My Transition from School Teacher to Swimming Pool Designer (…and Some Pool Knowledge)

Do you know the coolest thing about a career change? To me, it’s the fact that we have that choice! My entire life, I wanted to be a teacher. I used to take roll with my stuffed animals every Saturday morning. I was such a fun teacher that they were never even absent! In college, I learned how to write lesson plans and to never use a red pen because that would hurt children’s feelings. Teaching was my dream!

Then, I got my first classroom job at a pretty rough school. Let me tell you, nobody cared what color my pen was. I wasn’t prepared for real-life teaching, but of course I powered through…what other option did I have? I became good! I lived for my teacher evaluations and my students’ test scores. I became an expert in all things elementary, reading professional literature during summer breaks because I wanted to be the best. I was teacher of the year! I could recite the state standards in my sleep, and my behavior management strategy evolved from raising my voice to simply just giving them the “look”.

Sadly, like so many other teachers right now, I got burned out. It was starting to negatively affect my life, and I could feel it. One day, during a code red drill, sitting in complete darkness and trying to ignore the inappropriate noises coming from the class comedian, I decided that I had had enough. It was liberating, it was scary, and it was something that I knew I needed to do. Where could I use all my professional knowledge and experience? Swimming pool sales and design, of course! I am, after all, a life-long Floridian, and I taught basic 5th grade geometry for years!

Oak Wells Aquatics has given me a fabulous opportunity at a second career. Just like my first teaching job, the pool construction industry can be intimidating. One of the first things that I had to wrap my brain around is that interior finish isn’t as straight forward and basic as one might think. When starting to choose an interior finish, you need to actually think about what color you would like your pool to reflect. That is the most important question. The Oak Wells Sales Team will point you in the right direction when you make that decision. Pool water will either have a blue tint or a green tint (think turquoise, not algae!). The finishes we offer vary from light, medium, and dark blues and light or dark greens. Samples of these finished are displayed in our showroom. You can also look at the CL Industries website to see the products that we use. Throw in some Abalone shells, and your new pool or remodel will have a naturally beautifully sparkle in the sun and reflect an absolutely irresistible water color!

Another option you have to consider is if you would like a mini-pebble finish or a large-pebble finish. Personally, I have encountered a 1980s style pool in desperate need of a remodel. This pool’s rough quartz finish was deteriorated by chemicals, and it ended up shredding my bathing suit and scraping off my pedicure. Thankfully, the pool industry has come a long way, and we now offer different types aggregates that give our pools different textures and feels. Contrary to what image comes to mind when you hear the word “pebble”, these pool pebble finishes don’t snag bathing suit bottoms! The stones are tumbled and smooth. Pebble finishes are beautiful and pleasant to touch. It is like having a foot massage when you walk along the bottom of your pool. They are also more durable than traditional quartz and less likely to be affected by the chemical imbalances.