It seems every day is Mother’s Day at Pool Medics Rx.
And rightly so. After all, Lesa Angleton officially founded the Derby, Ks.-based service firm with her daughters, Heather and April Harris, three years ago. In March, the trio opened a retail store, where April’s teenage daughter and Heather’s young son also can be found lending a hand. Like so many other industry firms, it’s a family affair. But this one’s got a unique twist.
“Because we are women and we’re all mothers, it’s really about the bonds we create with our customers,” Angleton says about the passion she and her daughters have for pool service.
Of course, this wasn’t their original career paths. In fact, all three women served as social workers before making the transition to pools.
So how did they end up here? Coincidentally, it was Angleton’s nurturing personality that brought her to a full-time career in pool service. After taking a leave of absence in 2010 to foster children, she quickly became restless at home and accepted a job working for her own pool man.
What began as a way to kill boredom ultimately turned into a blossoming business. Angleton quickly branched out and moved on to become the first female tech hired at a major service company in her region. Soon after, her daughters followed in her footsteps, leaving their careers to learn the service trade from their mother’s mentor and, eventually, all venturing out on their own — together.
Each honed their skills in the field and became knowledgeable in everything from installing automatic covers to resurfacing a pool bottom.
But without their mom and her dedicated spirit, April Harris says, none of it would have been possible. “It’s about Mom caring for the customer enough to go out repetitively to make sure everything is in line — late at night, on holidays, even on Mother’s Day, to handle emergency jobs,” she says. “Our mom is the driving force.”
