We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Adam Aguirre. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Adam below.
Adam , appreciate you joining us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?
I think it takes a dream, a vision, a plan, and a little bit of insanity. Albert Einstein once said “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results” I think every successful person is a little bit insane, because when you try and fail and then you try and fail, and then you try and fail again to the point where most people quit, but to somebody that has what it takes to be successful, they simply have no other option but to try and try again.
Success is a sword that is best forged in failure and it can only be wielded by those who truly believe that they can… To me success is not a lottery, it is a stock market and the best investment is yourself. The stock market is not linear it exponentially grows over time, it dips and sometimes it crashes but I feel that all losses are lessons and all rejections are redirections.
I am dreamer and a doer and dreams without action just stay dreams, In my two careers of Acting and Pool Building, I face rejection every single day but I try not to complain as this is what I signed up for, anything worth having doesn’t come easy. Sometimes I feel my definition of success is unobtainable but I also know that when I first got started in either career I would have killed to be where I am today, and I wouldn’t where I am today, or be where I am going tomorrow if I didn’t first have a dream, a vision, and weren’t a little bit insane.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Adam Aguirre, I’m an Actor, Pool Builder, Business owner, Entrepreneur , Traveler, East Los Angeles College graduate, Writer and friend.
My story is unique because I have allowed two very different career paths to coexist and mold me into who I am today.
I began acting at a very young age from community theater plays, to junior high, to high school and then professionally in television and film, having grown as an actor from community theater plays to working with and sharing the screen with well known actors such as Wilmer Valderrama, Chelsea Perretti and Blake Anderson. Acting has always been my true dream and passion however, I wouldn’t be able to pursue a career in acting and writing if it weren’t for my businesses in the swimming pool industry.
I am blessed to be a swimming pool contractor and own a pool construction business with my childhood best friend. Together we design and build swimmings pools, new backyards, major pool remodels and hardscaping of front yards, backyards and all outdoor living areas. I also own my swimming pool service and repair business I started my senior year of high school when I was 17 years old.
I got into the swimming pool industry toward the end of my senior year, I was working at a BBQ restaurant and servicing 2 friends parent’s pools on the weekends for extra money. I was eager to leave to a 4 year university but as fate would have it, weeks before moving up north for college my plans fell through due to financial aid issues, feeling lost and directionless I took that as a sign from the universe to stay home, grow my that little 2 pool cleaning route into a real business and most importantly pursue a career in acting.
Within the 10 year time, I grew that 2 pool route into over 150 pools on service and created a legitimate service and repair business that never would have came to be if I had left to college. Along the way I learned a lot through trial and error and eventually started dipping my toes into construction. At 23 I got my contractors license and started my construction business and tapped my childhood best friend Joseph who was also in the pool industry at a young age, to come on as partner and in those 4 years we have built some incredible high end projects together with help from the amazing team and work culture we have created together.
We are most proud of the synchronicity of our business partnership, our problem solving skills and belief in one another and belief we can overcome any obstacle the business faces. Our goal is to change the negative stereotype that all contractors have, especially swimming pool contractors. Having started 4 years ago with a clean slate we have began building an incredible reputation with several high end references of incredibly successful people living in incredibly gorgeous homes, not to mention the many hotels, apartments and condos we have done work for. What makes us unique is the knowledge of our industry at such a young age, we are able to give our clients a new and modern perspective, style and experience and our clients can tell that we genuinely care about the final outcome of their project.
I feel after this year’s large scale projects are done it would be hard not to take notice of what our business has done and will continue to do. It isn’t just high end residentials and hotels, We want to be able to do new pool construction, remodels, repair and service for people of all income levels and help others have their dream backyards to create a lifetime of family memories while also helping my partner and I make a living and enjoy this life we continue to build for ourselves.
Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?
A story that comes to mind is that of the first new pool we ever finished. It was a “negative edge” or “vanishing edge” pool that sat in front of a newly constructed two million dollar home belonging to one of the head corporate owners of one of the largest cheese manufacturers and distributors in the country. We would be working with her and her home’s builder during the project. The mother of the homeowner lived one driveway over and had a large indoor pool needing to be remodeled.
So there I was, I’m 23 years old, literally JUST passed my license exam a few days ago, I had began the sales process unlicensed , saying I was just BANKING that I was going to pass the exam the first time. These clients are ready to sign on these large projects and I don’t even have a license number yet and I’m starring in the face of a two pool project deal with one of which being a negative edge pool. These styles of pools are very advanced and difficult to construct, and very much meant for an advanced builder… not two 23 year olds whom have never built even a regular swimming pool yet.
The reason the story of this deal closing or project reaching completion was so relevant to my career was because I let other people tell me no, not myself.
What I mean by that is, I 100% felt overwhelmed, intimidated, and under qualified, thinking “oh I’m going to be working with this big shot , highly experienced home builder”, “oh I’m going to be working with this CEO”, “Oh they’re going to find out I don’t know what I’m doing”, “This is a job meant for a big shot, I can’t close this and I can’t build this..” Sales always came easy to me due to my background in acting, but actually doing this job felt at that time like the biggest challenge of my life and the sales process was not any easier when you’re constantly drowning in self doubt… but I let them tell me no, not myself.
If I had listened to those negative voices in my head, telling me no, telling me I can’t do it… If I had listened to that imposter syndrome I felt suffocating me, I would have never been awarded this 2 pool project and gotten the opportunity of a lifetime for a pool builder, not to mention two brand new pool builders.. I allowed THEM to tell me no, I allowed THEM to tell me I can’t do it… I left the decision up to them , not my self doubt and because of that, “no” is not the answer I ended up getting.
To me the regret of trying and failing will never feel worse than the feeling of having never tried at all. When going for big opportunities and allowing other people tell you no, not yourself- you will be surprised that you hear more “yes” than you ever would have if you had never tried at all.
Both projects came out beautifully and we would have never been able to do them, If i shied away from the opportunity, If I had told myself “no” and didn’t allow for them , to tell me “no”… I still use that mantra today when the imposter syndrome rears it’s ugly head.
Any advice for managing a team?
I think the best advice I could offer is to trust your people, remain approachable, remain flexible, find each team member’s strengths (meaning the areas where they perform best and are happiest to come to work.) and lastly, don’t micromanage… which also goes back to trusting your people. Trust your people and they will trust you.. all “ships” require trust whether it’s a relationship, friendship, partnership or leader and employee relationship.
The truth is, to be successful in business you have to have a team around you, no one person an do everything, this idea of a “one man army” (which I was for a long time) having the owner wear many hats and be secretary, laborer, sales person, marketer, etc. will cost you more money in the long run than if you had invested in team building.
To be clear, YES- When first starting a business you do work those 70-80 hour work weeks alone and save and save, but when it’s time to hire on you don’t just delegate to the team but rather lead the team, teach and set your team up for success because you’re only as good as your people so you must always teach them everything you know and be willing to learn from them the things you don’t, No ideas are stupid and all change in perspective is valuable.
Good leaders remain flexible and open to new ideas from the people around them.
I have one secretary for both the service and repair business and the construction business, two full time pool service techs, five construction employees and one business partner for the construction business.
It’s taken years and years to build a great team and the ones I lead with charisma, vision, trust and mutual respect. Employee retention is key and a great way to do that if you cannot afford raises are occasional bonuses, birthday presents, or approving the time off they request. My advice is to be firm when needed but always fair.
The age old question about leadership is “Is it better to be feared or loved” I say it’s better to be respected every single team.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm8439531/
- Instagram: @adamalpaca
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/californiapoolman1
- Youtube: @adamalberca
- Other: TikTok: @adamthepoolbuilder
http://resumes.actorsaccess.com/adamaguirre
Image Credits
Films and Television:
NCIS
House of Dolls
First Time Female Director