Timeless Talent

The pool industry is known for innovation, hustle and the next big thing, but behind many of today’s thriving businesses are expert professionals who’ve spent decades laying the groundwork. These industry veterans built cultures, trained teams and raised the bar for what pool service and construction could look like. From leadership development and safety programs to family legacies and technical know-how, their influence continues to shape the next generation. Here, four longtime professionals reflect on what’s changed, what’s stayed the same and what they’ve learned along the way.

Bob Russell spent his youth around recreational water as a swim team member, water safety instructor and waterfront director at camp — early experiences that helped set the stage for a four-decade career in the pool industry.

As a college freshman studying health, physical education and recreation, Russell’s dormmate introduced him to summer work with a pool company. “If you get into swimming pool work, you’ll get a suntan and you’ll meet girls,” Russell recalls him saying. “At 18 or 19, that sounded pretty cool.”

What began as a summer job turned into a lifelong profession. After working in the industry off and on throughout college and later teaching in New Jersey, a former co-worker invited Russell to help close pools for the winter. That led to a stint with WJS Pool Service in Brewster, New York.

“We worked 80 hours a week,” he says. “We were maniacs back then, but we were young.”

Russell worked at WJS from 1982-86 until a friend from church recruited him to Glengate in Wilton, Connecticut, where he’s remained for 39 years.

“When I was 30-something, I remember contemplating the turn that my life had taken,” Russell says. “How is it I’m in the pool business?” Drawing on his background in teaching, coaching and camp counseling, he began training and developing technicians — skills that would go on to shape Glengate’s service culture.

“We built a really solid service team,” he says. “We tend to attract good employees.” Russell wrote the company’s first standard operating procedure manual in the early ’90s, combining technical training with leadership principles. “Nobody goes to college to be a pool person, and up until recently, there’s little to no mention of this trade in trade schools,” he says. “We had to learn how to develop a curriculum, how to deliver it and train people to the point where we can put them in front of our clients solo.”

In the ’90s, Russell also helped push Glengate to provide year-round employment — a rarity in the Northeast, where pools close for part of the year. “We realized that a stable workforce was full-time employment, drug-free and responsible,” he says. “We can’t be laying these people off. They’re going to want to buy a house or get a car loan. Stability matters.”

That commitment to people extended to Glengate’s customers. Russell developed a pool owner education program to improve retention.

“One of the things I learned over the years is people will remember, appreciate and like you if they’re better after meeting you or they learn something valuable from you,” he says.

Hopefully my ceiling will be their floor. Go ahead. Take it. And grow.”

Bob Russell

He would spend hours teaching clients how to care for their pools, knowing most would hire his team once they understood the work involved. “We would actually tell them all of our trade secrets,” he says. “They noticed this is a huge time investment and would say, ‘I don’t have time to do this. You do it.’ ”

To improve himself as a leader, Russell also became a student of leadership.

“I would study people who seemed to be successful leaders,” he explains. “I wanted to know, ‘How’d you do it? What made it work?’ And I noticed they were always going to leadership conferences or reading books on leadership — constantly sharpening their skills. And I set out to do that.”

Russell became an advocate for industry professionalism as well. In the late ’90s, he joined the Connecticut Pool and Spa Association, helping shape early regulation around wastewater permits and service licensing.

“We came alongside [state regulators] instead of just opposing the state,” he says. “We said, ‘We’d like to help you make good regulations without damaging commerce or businesses.’ ”

Over the years, Russell’s role evolved. He’s served as vice president, partner, safety manager, field manager and service technician. He created a leadership path for administrators, pushed training in both field and office roles and helped foster a company culture based on communication, excellence and teamwork.

“One of the things I created at Glengate was central scheduling led by administrators,” he says. “I believed in the powerful administrator. We trained them in leadership, technical knowledge and customer support.” That training included hands-on tasks like backwashing a pool or cleaning skimmer baskets, ensuring office staff could confidently walk customers through common issues.

“If you hook up the [office staff] with their counterpart in the field, you’ve got a really dynamic duo, but if you add that third person who is a problem-solver and can sell things to clients, you’ve got what I call a triad functioning as a team,” he says.

Safety has been another priority. Russell led efforts that dropped Glengate’s mod factor —  an insurance rating that reflects a company’s safety record — from 1.58 to below 1 and kept it there for nearly 30 years.

“Here’s a safety culture that not only claims to care about the employee but puts its money where its mouth is as far as your physical well-being,” he says.

With retirement on the horizon, Russell hopes to see the next generation succeed. His advice?

“Do excellent work,” Russell says. “And be patient. You’re building a body of work. Don’t expect a raise or promotion because you did two really good things yesterday.”

After over 40 years in the industry, Russell believes the true measure of success lies in legacy: building systems that work, investing in people and leaving a team stronger than when he started.

“I love this generation coming up, and it seems like they just need a mentor who cares about them and wants them to succeed,” he says. “Hopefully my ceiling will be their floor. Go ahead. Take it. And grow.”

In 1976, 17-year-old Mike Medulla was working at a gas station when a customer pulled up with a pool pole in the back of his truck. That encounter changed everything.

“He said, ‘This is a really cool job,’ ” Mike recalls. “And I said, ‘Yeah, it looks really nice.’ ”

The customer happened to be selling a pool route, and after shadowing him for a few days, Mike was hooked. To fund his venture and build a route, he started knocking on doors and looking for pools.

“Back then when you backwashed a pool, it went into a P-trap in the front yard, so I just drove around and started looking at houses that had P-traps,” he explains. 

Mike charged $35 a month for service and grew his customer base through word of mouth. A major turning point came when he landed a contract with IPS, a property management company overseeing commercial pools in Orange County.

His wife, Shirley, was with him from the beginning, helping grow the business while finishing her degree in biology. Though she had initially planned to pursue a career in that field, she ultimately chose to focus on building the company alongside Mike.

“You can’t have a good business without a good partner,” she says.

Together, they expanded into retail, opened a pool store and eventually sold their original service route. After relocating to San Diego in the 1990s, the Medullas bought land from a pool builder and began constructing their home. That connection led them into the warranty world, and for 25 years, they operated the largest Pentair warranty station in San Diego. At its peak, the company had around 16 employees, including three office staff, seven or eight field techs and Mike and Shirley managing operations.

“We were very diversified,” Shirley says. “Repair business, pool service routes, remodeling jobs. We always had a knowledgeable person answering the phone, and our customer service was superior.”

Eventually, they sold the warranty and service side of the business to focus on construction.

“We’re older now,” Mike says. “We don’t want all the headaches that went along with the other business.”

The Medullas have seen the industry evolve significantly over the years.

There’s really no limit. This industry allows you to be whatever you want to be. You can decide where you want to be — small business, huge business or somewhere in between.”

Shirley Medulla

“When I started, it was all copper plumbing, manual valves and time clocks,” Mike says. “No automation, no GFIs on pool lights, and chlorine was 53 cents a gallon.”

Shirley notes that materials have also come a long way. “Everything was stainless steel; now it’s all plastic, composite materials and fiberglass,” she says.

Professionalism in the industry has improved, too. 

“Anybody who had a truck and a pole could clean a pool,” Mike says. “There was no schooling, no restrictions.”

In the early days, some industry associations hosted monthly meetings, but they weren’t always productive. Over time, frustration with disorganized meetings and a lack of practical support inspired Mike to found American Spa and Pool Pros, a group insurance solution specifically for pool professionals.

ASAPP offered coverage without requiring monthly in-person meetings and quickly gained traction among professionals looking for a more efficient alternative. Eventually, the Medullas sold the company, but their daughter Danielle, who had worked for ASAPP, founded her own insurance company ­— the SPPA — for pool pros and, Shirley says, “ended up taking things to a whole new level.”

Now their son, Michael — a former petroleum engineer ­— has joined the business.

“We gave him the choice to come into our business,” Shirley says. “We said, ‘Are you happy with the choice?’ He said, ‘Oh yeah.’ ”

“Once somebody gets a taste of pools, it’s in their blood and they don’t leave,” Mike adds.

Their advice for the next generation is direct.

“Take the classes, get training,” Mike says. “You really need to know chemistry, learn about safety, get the correct licenses and understand electrical systems.”

Shirley adds, “Listen to the people who have been in the industry. Don’t disrespect what someone who’s been in the industry for a long time has to tell you.”

For Mike and Shirley, the pool industry offered freedom, financial stability and a deeply satisfying way of life.

“It’s a great life,” Mike says. “You’re talking to people and you’re outside. You’re not a nine-to-five.”

“There’s really no limit,” Shirley adds. “This industry allows you to be whatever you want to be. You can decide where you want to be — small business, huge business or somewhere in between.”

Jackie LaPointe never expected to spend more than three decades building and running a successful pool service company. But in 1990, her husband came home with a surprising idea.

“He said, ‘I think we’re going to buy this pool service company that uses chlorine gas,’ ” she recalls. “And I’m like, ‘No way. I have a 3-year-old and a 4-year-old.’ ”

Despite her reservations and a lack of experience in both business and pool care, Jackie agreed. The couple purchased Pacific Chemical Pool Service, a San Diego company serving around 800 customers at the time. While her husband supported the business part time, LaPointe took over its full-time management.

“I did three months of office training and then I was on my own,” she says. “I had a master’s degree in social work, but I didn’t have any experience with computers, billing or accounting.”

Working from home with young kids, LaPointe slowly built her expertise in water chemistry, customer service and the operational logistics of a growing business. She took chemistry courses, leaned on suppliers and read anything she could get her hands on. One of her favorite resources?

“Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Pool Care” by Charlie Taylor, a comic book-style guide for water chemistry.

As a woman in a male-dominated industry, LaPointe was an outlier — but she didn’t find it isolating.

“I got along really well with everybody,” she says. “I think sometimes they thought of me like a mom figure. They didn’t want to disappoint me.”

At home and in the field, LaPointe became the go-to expert for everything from customer complaints to tech support.

“Some of the reps would say, ‘Can we test this out on your pool?’ ” she recalls. “I was willing to do that because I was still learning.”

Over time, she modernized the business, adding new services and technologies. She oversaw the company’s switch from chlorine gas to more standard sanitization methods after 9/11 regulations made gas transport impractical. She also implemented GPS tracking on trucks and cellphones for technicians, streamlining accountability and customer service.

“It was a good business to have,” she says. “It was flexible. During the offseason, we could travel. It allowed us to have a nice income even if my husband was between jobs.”

LaPointe’s favorite part of the work was the relationships and stories.

“I loved listening to the stories when the technicians would come in and tell me all these funny things that happened at the pools, and I always thought there should be a book — ‘Memoirs of a Poolman’ or something — because the stories were a riot,” she recalls.

Eventually, her son Nick became the natural successor. He began working summers, got a business degree and took to the industry.

“He just likes to learn,” LaPointe says. “He’s very good with customers, he’s calm and he gets really excited about trying out new systems.”

LaPointe officially retired three years ago, leaving the company — now renamed Golden State Pools — in Nick’s hands along with his business partner, Raymond da Rosa. Looking back, she’s proud of how she grew into the role and what the business has become.

“I felt a sense of pride that I learned how to do billing, how to deal with customers and employees, how to build relationships with the reps,” she says. “I was actually able to do this.”

She sees today’s pool industry as more technologically sophisticated, with automation and remote controls replacing time clocks and copper plumbing. But some things, she says, shouldn’t change.

“Sometimes the old stuff just works fine, like the Barracuda G3 cleaner — simple and easy to repair poolside,” she says.

When asked what she’s most proud of, her answer is quick: “Nick. I’m really happy with how he’s taken over and advanced the company in amazing ways.”

Now fully enjoying retirement, Jackie has no regrets.

“Sometimes I hear Nick dealing with a problem and I just think, ‘Not my issue anymore,’ ” she laughs. “But the company’s in good hands.”