We recently connected with Kenton Rivas and have shared our conversation below.
Kenton, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s jump to the end – what do you want to be remembered for?
We strive to be remembered as the company that worked harder and did more than the others. We dive pools and save a bunch of water because we are aquaman or are aquatic.. what we do takes more time and energy but what we do saves water the same day and saves people from many times unnecessary repair costs. We are the best pool leak detection service. Our leak detection costs more than others but so much more is included in what we do. We want to be remembered for being a service that really helps people and does everything in our capability like we’re doing a job for our own family every single job.
Kenton, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
After traveling the world finishing grad school and being at odds with corporate America I prayed everyday to find something to do in life that was fulfilling, something that helped the planet.. and here we are we save millions of gallons of water yearly in southern California. I met up with a good friend in Florida who had been doing leak detections for several years and it was like a light bulb went off in my head and I thought ‘ yes! This is it!’ While training in Florida I could see that this profession wasn’t easy by any means from the job itself to dealing with stressed out customers dealing with a leaky pool but I felt deep down it could be something I could be good at and feel good about doing. It gives me a sense of fulfillment to both the earth and to our neighbors that need our good service.
Aquaman Leak Detection serves Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange county & San Diego. We provide the best quality leak detection service around for over a decade now. We have the capability to stop leaks underwater the same service where in other instances the pools would need to be drained. Sometimes pools do need to be drained but our service really cuts that possibility down. We are the most proud of saving so much water yearly. Our invoice can be used with the city for a water bill rebate.
Any advice for managing a team?
We have a small team of a few guys that represent Aquaman Leak Detection. I hate to be viewed as the boss.. I mean c’mon nobody likes the boss and that dynamic is just weird to me. Back in high school I was the wrestling team captain and I felt like all I did was yell at everyone back then .. folks can only run like that for so long until it just sucks to be that guy. Find a teammate that helps support and encourage them to be themselves and give people the reigns and trust in what they’re doing. Find people that you’ll have fun going to battle with that have each other’s back. I have more experience doing what we do so I try to share that with our team.. there can be some tricky scenarios out there and the experience from going through a lot of scenarios helps us collectively.
Also.. instead of being the boss I am more like a trainer for a prizefighter.. I try to make sure our fighters work hard to our potential but also doesn’t burn out and stay fresh. I look at weather forecast and distance and sometimes get a feel for the client. Sometimes a tough day in the heat or a client from hell just takes too much out of any of us it isn’t worth it.. live to fight another day..
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
I worked as a substitute teacher in Ojai while I bought my equipment to start Aquaman. The most exciting times are when things just start to get going!
Contact Info:
- Website: Aquamanleakdetection-ca.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aquamanleakdetection/
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@aquamanleakdetection3192?si=4KVotV_PoXTA4o9k
- Yelp: https://m.yelp.com/biz/aquaman-leak-detection-thousand-oaks-5?override_cta=Request%20quote%20%26%20availability
Image Credits
Image credits to Kenton Rivas, Jon Hanks, Cody Bobb, Blake Etzel