A Shirt Is NOT Just a Shirt: The Branding Myth That’s Costing You Customers - Natalie Hood

In this week’s Myth Busting Wednesday, Natalie Hood sits down with Don Douglas, President and Owner of Rev'd Up Apparel, to dismantle one of the most overlooked—and misunderstood—topics in the pool industry:

👉 What your team wears… and why it matters more than you think.

From first impressions and customer trust to team morale, durability, and built-in marketing, this episode breaks down the myths surrounding branded apparel and reveals how something as simple as a shirt can directly impact your bottom line.

🔥 What You’ll Learn

•  Why “a t-shirt is just a t-shirt” is completely wrong
•  How branded apparel builds instant trust in under 3 seconds
•  The hidden cost of not investing in professional uniforms
•  Why small pool companies benefit the MOST from branding
•  How apparel can function as a 24/7 marketing tool (QR codes, visibility, referrals) 
•  The truth about durability vs. cost in harsh pool environments 
•  Why team uniforms improve morale, unity, and professionalism
•  How to eliminate inventory headaches and wasted apparel spend
•  The real difference between “splash-and-dash” vs. professional service presentation

💥 Key Myth-Busting Moments

❌ Myth #1: Custom apparel is too expensive

👉 Reality: Traditional barriers (setup fees + minimums) are outdated. Modern solutions make branding accessible—even for solo operators.

❌ Myth #2: A t-shirt is just a t-shirt

👉 Reality: Your shirt is a walking billboard, trust signal, and first impression before you ever touch the water. 

❌ Myth #3: Branding doesn’t matter for small companies

👉 Reality: Small operators benefit the most—because you ARE the brand.

❌ Myth #4: Custom apparel takes too long

👉 Reality: With modern production methods, turnaround can be as fast as 3–4 weeks. 

❌ Myth #5: You need to be a designer

👉 Reality: Done-for-you design processes eliminate the need for creative skills.

❌ Myth #6: Uniforms don’t affect team morale

👉 Reality: Teams that look unified perform unified—and customers notice immediately.

🧪 Industry Insight

This episode goes deeper than apparel—it’s about perception economics:

•  Customers decide if they trust you in seconds
•  Your truck, uniform, and presence create instant credibility—or doubt
•  Branding consistency = repeat business + referrals

As discussed in the episode:

👉 A clean truck + branded uniform + professional presence
 = Higher close rates and stronger retention

Revdup Apparel
a custom apparel company built for the pool industry. Founded by pool professionals

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome back to the Talking Pools podcast, your go-to source for everything wet, wild, and wonderfully misunderstood in the pool world. I'm Natalie Hood, Director of Education Network for The Grit Game. And before we dive in, I want to give a huge shout out to Lacey Davis, CEO of The Grit Game, for filling in for me last week. If you haven't tuned in to her episode yet, you're absolutely missing out. Lacey didn't just step in, she delivered a powerhouse session. And she broke down how you can grow your pool business by 50%, different types of industry reps and their roles, how to identify a good manufacturer, and why to follow up, relationship building are really non-negotiables if you want to scale. She also shared strategies for leveraging reps to increase sales and margins, plus practical steps to find and connect with reputable reps. So as you can see, it was packed with clarity, real-world examples, and truly the kind of tactical advice you can put into practice immediately. So if you missed it, go back and listen. It's one of those episodes you're gonna want to take notes on. But today, we're diving into a topic that every service company, builder, retailer, and industry pros deal with, whether they think about it or not. Branding, uniforms, and the power of showing up looking like a team. Across the industry, there are so many misconceptions about apparel, from the idea that custom gear is expensive or it requires massive minimums to the belief that a t-shirt is a t-shirt, or that small companies don't need professional branding. You know, and the truth is the way your team looks on the job, it communicates trust, professionalism, and identity long before you ever test the water or touch a piece of equipment. And I'm joined today by Don Douglas, president and owner of Revved Up Apparel, a company built by Pool Pros for Pool Pros. And, you know, Don has created a space where teams can get high quality, durable, fully customized apparel with no minimums. That's right, absolutely no minimums, fast turnaround and designs that actually reflect, you know, your grit and personality of this industry. Today, together, we're gonna bust some myths, talk about what really matters when it comes to workwear, and explore how the right apparel can truly elevate your brand, boost your team's role, and even improve customer perception. So, Dawn, welcome. And before we jump into myths and the magic behind Revved Up, can you give our listeners kind of a quick look at your background and how you really found your way into apparel, the apparel world?

SPEAKER_03 2:35

Absolutely. And uh first, thank you for the opportunity to uh be on the on the uh five today. So my story is pretty, pretty simple and it's probably pretty repeatable by a lot of people. I was in the corporate world. I found myself driving back and forth two hours a day in a commute during COVID when everyone else uh found themselves working from home. And so I in my commute daily, I saw the pool industry growing. And I had been a uh owner in a business prior several years back as an investor. So I remember the opportunities that the pool industry provided. And so the the quickest way to get in was through the service. And so uh we started a service company uh called Revved Up Pull Service, and um and that's how we kind of got our started to the uh to the pool industry.

SPEAKER_00 3:19

Absolutely love it. I remember, you know, I've been to so many shows, and even before I started, you know, really working with the grit game, I saw your shirts, I saw your apparel around, and I was like, dude, that is some really cool apparel. And then joining the grit game, I love it. I mean, I get tons of goodies from you guys all the time. You guys have such fantastic apparel. I mean, you guys have sent stuff like we have like shaker cups that have grit game on it. I always use it, and then you know, I have a ton of hats, and my husband will on occasion steal them from me. And I'm like, buddy, you have all your hats. Use yours. But again, they're pretty cool hats, aren't they? So you guys are really rocking it. And you guys actually just did some major changes to your website. I mean, I was looking at it last week, and my goodness, you guys have so many different companies you're working with in this industry. I mean, that drop-down box just kind of kept going.

SPEAKER_03 4:08

So we had been consolidating all the different companies into some big what we call a store. And so the uh we had had so many companies within the stores that it was almost impossible for them to order. So what we've done is we've gone and we've uh created a landing page for each account. So now each customer, when they come aboard, they have the custom landing page with their branding, uh, with their apparel, and allows them to go and order uh you know 24 hours, seven days a week. Uh I love it.

SPEAKER_00 4:35

And you guys just partnered with Watershape University. I I saw on there too. I saw their name on the drop down and I was like, how cool.

SPEAKER_03 4:41

Yep, we're working with them right now as we speak.

SPEAKER_00 4:43

Awesome. Well, thank you for that introduction and kind of some background. You know, I I feel like again, I I say this on many of my episodes. Once you get in this aquatics industry, you just don't get out. And I would say with your apparel, you can't get out at this point. We need you here. So thank you. So let's dive into some myths. And I think this is a big one, and it's that, you know, custom apparel is too expensive for small pool companies. And, you know, I think there's a lot of small service companies that probably assume, you know, custom gear is out of their reach, and like it's only for big franchises or multiple truck operations. What would you say?

SPEAKER_03 5:21

I would say that for the most part, that is still true. The the barrier that you'll find is that for the small one or two person operation, is that most companies require a large setup fee and then they also require minimums. So, in order for one person to get in the game, they may not may not need six or twelve pieces of one item. So I think that's kind of the the major barrier, and uh it is still a major barrier for a lot of people.

SPEAKER_00 5:46

Yeah, yeah. And so it sounds like you guys, you know, again, for those small pool companies, you guys are really making it affordable. I mean, the no minimums, that's pretty cool. That's fantastic. But I mean, what would be some other ways, you know, if you're definitely for those small business owners that are, you know, kind of listening in and maybe their team are just wearing polos or maybe just like a certain color. How are you guys making that branding more affordable, even if it's for like let's say a one-person operation?

SPEAKER_03 6:10

So so what we do is we basically work with the company was actually devised based off a single uh person. I'm a I'm a pole pro. So uh when I got in the industry, I was a single polo. And so I went out and I bought the nice PFG shirts and I had them embroidered, and I wanted to present a professional you know representation of my company. And so uh went out my first week in training, and I came back that first week, and uh my wife said, Hey, congratulations! You've uh been successful in ruining every one of your shirts, not just some of them, all of them.

SPEAKER_01 6:41

You know what time it is? Wednesday vibes on the Talking Pools podcast.

SPEAKER_04 8:05

The Talking Pools Podcast is now accepting nominations for its 2026 Mentor of the Year Award, honoring those who don't just have the answers, but teach others how to find them. If someone helped shape your path in this industry, now is the time to return the favor. Visit cpoclass.com, click on the Talking Pools Podcast Mentor Award tab, and submit your mentor's name up until May 15th, 2026, because behind every great pool professional, there's someone who showed them how to think.

SPEAKER_05 8:37

I would like to take a moment here to recognize two companies in the swimming pool industry that support mentorship. Blu-ray XL and Revved Up Apparel. Both were sponsors of the 2025 Talking Pools Podcast, Pool Industry Mentor Award, and both have committed to sponsoring it again in 2026. Blu-ray XL is coming on as a title sponsor. Revved Up Apparel is coming on as a silver level sponsor. Thank you both and God bless the Pool Pro.

SPEAKER_03 9:19

I went out and I bought the nice PFG shirt and I had them embroidered, and I wanted to present a professional representation of my company. And so uh went out my first week in training, and I came back that first week, and uh my wife said, Hey, congratulations. You've uh been successful in running every one of your shirts, not just some of them, all of them. And so we had the bleach stains and we had the acid holes, and so uh we went back to the drawing board and I went back to my sister. We grew up in the apparel business. And I reached out and I said, What uh what uh fabrics you know will resist chemicals? And she stated that uh synthetic uh fabrics are more resistant. Um and so we went out and we got the polyester, the moisture wicking fabrics, and then we did like a heat press logo. But then behind that, we still felt there was the the moisture, the heat was trapped behind the logo. So then we found out that we could actually decorate the entire garment. So uh then we started decorating the garment. I found myself in the chlorine line one day, and some guy said, Hey man, I like that shirt. Where'd you get it and how can I get one? And I said, Well, I made it, and I guess I could probably make you one too. So I went back to my sister and I said, Hey, I think we might have something here. And so we went and walked all the shows. We went to the international show, we went to the Pull Nation boot camp, we went to uh Orlando and just walked the floor to say, Hey, if we had something like this, would this be something that you'd be interested in? You know, a lot of people just kind of looked at you and didn't really understand what it was all about exactly at first. But once we we had our first show, I think once you look at it, you see it, you understand what it's about, you know there's a need in the industry. Uh, we didn't see anybody else doing it, so we took the uh Yeah, I love it.

SPEAKER_00 11:05

And it was definitely it was a shot worth taking by far. Well, so you know, you mentioned that you you know you had gone through all of your shirts and then you started to invest in making like your own designs, right, based off your research. You know, is there a true real cost difference between, let's say, the custom gear and like generic shirts?

SPEAKER_03 11:23

I would say there is, and I would say you've got to look at it for more than just the financial aspect of it. The financial aspect is gonna be one thing. Our shirts are a premium material, but they are gonna last longer. I would say they're gonna last three to four times longer than your standard cotton shirt. My shirts, we've been in the industry now for five years. I've been producing the shirts for about four years. I still wear shirts to this day that I I generated four years ago. Now they're probably not as bright, they're a little dingy. It might be a filter clean shirt I wear that day. But the stitching is still solid, the logos are still solid, there's not a bunch of holes, there's not a bunch of you know chlorine stains on the shirt, so it still can be used in the field.

SPEAKER_00 12:02

Yeah, no, that's awesome. I mean, gosh, I I remember every year, you know, gearing up for a race season and the amount of money I dropped on suits and just apparel overall just for that season was astronomical. So you're definitely I I I would have to say I would agree, you're definitely saving money by investing for going out and getting those generics.

SPEAKER_03 12:20

But in addition to that, I think uh the cost and what about the the wear and tear on your on your staff, right? The heat. Uh the material of moisture wicking where it's cotton is absorbent. Um, you've got that big logo on that shirt, that cotton shirt, and that heat is being trapped inside where our shirts are breathable. So uh I think in that aspect it's it's uh there's a cost savings. If your uh staff is, you know, feels better, feels more comfortable, uh feels cooler, they're gonna work better. Uh, think and then the the third pillar would be the branding and the marketing aspect of it. I think you're you're you're losing thousands if you're not advertising on your shirts, using QR codes for Google reviews, using QR codes for your a website, you know, to publish your specials, things like that, uh, with your staff out there. So even as the one one single polar or a person with multiple team members, uh you've got them not only uh making you money with the marketing aspect, protect themselves with the SPF 50, but the shirts are gonna last longer. So I think there's multiple different layers where these shirts actually make make sense. Not just money, but make my make financial sense, but also Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:32

Well, and that kind of uh I'm gonna jump around a little bit. That kind of goes to another myth, and it's a t-shirt is just a t-shirt, it doesn't matter what you wear. And you kind of touched on it, right? With with companies and, you know, it I definitely I say, you know, you want to appreciate those, you want to take care of them that are, you know, who are working for you, right? They need to be comfortable out there. And that was always a big thing that I always heard and was part of was well, shoo, I, you know, what do I get that's gonna actually be durable and I'm gonna be comfortable in while I'm outside in that hot heat, right? And so, you know, and I think people underestimate how much apparel influences professional and customer trust. So let's go to that. That when people say a t-shirt is just a t-shirt, it doesn't matter what you wear. What would you say to that?

SPEAKER_03 14:15

I would say I I would disagree uh 100%. Um I think uh, like I said, the t-shirt is not just one of a safety aspect, what's protecting you with SPF 50, the moisture wicking, keeping your uh body cooler. In addition to that, I think that also with the marketing, like we said, if you've got your logo, uh when you when you first walk up to the to the house to do that first assessment, you know, how what do you look like? You've got basically three seconds uh to establish uh what that person thinks about you, right? So they're looking out the door, they see you, they see you get out of the truck. It's what you are in a rusted truck, you know, are you got uh the rusted bumper? Do you have branding, getting logos on the side of your truck? When you get out, is trash falling out of the door, you know, then they see you. You know, are you are you dressed appropriately? Are you in you know bleached out shorts and you know, uh flip-flops and you know a ripped up t-shirt? You know, or are you branded? You know, I mean, if we see the big brown truck or the big gray-blue truck pull out front and the guy in the brown outfit gets on, or the gentleman or lady gets off in the blue-gray outfit, we know that's either UPS or Amazon. Those are trusted brands. We know them. So we see them, we feel we feel comfortable to know that they're in our yard or our area. So I think if a pool pro, it's very important to uh to not just uh market yourself, but brand yourself. So that way, again, you're in their inner private space, you're in their backyard, they're in their pool area. And so uh when they they look out the window, they want to see somebody they recognize. So they'll see that branding. Okay, it's the you know, it's the pool pro.

unknown 15:50

Right.

SPEAKER_03 15:50

So I think that's an aspect, yeah. And then the last part would be the marketing. Again, having QR codes for reviews. How many times does the customer can say, ever since you guys have taken over, our pool has never looked better? How easy would it be for the technician to say, hey, would you mind letting my boss know? Scan this QR code and give it to Google Review. Or how many times has a neighbor come over and said, Hey, can I get one of your cards for your service? And if the if it's in your pocket, it's probably wet or it's back of the truck if you have any left. And so you've got to stop, go, what if you could just reach out your sleeve and say, Hey, scan this QR code, it's gonna take you right to our site and answer all the questions on our programs that we afford.

SPEAKER_00 16:30

Yeah. You're hitting it right on the city. So a t-shirt's not just a t-shirt. Yeah. Well, it's a walk and billboard. Yeah, and I feel like too, um, you know, business cards are get kind of getting aged out at this point. I mean, I always carry them with me, but I seem to find more people, you know, providing like a look or um, you know, something that you can take a picture of, or they'll like connect phones and you can transfer information that way. And so, I mean, I'll say the last time I went to a show, I brought business cards, definitely brought them. Normally, you know, in the past, I would leave with just about zero business cards. And that was kind of a stressor of like, oh shoot, now I have to order more business cards and that costs money, and then it takes time to get there. Or you maybe you're having to like overnight your business cards, because God forbid you don't have a way to share your information professionally with a customer who's, you know, right there. It's especially nice too if if maybe you're not on a job site and just someone happens to walk by and you're wearing something that they can, you know, scan that QR code and boom, done. Like, how cool is that, right? It's also a good conversation starter, I think, too. Like, hey man, I've been kind of looking into ways to do this. You know, that's so cool.

SPEAKER_03 17:34

And so I was just on a cruise a couple weeks ago, and I was wearing my revved up apparel hat and my revved up apparel shirt, and I had a lady walk up to me and said, Appar obviously you're in the apparel industry, and she said, We have a women's group that we would like to talk about. And so just how cool. You know, out of the blue, we got to chatting about apparel. So I always wear my stuff.

SPEAKER_00 17:57

Oh yeah, yeah, your stuff is great. I definitely I will say I'll anytime I go swimming or I go to the gym to do, you know, yoga or swimming, just general working out. I typically take my grit game shaker cup or I'll have my Alabama cup, but uh that's mainly because my husband's like here, rep Alabama, we're in Tennessee. But actually, no, you're right. It's a great conversation starter. A lot of people are like, Grit game, what's that? And I'm like, well, let me tell you. So you're absolutely right. I love it. And it definitely, you know, I think it definitely upgrades and um transforms your company, and even if you're just like a one-person company. But, you know, let me ask this. So, you know, we talked about, you know, small pool companies. And then on the other spectrum, you have those large pool companies, right? And you're saying, well, hey, those there's no minimum order, right? So I guess why did you guys choose to do the no minimum model?

SPEAKER_03 18:49

Because if you're a big company, you're the minimum's not going to be an issue for you. But if you're a small single polar, just getting started like myself, I needed to have the ability to get to a couple short sleeves, a couple long sleeves, maybe a nice polo so I can work for assessment. So I can look like that bigger company, put that branding, get that marketing going, to enter that. Basically, we were entry-level type of company into the apparel. But obviously, working with the bigger companies, what we do is we we become the fulfillment for them. We basically take care of all the uh the processing of the orders and we ship them out to wherever they need. So uh we provide them the landing page, the site where they can go on, they can order, they can dictate and direct where they'd like those orders to go. Um and now they don't have to worry about who do we order the shirt from last time. Or here's another, here's a good example. Most companies will once or twice a year do a big order. So they'll put in for all the employees, we got to get all the uniforms for the new employees for the start of the season. And then inevitably, after the new order comes in, they'll hire an additional person or two where they didn't take into effect their sizes. So now, now what do we do, right? So they either get the they get the 2XL that was left over from the last batch, or they don't get a shirt at all. And so this allows, yeah, the big company to one, do the big order, they get the quantity breaks, even for the small guys. We do quantity breaks at 3, 6, 9, and 12. But it allows the big company to go in, put that big order in, and then if they do need to come back, uh we hire a couple additional people, they can go in and submit the smaller orders without having again having to worry about the minimums. So they'll do the big order, which is not a problem for the minimums, but as soon as a new staff member comes on, we've got to wait until we put another big order in because and so for big companies, small companies, I just felt that minimums were just a big pain in the pain in the rear end. And you know, it didn't work with my model as a single polar, and so you know, that's how we created the company.

SPEAKER_00 20:44

Yeah. No, I think I think that's so cool because I can't tell you. I mean, just in general, just shopping, it's like, oh, well, order this, you have to order this much in order to get this. And so a lot of the times that tends to steer me away from purchasing products from certain companies because I'm like, well, hey, I just I just need this amount, and if I buy this, I'm it's just gonna be sitting in the back taking up space, which you know, we all know we don't need that, that, especially in busy season, right? We don't need that.

SPEAKER_03 21:12

Well, and when you order the large orders, you inevitably order a bunch of different sizes, and then you'll always end up with a couple smalls left over, or a couple, you know, two or three Excel's left over, and that's wasted, you know, turkey for a rag or you know, a giveaway or or whatever. So here, real-time ordering, um, you order what you need when you need.

SPEAKER_00 21:32

Yeah, and I mean it sounds like too, you're really saving the customer's saving a lot of money because again, talking about that leftover inventory that's not being used. I know I've worked with different companies and I've asked, they've given me their their uh branded clothes, and it's like three sizes too large. I'm having to tie it here and tie it there and try and make it profess look professional. And so I I think again, I think the no minimum is just it's fantastic. I think it's a brilliant idea. And it's it's especially it really does help. those small businesses because again, you have those seasonal teams and in different parts of this industry, there is going to be a lot of turnover. It doesn't matter what you do, there is going to be turnover and it's turnover is life, but some some areas of the aquatic industry, there is a high turnover. And it's not, I mean, you could say it's due to education, due to support, but again, there's just I've always seen a high turnover, especially with lifeguards. They tend to have a high turnover. I mean, I was a lifeguard all through high school. I did some lifeguarding through college and kind of here or there moving with my husband being in the military. But even then that's all that's a very high turnover profession. And so by being able to order with no minimums, it's just, it's really helping the customers save on costs and companies.

SPEAKER_03 22:43

I think service side of the pool industry is very much like that. I mean we call it um you know groundhogs day and it's where you when you show up the next week you feel like I was just here wasn't I just here yesterday. And so you have to switch your routine up. You've got to make sure that you're testing different things and make sure that you're not getting into a rut. And I can definitely see where the service industry is a high turnover, especially for people that are non non-owners. And so you've got to just keep them engaged, keep growing, keep growing their mind, keep growing their education.

SPEAKER_00 23:14

Yeah, absolutely. I mean I I know there's a lot of people that get in this industry and they're like hey I'm going to do this this summer and then they get in they actually get in the weeds and they're like oh well this was not what I was expecting. I need to take a step back get educated and then kind of dive back in. And so right there you're going to have a gap with that that you know body. So yeah love it.

SPEAKER_03 23:34

Yeah there's there's a tremendous gap between splash and dash service and professional service.

SPEAKER_00 23:40

Yeah 100% well what would you say if someone were to say well and you know that maybe they're still thinking about it and they're like well you know custom apparel that takes forever. It's just so much quicker for me to go to a store and buy it buy it. And you know there's this idea that custom means slow, long lead times or you know complicated processes and endless back and forth. So what does that look when I say that you know custom apparel takes forever to produce what would you say to that?

SPEAKER_03 24:07

Well traditionally what you'll see a lot of times is you'll see a lot of stuff being produced out of the country to get the better rates. We produce everything here within the state we do everything electronically as far as our uploads and go forth so we can actually produce our orders real time. So as soon as the customer provides the order we create the cut template and then we we upload this to our printer and then they start printing within a day or two depending on the time period of the year. So we turn it around as quick as we can you'll typically see from the start to the finish of the order process to when we quality control it ship it to you is typically three to four weeks.

SPEAKER_00 24:44

That's awesome and that's great. I mean you're absolutely right with with having everything done in the United States is definitely you know you're going to get your stuff quicker because you know there's a couple companies out there that do have it imported with all those tariff issues right now you don't know when you're going to get your product. You know I mean I I've ordered I've placed orders for apparel for like my kids not realizing and the delivery date is unknown even the company it's like we're not sure when we're going to be able to deliver this and I'm like bummer but yeah no you're absolutely right. Well how do you keep the process fast without sacrificing sacrificing well our process um is pretty simple.

SPEAKER_03 25:23

We don't do the traditional method. So a traditional shirt is traditionally cut at the factory it's sewn at the factory and then it's sewn to the uh the apparel manufacturer and then they purchase a pre-cut and sewn shirt. What we do is we actually our shirts start out on a big roll of material. Think of like a big carpet roll and think of that carpet roll rolling across the big machine and we're and we're burning or infusing the image into the material with the gas it's a gas process. And so it's called dye sublimation and so we're basically dyeing the fabric you know with the with the ink. And so what that does is that there's no layers on tops there's no ink right it's breathable stretches with the material and then once that goes through we actually cut it with a laser so we cut the front panel you cut the back panel you cut the sleeves the collar and we take all those pieces together and then we sew the shirt. So let's say for example let's say that you're a tall individual with an XL but you're tall torso and when you lean over you know you get the plumber's issue right so you'd like to have a little more length in your torso or your arms we can actually lengthen those. So these are really kind of these are custom uh garments now we have a standard scything chart that we cut to but if you say hey I'm a little longer in the arm or a little longer in the torso we can actually stretch that out to two inches and provide you a little more length than that. So we have that ability to do those things. And again because we print first we can print the entire garment and then we can sew it together. So that's how you get the image going all through the fabric versus traditional shirts you get the left chest the front the back or the sleeves.

SPEAKER_00 27:04

Yeah that's awesome. No and I have another one of you know of course I have your apparel and you've sent it um you know the great game obviously uses it but yeah no I just looking at it my husband was like you can't really see it with my with how I have my screen but um even my husband he was like that's pretty cool I really like that and he was like this would be like really great to like work out in or do rocks in and I was like yeah it's really breathable it's awesome. I did not know you did that workflow. That is so cool. Well yeah what about this? What if you know let's say you have someone out there and they're like okay you have a pool pro they have a small small company maybe they have four or five staff and they they have an idea but they're like well shoot I know I want to be professional. I really want to grow my brand but they're they they don't know how to be a designer. And so I think that's another myth out there is that you have to be a designer to create good looking branded gear. And I know a lot of pool pros don't they don't feel creative. They just want to get out there they want to you know they want to surface that pool spa what have you and they think that well shoot I need to have a graph a graphers designer you know background to kind of get started. What would you say to that?

SPEAKER_03 28:11

I would say that's not the case with us. What we do is we actually work with you we do what's called a design experience. So what we do is we work with you we have a consultation we collect like your colors your logos any elements you might want to see in the design and then what we'll do is uh we'll take that back to our design team to our artist and then they'll take that information and what we traditionally try to do is we try to take an aspect of your logo and we'll try and break that out. So let's say you are um a gray shark full service right so their logo is a shark yeah cartoon shark what we've done is we've taken that shark and blown that shark up into the you know into the design that covers the whole shirt so not just a logo on the front or one on the back now that design is going all throughout the shirt. And so we take that we fit with that we'll take that first revision our first design we'll send that back to you. And then you'll take a look at that and you'll go okay I like this or I don't like that you know I want to change this maybe we could switch this out or move this over there. And so we'll go back and forth several times with our design team until we get that right. And so it takes usually about four to five going back and forth and then you'll get that dialed in and then once you say hey we like it we're gonna take that information and we're gonna put that into a 3D format on all different formats short sleeve long sleeve hoodie performance hoodie leggings for ladies shorts for men you know polos we're gonna put that you got it we're gonna put that on the site for you and then we're gonna let you know hey your site is ready and then you can go and order in the convenience of your home in your due time when you need as you need. Now what we see a lot of times is if they're not exactly sure about the product they've never seen the product it is a premium product what we recommend is hey let's do the design let's get the logo the design looking good and then print a shirt. Print uh you know if you have a large team we say print a small a short sleeve a long sleeve and try them out have the team take a look at them try them on and get a feel for them. And so what the bigger companies do they'll typically yeah they'll order an array of one piece they'll try them out to say okay is the quality there you know is it really what they say it is and once they see the quality there we see them coming back and putting larger orders. So my recommendation to someone who's not sure if this is the right fit for them is to look go to design process uh and do it and do a shirt do one shirt and for less than $200 you're in the game. You now can touch it you can feel it you can wear it out there and say okay is this is this worth investing or not and I guarantee nine times out of ten you're gonna say this is a good fit for our company and uh and then you'll be coming back and putting a big order in so that is so cool.

SPEAKER_00 30:54

I love that you give you know your customers the ability to like touch feel try on you know before they commit to a purchase because I'll tell you that UPS FedEx Whole Foods wherever you have to do your returns when you purchase because I I'm a big offender. I buy a lot of my apparel online I don't have the time to go out and you know spend hours and hours looking for apparel and quite frankly actually I've noticed that a lot of the apparel in stores is more expensive than it is if I were to just have it shipped to my house. I mean I'm kind of like an Amazon queen sometimes and like you know it used to be my husband was like oh gosh what'd you order now what the kids don't need anything else but now a lot of his shopping he does it online because we're we just have such busy lives and it's just so much more convenient. You know I mean it's just and a lot of the times you go out and there's long lines and it's just like nope and I can think about it sleep on it and go back to my cart and it's still there.

SPEAKER_03 31:49

So yeah I I totally get that think about the manager who has to manage all of it. They've got to check the inventory of what they have right for the bigger companies. They've got to go make sure they've got all different sizes and then they want to make sure they don't uh have too many sizes left over at the end of the year. Yeah they get the new people coming in we take we basically become your fulfillment center for you we take that off your plate.

SPEAKER_00 32:10

That is so cool. Well what if you what if there's a comp what what if you have a startup company and they're like well shoot I don't even have you know a logo or design does Rev Up I mean like what steps would you guys take? I mean again we're talking like a a true startup company they but they're very they've just started they're still looking at maybe like colors.

SPEAKER_03 32:28

We can do the same process for the logo as we can do for your brand design. So we'll meet with you we'll discuss the things that you like to see the something you like to see within your logo things that you know that make you smile and uh we'll take that information we'll send it back to the art team and they'll come back with a couple different ideas and then you pick one and then we go we'll find it from there.

SPEAKER_00 32:49

That's awesome. You know and I'll say I there's there's there's of things that I do where I'm extremely creative but then like you know I like I work with Lacey Davis she's my boss and she has such this creative mind. But there's some things that I'm like my creativity it's just like it's gone for the day. I've done so much like there's there's no more creativity. So by being able to go somewhere and be like help me and it's the same place where you can actually purchase you know your apparel from that's pretty cool. That takes a lot of additional work off my shoulders.

SPEAKER_03 33:18

So well AI AI is a big uh a big help so I mean a lot of people now will go onto AI and they'll say hey create me a logo based with this and kind of put the information in and they'll send that to us and then we'll take that logo and uh that artwork and then we'll take it and then we have to go out and we have to source all those pieces those textures those items we have to source those in a digital format because we just can't take the AI logo and throw it on the shirt. It doesn't work that way. But we'll take that information recreate it as close as we can and then send that back to the customer for the review. And we do this all electronic uh you receive it uh you know your uh revisions in your email you check it uh we understand that you're out in the field you're working during the day um so we understand that if you don't check that at night you'll find that we're actually pretty responsive we respond pretty much seven days a week uh if we can um because we understand that the pros out there are working usually Monday through Saturday you know from sun up to sundown and the last thing they really have time to deal with is apparel so we try to make it easy for them.

SPEAKER_00 34:20

Yeah no I I agree I I will say definitely our team on the weekends Saturday and Sunday is like a is just another Monday to them. They're out there working and you know I'm constantly seeing those updates from them. So yeah you're absolutely right by taking that off their shoulders and their plate definitely alleviates a lot of stress. Well and you know I think too I kind of want to go back to something previously we talked about earlier and you know talking about small companies or big companies if you will but I would say I know that there are some people out there quite a few companies that they're just like well branded apparel really doesn't affect team morale and with how many different teams you guys are working with, I was like, well shoot I'm definitely going to have to ask Don what his thoughts are on this because you know honestly I think uniforms create unity and they really make a team feel like a team. And again you you're working with so many different companies and so I would I would ask to you what changes have you noticed from companies um you know after they've switched over to a brand in gear?

SPEAKER_03 35:15

So one we see a lot of posting yeah again because we create yeah we create that design based on their logo so it's their it's their feel it's you know it's their company it's not we just don't take a template off the internet and throws slap your logo on top and say hey check out the zigzag lines with your logo no this has got portions of your logo designed in it. It does so if you've been to any of the shows this year you have seen the teams walking around they're in their polos there in their hoodies and these you know these aren't just t-shirts that the that the owner had handed out you know five minutes before they walked into the show right because they're ones they were wearing in the field are all bleached out so you know these are you can tell I mean these guys walk in I was looking at uh some information from the Pull Nation uh boot camp a couple weeks ago and we had a couple of our customers their teens are in there and you see them all the teams standing around in their branded gear. I don't know when you walk around the show and you're in professional gear I think you feel like a unit you feel like uh you feel important I think I mean I don't know I remember when I was in the military I always enjoyed going into the community with in my uniform because you know people respected us and loved us and so um I don't know I I think it I think it um adds a lot the morale I think one it also cuts down on what are we going to wear tomorrow you know what what is he going to show up in tomorrow. You know I don't have to worry about that. That's right. You know it's like am I gonna ask him to go home and change again or you can't wear that so I think it I think it gets rid of that issue as well. So I think definitely I think it adds a level of pride uh respect. You feel like I said like a part of the unit.

SPEAKER_00 36:53

Yeah you feel official and you know you're absolutely right I mean um I went to quite a few shows this year and last year and I the posting I I always love seeing you know that the after posting the photos or videos or reels and you can see all of those employees on that team you know the bright shining smiles and they're they're rocking their gear they're official they they're professional and again I think one of the biggest things one of the biggest takeaways is shoot I don't have to figure out what I'm wearing tomorrow. It's already laid out I know the rest of the team members are going to wear this because you know as girls we definitely you know we might change through four or five different outfits. When I pack it looks like I'm going for a month I'm I'm that person I got I have the big bag I have numerous pairs of shoes do I wear even a quarter of the things in my suitcase absolutely not I don't but I like options but then again I also like I I'm definitely that girl I have no shame my husband's my husband hates traveling with me and my girls are turning into me so you know that's that's that's a whole nother podcast episode but it just makes it so much easier that I'm just like oh I can just wear this and change out the shoes based off of what I'm gonna be doing that day how big that show floor is or you know maybe how many different service routes I'm gonna be doing that day you know and how long I'm sitting out in the sun for what have you so I would absolutely agree and it's always I always love lion financials. I love their photos because they always have a line with them. So it definitely builds your brand and the awareness.

SPEAKER_03 38:21

I always love the lion yeah I love the lion we actually we actually see the companies that have they'll have a construction team they'll have a service team and then the admin the office and they'll have the same uh design and feel but in different colors and so that way they know if the person's on the construction team or if the person's on the service team or admin.

SPEAKER_00 38:42

Oh okay I like that I like that and it's still you know you're still official you're still part of the team but you're with this you're you're on this side you know I love it.

SPEAKER_03 38:51

Some cup some companies like they're they're fans of their company to buy their stuff so they'll link the site through their website so they can go you know basically like a fan page they can go buy gear like we'll do we do fan pages for certain companies if they want so we'll do the cups and the towels and flags and all that stuff.

SPEAKER_00 39:07

Cool very cool. So my husband's probably going to reach out to you for Alabama gear. I'm just gonna tell you now okay I wonder if I can print that I don't have the licensing right now I'm just teasing um well what would you say you know I I think again some people listening or just people in companies in general they might think well you can't get durable high quality apparel without paying the premium prices and you know pool work is rough and chemicals sun sweat abrasion and cheap shirts don't last and so what what would you say to that?

SPEAKER_03 39:37

How does Rev balance the durability and you know well the durability with affordability well I think uh because you can get into the game uh with no minimums uh one that helps cover the affordability price right so you don't have to have uh $500 first setup fee and you don't have to buy 12 of each piece to get an order in so uh I think we start out at uh $175 is our design fee I think for the show special I think we do like $125 for like the grip game right so um and then so that's that's hardly anything to get into the game we get the design created we get it logged onto the site uh we get you all set up there and that's a one-time charge and then now you just go order as you need. So again $125 on the design uh one shirt for $50 year in for less than $200 you now know if that was a good investment or not. Now you can go purchase additional if you need. So I think yeah so I think from the aspect it's it's affordable. The durability I know is there the the quality of the construction of the of the shirt is 100% top notch. I wear them every day in the field so I know that and uh it's gonna last you at least three to four times if you get it in moderate care. Okay now again again at the end of the day it is a shirt it is material it's polyester so you know if you're if you're rubbing up against stuff and you know it's gonna it's gonna get some pills and things like that. So you know again if you're using magic lube and wiping your hands on your shirt it's gonna stay in the shirt. So um you know with bleach uh or you know chlorine acid I say if you see that you spilt that on there go ahead and uh douse that thing with some water you know go ahead and take good care of it. But if you'll take good care decent care of your apparel it'll take good care of you and you'll get that three to four time life out of it.

SPEAKER_00 41:20

Yeah and I think to so many people out there may maybe not so many I might be assuming but I think people that maybe they're not noticing the splash up and you know they're continuing on their day and this splash up just continues to happen or that t-shirt or polo is getting exposed more and more but you're absolutely right you do have to take care of your apparel for it to last longer right totally makes sense. Yeah absolutely so let me ask this and it's you know this is another myth and it's that custom now I know you've you you come from you know the background you were a pro you're you're you you you were on a route earlier today before we jumped on right you've been with you've been in pools outside of pools all day um and it's you know that custom apparel companies they don't understand the pool industry and I I kind of feel like this is where you guys actually truly differ, right? Because you were pool people first.

SPEAKER_03 42:12

You know so look you know I understand that from the minute I pull up I am representing my company right so the customer looks out they're gonna see the website uh if they call me to set up an assessment uh but when I pull up that's the first thing they're ever gonna see and so I'm digging to branding I have my truck branded I'm in fact the day after I branded my truck I picked up a brand new account in the nicest neighborhood in my my neighborhood you know that's just um the neighborhood I have here so I believe in the branding but I get out of my truck it's it's clean right it's not uh bleach doesn't have a rusty bumper I get out of the truck I've got a nice apparel on I've got maybe a collared shirt uh versus the work shirt I had on earlier I'll always carry up like a nice collared shirt if I have an assessment that afternoon. Switch out real quick come in I look like the boss we come in and do our assessment right they're assessing they give again the three seconds to basically assess me to size me up and so uh with then we come in and hopefully we speak the proper language and we give a good assessment and then we pick up the pool and then we we move forward. But I guarantee you if they're looking at two or three different people they're taking going okay that guy walked up and you know he was in a bleached out shirt and you know and flip flops. Now they have a third guy you know his truck looked like he I'm not sure if he's gonna make it here next week. So you know again you represent you are the company that's all they see is what they see on the website or what they see.

SPEAKER_00 43:33

Yeah which is you are your brand you know and it it does matter in the service world world. I mean I I do think branding really does influence customer perception. You know just as you said we were talking when we first started you see that recognized brand like Amazon or um you know FedEx UPS Rev up and you're like oh I know that person. I trust that person or you see them on your your ring camera or you know one of your your simply safe camera that you have in the backyard, whatever you know home system if you have one you see them out there and you're like oh you know there's Mike he's out there you know oh there he is right on time and he might be working on that pool but he's still looking professional he's trusted and if I have guests over it's like oh yeah yeah look at that he's you know I've got someone out there working on my pool and look how look how well put together they are which is big and I think a lot of people as a single polar I take vacation right so people fill in for me I never take the four weeks I always fill in have people fill in for me so the first year I did that I got a call from my customer hey Don are you still with us you know I saw somebody different they pulled up a different truck today and uh it wasn't you so are you still our pool guy yes I'm still your pool guy Mr.

SPEAKER_03 44:43

Customer I was just you know I'm on vacation so like filling in for me you know guess you can see an email but so from that point now all the guys that fill in for me they all wear my revved up uh gear so they wear revved up apparel when they're servicing my pools.

SPEAKER_00 44:57

Yeah no that's a good point because I mean at some point we do have to take a a moment to breathe during the busy months. I mean I granted I think every month now is busy in this uh industry I I there used to be a slow carry but I I don't think that's really uh I don't think that's a thing anymore. I think we're just all busy all year round, right? But that's yeah that's a good point. I mean gosh you need to be able to schedule time for you to refill your cup right so absolutely good point. Well and our last myth is you know some people think you know we've talked about branding yourself whether you're a small company big company it really branding really does matter right you know it makes employees feel better it's satisfaction but I want to go back to the ordering process and I think some people might find that you know ordering apparel could be complicated and it would require special software right and so you know some people might think well shoot this is going to be really overwhelming. I'm gonna have to set time aside it's gonna be out you know maybe I might not have the time and it's almost like they might be like well I I need to have these certain design tools or you know tech skills. And so what would you say to that?

SPEAKER_03 46:02

Someone who's like well shoot ordering apparel is complicated and requires special software we take it all out of your hands uh basically with our landing page uh you log on to the landing page through the internet like you would any other uh website and uh you place your order on the site are the payments secure you get a notification as soon as your order is in place we receive that order we process that order and then we notify you when it's being shipped out we provide the tracking number so very simple no no special software required again they can link our site right through their website if they want to uh so it's easy for their staff to find or for them to find again the hardest part on the reorders trying to try to locate the company we went last time and who was our rep and who did we speak to and you know now it's just all centrally located right there on the Rev Apparel website with your individual store with your brand and your apparel so you can't accidentally order anybody else's gear.

SPEAKER_00 46:59

Oh I love that yeah I would say you know I'm definitely tech savvy in other areas but I will say my husband is my IT department he gets fired quite often love the man but I do fire him as all most wives do. But you know for those non-tech savvy business owners I do think that's that's really helpful right and again it takes one less stressor off their desk they just don't have to worry about yeah yeah they want to focus on cleaning pools and growing their business and so we want to focus on providing the apparel that helps them do that. Right, right. That is so cool. Well Doug, I can't thank you enough. I mean this has been such a fun and truly generally eye-opening conversation. You know it's a really amazing how many assumptions people carry out about apparel you know like what it costs, what's it for, how complicated it is and really and what you've built with Revved Up you know it's more than just t-shirts it's it you know and hoodies. It's confidence, identity and it's really a great way for teens to show up looking you know unified capable and really proud of the work they do. And I think that's the real takeaway is that you know apparel it's not just clothing it's branding you know it's it's trust it's the first impression you make before you even ever touch test the water or you know touch a piece of equipment. And you know when you look like a team customers they're gonna treat you like a team and you know your team's gonna actually start acting like one in my opinion. You know so Don, I just I I can't thank you enough. And is before we jump off, is there anything that you want to leave our listeners? You know again we we have a wide range of listeners. Is there anything you kind of want to leave them if they're possibly on the fence of well shoot should I order branded apparel for myself or my team? Maybe they're just like a single operator. They're getting their certification right now and they're like well shoot you know do I need this is is is a name taught is a name tag not enough?

SPEAKER_03 48:49

Well you absolutely need it you need for the SPF protection to protect yourself the moisture wiki keep yourself cool especially the single polar out there by yourself you're drinking that water every day and taking all the precautions you can to protect yourself. At the same time as a single polar you need to make sure that you're out there branding yourself letting people know that you're out there that you're available the more they see you coming through that neighborhood every week they may not need a pool person today but tomorrow they might. So that when their pool guy doesn't show up next week and their pool goes green, hey can you help me out? So they see you every week you build that trust you build that confidence and then lastly that marketing aspect where you're actually branding yours not just branding yourself but you're getting the name out there with the Google reviews and getting people to your site so they can look at your services and hire you for additional things. So you know if you've got two if you're just a single person you're a one man band out there doing it all. Right?

SPEAKER_00 49:44

So let these let this clothing help you in three aspects of that if you're a larger company let your let your soldiers out there your admin your text when they're going to lunch and and going to the pool let them be the branding and the marketing uh arm for you that you're already paying for yeah no absolutely I I could not agree more and shoot I don't know how but we're we're almost mid-April we are mid April and you know pool season is right around the corner it's it's coming quick it's coming fast I mean just this last weekend my kids were out Saturday and Sunday I had our slip and slide out we had our mini pool out the shark pool it's it's coming back it's waiting um so yeah you're absolutely right now is definitely the time to jump on all that preparation get that get you know get your name out there get branded start getting those customers start getting notice now so when pool season hits you're set up that's right yeah that's right especially in the spring in the spring because everybody's been riding you know the winter time and now everything's starting to grow again and suddenly if their pool guy's not at the speed or their pool guy's not showing up whatever the case may be you need to be visible so that way they can say hey revved up or you know ABC pool company he's right across the street let's grab him right now. Yeah absolutely I could not agree more. Well again huge thank you to you Don Douglas owner of Rev Up Apparel for breaking down some misconceptions sharing the story behind the brand and showing us how simple accessible and impactful good apparel can be for companies of any size you know and if you want to check out Rev Up Apparel's designs custom options or get your own gear started how would they how would they revved up?

SPEAKER_03 51:23

Just simply go to www revaparel dot com. That's r-evd upapparel dot com and just go to the first page and book a meeting and that's a free consultation uh with our team and we'll basically explain the entire process to you in detail and then from there you can make that decision whether you want to do for it or not.

SPEAKER_00 51:46

Very cool. Well thank you I you know again if anyone's out there listening still on the edge if you have questions I'm sure Don would be absolutely more than happy to meet with you again. He just did say free consultation. So thank you again so much. And as always thank you for tuning into the Talking pools podcast where we keep things wet wild and wonderfully honest. I'm Natalie Hood and we'll see you next time