Today we’d like to introduce you to Shawn Still.
Shawn, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Through the plastering and shotcrete divisions, my company has nearly 20,000 interior finishes and concrete shells under warranty across three states. The company has worked on virtually every type and size project imaginable, ranging from backyard pools to large waterparks and aquatics centers. The company has received the highest level of recognition from Pebble Technology for sales and quality since 2002.
Established in 1983, I joined the company in 2003 as part of the succession plan for my cousins Phil & Susan. They retired in 2015 when I purchased the company. Today the company has grown to 75 full-time employees.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Because I worked in the business for 12 years before taking over as president and owner, I had the benefit of seeing and learning from my mistakes with a bit of a safety net.
Coming from 10 years in the healthcare sector, however, made the learning curve almost vertical, so my early years were full of missteps. One of my main struggles was earning the respect of my employees, who are mostly Hispanic and blue collar. I was unable to relate to them on most levels, and because I lacked the skills to work beside them, there was definitely some resentment.
They saw me as the guy who got a job because of my last name. It took years of me spending time with them in the field, on as many job sites as I could, to build relationships with them. Today, we have a retention rate of over 90% and I believe this goes along with the rapport built in those early days.
Please tell us about Olympic Pool Plastering.
We are a subcontractor to the swimming pool construction trade, installing the concrete pool shells and the interior finish, which in most cases is a product called Pebble Tec. We are incredibly specialized, with crews performing the same function every day. It makes our company the highest level of experts in our field, whether it be installing a new pool or renovating an existing one. The thing we are most proud of is our quality. We do not advertise or have a salesman.
Pool general contractors use us because our reputation is that we are the best. We’re also the most expensive, but this comes with having a proven, superior product with the highest level of craftsmanship to install it. There are many knock-off products similar to what we do, but builders or homeowners who have tried those other products say that the price difference is worth every penny to not have the issues and callbacks.
We also have an amazing team that responds to every customer service need, so being able to quickly dispatch a technician or respond to an inquiry is much faster and professional than a guy answering a cell phone in someone’s backyard or in his proverbial pick up truck.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
If I had to start over, I would have diversified into most phases of the construction process instead of just being limited to the two phases that we do. Also, I would have created more of a mentorship program to launch satellite offices around the southeast, supporting them from this central office. I think if we had recruited younger managers who could be relocated before starting families we would have had a larger footprint to better serve our industry.
Pricing:
- The average in-ground gunite/shotcrete pool/spa, free-form, excluding landscape is around $75k.
- The average pool renovation with new tile and Pebble Tec is around $15k.
- The most expensive residential pool we have worked on in metro-Atlanta was $1.2M.
Contact Info:
- Address: 2850 Simpson Circle Norcross, GA 30071
- Website: www.olympicpool.net
- Phone: 770-409-1125
- Email: shawn@olympicpool.net
Image Credit:
Pinewood Studios
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