Engaging the Next Generation of Pool Pros with Maddy Vandiver, AOP, and ACC

In this episode of the Talking Pools podcast, host Rudy interviews Maddy Van Diver from Pool Butler, discussing the importance of mentorship in the pool industry. They explore effective teaching methods for CPO classes, the significance of quality control in technician training, and the impact of advanced water treatment technologies. The conversation also delves into the nuances of pool chemistry and the role of communication in customer service. Van shares personal insights and stories that highlight the value of continuous learning and community support in the industry.

Sound Bites

• "Engaging teaching methods enhance learning."
• "Mentorship is crucial for industry growth."
• "Mentorship fosters a supportive community."

takeaways

• Mentorship is crucial for industry growth.
• Engaging teaching methods enhance learning.
• Quality checks improve technician performance.
• Daily operations require effective communication.
• Advanced technologies are changing pool care.
• Understanding chemistry is vital for pool maintenance.
• Personal stories can enhance training effectiveness.
• Communication is key in customer interactions.
• Continuous learning is essential in the industry.
• Mentorship fosters a supportive community.

Chapters

00:00
Introduction to the Podcast and Guests

02:47
Mentorship in the Pool Industry

05:06
Teaching and Engaging in CPO Classes

08:14
Quality Control and Technician Training

10:55
Daily Operations and Personal Insights

14:00
Advanced Water Treatment Technologies

16:48
Understanding Pool Chemistry

19:19
Mentorship and Industry Growth

22:04
Personal Stories and Lessons Learned

24:55
The Importance of Communication in Pool Care

27:58
Final Thoughts on Mentorship and Industry Future

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Transcript

Speaker 2 (00:00.17)
Hey everybody, it's Friday. This is the Talking Pools podcast. I'm Rudy Stankiewicz and I have here with me today, Matty Van Diver of the Pool Butler out of Atlanta, Georgia, one of our top 10 mentors nominated, pulled from 70 names, top 10 possible mentor of the year. have that award coming up. Matty, did you see the belt?

did I did actually been waiting for the reveal and everything like that and yeah I saw it the day you the day you announced it on Facebook I think it looks awesome I think it looks better than any of the WWE belts so I'm definitely definitely want to see it in person that's awesome

What do you think? Different?

Speaker 2 (00:44.578)
And you might have that opportunity. One person out of the 10 names we've mentioned will get to see it in person, get to have it, hold it, hang it in their house, put it over their bed, wear it with their bathrobe, whatever you want to do. It's the legit thing. So let me ask you this, and I should start out asking everybody this, and I haven't asked anybody so far. So we're going to ask you first. We'll see how it goes, and that'll determine whether or not I ask anybody else. Do you listen to the Talking Pools podcast?

And we have multiple shows a week. do everything from Australia throughout all across the U S and from the wacky to the weird, to wisdom, to all of it. think we try to cover all of it. When we have our discussions, you listen to a bunch of different things and we talk about everything from customer service to business growth, to marketing, chemistry, equipment. What's your favorite segments?

Well, that's a tough one. I've been shows of each of those topics that I have thoroughly enjoyed. I think a lot of it really just depends on how deep of a dive y'all do each time of which one I really like. But I definitely would have to say when you guys mix the stuff with chemistry, but also when you're talking about it in terms of like the business aspect of it as well, too.

And those are actually some of the most fun to do. I like to do some fairly deep dives into the chemistry, but at the same point in time, we got to remember that we have people of all levels of experience when they listen. And I know sometimes I can, I can easily go, and I have to remember to reel myself back in. You teach each CPO classes, right?

It's you,

Speaker 2 (02:24.127)
Look at Fridays with Rudy kicks off the weekend.

It's through strong education, manner.

Acumen, Benobi, Wampu, Guru, Kenobi Marketing and staff and the skills to help you thrive Ancient Poo Pro secrets, you're in automation, Yoda

Speaker 2 (02:46.306)
This is the moment we've been waiting for. From 70 nominees down to 10. 10 mentors who stood out as leaders, teachers, and game changers in our industry. Each Friday, we step into their corner, hearing their story, their impact, their fight to make this trade stronger.

The championship belt has been revealed. Heavy, shining, waiting for just one set of shoulders. And in November, I'll show up unannounced on one doorstep to crown the winner in person. 70 became 10. 10 will become one. The question is, who will rise? Who will be remembered? Who will be the mentor of the year?

Speaker 1 (03:36.366)
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Speaker 1 (05:50.062)
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You teach CPO classes, right?

Correct, yes.

So then you understand, because you get people of all levels of experience in that room, and you have to put out some information so that it's interesting to everybody.

Yep, you definitely do and you definitely have to maybe reword something a couple different ways just to make sure everybody will understand and stuff like that because you know have somebody that's brand new knows nothing about a pool in that class you know then you have somebody that's been doing them for 10 years you know that's a pretty significant jump in knowledge but you know learning those those things about people and how I lay out my classes and how I teach them and everything.

Speaker 2 (07:00.078)
How do you gauge how the information is going over what you're teaching?

I ask a lot of feedback questions as I'm going on. I, I'm a big firm believer in keeping the class very engaged and everything. So when I teach, I'll go, I won't go more than two PowerPoint slides without asking at least one or two questions. And that way it also lets me know they're retaining information as well as they're engaged and they're listening to. So I'm very, very big on asking questions because if they are not retaining things or they're just super confused, so, know, we'll kind of

Navigate which it is and we'll go down that path of which does they need to take a break? You know go up to go outside take a five ten minute break And if it's they're just really confused. It's okay. Where is it getting you kind of stumbled up?

Always one of the most challenging things for me when we start to when you start to do that to still keep the veterans engaged during the time as well. It is a skill set. It definitely is. Now you do CPO classes. Is it just for Pool Butler employees?

I'll do some for others as well too. actually, this November will be my one year of getting my certification and everything. So still, you know, in my first year. So I've been co-teaching a lot with Craig Sears, phenomenal CPO instructor. I'm sure a lot of people know who he is. His office is about 30 minutes for me.

Speaker 2 (08:17.429)
He's a real jerk.

no, not craig

I love Craig. Craig and I are good friends. love Craig. I'm like, love-

Yeah, he's a wonderful guy. I've definitely learned a lot from him and stuff, especially with teaching. So I'm very grateful to have him and the class is 30 minutes away.

There may not be a nicer guy in this industry.

Speaker 1 (08:39.955)
No, I don't think there is.

He is, so when I say jerk, of course, I mean that extremely facetiously because he is just absolutely the opposite and really, really good guy. Does a lot for the industry. The majority of your classes, when you teach the CPO classes, you get a lot of folks that are in the industry, but then you also get a lot of folks that work the day in, day out as...

technician at an apartment complex or an engineer at a hotel and the whole mix of it. It makes for a fun class because you get a lot of different experiences. When was the last time somebody said something in your class and if you could tell me what it was that made you stop and think, well, wow, that's a better way to teach that.

I'm trying to think is there is something in particular. I just try to think of what exactly it was I know I have a couple of them. It's in it off the top Yeah, let's let's come back to that one

You can come back to it.

Speaker 2 (09:32.748)
You're the supervisor over at the Pool Butler, large company, Atlanta, Georgia. How many people do you oversee?

I am one of the main supervisors. I'm also the company trainer. So in terms of company training aspect, I oversee all the technicians in the company, which include the service technicians. So that's about...

20 technicians on the training side, 20 plus technicians on the training side and then on the maintenance side. You know, I have, have two field supervisors out there too. I'm mainly on the office side, but we oversee 10.

And when you send these folks out, you send them out into the field, they're on their own, they're by themselves, what do you do so that they perform every duty as if you were standing there even when you're not? What's your trick?

I have established this thing about three, almost four years ago where all the technicians, especially the ones, because we'll divide them up in what we call teams, even though we're all still one team. But what I do is with all technicians from the time they start is once a week, I have about an hour long conversation with each of them. But just just talking about life, making it out cool, lot of trust between us, where they're.

Speaker 1 (10:50.776)
They're okay coming to me with any issues or anything like that. And with doing that, it has allowed me to be able to check in on them, hold them accountable to certain standards by going behind them with quality checks and stuff. Because we have, you know, service report that's sent every time we come out with everything they're supposed to do on it, everything they did. So I actually took a piece of paper and just a word document and essentially took what our checklist is and created it into what we call our quality check sheet. So when we go out,

you we'll go out no more than, you know, match what they're saying on their sheet versus what we're kind of seeing, you know, just making sure it lines up and that our standard and procedures were followed to the way they should be. And that alone, because of what it is, because not only as a technician now getting feedback, because we also review it with them after, they're getting feedback on, you know, what are they giving as well as it also helps set them up for a course.

for a path within training. So we kind of know where they're struggling. So we know what areas to focus with each of them because right now I'm in the process of working on individual training paths for each of our employees to achieve where they want to go. Because you know, not everybody wants to be a pool cleaner. Some people want to do repairs eventually and stuff like that. But individualizing those paths for each of them is, what I've been working on. But just those quality checks alone, I mean, it's

big game changer, see lot less significant issues by doing that. And they know we're doing them too.

What's the first thing you do every morning?

Speaker 1 (12:22.35)
When I get to work or before I get to work. before I get to work is talk to my mom.

Would your mom say when she heard you were nominated for this?

So please understand my mom is a very sarcastic person. She laughed and said, has hell frozen over? And nobody told me about it. So that's that. And then she said, congratulations, good job kind of thing. And then moved on to yelling at the poodles.

I love it. Walk me through this morning. What were your highlights of today? Tell me. Mattie van Diver throws back the covers, puts the first foot on the floor.

So, I mean, today alone, you know, it's been more of an office day for me, one that I've been needing been at the field the last few days for most of the day, which, you know, can put me behind on some of my office work. So, you know, today's just been kind of reviewing a lot of things, checking on certain jobs, know, ones that have been having certain issues, just kind of checking in on those from their tickets. I did go out to a new commercial potential new commercial property earlier today because I do.

Speaker 1 (13:24.748)
you kind of run the whole commercial side of our company and whatnot in terms of, you know, meeting all the new people, being kind of their liaison of talking to. Yeah, I mean, today's just been a lot of just catching up, you know, the needed stuff, especially when you're middle of season.

Imagine you're standing in front of a time machine. You can only send one piece of pool advice back to your first day on the job, but it has to be less than five words. What message do you send?

Use chlorine and acid. It is needed.

If mentorship was a playlist, what song would always play when you're helping someone through a rough learning curve?

I love music, so there's about a hundred songs that I could choose from. But you know, but I honestly would probably say, and I say this as somebody that has a lifeguarding background, but one of the best songs that they play during lifeguard classes, saving a life, you know? So that's a big one that I say, know, because people will go, I'll meet our technicians out on site for training for something, know, or especially they were having an issue with a point, like, you're such a lifesaver and.

Speaker 1 (14:36.558)
You know what, to me I just think you need help, you need more training in an area, so I'm just here to help you, but hearing that from them, I actually do play that when I'm out of job with them, when we're on certain properties, especially ones that are commercials that are still in the process of being built. I'll play music and whatnot, and that's one song that's usually on that soundtrack that's going on, that or Welcome to the Jungle.

Nice choice. Rookie at the Pool Butler, one of your new hires, accidentally invents a new slang term on the job site. What's the word and how do you make it stick across the team?

Speaker 2 (15:27.116)
It's the grind of pool care, and for decades, chlorine has carried most of that weight. But today, I want to talk about something that's shifting the game. A process that doesn't just support chlorine, it supercharges it. I'm talking about Advanced Oxidation Processes, or AOP. Now let's strip it down to what matters for us as service pros. AOP isn't another miracle chemical in a jug or a bucket. It's a system.

an approach that generates something far more powerful than chlorine or ozone on their own, the hydroxyl radical. These radicals don't mess around. They're the most aggressive oxidizers we can use in water treatment. And when they come into contact with organic contaminants like body oils, sunscreen, or sweat, they don't just weaken them. They tear them apart at the molecular level until nothing is left. The way we create these radicals is by combining tools we already know well, ozone,

hydrogen peroxide and ultraviolet light. When used together in the right configuration, they produce an unstoppable chain reaction that makes pool water cleaner, safer, and healthier than it's ever been. For the professional in the field, this means chlorine lasts longer and works more efficiently. It means that swimmers step out of the pool without the smell of chloramines clinging to them or the sting of irritated eyes.

and it means you can stand out in your market by offering something that goes beyond routine pool care. You're delivering cutting edge water treatment. The best part is that this isn't technology reserved only for Olympic facilities or high-end resorts. The costs have been coming down and more and more homeowners are beginning to hear about it. Some of them are already asking questions. If you're not ready with the answers, if you can't explain what AOP is and why it matters,

then the opportunity will pass to someone else. That's why I want to challenge you to think bigger than bottles and bigger than shock treatments. With AOP, we move away from being seen as the person who shows up and pours chlorine and into the role of water care specialists who bring advanced science into the backyard. That isn't just better pool care, it's leadership. It's the kind of work that builds trust, creates loyalty, and defines our profession as forward thinking.

Speaker 2 (17:51.394)
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Hey there, welcome back to the show. Grab a cup of coffee because today we're gonna clear up one of those head scratcher topics in pool chemistry, the difference between available chlorine content and active strength. Yeah, those two terms sound like they should mean the same thing, but trust me, they don't. And if you've ever looked at a bucket of chlorine tablets and wondered what those percentages on the label really mean, this one's for you. So here's the deal, available chlorine content

or ACC, is all about comparing different chlorine products to chlorine gas. Chlorine gas is considered the top dog, the full 100%. Every other chlorine compound is measured against that. Take trichlor, for example. Its ACC is about 90%. That doesn't mean 90 % of your bucket is chlorine. What it actually means is trichlor is about 90 % as strong as chlorine gas when it comes to disinfecting power. Now let's talk active strength. That's a different story.

Active strength is basically saying how much of what's in this bucket is really trichlor. If the label says 99%, then almost everything in there really is the trichlor compound. No fluff, no filler. But don't confuse purity with potency. Even though it's nearly pure trichlor, it still only hits at 90 % strength when you line it up against chlorine gas. Here's where it gets tricky. Let's say you've got a bucket of trichlor tablets.

The label says 99 % active strength. Sounds great. It's basically all trichlor. But remember, the ACC is still only 90%, so it's not as strong as chlorine gas, even though the bucket's almost pure. If you think those numbers mean the same thing, you're either going to overdo it or shortchange your pool. And this isn't just a trichlor thing. Look at liquid chlorine, sodium hypochlorite. When you buy it at 12.5%,

Speaker 2 (22:07.266)
That means if you dump a gallon into 10,000 gallons of pool water, you'll raise the chlorine level by 12.5 parts per million. Cal-hypo is another one. Depending on the version, its ACC can range from about 48 to 72 % because the rest is mostly calcium salts. That's why sometimes the math in your head doesn't match what you see happening in the pool. So why does this matter to us out in the field? Simple.

If you think ACC is the same thing as the percentage listed under active ingredient, you're dosing blind. If you go by active strength alone, you might believe your chlorine is more powerful than it really is. The smart move is to think of active strength as telling you how pure the stuff in your bucket is, and ACC as telling you how much punch it's going to pack compared to chlorine gas. Get those two straight and your dosing will be dead on. At the end of the day,

is.

Speaker 2 (23:02.434)
Here's the takeaway. Active strength is about what's in the container. Available chlorine content is about how effective that compound really is. When you put those pieces together, you're not just guessing anymore. You actually know what you're adding to your pool. All right, that's enough chemistry talk for one cup of coffee. Hopefully I've cleared up some of the confusion around ACC and active strength and maybe even saved you from second guessing the next label you read. If you liked this chat,

Make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss the next one. Until then, keep those pools balanced, keep them clean, and as always, don't forget to read the fine print on the bucket.

Speaker 2 (23:48.696)
A rookie at the pool butler, one of your new hires, accidentally invents a new slang term on the job site. What's the word and how do you make it stick across the team?

Speaker 1 (24:10.542)
It can be anywhere, right?

Any words you want, new slang term, you like it, you make it stick across the team, what did they say?

So I would say, and this one's used probably with slang and whatnot, but I'd probably say bomb. And the reason I say that is because that is a word we actually do use around here a lot, but not as in that's bomb. We don't use it in that term. We use it in terms of if we say bomb, that means you need to go drop a nuclear bomb basically in a pool. That's one we use a lot. We use a lot of technical terms around here.

And a lot of that's just kind of because we get, you and you hire from another company and keep things, you know, as much on the same page as we can. But I, you've got to choose on it to be bomb for sure. I mean, there's a million different ways you can use that term too. So that would be yours.

Mentors are often remembered in odd ways, sometimes because it's a phrase or a habit or a weird snack that they eat or something like that. What's the thing that people always associate with you and probably will for years to come?

Speaker 1 (25:22.254)
Chick-fil-A sweet tea.

Chick-fil-A sweet tea, okay. So anybody on the team hears that, they're gonna know it's you.

Yeah, no coffee on the first day. Yeah, I don't know.

know if we can be friends.

I like my sweet tea. It's what I did. I've never been a coffee drinker. I'm not it's not the taste is okay. But for me, my mom always told me growing up, I was never allowed to have it. So out of her house anyways, because she's like, it'll make you shorter than you already are.

Speaker 2 (25:51.758)
stunt your growth. Picture the worst pool day ever. Storms, broken pump, upset client, and you've got a brand new tranny riding shotgun with you. What's the very first thing you want them to notice about the way you handle these different pools?

The first thing I definitely want them to notice is how I kind of approach this situation because those situations I'm not going to approach like I would just going up to any typical route pool. So just the approach to it because that does play a big factor. You know, if you're you're coming in freaking out and the customer's home and sees that they're going to start freaking out as well too. So, know, if you can go in with a calm approach and everything and just kind of give them that peace of mind because they're already freaking out enough as it is, especially they walk in.

You walk in and there's a giant tree in their pool because that has happened before to me after a storm. just watching them and how I, watching me and how I approach things is a big one for me. I like to have them, you know, especially when they're riding with me at first. I always have this thing with all my technicians with everything I train them on is they'll watch me do it first. And then they'll start to do it with me right there. Of course. Then I'll let them kind of do it off the top.

Also your first impression out there as well too is a really big thing that I want them to see first because it will make a big difference.

When you're teaching a CPO class or any pool class where you have a group of people, do you rely totally on the slides or do you bring people out to the swimming pool if there's one at the facility for you to use?

Speaker 1 (27:21.13)
If I had one at the facility to use, that's what I would do. I have considered bringing out a baby pool and setting it up for CPO classes, know, just like a little blow up one. Because I mean, at that point, you know, you can mess with the little chemicals and that way they can practice testing and, you know, other stuff like that too. So it's an idea that I've actually been considering recently doing. But for the most part, I'd say I wouldn't necessarily say I rely on the slides completely because I do like to show videos to a lot. So.

But yeah, that's pretty much how I kind of do things a lot. I'm being completely honest, 99 % chance would not take a class out to a pool that would have patrons using it at the time. If I were going to do that, I probably email, give a phone call to the property, ask them for permission if I can use it and stuff, and if we can shut the pool down for certain hours. But if I were in that position, I would say, you know, stay calm, you know,

We're going to go over these things. Let's stay together as a group. You know, we don't want to be too rowdy, too loud. You know, if we're going to discuss any this stuff, you know, we need to do it very quietly. We don't want them hearing what we're talking about, stuff like that. Just because, you know, you just say the word shock and, you know, dropping a nuclear bomb in the pool when that's not necessarily the case. You know, we've actually experienced that with a commercial property this past year that are, you know, we have technicians in the shark pool and so, you know, versus pouring, which, you know, in our world, we're not going to think about that, you know, however, you know,

You have a 70 year old community, a community full of, know, retired community. So you have, you know, 70 year olds, 60 year olds, 80 year olds, you know, coming up and they hear you say, shocking the pool. You're going to freak out a little bit. So that would be a big thing is, you know, just kind of watch what you say in front of them is a big thing. And I preach that to my technicians every single week.

So basically, it's okay to ask questions about it, but wait till we get back to the room. Don't ask anything in front of patrons like, my god, the pH, look at that, they're all gonna melt. Don't say shit like that.

Speaker 1 (29:23.758)
Absolutely not just wait till we're to wait till we're back in the room because I'd rather not open up that candle

Former trainee of yours walks back into the office after five years. How would you secretly test without saying anything if they carried your lessons with them?

It would probably have to be around the question about pH and the question would probably be, you know, how are your pH's been kind of thing? How is your acid dose has been? And I say that because I'm a huge advocate and huge preacher of acid and base demand tests. My technicians, me say it till I'm blue in the face 24 seven. All my technicians keep the Taylor water book on them 24 seven. It's in every truck, every new technician, could hand them that as well as a

binder with a notebook for training stuff and everything like that. So it would be around that room just because that is something I preach religiously is that acid demand, a base demand test.

What was the strangest job you ever had before you got into the pool industry?

Speaker 1 (30:25.004)
Well, there's only one option on that because I've pretty much been in the pool industry the whole time. So I guess you could say retail or yes, it's very strange. Very strange.

strange

Speaker 2 (30:36.898)
What type of retail was it? You don't have to tell me the name of the company, but...

It was just at a mall, was actually for Vineyard Vines Company, know, fantastic company to work for, but I missed pools because I was a swimmer and I did lifeguarding and swim lesson thing and I was like, you know what, it's time to go back.

Mentorship could be bottled like a chemical. Would the label on Maddie's mentorship formula say beneath word warning?

What?

Speaker 1 (31:06.286)
Filled with useless facts. That's very true. I'm filled with a lot of useless facts and filled with useful ones, but also filled with very unuseful things as well too.

throughout everything or just pool industry facts or just basically trivia.

Which is basically true. And trivia in general.

So if I asked you the name of the penguin that Joey had on friends, you would know its name?

Possibly maybe I'm my fiance is a big Friends Watcher. I personally can't stand that show. So that's just me

Speaker 2 (31:45.176)
So's my wife, and I can't- and honestly if you told me the name I couldn't tell you if you were right or wrong right now anyway so I guess this and that. Give me- here, better yet, give me an example of a completely useless fact that I might hear from you over the course of a week.

that

Speaker 1 (32:03.948)
What color are flamingos when they're born? are white gray when they're born and the only reason they're pink is the shrimp they eat. So that's one I tell everybody if they don't know.

Everybody has a signature move when they're showing somebody the ropes. What's the subtle habit you do, maybe without even thinking of it, that your new hires might pick up on?

how anal I am about everything. Everything has its place and goes back in its place. And I get anxiety if it's not back in its place. It's very, very, very OCD and anal about things being in their proper places, especially in the back of my truck. That's where I'm definitely very, very anal about, especially because with all the chemicals back there, the last thing I need is a lid flying off or two chemicals being next to each other. That shouldn't be next to each other. And then we accidentally get, you know, rear-ended, bender, bender.

all of a sudden we got a chemical leak or explosion on our hands.

When you go to the distributor to pick whatever up, when you're there and you go back out into the parking lot and you see the beds of some of the other pickup trucks, that cause you anxiety?

Speaker 1 (33:08.654)
It me roll my eyes. It's not my truck, so don't worry about it, but I still worry for other people. I mean, for the most part of me, it just makes me kind of roll my eyes and then, not my monkey, not my circus. kind of where I'm at. I mean, everybody knows the laws and what, you know, kind of how we're supposed to do it. Not much I can do about it, especially when, you know, I don't work with them. You know, I don't even know who they are. You know, I mean, there's times when I've, you know, maybe mentioned something of, hey,

I'm always good about if I ever see a distribution, somebody's bucket not fully closed. I'm always going to say something about that. Just because, know, one, that's loss of money because the chemicals will come out, fly out the back of the truck. But two, you know, there's the potential damage for your truck damage. There's potential for that to mix with another chemical and everything like that. know, bucket lids and stuff, one that I will mention, but, know, their placement of stuff, like that's their business. I know me, I wouldn't do that, but I just try to roll my eyes and let it go.

Suppose mentoring is a relay race baton. Who handed it to you in your career and ape or symbol would that baton have if you could have designed it?

What? Shit.

Speaker 1 (34:18.542)
Oh, so that's a pretty easy thing, I guess you could say to say to that who that person is on that person's actually on the top 10 plus as well. He's definitely the one that kind of taught us that to me. He's the one that's, you know, he's been one of my biggest cheerleaders on the side. He's the reason I've gotten all the certifications I've gotten that's where I am, where I am, you know, and I've learned a lot from him about mentoring and just kind of, you know,

As I like to basically call it, being there for our people. That's what I like to call it, is being there for our people. And that includes the whole industry. We're one big happy family at the end of the day in our opinion. And one thing Vision Tim and I share a lot is, it's not just about full butlers, it's about the whole industry and being there for others as well too. We all want to get somewhere and why not help each other out?

Definitely a big one just to give Tim a hard time I'd say would be a shape of a fantasy football trophy because I am the back-to-back champ I beat him last year and he's still mad about it. So one because it's a running joke around our office, but

I haven't spoken with him yet. So now I will actually get the response to that comment live. I promise when I do talk to him, I know he's traveling at the moment, which makes me jealous because I love to absolutely travel. I love to travel. That's one of my favorite things to do. But yeah, I'm gonna have to ask him about that. so one of your team members swears that they learn best through storytelling. What's the strangest pool related story that you've used?

Yes, yes you should

Speaker 2 (35:57.688)
to teach a lesson.

You could say probably, and this is super simple one too, it's not really, it's one that everybody, people that have been in the industry for a few years and whatnot kind of know about and everything. I got to talk about the use of when I first started using enzymes and the benefit that I got out of it. So I use one of my commercial pools that I had way back in the day as an example. This one was another retirement community, but they actually had like aerobics classes in the morning and all this other stuff.

You know, and one thing they did a lot is caked on the sunscreen. So the tile lines constantly, you know, covered in scum and every gunk in between. But, you know, explaining that sort of how now when I started using an enzyme in that pool, it was half the scum, if any at all, you know, is using enzymes or not, you know, just based on how thick the pollen line may be and stuff like that. Like I can have two pools next to each other in one exact same layout of everything. And if

You know, one's barely got a pollen line and the other one's got one that's basically covering the entire tile. I know the one covering the entire tile is probably not using an enzyme at all. Just kind of using that example of how it helps. I mean, just in that aspect alone, of course I explain, you know, the chemistry aspect with it too, but you know, just with the scum line and everything is a big one and that's a big story I actually do use and stuff is that one in particular explaining enzymes.

What is the chemistry aspect to enzymes? So how do we explain how enzymes work?

Speaker 1 (37:30.872)
So I always start off my conversations about enzymes as, enzymes are wonderful. They're wonderful because they do so much. One of the big things that they do is they help your overall chemical efficiency. You your chlorine doesn't have to just focus on doing everything. You know, it can focus more on the aspect of actually sanitizing your pool, you know, where it's that way the enzyme can focus on the gunk, the scum line and stuff like that too. So that's a big one that I use a lot.

for explaining enzymes and the chemistry aspect to them is just the overall chemical efficiency of the pool. Your chlorine's gonna last a little bit longer. We talk about that a lot because we actually add an enzyme to every single one of our pools every single visit.

been in the industry for 35 years. We've never had to worry about phosphates. I think it's made up. Phosphate removers are bullshit.

What's your response?

time and place what's causing the problem. Have I seen cases where as soon as we drop phosphate remover in it, it will help significantly? Yeah, I've seen that happen before. I've also treated pools that, you know, swamp green pools or pools that are having constant algae growth and whatnot without even using phosphate remover as well too. So I mean, I think it has its time and place, but I also think it can be okra-used. I think it has its time and place, but I wouldn't necessarily say it's

Speaker 1 (38:54.774)
a complete necessity, especially not all the time and stuff. it has its time and place.

That's a lot in line with my thinking. always tell folks, well, you know, the water's not the same as it was 30 years ago. They add a lot more stuff to it, right? It's municipality. But number two, I phosphates aren't a problem until they're a problem. And then we deal with them up until that point. I mean, that's up to you. If you want it to be part of your protocol of care and that's what you offer, that's fantastic. But if you don't, I'm not going to knock it either unless you can't keep your pools clear. Then it's a whole different story.

Yep, I said.

Speaker 2 (39:29.228)
When somebody you've mentored moves on, whether to another company, another industry, or just further in their own path, you hope they carry with them that will always remind them of you.

What? Do

Speaker 1 (39:43.17)
Just the lessons I've taught them and been with them on really is a big one, especially in terms of maybe how they add chemicals or just the way they approach certain situations, the way they may talk to a certain customer, the way they may do a green to clean process. All of those are really big ones. anybody, especially ones that I've really gotten close to and mentored a lot, and really anybody that I've mentored in some way, shape or form, I always stay in touch with.

some more frequently than others, minimum once to twice a year and everything like that. So that that's a big thing that I still do is I still talk to all of them. You know, I actually have one that randomly I was on my way home a few weeks ago. You know, I got home and I had to read my text messages. I had a text message from one of them that said, hey, go check your mailbox. And I'm just, you know, super confused about it. And stuff like, OK, go check my mailbox. And, you know, I'm a big UGA fan, go dogs. But

There was a pair of Georgia socks and blanket there for me and stuff like that. Just kind of in the note, know, just thank you and everything. So like that was, you know, a big thing, you know, getting that was definitely caught me off guard. Made my heart feel really good. You know, to know that somebody knows that I'm still there for them and they can still call me. I'm always a phone call or text message away. I tell everybody that all the time. You know, I answer and I tell them this too. I was like, I will answer your phone call if I'm laying in an ER bed.

Because I will, I've been before, you know, but I'm there for them, that my team, my technicians, and just really anybody in the school industry, at the end of the day, I'm there for them. Just like others were there for me. Well, I'm going to do that for them, for others too, because that's what's going to keep the industry going and keep the industry growing. So, you know, that's, that's the biggest thing to me, you know, is giving back to the industry that gave me so much, you know, because this industry has been my life. mean, I was a swimmer growing up, you know,

like this industry was brand new to me either. So, you know, it's it's a love and it's a care and want to give. So, you know, seeing them take the lessons I taught them, especially in terms of just how I approach a situation or how I treat a green pool, which I don't always treat them all the same, you know, and they know that and them taking that with them to the next company and knowing that. What lets me know that I did my part?

Speaker 2 (42:08.878)
It's look at it is trying to get through the message of individualized patient care and have people. mean, it's the same. It's the same thing you said. It's not cookie cutter. We don't handle everything exactly the same. Every pool is a patient and you're the doctor poolside with the patient. So you have to make decisions and you have to make decisions based on that patient. I'm right there with you. I'll say, UGA probably one of the prettiest universities, the campus, the layout.

that I've been to. I've taught there a few times. The people there are always very friendly, amazing, amazing facility. One of my favorite places. I don't travel like I used to anymore, definitely aside from the drive to get from here to there, it was always one of my favorites. Outside of that, it was a bit of a haul.

But it's close to you.

It's close to you.

Yeah, two hours, but yeah

Speaker 2 (43:08.878)
It's always kind of neat whenever I go there, I'd stay at the hotel that they have on campus because they actually have degrees in hospitality. So they actually have an working hotel that the students run that you can actually stay in, which I think is pretty cool. But it was always really close to the pool and everybody there was always fantastic and just such a beautiful facility, beautiful pool. I've absolutely loved it. And that's not saying that it's my top favorite, but definitely one of probably the top five that I've been to as far as just.

the pool, the overall experience, the layout of the facility. And of course I have to factor in parking availability because some places you just cannot. And unfortunately that makes it suck to visit and not an issue there. So cool. this will be the last question before we wrap it up. There's a lot of people that listen and mentorship. mean, it's new to folks. There's this been this big culture.

of sharing that's come about in the industry over the past 20 years that didn't really exist before that. And maybe it's really only been in the last 10 years where we're not hiding secrets, where everybody is not a competitor, get away from me, I don't want you to know anything because I need to be, I need to know it and you can't know it otherwise you're gonna damage my business. Now we share a little bit more. What advice would you give or what encouragement would you give for someone who's not currently in the role of mentor to consider it?

Be a sponge and be open. Those are my biggest things. And I say that because you have to be a sponge, especially in this industry. Things are always changing. know, new things are coming out. You know, just the standards of things are changing. So, know, be a sponge and willing to absorb all of that. But then also be open to try something different. Because if you don't, it's very easily.

Easy to isolate yourself into a certain corner of this industry and that's where people can start to get bored, get burnt out and leave. know, so especially with someone I see that has a lot of potential to go very far in this industry. You know, I stress them, you know, just be open, just be a sponge, just be willing to attract something different because

Speaker 1 (45:21.09)
And the high times I attempt when they go try something different within this industry real quick, or even if it's just for a job or two a day. A of I end up maybe liking that more. And then there's the occasions where they don't, but then they try something else different and they, you know, they found their niche within the industry. So, you know, being open and being a sponge are the two things that I always stress to everybody, especially ones that I think, you know, have that potential to go up and be a mentor and stuff. So.

Event diver, pool butler, top 10 mentor, nominated for mentor of year. Thank you so much for joining us today. I really appreciate you taking time to answer some of my, all of my questions. I know some are a little bit more absurd than others, but I do appreciate you taking the time to visit with us and talk with everybody that's listening. Talking Pools podcast. Thank you so much for being here. Everybody, thank you for listening. Without you, we are nothing. Without you, we don't exist.

Whoa.

Speaker 2 (46:16.13)
This is your podcast. I am Rudy Stankiewicz. Until next time.

Be good.

Be safe.