veryone has a past, but only a select few individuals have great stories to tell. Ed “Skip” Ast is one of those tale bearers.
In the 1960s, he was a student bound for university life on a football scholarship. But the center/linebacker never finished school. Instead, Skip returned home to Phoenix to help his father, a custom home builder, try to save his failing business.
“Dad was the kind of guy who thought he had to lean everybody’s way in order for them to like him and refer him,” Skip says. “He finally went bankrupt in 1960. That’s how I learned the business, and how to delegate and trust people and communicate.”
Around that time, Skip married his high school sweetheart, Sharon. They had four children: Diana, Skip Jr., Steve and Jeff. However, Skip soon re-entered the construction business and became involved in what he calls its vices, namely drinking and gambling with fellow workers. That was when he was converted by an evangelist who helped him “put God No. 1” in his life, along with his family and the company.
The turnaround coincided with his takeover of Shasta from his brother, Bob, in 1966. Within two years, the company was the No. 1 pool builder in Phoenix. This year, the company broke its own record: In the first six months of the year, Shasta sold more than 2,000 new pools and rolled back consumer advertising as a result.
Last year, the company grew so large, it consolidated its 11 separate offices into a vast, 16-acre location, 4 of which are under one roof. Shasta’s headquarters now houses corporate offices and boardrooms, a customer call center, training classrooms, manufacturing facilities, a test pool and 22 service trucks. Only the company’s design centers and retail stores operate from independent sites.
It seems the power of faith has worked to Skip’s advantage. And the rest is, well, history.
