4
Florida Pool Pro
sm
• July 2014
We all have the innate power to transform ourselves
and our life situations for the better. Most of the time it
can be a simple shift in our perspective. In your job you
can easily be consumed with negativity. To discover
there are great things about your job can be as easy
as taking the time to write down a few things each
day that make you happy, things you are grateful for,
co-workers you like, etc.
I have many passions, God, country, and family to
name a few, as well as the swimming pool industry. I know many of you have
heard how I got my start when I was a teenager framing a house and I asked
a pool builder in Tallahassee to teach me how to build a pool and I would work
for free so I could learn! Although I continued in construction for many years,
pools were fun to build. When a pool was completed that was when the fun
really began – cannon balls, splashing, Marco Polo, etc. The pool business
has been very good to me and my family. I am fortunate to have my two sons
work with me as well as my wife in our business.
Does the passion diminish? Of course it does! You get the unhappy
customers, the laws and the regulations (some good, some bad) that can
make your work more difficult, plus the stress of getting everything done right
the first time. I try to think how can I make that customer happy; what makes
my other customers happy and yet this one is not; how can I help with the
laws and regulations? If I can accomplish these goals, my passion is back!
Passion and pride go hand in hand. My passion for this industry goes
much further than the everyday construction of a project. A big question for
all of us is, how do we bring qualified people into this industry? One way is
to hire young people and train them on the job. Seek out local skill centers,
vocational schools and junior colleges that may offer courses to get classroom
time to learn the principles of construction – basic electricity, concrete, steel
and hydraulics. Send them home with code books to read and study. Test
PRESIDENT’S COLUMN
John Garner, Sr.
FSPA President
The pursuit of passion
