Pool Chasers Podcast

Episode Summary:   Today, we sit down with Scott Frost, who has served as Senior Vice President of Sales for North America at Fluidra for almost three decades.   Since its founding in 1969, Fluidra has grown into a well-respected multinational group in the pool and wellness industry, operating in more than 45 countries through its subsidiaries with a team of over 6000 employees. Fluidra’s portfoli...

Click Here to Enter the S.R. Smith R-Series Lounger Giveaway Episode Summary:   Today, we speak with Brett Fritts, COO at S.R. Smith, a manufacturer of pool deck equipment based in Canby, OR. Founded in 1932, S.R. Smith evolved from a small diving board company into a trusted supplier of swimming pool products for customers around the world. Today, they are the category leader in diving boards, ra...

Episode Summary:   Today’s special episode is the first in a new series we’re calling “Business Tip of the Month” in partnership with  National Pool Partners .   As we enter the second half of 2021 and the country begins to open up again, pool professionals are going to have many new opportunities to increase their prices. Hal Denbar of National Pool Partners sits down with us to discuss exactly w...

Episode Summary:   Since its founding in 1969, Fluidra has grown into a well-respected multinational group in the pool and wellness industry, operating in more than 45 countries through its subsidiaries with a team of over 6000 employees. Fluidra’s portfolio includes a number of prestigious brands such as Jandy®, AstralPool®, Polaris®, Cepex®, Zodiac®, CTX Professional®, and Gre®.   Joining us tod...

Episode Summary:   Skimmer is pool service software for business owners that replaces the traditional paper-based system. It allows pool service professionals to track their customers and email personalized service reports; customize and optimize their routes; track repairs, service calls, and filter cleanings; keep a shopping list for parts, and create invoices.   We sit down with Skimmer CEO Jac...

Episode Summary:   Today, we speak with Alan Wing, Commercial Regional Manager for the Western U.S. at  Sigura Water. He handles both Pulsar and CCH® which are both cal -hypo sanitizing systems for pools. He has been in the pool industry for over 30 years, having started his career cleaning pools in Seattle before becoming a sales rep for a pool store, where he steadily built his knowledge on pool...

Episode Summary:   Today, we speak with Natalie Doyle, Finance Manager at Presidential Pools, Spas & Patio; as well as Sarah Bess, Marketing Director at Lyon Financial.   Presidential Pools is known as the #1 Pool Builder in Arizona and one of the largest pool builders in the country. They are partnered with Lyon Financial, which since 1979 has been specializing in financing solutions for swim...

Episode Summary:   Leslie’s was founded in March 1963 as a one-man pool supply operation working out of a backyard shed in North Hollywood, California. 54 years later, the company had grown to become “The World’s Largest Retailer of Swimming Pool Supplies”.   We speak with Leslie’s Brian Agnew and Chad Christensen. Brian has been with the company for almost two decades and currently serves as Seni...

Episode Summary:   Anderson Manufacturing is a family-owned company offering a line of leak detection equipment, tools, supplies, and training for pool professionals. They are driven by the task of helping the pool professional find and fix leaks more efficiently and effectively. Over the last 40 years, Anderson has expanded their product line into a complete assortment of products that addresses...

Episode Summary:   In this episode, we sit down with Ed Cassinis who is the owner of Certol International, located in Commerce City, Colorado. We take a deep dive into one of Certol’s bestsellers, ACID Magic, which is a full-strength muriatic-based product formulated to ship, use, and store easier than standard muriatic or hydrochloric acid.   ACID Magic is an effective alternative to muriatic aci...

Episode Summary:   Kerrie Zakaras is the Executive Program Director at Desert Education Solutions, LLC, as well as a Registered Nurse. Throughout her career, she has worked in nearly every area of hospital  operations , including ICU, PACU, Telemetry, and Medical-Surgical units. She is a certified wound care nurse and former hospital administrator for a multi-campus hospital group in the Phoenix,...

Episode Summary:   Al Curtis and Sandi Maki are the creators of  Ask the Pool Guy and Girl , a brand that began at the dawn of social media out of a sheer passion for the art and craft of building a pool.   Al, a lifelong member of the industry, is the face of the brand. He had his start at a summer job with a local pool company and never looked back. Sandi began working with Al in 2004 and used h...

Episode Summary:   Eric and Jenel Resh are the owners of Piranha Pool Products, formally known as the Smart! Company based in Temecula, CA. An industry leader among pool cleaning brands, Piranha’s products include leaf nets, poles, and brushes which are available through hundreds of wholesale distributors around the country.   Eric and Jenel look back on a long career in the pool industry. They go...

Episode Summary:   In this episode, we welcome back our friend Rich Gallo who is the Founder and CEO of Pure Swim Inc., an all-inclusive concierge swimming pool maintenance and repair company based out of Valencia, CA. In today’s conversation, Rich offers nuggets of advice to build up your confidence in your business processes and, by extension, yourself as a pool professional.    As Rich makes cl...

Episode Summary:   Beth Hamil is the Vice President of Product Development at MicroPlasma Ozone Technologies, Inc. She has 42 years of professional experience in ozone system development, ozone applications, ozone consulting, and project management, spanning a comprehensive range of commercial and residential industries.   Beth defines ozone as “a gas that is made up of three atoms of oxygen. We u...

Episode Summary:   In this episode, we had the opportunity to interview Skip Ast and Jeff Ast of Shasta Pools. Shasta’s commitment to excellence began in 1966 when Bob Ast founded Shasta and was soon joined by his brother Skip. Today Shasta is Arizona’s most experienced pool builder and the valley’s only Master Pools Guild member, delivering innovative outdoor environments that are built to last w...

Episode Summary: Fred Schweer is the Vice President of Sales at  PoolRx  Worldwide, which manufactures an EPA-registered, NSF Certified, and eco-friendly mineral-based algaecide and chemical reducer.  PoolRx  eliminates existing algae  fast, prevents  algae from coming back, and lasts for up to six months. The chelated minerals free up low levels of chlorine to be more productive in the water, pro...

Episode Summary:   Dakota Sweeney is the owner of Swimming Bear Pool Services, a pool service company in Hesperia/Victorville, CA. For those that have listened to the podcast for a while, you know that’s some of our old stomping grounds.   Our conversation focused on Dakota’s inspiring journey which began with a challenging childhood that included divorced parents and an initially alcoholic adopti...

Episode Summary:   In this episode, our good friend Justin Bowie of JMax Plumbing returns for his third appearance on the podcast where we pick his brain on some of the most commonly asked questions about his trade.    After Justin was on the podcast for episode 109, he shared with us that he received several questions, many of which he gets on a regular basis. We got to talking and thought it wou...

Episode Summary:   Since January 2014, Paul Sebastian has been the Owner of Brandsmith. Paul works closely with clients to design unique and distinguishable brands that can be encapsulated in a variety of formats, including wall graphics, banners, business cards, and as we will focus on in this conversation vehicle wraps.   Brandsmith is an “artist-owned and passion-driven company”, clients work d...

Episode Summary:   In this episode, we sit down with Skimmer’s new Chief Executive Officer Jack Nelson and Managing Consultant Ryan Hash. We discuss how their careers each led them to Skimmer and the unlimited potential that Jack saw in the pool industry and Skimmer specifically which made him and his partner pull the trigger on investing in the software.    Don’t worry….. the majority of the epis...

Episode Summary:   Bob and Kathy Hubbard spent their early professional lives in the corporate world but, because of their love for swimming and the ocean, they were led to run a competitive swim program called the Phoenix Swim Club during the economic downturn of the late 1980s.   Frustrated by the lack of profitability, they narrowed their focus to giving swim lessons in the summer of 1993. At l...

Episode Summary:   Today’s guest takes us way back to 1919 when his company was started by his grandfather just after the Great War. He walks us through the many innovative ideas and products that the LaMotte Company has had over that time, what sparked those ideas, and the amount of work that it took to make it all happen.   We go through LaMotte’s pretty incredible list of accolades, including e...

If you are like us, then you have probably been to some trade shows, walked down the aisles, and noticed specialty chemicals such as enzymes and phosphate removers that got you excited to incorporate them into your team’s daily routines. You just don’t know how.   We are joined today by Jamie Novak who is the Brand Manager for NC Brands Products, a division of Bio-Lab, and Alicia Stevens who has w...

We’re kicking off our first episode of the year with a bang. Our guest today has been a constant innovator in the industry for over 20 years. He is always trying to improve and spends hours upon hours researching new and better ways of taking care of his current customers’ pools.   We named this episode after the book  Outliers  by Malcolm Gladwell because we think it describes Joe Mischik perfect...