We recently connected with Amanda Stone and have shared our conversation below.
Amanda, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Parents play a huge role in our development as youngsters and sometimes that impact follows us into adulthood and into our lives and careers. Looking back, what’s something you think you parents did right?
When I was a kid, my parents owned and operated two roadside motels. I remember regularly sitting at the dinner table talking with my dad about vacancy rates and the impact of highway road construction. By being engaged and in-tune with their business, I learned the array of skills and tasks that entrepreneurs and small business owners must balance in order to establish, sustain, and grow.
While observing and absorbing their business experiences and wisdom established a foundation of knowledge for my own entrepreneurial journey, their unique balance of pushing me and supporting me was even more impactful. My dad always pushed me to be curious and to turn each “no” into a “how.” He asked me questions about anything and everything – from the strategy behind stoplight timing to more philosophical wonderings – in a way that made me felt seen, heard, and free to explore new ideas.
Like a ying to his yang, my mom always supported me and made me feel extra loved, protected, and valued – win or lose. Whether I was traveling far away or simply seeking a new idea or goal, I always felt like I could return “home” to her and be secure. Having her as a home base for my sense of self continued to give me the confidence to grow and push my comfort zone even further.
Not to mention, I wanted to be a business owner from a young age. Despite working hard and navigating the challenges of small business, my parents were very present and involved in the activities and interests of my older sisters and me. They came to every performance, game, and special moment. I knew from an early age that by the time I had a family of my own, I wanted control over my work-life balance and time, which I associated with being a business owner. I’m grateful to deliver that not only for my family and me, but also for the rest of our team.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I always wanted to work for myself and when I was in high school, I chose the events industry. At its core, being in event management and production is all about project management, problem solving, and team work. Over the years, I realized that I was not only ready for a fresh challenge, but also the striking parallels in the skillsets required for both events and construction. Ever an optimist, I decided to start a second business in construction with a specific focus on pools. Similar to my motivation for producing events, I loved the idea of creating spaces where people enjoy their favorite moments together.
My first step was to establish the entity of Palmingo Pools and get the business management pieces in position. From there, I sought out relationships with manufacturers, distributors, subcontractors, and referral partners. Once we were ready, our first wave of projects were ignited by word of mouth. Over time, we expanded our reach through our website, social media, and networking as well as scaled our team across operations and sales to meet our growth. Today, we have a full-time team of five with the shared mission of building the dreamiest pools for the happiest homeowners by delivering a more transparent and purposeful process.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
I’m a big believer that negative emotions like guilt, disappointment, and fear are our brains way of throwing up a red flag that we need to make a change. When something feels off, it’s critical to dig deeper into what’s going on and what needs to change. When people think of Palmingo Pools, my hope is that we’re synonymous with a team of real people who set accurate expectations and follow through on those promises. Our clients trust us to make each recommendation with their best interested top of mind. We don’t carry inventory that could influence our recommendations, which gives our team a sense of freedom to solve problems without unethical pressure. Construction can be a toxic industry, but our ultimate goal is to make decisions and conduct our business in a way that allows us to sleep well and rest easy each night.
Any advice for managing a team?
I think of our company as a dining table: which seats (or roles) do we need at the table and who needs to be in each seat? Having the right roles with the right people in them is critical. Our team enjoys a lot of flexibility, between our flexible work from anywhere and undefined PTO policies. In a small business, there is no where to hide. It’s important to only invite people to “the table” who can not only handle a looser structure, but who thrive in the autonomy. We use Google Workspace, Slack, Buildertrend, and other tools as well as twice-weekly team meeting deep dives to help us to connected, collaborative, and aligned.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.palmingopools.com
- Instagram: palmingopools
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/palmingopools
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/palmingo-pools/
