Carolyn Bickerton, COO and co-owner of Purewater Total Home Leisure (www.purewaterpool.com), a home recreation supply and service company based in west Ottawa, has been named a 2013 finalist in the Woman’s Business Network’s (WNB’s) ‘Business Woman of the Year’ awards in the entrepreneur category.
The WBN has honoured women in business in Ottawa since 1983 with its Businesswoman’s Achievement Award (BAA), which was renamed to the Business Woman of the Year award in 2003. In 2005, it was expanded to three award categories: entrepreneurial, corporate, and professional.
Bickerton’s involvement in the pool industry started in 1985 when her mother, Dorothy Bickerton, opened Manotick Pool & Spa. It was a traditional family business; her brothers worked in service and she worked in the store.
“It was an amazing place to learn, and every day we learned something new,” said Bickerton. “I fell in love with the pool industry because something new and different came through the door every day. That, and the smell of new vinyl samples every spring as this aroma equates to me as the rebirth of potential earnings after a long, cold winter. So much is possible as soon as spring arrives, and those liner samples are the harbinger of all those possibilities.”
Today, Bickerton is vice-president of the corporation directly overseeing the service department. She is involved in most aspects of Purewater’s day-to-day operations and oversaw the company’s massive growth, taking it from two employees to 30 between 1994 and 2014. Annual sales also increased from $250,000 to more than $5 million.
In the last year, Purewater also recently completed a major expansion of its showroom and offices.
“I find I always take some time after a major goal is accomplished before I leap ahead with my dreams,” said Bickerton. “My son, Ken, recently asked what was next for Purewater, and Alex (my husband and partner) and I said we weren’t sure.”
Her son, however, has his own dreams for Purewater, she said.
“He has decided our next move will be franchising. So maybe you will be hearing more about the next generation of this family business in the not too distant future,” said Bickerton.
The recipients of the ‘2013 Businesswoman of the Year Awards’ will be announced during a gala evening at the Ottawa Conference & Event Centre on April 24, 2014.
