🏆 Talking Pools Podcast Mentor Award 2026
Every great pool pro starts somewhere—and chances are, someone helped them along the way.
The Talking Pools Podcast Mentor Award celebrates the individuals in our industry who go above and beyond to teach, guide, and inspire the next generation of pool professionals.
Do you know someone who doesn’t just give answers, but teaches you how to think? Someone who makes you better without making you feel small?
The 2025 TOP MENTORS of the Swimming Pool Industry:
The future of this industry is not built at trade shows.
It’s built in route trucks. On pool decks. In quiet corrections no one else sees.
Let’s recognize the mentors who are building technicians, not dependency, one lesson at a time.
Eligibility requires active involvement in the swimming pool industry or a directly supporting field. That includes service technicians, builders, retail professionals, manufacturers, educators, and industry contributors whose work strengthens the trade from the inside out.
Because behind every great pool route… is a mentor who refused to let standards slip.
Before you nominate someone, understand this:
This is not a popularity contest.
This is not self-promotion.
This is not a family referral.
Mentor Names may be submitted from March 15, 2026, through June 15, 2026
• No self-nominations.
• No relatives.
• Talking Pools Podcast hosts are not eligible.
• One nomination per person.
To nominate, you must be actively working in the pool industry or in a directly supporting role — service, construction, retail, manufacturing, education, or industry support.
We are recognizing those who build technicians, protect customers, and elevate this trade quietly and consistently.
👉 Submit Your Nomination Now
🎉 Nominations Are March 15, 2026 Through June 30th, 2026! 🎉
Do you know an industry legend in the making?
Not the loud one.
Not the one chasing credit.
The one who answers the phone when a tech is panicking over a green pool.
The one who stops a $40 mistake before it becomes a $4,000 repair.
The one who teaches judgment — not shortcuts.
The one who builds technicians instead of dependency.
That person isn’t asking for recognition.
That’s exactly why they deserve it.
If someone made you better…
If someone protected your route before you even understood the risk…
If someone quietly raised the standard of this industry —
Nominate them.
Because the future of the pool industry is not built at trade shows.
It’s built in conversations. On pool decks. In route trucks.
And behind every great pool route…
is a mentor who refused to let it collapse.
Nominate them today.
Listen to the Talking Pools Podcast
🌟 The Top 10 Mentor Nominees will be announced in August of 2026.
From that group, only one will earn the title of Mentor of the Year.
And here’s how this works—
There is no banquet.
No ballroom.
No stage.
There will be no warning.
No script.
No polite drumroll.
The Talking Pools Podcast believes mentorship is infrastructure, not performance.
So the winner will not travel to us.
We will travel to them.
The Mentor of the Year will be revealed in a surprise doorstep presentation.
On their route.
At their shop.
In the middle of doing what they always do, building technicians.
Because real mentors don’t pause their standards to receive applause.
We will bring the championship belt to where the standard is actually lived.
🎁 Championship Belt will be awarded at the time of presentation.
📍 Location details will remain confidential until that moment.
Understand this:
This is not ordinary.
This is not staged.
This is recognition delivered where it belongs.
Because mentorship doesn’t deserve quiet applause.
It deserves a moment the industry won’t forget.
Are you ready to hire your first employee?
🧪 Judging Criteria – Mentor of the Year
All nominations will be independently reviewed and scored by the hosts of the Talking Pools Podcast — professionals who collectively bring decades of field experience, industry leadership, and direct mentorship involvement within the swimming pool trade.
Each nominee will be evaluated using the following weighted criteria:
🔹 Impact — 30%
What measurable difference has this mentor made?
Judges will look for clear, real-world examples of influence — technicians who improved under their guidance, careers shaped by their direction, costly mistakes prevented, standards raised, confidence built.
Impact is not popularity.
Impact is evidence.
🔹 Knowledge Sharing — 25%
Does this individual actively transfer knowledge?
This includes training new technicians, leading safety meetings, offering structured guidance, speaking at events, contributing to professional discussions, or supporting peers through forums and industry networks.
Mentorship requires intentional teaching — not occasional advice.
🔹 Leadership & Integrity — 20%
Does this mentor lead by example?
Judges will evaluate consistency in professionalism, ethical conduct, accountability, fairness, and adherence to safety and industry standards.
A true mentor protects the technician, the customer, and the trade.
🔹 Innovation in Mentorship — 15%
How does this mentor adapt, evolve, or elevate their teaching methods?
This may include structured onboarding systems, creative field demonstrations, the use of technology, documented training processes, or personal investment in developing others beyond technical instruction.
Mentorship is not static. It evolves.
🔹 Industry Involvement — 10%
Is this mentor engaged beyond their immediate route or company?
Association membership, continuing education, public speaking, writing, advocacy, standards participation, and broader industry contribution will be considered.
Because mentorship strengthens the individual — but industry involvement strengthens the profession.
Final Note
This is not a popularity vote.
It is a weighted, criteria-based evaluation designed to identify the individual whose mentorship most meaningfully strengthens the swimming pool industry.
Standards matter.
So does how we recognize them.
Determination & Finality Clause
The hosts of the Talking Pools Podcast retain sole discretion in the evaluation and selection process. All scoring determinations are confidential and final. No appeals, disputes, or requests for reconsideration will be accepted.
By submitting a nomination, participants agree to these terms.
Conflict of Interest & Eligibility Statement
To preserve the integrity of the Mentor of the Year recognition, nominees may not include hosts of the Talking Pools Podcast, immediate family members of nominators, or individuals who would present a direct conflict of interest in the judging process.
Judges will recuse themselves from scoring any nominee with whom they have a direct financial partnership, current employment relationship, or material business interest.
The purpose of this recognition is to honor mentorship within the swimming pool industry — not to promote personal affiliations, sponsorship relationships, or internal partnerships.
All eligibility determinations remain at the sole discretion of the Talking Pools Podcast.
Here’s What the 2025 TOP TEN Pool Industry Mentors had to say”
