The Pool Pros Who Built a Movement: Inside Talking Pools’ 11-Week “Mentor Moments” — and the Finale Before 2025’s Crown
By Talking Pools Magazine–style special to People
It’s the Oscars—if the red carpet smelled faintly of muriatic acid and everyone knew how to fix a suction leak by feel. For 11 straight Fridays on Flock It Friday, host Rudy Stankowitz rolled out “Mentor Moments,” a summer-into-fall spotlight on the people pros turn to when the backyard turns sideways: the mentors. Now, on the eve of revealing the 2025 Talking Pools Podcast Swimming Pool Industry Mentor of the Year, here’s the splashy, human story behind the jokes, juggernauts, and the giant custom championship belt waiting for one very deserving winner.
How the Belt Gets Won
When Stankowitz says the process is serious, he means it. Nominations came only from mentees (no self-entries), then were anonymized and fed into a scoring system weighing mentorship impact, mentee success, industry contributions, community engagement, and educational presence. A panel of eight Talking Pools hosts plus sponsors judged the blind dossiers. Only after the rankings were locked did names return. “Recognition should be earned, not handed out,” Rudy said. The surprise doorstep reveal? Still coming.
Similar article MENTOR AWARD coverage AQUA MAGAZINE
Mentor Moments: 11 Fridays, 10 Titans, and a Community That Shows Up
Greg “Beard Man” Beard — Hard Truths, Full Heart
Beard’s segment started with business brass tacks—charge fairly for heavy organics or let price-shoppers move on—and pivoted to a story no pro forgets: a child lost in a backyard after a ball sailed over a fence. It’s the kind of memory that permanently rewires a mentor. Beard’s other crusade: bonding and electrical safety. “We’re lucky we don’t have more electrocutions,” he warned, then calmly recounted walking a young tech through wiring over the phone—steady voice, safer outcome.
“Something’s better than nothing—but bond it right.”
Laci Davis — Purpose Over Posts
The Grit Game president has the energy of a lightning-in-a-spreadsheet. Davis came in hot with a Disney-era lesson: how people treat you changes how you lead—and how you treat others changes their trajectory. Her marketing gospel? Stop spamming holidays. Every post must add value to pros. Fewer, better, purposeful. Intern-to-operator, she’s proof the most powerful brand strategy is respect.
“Know your audience. Hit post only when you’re bringing something to the table.”
Q. Hales — The Scientist Who Saves You Money
Co-founder of OnBalance, Hales turned lab work into lifelines. His plaster color study compared organic vs. inorganic pigments under aggressive and balanced water. Early read: inorganic cobalt holds; common blends and straight organics fade, often from poorly added chlorine settling on floors. Field takeaway? Dose smart. Disperse chemicals. Don’t “acid column.” Don’t pour dense hypochlorite where it sits. Science, meet service.
“Don’t add chemicals to sit in one spot. Blend them.”
Shannon Wilson — The Tech Whisperer
Wilson’s first-year memory is a masterclass in what not to do: a facility stuck on “chlorine, chlorine, chlorine” and nothing else. His mentoring style is patient, conversational, and relentlessly practical: ask why a tech does it that way; sometimes they’re right, sometimes they need the why behind the SOP. And yes—watch your words around patrons. Say “shock” in a 70+ community and you’ll start a neighborhood meeting.
“Explain the why. That’s when it clicks.”
Maddie Van Diver — Calm Is Contagious
Storm tossed tree in the deep end? Van Diver’s rule one is bring the calm. Trainees watch first, work side-by-side second, fly solo third—with feedback at every stage. Her secret litmus test years later? pH discipline: do they still run acid/base demand like she drilled? If they do, they kept the lesson.
“Your approach sets the tone—for the tech and the customer.”
John Poma — Builder-Service Bridge Builder
Poma started when there was no social media safety net; now he is one—answering questions because someone once had none for him. He’s seen heaters ruined in six months by chemistry and learned to defend good work with better data. Today he sees more builder-service collaboration—and he’ll still tell you: you won’t have every answer, but you must share what you know.
“You learn more when you become the teacher.”
Rich Gallo — The Empire Built on Purpose
Gallo watched excavators sculpt art, started his company the day he graduated, and learned the hard math: “They said profit in three years. It took nine.” Fatherhood at 21 lit a fuse—purpose, payroll, and paying people what they’re worth. His most painful near-miss? A drain hose routed into a broken planter line flooded a historic basement with saltwater. He owned it, learned it, leveled up.
“Hire people with purpose—and pay them like it.”
Ron DeLue — Second Chances, Straight Talk
DeLue’s stories read like the industry’s conscience: encouraging a hesitant newcomer who feared racism into a thriving 80-pool business; nudging a formerly incarcerated neighbor into pool service and a new life; grinding through wildfire seasons that blackened every pool in San Diego. His “page one” survival guide? Reliable truck, the right gear, wholesale accounts, clean directions—and help.
“This is one of the few trades where competitors actually help you.”
Tim Bolden — Bought the Company. Built the Career Ladder.
Bolden bought out a partner in September 2020—peak uncertainty, peak Zoom. He wrote the plan, learned the finance, shouldered the stress. Philosophy now? “We hire to retire.” Show real paths—maintenance to repair to renovations to design—and back it with benefits and belief. That’s how you turn a summer gig into a career.
“Difficult times make diamonds—and teams that last.”
Kevin Post — The Room Where It Happens
CEO of Councilman-Hunsaker and board president of CMAHC, Post is both strategist and servant leader. With CDC funding shifting, he’s focused on a self-sustaining CMAC that keeps the Model Aquatic Health Code current. His ask to service pros: join, vote, submit change requests, help shape cold plunge rules, surf venues, lagoons, and more. His teenage lesson from national-champ drumline? Team over ego—raise the weakest link, raise the score.
“You don’t have to know everything—you need a network and the will to share.”
The Friday Extras Fans Couldn’t Stop Talking About
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Safety Spotlight: Beard’s electricity reality check—and Rudy’s stat that, across decades, each electrocution is one too many—became the series’ heartbeat.
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Field Etiquette 101: Van Diver’s “don’t say shock in front of patrons” became instant meme material—with a serious core.
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Cautionary Legends: Yes, that infamous 1994 Florida suction-fitting incident resurfaced—because history isn’t just weird; it’s a teaching tool.
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Community Ads with a Wink: From “Blu-Ray all day” to SpinTouch speed testing and Rev’dUp’s no-minimum gear, sponsors showed up like the tech on call—useful, fast, and in on the joke.
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OnlinePoolClasses.com: A standing invitation to upskill—because mentorship and education are twins.
Why This Matters Now
Labor is tight. Costs are up. A new generation is stepping onto hot decks with big questions and bigger ambitions. Mentors are the difference between burnout and breakthrough. The Wildcat Belts championship (yes, those Wildcat Belts) is leather-and-metal proof that this community values the quiet work of showing up—week after week, backyard after backyard.
And the best part? Every one of the ~70 nominees already won something more lasting than a title: the gratitude of people whose careers—and sometimes lives—changed because someone picked up the phone, walked them through the wiring, explained the why, or simply said: You belong here. Keep going.
What Happens Next
The Talking Pools team will tally a season’s worth of substance and surprise one finalist with the belt—doorstep-style. Until then, raise a net pole to the legends who made these 11 weeks sing:
Greg Beard. Laci Davis. Q. Hales. Shannon Wilson. Maddie Van Diver. John Poma. Rich Gallo. Ron DeLue. Tim Bolden. Kevin Post.
Similar article Pool Mag Coverage Mentor Award
Backyard by backyard, lesson by lesson, they’re proving something simple and rare: in this industry, the best way to stand out is to lift someone else up.
“I’m Rudy Stankowitz. This is the Talking Pools Podcast. Until next time—be good, be safe.”
