My journey in the swimming pool industry began in 1992. I was short on money and needed to pay the rent and took a part-time job servicing pools for a couple managing Premier Pools & Spas Service Department out of their home. We discovered that I was a natural and within six months I was hired to be a salesman in the pool construction department. That didn’t work out too well and I was transferred to the remodel department. That didn’t work out either and I found myself back in the (now in-house) service department. I didn’t realize it for years to come but thanks to the owner’s insistence that I attend new construction and remodel sites, I had gained invaluable knowledge as to how pools are built, remodeled, the sales process, customer relations, and, my own maturity. Before long I was asked to manage the service department and in 1995 Premier Pools generously sold part of their service route to me.
On October 1, 1995 my business launched and with it I devoured every swimming pool educational course I could find near and far. Within a few years I unexpectedly found other pool techs calling me for advice and demand for my services has consistently grown. I think I was born to be a pool man- I love to fix things and i love to learn new things- two requirements for a great mechanic 🙂
The second most asked question I get: How did I come up with the name Mike the Poolman ? Quite innocently- when I worked for Premier a few of our customers’ children (now grown and with their own children!) used to refer to me as “Mike the Pool man”. It was fun and I went with it never realizing it would become as marketable or successful as it has.
Years later my simple philosophy remains the same: