August 4, 2025 • 38 mins
In Episode 24 of The Paradyme Shift, Ryan Garland, Founder and Chairman of Paradyme Companies, sits down with Steve Reid of Sand Castle Pools, the visionary pool contractor responsible for the Dubai-inspired pool design at the Barn Caves Community Center. This episode dives deep into Steve’s 20+ year journey in pool construction, from digging trenches as a teen to building luxury commercial pools around the world—including on Jeff Epstein’s private island in the Virgin Islands in 2010.
Steve shares the technical science behind pool design, including innovations like digital rain curtains, hydraulics, and geotechnical risk mitigation. The episode also reveals how Paradyme’s selection process ensures the highest-quality subcontractors are chosen for landmark projects, with an emphasis on design-build integrity, commercial compliance, and delivering high-touch luxury experiences.
Whether you're in real estate development, construction, or just love bold visions coming to life, this episode blends engineering, entrepreneurship, and luxury real estate into one compelling narrative.
🔗 To learn more or get in touch with Steve Reid, visit: https://sandcastlepools.com
🏗️ For more information on the Barn Caves and its Dubai-inspired pool, visit:https://paradymecompanies.com/invest/barn-caves
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey everybody, ryan Garland here, founder and
chairman of Paradigm, thank youfor joining us today.
You are on the Paradigm Shift.
We are sponsored by 10 DayDoors PMG.
They are dealing with all ofour steel manufacturing for the
famous barn caves.
But today I am honored to haveSteve Reed here.
He's with Sandcastle Pools andtoday you are going to be
honored with his presence andwe're honored with his presence
(00:20):
because he's going to share alittle bit about his background
and he is the contractor webrought on to build the
Dubai-inspired pool at the BarnCaves Community Center.
So, as you guys know, we like tobrag about how much we align
with the right people to putthem in the right slots, to
develop the right projects andfor all of my investors and
(00:42):
clients out there, you guys arerelying on me to make good
decisions and bring in the rightpeople, and this is a little
way to show you down to our poolcontractor why it is we chose
him and I'm going to let himtake the mic for a while because
he's got a very impressivebackground and, in fact, anybody
who needs a pool whether it's aremodel or build new this is
going to be your guy, so you'regoing to be very impressed with
them.
I, the more time I spend withthem, I'm more impressed as a
(01:05):
human as well, and, uh, and Ithink this is really cool.
So, steve, thanks for joiningme here.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Thank you.
Well, first I want to say, uh,thanks for giving me the
opportunity on that job.
Uh, super excited.
Uh, I think where I'm at, ifthe bigger scale projects don't
keep coming, I'm going to haveto leave Lake Havasu.
So, thank you, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Of course.
Well, you know you were highlyrecommended.
A lot of contractors that I'mworking with on other projects,
you know, said that you're theman and I, you know, the
referral source and word ofmouth is really key and this is
such a small town and you know,to be able to find the right
guys for the right slots isreally difficult.
(01:48):
I mean, that's a whole otherlabor conversation, right, but
you know, on top of you, youknow having I think you guys are
doing the public pool over atthe Riviera.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Yeah, we just wrapped it up, yeah looks great, we're
working through some finaldetails over there, final
details over there, but yeah,it's all done.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
And they're going to be very selective.
I love that group over thereand how what they developed and
kind of how they operate, and Ireally respect their operation
overall, but for them to chooseyou to do that pool, that's a
spoke volumes of the caliber ofwhat you do, and then, obviously
, being able to see the finishedproduct does obviously, uh,
they were right about you, so itwas perfect, man.
So, like, I think what I reallywant to do is I'll let you take
control over the mic for aminute.
(02:23):
I want you to talk a little bitabout your background.
You said you've been doing thisfor over 20 years and I give a
lot of people respect a bit inthe business, especially through
the 2008 crash because youreally had to pivot, hence the
name Paradigm having to shift totry to survive, especially if
you had a family.
At that time I did, and it wasa really tough time for me.
But I would say that throughthose tough times is what built
(02:43):
my brand.
It really is who we are today,because I want to be more
conservative and I never want togo back through that financial
hardship, and so a lot of guysthat I align with seem to kind
of have that same stake in theirheart.
They just don't want to gothrough that again.
So I give a lot of respect tobusiness owners who are really
been able to power through thatand then create infrastructure
for security and stability and,from what I understand and what
(03:06):
I've seen so far, you've, you'rethat type of man.
So let's talk a little bitabout your background.
Man, where'd you start?
I know you like long walks onthe beach and all, but let's
talk about where you started.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
So, uh, I started building pools when I was 15.
Uh, I used to know this girlnamed Lisa.
She was head of, uh, thebuilding association.
I used to know this girl namedLisa, she was head of the
building association, and Iremember going to her and asking
her who's the biggest poolbuilder in town?
I want to get a job, I want towork for the biggest company, I
want to learn, I want to grow,and at the time that ended up
(03:37):
being Mojave.
So I started there diggingtrenches.
I remember my interview.
A guy named Ken Cook hired meand I remember him telling me
he's like you're not going to goto college.
And I was like, no, I got tostart making money.
And he's like, kid, I'm goingto work you so hard I'm going to
(03:57):
make you wish you went tocollege.
And I remember thinking tomyself I saw that as a challenge
.
I worked with a crew full ofMexicans, started digging
trenches, grew through that tiein rebar, mastered that and went
on to plumbing, becameproficient in that part, started
(04:19):
setting tile, coping, operatingequipment, excavating pools.
I was on a Shock Creek crew fora few years, plaster crew for a
few years.
So I really spent a lot of timein start to finish construction
, which the buildup ofeverything I went through to
(04:48):
where I'm at now doing designand project managing and things
like that.
It really gave me a goodfoundation to understand how to
prevent.
You know problems, riskmanagement and you know
especially when you're talkingabout swimming pools you know
bodies of water, water's very.
You know it's corrosive, itvery.
You know we got to build thesevessels that are supposed to
hold water and not damage thingsaround, that are supposed to
(05:08):
sit in place and there's a lotthat goes into it.
And uh, I so, after I, I think Iworked there for maybe 10 years
, maybe a little longer, andthen, uh, I felt like I had a
really good grasp on thebusiness, at least the
construction side, which at thetime, as a young I'm still young
(05:32):
, but you know young kid Ithought I was ready to go.
So I ended up getting mycontractor's license this was
early on and I actually it wascalled Bay Pools and I built
pools.
I did a handful of pools.
Uh, things were going reallygood went through a divorce,
same thing, um, but I had somefailure there.
(05:55):
I wasn't quite ready, I didn'thave everything I needed on the
business side of it andultimately that was the real
kind of nail in the coffin.
So, uh, you know, when you havea failure you can do one of two
things Either you can give upor you know.
It's kind of that mindset yeah,exactly.
(06:17):
I'm going to show people thatyou know I, I'm good at doing
this.
I just wasn't good ateverything, so uh that's what I
do.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
I know what I'm good at.
I just hire people to fill inthe spots I'm suck at, man.
That's my strength isidentifying what I suck at
nowadays.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
So uh, I built pools.
Actually funny story I met, uh,the guys at the Riviera like
Luke Still Michael Gordon.
Uh, when I was 18 I actually Iremodeled Luke Still Michael
Gordon when I was 18, actually Iremodeled Luke Still's pool as
like a side job owner builder.
And when I had Bay it was stillwhen the Riviera was being
talked about I sat in onmeetings when they're talking
(06:57):
about building rooftop pools andkind of went through you know a
lot of the risk and things thatneed to happen and what they're
up against, potential costs andthings like that.
So early on I kind of had a legin with them.
But then when you talk abouthow many years later, when they
actually got stuff going and thegrowth of 10 years later.
yeah, and the growth that I had,you know a few conversations in
(07:21):
and you know just thatrelationship that we had had and
uh.
So that's how I ended uplanding that um and and we're
building another pool for them.
They're doing three in theriviera um.
But to get back to what I wassaying, when I, after bay pools,
you know I shut everything downand had that failure.
(07:43):
Uh, I went to work atsandcastle so I'm not actually
the owner of sandcastle, if youdon't know that, by the way, a
guy named brock kessler he ownsthe company um, myself and two
guys that work for me.
We all went to work there and Igot on there doing, uh, design
sales, and then that ended upturning into some project
(08:08):
management stuff, just becauseof the background that I have
and everything was going good.
But I kind of felt, you know,when you come from being a guy
out in the field actuallybuilding with your hands, and
then you go into an officesetting where you're designing
which is cool, I love designingand you know that whole part of
(08:29):
it but I just felt this part ofme that you know I was missing
something, like I needed to beout there building.
So the first couple of years Iwas like you know well, let me
go out there in the summertime,you know the guys are behind on
plumbing.
Let me plumb a pool.
You know well, let me go outthere in the summertime, you
know the guys are behind onplumbing.
Let me plumb a pool, you know,let me tile some.
And I did.
But you know, I started tofigure out that wasn't what
(08:50):
needed to happen.
You know, we needed to focus ongrowing the guys.
I couldn't go in and do thatand things wouldn't operate
efficiently that way.
And so, uh, I ended up findinga university called Watershape
University.
So I've been going there forabout three years now and they
(09:12):
teach the science of poolconstruction.
So what happens in concreteduring the curing process?
What does a concrete matrixlook like under a microscope?
You know what does a concretematrix look like what under a
microscope?
Um, hydraulics and the mathbehind what size pipe you need
to move.
You know x amount of gpms ofwater and thermo expansion on
(09:35):
materials and how to plan for it.
And you really start to learnthe detail.
Geo you know geotechnicalissues and being able to
visually identify soil,potential soils issues and the
process of properly walkingsomeone through uh to build out
a set of construction documentson a swimming pool that you
(09:55):
won't have a failure on.
So getting in that set, I justyou know you get in a room full
of the top pool builders in theworld are teaching these classes
.
You know, if you look into it,it's guys like rick chafee and
uh dave peterson and uh billdrakely who sits on.
You know aci, which is, youknow, american concrete
(10:15):
institute, and you know allthese top dog professionals.
You, you know, and you comefrom a place like havasu where
you think you're doing great.
It's like oh yeah we're the bestin town.
You start to realize there areguys so much smarter than you.
So that whole process andtimeline in my life was very
humbling and I've really beenfocusing on, you know, learning
(10:38):
the fine details in the sciencebehind pool construction.
And since I've started going inthe science behind pool
construction and since I'vestarted going I've been it's
made a huge difference.
You know, I can walk on siteand I I feel more confident
about you know, building poolsoff cliff sides.
We were talking about that.
You know the project.
I have going for Tony, that's inthe Riviera as well, correct?
Yeah, so a lot, of, a lot ofother pool builders were walking
(11:02):
up there scared they wouldn'ttouch it, but they don't know
the process of how to approachit, and you learn that when you
seek that education, it'spassion driven.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
For me, well, something like that would be an
engineering nightmare, correctand safety nightmare.
Right.
They're not doing it right.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Right.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
Now you were talking about prior to us jumping on,
and what happened in 2008?
You said you started traveling.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
So, oh, I, I still worked for Mojave pools and
things came to a standstill herePretty much.
You know, as we all know,anyone who was around here
during that time.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
So it was dead, dead, yeah, I mean pretty much
everywhere for the most part but, here definitely cause.
This was a secondary marketretirement community.
Yeah, it's dead.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
I think I mean pretty much everywhere for the most
part, but here definitely,because we did a few in Roswell,
new Mexico, and, uh, you know,we were traveling all over and
(12:10):
then, uh, one of our friends wasdown in the Virgin islands on
St Thomas on vacation.
They had had an earthquake andwhat they were doing out there
where they were building, pourin place pools, so they pour the
floor, then pour the walls,then they have a cold joint,
weren't you know?
He weighs in, earthquakehappens separates, pools leaking
.
They had no way to build amonolithic structure, concrete
(12:34):
structure for a pool.
So we went up there with theidea, or, you know, bart's just
shipped a container, a guniterig and, you know, ended up
there was a few remodel jobs andthen he ended up landing the
jobs for Jeff Epstein on, uh,little St James was the name of
his Island.
So, uh, I spent over a year onhis Island building two massive
(13:00):
pools Um wow, yeah, it was agood time it was, it was fun.
I mean at the time I had heardabout you know everything going
on, but I was 20 years old, Ididn't care about any of that,
you know it was just.
I'm in the Virgin islands.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
I got a house on the beach.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
You know, I could throw a rock into the you know
the ocean, so um, but I rememberone time uh, so we had one of
his pools completely dug.
I just finished plumbing it.
All the rebar was tied,everything was ready to go.
We were ready for inspection.
He's like well, let me you knoweverything looks good, let me
get up in the helicopter andtake a look at it and just make
(13:40):
sure everything's good and comes.
You know he does that, comesback down and he's like nah,
it's got to be three foot closerto the ocean.
We had to rip out half thatpool and, because you can't just
excavate a pool, three morefeet yeah, everything's bar.
Yeah, it's a whole differentlevel, yeah so saw, cut
(14:00):
everything, ripped out half thepool, all the plumbing, you know
, moved it, you know, three footcloser and I remember at the
time I was upset, but then I'mlike, well, it just means I get
to be in the Virgin Islands.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
And he's going to pay you more money.
Yeah, we got paid more.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
But yeah, really cool experience.
I spent like two years outthere.
Met you know a handful offriends, some of them still live
there.
Met you know a handful offriends, some of them still live
there, uh, super cool area tobe, to just see that different
mindset, you know so.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
And now then you came back here.
What did you end up coming back?
Speaker 2 (14:35):
so when it's hard to remember when things started
picking back up for me it waslike 13, 14, 14 ish.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
I started feeling a huge shift right.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
So I think I came back here you know, around town
well when we finished track.
I would come back for like acouple weeks at a time during
those two, two years, um, andthen somewhere around 2013, 2014
(15:05):
.
And then I ended up leavingMojave at that point, and then,
uh, I went to work for sandcastle.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Got it so well, man, when, when we reached out to you
, you know, dennis, I think,made that connection Right.
So I was like, dude, we'rebuilding a pool.
I need the best of the bestperiod into story because I want
to mimic the same pool in Dubaicalled club drift, right and
beach club drift.
And I'm I'm like cause my wifeand I uh had spent some time
there and I absolutely lovedthat place and it was so cool
(15:36):
because I think what the impactfor me was, just the people that
were there.
You know, just when you go todifferent countries and you
travel, you kind of have adifferent perspective of life.
That's why I'm smiling whenyou're talking about the Virgin
Islands.
It's kind of the experience andthat's why people talk about
don't buy, you know, don't spendall your money on material
things.
Spend money on experience,right.
And when we went there, it wasso impactful for me.
It was one of my favoriteplaces in the world.
(15:57):
Of course it's Dubai, the.
It was so much fun and it wasso peaceful.
They had like a saxophoneplayer and playing like, like
modern music, but like with asaxophone, you know.
And the food was amazing.
The.
The cabanas were like um, thedesign of the cabanas.
I've never seen anything likethat before.
Just the layout of the pool wasvery comfortable.
People just truly enjoyed it.
(16:19):
You know, just it was bigenough for everyone just kind of
lay out and hang out, and itwasn't too busy.
It was just the.
Just the vibe was like damn,you're perfect, right, and I
really I really love thebackstory of that square and I
like the culture of that andthat's why I was like, well,
shoot man, if I can bring thatkind of feel for me, I want
other people to feel that, eventhough they're not in Dubai.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
I know exactly what you know what I'm trying to.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
I'm trying to bring that feeling of it and, honestly
, it was the best, because Iremember sitting there and I was
so thankful because I had losteverything in 08, man, and I was
kind of rebuilding at the timeand so when I got there and I'm
like I got a chance to look atall the cranes, it's like it's
almost like this world we're.
So we look at the world in ourown eyes and we're like we're in
, we're stuck in our own world,right, but when you travel you
(17:01):
realize like the world's so muchbigger than you think it is on
a day-to-day basis and it whenyou look at things, like you
said, you're, you're.
You're now around people thatare much smarter than you.
You're a lot, you know, it'shumbling and that's where I
think's happened.
I'm just, I've been around somany different people and have
traveled and I've been humbledso much that I want to, I want
to continue that feeling.
It makes me better, you know,and I want to bring that culture
(17:25):
to Lake Havasu, where peoplemay not be able to afford to get
there, but they're going to beable to experience the feeling
of it, and I think that's theand when.
I think I've always learned fromother um, let's just call it
mentors in the business, where,if you're able to provide that
type of experience for people,you're going to do well right.
It's always about theexperience you're going to
deliver for people and that'sreally, ultimately, what I'm
(17:46):
trying to do.
So a Dubai inspired design poolin like little old Lake Havasu,
like nobody would have everthought about that, and now that
we're kind of talking about itand people are hearing about it,
like my own kind of closefriends and network, they're
telling me that people are justexcited about it.
They can't wait to, you know,see it actually happen.
Is it really going to happen?
You know all that fun stuff.
So it's uh, it was importantfor me to align with the right
(18:07):
group and you guys kept comingup and so and you weren't just
referred by Dennis, there was acouple of other people that
brought you guys up and uh, andthat's a testament to your
guys's uh track record, but alsoyour integrity, because this is
a small town man, so it's it'snot easy.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
I mean, as you know it's, it's always a struggle.
But you know I love it, it's mypassion.
So you know, when I heard aboutthe paradigm job, I actually
Den the old owner of sandcastle.
I got a heads up on it and inmy mind I was like I want this
(18:43):
job, like I know what I know andI know how hard I've been
working.
I just got to.
You know, I got to build thepool.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Like I, like I want that pool.
Yeah, I got to build the pool.
I love it, all right.
So let's talk a little bitabout the uh, and I appreciate
that it's really cool, cause Iknew people were thinking about
it.
We got a lot of phone calls.
I mean, even still to this day,I mean people are hitting me up
hey, we do HVAC, you knowwhatever, but I, we, it was very
important that we select theright group.
Uh, let's talk a little bitabout the design of the pool.
Like, let's talk about when I,when we sat down and we showed
(19:14):
you what we were doing, and youwent back and you're like okay,
well, I think, cause right tothat, you know, I think there's
been a lot of work I've beenputting in with the
architectural drawing side of ittoo.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
I've been taking, you know, 3d Basecamp Google puts
it on.
I go to their courses reallytrying to focus on, you know, a
good set of drawings andrendering.
So when I met you, I think inmy mind I really wanted to step
outside and, you know, a littlebit more than what I normally
(19:52):
would have, because I wanted thejob so much, just to show you,
you know, the passion that Ihave and you know that I feel
like I'm the right guy and I washoping it was a good fit.
So I wanted to, you know, takeit into SketchUp and draw it and
give you a professionalrendering, which typically I
(20:12):
would sign a design contract for.
But in this case I wanted thejob and the bigger jobs and the
cool stuff is where my passion'sat, the cutter stuff and, you
know, the basic pool spa.
That's fine, you know, and it'scool.
It keeps everything going.
But for me, you know, 20, 20years, it's I'm you need
(20:36):
something new, doing the littlestuff like I'm ready for the
bigger stuff, so um and thecommercial.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
The commercial compliance is completely
different than residentialcompliance right, right, and it
changes all the time.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
I mean just through the course of, you know, the
riviera pool and the changesthat that we saw there.
I mean things are constantlychanging.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
Kids are always drowning and you know it's, it's
always, you know yeah, yougotta and you always have to can
be on your, on your toes,because you can get caught up
building it the wrong way andthey're like you're not passing
inspection, rip it all out.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
Right.
I think that happened not toolong ago in like Texas or
something.
A kid got sucked to the bottomof a main drain and eviscerated.
Oh my goodness.
It wasn't plumbed correctly andI can't remember when, but I
heard something about that, soit's a big deal.
You got to know what you'redoing and doing things the right
way.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
So tell me a little bit about the water feature.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
So the water feature.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
So, by the way, real quick, before you start, for
everybody that's listening tothis, if you know me well enough
, I have like these big visionsand everyone's like that is
really, really cool.
I'm going to see how I can makeit actually work.
So, uh, steve's been able tokind of dig his heels in and see
how we can do this one waterfeature that normally doesn't
(21:55):
have a water feature, becausethe actual uh no, the actual one
does have a water feature.
It does, yeah, so the one indubai actually has a water.
A sheet of water comes rightthrough the middle of it, does
it?
Speaker 2 (22:02):
actually I didn't see any pictures I'm pretty sure
I'll look it up right now thefirst thing I started doing was
hunting and looking ateverything through that.
But, um, I'm pretty sure itdoes.
I mean that's essentially thefocal point of that pool.
So, uh, rick chafee is actually, uh, he's the owner of a
(22:22):
company called Red Rock Pools.
He's and I told Rick I wasgoing to mention him on this
podcast and that I look at himlike a mentor.
But people look at him I mean alot of his colleagues and every
time I go to a Water Shapesevent, you know all these other
people that are on his level.
They openly say he's the bestpool builder in the world.
And anyone listening if youlook up Rick Chafee at Red Rock
(22:54):
Pools, he builds amazingprojects.
The guy's a genius.
He's got a bachelor's inconstruction science and he's
one of those guys.
When you talk to him likesomeone like me in the industry,
pool industry you talk to himand he's just loaded with
knowledge.
So I actually have him.
He's also one of my teachers atwater shapes, so he's he's one
of the.
He's the guy building out theplan set for your pool.
So I was talking to Rick andhe's like dude, this water
(23:17):
features badass.
He's like you gotta, you gottatalk them into doing a, a
printing rain descent or adigital rain curtain.
And I'm like Rick, what are youtalking about?
Like I've never heard of a.
You know a digital rain curtainand he sends me a couple videos
and what it does is it actuallyprints animations and colors
(23:39):
through the water.
So like, for your sake, you hadmentioned you were going to do,
you know, potentially rent itout for weddings or birthday
parties or things like that?
Well now, had mentioned youwere going to do, you know,
potentially rent it out forweddings or birthday parties or
things like that?
Well now, what that would allowyou to do is personalize the
pool to the people you know,whoever's wedding it is, you
know, congratulations, mrsWhoever.
And you could take yourparadigm logo and make it look
(24:01):
like it's rotating in a circleand animated or in a sheet of
water, in a sheet of water, thatthe water is the printer.
So, um, really cool feature.
Um, you don't, you won't knowit's there and it'll come alive
at night.
So it's kind of one of thoseadded little bonuses that people
won't know is there unless theyshow up in the evening hours
(24:22):
dude, how cool is that man?
Speaker 1 (24:23):
well, I remember we were talking about I think you
brought it to my attention Do wewant to have that?
Speaker 2 (24:27):
Right.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
And I'm like you know what?
Yeah, I kind of do Right.
So you brought a good idea,because you know I was looking
at, there was a I don't know ifyou did the pool, I know Ryan
was involved with it, I thinkwhen I saw them like guys are
(24:48):
doing that out here, heck,that's awesome.
And then, and then you broughtit up right after that, I'm like
, yeah, if we can get a sheet ofwater to go through this,
that'd be killer.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
Um, I think you know, when you look, if you're trying
to rent the space out for awedding, there's always that
little thing that makes theperson say, hey, let's do it
here, Whether it's the photo orthe surrounding or just the
space as a whole.
So, you know, I'm hoping we canmake that work and because I
(25:16):
think it'll be one of thosefeatures that you know, that
person that might not haverented it out would rent it out
for that reason.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
So well, you know, honestly, I love that.
You know, one of the things Ithought was very professional is
when I walk into, like other,let's say, an office, and, like
you say, you have a screen thatsays, hey, welcome, ryan, you
know, thanks for joining ustoday.
Like just kind of like it'scheesy but very professional.
I know that sounds weird, butwhen you're doing that for
someone who wants to rent outthe space, I think that's really
cool.
Happy birthday this person.
(25:46):
Or hey, welcome for joining,thanks for joining us, or
whatever it is.
I think there's.
I think it just shows likepolish, you know, and I wanted
absolutely and that's, if youhaven't noticed yet, that's how
I like to kind of.
I I'd like to think paradigmhas that polish um?
Speaker 2 (25:59):
I mean, I think it does absolutely yeah, thank you.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
Yeah, so we.
You know it was funny because Iremember the first time we
talked I said hey, just do me afavor, just make sure you guys
deliver on this pool.
I do not want to be hung up onmy co and you're like, I got you
and you actually beat it.
You've been beating everybodyelse to the punch.
You're ready to go everybodyelse.
Speaker 2 (26:15):
We're waiting for everyone else pretty much.
I mean final details on thisdigital rain curtain and if we
can pull it off and it makessense with the budget, and then
you know decking choices andcouple little things and we're
ready to go to adq.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
So did you ever go with dennis up to that property
he has in the foothills?
I didn't uh go take a look atit.
I went up there the other daybecause the decking that you
have on the riviera I like it,don't get me wrong but the
decking that he has up at thatpool.
And now it's two differentworlds, because that's
residential urine commercial.
But he does think, and dennisis smart but he's not always
right, you know, if, if we canuse the material he's got up
(26:51):
there for the decking for thisone, I'd love it, man you should
see it's pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
Uh, I haven't told you yet, but I talked to rick
about that and it's an r11.
Finish on that, and thatroughness does work with adq
centers.
So we can use that porcelaindecking, so I I didn't think
we'd be able to but anything.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
R11 and beyond it, it works well, when I went up
there and I mean it's actually,I mean it's pretty, it's pretty
impressive, how, how sticky.
In essence it is right thatgrit was impressive.
I was like yeah, you can getthis wet and you're no one's
slipping on this thing it's Iwould.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
It's, in today's times, probably the most popular
decking and the most, I mean,for the people that are going
modern and you know anup-to-date look.
I don't think there's a betterlook in decking.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
We're using it quite a bit right now.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
Especially with the porcelain turndown edging where
the decking actually waterfallsinto the pool, no coping
overhang.
So, uh, very popular and it's agood look.
So we did get that approval.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
We can use that and it doesn't get as hot either.
No, that's a big deal, yeah Imean everything's gonna get hot.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
But yeah, everything's gonna get hot out
here, man.
Yeah, the ground, the dirt'shot 20 feet deep.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
You know it's hot, man out here but it's not going
to be as hot.
I think people can get out ofthe pool and kind of walk, you
know, at a decent pace, and getunder undercover and be okay
yeah it didn't look like it whenI because I was out there I
actually put my hands on theground and sat on it for a
second.
I know your feet are a littlemore sensitive than your hands,
but I'm sitting there going likethis isn't bad.
Yeah, if you're moving, you're,you're not bad.
Speaker 2 (28:25):
It's not as bad as a concrete paver.
A concrete paver is going toget hotter, so yeah, so that
product is great.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
Yeah, so we, uh, you know, obviously.
So, let's, let's just talkabout the process for you.
So when would you ultimatelyengage?
So you know, we're going to do,we're ultimately going to do
the foundation for both the gymitself, the building, and then
we're going to start the parkingstructure.
So, would you know, I know alot of guys up here, like, for
example, in the foothills whereI live, a lot of the builders
are actually building the poolsand digging the pools and gun
(28:53):
outing the pools before theyactually start doing the
foundation of the house, eventhough they have enough room to
maneuver back there.
But you know, is that somethingyou do?
What would you?
How are you?
How are you?
Where are you going to fit inon the construction process?
Speaker 2 (29:05):
so, um, we do that.
I mean, I got two going likethat right now.
We're in there digging the pooland there's no house but
elevations and you really haveto have everyone on the same
page, because the concrete guygoes out and they're setting the
forms and maybe their laserhasn't been calibrated for a
(29:27):
year and they're setting theiryou know transit out, you know
50 feet away, and they get beamdispersal and but you know,
maybe they're a half inch off,but we got, you know, a set of
adq plans where our deck slopehas to be perfect.
So that's what worries me.
Um, we typically only go inbefore there's a height at least
, like a, like you know, orsomething to go off of.
(29:51):
If, if we don't have access orwe're going to lose that, that's
, that's when we'll go in, butotherwise it's, it's a.
You're putting more risk inthere than you need to.
I would say because by the timewe come in and we get that thing
to shotcrete and we're ready tofinish I mean there's so many
things going on with that thatparking structure alone you're
(30:13):
doing I mean I'm sure dennis isgonna have you know it's all
precast concrete.
So putting that together andsubs to do something like that,
I'm sure that's a struggle.
Speaker 1 (30:24):
Oh, dude, we're.
You know we've.
It's hard to find guys that areactually doing that and can do
it out here now.
We found a couple of groups andI think we're fine, but my
actual biggest concern wasputting up the structural steel,
because that cantilever inessence cover that's going off
the back of the gym is basicallyright over the pool.
It's real close.
Speaker 2 (30:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
And I think they're going to have to have.
I mean, that stuff's craned infor sure, you know.
So, and I don't think I thinkwhat they're trying to do is not
have any type of welding onsite.
They may have to.
We're trying to move, maneuveraround that right now.
I think we're finalizing someof the engineering there, um,
but they may have to.
That one.
That one piece has been its ownproblem, child, right, you know
(31:04):
, from weight load to wind load,to all that stuff.
So we kind of got the box ofthe gym, then it was how to get
the pulley system for the car,and then it was that, that, that
that uh overhang really in that, you know.
So I was talking to Dennis.
I said, dennis, I know we'rekind of going through, you know
logistics, but have you thoughtabout when you were starting the
pool compared to when we'regoing to erect this?
(31:25):
And he's like I think we'regoing to do all the structural,
get all the foundation andstructural up first before we
start digging that pool I wouldagree, sense, yeah, yeah because
I have a sticky feeling thatright where that pool would be
is where they're going to putthat crane, to get that stuff up
on that side, because that is awhole another.
I mean, you can boom over, noproblem, but you know it depends
on how much we want to spend ona freaking crane right.
Speaker 2 (31:44):
and then even if if the pool was at shot creek and
they're cutting steel and allthose metal shards and stuff,
and maybe we cleaned them allout, but we can't tell.
And then we got rust spotscoming through.
So I mean, the way I see it, ifthere's a lot to get done and
once the back finishes on andyou guys are working on the
inside stuff, or I meanultimately I don't know the
(32:04):
timeline but I would say atminimum elevations and heights
and then we move in.
So yeah, elevations and heights, and then we move in.
Speaker 1 (32:10):
So yeah, I would agree, control that yeah, we'll
talk to dennis oh, I was talkingto him about it, he's.
I think that's the way we'llend up doing it and I would
agree, but that we're actuallygoing to get the.
The parking structure is goingto be up first.
Oh, really, yeah, the parkingstructure is probably going to
go up first, before the actualbuilding, so the parking
structure goes up and then thebuilding goes up.
That's how we're going to do ityeah, because that that parking
structure, again we just they're, you know, architects and
engineers are like we just wantto maneuver around that and not
(32:32):
have any problems.
So, you know, foundation forboth and then, and then we'll do
the parking structure and thenright after that we're going to
go vertical on structural steel.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
Nice yeah, so it's pretty cool.
I think a lot of people areexcited for this thing to get
done, so Well, it's crazybecause, you know, when I fly
out of here, I'm over.
Speaker 1 (32:49):
I see, I see the project all the time and I'm
just like itch.
You can only imagine what it'slike to be in my shoes right now
.
You know I'm like, oh, can wejust please start?
You know I'm sitting on theCapitol, I need to go, I need to
go.
Speaker 2 (33:05):
So we're, you know we're just biting at the bit and
I'm going to.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
I'm like I want things to slow down and now I'm
like I want something to speedup, like that.
So, yeah, we're really excited.
We keep getting good PR.
You may or may not know this,but some of our investors are
even in the city council.
Oh, really, yeah, so we'regetting a lot of support, as you
can imagine.
So, that helps yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:32):
They just actually opened an RFQ the rf stuff and
all that with city governmentjobs.
I'm still learning it.
But uh, they opened a rfq on apool project um the community
pool right uh expansion at theaquatic center yeah so I I did a
went to a city council meetinga few weeks ago and I'd heard
some rumors on you know what wasgoing out for plans and stuff.
(33:53):
So that's another project whereI'm like well, which you know,
it's a giant lap pool and it'snot quite as cool or I wouldn't
say anything fancy like whatyou're doing.
But for me it was like well,you know and these are rumors
who, who's saying 250000 for aset of plans on this?
Speaker 1 (34:13):
I know I wasn't going to go down that road, but I'm
hearing stories.
Speaker 2 (34:16):
Are you guys nuts?
Whoever's watching watch, and Ithink the goal for me, though,
was we don't need to spend that.
Put that towards the bridgethat you're building across,
because I can get a set of plansfrom Rick Chafee, the guy just
mentioned, who is arguably thebest pool builder in the world,
(34:36):
for like $26,000 built out ready.
This guy builds rooftop poolsthe best of the best with
acrylic windows and, just youknow, resort style backyards,
multimillion.
He does like 20 pools a year,and they're all you know $2
million, $3 million, $20 millionprojects, and he's the best.
(34:57):
So you know, rick, and I talkedabout it before I did that,
that meeting, and I was, youknow, when I went in there which
I'd never done, a city councilmeeting I was nervous and you
know whatever, but that that waswhat I said.
I was like, well, you know, keepit in town and you know,
whatever.
But that, that was what I said.
I was like, well, you know,keep it in town and you know,
give me a shot at it and let'sdo a design build.
And you know, just just see,and whoever this other guy is
(35:21):
bidding or whoever the other,whatever, you know, consider us
all.
And they did decide to dodesign build, and then they
released that rfq today, so Iprinted it out.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
That's another one, though I'm excited, so I'll
start if you can somehow, someway say oh, by the way, I'm
doing paradigms pool, you know,out there at the gym.
That may help because I knowyou know, commercial, you know,
and obviously you're going totalk about you did the riviera
right.
So if you can kind of get bothof those in there, I think
you're gonna be like, okay, well, that's well, that's going to
be a good bet to maybe try.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
A lot of you know what we're doing, what people
are doing with these biggerprojects too.
A lot of it comes down toresources.
So, you know, one of the greatthings I have is with water
shapes.
It's it's like a fraternity.
So all these top pool builders,you know I'll call Rick, the
guy's busy he answers my callalmost every single time.
(36:09):
Or bill drakeley, who sits on,you know, uh, you know the aci
board shock creep.
You know all these guys.
When I get into thesesituations where you need to
know the right answer and youknow how that goes people, you
know they.
They come off as knowing what'sright, but is it right?
So you know resources andgetting these high-end projects
(36:34):
done, who are you going to call?
Who's giving you you know theanswers on what to do?
And for me I got these.
You know a handful of theseguys in my corner.
So when I'm, when I'm lookingfor information that I don't
know it's coming from these guysthat are, you know literally
the best, yeah, literally thebest.
So, um, and and that was kind ofyou know what fueled me with
(36:57):
the city thing behind, becauseyou know when I'm talking to
rick about it and rick's like,no, like you need to go down
there like they're telling youto do yeah, so we'll see what
happens.
I'm excited about that too, butbut maybe probably more so,
just to you know, do somethingfor the city, like I look at it,
like that.
Speaker 1 (37:17):
So you're helping the community, right?
Yeah, it's close to your heart.
Yeah, right on man.
Well, dude, steve is.
It's an honor to have you here,man.
It's a very enlightening toeven get to know more about your
background.
You know, I really appreciateit.
Speaker 2 (37:27):
The relationship the friendship's been great.
Speaker 1 (37:29):
I'm really looking forward to getting this done and
putting that in our you knowanother, you know feather in our
quiver, if you will, and Ithink it'd be really cool to do
all the marketing for this.
So when this thing is built anddone, we're going to do some
cross-pollinating marketing tocontinue to build awareness to
how strong you guys are at thegame and for those of you that
Hey everybody, ryan Garland here, founder and
chairman of Paradigm, thank youfor joining us today.
You are on the Paradigm Shift.
We are sponsored by 10 DayDoors PMG.
They are dealing with all ofour steel manufacturing for the
famous barn caves.
But today I am honored to haveSteve Reed here.
He's with Sandcastle Pools andtoday you are going to be
honored with his presence andwe're honored with his presence
(00:20):
because he's going to share alittle bit about his background
and he is the contractor webrought on to build the
Dubai-inspired pool at the BarnCaves Community Center.
So, as you guys know, we like tobrag about how much we align
with the right people to putthem in the right slots, to
develop the right projects andfor all of my investors and
(00:42):
clients out there, you guys arerelying on me to make good
decisions and bring in the rightpeople, and this is a little
way to show you down to our poolcontractor why it is we chose
him and I'm going to let himtake the mic for a while because
he's got a very impressivebackground and, in fact, anybody
who needs a pool whether it's aremodel or build new this is
going to be your guy, so you'regoing to be very impressed with
them.
I, the more time I spend withthem, I'm more impressed as a
(01:05):
human as well, and, uh, and Ithink this is really cool.
So, steve, thanks for joiningme here.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Thank you.
Well, first I want to say, uh,thanks for giving me the
opportunity on that job.
Uh, super excited.
Uh, I think where I'm at, ifthe bigger scale projects don't
keep coming, I'm going to haveto leave Lake Havasu.
So, thank you, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Of course.
Well, you know you were highlyrecommended.
A lot of contractors that I'mworking with on other projects,
you know, said that you're theman and I, you know, the
referral source and word ofmouth is really key and this is
such a small town and you know,to be able to find the right
guys for the right slots isreally difficult.
(01:48):
I mean, that's a whole otherlabor conversation, right, but
you know, on top of you, youknow having I think you guys are
doing the public pool over atthe Riviera.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Yeah, we just wrapped it up, yeah looks great, we're
working through some finaldetails over there, final
details over there, but yeah,it's all done.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
And they're going to be very selective.
I love that group over thereand how what they developed and
kind of how they operate, and Ireally respect their operation
overall, but for them to chooseyou to do that pool, that's a
spoke volumes of the caliber ofwhat you do, and then, obviously
, being able to see the finishedproduct does obviously, uh,
they were right about you, so itwas perfect, man.
So, like, I think what I reallywant to do is I'll let you take
control over the mic for aminute.
(02:23):
I want you to talk a little bitabout your background.
You said you've been doing thisfor over 20 years and I give a
lot of people respect a bit inthe business, especially through
the 2008 crash because youreally had to pivot, hence the
name Paradigm having to shift totry to survive, especially if
you had a family.
At that time I did, and it wasa really tough time for me.
But I would say that throughthose tough times is what built
(02:43):
my brand.
It really is who we are today,because I want to be more
conservative and I never want togo back through that financial
hardship, and so a lot of guysthat I align with seem to kind
of have that same stake in theirheart.
They just don't want to gothrough that again.
So I give a lot of respect tobusiness owners who are really
been able to power through thatand then create infrastructure
for security and stability and,from what I understand and what
(03:06):
I've seen so far, you've, you'rethat type of man.
So let's talk a little bitabout your background.
Man, where'd you start?
I know you like long walks onthe beach and all, but let's
talk about where you started.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
So, uh, I started building pools when I was 15.
Uh, I used to know this girlnamed Lisa.
She was head of, uh, thebuilding association.
I used to know this girl namedLisa, she was head of the
building association, and Iremember going to her and asking
her who's the biggest poolbuilder in town?
I want to get a job, I want towork for the biggest company, I
want to learn, I want to grow,and at the time that ended up
(03:37):
being Mojave.
So I started there diggingtrenches.
I remember my interview.
A guy named Ken Cook hired meand I remember him telling me
he's like you're not going to goto college.
And I was like, no, I got tostart making money.
And he's like, kid, I'm goingto work you so hard I'm going to
(03:57):
make you wish you went tocollege.
And I remember thinking tomyself I saw that as a challenge
.
I worked with a crew full ofMexicans, started digging
trenches, grew through that tiein rebar, mastered that and went
on to plumbing, becameproficient in that part, started
(04:19):
setting tile, coping, operatingequipment, excavating pools.
I was on a Shock Creek crew fora few years, plaster crew for a
few years.
So I really spent a lot of timein start to finish construction
, which the buildup ofeverything I went through to
(04:48):
where I'm at now doing designand project managing and things
like that.
It really gave me a goodfoundation to understand how to
prevent.
You know problems, riskmanagement and you know
especially when you're talkingabout swimming pools you know
bodies of water, water's very.
You know it's corrosive, itvery.
You know we got to build thesevessels that are supposed to
hold water and not damage thingsaround, that are supposed to
(05:08):
sit in place and there's a lotthat goes into it.
And uh, I so, after I, I think Iworked there for maybe 10 years
, maybe a little longer, andthen, uh, I felt like I had a
really good grasp on thebusiness, at least the
construction side, which at thetime, as a young I'm still young
(05:32):
, but you know young kid Ithought I was ready to go.
So I ended up getting mycontractor's license this was
early on and I actually it wascalled Bay Pools and I built
pools.
I did a handful of pools.
Uh, things were going reallygood went through a divorce,
same thing, um, but I had somefailure there.
(05:55):
I wasn't quite ready, I didn'thave everything I needed on the
business side of it andultimately that was the real
kind of nail in the coffin.
So, uh, you know, when you havea failure you can do one of two
things Either you can give upor you know.
It's kind of that mindset yeah,exactly.
(06:17):
I'm going to show people thatyou know I, I'm good at doing
this.
I just wasn't good ateverything, so uh that's what I
do.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
I know what I'm good at.
I just hire people to fill inthe spots I'm suck at, man.
That's my strength isidentifying what I suck at
nowadays.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
So uh, I built pools.
Actually funny story I met, uh,the guys at the Riviera like
Luke Still Michael Gordon.
Uh, when I was 18 I actually Iremodeled Luke Still Michael
Gordon when I was 18, actually Iremodeled Luke Still's pool as
like a side job owner builder.
And when I had Bay it was stillwhen the Riviera was being
talked about I sat in onmeetings when they're talking
(06:57):
about building rooftop pools andkind of went through you know a
lot of the risk and things thatneed to happen and what they're
up against, potential costs andthings like that.
So early on I kind of had a legin with them.
But then when you talk abouthow many years later, when they
actually got stuff going and thegrowth of 10 years later.
yeah, and the growth that I had,you know a few conversations in
(07:21):
and you know just thatrelationship that we had had and
uh.
So that's how I ended uplanding that um and and we're
building another pool for them.
They're doing three in theriviera um.
But to get back to what I wassaying, when I, after bay pools,
you know I shut everything downand had that failure.
(07:43):
Uh, I went to work atsandcastle so I'm not actually
the owner of sandcastle, if youdon't know that, by the way, a
guy named brock kessler he ownsthe company um, myself and two
guys that work for me.
We all went to work there and Igot on there doing, uh, design
sales, and then that ended upturning into some project
(08:08):
management stuff, just becauseof the background that I have
and everything was going good.
But I kind of felt, you know,when you come from being a guy
out in the field actuallybuilding with your hands, and
then you go into an officesetting where you're designing
which is cool, I love designingand you know that whole part of
(08:29):
it but I just felt this part ofme that you know I was missing
something, like I needed to beout there building.
So the first couple of years Iwas like you know well, let me
go out there in the summertime,you know the guys are behind on
plumbing.
Let me plumb a pool.
You know well, let me go outthere in the summertime, you
know the guys are behind onplumbing.
Let me plumb a pool, you know,let me tile some.
And I did.
But you know, I started tofigure out that wasn't what
(08:50):
needed to happen.
You know, we needed to focus ongrowing the guys.
I couldn't go in and do thatand things wouldn't operate
efficiently that way.
And so, uh, I ended up findinga university called Watershape
University.
So I've been going there forabout three years now and they
(09:12):
teach the science of poolconstruction.
So what happens in concreteduring the curing process?
What does a concrete matrixlook like under a microscope?
You know what does a concretematrix look like what under a
microscope?
Um, hydraulics and the mathbehind what size pipe you need
to move.
You know x amount of gpms ofwater and thermo expansion on
(09:35):
materials and how to plan for it.
And you really start to learnthe detail.
Geo you know geotechnicalissues and being able to
visually identify soil,potential soils issues and the
process of properly walkingsomeone through uh to build out
a set of construction documentson a swimming pool that you
(09:55):
won't have a failure on.
So getting in that set, I justyou know you get in a room full
of the top pool builders in theworld are teaching these classes
.
You know, if you look into it,it's guys like rick chafee and
uh dave peterson and uh billdrakely who sits on.
You know aci, which is, youknow, american concrete
(10:15):
institute, and you know allthese top dog professionals.
You, you know, and you comefrom a place like havasu where
you think you're doing great.
It's like oh yeah we're the bestin town.
You start to realize there areguys so much smarter than you.
So that whole process andtimeline in my life was very
humbling and I've really beenfocusing on, you know, learning
(10:38):
the fine details in the sciencebehind pool construction.
And since I've started going inthe science behind pool
construction and since I'vestarted going I've been it's
made a huge difference.
You know, I can walk on siteand I I feel more confident
about you know, building poolsoff cliff sides.
We were talking about that.
You know the project.
I have going for Tony, that's inthe Riviera as well, correct?
Yeah, so a lot, of, a lot ofother pool builders were walking
(11:02):
up there scared they wouldn'ttouch it, but they don't know
the process of how to approachit, and you learn that when you
seek that education, it'spassion driven.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
For me, well, something like that would be an
engineering nightmare, correctand safety nightmare.
Right.
They're not doing it right.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Right.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
Now you were talking about prior to us jumping on,
and what happened in 2008?
You said you started traveling.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
So, oh, I, I still worked for Mojave pools and
things came to a standstill herePretty much.
You know, as we all know,anyone who was around here
during that time.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
So it was dead, dead, yeah, I mean pretty much
everywhere for the most part but, here definitely cause.
This was a secondary marketretirement community.
Yeah, it's dead.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
I think I mean pretty much everywhere for the most
part, but here definitely,because we did a few in Roswell,
new Mexico, and, uh, you know,we were traveling all over and
(12:10):
then, uh, one of our friends wasdown in the Virgin islands on
St Thomas on vacation.
They had had an earthquake andwhat they were doing out there
where they were building, pourin place pools, so they pour the
floor, then pour the walls,then they have a cold joint,
weren't you know?
He weighs in, earthquakehappens separates, pools leaking
.
They had no way to build amonolithic structure, concrete
(12:34):
structure for a pool.
So we went up there with theidea, or, you know, bart's just
shipped a container, a guniterig and, you know, ended up
there was a few remodel jobs andthen he ended up landing the
jobs for Jeff Epstein on, uh,little St James was the name of
his Island.
So, uh, I spent over a year onhis Island building two massive
(13:00):
pools Um wow, yeah, it was agood time it was, it was fun.
I mean at the time I had heardabout you know everything going
on, but I was 20 years old, Ididn't care about any of that,
you know it was just.
I'm in the Virgin islands.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
I got a house on the beach.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
You know, I could throw a rock into the you know
the ocean, so um, but I rememberone time uh, so we had one of
his pools completely dug.
I just finished plumbing it.
All the rebar was tied,everything was ready to go.
We were ready for inspection.
He's like well, let me you knoweverything looks good, let me
get up in the helicopter andtake a look at it and just make
(13:40):
sure everything's good and comes.
You know he does that, comesback down and he's like nah,
it's got to be three foot closerto the ocean.
We had to rip out half thatpool and, because you can't just
excavate a pool, three morefeet yeah, everything's bar.
Yeah, it's a whole differentlevel, yeah so saw, cut
(14:00):
everything, ripped out half thepool, all the plumbing, you know
, moved it, you know, three footcloser and I remember at the
time I was upset, but then I'mlike, well, it just means I get
to be in the Virgin Islands.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
And he's going to pay you more money.
Yeah, we got paid more.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
But yeah, really cool experience.
I spent like two years outthere.
Met you know a handful offriends, some of them still live
there.
Met you know a handful offriends, some of them still live
there, uh, super cool area tobe, to just see that different
mindset, you know so.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
And now then you came back here.
What did you end up coming back?
Speaker 2 (14:35):
so when it's hard to remember when things started
picking back up for me it waslike 13, 14, 14 ish.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
I started feeling a huge shift right.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
So I think I came back here you know, around town
well when we finished track.
I would come back for like acouple weeks at a time during
those two, two years, um, andthen somewhere around 2013, 2014
(15:05):
.
And then I ended up leavingMojave at that point, and then,
uh, I went to work for sandcastle.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Got it so well, man, when, when we reached out to you
, you know, dennis, I think,made that connection Right.
So I was like, dude, we'rebuilding a pool.
I need the best of the bestperiod into story because I want
to mimic the same pool in Dubaicalled club drift, right and
beach club drift.
And I'm I'm like cause my wifeand I uh had spent some time
there and I absolutely lovedthat place and it was so cool
(15:36):
because I think what the impactfor me was, just the people that
were there.
You know, just when you go todifferent countries and you
travel, you kind of have adifferent perspective of life.
That's why I'm smiling whenyou're talking about the Virgin
Islands.
It's kind of the experience andthat's why people talk about
don't buy, you know, don't spendall your money on material
things.
Spend money on experience,right.
And when we went there, it wasso impactful for me.
It was one of my favoriteplaces in the world.
(15:57):
Of course it's Dubai, the.
It was so much fun and it wasso peaceful.
They had like a saxophoneplayer and playing like, like
modern music, but like with asaxophone, you know.
And the food was amazing.
The.
The cabanas were like um, thedesign of the cabanas.
I've never seen anything likethat before.
Just the layout of the pool wasvery comfortable.
People just truly enjoyed it.
(16:19):
You know, just it was bigenough for everyone just kind of
lay out and hang out, and itwasn't too busy.
It was just the.
Just the vibe was like damn,you're perfect, right, and I
really I really love thebackstory of that square and I
like the culture of that andthat's why I was like, well,
shoot man, if I can bring thatkind of feel for me, I want
other people to feel that, eventhough they're not in Dubai.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
I know exactly what you know what I'm trying to.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
I'm trying to bring that feeling of it and, honestly
, it was the best, because Iremember sitting there and I was
so thankful because I had losteverything in 08, man, and I was
kind of rebuilding at the timeand so when I got there and I'm
like I got a chance to look atall the cranes, it's like it's
almost like this world we're.
So we look at the world in ourown eyes and we're like we're in
, we're stuck in our own world,right, but when you travel you
(17:01):
realize like the world's so muchbigger than you think it is on
a day-to-day basis and it whenyou look at things, like you
said, you're, you're.
You're now around people thatare much smarter than you.
You're a lot, you know, it'shumbling and that's where I
think's happened.
I'm just, I've been around somany different people and have
traveled and I've been humbledso much that I want to, I want
to continue that feeling.
It makes me better, you know,and I want to bring that culture
(17:25):
to Lake Havasu, where peoplemay not be able to afford to get
there, but they're going to beable to experience the feeling
of it, and I think that's theand when.
I think I've always learned fromother um, let's just call it
mentors in the business, where,if you're able to provide that
type of experience for people,you're going to do well right.
It's always about theexperience you're going to
deliver for people and that'sreally, ultimately, what I'm
(17:46):
trying to do.
So a Dubai inspired design poolin like little old Lake Havasu,
like nobody would have everthought about that, and now that
we're kind of talking about itand people are hearing about it,
like my own kind of closefriends and network, they're
telling me that people are justexcited about it.
They can't wait to, you know,see it actually happen.
Is it really going to happen?
You know all that fun stuff.
So it's uh, it was importantfor me to align with the right
(18:07):
group and you guys kept comingup and so and you weren't just
referred by Dennis, there was acouple of other people that
brought you guys up and uh, andthat's a testament to your
guys's uh track record, but alsoyour integrity, because this is
a small town man, so it's it'snot easy.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
I mean, as you know it's, it's always a struggle.
But you know I love it, it's mypassion.
So you know, when I heard aboutthe paradigm job, I actually
Den the old owner of sandcastle.
I got a heads up on it and inmy mind I was like I want this
(18:43):
job, like I know what I know andI know how hard I've been
working.
I just got to.
You know, I got to build thepool.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Like I, like I want that pool.
Yeah, I got to build the pool.
I love it, all right.
So let's talk a little bitabout the uh, and I appreciate
that it's really cool, cause Iknew people were thinking about
it.
We got a lot of phone calls.
I mean, even still to this day,I mean people are hitting me up
hey, we do HVAC, you knowwhatever, but I, we, it was very
important that we select theright group.
Uh, let's talk a little bitabout the design of the pool.
Like, let's talk about when I,when we sat down and we showed
(19:14):
you what we were doing, and youwent back and you're like okay,
well, I think, cause right tothat, you know, I think there's
been a lot of work I've beenputting in with the
architectural drawing side of ittoo.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
I've been taking, you know, 3d Basecamp Google puts
it on.
I go to their courses reallytrying to focus on, you know, a
good set of drawings andrendering.
So when I met you, I think inmy mind I really wanted to step
outside and, you know, a littlebit more than what I normally
(19:52):
would have, because I wanted thejob so much, just to show you,
you know, the passion that Ihave and you know that I feel
like I'm the right guy and I washoping it was a good fit.
So I wanted to, you know, takeit into SketchUp and draw it and
give you a professionalrendering, which typically I
(20:12):
would sign a design contract for.
But in this case I wanted thejob and the bigger jobs and the
cool stuff is where my passion'sat, the cutter stuff and, you
know, the basic pool spa.
That's fine, you know, and it'scool.
It keeps everything going.
But for me, you know, 20, 20years, it's I'm you need
(20:36):
something new, doing the littlestuff like I'm ready for the
bigger stuff, so um and thecommercial.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
The commercial compliance is completely
different than residentialcompliance right, right, and it
changes all the time.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
I mean just through the course of, you know, the
riviera pool and the changesthat that we saw there.
I mean things are constantlychanging.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
Kids are always drowning and you know it's, it's
always, you know yeah, yougotta and you always have to can
be on your, on your toes,because you can get caught up
building it the wrong way andthey're like you're not passing
inspection, rip it all out.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
Right.
I think that happened not toolong ago in like Texas or
something.
A kid got sucked to the bottomof a main drain and eviscerated.
Oh my goodness.
It wasn't plumbed correctly andI can't remember when, but I
heard something about that, soit's a big deal.
You got to know what you'redoing and doing things the right
way.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
So tell me a little bit about the water feature.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
So the water feature.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
So, by the way, real quick, before you start, for
everybody that's listening tothis, if you know me well enough
, I have like these big visionsand everyone's like that is
really, really cool.
I'm going to see how I can makeit actually work.
So, uh, steve's been able tokind of dig his heels in and see
how we can do this one waterfeature that normally doesn't
(21:55):
have a water feature, becausethe actual uh no, the actual one
does have a water feature.
It does, yeah, so the one indubai actually has a water.
A sheet of water comes rightthrough the middle of it, does
it?
Speaker 2 (22:02):
actually I didn't see any pictures I'm pretty sure
I'll look it up right now thefirst thing I started doing was
hunting and looking ateverything through that.
But, um, I'm pretty sure itdoes.
I mean that's essentially thefocal point of that pool.
So, uh, rick chafee is actually, uh, he's the owner of a
(22:22):
company called Red Rock Pools.
He's and I told Rick I wasgoing to mention him on this
podcast and that I look at himlike a mentor.
But people look at him I mean alot of his colleagues and every
time I go to a Water Shapesevent, you know all these other
people that are on his level.
They openly say he's the bestpool builder in the world.
And anyone listening if youlook up Rick Chafee at Red Rock
(22:54):
Pools, he builds amazingprojects.
The guy's a genius.
He's got a bachelor's inconstruction science and he's
one of those guys.
When you talk to him likesomeone like me in the industry,
pool industry you talk to himand he's just loaded with
knowledge.
So I actually have him.
He's also one of my teachers atwater shapes, so he's he's one
of the.
He's the guy building out theplan set for your pool.
So I was talking to Rick andhe's like dude, this water
(23:17):
features badass.
He's like you gotta, you gottatalk them into doing a, a
printing rain descent or adigital rain curtain.
And I'm like Rick, what are youtalking about?
Like I've never heard of a.
You know a digital rain curtainand he sends me a couple videos
and what it does is it actuallyprints animations and colors
(23:39):
through the water.
So like, for your sake, you hadmentioned you were going to do,
you know, potentially rent itout for weddings or birthday
parties or things like that?
Well now, had mentioned youwere going to do, you know,
potentially rent it out forweddings or birthday parties or
things like that?
Well now, what that would allowyou to do is personalize the
pool to the people you know,whoever's wedding it is, you
know, congratulations, mrsWhoever.
And you could take yourparadigm logo and make it look
(24:01):
like it's rotating in a circleand animated or in a sheet of
water, in a sheet of water, thatthe water is the printer.
So, um, really cool feature.
Um, you don't, you won't knowit's there and it'll come alive
at night.
So it's kind of one of thoseadded little bonuses that people
won't know is there unless theyshow up in the evening hours
(24:22):
dude, how cool is that man?
Speaker 1 (24:23):
well, I remember we were talking about I think you
brought it to my attention Do wewant to have that?
Speaker 2 (24:27):
Right.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
And I'm like you know what?
Yeah, I kind of do Right.
So you brought a good idea,because you know I was looking
at, there was a I don't know ifyou did the pool, I know Ryan
was involved with it, I thinkwhen I saw them like guys are
(24:48):
doing that out here, heck,that's awesome.
And then, and then you broughtit up right after that, I'm like
, yeah, if we can get a sheet ofwater to go through this,
that'd be killer.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
Um, I think you know, when you look, if you're trying
to rent the space out for awedding, there's always that
little thing that makes theperson say, hey, let's do it
here, Whether it's the photo orthe surrounding or just the
space as a whole.
So, you know, I'm hoping we canmake that work and because I
(25:16):
think it'll be one of thosefeatures that you know, that
person that might not haverented it out would rent it out
for that reason.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
So well, you know, honestly, I love that.
You know, one of the things Ithought was very professional is
when I walk into, like other,let's say, an office, and, like
you say, you have a screen thatsays, hey, welcome, ryan, you
know, thanks for joining ustoday.
Like just kind of like it'scheesy but very professional.
I know that sounds weird, butwhen you're doing that for
someone who wants to rent outthe space, I think that's really
cool.
Happy birthday this person.
(25:46):
Or hey, welcome for joining,thanks for joining us, or
whatever it is.
I think there's.
I think it just shows likepolish, you know, and I wanted
absolutely and that's, if youhaven't noticed yet, that's how
I like to kind of.
I I'd like to think paradigmhas that polish um?
Speaker 2 (25:59):
I mean, I think it does absolutely yeah, thank you.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
Yeah, so we.
You know it was funny because Iremember the first time we
talked I said hey, just do me afavor, just make sure you guys
deliver on this pool.
I do not want to be hung up onmy co and you're like, I got you
and you actually beat it.
You've been beating everybodyelse to the punch.
You're ready to go everybodyelse.
Speaker 2 (26:15):
We're waiting for everyone else pretty much.
I mean final details on thisdigital rain curtain and if we
can pull it off and it makessense with the budget, and then
you know decking choices andcouple little things and we're
ready to go to adq.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
So did you ever go with dennis up to that property
he has in the foothills?
I didn't uh go take a look atit.
I went up there the other daybecause the decking that you
have on the riviera I like it,don't get me wrong but the
decking that he has up at thatpool.
And now it's two differentworlds, because that's
residential urine commercial.
But he does think, and dennisis smart but he's not always
right, you know, if, if we canuse the material he's got up
(26:51):
there for the decking for thisone, I'd love it, man you should
see it's pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
Uh, I haven't told you yet, but I talked to rick
about that and it's an r11.
Finish on that, and thatroughness does work with adq
centers.
So we can use that porcelaindecking, so I I didn't think
we'd be able to but anything.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
R11 and beyond it, it works well, when I went up
there and I mean it's actually,I mean it's pretty, it's pretty
impressive, how, how sticky.
In essence it is right thatgrit was impressive.
I was like yeah, you can getthis wet and you're no one's
slipping on this thing it's Iwould.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
It's, in today's times, probably the most popular
decking and the most, I mean,for the people that are going
modern and you know anup-to-date look.
I don't think there's a betterlook in decking.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
We're using it quite a bit right now.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
Especially with the porcelain turndown edging where
the decking actually waterfallsinto the pool, no coping
overhang.
So, uh, very popular and it's agood look.
So we did get that approval.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
We can use that and it doesn't get as hot either.
No, that's a big deal, yeah Imean everything's gonna get hot.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
But yeah, everything's gonna get hot out
here, man.
Yeah, the ground, the dirt'shot 20 feet deep.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
You know it's hot, man out here but it's not going
to be as hot.
I think people can get out ofthe pool and kind of walk, you
know, at a decent pace, and getunder undercover and be okay
yeah it didn't look like it whenI because I was out there I
actually put my hands on theground and sat on it for a
second.
I know your feet are a littlemore sensitive than your hands,
but I'm sitting there going likethis isn't bad.
Yeah, if you're moving, you're,you're not bad.
Speaker 2 (28:25):
It's not as bad as a concrete paver.
A concrete paver is going toget hotter, so yeah, so that
product is great.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
Yeah, so we, uh, you know, obviously.
So, let's, let's just talkabout the process for you.
So when would you ultimatelyengage?
So you know, we're going to do,we're ultimately going to do
the foundation for both the gymitself, the building, and then
we're going to start the parkingstructure.
So, would you know, I know alot of guys up here, like, for
example, in the foothills whereI live, a lot of the builders
are actually building the poolsand digging the pools and gun
(28:53):
outing the pools before theyactually start doing the
foundation of the house, eventhough they have enough room to
maneuver back there.
But you know, is that somethingyou do?
What would you?
How are you?
How are you?
Where are you going to fit inon the construction process?
Speaker 2 (29:05):
so, um, we do that.
I mean, I got two going likethat right now.
We're in there digging the pooland there's no house but
elevations and you really haveto have everyone on the same
page, because the concrete guygoes out and they're setting the
forms and maybe their laserhasn't been calibrated for a
(29:27):
year and they're setting theiryou know transit out, you know
50 feet away, and they get beamdispersal and but you know,
maybe they're a half inch off,but we got, you know, a set of
adq plans where our deck slopehas to be perfect.
So that's what worries me.
Um, we typically only go inbefore there's a height at least
, like a, like you know, orsomething to go off of.
(29:51):
If, if we don't have access orwe're going to lose that, that's
, that's when we'll go in, butotherwise it's, it's a.
You're putting more risk inthere than you need to.
I would say because by the timewe come in and we get that thing
to shotcrete and we're ready tofinish I mean there's so many
things going on with that thatparking structure alone you're
(30:13):
doing I mean I'm sure dennis isgonna have you know it's all
precast concrete.
So putting that together andsubs to do something like that,
I'm sure that's a struggle.
Speaker 1 (30:24):
Oh, dude, we're.
You know we've.
It's hard to find guys that areactually doing that and can do
it out here now.
We found a couple of groups andI think we're fine, but my
actual biggest concern wasputting up the structural steel,
because that cantilever inessence cover that's going off
the back of the gym is basicallyright over the pool.
It's real close.
Speaker 2 (30:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
And I think they're going to have to have.
I mean, that stuff's craned infor sure, you know.
So, and I don't think I thinkwhat they're trying to do is not
have any type of welding onsite.
They may have to.
We're trying to move, maneuveraround that right now.
I think we're finalizing someof the engineering there, um,
but they may have to.
That one.
That one piece has been its ownproblem, child, right, you know
(31:04):
, from weight load to wind load,to all that stuff.
So we kind of got the box ofthe gym, then it was how to get
the pulley system for the car,and then it was that, that, that
that uh overhang really in that, you know.
So I was talking to Dennis.
I said, dennis, I know we'rekind of going through, you know
logistics, but have you thoughtabout when you were starting the
pool compared to when we'regoing to erect this?
(31:25):
And he's like I think we'regoing to do all the structural,
get all the foundation andstructural up first before we
start digging that pool I wouldagree, sense, yeah, yeah because
I have a sticky feeling thatright where that pool would be
is where they're going to putthat crane, to get that stuff up
on that side, because that is awhole another.
I mean, you can boom over, noproblem, but you know it depends
on how much we want to spend ona freaking crane right.
Speaker 2 (31:44):
and then even if if the pool was at shot creek and
they're cutting steel and allthose metal shards and stuff,
and maybe we cleaned them allout, but we can't tell.
And then we got rust spotscoming through.
So I mean, the way I see it, ifthere's a lot to get done and
once the back finishes on andyou guys are working on the
inside stuff, or I meanultimately I don't know the
(32:04):
timeline but I would say atminimum elevations and heights
and then we move in.
So yeah, elevations and heights, and then we move in.
Speaker 1 (32:10):
So yeah, I would agree, control that yeah, we'll
talk to dennis oh, I was talkingto him about it, he's.
I think that's the way we'llend up doing it and I would
agree, but that we're actuallygoing to get the.
The parking structure is goingto be up first.
Oh, really, yeah, the parkingstructure is probably going to
go up first, before the actualbuilding, so the parking
structure goes up and then thebuilding goes up.
That's how we're going to do ityeah, because that that parking
structure, again we just they're, you know, architects and
engineers are like we just wantto maneuver around that and not
(32:32):
have any problems.
So, you know, foundation forboth and then, and then we'll do
the parking structure and thenright after that we're going to
go vertical on structural steel.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
Nice yeah, so it's pretty cool.
I think a lot of people areexcited for this thing to get
done, so Well, it's crazybecause, you know, when I fly
out of here, I'm over.
Speaker 1 (32:49):
I see, I see the project all the time and I'm
just like itch.
You can only imagine what it'slike to be in my shoes right now
.
You know I'm like, oh, can wejust please start?
You know I'm sitting on theCapitol, I need to go, I need to
go.
Speaker 2 (33:05):
So we're, you know we're just biting at the bit and
I'm going to.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
I'm like I want things to slow down and now I'm
like I want something to speedup, like that.
So, yeah, we're really excited.
We keep getting good PR.
You may or may not know this,but some of our investors are
even in the city council.
Oh, really, yeah, so we'regetting a lot of support, as you
can imagine.
So, that helps yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:32):
They just actually opened an RFQ the rf stuff and
all that with city governmentjobs.
I'm still learning it.
But uh, they opened a rfq on apool project um the community
pool right uh expansion at theaquatic center yeah so I I did a
went to a city council meetinga few weeks ago and I'd heard
some rumors on you know what wasgoing out for plans and stuff.
(33:53):
So that's another project whereI'm like well, which you know,
it's a giant lap pool and it'snot quite as cool or I wouldn't
say anything fancy like whatyou're doing.
But for me it was like well,you know and these are rumors
who, who's saying 250000 for aset of plans on this?
Speaker 1 (34:13):
I know I wasn't going to go down that road, but I'm
hearing stories.
Speaker 2 (34:16):
Are you guys nuts?
Whoever's watching watch, and Ithink the goal for me, though,
was we don't need to spend that.
Put that towards the bridgethat you're building across,
because I can get a set of plansfrom Rick Chafee, the guy just
mentioned, who is arguably thebest pool builder in the world,
(34:36):
for like $26,000 built out ready.
This guy builds rooftop poolsthe best of the best with
acrylic windows and, just youknow, resort style backyards,
multimillion.
He does like 20 pools a year,and they're all you know $2
million, $3 million, $20 millionprojects, and he's the best.
(34:57):
So you know, rick, and I talkedabout it before I did that,
that meeting, and I was, youknow, when I went in there which
I'd never done, a city councilmeeting I was nervous and you
know whatever, but that that waswhat I said.
I was like, well, you know, keepit in town and you know,
whatever.
But that, that was what I said.
I was like, well, you know,keep it in town and you know,
give me a shot at it and let'sdo a design build.
And you know, just just see,and whoever this other guy is
(35:21):
bidding or whoever the other,whatever, you know, consider us
all.
And they did decide to dodesign build, and then they
released that rfq today, so Iprinted it out.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
That's another one, though I'm excited, so I'll
start if you can somehow, someway say oh, by the way, I'm
doing paradigms pool, you know,out there at the gym.
That may help because I knowyou know, commercial, you know,
and obviously you're going totalk about you did the riviera
right.
So if you can kind of get bothof those in there, I think
you're gonna be like, okay, well, that's well, that's going to
be a good bet to maybe try.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
A lot of you know what we're doing, what people
are doing with these biggerprojects too.
A lot of it comes down toresources.
So, you know, one of the greatthings I have is with water
shapes.
It's it's like a fraternity.
So all these top pool builders,you know I'll call Rick, the
guy's busy he answers my callalmost every single time.
(36:09):
Or bill drakeley, who sits on,you know, uh, you know the aci
board shock creep.
You know all these guys.
When I get into thesesituations where you need to
know the right answer and youknow how that goes people, you
know they.
They come off as knowing what'sright, but is it right?
So you know resources andgetting these high-end projects
(36:34):
done, who are you going to call?
Who's giving you you know theanswers on what to do?
And for me I got these.
You know a handful of theseguys in my corner.
So when I'm, when I'm lookingfor information that I don't
know it's coming from these guysthat are, you know literally
the best, yeah, literally thebest.
So, um, and and that was kind ofyou know what fueled me with
(36:57):
the city thing behind, becauseyou know when I'm talking to
rick about it and rick's like,no, like you need to go down
there like they're telling youto do yeah, so we'll see what
happens.
I'm excited about that too, butbut maybe probably more so,
just to you know, do somethingfor the city, like I look at it,
like that.
Speaker 1 (37:17):
So you're helping the community, right?
Yeah, it's close to your heart.
Yeah, right on man.
Well, dude, steve is.
It's an honor to have you here,man.
It's a very enlightening toeven get to know more about your
background.
You know, I really appreciateit.
Speaker 2 (37:27):
The relationship the friendship's been great.
Speaker 1 (37:29):
I'm really looking forward to getting this done and
putting that in our you knowanother, you know feather in our
quiver, if you will, and Ithink it'd be really cool to do
all the marketing for this.
So when this thing is built anddone, we're going to do some
cross-pollinating marketing tocontinue to build awareness to
how strong you guys are at thegame and for those of you that
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce
Football’s funniest family duo — Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs — team up to provide next-level access to life in the league as it unfolds. The two brothers and Super Bowl champions drop weekly insights about the weekly slate of games and share their INSIDE perspectives on trending NFL news and sports headlines. They also endlessly rag on each other as brothers do, chat the latest in pop culture and welcome some very popular and well-known friends to chat with them. Check out new episodes every Wednesday. Follow New Heights on the Wondery App, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free, and get exclusive content on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And join our new membership for a unique fan experience by going to the New Heights YouTube channel now!