Overcoming adversity as a female entrepreneur in the pool industry

by arslan_ahmed | November 22, 2022 6:30 am

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By Mike Echols

Pool dealers, builders, and service technicians are the lifeblood of the pool industry. It is because of these professionals that homeowners learn about their pools and how to maintain them. Their expertise helps homeowners enjoy their pools for years to come.

One industry manufacturer helps its dealers grow their businesses with resources through its Pentair Partner Centre. To celebrate them, the company shares stories of some of its key dealer partners, such as Lynn White, and the inspiring work they are doing to advance the pool industry.

White, owner of Water Works Pool & Spa in Tuscaloosa, Ala., is an entrepreneur who took over her family pool business at the age of 24. In her story, she shares her experience and provides encouragement and advice for other women in the industry.

Lynn White’s story

According to a study by Zippia, only 11 per cent of pool installers are women. For women such as White, this makes her success even more rewarding.

She trailblazed her path in the pool industry by staying true to her values. As a 38-year veteran in the pool business, she learned how to successfully run a company from an early age when taking over her family business after her father had a stroke.

As Water Works Pool & Spa approaches 40-years in business, White reflects on how she has achieved success. One thing is clear, her strong work ethic and devotion to treating her customers and employees with respect allows her to overcome barriers in her path. White, like other women, recognizes there is a growing space to succeed professionally and personally in the pool industry.

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Women in the pool industry

From the beginning, White had to prove herself to customers and illustrate that she knew the ins and outs of the pool industry. She experienced customers addressing questions to male co-workers rather than giving her the opportunity to respond or address problems. Although she has faced challenging customers in the past, one thing White can guarantee is how she responds to negativity. She makes it a point to treat every customer, pleasant or unpleasant, with respect and builds her business on those values.

“It was hard to not internalize the little comments throughout the years, but I knew I couldn’t dwell on them,” says Lynn. “To other women in the pool industry, keep your head held high and always focus on growing your business despite challenges you may face personally and professionally.”

White learned over the years how to overcome adversity and successfully run her business. She shares the following four tenets with other professionals looking to grow their businesses and navigate the highly competitive pool industry.

1. Adapt to your customers’ needs

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Adaptability is key in the pool industry. Business owners should be constantly asking themselves: are my customers content and how can I keep them coming back?

The need for adaptability has never been so evident as with the rise of COVID-19. The pandemic brought a business boom to the pool industry no one could have predicted. In fact, the pool industry has experienced a surge of growth over the last decade.

Further, because of COVID-19, home recreational activities were more in demand than ever before. To keep up, many pool professionals, such as White, worked seven days a week for months on end to meet customer expectations. People cooped up in their homes were looking for ways to have fun safely and
escape the trials and tribulations of everyday life. Homeowners wanted to create an outdoor paradise right in their backyard, making pools the perfect addition.

White reiterates that business owners need to remain flexible through challenges, even if those challenges are out of their control. When the 2008 recession hit, for example, Water Works Pool & Spa decided to shift services from pool installation to pool maintenance and service only in addition to focusing on its retail storefront.

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Especially during challenging times, White continually asks herself, who her main customer base is and how their needs have evolved. Are customers looking to install new pools or are they current pool owners who need routine maintenance and repairs? In Water Works Pool & Spa’s experience, a focus on loyalty and maintaining high-quality work became crucial to growing and maintaining the business.

Even when the day-to-day demands are challenging, White tells business owners to hold on to their integrity above everything else. Honesty with customers is essential to maintaining a high quality of service and fostering longstanding relationships.

“As a business owner, I love to work; it is a reward for me, and I really enjoy what I do,” says White. “When I look in the mirror, I want to be proud of the person looking back at me.”

2. Establish a positive culture

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Running a business is not easy and keeping up with daily tasks can be a challenge. Couple this with an issue every service industry experiences—high turnover rates—running a business can feel overwhelming for some. In many cases, manual labour-intensive jobs have higher turnover rates than white-collar jobs often due to a lack of job security, challenging hours, and a multitude of other problems.¹

To help combat market challenges, White finds she needs to prioritize letting her employees know they are appreciated. She finds even small gestures can increase comradery and positivity. Celebrating her employees’ birthdays, for example, as well as speaking appreciation aloud and providing employees with reward opportunities such as work socials, trips to concerts, and even to the Talladega Motor Speedway, have helped her establish a positive culture.

“When employees are enjoying their job, it will trickle down to customers and provides for a positive experience in the store,” says White. “When pool professionals treat everyone—employees, vendors, and customers—who walk through the door with respect, spectacular results are sure to follow.”

3. Focus on confidence and unpack implicit biases

White runs a successful pool and spa business because of her strong work ethic, not because of her gender. Providing customers with consistently high-quality products and services is crucial to success.

One thing she has learned in all her years in the pool industry is women should not doubt themselves—they belong in this space. Self-confident and emboldened decision-making is critical for success.

In her experience, implicit biases—an unconscious association, belief, or attitude held toward a group²—can impact how a woman may see herself in a leadership role or within a male-dominated industry. It can also impact the way others perceive women like her.

Due to implicit biases, people may stereotype and attribute certain qualities or characteristics to all members of a particular group.

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“When I was younger, I needed to take my car to the dealership, so I called ahead of time to make an appointment and asked to speak to the service manager,” says White. “When a female employee answered, I again asked her if I could speak to the service manager. After being informed she was the service manager, I was shocked, realizing I had inadvertently stereotyped a woman as not knowing her craft, one of my biggest pet peeves.”

This experience made White take a step back and acknowledge her own implicit biases. While explicit biases and prejudices are intentional and controllable, implicit biases are often unconscious. Being aware of the existence of biases is a good place to start when looking to make a change.

4. Remember what is important

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Businesses do not only succeed just because of the name on their door—businesses like Water Works Pool & Spa thrive when employees and customers are treated with respect, leadership is not afraid to adapt to market changes, and employees are given the opportunity and encouragement for self-reflection and growth.

The pool industry is all about providing customers with fun, splash-filled memories that will last a lifetime. With a pool business, pool professionals are selling fun, wellness, and an active lifestyle.

White is proud of how her business has grown over the years and she has become a true trailblazer, seeing as 70 per cent of small businesses fail to pass the 10-year mark;³ however, Water Works Pool & Spa has succeeded for almost four decades.

“I wouldn’t have made it this far without the hard work I’ve put in, the personal changes I’ve committed to, the culture I’ve established, and the business decisions I’ve made throughout the years to keep up with the industry,” says White. “One thing I’m sure of, however, is there is a place for everyone, including women, to find success and grow in the pool industry.”

Notes

¹ See “The Great Resignation or The Great Retention?” published online by the Human Resources Professionals Association (HRPA) on Oct. 20, 2021. For more information, visit www.hrpa.ca/hr-insights/the-great-resignation-or-the-great-retention.

² See “Implicit Bias” published online by the Perception Institute. For more information, visit https://perception.org/research/implicit-bias.

³ See “The True Failure Rate of Small Businesses,” by Timothy Carter and published online Entrepreneur Media Inc., on Jan. 3, 2021. For more information, visit www.entrepreneur.com/article/361350.

Author

Mike Echols is the southeast/mid-Atlantic regional manager for Pentair Pool. He has been with the company for more than two decades. Echols started in the pool industry in 1987, working in retail and servicing pools, and has since worked in various other roles in the aquatics sector. In 2018, he joined the Georgia chapter of the Pool and Hot Tub Alliance’s (PHTA’s) board of directors and has since been named president of the board. His passion and love for the industry has spanned his entire 35-year professional career

Source URL: https://www.poolspamarketing.com/trade/features/overcoming-adversity-as-a-female-entrepreneur-in-the-pool-industry/

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