Podcasts keep service techs connected
By Marcelle Dibrell
Check out the new industry podcasts created over the last few years. There are several to choose from, covering topics like water chemistry, equipment installation and repair, small business tips, construction and more. Following are a few examples
The Pool Guy Podcast Show
Among the most well known industry podcasts is David Van Brunt’s The Pool Guy Podcast Show. Join Van Brunt as he discusses everything pool related. He covers pool chemistry, basic pool care, equipment and tips and tricks of the trade. He also conducts interviews with industry experts, provides product reviews and answers pool tech questions.
The podcast is starting its fourth year and is extremely popular among pool owners and professionals alike. According to Van Brunt, it is considered in the top 20 percent of all the podcasts out there.
Van Brunt brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the series. In 1988, he started in pool and spa service at the age of 16 and he’s been servicing pools ever since. He doesn’t get paid to do the podcast and has no sponsors, so the show is free of paid endorsements. He says it’s an altruistic service.
Van Brunt is well-known in the industry, with a Youtube channel called Swimming Pool Tips, Reviews & How To, with over 83,000 subscribers and 43 million video views. His webpage, www.swimmingpoollearning.com, features a wide range of pool related information. His Facebook group, The Swimming Pool Learning Group, is a great resource to get answers to questions. The group has 3,000 members and is popular among both pool pros and homeowners.
“I think it’s important that homeowners are part of the group because they give insight to the pool pro about what problems they are dealing with and why they are dealing with the pool themselves,” Van Brunt said.
He also has his own association, Swimming Pool Service Pro Association (SPSPA) where member perks include the ability to text or call him with questions. Plus he provides discounts on pool products, insurance and apps.
Van Brunt is the author of the book, Swimming Pool Care “The Essential Guide” Pool Care Book, which covers everything about pool care from chemistry to automatic cleaners.
The Pool Guy Podcast Show can be accessed on just about any podcast platform and airs 5-days-a-week.
Pool Pro
The Pool Pro Podcast is the newest podcast to hit the industry. Michelle Kavenaugh, former California Pool and Spa Association director and current contractor with the Pool and Hot tub Alliance, and David Rockwell, owner of Liquid Paradise, a pool service company in Murrieta, California, started the Pool Pro podcast in March, 2020.
The focus of this weekly podcast is to advance the pool industry through education about technical and business related topics.
Rockwell, a big advocate for chlorine free swimming, likes to discuss UV and ozone systems. As a 30-plus-year service pro, he also talks about water chemistry, filtration and equipment. Kavanaugh handles the business side, including topics such as accounting, personal and business credit, investing, how to build a business and more. The series also features interviews with well-known industry experts.
“We mesh the topics together to try to help service techs elevate not only their expertise and knowledge in the area but also find an easier way to run their business so they can focus on what they do best,” Kavanaugh said.
The podcast is available on a variety of platforms, including Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts and more.
Pool Chasers
In 2018, he Pool Chasers Podcast hosts Greg Villafana and Tyler Rasmussen aired their first episode and have been releasing weekly episodes ever since.
It is an interview-style podcast intended to elevate the swimming pool industry. Each week co-hosts Villafana and Rasmussen interview professional guests to discuss how they built their businesses, and what successes and failures they have had. The guests will also discuss topics in their specialties.
The interview is intended to share the knowledge of the guests so that others in the industry can learn from their experiences. The podcast encourages listeners to take bits and pieces of information and apply them to their businesses where they see fit.
In addition to their guests, Villafana and Rasmussen also bring a lot of industry experience to the podcast. They are the former owners of Brother’s Pool Service and Repair in Scottsdale, Arizona. They know how difficult it is to find resources on how to run a successful pool service company, so they decided to create the show and do it themselves.
“We figured, as professionals in the pool and spa industry with an opinion on the matter, we should try and share any knowledge we have absorbed over the years. We don’t claim to be experts, we still learn things every day, but we have had enough success in the industry to share what we know,” Rasmussen said.
Pool Chasers is available on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google, Stitcher and Soundcloud.
Visit these Industry Podcasts on the following platforms:
Pool Chasers
https://www.poolchasers.com
Pool Pro Podcast
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ pool-pro-podcast/id1502306522.
Pool Guy Podcast
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/ podcast/the-pool-guy-podcast-show/ id1257613192.
