Power Women: Sam Folaron

Sam Folaron
Co-owner, Puravida Outdoor Living
Wall Township, New Jersey

From the time Sam Folaron was 12, she knew the pool industry was where she belonged. What started as a summer job in a retail pool store became an influential education in business, leadership and what was possible for a woman willing to learn every side of the trade.

That first job was with a woman-owned pool company in New Jersey — a detail that mattered more than Folaron realized at the time. “I did not have much exposure to the career woman type,” she says. “I was in awe of her from very early on.” 

Folaron returned to that store year after year through middle school, high school and college, constantly asking to do more, from water testing and Polaris repairs to learning billing and business operations. Watching her boss balance a demanding seasonal business with family life left a lasting impression. 

“She said, ‘I don’t miss a basketball game, I’m in the PTA and I get to do all these school things because my business gets slower in the wintertime,’ ” Folaron recalls. “That really stuck with me.”

After college, Folaron took her experience into pool supply distribution with Seaboard Industries, starting at the counter and spending the next 11 years building her career there and at POOLCORP after an acquisition. Later, she accepted a position with Latham, where she explored sales. Along the way, she developed an appreciation for operations, logistics and the behind-the-scenes processes that keep pool businesses running. “I loved operations,” she says. “I loved dealing with trucks and truck drivers and the whole thing.” 

But her time on the distribution side also gave her a front-row seat to where many builders fell short — especially from the customer’s perspective. Over and over, she heard the same frustrations. “It’s very rarely a big problem,” she says. “It’s always the little things [toward the end].” 

That insight, combined with a desire for more flexibility, ultimately led Folaron and Chris Rauschenbach, her former boss at POOLCORP and now business partner, to start Puravida Outdoor Living. “There was an opening at that time for somebody new in this area,” she says. “And we said, ‘Let’s just do this.’ I’ll be home every night. It’ll be part mine.”

From the beginning, Folaron approached ownership with a pool pro’s mindset, even when the work was unglamorous. In Puravida’s first year, she personally serviced 20 weekly accounts. “I’m not just pushing a vacuum,” she says. “I’m finding a process. I’m building a company.” That year became what she calls their “discovery year” — testing equipment, refining communication, learning what promises they could realistically keep and, just as importantly, what work they wouldn’t do.

That process-driven approach carries through to how Puravida treats its employees. 

“An employee is only as good as the tools and the resources that you provide,” Folaron says. She’s quick to take responsibility when things go wrong. “Either the training wasn’t right, the tool wasn’t right or the time wasn’t right. Something that we did, did not set this employee up for success.” Clear expectations, accountability and consistent leadership are nonnegotiables. “If you let it go, it always snowballs into a bigger thing,” she says.

For Folaron, success is about sustainability for herself, her family and her team. “We’ve scaled in a way that we’ve not burnt ourselves out,” she says. “But we’re also providing really great opportunity for our employees.” Puravida invests in high pay, strong benefits and ongoing education to create lasting careers and long-term stability. “I don’t want to have a business where I have to fear that if my competition offers 50 cents more, they’re going to jump ship,” she says.

Folaron credits confidence and visibility as the biggest drivers of change for women in the pool industry. Seeing other women succeed, she says, makes the path clearer. “Put the fact that you’re a woman aside. It doesn’t matter,” she says. “If you want to be here and you want to learn, treat it like any other industry.” After two decades in the field, she believes it’s “an incredible place for women right now.”

At this stage of her career, Folaron has a clear sense of what matters most. “The biggest thing is that I’m happy,” she says.

Sam’s Toolbox

A must-have tool: The right software with app capabilities. It is critical to be able to answer work calls, respond to emails and manage our technicians’ schedules on the go.  

Best on-the-job time-saving tip:  When dealing with clients, we can often save a ton of time by clearly communicating our timelines, costs and capabilities up front. 

A habit that helps you reset: Every day, I take a walk around the neighborhood with my husband and children. It gives us 15-30 minutes to get fresh air, break from our screens, move our bodies and communicate. Our daughter likes to play “peak and pit,” where we all have to say the highlight of our day as well as the low point. This tends to lead to great conversations and sometimes a much-needed hug.

A mentor or peer who shaped how you work: Chris Rauschenbach saw potential in me that I didn’t know was there. He introduced me to sales and operations and showed me what forging great business relationships looks like and how to take care of your employees. I was honored to be on his team then and am even more honored to be his business partner now.  

Go-to caffeine order: Nothing beats a dark roast cold brew over ice with a splash of milk.

Music to get you through the day:  “Still Waters (Psalm 23)” by Leanna Crawford is my current go-to, feel-good song. It’s about how life ebbs and flows, but your faith and trust in God will always bring you peace and joy.