Every year, filter manufacturer Pleatco holds its Perfect PoolGuy and Perfect PoolGirl contest, whereby the industry votes among dozens of nominees for the next year’s honorees.
No pandemic was going to stop that. More than 150 nominations were submitted, and the industry has spoken. The 2020 Perfect PoolGal honor goes to to Shannon Sellers, manager and quality control with Jeff’s Pool & Spa Service in Brunswick, Ga.. The 2020 Perfect PoolGuy title was given to Jesse Gist, senior service technician for Gallagher Pools and Spas in Westminster, Md.
Awards include their choice of Genesis course – Concrete Pools or Vinyl Liner/Fiberglass Pools – as well as other prizes from manufacturers LaMotte, Mod-Lite, Skimlock and Bungee-plug.
With the passion they hold for their careers, clients and industry, it’s no wonder voters deemed them representative of their profession.
True Belle
Sellers entered the pool industry 10 years ago, but she has a deeper history of working in male-dominated professions.
A military brat whose family settled in Hazlehurst, Ga., she moved to Brunswick shortly after high school and began working in warehouses. Soon after, she entered the world of cabinetry as a finisher. The Great Recession took its toll on that industry, so in 2010 she began working for her fiance and owner of Jeff’s Pool & Spa Service, Jeff Noser, as the company’s first female service tech.
“I started from the bottom, riding with the senior techs, learning the routes, and just worked my way up through his company,” Sellers says. From cleaning pools, she became a quality control specialist. After about six years with the company, she took over as manager of one of the company’s stores, in addition to her service work.
Sellers found that the skills and strengths she gained from finishing cabinetry translated well into pool and spa service. “Being a finisher, you had to pay attention to any nicks or dings and your paint strokes. Paying extra close attention to small things has translated over from the cabinetry into the pool industry -- just paying extra attention to the mold on the grout line that maybe not everybody acknowledges or even realizes, or the scum on a depth marker.”
As a seasoned tech, her favorite jobs are those that pose a challenge – in particular, pools that have gone green with algae. “I love the satisfaction of walking up on a pool in its worst condition and then a few days later bringing it back to life and turning somebody’s swamp into an oasis,” she says. “When you get a pool that’s green or has stains, those challenges I like and really pique my interest.”
While green pools were intimidating at one time, Sellers eventually found the process that worked best for her. “Some people like to use a floc,” she says. “I’m not a floc’er – I just [use] a shock and algaecide and vacuuming.”
In both cabinetry and pool service, she’s found that she’s needed to work a little harder as the rare female. That was another challenge she welcomed. “I’m a strong woman: If he’s going to do it, I’m going to do it,” she says. “I was raised to be a strong woman. I’m a Southern belle – and us Southerners, we’re hard workers.”
Self Starter
Gist took what he thought was a summer job at Gallagher Pools and Spas between college sessions.
Twenty years later, he’s still with the company. “One year turned into five, then five turned into 20,” he says.
He started out as a helper, riding with a crew leader. In just a few weeks, he had a vehicle of his own to perform weekly maintenance solo. As a newbie, he tried to show as much independence and initiative as possible. “As time allowed, I would dabble into stuff,” he says. “If [something] wasn’t working, instead of having to get a tech out there to fix it, I would start dabbling in it, then eventually took the ball and started running with it.”
He quickly found that, given all the products, technologies and designs out there, each pool is different, and you’re going to see something new everyday. You can't get by on learning just the baseline information.
“I just challenged myself,” he says. “There were a lot of blown boards and things that I broke trying to figure things out when I couldn’t find the answer. You don’t want to have to tell your boss, ‘Hey, I just blew out a $1,000 control board and we’re going to have to buy them another one!’”
But he found that key to a true technician's learning curve is a willingness to take chances and occasionally fail. Fortunately, his boss felt the same way. And those first big wins were very satisfying. “I remember the first heater I worked on was an old... milivolt heater that had a bad pilot generator on it, and I thought I was the king because I was able to diagnose it, get it fixed and get the heater up and running.”
He quickly found the right sources and contacts who could help with new situations. Just as fast, he gained a reputation as somebody who could fix just about anything.
His natural tendency to be thorough and attentive helped. “Back when [the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act] was crazy, and everybody was changing drain covers out, I would dive in a pool and see if they needed to be changed out just to cover ourselves,” he says.
As lead tech, he now trains others in the company on subjects such as heaters, electrical and basic topics. In the future, he hopes to work as a general manager or service manager.
After two decades, he’s still drawn by the pace of the work. “It’s something different everyday,” he says. “Especially being the head service tech, I get to see different stuff, work on different stuff, troubleshoot and it’s not monotonous... Just the change of pace from day to day is what I like about it.”
Pleatco’s Special Awards
In addition to the Perfect PoolGuy and PoolGal, Pleatco presented a number of other awards:
• Pleatco Perfect PoolGuy 2020 Runner Up: Michael Baker, Tucson, Ariz.
• Pleatco Perfect PoolGal 2020Runner Up: Trish Mendenhall, Chandler, Ariz.
• Pleatco Lifetime Achievement Award: Bob Charlton, Citrus Springs, Fla.
• Pleatco Future Leadership Award: Josh Fletcher, Stockbridge, Ga.
• Pleatco Industry Spirit Award: Matthew Boranian, Kailua Kona, Hawaii
• Pleatco Customer Service Award - Ashley Rabbit, Mohegan Lake, New York
• Pleatco Community Service Award - Bryan Zettle, Johnstown, Pennsylvania
• Pleatco Young Achiever Award - Michael Birch, Good Hope, New York
• Pleatco Voters Choice Award - Ken Post, Poway, California