Builder of the year: said to be Orlando's first woman-owned pool building company, this crew enjoys making their customers' dreams reality - Industry's Choice Awards 2001

Being a pioneer can be a lot of fun. Just ask Joyce Bowles.

One year ago, she launched Backyard Aquatics by Joyce Bowles, which she says is the only pool-building firm in the Orlando, Fla., area owned and operated by a woman.

And things have worked out just fine. In her first year, she completed contracts and designs for 34 pools. Now, Bowles' company has been named Pool & Spa News' 2001 National Builder of the Year in our sixth annual Industry's Choice Awards. The selection was based on industrywide voting, guided by five business and construction criteria.

Bowles specializes in designing poolscapes and backyard oases, sketching each project by hand in rich detail that can convey to her clients what she sees in her mind. "I want it to be exactly what the client wants and exactly what I want," she says.

Her desire to make every pool unique starts with the first meeting with clients. "I listen to everything they say," she explains. "I listen to what their dreams are. I look into their eyes and see the anticipation. It's as if I can see in their eyes exactly what they want."

Family ties

Perhaps there's chlorine in her family's blood: Three of Bowles' nephews are in the pool business, as is her older brother, W.A. Haire. He's been building pools since 1965 and now acts as her silent partner and construction supervisor.

Prior to becoming a pool builder, Bowles owned and operated a hair salon, where she says she exercised the same creativity she taps into for her business today. "Hair styling was another form of being artistic. I used to compete in state competitions and I taught classes as well," she says.

After selling her salon in 1987, Bowles cast about for a new outlet for her imagination. She found it in her then-husband's pool business, starting as bookkeeper, then turning her pen to pool design. By 1997, she had earned her state contractor's license. "I love to draw. I never had formal art training, but growing up, I was always scratching out things," Bowles says. "I would take something I saw and change it on the page so that it appeared in a new way."

A personal paradise

She prides herself on "educating" her clients, telling them of every embellishment they might possibly include in their personal paradise. "Whether it's in their budget or not, I want them to be aware of what's out there," Bowles says. "That's our starting point."

One client came to her with big dreams for their 14-by-22-foot lot. Bowles envisioned a "little oasis" with an irregularly shaped pool and grotto. "The pool shape is a little like Florida," she says. The grotto fits into the tip of the panhandle, with water cascading over a 4-foot rock wall that snakes along the back of the pool. Tile work and antique coping add texture to the design.

"It's a layering of many materials, all of it blending together, just like inside a person's home," Bowles says.

She freely admits that "almost every pool I design has every bell and whistle in it." One couple asked her to give their lakefront home the atmosphere of a deserted island. So now, Bowles says, there's a pool, a grotto, a sand beach, a stone fireplace, and a pathway that's "curved and weaved as if God put it there."

She also brings her passion for excellence to the entire industry. "There's room for higher standards," she says, citing business concerns such as misapplication of client's monies. "The client should always be first. Just go in there and be honest. The [contractors] who aren't doing things the right way are taking away from those who have a conscience."

But as strongly as Joyce Bowles feels about business issues, nothing beats the excitement she gets when creating a new masterpiece. "Sometimes," says our ICA National Builder of the Year, "I get up in the middle of the night to draw. I'm like a kid in a candy store. I've got to have what I see in my mind."

Gold Circle Club

This year marks the introduction of the Pool & Spa News Gold Circle Club, a special addition to the Industry's Choice Awards program.

This elite group of pool builders each have received Industry's Choice Awards for a total of five years. They now join the winners' ranks permanently.

The 14 members of the Pool & Spa News Gold Circle Club are listed below. For more extensive coverage, including photos and profiles, visit our Web site, www.poolspanews.com.

Congratulations to the 2001 Gold Circle members!

* Aqua-Blue Aquatech Pools & Spas Inc., Satellite Beach, Fla.

* Armond Aquatech Pools, Bridgeport, Pa.

* Canyon Creek Pools Inc., San Antonio

* Creative Environments, Alamo, Calif.

* Ron Gibbons Swimming Pools Inc., Islip Terrace, N.Y.

* Gym & Swim, Louisville, Ky.

* JABCO Inc. Master Pools, Tuscumbia, Ala.

* Master Pools by Patio Pools & Spas, Tucson, Ariz.

* Mission Pools, Escondido, Calif.

* Paragon Aquatech Ltd., Wheeling, III.

* Sandier Pools, Piano, Texas

* Shasta Industries Inc., Phoenix

* Watters Aquatech Pools & Spas, Las Vegas

* Wildwood Aquatech Pools Inc., Fresno, Calif.

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS KEY

Here's a guide to the acronyms found in the ICA profiles on the following pages:

* ASA: American Shotcrete Association

* ASPI: Associated Swimming Pool Industries of Florida

* BBB: Better Business Bureau

* CC: Chamber of Commerce

* CONSPA: Connecticut Chapter of NSPI

* HBA: Home Builders Association

* MPG: Master Pools Guild

* NAHB: National Association of Home Builders

* NFIB: National Federation of Independent Businesses

* NPC: National Plasterers Council

* NESPA: Northeast Spa & Pool Association

* NSPI: National Spa & Pool Institute

* PPOA: Professional Pool Operators of America

* SPEC: California Spa & Pool Industry Education Council

Thomas Clark is a free-lance writer based in Edgewood, Ky.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Hanley-Wood, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group