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Welcome back to the Talking Pools Podcast, your go-to source for everything wet, wild, and wonderfully misunderstood in the pool world.
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I'm Natalie Hood and we are continuing our journey talking to the top 10 mentors in the pool industry.
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And today I am joined by John Poma, one of the top 10 finalists for the Talking Pools podcast mentor of the year.
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And you know, John is a longtime pool professional with decades of hands-on experience in the field.
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And today he works as a foreman with Executive Pools in Lakeland, Florida, where he's heavily involved in commercial pool construction and spends plenty of time behind the controls of heavy equipment.
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And actually, just this week, Executive Pools was recognized as vendor of the year.
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And you know, John also owns a small pool service company, but he is probably best known throughout the industry for his work with aluminum sulfate, including his field work using it as an alternative method for reducing cyanuric acid.
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And if you know John, you probably also know him as the ancient pool warrior.
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So a pretty fitting name for someone known for showing us that sometimes the old ways still have a thing or two to teach us.
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So you know, the other thing too, if you don't know this, this isn't John's first time in the top 10.
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He is now being recognized as a Talking Pools podcast top 10 pool industry mentor twice.
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So, John, welcome back to the show.
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Thank you for having me.
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Yes.
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So back again.
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What does uh being back in the top ten mean to you?
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Something I didn't really expect, but you know, it somebody picked me out and you know that's okay.
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No, I mean you've been here before, and so obviously, you know, a lot of people in the industry certainly look up to you as a mentor.
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And you know, I guess when you first found out uh that you were back in the top ten, who was the first person that you told?
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Probably the guy that I work for.
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Yeah, at yeah, we I've been with him and known him for probably at least 45 years.
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Oh, very cool.
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Very cool.
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Do you think being nominated again by the industry makes it more meaningful the second time around?
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Yeah.
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I mean, 'cause it shows that there's more people that still, you know, consider Yeah.
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Yeah.
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Do you think when you first started out that in this industry that you did you ever imagine people would eventually look to you as a mentor?
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Not really.
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I I didn't really think I was gonna stay in it at the very beginning.
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But I just I never left.
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Anytime I ever went and did something else, I always stayed inside the industry and just jumped right back in.
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Just kept going.
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Let's let's talk about that.
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So for those who may not be as familiar with your background, talk share with us how did you get into the industry?
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I started off, I was going to a trade school and uh this pool company was across the street and they needed to help at hand pouring precast, making main drains.
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So I went and did that and as summer approached, they were like, if you want to work through the summer, you know, you're more than welcome.
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So I went and would go and work throughout the summer and then any of the holidays that we had at school where we could work outside, I I'd go work for them.
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Very cool.
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And so you said that you know you tried to get out of it.
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It sounds like you tried to get out a few times, but just kept kind of bringing you back in.
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Yeah, well, when I was going to the trade school, I went for uh small engine repair and I was gonna have my own small engine business, which I ended up with.
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I tried doing a mobile type where we would come to you, and I had quite a few people, but it just wasn't as much there and I didn't stay as busy, so I just kind of give up on that and moved back to this.
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Okay.
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And when did you when did you get the idea to start the your small pool service company?
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I actually started it right before the first market crash, seen it coming, and I had people on the inside that was buying houses and everything.
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So I connected with him, this flip house guy, and I've been his pool guy ever since.
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And even till now they don't have houses or foreclosing on, but he buys and and you know, sells, so he's still constantly giving me work throughout.
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Hey, can't be mad with that.
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Cannot be mad with that.
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Yeah, I you know that's I i I continuously say this and I always hear people say it is you know, yeah, I wasn't sure really what I wanted to do, but I started in the pool industry and then, you know, kind of got out, but then got sucked back in.
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And I always giggle when I hear I always hear when I hear that, and I always love hearing everyone's story about, you know, what they were, the pathway they had chosen, and then kind of what led them back in.
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So I like that.
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I love that.
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And then you also work for executive pools in Lakeland, Florida.
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Yes.
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And how long have you been working with them?
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Since the very first day they started.
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That is awesome.
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And how long have they been um how long have they been operating?
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Since February of ninety-seven.
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That is fantastic.
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Well, and congratulations again for receiving vendor of the year.
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That is very exciting.
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What a great way to end the week.
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Yes.
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Very exciting.
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So um, you know, with the top ten mentor of the year award, you know, you you get this fancy belt.
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So I have to ask, where would you put this belt?
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Would you be wearing it to work every day?
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I mean, you you you uh you operate heavy equipment, so I'm not sure that would be allowed, but what are you gonna do with this belt if you win it?
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More than likely I'd put it above the computer in the office.
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Okay, okay.
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Would you actually ever wear it?
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I don't think I would wear it.
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It would just be in the office, you know.
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Okay.
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So you wouldn't be obnoxious about having the belt.
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You would just kind of put it up above.
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Yep, just for show.
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Okay, okay.
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Well, I have to ask, you know, was there a person that really helped change the direction of your career and who helped mentor you?
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The first place that I worked, guy named Ollie, and he actually was half owner of this the executive pools, up until he retired.
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I still keep in contact with him and talk to him and we're good friends.
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And for those that know, I cook on the job site sometimes, so whenever I cook out and we're in his area, I invite him.
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And I have to ask, what do you cook?
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Any and everything.
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Chicken, ribs, we've done hot dogs, hamburgers, whatever.
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You know.
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I can smell it now.
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What uh what did he what did he teach you that you still use today?
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That when you're working in the field, sometimes you need to be like your own engineer.
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You have to come up with your own way in order to be able to do something and make it work.
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We built a lot of jigs for doing certain things.
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Radius points, just all kinds of different stuff.
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Even now set handrails and the ladders we use, I make up jigs to hold the anchors.
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That way we're not actually having to use the physical ladder or handrail to do so for the most part.
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You can just have make it on a PVC and it just holds it in place.
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Once the concrete's set up, then you can remove it and it's ready.
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Yeah, yeah.
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So you've carried that with you.
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Yeah.
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Is there is there something that you learned from him, you know, years ago that maybe you didn't fully understand until much later in your career?
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Not too much.
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Everything that he did, he kind of went over and was upfront with me.
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A lot of people back then they didn't like when one person was with the boss all the time, but it was a training and some of them didn't want me around because I asked too many questions.
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I wanted to know why we did certain things and what would the reason was.
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They didn't want to answer it, so he did, and I end up riding with him more than anybody else.
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Yeah, yeah.
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You think maybe they were just trying to get through and move on, or maybe get out of there earlier?
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Kinda.
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They were like in a hurry, they didn't want to waste their time and be involved in a bunch of questions.
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So And see that right there, that shows for the for the mentor, that shows exactly who they're not going to spend time on, right?
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And clearly you showed that you had passion, you had interest, you were asking those questions.
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And so here you are today being nominated as a top 10 mentor, and you can clearly hear the passion.
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And you know, you're very well known in the industry.
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And so, you know, for those listening, people people notice those things, they they watch out for those things.
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And so when, you know, as you're seeking help, you you gotta pay attention.
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You're rushing through things.
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People aren't gonna stop and um take the time to talk through things or try and help you truly understand them, you know.
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Right.
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Yeah, everything that you do may not be perfect, but there's a reason that you do what you do.
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And you always try to do better.
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I mean, there's always a place where you want to do better.
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Yeah.
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And I think it's I I think it's healthy, you know, w if you make mistakes, no like you said, no one can be perfect.
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But as long as you can own up to those mistakes and learn from them and use it as an opportunity to grow, I think, you know, again, for every student.
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I think that's great.
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Yeah.
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That's a big that's a big part of the reason why I stayed with who I've stayed with all the years.
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Because we would have an issue in the field.
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Now, whether it was our mistake or somebody else's and they would want us to fix it, we would just go fix it.
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And we didn't want a bad reputation, and you get return work by showing that you can stand out and do whatever it takes to make them happy, as long as it's you know, you're not totally on the losing end.
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Yeah, yeah.
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I I think it's you know, you you need to have good, honest work.
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I think there unfortunately there are some out there that show up and do the job and know that they're gonna have to come back, know that customer is not necessarily set up for success.
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And, you know, I was actually I we I don't remember exactly what event I was going to.
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It's earlier this year, and I overheard it was a it was a sales director of some sort, and no release, no relation to my previous company, but it was a sales director, and he was talking to one of his employees, and he his employer was like, Yeah, they have this issue, they have this this issue.
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And the sales director said, Oh, well, good, they're just continu they're gonna have to continue to buy more and more product for me.
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And I was just like, I get it, but man, like what a great mentor you are.
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That's not the way it's supposed to work.
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Exactly.
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I was like, that is not good, honest work.
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I was just shaking my head and he asked me, What do you do for work?
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And I was like, Nope, nope, moving on.
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I do not want you in my my contact list.
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But uh, you know, you are, you know, you're being nominated for top ten mentor.
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And so, you know, was there a point in your career that you realize, wow, people are they're actually starting to come to me for, you know, for answers and for advice?
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Not all that much at the beginning, you know, it was later, you know.
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I didn't foresee it as, you know, me being one teaching somebody outside of working with them.
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You know, I would just look at it as giving a piece of advice from what we've done, you know.
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Right, right.
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Do you do you decide, you know, when to give someone the answer versus uh making them figure it out for themselves?
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Well, for the most part, uh a lot of times it depends on the situation.
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You know, they'll ask for advice and ask me what I'd do.
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In certain cases, I'll just tell you what I would do.
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Other cases I would ask you what does it feel that would be fit for your situation?
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Because I'm not there.
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I don't see exactly what you're asking me, so I don't know the perfect answer for your application that you're asking me for.
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Yeah, yeah.
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And that's fair.
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Do you think, based off where you started and where you're at today in your position, do you think mentorship has changed um in this industry since you were kind of starting out?
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Well, yeah, at the very beginning, other than who you worked for, there basically was nobody to look and ask questions.
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Nobody, you know, outside was gonna answer you.
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You went to another pool company, you don't work for me.
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That was the motto, you know, I'm not gonna teach you, you don't work for me.
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So Yeah, I would agree.
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I would say that there's a there's a lot more sharing of knowledge and it's healthy.
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I mean, I again I think competition is healthy.
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Um, I understand, you know, you don't want to give all away away all your trades and secrets, but it it's you know, we're a small industry and you really should help each other.
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Yeah, just holding back ain't gonna help anybody solve anything.
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Yeah.
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It's not making you any better.
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Yeah, yeah.
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Was there a a mentee that you were especially proud of?
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Basically the only one that I had, like I said, was my original guy that I used to work for and I did a I rode with him a lot.
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I went fishing with him a few times, you know, and we literally sat down in the bar, had a few drinks, and we've went to the restaurant and you know, we were for working with him it was more like a family atmosphere than it was is him being a a a boss.
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He was the boss and you knew he was the boss, and it came time he would let you know.
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But you know, for the most part he's just a reasonable person to work with and enjoyable to be around and past time.
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Yeah.
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But was there someone that you know that you mentored that your person basically most of the people that I work with, there's from like a heavy operator standpoint, there's no other feeling than you being operating a machine and you've got eight, nine people around you and they're one hundred percent comfortable with having their back turned to you and you be able to drop a bucket within two to three feet of 'em.
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Yeah, that's pretty cool.
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Have you um have you ever had one of your mentees teach you something that you were mentoring?
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Yeah, you know, there's a lot of things in the field that I don't do on a regular basis anymore that I've stepped back from and it's changed from what I did to what they do now as far as the rebar goes.
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I basically never help with the rebar anymore.
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And there's different ways of bending it.
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And we actually have a mechanical bender now that's electric, which I never had.
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I actually was I don't even remember what year I developed one to where we were hand bending because what we used to use was a clamp and you had to flip this lever.
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It was actually like for doing pipe work and we used it to bend our well it would take us over a minute to bend one of our bars for a commercial pool, and I came up with a device to where I could bend at least three bars in under a minute.
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Wow, that's cool.
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It saved us a lot of time.
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And we've still got 'em, but we really don't use them anymore since we got the electrical.
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It's much faster and easier.
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And how many can the the electric one bend?
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It can basically keep up easily with what we were doing in being heavier grade steel as well.
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Wow.
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That's pretty cool.
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But yours is always there for backup just in case.
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Yeah, if it fails, then we've got a a secondary.
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There you go.
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I love that.
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And how does it I mean, you have to be just absolutely overjoyed when you see someone that you were mentoring and you see that they're being successful and they're applying the knowledge that they learned from you in the field and they're just like, I've done it.
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How does that make you feel?
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I mean, obviously you're you're proud, but I mean Yeah, it's it's great to be able to set back and watch them do it and they can do the whole thing without your help at all.
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You don't have to go back and check on them.
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You know what they did, you know, is fine.
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If it fails, it fails.
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We go back and we fix it.
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You know, nobody where we're setting at and where we work right now, nobody gets mad at anybody because somebody did something wrong or something failed.
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We just okay, we gotta go fix it.
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And that's where me and one of the other guys in the field, it's our job that we get a call from a superintendent, hey, I need this or this is broke or what we just between the two of us we make arrangements that one of us goes and takes care of it almost immediately.
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I really like that.
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I th I think that I mean, of course, you don't want, you know, mistake after mistake, but I think that allows for a really positive working environment and allows for that team to, you know, understand, like you said, mistakes are gonna happen and they don't have to constantly be looking over their back or you know, constantly nervous or concerned about this and that if they make a mistake.
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Of course, like you said, mistakes are gonna happen, you have to be careful.
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But I really like that.
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That that's a really positive working environment.
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That's really and you don't find those that often.
00:17:48.950 --> 00:17:49.430
Yeah, no.
00:17:49.509 --> 00:17:51.669
You know, a lot of the people get really mad.
00:17:51.829 --> 00:17:53.589
Oh, you did this, you did that.
00:17:53.750 --> 00:17:55.430
There's no reason to point fingers.
00:17:55.589 --> 00:17:59.029
We we work as a team, we all made the the mistake.
00:17:59.189 --> 00:18:01.589
You know, some way or another we made the mistake.
00:18:01.750 --> 00:18:04.549
We just fix it, take care of it, move on.
00:18:04.869 --> 00:18:05.990
It's not the end of the world.
00:18:06.309 --> 00:18:12.389
Well, and I always I always giggle at you know that someone in a different position getting mad at someone else, and they've never even done that position.
00:18:12.469 --> 00:18:15.429
They have no idea what it entails, and they're pissed off.
00:18:15.509 --> 00:18:20.629
And I'm like, do you have any idea what what what it goes on to even do that position?
00:18:20.949 --> 00:18:22.869
We we've been there and and done that.
00:18:23.029 --> 00:18:26.469
We've had that before, and it it's it doesn't go well.
00:18:26.549 --> 00:18:32.869
It ends up being a shout and match and finger pointing, and it's like look at the end of the day, it's our mistake.
00:18:32.949 --> 00:18:33.829
We have to fix it.
00:18:33.909 --> 00:18:35.909
Don't matter who did it, it sucks.
00:18:36.069 --> 00:18:39.509
We're gonna lose a little bit of money, we're gonna take care of it, and we're gonna move on.
00:18:39.669 --> 00:18:40.629
Yeah, I like that though.
00:18:40.709 --> 00:18:43.029
It's it's it's good, honest, hard work.
00:18:43.269 --> 00:18:44.549
You know what time it is?
00:18:44.949 --> 00:18:47.909
Wednesday vibes on the talking pool's porch.
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On Wednesdays, we like to bust some myths.
00:22:58.149 --> 00:23:02.149
And so I figured we could, you know, kind of take a break from mentorship.
00:23:02.389 --> 00:23:09.829
And you know, we c I can't have an ancient pool warrior sitting here on myth busting Wednesdays to and not bust a few myths.
00:23:10.069 --> 00:23:13.509
So what do you what do you think about busting a couple of myths with me?
00:23:13.750 --> 00:23:14.069
Alright.
00:23:14.229 --> 00:23:14.549
Okay.
00:23:14.869 --> 00:23:19.990
So one of the myths, kind of going with your background, is let's do commercial.
00:23:20.149 --> 00:23:21.909
Digging well, heavy equipment really.
00:23:22.069 --> 00:23:23.909
Digging the pool is the easy part.
00:23:23.990 --> 00:23:25.829
You're basically just digging a hole.
00:23:26.229 --> 00:23:30.869
Everybody that's sitting on the outside of a machine and looking in, yeah, that's easy.
00:23:30.949 --> 00:23:34.949
He's setting there, he's just operating a few controls, no problem at all.
00:23:35.029 --> 00:23:36.229
He's got it made.
00:23:36.469 --> 00:23:40.949
But realistically, everybody outside that machine is an issue.
00:23:41.109 --> 00:23:43.429
Everybody is at risk of injury.
00:23:43.669 --> 00:23:47.269
So you've got to really watch what you're doing.
00:23:47.589 --> 00:23:48.229
Yeah.
00:23:48.469 --> 00:23:53.909
You get eight people on the ground, one's on the right, one's on the left, one's behind you, one's in front of you.
00:23:54.069 --> 00:24:01.109
One decides to get real close to the back, he's gonna cut across and go to the other side because he's gonna go to the bathroom or whatever.
00:24:01.349 --> 00:24:03.509
If you spin too fast, you'll hit one of them.
00:24:03.750 --> 00:24:04.069
Yeah.
00:24:04.229 --> 00:24:09.669
Well, and how much work actually happens before you even, you know, put that first bucket in the ground?
00:24:09.909 --> 00:24:12.229
From the operator side, not a whole lot.
00:24:12.389 --> 00:24:15.990
You know, everything as far as the pool is the the layout.
00:24:16.149 --> 00:24:25.349
You gotta get everything laid out, you gotta know where all your actual debt markers are going, because we're only allowed three inches plus or minus on our debt.
00:24:25.909 --> 00:24:29.189
So that plays the a major part of that.
00:24:29.349 --> 00:24:31.829
And once that's done, then it's time to start.
00:24:32.069 --> 00:24:32.389
Yeah.
00:24:32.549 --> 00:24:38.869
You know, I I guess, you know, what happens, you know, after you start, let's say, what happens if the excavation is wrong?
00:24:39.109 --> 00:24:44.709
Does being off by what seems maybe like a small amount, does it how much of a problem does that create later?
00:24:45.029 --> 00:24:47.990
On commercial side, it can be a big deal.
00:24:48.149 --> 00:24:54.389
We have in the past, we you've got your minimum, depends, you know, state codes vary state to state.
00:24:54.629 --> 00:25:01.509
State of Florida, at the end of the day, you must have 15 foot minimum width from side to side.
00:25:01.750 --> 00:25:05.269
We had a couple that did not end up 15 feet.
00:25:05.349 --> 00:25:06.309
So what do you do?
00:25:06.469 --> 00:25:11.429
One of them was way over a foot of you have to take the whole wall out and start over on that wall.
00:25:11.669 --> 00:25:14.549
Yikes, that would just completely change your day.
00:25:14.709 --> 00:25:15.189
Yeah.
00:25:15.509 --> 00:25:20.469
But mistakes happen and you learn and you try not to make that same mistake over again.
00:25:20.549 --> 00:25:26.149
So when we lay out, we go over it multiple times and double check everything.
00:25:26.309 --> 00:25:28.869
We don't want to be under that 15 foot.
00:25:28.949 --> 00:25:31.829
If we're 15-2, 15-3, we're good.
00:25:32.789 --> 00:25:36.789
We're right at 15 feet, we're adjusting our forms, we're moving back.
00:25:36.869 --> 00:25:38.949
We'll make that pool a little bit bigger.
00:25:39.109 --> 00:25:39.669
We have to.
00:25:39.909 --> 00:25:40.229
Right.
00:25:40.469 --> 00:25:47.109
Have you ever discovered something underground that just completely changed the plant?
00:25:47.429 --> 00:25:48.869
Nothing unusual.
00:25:49.029 --> 00:25:52.869
I mean, the everybody they joke about Florida, it's all sand.
00:25:53.029 --> 00:25:55.029
Florida is not all sand.
00:25:55.189 --> 00:26:00.069
There is probably a hundred different types of soil in Florida, if not more.
00:26:00.309 --> 00:26:06.789
I've hit lime rock to where it you almost have to have dynamite to remove some of it.
00:26:06.869 --> 00:26:09.429
You know, is it just one of them things you get into?
00:26:09.589 --> 00:26:19.189
And then you get big chunks and then you over-escavate the whole, well, then we have to bring in rock or more sand or dirt and compact and all that.
00:26:20.069 --> 00:26:25.189
But as far as something that made it to where we had to relocate something, not really.
00:26:25.429 --> 00:26:27.269
We've never had that issue.
00:26:28.069 --> 00:26:29.269
What's the biggest joke?
00:26:29.349 --> 00:26:34.709
Is there like a a a a running joke of what you might find in Florida when you're digging up all that soil?
00:26:35.109 --> 00:26:39.189
A lot that used to pop up and we found a lot over the years.
00:26:39.349 --> 00:26:40.869
You'll find shark's teeth.
00:26:41.029 --> 00:26:42.549
We found arrowheads.
00:26:42.789 --> 00:26:44.709
We have found bones in the past.
00:26:44.869 --> 00:26:46.709
Had no idea what they were from.
00:26:46.949 --> 00:26:49.509
More so thinking of, you know, a cow or whatever.
00:26:49.669 --> 00:26:51.990
Maybe it was a cow pasture land where we were digging.
00:26:52.229 --> 00:26:53.189
Wow, right, right.
00:26:53.349 --> 00:26:58.709
Do you report the bones or you just keep not just it it's usually not much, you know.
00:26:58.869 --> 00:27:06.229
It's just the piece, but it you can usually look at it and it's like, okay, yeah, it's way too big to be a human bone and just carry on.
00:27:06.789 --> 00:27:12.869
Back in the backyard or maybe I was like, wait, that's why you want to ask this question.
00:27:13.029 --> 00:27:13.269
Yeah.
00:27:13.429 --> 00:27:21.349
And it gets very interesting when you get around shoreline and all when you're within, you know, what maybe ten miles of the shore.
00:27:21.589 --> 00:27:31.109
You'll dig and it's not unusual to find fossils and you'll find shells and everything, you know, where the shoreline used to be at one time.
00:27:31.349 --> 00:27:31.589
Yeah.
00:27:31.669 --> 00:27:34.549
Have you do you ever keep any of those shells like in your office?
00:27:34.629 --> 00:27:39.589
Do you ever have you ever have you ever found something in the ground that you're like, I'm keeping this and that you've kept to this day?
00:27:39.909 --> 00:27:44.709
I've taken a few home, but usually they end up, you know, getting pitched or whatever.
00:27:44.869 --> 00:27:47.189
They're weren't all that outrageous.
00:27:47.429 --> 00:27:48.149
Yeah, yeah.
00:27:48.309 --> 00:27:56.229
Well, if I I'll tell you my my daughters have been finding we go to a a quarry here and they're constantly finding shells on the ground.
00:27:56.309 --> 00:28:02.709
They're like, Look, mom's shells, and I'll say, I've I've had to start pitching all the shells because I'm like, I have no idea where I'm gonna put these.
00:28:02.949 --> 00:28:04.389
So I I hear you there.
00:28:04.549 --> 00:28:04.709
Yeah.
00:28:04.949 --> 00:28:12.469
Yeah, for a while I was I was getting some rocks, and when I say rocks, they're quite substantial in size.
00:28:12.629 --> 00:28:13.750
And I took some home.
00:28:13.909 --> 00:28:21.750
Some had glass in them, some of them had uh lighter in there, and it just it got to where it was, okay, I need to get rid of this.
00:28:21.829 --> 00:28:23.509
I don't need all this at the house.
00:28:23.829 --> 00:28:24.149
Yeah.
00:28:24.309 --> 00:28:25.269
That's kind of fun though.
00:28:25.829 --> 00:28:27.029
I I think that would be fun.
00:28:27.189 --> 00:28:27.909
I like that.
00:28:28.229 --> 00:28:28.789
It's cool.
00:28:29.029 --> 00:28:40.149
You know, another myth is that bigger equipment makes the job faster and easier, but you know, you spend a lot of time operating heavy equipment.
00:28:40.389 --> 00:28:44.549
So, you know, how do you decide what size equipment you actually need?
00:28:44.709 --> 00:28:45.829
And is that true?
00:28:45.990 --> 00:28:48.789
Does bigger equipment really make the job faster and easier?
00:28:49.109 --> 00:28:52.229
You can literally get too big of a piece of equipment.
00:28:52.389 --> 00:28:57.669
If you do not have the space to move around, then you're not gonna be as efficient.
00:28:57.990 --> 00:29:01.829
Like for us, we've had pools that you know 10,000 square feet.
00:29:01.909 --> 00:29:02.549
Well, that's big.
00:29:02.629 --> 00:29:05.029
You need a big machine, 350 excavator.
00:29:05.269 --> 00:29:09.509
Well, the bucket's over three foot wide, the arms over 20 foot long.
00:29:09.829 --> 00:29:10.229
Yeah.
00:29:10.389 --> 00:29:23.429
I try to dig and uh it's like I'm trying to dig underneath of me because the machine's so big, you know, the pool may be 9,000 square foot, but it's only 15 foot wide and and goes around in a radius.
00:29:23.750 --> 00:29:29.029
That's not efficient because I can't turn sideways, I can't dig the side walls, I gotta scrape the sides.
00:29:29.189 --> 00:29:36.789
So you get a smaller yeah, so you get a smaller one that's half of that size, and now I can turn sideways, I can dig sideways, I can dig and try.
00:29:37.029 --> 00:29:37.269
Right.
00:29:37.509 --> 00:29:40.469
It's more efficient, you work out faster.
00:29:40.709 --> 00:29:41.109
Mm-hmm.
00:29:41.349 --> 00:29:53.029
So I guess how does how much does access utilities, surrounding structures, and other trains working around you kind of affect your decision on the size of the machine or the equipment.
00:29:53.909 --> 00:29:56.229
Just depends on how close we are.
00:29:56.469 --> 00:30:06.629
Most of the time, most of our commercials were we're more than 15 feet away, so I I'm not that limited as far as space for our machine for digging the pool.
00:30:06.869 --> 00:30:14.949
After the pool's end, they may have off structures that dictate the how big of a machine you could have in there to do the plumbing ditches and all.
00:30:15.509 --> 00:30:25.509
Is there a situation that you or is there a time that you remember that was maybe the tightest or most difficult situation you've ever had to get a machine into?
00:30:25.829 --> 00:30:31.109
We've done a couple of residentials and there was very little space to get in.
00:30:31.269 --> 00:30:36.869
We had one where you only had a six-foot opening, you couldn't get anything bigger than six foot through.
00:30:37.029 --> 00:30:45.109
So the excavator couldn't be more than six foot, our machine was too big, the skid steer couldn't be more than six foot, our skid steer was too big.
00:30:45.269 --> 00:30:48.389
So we had to rent everything to dig it.
00:30:48.629 --> 00:30:58.789
You know, and it what should have been like a quarter of a day dig because the pool wasn't that big, ended up being a two-day dig because you just did there was no access to get in and out.
00:30:58.949 --> 00:31:01.429
And everything had to been shuttled out of there.
00:31:01.589 --> 00:31:03.029
All the dirt had to go.
00:31:03.509 --> 00:31:03.750
Man.
00:31:04.069 --> 00:31:08.709
And you know, with operating heavy equipment, that takes a lot of skill.
00:31:08.869 --> 00:31:17.349
You know, how much of operating equipment is feel and experience rather than, you know, something somebody can teach you?
00:31:17.669 --> 00:31:24.789
Most of it you're gonna learn hands-on and you need an open area to do so, you know, especially when it comes to the excavator.
00:31:24.949 --> 00:31:25.189
Yeah.
00:31:25.589 --> 00:31:27.349
You can do multiple things at one time.
00:31:27.509 --> 00:31:31.429
You can do up to about seven different commands at one time with it.
00:31:31.509 --> 00:31:35.189
And it's all in hand, feet, and mind control.
00:31:35.589 --> 00:31:38.149
You just you gotta know what every one of them does.
00:31:38.309 --> 00:31:45.109
For me to get in the machine and sat there and tell you this controls this and this does that, it's almost next in pa.
00:31:45.349 --> 00:31:46.549
I have to sit there and think about it.
00:31:46.709 --> 00:31:49.990
But if I'm sitting in the feet, I can grab it and I can go with it.
00:31:50.069 --> 00:31:51.509
I know exactly what it does.
00:31:51.669 --> 00:31:52.069
Mm-hmm.
00:31:52.229 --> 00:31:56.389
So does it kind of become like riding a bike once you get used to it and you really start to learn?
00:31:56.629 --> 00:31:58.469
Yeah, you never forget.
00:31:58.629 --> 00:32:04.229
There's I can't remember the what they call it, but there's two different ways the controls work.
00:32:04.309 --> 00:32:10.309
And one's basically like Europe, European controls versus US control, whatever.
00:32:10.549 --> 00:32:12.629
And it reverses everything.
00:32:12.869 --> 00:32:23.750
I've actually I can operate it in either way, but when you reverse the controls on me, it takes me a minute to, you know, get in the okay, I'm not going left, I'm going right.
00:32:23.829 --> 00:32:24.949
I gotta go the other way.
00:32:25.109 --> 00:32:28.709
So, you know, it's it oh man, it can get real confusing.
00:32:28.789 --> 00:32:31.829
And some operators only can operate one way.
00:32:31.990 --> 00:32:32.469
Mm-hmm.
00:32:33.269 --> 00:32:38.229
So Yeah, that would be that that would uh that would definitely probably be me to start.
00:32:38.309 --> 00:32:40.309
You know, I was Yeah.
00:32:40.789 --> 00:32:43.349
You know, it's very easy to throw somebody off.
00:32:43.589 --> 00:32:52.549
You get them trained to do one way, and you they get out of the machine and walk away, and you walk over and you flip the control, they go and get back in it, and then they can't do anything.
00:32:52.869 --> 00:32:54.949
They're like something I can't do nothing.
00:32:55.189 --> 00:32:55.990
Yeah, yeah.
00:32:56.229 --> 00:32:58.069
I I hey, I totally get it.
00:32:58.149 --> 00:33:00.229
I mean, tot I I get it.
00:33:00.309 --> 00:33:07.509
You know, I I had told you and my listeners know I'm I do all these open water swims, and I typically swim downstream.
00:33:07.669 --> 00:33:12.549
And recently I swam upstream and I was swimming upstream today, and I was like, Yeah, I got this.
00:33:12.709 --> 00:33:18.389
And at one point I stopped, I adjusted my goggles, and I just started swimming back downstream.
00:33:19.029 --> 00:33:20.949
One of the kyakers was like, What are you doing?
00:33:21.029 --> 00:33:21.750
You're not done yet.
00:33:21.829 --> 00:33:24.229
And I was like, That's right, it's upstream.
00:33:24.469 --> 00:33:26.149
Just kidding, just testing you.
00:33:26.469 --> 00:33:37.829
But yeah, no, I can only imagine getting in there and understanding those controls one way and having to completely, you know, be like, oh wait, no, you know, reverse is actually front and or vice versa.
00:33:37.990 --> 00:33:40.069
Yeah, I would I'd be in there like Austin Powers.
00:33:40.149 --> 00:33:40.549
That would be me.
00:33:40.629 --> 00:33:41.990
I have no shame to say that.
00:33:42.309 --> 00:33:46.549
So well, I will leave the heavy equipment operating to you, my good sir.
00:33:46.709 --> 00:33:47.750
I will stay away from it.
00:33:47.829 --> 00:33:49.509
I will stick to swimming with catfish.
00:33:49.990 --> 00:33:55.990
And let's kind of shift gears to what, you know, you're really well known for also in this industry.
00:33:56.149 --> 00:34:01.750
And I want to go to our next myth, and we're just gonna jump into it.
00:34:01.829 --> 00:34:09.349
And it's the only way to significantly lower high cyanaric acid is to drain and replace the water.
00:34:09.510 --> 00:34:10.710
Well, what would you say to this?
00:34:10.789 --> 00:34:12.789
Do you think I mean myth or fat?
00:34:13.030 --> 00:34:14.230
100% myth.
00:34:14.389 --> 00:34:15.510
Okay, tell me why.
00:34:15.750 --> 00:34:21.110
Because we've proven that it can be done using cyan or using alum sulfate.
00:34:21.269 --> 00:34:24.150
It's 100% been proven even in a lab.
00:34:25.349 --> 00:34:28.469
You know, how did you how did you get involved?
00:34:28.710 --> 00:34:29.909
How did you get involved?
00:34:30.230 --> 00:34:34.389
Originally, I learned about alum through a water plant.
00:34:34.550 --> 00:34:35.349
I Okay.
00:34:35.829 --> 00:34:40.389
I got with a water plant guy, and uh we were talking about green pool.
00:34:40.469 --> 00:34:48.789
I mentioned Tom about green pool because he specialized in water, and he says, Well, you know about the oldest flock in the world, and I'm like, No.
00:34:49.110 --> 00:34:58.869
And he's the one that introduced me to Alum and showed me bags that took me to the water plant, showed me the bags, and he says, This is the first step that we use to treat water.
00:34:59.110 --> 00:35:04.150
We can take and strip almost everything out of the water and have clean water.
00:35:04.390 --> 00:35:04.870
Mm-hmm.
00:35:05.269 --> 00:35:10.789
And uh So explain it to me like let's say I know absolutely nothing about Alum.
00:35:11.110 --> 00:35:20.230
How does using it ultimately allow cyanuric acid to be removed from the Scientifically, Rudy would probably be better at answering that than me.
00:35:20.550 --> 00:35:23.030
I just help prove that it it works.
00:35:23.269 --> 00:35:27.990
It does lock it up somehow in the water, and it is a timely matter.
00:35:28.309 --> 00:35:44.630
You do it in a a timely fashion to where you add the the alum to the water and circulate it for 10 or I'm sorry, circulate it for two hours, then you shut down everything, let it completely set for ten hours.
00:35:44.870 --> 00:35:47.430
At the end of ten hours, you do a vacuum to waste.
00:35:47.510 --> 00:35:49.910
It will drop to the floor, just about everything.
00:35:49.990 --> 00:35:54.390
It'll look like a white soot on the bottom of it was clear water to start with.
00:35:55.269 --> 00:36:02.789
Once you vacuum the vacuum to waste, you can test and you will see a significant drop usually in the the seawater.
00:36:03.349 --> 00:36:03.510
Okay.
00:36:03.990 --> 00:36:26.150
You know, what would you say is the biggest misconception people have when they hear that you can reduce cyanuric acid without draining the A lot of people don't believe that it works, and then there a lot of them believe that it's just you're adding something else to the water, but they're not understanding that you're tying everything up and it's falling to the floor, and then you're vacuuming it to waste.
00:36:26.309 --> 00:36:28.950
You're not just adding it, it's not there to stay.
00:36:29.110 --> 00:36:39.349
It's there just to drop everything to the floor and make it fall, and then it's your job to vacuum it all out nice and slow, don't stir everything up, vacuum it out and re-add.
00:36:39.670 --> 00:36:47.510
Usually it doesn't matter the size of the pool or anything, it's on the square footage and all you lose about three inches of water average on a pool.
00:36:47.829 --> 00:36:51.990
Some of them I think, well, it's the amount of water that you added back to the pool.
00:36:52.150 --> 00:36:57.829
Three inches of water on any size pool is not gonna change your cyanoric acid left by 30%.
00:36:58.309 --> 00:36:58.550
Yeah.
00:36:58.789 --> 00:37:00.630
Do you think they're just too lazy to vacuum?
00:37:00.870 --> 00:37:04.390
I just think that a lot of them don't want to take the time and and try it.
00:37:04.470 --> 00:37:06.390
They're afraid of trying something new.
00:37:06.550 --> 00:37:10.230
Either they do that or it's not available in their area.
00:37:10.550 --> 00:37:18.230
Because I know a lot of places push back that, oh, it's a myth, and you can't get this, we don't have it, they can't pick it up.
00:37:18.470 --> 00:37:19.110
Yeah, yeah.
00:37:19.349 --> 00:37:24.950
Well, and that actually brings us to, you know, and this was the this is the next myth, and it's big.
00:37:25.030 --> 00:37:27.829
It's that alum is an outdated pool chemistry.
00:37:27.990 --> 00:37:28.789
It's outdated.
00:37:28.870 --> 00:37:36.150
You you don't, you know, you shouldn't use it, but it's been around for such a long time, and we're still talking about it today, you know?
00:37:36.550 --> 00:37:41.430
Well, the funny fact is that most people say, well, this works better or this works better.
00:37:41.590 --> 00:37:43.510
You know, it's all bottled flock.
00:37:43.590 --> 00:37:57.750
And any of the flock that's on the market, if you get the bottle and you look on the back or you look up and you can find it online somewhere where it says and shows the total ingredient in there, it's almost guaranteed somewhere in there, it says alum.
00:37:58.070 --> 00:37:59.110
It's in the bottle.
00:37:59.349 --> 00:38:06.309
The problem is it's a cut rate, it's not the exact same amount that we're doing when we do the alum.
00:38:06.470 --> 00:38:06.870
Mm-hmm.
00:38:07.110 --> 00:38:13.349
Do you think that sometimes this industry assumes just because it's newer, it automatically means it's better?
00:38:13.670 --> 00:38:15.110
It runs through the mind.
00:38:15.190 --> 00:38:15.590
Yes.
00:38:15.750 --> 00:38:17.670
You know, it's something new on the market.
00:38:17.990 --> 00:38:18.710
It's science.
00:38:18.870 --> 00:38:19.430
This is new.
00:38:19.590 --> 00:38:22.150
It's gotta be better than what we used to use.
00:38:22.470 --> 00:38:23.190
Right, right.
00:38:23.349 --> 00:38:25.990
Yeah, and there's always there's always something new out there.
00:38:26.230 --> 00:38:28.230
Um, you know, kind of flipping it.
00:38:28.470 --> 00:38:29.750
What can't it do?
00:38:30.230 --> 00:38:36.710
I'm I have personally have not used it to drop calcium, but I've been told to do that.
00:38:37.430 --> 00:38:40.470
There's not a whole lot that I don't know that it can't do.
00:38:40.630 --> 00:38:49.510
It will definitely drop phosphate, it will remove copper stains as long as there's no scale over the top of the copper stain, it will lift it off the finish.
00:38:49.670 --> 00:38:53.510
It will not remove it out of the water, you will not be able to vacuum it.
00:38:53.590 --> 00:38:55.990
It puts it back into a liquid state.
00:38:56.230 --> 00:39:06.070
So if you get a badly stained pool and you use alum, you can remove the stain, you lift it, it's that copper is still in the water.
00:39:06.230 --> 00:39:11.030
If you test the water, now you might get a reading on copper where you did not before.
00:39:11.269 --> 00:39:11.510
Right.
00:39:11.750 --> 00:39:14.390
And there's a lot of people that mistaking that too.
00:39:14.470 --> 00:39:16.630
They'll look and they'll see, well, I don't know what that is.
00:39:16.789 --> 00:39:21.110
It looks like copper, but I tested the water and there's no copper in the water.
00:39:21.269 --> 00:39:26.390
Well, if it's pleated out and it's stuck to the surface, it's not gonna be in a reading.
00:39:26.470 --> 00:39:28.070
It's not gonna show in the water.
00:39:28.230 --> 00:39:30.870
It's not in the water, it's now on the surface.
00:39:31.110 --> 00:39:31.349
Right.
00:39:31.590 --> 00:39:32.550
What do you think?
00:39:32.630 --> 00:39:39.030
You know, what would you say is floating around the industry that you hear people say that alum is used for?
00:39:39.190 --> 00:39:40.870
That you're like, that's not what it's used for.
00:39:41.110 --> 00:39:43.910
I've heard a few people talk about it removing iron.
00:39:44.070 --> 00:39:45.750
It will not remove iron stains.
00:39:45.910 --> 00:39:47.030
I've never seen it done.
00:39:47.269 --> 00:39:48.390
That's a fun one.
00:39:48.710 --> 00:39:49.190
Yeah.
00:39:49.349 --> 00:39:52.390
I've I've just never seen that work.
00:39:52.710 --> 00:39:53.110
Yeah.
00:39:53.349 --> 00:39:57.030
So, you know, for and that, you know, I think that's perfect too.
00:39:57.110 --> 00:40:03.349
It it's for the ancient pool warrior, you know, sometimes ancient way, it it it kicks ass the best.
00:40:03.510 --> 00:40:05.590
So don't knock it till you try it, you know?
00:40:05.829 --> 00:40:08.630
Well, I appreciate you kind of going through that.
00:40:08.710 --> 00:40:11.349
So let's let's I think we've busted those myths.
00:40:11.510 --> 00:40:13.030
You know, don't be afraid to use it.
00:40:13.110 --> 00:40:19.510
If you don't, if you don't understand Alum, ask questions, you know, just ask the questions, challenge.
00:40:19.750 --> 00:40:25.750
And my biggest thing is just because a new product comes out, don't automatically assume it's the best out there.
00:40:25.990 --> 00:40:26.630
Question it.
00:40:26.870 --> 00:40:33.349
Well, definitely, because look at all the products that said they could drop CYA, but have never been able to.
00:40:34.150 --> 00:40:34.870
Yeah, yeah.
00:40:34.950 --> 00:40:38.470
You know, be careful what what people say their product does out there.
00:40:38.630 --> 00:40:40.870
They're they're they're gonna church it up, man.
00:40:41.510 --> 00:40:41.990
Be careful.
00:40:42.470 --> 00:40:46.789
Car salesman is not gonna tell you you're buying a bad car, you're buying the best one on the lock.
00:40:46.950 --> 00:40:47.269
Yep.
00:40:47.430 --> 00:40:47.750
Yep.
00:40:47.910 --> 00:40:51.190
Make sure to read the read the label, read the back, right?
00:40:51.349 --> 00:40:53.670
Because yeah, just just be careful out there.
00:40:53.829 --> 00:40:55.670
Ask, review, challenge.
00:40:55.829 --> 00:40:56.710
Well, thank you for that.
00:40:57.190 --> 00:40:58.789
Those myths are definitely busted.
00:40:58.950 --> 00:41:05.430
Is there anything anything else on Alum before we go back to mentorship that you want to leave the listeners with?
00:41:05.829 --> 00:41:13.430
Don't know much other than that, other than that's about the fastest way to clear a green pool, as long as there's not too much debris inside of it.
00:41:13.670 --> 00:41:14.630
Okay, I like that.
00:41:14.789 --> 00:41:17.990
Hopefully we have a lot of people starting to research that.
00:41:18.150 --> 00:41:20.390
Okay, let's jump back over to mentorship.
00:41:20.950 --> 00:41:28.309
Have you ever, you know, been mentoring someone and then realized, you know, this is just not working.
00:41:28.550 --> 00:41:30.710
I I'm I'm gonna I'm gonna have to walk away.
00:41:31.349 --> 00:41:35.349
Yeah, some people just are not good at following directions.
00:41:36.470 --> 00:41:48.550
Yeah, you give them a certain way to do something and they go and do it totally different, and then they're like, that doesn't work if you didn't follow the whole entire directions.
00:41:48.789 --> 00:41:49.030
Yeah.
00:41:49.269 --> 00:41:57.590
When uh when when was when did you learn that not that that you could not mentor someone when they didn't want to learn it?
00:41:57.670 --> 00:42:07.269
Like how how far into when you understood that you were mentoring people did you've learned, okay, I have to at some point go, no, this person is not worth mentoring.
00:42:07.349 --> 00:42:11.750
They're just not willing to learn, they're not willing to listen, and they're just gonna continue to do their own thing.
00:42:12.070 --> 00:42:19.349
Personally, in the field was one, I would show a person how to do something, and they would be like, that's so much easier.
00:42:19.590 --> 00:42:27.670
And then you would see them do it the the exact same thing the very next day, and they go right back to the way they were doing it.
00:42:27.829 --> 00:42:32.630
And it's like, I showed you an easier way, but you went back to this.
00:42:32.950 --> 00:42:34.789
You think they were just maybe blowing smoke up?
00:42:35.030 --> 00:42:46.150
I have no idea, but the the time frame was there, it was much easier, it was much faster, and they just they went back to the old way multiple times.
00:42:46.309 --> 00:42:49.030
It's like okay, you just like doing it the hard way.
00:42:49.269 --> 00:42:49.829
Yeah, no.
00:42:49.990 --> 00:42:53.110
If you if there is an easier way, please show me.
00:42:53.190 --> 00:42:56.390
I have my time is valuable, so that's just too bad.
00:42:56.550 --> 00:43:00.950
Was there something that you were like, man, I should have listened to them sooner when you were younger?
00:43:01.110 --> 00:43:02.309
There's something that stands out.
00:43:02.630 --> 00:43:19.510
Kinda on on plumbing, you know, plumbing up equipment was, you know, pre-planning was a major key, but next was making sure everything was right where you wanted it and having it sticking straight up because everything that we did got bored in concrete.
00:43:19.670 --> 00:43:27.910
And if it was leaning, anything that's above, you know, inch and a half or two inch in a commercial facility and you have to heat it, that's a big deal.
00:43:27.990 --> 00:43:32.470
That's a lot, and a lot of your fittings are close to the floor and it's not good.
00:43:32.630 --> 00:43:36.550
It makes your life a lot more harder than what it should be.
00:43:36.710 --> 00:43:37.190
Mm-hmm.
00:43:37.349 --> 00:43:45.269
And you know, in and going back to listening, you know, you you had mentioned you had told someone, well, hey, here's a here's a much easier way to do this, right?
00:43:45.510 --> 00:43:54.230
Do you think, you know, and looking back at your younger self, do you think maybe that you hadn't listened because maybe you were being stubborn or you knew you knew best?
00:43:54.470 --> 00:44:02.630
Or what do you think it you know, if you were to put yourself back in your your shoes at that time, what do you think it was that kind of that you just weren't willing to accept?
00:44:02.950 --> 00:44:10.550
For me, for on the learning side, I just kind of sat back, kept my mouth shut, and listened to what people said.
00:44:11.269 --> 00:44:18.789
And for the most part, a lot of people you can figure out real quick whether they know what they're talking about or they don't know what they're talking about.
00:44:18.870 --> 00:44:21.990
And you especially when you're working with them and you see them every day.
00:44:22.230 --> 00:44:23.030
Right, right.
00:44:23.349 --> 00:44:36.950
For me, that was my biggest thing is the guy that I listened to the most, it was because I knew he knew what he was doing, he wasn't gonna mislead me and and you know, the other one was I'm here for a paycheck and I don't care how it's done.
00:44:37.190 --> 00:44:39.110
Yeah, you can definitely spot those guys.
00:44:39.269 --> 00:44:41.349
Yeah, guys or gals from a mile away.
00:44:41.590 --> 00:44:52.950
Do you do you find yourself telling people, you know, guys or gals that you're mentoring, do you do you ever tell them, hey, don't be stubborn or open up your ears, listen, or do you just kind of let 'em choose their pathway?
00:44:53.590 --> 00:44:59.190
For the most part, all of them that we work with, you know, do exactly as we say.
00:44:59.349 --> 00:45:00.710
They know that there's a reason.
00:45:00.870 --> 00:45:02.230
Some ask, some don't.
00:45:02.470 --> 00:45:05.510
For the most part, I'm not the one teaching most of them anymore.
00:45:05.670 --> 00:45:09.750
There's a guy that's under me that he he's the one that is leading them.
00:45:09.910 --> 00:45:10.870
They're his guys.
00:45:11.030 --> 00:45:15.670
So I kind of just back off and I don't say nothing and I let them do their thing.
00:45:15.990 --> 00:45:22.710
And then if something's, you know, not exactly the way I do it, I may say something to them, you know, hey, I would have done this or that.
00:45:22.950 --> 00:45:27.590
But for the most part, it's not because he's wrong, you know, or what he did was wrong.
00:45:27.910 --> 00:45:39.030
Maybe that it was a little bit harder to do it that way, or I think it was, but then there's a lot of times he'll do stuff and it's easier for them than it is for the way that I do it.
00:45:39.269 --> 00:45:39.750
Yeah.
00:45:39.910 --> 00:45:48.150
And you know, he may ask me, you know, what do I I'll ask instead of even giving them an answer, I'm gonna be like, what works best for you?
00:45:48.309 --> 00:45:50.870
What makes it easier for you and the guys to do?
00:45:51.030 --> 00:45:51.349
Yeah.
00:45:51.590 --> 00:45:56.309
You know, what I do and what's easier for me may not be easier for you to do.
00:45:56.550 --> 00:45:57.190
So true.
00:45:57.349 --> 00:45:58.070
So true.
00:45:58.309 --> 00:46:02.230
And I have to ask, are they listening any better than you did at their age?
00:46:02.550 --> 00:46:05.990
They've learned a lot from mistakes that I've made in the past.
00:46:07.510 --> 00:46:08.950
Just teasing you, John.
00:46:09.349 --> 00:46:24.470
No, it it's all good because very few that that know me know I have knee injuries and knee problems, and it's because I didn't listen, and there wasn't many people that told you, hey, you need knee pads, don't kneel on concrete, it's bad for you.
00:46:24.630 --> 00:46:30.309
And I found out the hard way, and it ended up being an operation, emergency operation.
00:46:30.390 --> 00:46:32.950
And it was to me, it was just a normal operation.
00:46:33.030 --> 00:46:37.030
It wasn't a big deal, but the doctor said it was life-threatening.
00:46:37.190 --> 00:46:42.950
I had less than 48 hours, and I would have had game green, and they wouldn't have been anything they could have done to save me.
00:46:43.269 --> 00:46:54.070
So I've kind of preached that to all of our guys, and everybody in the company has knee pads and if we've seen without them, then yeah, I'm saying something to them.
00:46:54.309 --> 00:46:59.590
You know, hey, you want to be like me in another 20 years, you're gonna you're gonna regret it.
00:46:59.750 --> 00:47:04.230
My bill was over a hundred thousand dollars, yours is gonna be probably closer to two hundred thousand.
00:47:04.550 --> 00:47:05.030
Wowza.
00:47:05.349 --> 00:47:06.550
Well, my goodness.
00:47:06.710 --> 00:47:10.070
John, I just want to say if you ever need some new knee pads, you let me know.
00:47:10.230 --> 00:47:11.910
I will I will send you some.
00:47:12.230 --> 00:47:12.870
We don't want that.
00:47:13.990 --> 00:47:16.150
No, they can supply everybody.
00:47:16.470 --> 00:47:17.269
Yeah, yeah.
00:47:17.430 --> 00:47:19.030
You know, but you're so you're so right.
00:47:19.110 --> 00:47:21.510
You know, when you're young, you feel like you're invincible.
00:47:21.670 --> 00:47:25.349
And I'll say, as I'm as I've gotten older, my husband jokes.
00:47:25.430 --> 00:47:26.950
He's just like, getting older sucks.
00:47:27.590 --> 00:47:37.670
You know, for all these swims, I'm doing red light therapy, my arms are my arm is all taped up, and um, you know, I'm but I probably didn't stretch as much, and I probably didn't, you know, do that aftercare therapy.
00:47:37.829 --> 00:47:39.990
And now, you know, my kids are four and six.
00:47:40.150 --> 00:47:41.829
They're like, mom, get on the ground and do this with me.
00:47:41.910 --> 00:47:44.470
And I'm like, give mom a second, she's gotta get down there.
00:47:44.550 --> 00:47:59.190
And but, you know, you gotta take care of your body, you gotta take care of yourself, especially when you're you're working in those, you know, working around heavy equipment, and you know, you're getting down on your knees, and you know, you you're putting a lot of straight on your shoulders, your back, your legs.
00:47:59.349 --> 00:48:00.710
Like, yeah, take care of yourself.
00:48:01.030 --> 00:48:04.390
Yeah, we we lived a rough life, especially in construction.
00:48:04.550 --> 00:48:12.230
You got injured, you walked it off, grabbed some paper towels, some duct tape, taped it up, whatever, kept right on going.
00:48:12.390 --> 00:48:15.910
You know, we didn't need stitches, then we weren't going.
00:48:15.990 --> 00:48:25.349
And I went in there and they hauled me to the hospital one time against my will, all the way to almost the end before I said, Okay, I'll go if it makes you happy.
00:48:25.510 --> 00:48:26.710
I wasn't gonna go.
00:48:26.870 --> 00:48:29.030
And it ended up I got 12 stitches.
00:48:30.150 --> 00:48:32.710
Oof, yeah, no, it's scary.
00:48:32.870 --> 00:48:33.990
Well, yikes.
00:48:34.150 --> 00:48:40.789
That's definitely something I would say, you know, a lot of people younger, I would say mistakes they're making in the pool industry.
00:48:41.030 --> 00:48:43.110
Take care of yourself, guys and gals.
00:48:43.430 --> 00:48:44.470
What what would you say?
00:48:44.550 --> 00:48:49.590
What is one what was what's the greatest thing that comes to mind when you think about the pool industry?
00:48:49.829 --> 00:48:53.190
It's for me, it's so many trades all wrapped up in one.
00:48:53.349 --> 00:49:00.950
And I work on, you know, so many different levels of it, from service to the building to looking over blueprints.
00:49:01.110 --> 00:49:07.430
I've helped a little bit with a few small details on designs and stuff in the past.
00:49:07.590 --> 00:49:13.910
And you can go and learn so much about flow rate and and all the codes.
00:49:14.150 --> 00:49:14.550
Yes.
00:49:14.789 --> 00:49:15.110
Yeah.
00:49:15.190 --> 00:49:17.590
I yeah, I would say I l I love all the trades.
00:49:17.990 --> 00:49:24.150
There's there's so many different areas to learn about the industry, and I love learning a new trade.
00:49:24.309 --> 00:49:25.030
I absolutely love it.
00:49:25.110 --> 00:49:27.269
There's there's there's so much to learn.
00:49:27.430 --> 00:49:30.710
What would you say the industry is currently doing wrong?
00:49:31.030 --> 00:49:41.670
For a lot, not putting in the time to learn and you know follow what should be done, just doing blindsidedly.
00:49:42.870 --> 00:49:45.910
We see a lot of bad equipment installs.
00:49:45.990 --> 00:49:46.789
It's uh Yeah.
00:49:47.030 --> 00:49:52.230
You think maybe just going the the cheaper route or Yeah, and they don't put in no effort.
00:49:52.309 --> 00:49:57.030
It's like, oh, all you gotta do is just make this connection and they add a lot of extra fittings.
00:49:57.190 --> 00:50:01.030
They put too small a pipe, they don't know about flow rates.
00:50:01.190 --> 00:50:04.870
You know, flow rates on commercial is very, very important.
00:50:05.269 --> 00:50:13.190
You're not gonna meet flow rates if you go altering systems just because you it make it easier for you to make the connection.
00:50:13.430 --> 00:50:14.230
Yeah, yeah.
00:50:14.390 --> 00:50:23.510
You know, after your years in the industry, are you still looking for mentors yourself or are you and I guess who do you go to advice today?
00:50:24.150 --> 00:50:32.950
The guy that I work for mainly when they coach change and all, is I you know, he he does the updated every year.
00:50:33.269 --> 00:50:39.510
We go over, you know, what what the changes are because it it it's changing so quickly anymore.
00:50:39.670 --> 00:50:40.870
It it's kind of crazy.
00:50:41.110 --> 00:50:43.110
Yeah, and you're always kind of the last people to know about it.
00:50:43.349 --> 00:50:49.670
Yeah, in the field, and it's kinda like we go over it because he wants us to know so we're not making that mistake.
00:50:50.390 --> 00:50:52.230
Yeah, it can be very costly.
00:50:52.550 --> 00:50:53.510
Yes, very smart.
00:50:53.590 --> 00:51:01.030
And yeah, that the they they change so quickly and uh it's just kind of like one day it's like, oh, by the way, and it's like thanks for letting me know.
00:51:01.269 --> 00:51:01.590
Yeah.
00:51:04.710 --> 00:51:06.870
Well, I have a very important question.
00:51:07.190 --> 00:51:08.789
What's your favorite pizza topping?
00:51:08.950 --> 00:51:09.910
What's your favorite pizza?
00:51:10.150 --> 00:51:12.070
I would say Italian sausage.
00:51:12.309 --> 00:51:13.190
Okay, okay.
00:51:13.430 --> 00:51:15.430
Yeah, Jeff liked Jeff likes Italian.
00:51:15.829 --> 00:51:18.150
So just Italian sausage.
00:51:18.710 --> 00:51:26.230
Okay, so we've come to the end, and everyone has a secret question, and so everyone's is different.
00:51:26.470 --> 00:51:28.230
And are you ready for yours?
00:51:29.110 --> 00:51:29.670
All right.
00:51:30.870 --> 00:51:33.910
Everyone gets kind of nervous when I hear you say this.
00:51:34.230 --> 00:51:35.430
Okay, John.
00:51:35.750 --> 00:51:41.910
So you call yourself the ancient pool warrior, but every warrior needs a battle cry.
00:51:42.070 --> 00:51:42.950
What's yours?
00:51:43.110 --> 00:51:47.269
And I need you to actually give it to me like you're about to go into battle.
00:51:48.070 --> 00:51:53.510
Don't so we'll we'll have to okay, so we'll do this.
00:51:53.670 --> 00:51:55.750
I'm gonna give you time to think about your battle cry.
00:51:55.829 --> 00:51:59.349
Maybe for a future episode, we'll come back to your battle cries.
00:51:59.430 --> 00:52:09.269
So mine would be kind of more or less silent because it would be like the the guy adding assault to the pool, you know, and he just takes his hand and dashes it.
00:52:09.430 --> 00:52:11.190
Well, that's what I do with uh Alum.
00:52:12.230 --> 00:52:14.230
The silent ASR battle cry.
00:52:15.430 --> 00:52:15.750
Okay.
00:52:16.390 --> 00:52:17.750
So uh how about this?
00:52:17.829 --> 00:52:19.269
So you're the ancient warrior.
00:52:19.349 --> 00:52:27.349
So if you had to go into battle tomorrow, armed with only one ancient pool method and one pool tool, what are you taking into battle?
00:52:27.670 --> 00:52:30.390
It would be Alum and a pool brush.
00:52:30.630 --> 00:52:30.950
I love that.
00:52:31.190 --> 00:52:34.870
Alum and a pool brush with your ASR battle cry.
00:52:35.829 --> 00:52:36.230
Yep.
00:52:36.550 --> 00:52:37.110
Very good.
00:52:37.349 --> 00:52:37.990
I love that.
00:52:38.230 --> 00:52:47.750
Well, you know, I can't thank you enough for coming on, sharing your knowledge, and more importantly, for continuing to share your knowledge with other people in the industry.
00:52:47.910 --> 00:52:55.990
And, you know, before I let you go today, is there anything that we didn't talk about that you want people listening to know?
00:52:56.150 --> 00:53:04.070
Whether it be heavy equipment, about Alum, about you know, mentorship or anyone that's just getting into the industry?
00:53:04.390 --> 00:53:14.710
Well, for anybody that's just getting into the industry, education, learning from others that's been there, done it, going to trade shows, take some of the classes.
00:53:14.870 --> 00:53:18.710
If they're installing equipment, there's a manual inside every box.
00:53:18.870 --> 00:53:19.430
Read it.
00:53:19.590 --> 00:53:22.390
There's a reason that there, those recommendations are there.
00:53:22.550 --> 00:53:22.950
Mm-hmm.
00:53:23.110 --> 00:53:23.510
Absolutely.
00:53:23.590 --> 00:53:26.070
I'm guilty of not reading the manual, but I'm getting better.
00:53:26.309 --> 00:53:27.990
So, yes, read your manuals.
00:53:28.150 --> 00:53:30.789
Well, John, I can't thank you enough for coming on.
00:53:30.870 --> 00:53:33.269
It was a pleasure spending some time with you.
00:53:33.430 --> 00:53:47.030
And, you know, for everyone listening, stay tuned as we continue to talk to this year's top 10 mentors in the pool industry and get closer to finding out who will take home this Talking Pulls podcast mentor of the year championship belt.
00:53:47.190 --> 00:53:52.309
And John, until next time, we I I I'm I you know I'm I want to hear this battle cry.
00:53:52.390 --> 00:53:56.470
I know it's I know it's a quiet battle cry, but I want I'm we're gonna come back to this battle cry.
00:53:56.630 --> 00:54:01.430
But until next time, guys, everyone keep questioning thing, challenging, and keep learning.
00:54:01.510 --> 00:54:06.150
And we will be back next week with our next top 10 mentor and see you next time.
00:00:53.269 --> 00:00:59.990
Welcome back to the Talking Pools Podcast, your go-to source for everything wet, wild, and wonderfully misunderstood in the pool world.
00:01:00.149 --> 00:01:05.829
I'm Natalie Hood and we are continuing our journey talking to the top 10 mentors in the pool industry.
00:01:05.989 --> 00:01:12.549
And today I am joined by John Poma, one of the top 10 finalists for the Talking Pools podcast mentor of the year.
00:01:12.710 --> 00:01:18.549
And you know, John is a longtime pool professional with decades of hands-on experience in the field.
00:01:18.710 --> 00:01:29.269
And today he works as a foreman with Executive Pools in Lakeland, Florida, where he's heavily involved in commercial pool construction and spends plenty of time behind the controls of heavy equipment.
00:01:29.590 --> 00:01:34.710
And actually, just this week, Executive Pools was recognized as vendor of the year.
00:01:35.109 --> 00:01:48.310
And you know, John also owns a small pool service company, but he is probably best known throughout the industry for his work with aluminum sulfate, including his field work using it as an alternative method for reducing cyanuric acid.
00:01:48.469 --> 00:01:52.870
And if you know John, you probably also know him as the ancient pool warrior.
00:01:53.030 --> 00:02:00.069
So a pretty fitting name for someone known for showing us that sometimes the old ways still have a thing or two to teach us.
00:02:00.310 --> 00:02:06.549
So you know, the other thing too, if you don't know this, this isn't John's first time in the top 10.
00:02:06.709 --> 00:02:11.750
He is now being recognized as a Talking Pools podcast top 10 pool industry mentor twice.
00:02:11.909 --> 00:02:13.909
So, John, welcome back to the show.
00:02:14.310 --> 00:02:15.269
Thank you for having me.
00:02:15.509 --> 00:02:15.829
Yes.
00:02:15.990 --> 00:02:17.590
So back again.
00:02:17.670 --> 00:02:20.069
What does uh being back in the top ten mean to you?
00:02:20.389 --> 00:02:26.790
Something I didn't really expect, but you know, it somebody picked me out and you know that's okay.
00:02:27.430 --> 00:02:34.949
No, I mean you've been here before, and so obviously, you know, a lot of people in the industry certainly look up to you as a mentor.
00:02:35.110 --> 00:02:40.790
And you know, I guess when you first found out uh that you were back in the top ten, who was the first person that you told?
00:02:41.110 --> 00:02:42.469
Probably the guy that I work for.
00:02:42.709 --> 00:02:48.389
Yeah, at yeah, we I've been with him and known him for probably at least 45 years.
00:02:48.629 --> 00:02:49.349
Oh, very cool.
00:02:49.509 --> 00:02:50.150
Very cool.
00:02:50.389 --> 00:02:55.909
Do you think being nominated again by the industry makes it more meaningful the second time around?
00:02:56.150 --> 00:02:56.629
Yeah.
00:02:56.790 --> 00:03:01.750
I mean, 'cause it shows that there's more people that still, you know, consider Yeah.
00:03:01.910 --> 00:03:02.230
Yeah.
00:03:02.470 --> 00:03:11.029
Do you think when you first started out that in this industry that you did you ever imagine people would eventually look to you as a mentor?
00:03:11.430 --> 00:03:12.149
Not really.
00:03:12.310 --> 00:03:17.350
I I didn't really think I was gonna stay in it at the very beginning.
00:03:17.670 --> 00:03:19.110
But I just I never left.
00:03:19.269 --> 00:03:25.829
Anytime I ever went and did something else, I always stayed inside the industry and just jumped right back in.
00:03:25.990 --> 00:03:26.629
Just kept going.
00:03:27.029 --> 00:03:28.069
Let's let's talk about that.
00:03:28.149 --> 00:03:34.870
So for those who may not be as familiar with your background, talk share with us how did you get into the industry?
00:03:35.189 --> 00:03:44.310
I started off, I was going to a trade school and uh this pool company was across the street and they needed to help at hand pouring precast, making main drains.
00:03:44.550 --> 00:03:53.509
So I went and did that and as summer approached, they were like, if you want to work through the summer, you know, you're more than welcome.
00:03:53.750 --> 00:04:03.670
So I went and would go and work throughout the summer and then any of the holidays that we had at school where we could work outside, I I'd go work for them.
00:04:03.910 --> 00:04:04.550
Very cool.
00:04:04.709 --> 00:04:07.269
And so you said that you know you tried to get out of it.
00:04:07.350 --> 00:04:10.550
It sounds like you tried to get out a few times, but just kept kind of bringing you back in.
00:04:10.790 --> 00:04:19.110
Yeah, well, when I was going to the trade school, I went for uh small engine repair and I was gonna have my own small engine business, which I ended up with.
00:04:19.269 --> 00:04:34.870
I tried doing a mobile type where we would come to you, and I had quite a few people, but it just wasn't as much there and I didn't stay as busy, so I just kind of give up on that and moved back to this.
00:04:35.189 --> 00:04:35.509
Okay.
00:04:35.670 --> 00:04:42.230
And when did you when did you get the idea to start the your small pool service company?
00:04:42.550 --> 00:04:51.589
I actually started it right before the first market crash, seen it coming, and I had people on the inside that was buying houses and everything.
00:04:51.750 --> 00:04:57.430
So I connected with him, this flip house guy, and I've been his pool guy ever since.
00:04:57.589 --> 00:05:06.550
And even till now they don't have houses or foreclosing on, but he buys and and you know, sells, so he's still constantly giving me work throughout.
00:05:06.790 --> 00:05:08.149
Hey, can't be mad with that.
00:05:08.389 --> 00:05:09.430
Cannot be mad with that.
00:05:09.509 --> 00:05:21.030
Yeah, I you know that's I i I continuously say this and I always hear people say it is you know, yeah, I wasn't sure really what I wanted to do, but I started in the pool industry and then, you know, kind of got out, but then got sucked back in.
00:05:21.270 --> 00:05:32.550
And I always giggle when I hear I always hear when I hear that, and I always love hearing everyone's story about, you know, what they were, the pathway they had chosen, and then kind of what led them back in.
00:05:32.710 --> 00:05:33.670
So I like that.
00:05:33.830 --> 00:05:34.230
I love that.
00:05:34.389 --> 00:05:38.310
And then you also work for executive pools in Lakeland, Florida.
00:05:38.629 --> 00:05:39.030
Yes.
00:05:39.270 --> 00:05:41.350
And how long have you been working with them?
00:05:41.670 --> 00:05:43.590
Since the very first day they started.
00:05:43.830 --> 00:05:44.629
That is awesome.
00:05:44.790 --> 00:05:48.710
And how long have they been um how long have they been operating?
00:05:49.030 --> 00:05:51.270
Since February of ninety-seven.
00:05:51.590 --> 00:05:52.790
That is fantastic.
00:05:53.030 --> 00:05:57.189
Well, and congratulations again for receiving vendor of the year.
00:05:57.270 --> 00:05:58.550
That is very exciting.
00:05:58.790 --> 00:06:00.629
What a great way to end the week.
00:06:00.870 --> 00:06:01.189
Yes.
00:06:01.509 --> 00:06:02.550
Very exciting.
00:06:02.870 --> 00:06:08.710
So um, you know, with the top ten mentor of the year award, you know, you you get this fancy belt.
00:06:08.790 --> 00:06:11.750
So I have to ask, where would you put this belt?
00:06:12.069 --> 00:06:13.910
Would you be wearing it to work every day?
00:06:14.069 --> 00:06:19.670
I mean, you you you uh you operate heavy equipment, so I'm not sure that would be allowed, but what are you gonna do with this belt if you win it?
00:06:19.990 --> 00:06:22.710
More than likely I'd put it above the computer in the office.
00:06:23.030 --> 00:06:23.830
Okay, okay.
00:06:24.069 --> 00:06:25.509
Would you actually ever wear it?
00:06:25.830 --> 00:06:27.350
I don't think I would wear it.
00:06:27.509 --> 00:06:30.069
It would just be in the office, you know.
00:06:30.629 --> 00:06:30.790
Okay.
00:06:30.949 --> 00:06:32.790
So you wouldn't be obnoxious about having the belt.
00:06:32.870 --> 00:06:34.230
You would just kind of put it up above.
00:06:34.470 --> 00:06:35.590
Yep, just for show.
00:06:35.830 --> 00:06:36.710
Okay, okay.
00:06:36.949 --> 00:06:46.870
Well, I have to ask, you know, was there a person that really helped change the direction of your career and who helped mentor you?
00:06:47.189 --> 00:06:56.710
The first place that I worked, guy named Ollie, and he actually was half owner of this the executive pools, up until he retired.
00:06:56.870 --> 00:07:01.270
I still keep in contact with him and talk to him and we're good friends.
00:07:01.430 --> 00:07:08.870
And for those that know, I cook on the job site sometimes, so whenever I cook out and we're in his area, I invite him.
00:07:09.030 --> 00:07:10.470
And I have to ask, what do you cook?
00:07:10.710 --> 00:07:11.590
Any and everything.
00:07:11.750 --> 00:07:17.189
Chicken, ribs, we've done hot dogs, hamburgers, whatever.
00:07:17.509 --> 00:07:17.750
You know.
00:07:18.310 --> 00:07:19.350
I can smell it now.
00:07:19.590 --> 00:07:24.230
What uh what did he what did he teach you that you still use today?
00:07:24.550 --> 00:07:29.509
That when you're working in the field, sometimes you need to be like your own engineer.
00:07:29.670 --> 00:07:33.830
You have to come up with your own way in order to be able to do something and make it work.
00:07:33.990 --> 00:07:37.189
We built a lot of jigs for doing certain things.
00:07:37.670 --> 00:07:41.030
Radius points, just all kinds of different stuff.
00:07:41.189 --> 00:07:48.949
Even now set handrails and the ladders we use, I make up jigs to hold the anchors.
00:07:49.110 --> 00:07:56.069
That way we're not actually having to use the physical ladder or handrail to do so for the most part.
00:07:56.389 --> 00:08:00.870
You can just have make it on a PVC and it just holds it in place.
00:08:01.030 --> 00:08:03.910
Once the concrete's set up, then you can remove it and it's ready.
00:08:04.150 --> 00:08:04.710
Yeah, yeah.
00:08:04.790 --> 00:08:06.069
So you've carried that with you.
00:08:06.310 --> 00:08:06.629
Yeah.
00:08:06.949 --> 00:08:17.830
Is there is there something that you learned from him, you know, years ago that maybe you didn't fully understand until much later in your career?
00:08:18.389 --> 00:08:19.910
Not too much.
00:08:20.150 --> 00:08:23.830
Everything that he did, he kind of went over and was upfront with me.
00:08:24.069 --> 00:08:34.389
A lot of people back then they didn't like when one person was with the boss all the time, but it was a training and some of them didn't want me around because I asked too many questions.
00:08:34.470 --> 00:08:38.389
I wanted to know why we did certain things and what would the reason was.
00:08:38.629 --> 00:08:43.830
They didn't want to answer it, so he did, and I end up riding with him more than anybody else.
00:08:44.149 --> 00:08:44.789
Yeah, yeah.
00:08:44.949 --> 00:08:49.509
You think maybe they were just trying to get through and move on, or maybe get out of there earlier?
00:08:50.149 --> 00:08:50.470
Kinda.
00:08:50.870 --> 00:08:56.470
They were like in a hurry, they didn't want to waste their time and be involved in a bunch of questions.
00:08:56.549 --> 00:09:04.309
So And see that right there, that shows for the for the mentor, that shows exactly who they're not going to spend time on, right?
00:09:04.470 --> 00:09:09.269
And clearly you showed that you had passion, you had interest, you were asking those questions.
00:09:09.429 --> 00:09:16.470
And so here you are today being nominated as a top 10 mentor, and you can clearly hear the passion.
00:09:16.629 --> 00:09:19.509
And you know, you're very well known in the industry.
00:09:19.669 --> 00:09:24.710
And so, you know, for those listening, people people notice those things, they they watch out for those things.
00:09:24.789 --> 00:09:28.470
And so when, you know, as you're seeking help, you you gotta pay attention.
00:09:28.629 --> 00:09:29.990
You're rushing through things.
00:09:30.149 --> 00:09:37.110
People aren't gonna stop and um take the time to talk through things or try and help you truly understand them, you know.
00:09:37.590 --> 00:09:37.990
Right.
00:09:38.230 --> 00:09:43.269
Yeah, everything that you do may not be perfect, but there's a reason that you do what you do.
00:09:43.509 --> 00:09:45.350
And you always try to do better.
00:09:45.750 --> 00:09:48.950
I mean, there's always a place where you want to do better.
00:09:49.190 --> 00:09:49.430
Yeah.
00:09:49.669 --> 00:09:56.870
And I think it's I I think it's healthy, you know, w if you make mistakes, no like you said, no one can be perfect.
00:09:57.029 --> 00:10:05.029
But as long as you can own up to those mistakes and learn from them and use it as an opportunity to grow, I think, you know, again, for every student.
00:10:05.190 --> 00:10:06.149
I think that's great.
00:10:06.310 --> 00:10:06.710
Yeah.
00:10:07.110 --> 00:10:12.070
That's a big that's a big part of the reason why I stayed with who I've stayed with all the years.
00:10:12.389 --> 00:10:14.710
Because we would have an issue in the field.
00:10:14.870 --> 00:10:20.870
Now, whether it was our mistake or somebody else's and they would want us to fix it, we would just go fix it.
00:10:21.029 --> 00:10:34.149
And we didn't want a bad reputation, and you get return work by showing that you can stand out and do whatever it takes to make them happy, as long as it's you know, you're not totally on the losing end.
00:10:34.389 --> 00:10:35.110
Yeah, yeah.
00:10:35.269 --> 00:10:38.310
I I think it's you know, you you need to have good, honest work.
00:10:38.470 --> 00:10:48.870
I think there unfortunately there are some out there that show up and do the job and know that they're gonna have to come back, know that customer is not necessarily set up for success.
00:10:49.029 --> 00:10:53.350
And, you know, I was actually I we I don't remember exactly what event I was going to.
00:10:53.509 --> 00:11:12.070
It's earlier this year, and I overheard it was a it was a sales director of some sort, and no release, no relation to my previous company, but it was a sales director, and he was talking to one of his employees, and he his employer was like, Yeah, they have this issue, they have this this issue.
00:11:12.230 --> 00:11:16.710
And the sales director said, Oh, well, good, they're just continu they're gonna have to continue to buy more and more product for me.
00:11:16.789 --> 00:11:21.669
And I was just like, I get it, but man, like what a great mentor you are.
00:11:22.870 --> 00:11:25.029
That's not the way it's supposed to work.
00:11:25.350 --> 00:11:25.830
Exactly.
00:11:25.990 --> 00:11:28.310
I was like, that is not good, honest work.
00:11:28.789 --> 00:11:32.070
I was just shaking my head and he asked me, What do you do for work?
00:11:32.149 --> 00:11:34.870
And I was like, Nope, nope, moving on.
00:11:35.110 --> 00:11:37.830
I do not want you in my my contact list.
00:11:38.230 --> 00:11:43.029
But uh, you know, you are, you know, you're being nominated for top ten mentor.
00:11:43.110 --> 00:11:52.470
And so, you know, was there a point in your career that you realize, wow, people are they're actually starting to come to me for, you know, for answers and for advice?
00:11:52.950 --> 00:11:57.269
Not all that much at the beginning, you know, it was later, you know.
00:11:57.430 --> 00:12:03.990
I didn't foresee it as, you know, me being one teaching somebody outside of working with them.
00:12:04.149 --> 00:12:08.789
You know, I would just look at it as giving a piece of advice from what we've done, you know.
00:12:09.110 --> 00:12:09.909
Right, right.
00:12:10.230 --> 00:12:16.149
Do you do you decide, you know, when to give someone the answer versus uh making them figure it out for themselves?
00:12:16.470 --> 00:12:20.389
Well, for the most part, uh a lot of times it depends on the situation.
00:12:20.550 --> 00:12:24.149
You know, they'll ask for advice and ask me what I'd do.
00:12:24.389 --> 00:12:27.430
In certain cases, I'll just tell you what I would do.
00:12:27.669 --> 00:12:33.269
Other cases I would ask you what does it feel that would be fit for your situation?
00:12:33.430 --> 00:12:34.550
Because I'm not there.
00:12:34.629 --> 00:12:43.269
I don't see exactly what you're asking me, so I don't know the perfect answer for your application that you're asking me for.
00:12:43.509 --> 00:12:44.230
Yeah, yeah.
00:12:44.389 --> 00:12:45.350
And that's fair.
00:12:45.590 --> 00:12:56.389
Do you think, based off where you started and where you're at today in your position, do you think mentorship has changed um in this industry since you were kind of starting out?
00:12:56.629 --> 00:13:03.430
Well, yeah, at the very beginning, other than who you worked for, there basically was nobody to look and ask questions.
00:13:03.669 --> 00:13:06.789
Nobody, you know, outside was gonna answer you.
00:13:07.669 --> 00:13:10.389
You went to another pool company, you don't work for me.
00:13:10.789 --> 00:13:14.710
That was the motto, you know, I'm not gonna teach you, you don't work for me.
00:13:15.830 --> 00:13:17.269
So Yeah, I would agree.
00:13:17.430 --> 00:13:21.830
I would say that there's a there's a lot more sharing of knowledge and it's healthy.
00:13:21.909 --> 00:13:24.789
I mean, I again I think competition is healthy.
00:13:24.950 --> 00:13:34.710
Um, I understand, you know, you don't want to give all away away all your trades and secrets, but it it's you know, we're a small industry and you really should help each other.
00:13:35.110 --> 00:13:39.830
Yeah, just holding back ain't gonna help anybody solve anything.
00:13:39.990 --> 00:13:40.230
Yeah.
00:13:40.470 --> 00:13:42.230
It's not making you any better.
00:13:42.470 --> 00:13:43.350
Yeah, yeah.
00:13:43.590 --> 00:13:47.669
Was there a a mentee that you were especially proud of?
00:13:47.990 --> 00:13:55.750
Basically the only one that I had, like I said, was my original guy that I used to work for and I did a I rode with him a lot.
00:13:55.909 --> 00:14:12.230
I went fishing with him a few times, you know, and we literally sat down in the bar, had a few drinks, and we've went to the restaurant and you know, we were for working with him it was more like a family atmosphere than it was is him being a a a boss.
00:14:12.470 --> 00:14:17.990
He was the boss and you knew he was the boss, and it came time he would let you know.
00:14:18.149 --> 00:14:26.870
But you know, for the most part he's just a reasonable person to work with and enjoyable to be around and past time.
00:14:27.509 --> 00:14:27.830
Yeah.
00:14:27.990 --> 00:14:52.470
But was there someone that you know that you mentored that your person basically most of the people that I work with, there's from like a heavy operator standpoint, there's no other feeling than you being operating a machine and you've got eight, nine people around you and they're one hundred percent comfortable with having their back turned to you and you be able to drop a bucket within two to three feet of 'em.
00:14:52.629 --> 00:14:53.669
Yeah, that's pretty cool.
00:14:53.990 --> 00:14:59.669
Have you um have you ever had one of your mentees teach you something that you were mentoring?
00:15:00.149 --> 00:15:12.470
Yeah, you know, there's a lot of things in the field that I don't do on a regular basis anymore that I've stepped back from and it's changed from what I did to what they do now as far as the rebar goes.
00:15:12.550 --> 00:15:15.350
I basically never help with the rebar anymore.
00:15:15.430 --> 00:15:17.430
And there's different ways of bending it.
00:15:17.509 --> 00:15:22.470
And we actually have a mechanical bender now that's electric, which I never had.
00:15:22.629 --> 00:15:33.110
I actually was I don't even remember what year I developed one to where we were hand bending because what we used to use was a clamp and you had to flip this lever.
00:15:33.190 --> 00:15:48.230
It was actually like for doing pipe work and we used it to bend our well it would take us over a minute to bend one of our bars for a commercial pool, and I came up with a device to where I could bend at least three bars in under a minute.
00:15:48.470 --> 00:15:49.350
Wow, that's cool.
00:15:49.590 --> 00:15:51.509
It saved us a lot of time.
00:15:52.550 --> 00:15:57.110
And we've still got 'em, but we really don't use them anymore since we got the electrical.
00:15:57.190 --> 00:15:58.550
It's much faster and easier.
00:15:59.029 --> 00:16:01.669
And how many can the the electric one bend?
00:16:02.070 --> 00:16:08.230
It can basically keep up easily with what we were doing in being heavier grade steel as well.
00:16:08.470 --> 00:16:08.950
Wow.
00:16:09.110 --> 00:16:09.830
That's pretty cool.
00:16:09.909 --> 00:16:12.070
But yours is always there for backup just in case.
00:16:12.310 --> 00:16:15.430
Yeah, if it fails, then we've got a a secondary.
00:16:15.750 --> 00:16:16.389
There you go.
00:16:16.550 --> 00:16:17.190
I love that.
00:16:17.350 --> 00:16:32.629
And how does it I mean, you have to be just absolutely overjoyed when you see someone that you were mentoring and you see that they're being successful and they're applying the knowledge that they learned from you in the field and they're just like, I've done it.
00:16:32.789 --> 00:16:33.909
How does that make you feel?
00:16:34.070 --> 00:16:44.149
I mean, obviously you're you're proud, but I mean Yeah, it's it's great to be able to set back and watch them do it and they can do the whole thing without your help at all.
00:16:44.389 --> 00:16:46.070
You don't have to go back and check on them.
00:16:46.230 --> 00:16:47.990
You know what they did, you know, is fine.
00:16:48.149 --> 00:16:49.669
If it fails, it fails.
00:16:49.750 --> 00:16:51.029
We go back and we fix it.
00:16:51.190 --> 00:16:59.190
You know, nobody where we're setting at and where we work right now, nobody gets mad at anybody because somebody did something wrong or something failed.
00:16:59.350 --> 00:17:01.350
We just okay, we gotta go fix it.
00:17:01.509 --> 00:17:16.230
And that's where me and one of the other guys in the field, it's our job that we get a call from a superintendent, hey, I need this or this is broke or what we just between the two of us we make arrangements that one of us goes and takes care of it almost immediately.
00:17:16.549 --> 00:17:17.269
I really like that.
00:17:17.349 --> 00:17:40.149
I th I think that I mean, of course, you don't want, you know, mistake after mistake, but I think that allows for a really positive working environment and allows for that team to, you know, understand, like you said, mistakes are gonna happen and they don't have to constantly be looking over their back or you know, constantly nervous or concerned about this and that if they make a mistake.
00:17:40.230 --> 00:17:43.349
Of course, like you said, mistakes are gonna happen, you have to be careful.
00:17:43.430 --> 00:17:44.309
But I really like that.
00:17:44.389 --> 00:17:46.629
That that's a really positive working environment.
00:17:46.950 --> 00:17:48.629
That's really and you don't find those that often.
00:17:48.950 --> 00:17:49.430
Yeah, no.
00:17:49.509 --> 00:17:51.669
You know, a lot of the people get really mad.
00:17:51.829 --> 00:17:53.589
Oh, you did this, you did that.
00:17:53.750 --> 00:17:55.430
There's no reason to point fingers.
00:17:55.589 --> 00:17:59.029
We we work as a team, we all made the the mistake.
00:17:59.189 --> 00:18:01.589
You know, some way or another we made the mistake.
00:18:01.750 --> 00:18:04.549
We just fix it, take care of it, move on.
00:18:04.869 --> 00:18:05.990
It's not the end of the world.
00:18:06.309 --> 00:18:12.389
Well, and I always I always giggle at you know that someone in a different position getting mad at someone else, and they've never even done that position.
00:18:12.469 --> 00:18:15.429
They have no idea what it entails, and they're pissed off.
00:18:15.509 --> 00:18:20.629
And I'm like, do you have any idea what what what it goes on to even do that position?
00:18:20.949 --> 00:18:22.869
We we've been there and and done that.
00:18:23.029 --> 00:18:26.469
We've had that before, and it it's it doesn't go well.
00:18:26.549 --> 00:18:32.869
It ends up being a shout and match and finger pointing, and it's like look at the end of the day, it's our mistake.
00:18:32.949 --> 00:18:33.829
We have to fix it.
00:18:33.909 --> 00:18:35.909
Don't matter who did it, it sucks.
00:18:36.069 --> 00:18:39.509
We're gonna lose a little bit of money, we're gonna take care of it, and we're gonna move on.
00:18:39.669 --> 00:18:40.629
Yeah, I like that though.
00:18:40.709 --> 00:18:43.029
It's it's it's good, honest, hard work.
00:18:43.269 --> 00:18:44.549
You know what time it is?
00:18:44.949 --> 00:18:47.909
Wednesday vibes on the talking pool's porch.
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The future of our industry is shaped by those willing to invest in it.
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The following companies have stepped forward to support education, leadership, and mentorship across the swimming pool industry.
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Thank you for helping us recognize and celebrate the mentors who continue to shape the future of the swimming pool industry, and God bless the Pool Pro.
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On Wednesdays, we like to bust some myths.
00:22:58.149 --> 00:23:02.149
And so I figured we could, you know, kind of take a break from mentorship.
00:23:02.389 --> 00:23:09.829
And you know, we c I can't have an ancient pool warrior sitting here on myth busting Wednesdays to and not bust a few myths.
00:23:10.069 --> 00:23:13.509
So what do you what do you think about busting a couple of myths with me?
00:23:13.750 --> 00:23:14.069
Alright.
00:23:14.229 --> 00:23:14.549
Okay.
00:23:14.869 --> 00:23:19.990
So one of the myths, kind of going with your background, is let's do commercial.
00:23:20.149 --> 00:23:21.909
Digging well, heavy equipment really.
00:23:22.069 --> 00:23:23.909
Digging the pool is the easy part.
00:23:23.990 --> 00:23:25.829
You're basically just digging a hole.
00:23:26.229 --> 00:23:30.869
Everybody that's sitting on the outside of a machine and looking in, yeah, that's easy.
00:23:30.949 --> 00:23:34.949
He's setting there, he's just operating a few controls, no problem at all.
00:23:35.029 --> 00:23:36.229
He's got it made.
00:23:36.469 --> 00:23:40.949
But realistically, everybody outside that machine is an issue.
00:23:41.109 --> 00:23:43.429
Everybody is at risk of injury.
00:23:43.669 --> 00:23:47.269
So you've got to really watch what you're doing.
00:23:47.589 --> 00:23:48.229
Yeah.
00:23:48.469 --> 00:23:53.909
You get eight people on the ground, one's on the right, one's on the left, one's behind you, one's in front of you.
00:23:54.069 --> 00:24:01.109
One decides to get real close to the back, he's gonna cut across and go to the other side because he's gonna go to the bathroom or whatever.
00:24:01.349 --> 00:24:03.509
If you spin too fast, you'll hit one of them.
00:24:03.750 --> 00:24:04.069
Yeah.
00:24:04.229 --> 00:24:09.669
Well, and how much work actually happens before you even, you know, put that first bucket in the ground?
00:24:09.909 --> 00:24:12.229
From the operator side, not a whole lot.
00:24:12.389 --> 00:24:15.990
You know, everything as far as the pool is the the layout.
00:24:16.149 --> 00:24:25.349
You gotta get everything laid out, you gotta know where all your actual debt markers are going, because we're only allowed three inches plus or minus on our debt.
00:24:25.909 --> 00:24:29.189
So that plays the a major part of that.
00:24:29.349 --> 00:24:31.829
And once that's done, then it's time to start.
00:24:32.069 --> 00:24:32.389
Yeah.
00:24:32.549 --> 00:24:38.869
You know, I I guess, you know, what happens, you know, after you start, let's say, what happens if the excavation is wrong?
00:24:39.109 --> 00:24:44.709
Does being off by what seems maybe like a small amount, does it how much of a problem does that create later?
00:24:45.029 --> 00:24:47.990
On commercial side, it can be a big deal.
00:24:48.149 --> 00:24:54.389
We have in the past, we you've got your minimum, depends, you know, state codes vary state to state.
00:24:54.629 --> 00:25:01.509
State of Florida, at the end of the day, you must have 15 foot minimum width from side to side.
00:25:01.750 --> 00:25:05.269
We had a couple that did not end up 15 feet.
00:25:05.349 --> 00:25:06.309
So what do you do?
00:25:06.469 --> 00:25:11.429
One of them was way over a foot of you have to take the whole wall out and start over on that wall.
00:25:11.669 --> 00:25:14.549
Yikes, that would just completely change your day.
00:25:14.709 --> 00:25:15.189
Yeah.
00:25:15.509 --> 00:25:20.469
But mistakes happen and you learn and you try not to make that same mistake over again.
00:25:20.549 --> 00:25:26.149
So when we lay out, we go over it multiple times and double check everything.
00:25:26.309 --> 00:25:28.869
We don't want to be under that 15 foot.
00:25:28.949 --> 00:25:31.829
If we're 15-2, 15-3, we're good.
00:25:32.789 --> 00:25:36.789
We're right at 15 feet, we're adjusting our forms, we're moving back.
00:25:36.869 --> 00:25:38.949
We'll make that pool a little bit bigger.
00:25:39.109 --> 00:25:39.669
We have to.
00:25:39.909 --> 00:25:40.229
Right.
00:25:40.469 --> 00:25:47.109
Have you ever discovered something underground that just completely changed the plant?
00:25:47.429 --> 00:25:48.869
Nothing unusual.
00:25:49.029 --> 00:25:52.869
I mean, the everybody they joke about Florida, it's all sand.
00:25:53.029 --> 00:25:55.029
Florida is not all sand.
00:25:55.189 --> 00:26:00.069
There is probably a hundred different types of soil in Florida, if not more.
00:26:00.309 --> 00:26:06.789
I've hit lime rock to where it you almost have to have dynamite to remove some of it.
00:26:06.869 --> 00:26:09.429
You know, is it just one of them things you get into?
00:26:09.589 --> 00:26:19.189
And then you get big chunks and then you over-escavate the whole, well, then we have to bring in rock or more sand or dirt and compact and all that.
00:26:20.069 --> 00:26:25.189
But as far as something that made it to where we had to relocate something, not really.
00:26:25.429 --> 00:26:27.269
We've never had that issue.
00:26:28.069 --> 00:26:29.269
What's the biggest joke?
00:26:29.349 --> 00:26:34.709
Is there like a a a a running joke of what you might find in Florida when you're digging up all that soil?
00:26:35.109 --> 00:26:39.189
A lot that used to pop up and we found a lot over the years.
00:26:39.349 --> 00:26:40.869
You'll find shark's teeth.
00:26:41.029 --> 00:26:42.549
We found arrowheads.
00:26:42.789 --> 00:26:44.709
We have found bones in the past.
00:26:44.869 --> 00:26:46.709
Had no idea what they were from.
00:26:46.949 --> 00:26:49.509
More so thinking of, you know, a cow or whatever.
00:26:49.669 --> 00:26:51.990
Maybe it was a cow pasture land where we were digging.
00:26:52.229 --> 00:26:53.189
Wow, right, right.
00:26:53.349 --> 00:26:58.709
Do you report the bones or you just keep not just it it's usually not much, you know.
00:26:58.869 --> 00:27:06.229
It's just the piece, but it you can usually look at it and it's like, okay, yeah, it's way too big to be a human bone and just carry on.
00:27:06.789 --> 00:27:12.869
Back in the backyard or maybe I was like, wait, that's why you want to ask this question.
00:27:13.029 --> 00:27:13.269
Yeah.
00:27:13.429 --> 00:27:21.349
And it gets very interesting when you get around shoreline and all when you're within, you know, what maybe ten miles of the shore.
00:27:21.589 --> 00:27:31.109
You'll dig and it's not unusual to find fossils and you'll find shells and everything, you know, where the shoreline used to be at one time.
00:27:31.349 --> 00:27:31.589
Yeah.
00:27:31.669 --> 00:27:34.549
Have you do you ever keep any of those shells like in your office?
00:27:34.629 --> 00:27:39.589
Do you ever have you ever have you ever found something in the ground that you're like, I'm keeping this and that you've kept to this day?
00:27:39.909 --> 00:27:44.709
I've taken a few home, but usually they end up, you know, getting pitched or whatever.
00:27:44.869 --> 00:27:47.189
They're weren't all that outrageous.
00:27:47.429 --> 00:27:48.149
Yeah, yeah.
00:27:48.309 --> 00:27:56.229
Well, if I I'll tell you my my daughters have been finding we go to a a quarry here and they're constantly finding shells on the ground.
00:27:56.309 --> 00:28:02.709
They're like, Look, mom's shells, and I'll say, I've I've had to start pitching all the shells because I'm like, I have no idea where I'm gonna put these.
00:28:02.949 --> 00:28:04.389
So I I hear you there.
00:28:04.549 --> 00:28:04.709
Yeah.
00:28:04.949 --> 00:28:12.469
Yeah, for a while I was I was getting some rocks, and when I say rocks, they're quite substantial in size.
00:28:12.629 --> 00:28:13.750
And I took some home.
00:28:13.909 --> 00:28:21.750
Some had glass in them, some of them had uh lighter in there, and it just it got to where it was, okay, I need to get rid of this.
00:28:21.829 --> 00:28:23.509
I don't need all this at the house.
00:28:23.829 --> 00:28:24.149
Yeah.
00:28:24.309 --> 00:28:25.269
That's kind of fun though.
00:28:25.829 --> 00:28:27.029
I I think that would be fun.
00:28:27.189 --> 00:28:27.909
I like that.
00:28:28.229 --> 00:28:28.789
It's cool.
00:28:29.029 --> 00:28:40.149
You know, another myth is that bigger equipment makes the job faster and easier, but you know, you spend a lot of time operating heavy equipment.
00:28:40.389 --> 00:28:44.549
So, you know, how do you decide what size equipment you actually need?
00:28:44.709 --> 00:28:45.829
And is that true?
00:28:45.990 --> 00:28:48.789
Does bigger equipment really make the job faster and easier?
00:28:49.109 --> 00:28:52.229
You can literally get too big of a piece of equipment.
00:28:52.389 --> 00:28:57.669
If you do not have the space to move around, then you're not gonna be as efficient.
00:28:57.990 --> 00:29:01.829
Like for us, we've had pools that you know 10,000 square feet.
00:29:01.909 --> 00:29:02.549
Well, that's big.
00:29:02.629 --> 00:29:05.029
You need a big machine, 350 excavator.
00:29:05.269 --> 00:29:09.509
Well, the bucket's over three foot wide, the arms over 20 foot long.
00:29:09.829 --> 00:29:10.229
Yeah.
00:29:10.389 --> 00:29:23.429
I try to dig and uh it's like I'm trying to dig underneath of me because the machine's so big, you know, the pool may be 9,000 square foot, but it's only 15 foot wide and and goes around in a radius.
00:29:23.750 --> 00:29:29.029
That's not efficient because I can't turn sideways, I can't dig the side walls, I gotta scrape the sides.
00:29:29.189 --> 00:29:36.789
So you get a smaller yeah, so you get a smaller one that's half of that size, and now I can turn sideways, I can dig sideways, I can dig and try.
00:29:37.029 --> 00:29:37.269
Right.
00:29:37.509 --> 00:29:40.469
It's more efficient, you work out faster.
00:29:40.709 --> 00:29:41.109
Mm-hmm.
00:29:41.349 --> 00:29:53.029
So I guess how does how much does access utilities, surrounding structures, and other trains working around you kind of affect your decision on the size of the machine or the equipment.
00:29:53.909 --> 00:29:56.229
Just depends on how close we are.
00:29:56.469 --> 00:30:06.629
Most of the time, most of our commercials were we're more than 15 feet away, so I I'm not that limited as far as space for our machine for digging the pool.
00:30:06.869 --> 00:30:14.949
After the pool's end, they may have off structures that dictate the how big of a machine you could have in there to do the plumbing ditches and all.
00:30:15.509 --> 00:30:25.509
Is there a situation that you or is there a time that you remember that was maybe the tightest or most difficult situation you've ever had to get a machine into?
00:30:25.829 --> 00:30:31.109
We've done a couple of residentials and there was very little space to get in.
00:30:31.269 --> 00:30:36.869
We had one where you only had a six-foot opening, you couldn't get anything bigger than six foot through.
00:30:37.029 --> 00:30:45.109
So the excavator couldn't be more than six foot, our machine was too big, the skid steer couldn't be more than six foot, our skid steer was too big.
00:30:45.269 --> 00:30:48.389
So we had to rent everything to dig it.
00:30:48.629 --> 00:30:58.789
You know, and it what should have been like a quarter of a day dig because the pool wasn't that big, ended up being a two-day dig because you just did there was no access to get in and out.
00:30:58.949 --> 00:31:01.429
And everything had to been shuttled out of there.
00:31:01.589 --> 00:31:03.029
All the dirt had to go.
00:31:03.509 --> 00:31:03.750
Man.
00:31:04.069 --> 00:31:08.709
And you know, with operating heavy equipment, that takes a lot of skill.
00:31:08.869 --> 00:31:17.349
You know, how much of operating equipment is feel and experience rather than, you know, something somebody can teach you?
00:31:17.669 --> 00:31:24.789
Most of it you're gonna learn hands-on and you need an open area to do so, you know, especially when it comes to the excavator.
00:31:24.949 --> 00:31:25.189
Yeah.
00:31:25.589 --> 00:31:27.349
You can do multiple things at one time.
00:31:27.509 --> 00:31:31.429
You can do up to about seven different commands at one time with it.
00:31:31.509 --> 00:31:35.189
And it's all in hand, feet, and mind control.
00:31:35.589 --> 00:31:38.149
You just you gotta know what every one of them does.
00:31:38.309 --> 00:31:45.109
For me to get in the machine and sat there and tell you this controls this and this does that, it's almost next in pa.
00:31:45.349 --> 00:31:46.549
I have to sit there and think about it.
00:31:46.709 --> 00:31:49.990
But if I'm sitting in the feet, I can grab it and I can go with it.
00:31:50.069 --> 00:31:51.509
I know exactly what it does.
00:31:51.669 --> 00:31:52.069
Mm-hmm.
00:31:52.229 --> 00:31:56.389
So does it kind of become like riding a bike once you get used to it and you really start to learn?
00:31:56.629 --> 00:31:58.469
Yeah, you never forget.
00:31:58.629 --> 00:32:04.229
There's I can't remember the what they call it, but there's two different ways the controls work.
00:32:04.309 --> 00:32:10.309
And one's basically like Europe, European controls versus US control, whatever.
00:32:10.549 --> 00:32:12.629
And it reverses everything.
00:32:12.869 --> 00:32:23.750
I've actually I can operate it in either way, but when you reverse the controls on me, it takes me a minute to, you know, get in the okay, I'm not going left, I'm going right.
00:32:23.829 --> 00:32:24.949
I gotta go the other way.
00:32:25.109 --> 00:32:28.709
So, you know, it's it oh man, it can get real confusing.
00:32:28.789 --> 00:32:31.829
And some operators only can operate one way.
00:32:31.990 --> 00:32:32.469
Mm-hmm.
00:32:33.269 --> 00:32:38.229
So Yeah, that would be that that would uh that would definitely probably be me to start.
00:32:38.309 --> 00:32:40.309
You know, I was Yeah.
00:32:40.789 --> 00:32:43.349
You know, it's very easy to throw somebody off.
00:32:43.589 --> 00:32:52.549
You get them trained to do one way, and you they get out of the machine and walk away, and you walk over and you flip the control, they go and get back in it, and then they can't do anything.
00:32:52.869 --> 00:32:54.949
They're like something I can't do nothing.
00:32:55.189 --> 00:32:55.990
Yeah, yeah.
00:32:56.229 --> 00:32:58.069
I I hey, I totally get it.
00:32:58.149 --> 00:33:00.229
I mean, tot I I get it.
00:33:00.309 --> 00:33:07.509
You know, I I had told you and my listeners know I'm I do all these open water swims, and I typically swim downstream.
00:33:07.669 --> 00:33:12.549
And recently I swam upstream and I was swimming upstream today, and I was like, Yeah, I got this.
00:33:12.709 --> 00:33:18.389
And at one point I stopped, I adjusted my goggles, and I just started swimming back downstream.
00:33:19.029 --> 00:33:20.949
One of the kyakers was like, What are you doing?
00:33:21.029 --> 00:33:21.750
You're not done yet.
00:33:21.829 --> 00:33:24.229
And I was like, That's right, it's upstream.
00:33:24.469 --> 00:33:26.149
Just kidding, just testing you.
00:33:26.469 --> 00:33:37.829
But yeah, no, I can only imagine getting in there and understanding those controls one way and having to completely, you know, be like, oh wait, no, you know, reverse is actually front and or vice versa.
00:33:37.990 --> 00:33:40.069
Yeah, I would I'd be in there like Austin Powers.
00:33:40.149 --> 00:33:40.549
That would be me.
00:33:40.629 --> 00:33:41.990
I have no shame to say that.
00:33:42.309 --> 00:33:46.549
So well, I will leave the heavy equipment operating to you, my good sir.
00:33:46.709 --> 00:33:47.750
I will stay away from it.
00:33:47.829 --> 00:33:49.509
I will stick to swimming with catfish.
00:33:49.990 --> 00:33:55.990
And let's kind of shift gears to what, you know, you're really well known for also in this industry.
00:33:56.149 --> 00:34:01.750
And I want to go to our next myth, and we're just gonna jump into it.
00:34:01.829 --> 00:34:09.349
And it's the only way to significantly lower high cyanaric acid is to drain and replace the water.
00:34:09.510 --> 00:34:10.710
Well, what would you say to this?
00:34:10.789 --> 00:34:12.789
Do you think I mean myth or fat?
00:34:13.030 --> 00:34:14.230
100% myth.
00:34:14.389 --> 00:34:15.510
Okay, tell me why.
00:34:15.750 --> 00:34:21.110
Because we've proven that it can be done using cyan or using alum sulfate.
00:34:21.269 --> 00:34:24.150
It's 100% been proven even in a lab.
00:34:25.349 --> 00:34:28.469
You know, how did you how did you get involved?
00:34:28.710 --> 00:34:29.909
How did you get involved?
00:34:30.230 --> 00:34:34.389
Originally, I learned about alum through a water plant.
00:34:34.550 --> 00:34:35.349
I Okay.
00:34:35.829 --> 00:34:40.389
I got with a water plant guy, and uh we were talking about green pool.
00:34:40.469 --> 00:34:48.789
I mentioned Tom about green pool because he specialized in water, and he says, Well, you know about the oldest flock in the world, and I'm like, No.
00:34:49.110 --> 00:34:58.869
And he's the one that introduced me to Alum and showed me bags that took me to the water plant, showed me the bags, and he says, This is the first step that we use to treat water.
00:34:59.110 --> 00:35:04.150
We can take and strip almost everything out of the water and have clean water.
00:35:04.390 --> 00:35:04.870
Mm-hmm.
00:35:05.269 --> 00:35:10.789
And uh So explain it to me like let's say I know absolutely nothing about Alum.
00:35:11.110 --> 00:35:20.230
How does using it ultimately allow cyanuric acid to be removed from the Scientifically, Rudy would probably be better at answering that than me.
00:35:20.550 --> 00:35:23.030
I just help prove that it it works.
00:35:23.269 --> 00:35:27.990
It does lock it up somehow in the water, and it is a timely matter.
00:35:28.309 --> 00:35:44.630
You do it in a a timely fashion to where you add the the alum to the water and circulate it for 10 or I'm sorry, circulate it for two hours, then you shut down everything, let it completely set for ten hours.
00:35:44.870 --> 00:35:47.430
At the end of ten hours, you do a vacuum to waste.
00:35:47.510 --> 00:35:49.910
It will drop to the floor, just about everything.
00:35:49.990 --> 00:35:54.390
It'll look like a white soot on the bottom of it was clear water to start with.
00:35:55.269 --> 00:36:02.789
Once you vacuum the vacuum to waste, you can test and you will see a significant drop usually in the the seawater.
00:36:03.349 --> 00:36:03.510
Okay.
00:36:03.990 --> 00:36:26.150
You know, what would you say is the biggest misconception people have when they hear that you can reduce cyanuric acid without draining the A lot of people don't believe that it works, and then there a lot of them believe that it's just you're adding something else to the water, but they're not understanding that you're tying everything up and it's falling to the floor, and then you're vacuuming it to waste.
00:36:26.309 --> 00:36:28.950
You're not just adding it, it's not there to stay.
00:36:29.110 --> 00:36:39.349
It's there just to drop everything to the floor and make it fall, and then it's your job to vacuum it all out nice and slow, don't stir everything up, vacuum it out and re-add.
00:36:39.670 --> 00:36:47.510
Usually it doesn't matter the size of the pool or anything, it's on the square footage and all you lose about three inches of water average on a pool.
00:36:47.829 --> 00:36:51.990
Some of them I think, well, it's the amount of water that you added back to the pool.
00:36:52.150 --> 00:36:57.829
Three inches of water on any size pool is not gonna change your cyanoric acid left by 30%.
00:36:58.309 --> 00:36:58.550
Yeah.
00:36:58.789 --> 00:37:00.630
Do you think they're just too lazy to vacuum?
00:37:00.870 --> 00:37:04.390
I just think that a lot of them don't want to take the time and and try it.
00:37:04.470 --> 00:37:06.390
They're afraid of trying something new.
00:37:06.550 --> 00:37:10.230
Either they do that or it's not available in their area.
00:37:10.550 --> 00:37:18.230
Because I know a lot of places push back that, oh, it's a myth, and you can't get this, we don't have it, they can't pick it up.
00:37:18.470 --> 00:37:19.110
Yeah, yeah.
00:37:19.349 --> 00:37:24.950
Well, and that actually brings us to, you know, and this was the this is the next myth, and it's big.
00:37:25.030 --> 00:37:27.829
It's that alum is an outdated pool chemistry.
00:37:27.990 --> 00:37:28.789
It's outdated.
00:37:28.870 --> 00:37:36.150
You you don't, you know, you shouldn't use it, but it's been around for such a long time, and we're still talking about it today, you know?
00:37:36.550 --> 00:37:41.430
Well, the funny fact is that most people say, well, this works better or this works better.
00:37:41.590 --> 00:37:43.510
You know, it's all bottled flock.
00:37:43.590 --> 00:37:57.750
And any of the flock that's on the market, if you get the bottle and you look on the back or you look up and you can find it online somewhere where it says and shows the total ingredient in there, it's almost guaranteed somewhere in there, it says alum.
00:37:58.070 --> 00:37:59.110
It's in the bottle.
00:37:59.349 --> 00:38:06.309
The problem is it's a cut rate, it's not the exact same amount that we're doing when we do the alum.
00:38:06.470 --> 00:38:06.870
Mm-hmm.
00:38:07.110 --> 00:38:13.349
Do you think that sometimes this industry assumes just because it's newer, it automatically means it's better?
00:38:13.670 --> 00:38:15.110
It runs through the mind.
00:38:15.190 --> 00:38:15.590
Yes.
00:38:15.750 --> 00:38:17.670
You know, it's something new on the market.
00:38:17.990 --> 00:38:18.710
It's science.
00:38:18.870 --> 00:38:19.430
This is new.
00:38:19.590 --> 00:38:22.150
It's gotta be better than what we used to use.
00:38:22.470 --> 00:38:23.190
Right, right.
00:38:23.349 --> 00:38:25.990
Yeah, and there's always there's always something new out there.
00:38:26.230 --> 00:38:28.230
Um, you know, kind of flipping it.
00:38:28.470 --> 00:38:29.750
What can't it do?
00:38:30.230 --> 00:38:36.710
I'm I have personally have not used it to drop calcium, but I've been told to do that.
00:38:37.430 --> 00:38:40.470
There's not a whole lot that I don't know that it can't do.
00:38:40.630 --> 00:38:49.510
It will definitely drop phosphate, it will remove copper stains as long as there's no scale over the top of the copper stain, it will lift it off the finish.
00:38:49.670 --> 00:38:53.510
It will not remove it out of the water, you will not be able to vacuum it.
00:38:53.590 --> 00:38:55.990
It puts it back into a liquid state.
00:38:56.230 --> 00:39:06.070
So if you get a badly stained pool and you use alum, you can remove the stain, you lift it, it's that copper is still in the water.
00:39:06.230 --> 00:39:11.030
If you test the water, now you might get a reading on copper where you did not before.
00:39:11.269 --> 00:39:11.510
Right.
00:39:11.750 --> 00:39:14.390
And there's a lot of people that mistaking that too.
00:39:14.470 --> 00:39:16.630
They'll look and they'll see, well, I don't know what that is.
00:39:16.789 --> 00:39:21.110
It looks like copper, but I tested the water and there's no copper in the water.
00:39:21.269 --> 00:39:26.390
Well, if it's pleated out and it's stuck to the surface, it's not gonna be in a reading.
00:39:26.470 --> 00:39:28.070
It's not gonna show in the water.
00:39:28.230 --> 00:39:30.870
It's not in the water, it's now on the surface.
00:39:31.110 --> 00:39:31.349
Right.
00:39:31.590 --> 00:39:32.550
What do you think?
00:39:32.630 --> 00:39:39.030
You know, what would you say is floating around the industry that you hear people say that alum is used for?
00:39:39.190 --> 00:39:40.870
That you're like, that's not what it's used for.
00:39:41.110 --> 00:39:43.910
I've heard a few people talk about it removing iron.
00:39:44.070 --> 00:39:45.750
It will not remove iron stains.
00:39:45.910 --> 00:39:47.030
I've never seen it done.
00:39:47.269 --> 00:39:48.390
That's a fun one.
00:39:48.710 --> 00:39:49.190
Yeah.
00:39:49.349 --> 00:39:52.390
I've I've just never seen that work.
00:39:52.710 --> 00:39:53.110
Yeah.
00:39:53.349 --> 00:39:57.030
So, you know, for and that, you know, I think that's perfect too.
00:39:57.110 --> 00:40:03.349
It it's for the ancient pool warrior, you know, sometimes ancient way, it it it kicks ass the best.
00:40:03.510 --> 00:40:05.590
So don't knock it till you try it, you know?
00:40:05.829 --> 00:40:08.630
Well, I appreciate you kind of going through that.
00:40:08.710 --> 00:40:11.349
So let's let's I think we've busted those myths.
00:40:11.510 --> 00:40:13.030
You know, don't be afraid to use it.
00:40:13.110 --> 00:40:19.510
If you don't, if you don't understand Alum, ask questions, you know, just ask the questions, challenge.
00:40:19.750 --> 00:40:25.750
And my biggest thing is just because a new product comes out, don't automatically assume it's the best out there.
00:40:25.990 --> 00:40:26.630
Question it.
00:40:26.870 --> 00:40:33.349
Well, definitely, because look at all the products that said they could drop CYA, but have never been able to.
00:40:34.150 --> 00:40:34.870
Yeah, yeah.
00:40:34.950 --> 00:40:38.470
You know, be careful what what people say their product does out there.
00:40:38.630 --> 00:40:40.870
They're they're they're gonna church it up, man.
00:40:41.510 --> 00:40:41.990
Be careful.
00:40:42.470 --> 00:40:46.789
Car salesman is not gonna tell you you're buying a bad car, you're buying the best one on the lock.
00:40:46.950 --> 00:40:47.269
Yep.
00:40:47.430 --> 00:40:47.750
Yep.
00:40:47.910 --> 00:40:51.190
Make sure to read the read the label, read the back, right?
00:40:51.349 --> 00:40:53.670
Because yeah, just just be careful out there.
00:40:53.829 --> 00:40:55.670
Ask, review, challenge.
00:40:55.829 --> 00:40:56.710
Well, thank you for that.
00:40:57.190 --> 00:40:58.789
Those myths are definitely busted.
00:40:58.950 --> 00:41:05.430
Is there anything anything else on Alum before we go back to mentorship that you want to leave the listeners with?
00:41:05.829 --> 00:41:13.430
Don't know much other than that, other than that's about the fastest way to clear a green pool, as long as there's not too much debris inside of it.
00:41:13.670 --> 00:41:14.630
Okay, I like that.
00:41:14.789 --> 00:41:17.990
Hopefully we have a lot of people starting to research that.
00:41:18.150 --> 00:41:20.390
Okay, let's jump back over to mentorship.
00:41:20.950 --> 00:41:28.309
Have you ever, you know, been mentoring someone and then realized, you know, this is just not working.
00:41:28.550 --> 00:41:30.710
I I'm I'm gonna I'm gonna have to walk away.
00:41:31.349 --> 00:41:35.349
Yeah, some people just are not good at following directions.
00:41:36.470 --> 00:41:48.550
Yeah, you give them a certain way to do something and they go and do it totally different, and then they're like, that doesn't work if you didn't follow the whole entire directions.
00:41:48.789 --> 00:41:49.030
Yeah.
00:41:49.269 --> 00:41:57.590
When uh when when was when did you learn that not that that you could not mentor someone when they didn't want to learn it?
00:41:57.670 --> 00:42:07.269
Like how how far into when you understood that you were mentoring people did you've learned, okay, I have to at some point go, no, this person is not worth mentoring.
00:42:07.349 --> 00:42:11.750
They're just not willing to learn, they're not willing to listen, and they're just gonna continue to do their own thing.
00:42:12.070 --> 00:42:19.349
Personally, in the field was one, I would show a person how to do something, and they would be like, that's so much easier.
00:42:19.590 --> 00:42:27.670
And then you would see them do it the the exact same thing the very next day, and they go right back to the way they were doing it.
00:42:27.829 --> 00:42:32.630
And it's like, I showed you an easier way, but you went back to this.
00:42:32.950 --> 00:42:34.789
You think they were just maybe blowing smoke up?
00:42:35.030 --> 00:42:46.150
I have no idea, but the the time frame was there, it was much easier, it was much faster, and they just they went back to the old way multiple times.
00:42:46.309 --> 00:42:49.030
It's like okay, you just like doing it the hard way.
00:42:49.269 --> 00:42:49.829
Yeah, no.
00:42:49.990 --> 00:42:53.110
If you if there is an easier way, please show me.
00:42:53.190 --> 00:42:56.390
I have my time is valuable, so that's just too bad.
00:42:56.550 --> 00:43:00.950
Was there something that you were like, man, I should have listened to them sooner when you were younger?
00:43:01.110 --> 00:43:02.309
There's something that stands out.
00:43:02.630 --> 00:43:19.510
Kinda on on plumbing, you know, plumbing up equipment was, you know, pre-planning was a major key, but next was making sure everything was right where you wanted it and having it sticking straight up because everything that we did got bored in concrete.
00:43:19.670 --> 00:43:27.910
And if it was leaning, anything that's above, you know, inch and a half or two inch in a commercial facility and you have to heat it, that's a big deal.
00:43:27.990 --> 00:43:32.470
That's a lot, and a lot of your fittings are close to the floor and it's not good.
00:43:32.630 --> 00:43:36.550
It makes your life a lot more harder than what it should be.
00:43:36.710 --> 00:43:37.190
Mm-hmm.
00:43:37.349 --> 00:43:45.269
And you know, in and going back to listening, you know, you you had mentioned you had told someone, well, hey, here's a here's a much easier way to do this, right?
00:43:45.510 --> 00:43:54.230
Do you think, you know, and looking back at your younger self, do you think maybe that you hadn't listened because maybe you were being stubborn or you knew you knew best?
00:43:54.470 --> 00:44:02.630
Or what do you think it you know, if you were to put yourself back in your your shoes at that time, what do you think it was that kind of that you just weren't willing to accept?
00:44:02.950 --> 00:44:10.550
For me, for on the learning side, I just kind of sat back, kept my mouth shut, and listened to what people said.
00:44:11.269 --> 00:44:18.789
And for the most part, a lot of people you can figure out real quick whether they know what they're talking about or they don't know what they're talking about.
00:44:18.870 --> 00:44:21.990
And you especially when you're working with them and you see them every day.
00:44:22.230 --> 00:44:23.030
Right, right.
00:44:23.349 --> 00:44:36.950
For me, that was my biggest thing is the guy that I listened to the most, it was because I knew he knew what he was doing, he wasn't gonna mislead me and and you know, the other one was I'm here for a paycheck and I don't care how it's done.
00:44:37.190 --> 00:44:39.110
Yeah, you can definitely spot those guys.
00:44:39.269 --> 00:44:41.349
Yeah, guys or gals from a mile away.
00:44:41.590 --> 00:44:52.950
Do you do you find yourself telling people, you know, guys or gals that you're mentoring, do you do you ever tell them, hey, don't be stubborn or open up your ears, listen, or do you just kind of let 'em choose their pathway?
00:44:53.590 --> 00:44:59.190
For the most part, all of them that we work with, you know, do exactly as we say.
00:44:59.349 --> 00:45:00.710
They know that there's a reason.
00:45:00.870 --> 00:45:02.230
Some ask, some don't.
00:45:02.470 --> 00:45:05.510
For the most part, I'm not the one teaching most of them anymore.
00:45:05.670 --> 00:45:09.750
There's a guy that's under me that he he's the one that is leading them.
00:45:09.910 --> 00:45:10.870
They're his guys.
00:45:11.030 --> 00:45:15.670
So I kind of just back off and I don't say nothing and I let them do their thing.
00:45:15.990 --> 00:45:22.710
And then if something's, you know, not exactly the way I do it, I may say something to them, you know, hey, I would have done this or that.
00:45:22.950 --> 00:45:27.590
But for the most part, it's not because he's wrong, you know, or what he did was wrong.
00:45:27.910 --> 00:45:39.030
Maybe that it was a little bit harder to do it that way, or I think it was, but then there's a lot of times he'll do stuff and it's easier for them than it is for the way that I do it.
00:45:39.269 --> 00:45:39.750
Yeah.
00:45:39.910 --> 00:45:48.150
And you know, he may ask me, you know, what do I I'll ask instead of even giving them an answer, I'm gonna be like, what works best for you?
00:45:48.309 --> 00:45:50.870
What makes it easier for you and the guys to do?
00:45:51.030 --> 00:45:51.349
Yeah.
00:45:51.590 --> 00:45:56.309
You know, what I do and what's easier for me may not be easier for you to do.
00:45:56.550 --> 00:45:57.190
So true.
00:45:57.349 --> 00:45:58.070
So true.
00:45:58.309 --> 00:46:02.230
And I have to ask, are they listening any better than you did at their age?
00:46:02.550 --> 00:46:05.990
They've learned a lot from mistakes that I've made in the past.
00:46:07.510 --> 00:46:08.950
Just teasing you, John.
00:46:09.349 --> 00:46:24.470
No, it it's all good because very few that that know me know I have knee injuries and knee problems, and it's because I didn't listen, and there wasn't many people that told you, hey, you need knee pads, don't kneel on concrete, it's bad for you.
00:46:24.630 --> 00:46:30.309
And I found out the hard way, and it ended up being an operation, emergency operation.
00:46:30.390 --> 00:46:32.950
And it was to me, it was just a normal operation.
00:46:33.030 --> 00:46:37.030
It wasn't a big deal, but the doctor said it was life-threatening.
00:46:37.190 --> 00:46:42.950
I had less than 48 hours, and I would have had game green, and they wouldn't have been anything they could have done to save me.
00:46:43.269 --> 00:46:54.070
So I've kind of preached that to all of our guys, and everybody in the company has knee pads and if we've seen without them, then yeah, I'm saying something to them.
00:46:54.309 --> 00:46:59.590
You know, hey, you want to be like me in another 20 years, you're gonna you're gonna regret it.
00:46:59.750 --> 00:47:04.230
My bill was over a hundred thousand dollars, yours is gonna be probably closer to two hundred thousand.
00:47:04.550 --> 00:47:05.030
Wowza.
00:47:05.349 --> 00:47:06.550
Well, my goodness.
00:47:06.710 --> 00:47:10.070
John, I just want to say if you ever need some new knee pads, you let me know.
00:47:10.230 --> 00:47:11.910
I will I will send you some.
00:47:12.230 --> 00:47:12.870
We don't want that.
00:47:13.990 --> 00:47:16.150
No, they can supply everybody.
00:47:16.470 --> 00:47:17.269
Yeah, yeah.
00:47:17.430 --> 00:47:19.030
You know, but you're so you're so right.
00:47:19.110 --> 00:47:21.510
You know, when you're young, you feel like you're invincible.
00:47:21.670 --> 00:47:25.349
And I'll say, as I'm as I've gotten older, my husband jokes.
00:47:25.430 --> 00:47:26.950
He's just like, getting older sucks.
00:47:27.590 --> 00:47:37.670
You know, for all these swims, I'm doing red light therapy, my arms are my arm is all taped up, and um, you know, I'm but I probably didn't stretch as much, and I probably didn't, you know, do that aftercare therapy.
00:47:37.829 --> 00:47:39.990
And now, you know, my kids are four and six.
00:47:40.150 --> 00:47:41.829
They're like, mom, get on the ground and do this with me.
00:47:41.910 --> 00:47:44.470
And I'm like, give mom a second, she's gotta get down there.
00:47:44.550 --> 00:47:59.190
And but, you know, you gotta take care of your body, you gotta take care of yourself, especially when you're you're working in those, you know, working around heavy equipment, and you know, you're getting down on your knees, and you know, you you're putting a lot of straight on your shoulders, your back, your legs.
00:47:59.349 --> 00:48:00.710
Like, yeah, take care of yourself.
00:48:01.030 --> 00:48:04.390
Yeah, we we lived a rough life, especially in construction.
00:48:04.550 --> 00:48:12.230
You got injured, you walked it off, grabbed some paper towels, some duct tape, taped it up, whatever, kept right on going.
00:48:12.390 --> 00:48:15.910
You know, we didn't need stitches, then we weren't going.
00:48:15.990 --> 00:48:25.349
And I went in there and they hauled me to the hospital one time against my will, all the way to almost the end before I said, Okay, I'll go if it makes you happy.
00:48:25.510 --> 00:48:26.710
I wasn't gonna go.
00:48:26.870 --> 00:48:29.030
And it ended up I got 12 stitches.
00:48:30.150 --> 00:48:32.710
Oof, yeah, no, it's scary.
00:48:32.870 --> 00:48:33.990
Well, yikes.
00:48:34.150 --> 00:48:40.789
That's definitely something I would say, you know, a lot of people younger, I would say mistakes they're making in the pool industry.
00:48:41.030 --> 00:48:43.110
Take care of yourself, guys and gals.
00:48:43.430 --> 00:48:44.470
What what would you say?
00:48:44.550 --> 00:48:49.590
What is one what was what's the greatest thing that comes to mind when you think about the pool industry?
00:48:49.829 --> 00:48:53.190
It's for me, it's so many trades all wrapped up in one.
00:48:53.349 --> 00:49:00.950
And I work on, you know, so many different levels of it, from service to the building to looking over blueprints.
00:49:01.110 --> 00:49:07.430
I've helped a little bit with a few small details on designs and stuff in the past.
00:49:07.590 --> 00:49:13.910
And you can go and learn so much about flow rate and and all the codes.
00:49:14.150 --> 00:49:14.550
Yes.
00:49:14.789 --> 00:49:15.110
Yeah.
00:49:15.190 --> 00:49:17.590
I yeah, I would say I l I love all the trades.
00:49:17.990 --> 00:49:24.150
There's there's so many different areas to learn about the industry, and I love learning a new trade.
00:49:24.309 --> 00:49:25.030
I absolutely love it.
00:49:25.110 --> 00:49:27.269
There's there's there's so much to learn.
00:49:27.430 --> 00:49:30.710
What would you say the industry is currently doing wrong?
00:49:31.030 --> 00:49:41.670
For a lot, not putting in the time to learn and you know follow what should be done, just doing blindsidedly.
00:49:42.870 --> 00:49:45.910
We see a lot of bad equipment installs.
00:49:45.990 --> 00:49:46.789
It's uh Yeah.
00:49:47.030 --> 00:49:52.230
You think maybe just going the the cheaper route or Yeah, and they don't put in no effort.
00:49:52.309 --> 00:49:57.030
It's like, oh, all you gotta do is just make this connection and they add a lot of extra fittings.
00:49:57.190 --> 00:50:01.030
They put too small a pipe, they don't know about flow rates.
00:50:01.190 --> 00:50:04.870
You know, flow rates on commercial is very, very important.
00:50:05.269 --> 00:50:13.190
You're not gonna meet flow rates if you go altering systems just because you it make it easier for you to make the connection.
00:50:13.430 --> 00:50:14.230
Yeah, yeah.
00:50:14.390 --> 00:50:23.510
You know, after your years in the industry, are you still looking for mentors yourself or are you and I guess who do you go to advice today?
00:50:24.150 --> 00:50:32.950
The guy that I work for mainly when they coach change and all, is I you know, he he does the updated every year.
00:50:33.269 --> 00:50:39.510
We go over, you know, what what the changes are because it it it's changing so quickly anymore.
00:50:39.670 --> 00:50:40.870
It it's kind of crazy.
00:50:41.110 --> 00:50:43.110
Yeah, and you're always kind of the last people to know about it.
00:50:43.349 --> 00:50:49.670
Yeah, in the field, and it's kinda like we go over it because he wants us to know so we're not making that mistake.
00:50:50.390 --> 00:50:52.230
Yeah, it can be very costly.
00:50:52.550 --> 00:50:53.510
Yes, very smart.
00:50:53.590 --> 00:51:01.030
And yeah, that the they they change so quickly and uh it's just kind of like one day it's like, oh, by the way, and it's like thanks for letting me know.
00:51:01.269 --> 00:51:01.590
Yeah.
00:51:04.710 --> 00:51:06.870
Well, I have a very important question.
00:51:07.190 --> 00:51:08.789
What's your favorite pizza topping?
00:51:08.950 --> 00:51:09.910
What's your favorite pizza?
00:51:10.150 --> 00:51:12.070
I would say Italian sausage.
00:51:12.309 --> 00:51:13.190
Okay, okay.
00:51:13.430 --> 00:51:15.430
Yeah, Jeff liked Jeff likes Italian.
00:51:15.829 --> 00:51:18.150
So just Italian sausage.
00:51:18.710 --> 00:51:26.230
Okay, so we've come to the end, and everyone has a secret question, and so everyone's is different.
00:51:26.470 --> 00:51:28.230
And are you ready for yours?
00:51:29.110 --> 00:51:29.670
All right.
00:51:30.870 --> 00:51:33.910
Everyone gets kind of nervous when I hear you say this.
00:51:34.230 --> 00:51:35.430
Okay, John.
00:51:35.750 --> 00:51:41.910
So you call yourself the ancient pool warrior, but every warrior needs a battle cry.
00:51:42.070 --> 00:51:42.950
What's yours?
00:51:43.110 --> 00:51:47.269
And I need you to actually give it to me like you're about to go into battle.
00:51:48.070 --> 00:51:53.510
Don't so we'll we'll have to okay, so we'll do this.
00:51:53.670 --> 00:51:55.750
I'm gonna give you time to think about your battle cry.
00:51:55.829 --> 00:51:59.349
Maybe for a future episode, we'll come back to your battle cries.
00:51:59.430 --> 00:52:09.269
So mine would be kind of more or less silent because it would be like the the guy adding assault to the pool, you know, and he just takes his hand and dashes it.
00:52:09.430 --> 00:52:11.190
Well, that's what I do with uh Alum.
00:52:12.230 --> 00:52:14.230
The silent ASR battle cry.
00:52:15.430 --> 00:52:15.750
Okay.
00:52:16.390 --> 00:52:17.750
So uh how about this?
00:52:17.829 --> 00:52:19.269
So you're the ancient warrior.
00:52:19.349 --> 00:52:27.349
So if you had to go into battle tomorrow, armed with only one ancient pool method and one pool tool, what are you taking into battle?
00:52:27.670 --> 00:52:30.390
It would be Alum and a pool brush.
00:52:30.630 --> 00:52:30.950
I love that.
00:52:31.190 --> 00:52:34.870
Alum and a pool brush with your ASR battle cry.
00:52:35.829 --> 00:52:36.230
Yep.
00:52:36.550 --> 00:52:37.110
Very good.
00:52:37.349 --> 00:52:37.990
I love that.
00:52:38.230 --> 00:52:47.750
Well, you know, I can't thank you enough for coming on, sharing your knowledge, and more importantly, for continuing to share your knowledge with other people in the industry.
00:52:47.910 --> 00:52:55.990
And, you know, before I let you go today, is there anything that we didn't talk about that you want people listening to know?
00:52:56.150 --> 00:53:04.070
Whether it be heavy equipment, about Alum, about you know, mentorship or anyone that's just getting into the industry?
00:53:04.390 --> 00:53:14.710
Well, for anybody that's just getting into the industry, education, learning from others that's been there, done it, going to trade shows, take some of the classes.
00:53:14.870 --> 00:53:18.710
If they're installing equipment, there's a manual inside every box.
00:53:18.870 --> 00:53:19.430
Read it.
00:53:19.590 --> 00:53:22.390
There's a reason that there, those recommendations are there.
00:53:22.550 --> 00:53:22.950
Mm-hmm.
00:53:23.110 --> 00:53:23.510
Absolutely.
00:53:23.590 --> 00:53:26.070
I'm guilty of not reading the manual, but I'm getting better.
00:53:26.309 --> 00:53:27.990
So, yes, read your manuals.
00:53:28.150 --> 00:53:30.789
Well, John, I can't thank you enough for coming on.
00:53:30.870 --> 00:53:33.269
It was a pleasure spending some time with you.
00:53:33.430 --> 00:53:47.030
And, you know, for everyone listening, stay tuned as we continue to talk to this year's top 10 mentors in the pool industry and get closer to finding out who will take home this Talking Pulls podcast mentor of the year championship belt.
00:53:47.190 --> 00:53:52.309
And John, until next time, we I I I'm I you know I'm I want to hear this battle cry.
00:53:52.390 --> 00:53:56.470
I know it's I know it's a quiet battle cry, but I want I'm we're gonna come back to this battle cry.
00:53:56.630 --> 00:54:01.430
But until next time, guys, everyone keep questioning thing, challenging, and keep learning.
00:54:01.510 --> 00:54:06.150
And we will be back next week with our next top 10 mentor and see you next time.
