With zero experience in the pool industry, Justin Pinson bought a 39-pool route in 2014 and began spending all his extra time learning how pools worked and how to fix them. He joined the local IPSSA chapter “and had some great guys who helped me when I was new to the industry,” he says. He…
Steve Crowley began his career in the pool industry on his 16th birthday, as a stock associate at a local Namco Pool and Patio store. He worked there part-time until he graduated high school, moving to a full-time position through college. He held positions as a sales rep, key-holder and assistant manager. At 19, Crowley…
The pool industry first intrigued Gregory Balderaz in 2010, when he began working for a landscaping service company that also maintained pools. He ran a 50-pool service route there before moving on to a company that focused solely on pools. It was there that he learned the repair side of pool care, which he says…
Josh DeRoche became a certified systems engineer at 17 years old, while still in high school. In 2015, he purchased 20% of his father’s small pool service company, Pool-Aid, as an investment. Three years later, in January 2018, DeRoche stepped in as president of Pool-Aid. In just two years, DeRoche has taken Pool-Aid from a…
In 2007, Matt Lensch began cleaning the pool and performing simple maintenance at his apartment complex in Columbus, Georgia. Along his career path, Lensch was a lifeguard for a Boy Scouts of America summer camp and at a local YMCA, moving from lifeguard to head lifeguard, assistant aquatics director and landing on aquatics director. During…
In high school and college, Julie Kazdin worked retail at her family’s pool business, Kazdin Pools & Spas. After graduating from Bryan University with a bachelor’s in business administration, she took a stab at the corporate world, with the dream of climbing the ladder to become an executive of a Fortune 500 company. “Unfortunately, I…
Jesse Derr started his pool career as a summer job in 2006 at age 15. After graduating high school, he landed a full-time position as a service tech for Leslie’s Poolmart. At 21, Derr was promoted to senior service technician and became the district trainer for new hires. “I learned so much during my tenure…
Erik Taylor was working six and seven days a week at a jewelry store when his best friend took him out on a couple of pool service jobs. Taylor says he fell in love with the industry, saw potential in it, and started Chlorine King Pool Service immediately. For several months, Taylor continued working at…
Joe Wilmot has been an electrician for as long as he can remember, but when the housing market began to crash in 2007, his career was struggling. Meanwhile, Wilmot’s best friend was running a thriving pool service and repair company. In May 2008, with his friend’s help, Wilmot started H2Joe Pool Service & Repair. “I…
Conner Gibbs is a third-generation pool professional — his grandfather started Gib-San Pools over 50 years ago. “My journey started at the end of grade school,” Gibbs says. “I began painting fences, sweeping the yard and taking apart broken pool pumps for parts.” In the years to come, Gibbs would work in a variety of…
Jeff Martens entered the pool industry seasonally in 2011, helping customers with chemical and equipment purchases at an outlet store called In the Swim. He was promoted to the call center as a parts rep, taking phone calls from all over the country to help customers troubleshoot and locate parts for their pool systems. From…
In 2009, Sean Kochendorfer was laid off from his job as an auto mechanic and started filling in at his friend’s pool service company. Soon after Kochendorfer started his own pool company in California, accruing over 60 accounts within a year. However, he wanted to learn more about pool repair. Another pool company owner Kochendorfer…