim in a mermaid tail and eventually how to do different tricks that increasingly get harder with each lesson.

“I just love their faces when they finally figure out how to do the tail flips and swim in [tails],” Morin said. “That’s my favorite part about it, because you can tell they are feeling how I feel whenever I am in a tail.” 

Due to the fact that they are a fairly new business, AquaMermaid only has two other instructors. However, Morin said that the general environment is relaxed and very friendly.

“I feel like we are a team because we are still figuring this [business] out,” Morin said. “I love all of my co-workers. They’re very friendly and very excited about being mermaids.”

To live her best life and follow her dreams, Morin said that she believes in always doing what she loves, no matter what people may think.

“You just have to throw yourself out there and not really care how people will react,” Morin said. “If you stop doing something because you are afraid that people will think it’s weird, then you aren’t really living your best life.”