The Pool Pros Podcast
Interviews with pool service company owners who've built successful businesses. Each episode, we sit down with a pool industry pro to hear how they started their pool route, grew their team, and scaled their business. Real strategies and lessons learned from the people actually doing it — covering everything from pool maintenance and service to marketing, hiring, and operations.
Episodes
Tom Walsh left a 20-year corporate IT career, bought a 72-pool route, and eventually built Integrity Pool Service to 500 accounts. His approach isn't growth at all costs—it's building a simple, efficient, profitable company that can eventually operate without him.
We cover:
- Going from single-pooler to building a team
- Getting through the difficult "toddler stage" of growth
- Buying small routes at attractive multiples
- Targe...
Parker Conley and I are both newcomers to the pool industry—but we’re approaching it from very different angles. He’s building pool service software with Pool Dial, while I’m acquiring and operating pool companies with Best Day Pools.
In this episode, we compare notes on:
- Why we both chose the pool industry
- Building a business without a technical pool background
- The opportunity for better software in p...
Brian Cox has quietly built one of the most impressive pool service businesses in Alabama—not by chasing acquisitions, but by creating exceptional systems and executing them consistently. Today, Blue Water Pool Service manages more than 450 weekly pools while running a highly organized operation built around quality, efficiency, and custom software.
In this episode, we discuss:
- Growing to 450+ pools without buying com...
Rich O’Neill has built one of the most technology-forward pool companies in the country by combining acquisitions, automation, AI, and creative marketing systems.
In this episode, we explore how Happy Pools uses technology to generate leads, improve customer experience, and help technicians work more efficiently.
We discuss:
- Growing through acquisitions and seller financing
- Why Google Local Service Ads outperform other ...
Gianluca Carella entered the pool industry with no technical background, scaled a company to nearly 900 pools in just over a year, and then sold the business before pivoting into software.
In this conversation, Gianluca shares the marketing, operational, and leadership strategies that fueled that rapid growth.
We discuss:
- Scaling from startup to nearly 900 pools
- Why acquisitions can become a bottleneck
- Building a premium brand...
Craig Sears has spent decades building one of the Southeast’s leading commercial pool management companies, and many of the lessons apply just as well to residential operators.
In this episode, we discuss professionalism, pricing, specialization, and why raising industry standards benefits everyone.
We discuss:
- Residential vs. commercial pool service
- Why specialization creates better businesses
- Building trust through pro...
Most pool companies don’t have a lead problem—they have a marketing and sales process problem.
Garrett Preston joins me to discuss the marketing systems, sales strategies, and operational decisions that help pool businesses grow. From Google Business Profiles and Local Service Ads to customer retention and lead nurturing, this episode is packed with practical advice for operators looking to add accounts consistently.&nbs...
Buying a pool route is one thing. Successfully integrating it is something entirely different.
Mikenzie Ryan has spent years helping scale pool businesses through acquisitions, including the integration of routes involving hundreds of accounts at a time. In this episode, she shares practical lessons on customer retention, team integration, systems, and operational growth.
We discuss:
- The first 30–60 days after an...
Ryan Marcinik has completed more than 20 acquisitions in less than two years and built one of the fastest-growing pool service platforms in the country.
In this episode, Ryan breaks down the systems, incentives, leadership structure, and acquisition strategies that have fueled that growth.
We discuss:
- Why the pool industry is ripe for consolidation
- Financing acquisitions with seller financing and cash flow
- Building a lea...
The pool industry is changing fast—and technology is driving much of that change.
In this episode, I sit down with Niki Acosta and Hal Denbar from Skimmer to discuss where the industry is headed and what operators need to do to stay ahead. We cover everything from AI-powered phone systems and workflow automation to industry consolidation, professionalization, and building businesses that can scale without depending on the owne...
Adam Courter didn’t grow up in the pool industry. After a career in banking, he acquired a pool service company and has since grown it from roughly 630 pools to more than 1,100.
In this conversation, Adam shares the systems, hiring practices, and performance-pay structure that helped fuel that growth while maintaining a strong company culture.
We discuss:
- Transitioning from banking into pool service
- Lessons learne...
Most pool companies focus on getting more customers. Ronny Barrett focuses on keeping them.
Ronny is the owner of Top Notch Pool Management in the Atlanta area, where he’s built a business around high-touch service, strong client relationships, and a concierge approach that stands apart from the industry’s “splash and dash” model.
In this episode, we discuss:
- Why customer loyalty matters more th...
Dave Hawes has spent decades building H&H Pools into one of the most respected service companies in Northern California, growing to nearly 1,000 pools while staying intentional about culture, pricing, profitability, and lifestyle design.
In this episode, we talk about:
- Why most pool companies struggle when they start hiring
- The difference between being a great technician and a great business owner
- How Dave thinks ab...
Nick Day, GM of Gohlke Pools in Texas, breaks down what it really takes to scale a long-standing pool company from a small local operation into a 90-person business servicing more than 1,250 weekly accounts.
We cover:
- Why the 2008 recession pushed them to double down on service
- The systems and org structure required to scale route operations
- How they track technician production and compensation
- Their approach to training...
Chantel Dooley shares how Dazzle Pools built a premium pool service company in one of the most competitive markets in the country—without racing to the bottom on price.
We cover:
- Why answering the phone is still a massive competitive advantage
- How Skimmer helps them deliver a premium customer experience
- Their philosophy of “quality over quantity”
- Why they refuse to discount or compete on cheap pricing
- Ho...
Pool Butler services 550–600 pools in Atlanta with 30 employees, but their real growth came from systems, training, and higher-value services—not just adding more pools.
We cover:
- Why they prioritize attitude over experience when hiring
- How weekly training drives consistency at scale
- Their strategy for “weeding the garden” and firing bad-fit customers
- How technicians generate high-margin upsells i...
Most pool businesses don’t deal with this problem: your entire season is 5–6 months.
Jay Broyer has built a multi-location company in the Northeast despite that constraint.
We cover:
- Why staffing—not demand—is the biggest bottleneck
- How they recruit and train large seasonal teams
- Lessons from multiple acquisitions (including one that went wrong)
- Why they centralized operations across locations
- How seasonality c...
This is a rare behind-the-scenes look at a real acquisition—from both the seller and buyer.
Karl Toth sold his 500-account company. Garrett Welch (Nevergreen) was on the buying side.
We break down:
- The real reasons owners decide to sell
- What buyers are actually looking for (and what kills deals)
- How relationships drive deals more than brokers
- What the LOI and due diligence process really looks like
- How employees and customers ar...
Tim Ryan built and sold multiple pool companies—and added 300 pools in just 5 months.
His approach is aggressive, unconventional, and it works.
We cover:
- How he dominated lead flow using Angie and speed-to-lead
- The exact tactics that helped him win 90% of leads
- Why most companies are too slow (and lose deals because of it)
- His “hire fast, fire fast” approach to building teams
- Why branding matters less than you think ...
Justin Pinson started with 40 pools on a credit card. Today he runs a 250+ customer operation.
No fluff here—just a simple, proven playbook.
We get into:
- How he got started with zero capital
- Why referrals and reviews drove early growth
- What’s working right now with Facebook ads
- Pricing models that actually make money
- How paying techs per pool increases efficiency
If you’re starting small or trying to get your fir...
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