A California native and lover of water, Frank grew up with a pool in his own backyard and a beach nearby. He was two years out of high school in 1982 when he began cleaning and servicing pools for a small custom pool operation in Lancaster, California. “I really liked working in different backyards, seeing all the different designs and ideas. I eventually knew I could do that, and I knew it would be pleasant.” After working hands-on for three years cleaning, building and repairing pools, Frank came to love his work. He was certain he wanted to own his own pool company, though he was unsure at the time when or where it might take place.
Working for that small pool builder gave Frank the experience and knowledge of pools he needed to begin his “solo” career. He moved to Los Angeles and became a swimming pool contractor, first subcontracting for other builders, doing plumbing and electrical work where needed. Frank remained in L.A. until the mid-1990s when he went to work for several wholesale swimming pool distributors. Later, Frank moved to Phoenix and settled in for the next three years. As a sales rep for a wholesale pool manufacturer, “I was flying to El Paso about every two weeks, was calling on all of the builders, and saw an opportunity in El Paso and Las Cruces for swimming pools, especially for the kinds of pools I wanted to do.”
“I was just bombarded with pools from 1982 on,” says Frank, grinning from ear to ear. “Beginning my pool business allowed me to be challenged, creative, and to have fun. I’m able to suggest rock waterfalls and rock formations... special projects.” Starting in 2004 with two offices, one in
El Paso and one in Las Cruces, Pools by Design is now focused on its core market: Las Cruces. “It was just too much for us,” explains Frank. “We couldn’t cover all of El Paso and Las Cruces, and we wanted to refine the way we build pools. The clientele moving to Las Cruces, building Southwest-style homes with neat architectural touches - those are the backyards we wanted to be in. We still build some pools on the west side of El Paso, but our main workload is in Las Cruces.”
Frank gives credit to his employees, especially Mary Anne Shipstead, for helping the business focus and grow. “Mary Anne came to work for me as an assistant to a sales person, but she dove right into understanding her market and how to sell our product. Our partnership has enabled the success of the company.”
“The kinds of pools we build are extremely individual. Creating spa spaces, capitalizing on views, all of our pools represent working closely with the homeowner to develop the project they want,” says Frank. Pools by Design’s building techniques range from working water slides to rock waterfalls, from subdued pools with calming shades and textures to some with vibrant color schemes. Their biggest challenge is working with a technique called Shotcrete. A concrete that’s applied under pressure, this “shot-on-concrete” creates an extremely strong shell.
“The only problem,” Frank laughs, “is that we’re the only people using Shotcrete, and it has been hard to get our suppliers to understand that.” While other pool builders are still using shovels and wheelbarrows, the Shotcrete technique used by Pools by Design is still a fairly new introduction into our region.
“We want to get the pools that everyone else turned down. We want the pools with challenges in design shape. We completed one pool in the area that was a seventy-foot bass.” Frank relishes working on special requests, such as pools with extremely long, vanishing edges. “To get the water to be perfect all the way across is challenging, but to also make it work as well as anybody’s backyard pool, even though it’s an extravagant or exotic product, is the goal.” And for Frank, perhaps this is the key to his success thus far, “Making it look beautiful, and making it low maintenance, easy to operate, extremely durable, and operational at a low cost guarantees that lifelong homeowners will eternally enjoy their pool.”
And what about fancy pool accessories? Remote systems that turn on your hot tub or pool heater from your living room and colored lights that shape the mood of the pool are a couple of the gadgets Frank enjoys collaborating with architects or homeowners on. “I just completed this pool for a gentleman who wanted to hear music while he was swimming,” Frank says enthusiastically, right before climbing comfortably upon the aforementioned pool’s cover for a portrait, his feet sinking into the little water that had gathered from an earlier rain, “His lap pool now includes an underwater sound system, which works better than I had imagined.”
“These days,” Frank assures, “it’s a lot easier to own and operate your own pool, while keeping water conservation, money and personal time in mind.” Coming from a man with over twenty-four years in the industry and a business to back it up, the possibility of owning a pool sounds as effortless as a ride down a waterslide on a hot desert day.
As we get in our cars to leave his client’s poolside, I hear a honk. I look over to see Frank beaming and holding up his back-up pair of dry shoes. I grin back, wave and think to myself, “There’s good karma in that water.”
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