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Relative Success

At Virginia pool business, family members work to their strengths

Photos by: Robert Lipscomb

Winky Vaughan grew up in the pool business: Her parents owned a swimming pool company in northern Virginia. When she graduated from Virginia Tech, she decided that she wanted to own her own pool company. In 1977, she and her husband Jim started National Pools of Roanoke. Soon, her parents — who wanted to downsize — joined them.

But since the early ’90s, Vaughan has run the business by herself after losing her husband and father. Her three sons — Jason, Lee and Austin — as well as other family members have made their careers in the business, each finding their own place.

“Winky runs the overall company, but she is in the retail store as well,” says general manager Ginnie Vaughan. Vaughan married Winky’s son, Jason, who is president, and helps run the retail operations. Jason does new pool sales, design and oversees the jobs. Lee, vice president of service and renovation, does all the renovation bids and oversees those jobs. Austin, vice president, likes to sell, design and build pools. Mea, Lee’s wife, oversees the service department.

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In addition to family members working in the business, National Pools has several employees who have worked for the company for decades. “We definitely live in a seasonal climate, so over the winter, we don’t lay people off,” Ginnie Vaughan says. “We keep them employed, and I think that has helped us keep employees from going other ways.”

Family ties in the pool industry aren’t unusual, but a company that not only does new pool builds, renovations and service, but also does all the work themselves — with no subcontractors — is rare. “We take pride in the finished product and knowing that it lasts a very long time,” Ginnie Vaughan says. “That’s one of the reasons our renovation department has grown so much lately: We are renovating pools we built in the late ’70s and early ’80s that have lasted 30 years. They are in good shape but need a facelift. Winky’s been doing this for close to 40 years now; it’s still very successful and runs smoothly on a daily basis. That speaks to a lot of dedicated employees.”

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