SINCE THE YEAR 2000!
I couldn't help it, the title of this article reminded me of the old Conan O Brien skit "In the year 2000". If you haven't seen it check it out on youtube here. It is hilarious.
In all seriousness, there have been some pretty amazing innovations to the fiberglass pool industry since the year 2000. From Installation to Manufacturing improvements, no one has improved the Fiberglass Pool Industry more than Jason Hughes and Marcus Sheridan from River Pools and Bill Khamis and Ed Vondrell from Thursday Pools. I will break down their impact and improvements to the world of fiberglass pools in this article
Jason Hughes and Marcus Sheridan: River Pools
Believe it or not, in the early 2000's fiberglass pools were not very popular yet. Sounds crazy right! I remember the struggles I had attempting to sell fiberglass pools. Come to find out I wasn't the only one having these struggles. It all came to a head in 2008 when everyone was hit in one way or another by the devastating market crash. Many business owners had to close their doors. The pool industry was no different. After all, a swimming pool is a luxury and a roof over your head is a necessity. Needless to say, it was tough to consistently find people that were able to purchase in-ground pools let alone fiberglass pools that not many people knew about. Rather than accept the fate of closing the doors of River Pools, Marcus Sheridan being the marketing genius that he is, began creating an inbound content marketing system that created quality leads for pool sales through educating potential pool owners about all types of pools. Education was the key to it all and Marcus was the master. Since then others have tried to copy what he has done (including me) but no one in the pool industry has ever had the success that River Pools has. Thanks to Marcus Sheridan, River Pools is at the forefront of the fiberglass pool world in spite of being a relatively small company. His philosophy "They Ask, You Answer" was so successful that Marcus now is a partner at Impact an Inbound Marketing Firm in New Haven Connecticut. Marcus is also the author of " They Ask You Answer". While he may not have known it at the time the ripple effect of his work has helped countless other fiberglass pool builders and potential pool owners come together throughout the country. I know first hand his teachings have helped inspire me, my clients and have helped pool builders across the country sell thousands of pools. That's a pretty impressive impact on the industry. - pun intended
Jason Hughes aka the Tom Brady/Aaron Rodgers of the fiberglass pool world is a pool builder at heart and over the years has perfected the process of installing fiberglass pools with the "River Pools Way". It is a set of best practices that eliminated all of the early installation problems that stemmed from the way most manufacturers wanted their pools installed. This process is now being used as the industry standard by most quality pool builders and has drastically improved the quality and lifespan of modern-day fiberglass pools. Currently, Jason is working on creating educational opportunities through Genesis and the PHTA to share his wealth of knowledge with others throughout the pool industry. Jason is not only a great pool builder but a great person as well. Since my first phone conversation with him, he has changed my life for the better. These guys are the best people I have come across in the industry and in life. Anyone that has had the pleasure of meeting them can testify to that. If you have the chance to read this article about Why we sell River Pools it will shed some light on how we caught the wave. Hopefully, you will too.
Cristian Shirilla - Marketing/Education Director
I'll admit I forgot to mention the face of River Pools Cristian Shirilla in the first iteration of this article. My apologies Cristian, it was not intentional. Cristian may have not have been a founding partner of River Pools but he is a critical component of their success. Cristian is the face of the famous River Pools Video Series, "2 Minutes in the Pool". This video series is by far the most educational pool-related content on the web. It's fun to see the progression from the first few videos to the latest in the series. You can really see his personality come out and keep things fresh and lighthearted. He is very relatable and the content is priceless for anyone thinking about purchasing a pool. His videos have helped give confidence to fiberglass pool buyers all over the world that they are making the right decision in choosing a fiberglass pool. His efforts have helped sell thousands of pools and have helped support the families of fiberglass pool builders across the country. For that, I salute you. We can't wait for what you have planned next.
Aaron Dailey aka The Virginia Sasquatch - Fiberglass Pool Manufacturing Specialist and Co-Owner
We really aren't sure what Aaron does at River Pools. Some say he helped scale the manufacturing side of River Pools, others say he just hangs out in a Barn somewhere in Virginia eating crayons all day. Regardless of his efforts, River Pools has expanded its manufacturing abilities 3 to 4 fold since he has joined the team. There are now River Pools dealers ranging from Virginia in the east to Utah in the West.
Bill Khamis and Ed Vondrell: Thursday Pools
Bill and Ed have had a pretty substantial impact on the fiberglass pool industry in their own right. Below is a list of some of their most recent accomplishments. I have no doubt that there are more to come.
The Geo Anchoring System: This system holds the pool tight in the ground to prevent moving or shifting of the pool walls.
The Backfill Eliminator System: This system helps improve the installtion quality of any pool with a tanning ledge. Trust me tanning ledge pools are a pain in the rear. This system makes it a breeze.
The Lucky Seven Skimmer is the first true fiberglass pool skimmer that helps eliminate the angled skimmer problems of the past when vinyl liner skimmers were traditionally used. Released in 2018.
New for 2020 the Double O7 Skimmer takes fiberglass skimmers to the next level. It increase the ease of installation and improves the finished look.
The worlds first fiberglass pool with a sunken living room. Need I say more?
Last but not least, the world's first beach entry fiberglass pool. Again we are speechless.
As you can see the guys from Thursday Pools and River Pools have had a substantial impact on improving the fiberglass pool industry over the last 20 plus years. I don't foresee any of them slowing down their commitment to constantly strive to improve everything they can. I just can't wait to see what they come up with next. #AlwaysForward
RELATED POSTS
