Posted by Justin Gregoli on December 26, 2008 at 11:16am
This is a question I asked myself a while back.After 18 years in the industry I was trying to figure out, What's next? What am I destined to do in this industry? Am I just going to continue with what I am doing?Let me start with a bit of background.I started in the pool and spa industry in March of 1990 as an assistant manager for Leslie's Swimming pool supplies. I had never owned a pool or spa, the only exposure to the industry was going to a local chain of pool stores that supplied Christmas items during the Holiday season. I grew up in Brooklyn, NY and the swimming pool of my youth was a "johnny pump" (fire hydrant), we would open these up with a large adjustable wrench and let the water flow, I guess you could call this an early spraypad. Anyway, I started as the assistant manager of this store and I had to learn EVERYTHING and as the season went on I realized I enjoyed the repairing of equipment, cleaners etc that the customers would bring in. Another aspect I was enjoying was the chemistry involved in maintaining the swimming pool. After the first year I came to realize that this was the industry for me and decided to put as much effort as possible into my advancement of this "new" career.Over the next 12 or 13 years I have spent time with a couple retail dealers, owned my own service company and even ran a spa division for that very company that sold my parents the Christmas decorations when I was a kid. After that I decided to move my family south to Maryland and I realized something, Somewhere along the way I fell in love with this industry and I could not tell you when the change happened or even why, but it did.Now that this revelation has happened it was time to decided what's next in this industry for me and my family. While spending the next 5 years selling pools, spas, supplies etc. at the dealer that I am with now I have been working on that "what's next?" question trying different things to see what fits. I did take a year and a half of that time and ran another spa division for a very large company that primarily sold fitness equipment, what a mistake that was, live and learn. I have been back at this dealer for just under a year and it has been a great fit, but that still does not answer the question of, "what's next?"About a year and a half ago I was sitting on the couch looking through the television guide and came across a note stating a new channel was coming to the cable line up, "Planet Green". My first thought was "oh great a channel that is going to tell me how bad I am taking care of the planet, how we should all walk the 50 miles to work I drive or I am going to kill some far away endangered bird by smoking cigarettes out on my front porch". Well let me tell you I wasI wrong, this channel has opened my eyes more than you could imagine. I realized the things we should be doing for the benefit of everyone including myself and most of it is just simply logical.This is when the light bulb went off in my head, I looked over at my wife and asked her "what do you think about a Green pool or spa?". She said "yuk!!, a green pool? Isn't that what you try and avoid everyday for your customers. Why would you want a green pool?" I told her, "no, not green as in algae, green as in sustainable, maybe self- sustainable like the home construction and renovation we watch on Planet Green". Her response? " oh, whatever you want dear".My problem now was, why? What is my motivation for such an undertaking? Is it for Green, Green or Green?-The first Green is for, the obvious, the environment. Do I want to try and save the planet?-The second Green is for my profit. Will I make money? To make more money than I am now?-The third Green is for the customer saving money. To help them save money on the bills that are mounting and increasing every day. Am I trying to save them money?After a bit of thought my answer came to me. Why can't it be all three? Why can't I help the environment, save my customers money AND make a profit?This is how I reached the point of my slogan "Where Green Meets Blue" I think it can be the answer to every question that pertains to the Green movement and the pool industry.Justin
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