Season Gower has spent 20 years in the pool industry, starting as a receptionist for the remodeling division at Shasta Pools. “I continued my education outside and inside the industry to get to where I am today,” Gower says. Now the general manager of the remodeling division, Gower says her favorite part of the industry…
Wread Richardson says he learned the industry from one of the best: His uncle, Paul Ryan, owner of Texas Pools in The Woodlands, Texas. Ryan was “a genius pool designer who had won more design awards himself than most companies do in their lifetime,” Richards says. While working with his uncle’s company, Richardson designed pools…
Life in the U.S. is still new to Alisa Gotay, a native of Puerto Rico who made the move to Texas with her husband and son five years ago. She is even newer to the pool industry, having begun working at Silver Spring Pool and Spa in El Paso, Texas, in summer 2020. Gotay remembers…
Billie Jean Parrish seems to be the dictionary definition of a people person. That was true during the 10 years she spent as a hairstylist and it remained true after she switched to a career in an administrative role for a pool business. One might think she’d spend most of her time glued to a…
If there is one thing California may have more of than swimming pools, it might be programmers and yet the two industries rarely cross paths. Avid swimmer and certified wunderkind, Sai Reddy, sees artificial intelligence technology in the pool industry as not only an inevitability but a matter of life and death. There are countless…
Blow molding refers to the process of melting plastic, putting it into a mold and then shaping it with compressed air. Most plastic bottles are formed this way, including products manufactured by Taylor Water Technologies, which makes water-testing kits. For Jessica Ruckle, blow molding was the first job she did at Taylor. In the years…
It can be satisfying to see something one has created pop up on the opposite side of the world. That’s a feeling Paige Quill knows well. As graphic designer for Taylor Water Technologies, she has gotten to see her designs go further than she could have ever dreamed. “I like how global the pool industry…
“Safety first” is a mantra close to Miranda Rodriguez’s heart. Upon starting her career as a chemist with Taylor Water Technologies, she has seen firsthand the important role the company’s products play in the safety of its customers. “An unbalanced pool can be harmful to people and their equipment,” Rodriguez says. Since being promoted to…
In the post-pandemic zeitgeist in which “quiet quitting” and labor shortages rule the narrative, Dominique Hough’s perspective on her position at Taylor Water Technologies might sound old fashioned. “I see [myself] working at Taylor long-term, because I don’t think of it as just a job. I think of it as my career,” Dominique says. “I…
In the pool industry, it’s well-known that a clear pool doesn’t always mean a clean pool. But customers often don’t know the difference. “One thing I’d like to change about the pool industry is how consumers are educated on what it means for a pool to be good,” says Darren Post, president of The Pool…
A millennial with a love of computers and competitive swimming since the age of 6, Lindsey Lawless says she absolutely loves getting to impact customers directly as digital marketing manager for pool equipment manufacturer Hayward Holdings. “I am committed to providing the best digital experience for all our customers, whether it be distribution partners, builders…
A summer job that becomes a lifelong career is a story often told in the pool industry. That’s not quite how it went for Albert Melo, but it’s close. He grew up in the pool industry as his father cleaned pools. “He went on to start remodels,” Melo explains, “and when I went to college…