Harnessing Association Power for Industry Growth Elizabeth McMurray

Hi, everyone, and welcome to the I am landscape Growth podcast, where entrepreneurs help entrepreneurs grow faster, better, and stronger in the green industry, from leadership to sales to recruiting and operational excellence. We cover the topics holding entrepreneurs back and share how to get past those bottlenecks with the best in the industry. I’m your host, Rob Murray, co founder and CEO of Intrigue, a digital marketing company focused on helping landscape companies grow. So sit back and enjoy the show. Hello, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the I am Landscape Growth podcast. Today we have a really cool guest with us today, Elizabeth McMurray. Thank you so much for doing this.

Elizabeth
00:39
Yeah, thank you for having me. I appreciate the opportunity.

Robert
00:42
Elizabeth is the CEO of the Florida Swimming Pool association. Has a really cool perspective on the industry from like a broad perspective, but also working with members, you know, hand on hand in the board and whatever. So can you just give us a quick little kind of Cole’s notes summary? How the heck did you end up in a position like this?

Elizabeth
01:00
Yeah, absolutely. So many years back, probably over a decade ago, I was actually previously in the pool and spa industry. I worked for a chemical manufacturer seated here in Florida. Specialty chemicals, primarily stain removal products. And so I was their director of operations for seven years. I left them to go and do other things. I ended up actually working for the St. Petersburg area Chamber of Commerce, which is positioned in St. Pete, Florida. I was there for three years as their chief operating officer. So that’s kind of how I segued into association management. And none chambers very much parallel kind of what we do as an industry association. But of course, the FSPA is very much focused on our pool and spa industry specifically, instead of the broad reach that a chamber of commerce might have, you know, regionally with local businesses. Yeah.

Elizabeth
01:55
So I kind of saw that my predecessor had resigned her role, and it was kind of all over the Internet, and I got really excited and said, ooh, this kind of brings together my pool industry experience and also my association management experience, and I would love to come back to the industry. So I actually proactively reached out to the current board president at that time and just said, I would love to apply. I hope you guys will consider me. And it just kind of all worked out magically in the end. So. Yeah, yeah, it’s a kind of a cool story, and I’m very happy to be back in the pull and spa industry.

Robert
02:30
Yeah, I mean, and it, I mean, that’s cool. And I really appreciate it, and it does, you know, having that background and chambers of commerce from an association perspective. Yeah, very similar. Right. Like, you’re trying to deliver value for members, trying to get more members, trying to keep members, also trying to talk with government, you know, on behalf of local members, industry association. Very similar. And then coming from the pool and spa, very fitting. So, yeah, you know, when we first started talking to pool associations across the continent, I had this, like, you know, thought that you get to just test swimming pools and swim all the time. I don’t think that’s the case as much.

Robert
03:09
But, you know, working with these entrepreneurs across the association in Florida, you know, theme of this podcast is really around, you know, what are the primary growth constraints holding entrepreneurs back? And so the last couple of years have been kind of gangbusters. Things have been maybe shifting a little the last six, eight months. What are you seeing right now across the membership in terms of the primary growth constraint for these folks?

Elizabeth
03:35
I mean, I really believe it kind of boils down for our industry specifically, and probably many other trades as well, to just workforce development in general. I think in the past decade or two, there’s very much this focus on high school students getting out of high school and believing that they need to immediately pursue a four year college degree and kind of bypassing the opportunity to pursue a trade or become a small business owner, feeling that they need to go and get that college level education. And please don’t misunderstand, because I’m not at all trying to ding that. I obviously have a four year degree myself and pursued that path. But I definitely think that there’s a lot to be said for other types of opportunities and that maybe a four year college degree doesn’t fit every student.

Elizabeth
04:27
And so we really, I think, you know, finding good work and finding a labor force has been a challenge. It was a challenge for our industry during the pandemic because we just had exponential growth for multiple years. You know, were deemed an essential service by the state of Florida, which was awesome for our industry. And then, of course, people being trapped in their homes, all they could think about was how to improve their homes. So obviously, lots of home renovation projects and people pursuing enhancing their backyard space, which a lot of people, that leads to pools and spots, which is wonderful.

Elizabeth
05:06
So, you know, but along with that, there was a challenge of getting people educated in the workforce, getting people licensed in the workforce, just getting visibility about why the pool and spa industry may better or, you know, may have, you know, great opportunities for people to pursue versus other opportunities. And I think that we still face that challenge now. So things have slowed. you know, I. We’re still growing, but it’s not the, like, exponential growth. You’re.

Robert
05:34
It was bonkers. Yeah. Yeah.

Elizabeth
05:36
It was out of control, so. But, you know, so that has paced off a little bit. Right. But we’re still kind of facing the overall challenge of how do we draw young people into our industry. We’ve got people who have been in the industry for their entire lives, and they’re kind of aging out. So there’s a lot of dynamics around that challenge of just workforce development in general, and not just turning over the same people, per se, but bringing new people in.

Robert
06:05
Yeah, that’s cool. And a lot of people, when I ask the question, do you say staffing, labor force, whatever? Not very many people use the term workforce development, which I think is an interesting perspective because you’re not talking about just, like, there isn’t people you’re talking about. There are people. They just don’t necessarily understand the opportunities that are in front of them with a career or even a stint in the pool and spa industry. What’s interesting, too, because, like, I graduated from high school, I went out west and, you know, skied snowboarding, got work experience, then went to university, you know, whatever, two and a half years later. And it was a great experience because when I went to school, I was actually ready to study. I wasn’t ready to party anymore.

Robert
06:40
So it was, you know, I think there’s a lot of merit to that, whether it’s a good fit, whether it’s good for a break. You know, there’s a lot of people that are super young trying to figure out what to do with an $80,000, $100,000 education. That can be a lot. So when you talk about workforce development, what are you seeing? Like, people successfully doing this? Like, is there a couple members or things that you’re seeing in terms of initiatives, whether it’s the association level or within the membership, where you’re seeing people win this kind of challenge over.

Elizabeth
07:08
Yeah, I’d love to kind of chat with you, if you don’t mind, about, like, what the association is doing as a focus. But then I’d love to share kind of a story, a success story that I know of because of the relationship that I have with that individual. So the association in general, you know, we obviously recognize that it’s a challenge that we need to address for the industry. We do have a workforce education program currently. It’s been very much focused on our license holders in the industry and providing continuing education around licensure and also kind of teeing people up to get licensed. So that part of it is great. But again, like, kind of, as you touched on, workforce development is a lot broader than that. And so we have a couple programs.

Elizabeth
07:51
We do have a state apprenticeship program, and so it does offer the opportunity for someone to get their journeyman certification, which is recognized nationally. We are the only entity in the state of Florida that has that apprenticeship approved for our industry. So it’s pretty niche. We haven’t done a lot with it, but we are currently preparing to lift it up off the ground and get more people enrolled. We’ve only had a couple apprentices so far in the program since its inception a few years ago, but we are getting prepared to expand that and really engage our membership body in the program. And so that’s one opportunity to kind of grab kids in high school or any person who wants to come into the industry at any level to kind of get that on the job experience while they’re earning a paycheck, which is nice.

Robert
08:38
Yeah. So as a member, like, do I have access to that program as it launches? Like, is that kind of one of the things, as a member of this association, I can kind of get, like, matched up with what these apprentices might. Might end up being?

Elizabeth
08:50
Exactly, yep. So if you have a member business and you want to be an organization sponsor, meaning you would be, you have a company that wants to partner with us in the program. Basically, we get you enrolled, and then we help you to find, if you already have individuals that want to participate, that’s great. If you don’t, we can help you find individuals that want to participate and work under a licensed individual to pursue this path, and then we help them meet their education requirements. So on the job requirements, we kind of give an outline of the process and stipulations for the company that is paying the individual. And then we, as an educator, because obviously we do offer education, we partner with the state to ensure that individual, over the course of multiple years, meets the education requirements.

Elizabeth
09:39
So we provide that, you know, to that individual. So it’s a mutual beneficially partnership for all of us. Right. Everybody benefits. The apprentice, the company, and us. So we’re a growing workforce. The apprentice is getting that pay and that education on the job as well as through us. And then the member has that, you know, that employee that’s getting elevated. Right. And growing and having professional development through the association. So we really have a win.

Robert
10:08
So it’s interesting you say that, too, because a lot of times interviewing folks and going to conferences, whatever. We talk to people who’s really successful, whether in the industry and training and development is by far the common denominator among all of them. And I know a lot of entrepreneurs. They’re like, okay, I design a training program. Like, how the heck am I going to go do that? So to have the support of an association that says, here’s the checkboxes you need to tick with your person on the field. Oh, yeah, by the way, we’ve got theory to support the whole training program. Like, that’s huge value.

Elizabeth
10:42
It is. And, you know, we’re very blessed in our association that we literally have members that are subject matter experts and they, these members are actually volunteer instructors. And so they are getting exposure to people that have been in the industry for 30 years that are also educators, that they’re not preaching at you or talking at you. They’ve actually done the work. And so you get to learn from those educators as well as the employer, you know, as part of the program. Yeah. So it’s a huge benefit. The other major thing that we’re doing is another pretty massive lift is we’re working on a college certification program.

Elizabeth
11:21
Oh, so we have a lot of different trades obviously, that, you know, belong to these technical colleges and they are able to get that visibility and get, again, those students who maybe they don’t want a four year degree but they do want an education and they do want to go to college and they want to pursue a technical program. And so we are designing and putting together a certification program, not for college credit obviously, but, you know, leading with a certification that would be recognized throughout the state and that would be backed by, you know, a college institution and, you know, partnering with them to again, draw people into the industry, draw students into the trade through their college and have them walk away with something to tangible that has value to them and that can help them get employment in the state.

Robert
12:08
And so, I mean, these are two massive initiatives that have obviously been, you know, in the works for some time, you know, trying to help an industry that’s, you know, got this huge challenge of workforce development. So as you’re lifting these up right now, like, what can people expect in terms of, like, if I’m a member listening to this, should I join up now to become like a sponsor? Should I be expressing some interest in helping, you know, the certification program or like, what can I do as a member to get to support it, essentially?

Elizabeth
12:36
Sure. Well, two things, right. You know, obviously membership is what helps fund these programs. So being a member and paying those dues helps us facilitate, you know, getting these programs off the ground. The apprenticeship program exists like it’s ready to go. We already have people engaged, so if you are a member and you’re interested, you just need to reach out to us and let us know. And that’s easily done through just a phone call or an email. And if you express that interest, we’ll follow up with you on it. You know, the college certificate program, we do, as most associations, we have many committees and councils, and one of them is an education committee. So right now we really just need brains.

Elizabeth
13:15
We need smart people in the room that want to help us design this program that would be willing to volunteer with us. Any member is able to be engaged on any council or committee that they’re interested in. So you do not have to be a board member to do that. yeah, so it’s a great way for us to grow leadership through the association. So we really just need folks to volunteer. so, yeah, that’s just the, that would be the next ask on the college certificate program.

Robert
13:42
Very cool. It’s really interesting. There was, and I’ve done a bunch of these interviews and ad hoc, you know, conversations, and there’s a gentleman, his name’s Chris, he’s out of Tacoma, Washington, and asked about the primary growth constraint. He said, leadership. And him, I said, what about staff? And he said, no, staff’s figured out, like, what do you mean? And so he’s volunteering in his area with career fairs, with education, getting involved with colleges, trades and all this kind of stuff. He said, it’s amazing because as he’s teaching or instructing, he’s meeting all these people, young and old, who want to get involved in the industry. And then when they’re ready to go and they’ve had a chance to know who he is, they reach out.

Robert
14:21
And so as much as it’s a volunteer piece, it’s also a huge value add for members to get involved because they get firsthand experience with these students to figure out, like, who’s the cream of the crop and maybe you build a relationship there. I think that’s really neat opportunity.

Elizabeth
14:33
Yeah, yeah. I appreciate that perspective. Certainly I agree with you.

Robert
14:36
So then in terms of workforce development, those are two big initiatives. Now, the other side of this thing about being involved in the association, and then from your perspective, like, you’re CEO of this association and you’ve got, you mentioned like a board and a bunch of committees, a bunch of entrepreneurs, leaders that are involved in this thing. Like, what has it been like for you as a leader, learning how to leaders, essentially? Like, what are some of the lessons that you’ve learned over the years that’s kind of making this whole thing start to groove? Cause it really seems like you’ve got some momentum going right now.

Elizabeth
15:04
Yeah. Thank you. I think we do, and I’m really excited about it. I think what I’ve learned over the years with association management and nonprofit management, I mean, first of all, I volunteered for over five years for a local nonprofit in St. Pete. So I sat on the board and was a volunteer myself and kind of saw the other side of leadership. So I always kind of have that in my back pocket as far as, like, how to kind of respect and appreciate board members who are volunteering their time and to always kind of keep that in my pocket, that, of course, it benefits them in a multitude of ways to be a board member or a volunteer. But at the end of the day, they’re running their own businesses, and they’re very busy individuals.

Elizabeth
15:46
And so, like, please remember, and I kind of encourage our team and, you know, to feel the same way. Like, these are volunteers who are giving up valuable time. Time is the one resource that has, like, it’s just invaluable. Right. So be appreciative of that. So, you know, I always try to keep that at the forefront with my interactions with our board. But additionally, transparency, I don’t think that you can, you know, make an ask of a board or, you know, strategically plan with a board if you aren’t transparent about the challenges, the hardships, the goals, the hopes and wishes and dreams. So they need to kind of understand the whys and the hows and get to know the team better.

Elizabeth
16:27
And so, you know, I work really hard to give our entire staff visibility with the board and help them to understand, like, what are day to day actually looks like and how we take care of our members and what the value proposition really is, because every member is different, and they all have different perspectives, and so we try to bring that to the table for them, you know, through just transparent conversations. So I think those are the two biggest things I’ve learned over the years. You know, I grew up in nonprofits under some great leaders, and so, you know, that’s kind of what I like to exhibit that I’ve learned from them.

Robert
17:00
Yeah, that’s super cool. And I mean it. And I think what you just said from a print, like, from the principles of what you just said in terms of while appreciating them and their time, respecting that. The idea of being transparent and contextual in, like, what’s going on in the organization, that’s not just at an association level, I think that can be brought into anybody’s business. Right. Like, oftentimes we’ll see leaders that are just saying, we got to go do this. And a lot of people just like, what? Why? Like, you know, bringing that context is super important. And not to mention appreciating everybody’s time, whether they’re a volunteer or somebody on your leadership team, whatever that might be. That’s cool.

Elizabeth
17:33
Yeah.

Robert
17:34
You mentioned earlier that you might had a story that you wanted to share from somebody who’s doing a good job with all this workforce development kind of pieces.

Elizabeth
17:42
Yeah. So our past president, his name is Mickey Sigmund. He’s still on our executive committee through the end of this year, he made a basically a life change decision. I think it’s. I may be misstating this, but probably about a decade ago, he was in a totally different industry, you know, as an adult and wanted more stable work and decided to basically purchase a pool route and transition into the industry in the service sector. And he has kind of developed over the years, you know, into having a very successful business that he was then able to sell, you know, obviously at a profit and kind of segue into working directly with manufacturers in the industry.

Elizabeth
18:25
He joined the association as soon as he purchased his pool route and was getting involved in the industry because he kind of realized he needed that network of support. He needed the education that we would offer and just some of the other things that come along with all of that, which helped him to organically grow his business and become really successful. And obviously, he decided to become very engaged because he ended up volunteering and working his way through the ranks of our executive committee and ultimately being our president last year and our past president this year. so it’s kind of a really cool success story not only from just a business operator perspective, but also how he got intertwined with our association and came up through leadership as a volunteer all the way up to the top of the board.

Robert
19:10
Yeah. Well, and I can only imagine, too, right? You’d buy a business that you maybe know nothing about.

Elizabeth
19:14
Right.

Robert
19:14
And then you join an association with people that have been there, done that. You build relationships with mentors, you help bring people up, and then you’re surrounded by people that want to share. One of the things I’ve found in landscape and pool industry is that the openness to share among entrepreneurs is really neat because, like, in a lot of other associations we’ve been a part of anyway, people kind of hold their cards closer to their chest. They don’t necessarily give away their secrets. Like, what do you think makes people so open and cooperative?

Elizabeth
19:42
It’s interesting because I knew a long time ago, and I actually used to joke with my former boss at the chamber, our president and CEO there. I was like, one day I’m going to go back to the pool industry. And he’d always say, why would you want to do that? And I, you know, very candidly, it’s the people, the industry is obviously incredibly stable and it’s always in a growth upswing. Like, we know that from economic development studies that we’ve done and, you know, economic impact overall. But, you know, it’s just that people are very different in these trades. They, they may recognize competition and they understand that. But at the end of the day, like, our mission at FSPA is to advance the industry, and that is what we focus on. And our members know that. That’s why they join.

Elizabeth
20:29
They want to improve themselves. They are open and willing to help others. And they all get together and network and have a blast at these events. And some of them are focused on education and, like, real work for the industry, and some of them are not focused on that at all. And oftentimes that’s where you make, like, the best business connections. And one thing that Mickey, the past president that I was mentioning to you, always says is that he would literally just pick up the phone and call people, his, literally his competitors, and say, hey, I’m experiencing XYZ and I’m not really sure what to do. Can you point me in the right direction? And they’re happy to do that.

Robert
21:03
Yeah.

Elizabeth
21:04
And that’s what I love about our industry, and that’s why I wanted to come back. So, yeah, I think it’s something special to do with the trades and maybe the pull and spot industry specifically.

Robert
21:13
Yeah, no, maybe it’s just fun. And they all just like to have fun together. I’m not sure what it is. They work hard and play hard, and I just appreciate the culture that’s been, you know, built there, which is super cool.

Elizabeth
21:21
Yeah, you’re dead on.

Robert
21:23
So then help people understand. Members are not members of the association. Like, you know, there’s leadership, there’s events, there’s education, there’s a lot of stuff behind the scenes. People don’t necessarily know maybe what you’re up to when it comes to government relations, lobbying, that kind of stuff. You know, what can people, what can you tell people in terms of, like, some of the initiatives that you’re working on so they can understand that there’s a lot more to this than just what people see, necessarily.

Elizabeth
21:51
Sure. I mean, I think the one thing that I would really love to mention and maybe focus on a lot of our membership, I don’t know if they know or don’t. I mean, obviously we’re trying to communicate it, but, you know, we have a license plate. So in 2022, we moved forward with asking to be included in legislation to have a license plate approved in the state of Florida. Went through the process of getting a plate design approved with Department of Transportation. And, you know, it’s, legislatively, it’s there. It’s all done, sealed and delivered. And now we’re in the pre sale phase of that license plate. I think a lot of our members maybe don’t realize that we do have a 501 charitable foundation called the Florida Swims foundation. And so this license plate is a revenue opportunity specifically for the Florida Swims foundation.

Elizabeth
22:40
The revenue that we receive, like law literally says in the legislation that it must be used for education around water, meaning swim lessons. And, you know, one of our biggest initiatives from a charitable perspective is that we do provide swim lessons to communities across the state of Florida for those that do not have the opportunity to otherwise have access. So we have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to already, without the funding from the plate to provide swim lessons. We’ve been doing it for decades, and we are in pre sale for the plate. So if we can sell 3000 plates, the plate will go into production, and then that revenue comes to the foundation so that we can continue to provide swim lessons.

Robert
23:24
That’s huge. And everybody needs a license plate. So, like, I mean, why not get one that promotes people not drowning?

Elizabeth
23:31
Exactly. And it’s a beautiful plate, actually, a plate that was designed by one of our staff members here at the office. She’s our senior director of marketing and communications, Caris Tyson. She’s amazing. And, you know, it’s a beautiful plate if people want to see it. The website is swim for life florida.org. And it’s just a great opportunity to give back not only to the industry, but to just kids across the state of Florida. And again, like you said, education around water, you know, save a life. Every plate basically provides a swim lesson. So every year when you renew that plate, you’re providing a swim lesson to a child. Yeah.

Robert
24:12
So it’s like, seriously, like, we, I got three little kids, we’re lucky enough have a pool, whatever, and we’ve been putting them in water and make it so they could swim when they were little. Yeah. But, like, the fact that it’s not like, a mandatory requirement in schools is still kind of boggling, you know, to see kids grow up and not know how to swim. And sometimes I think when people are like, you know, have kids that swim and that kind of stuff, they don’t necessarily understand that, like, it’s a big deal if you don’t.

Elizabeth
24:36
And for the rest of your life when you don’t know how to swim, you are afraid of the water and your quality of life is diminished. There are a multitude of things that you can’t do because you don’t know how to swim.

Robert
24:47
It’s good. What an awesome initiative. And I had no idea. So, I mean, I did a little bit of research, obviously, with, you know, having this coming up, but for your members to know that, I think that’s really huge in terms of the impact you’re trying to create, not only from like, an industry perspective, but from like, a population, like, of the entire state. That’s really cool initiative.

Elizabeth
25:03
Yeah. It’s a way to have an impact in your community with people that have nothing to do with our industry, but they still get to benefit from the work that we’re doing.

Robert
25:11
So can I buy a plate at swimforlife florida.org?

Elizabeth
25:14
Yes, you can. And yep, you can pre register, basically. And what happens is we facilitate it for you. There’s an online form. We can accept payment online through the website. We’re actually working with Sarasota county tax Collector’s office locally to process those plates. But you can purchase them or renew them in any location across the state of Florida, even if you initially sign up on our website. So, you know, I don’t want people to worry that if, well, if I sign up on your site, like, what happens later? It just will transition to whichever tax collector office is appropriate for you. So it’s nothing to be worried about. And then, yeah, once we get 3000 signups, it goes into production. We have twelve months left to do that.

Elizabeth
25:57
We currently have about 600 plates sold, so we have a lot of work to do. But yeah, you just for a very nominal cost, you pay that additional like $35 to sign up and then you’ll have this beautiful plate.

Robert
26:10
I think that’s super cool. And a lot of people don’t know about it, so I’m glad we had a chance to share it.

Elizabeth
26:14
Yeah, thank you for asking the question.

Robert
26:16
No, of course. And then, so in terms of, you know, things that are coming up right now, like every year you guys have events, conferences. If I’m a member or not a member, what can I look forward to if I’m part of the association? From a timeless perspective? I know you got a couple of events that are coming up, you know, timely, but this is going to air and it’ll be on the Internet for who knows how long. So, you know, what are some of the key things that happen throughout a year that people should kind of look forward to if they’re going to be joining and, like, not to miss?

Elizabeth
26:44
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, our biggest event of the year is our everything under the Sun Expo. So we do have the largest trade show for our industry in the entire southeast, which we’re very proud of. The show has literally been around as long as the association. So it’s a 50 plus year old show. We typically hold it at the end of February or beginning of March. So it’s right at the end of winter, early spring. It’s held at the Orange County Convention center in Orlando, Florida. It’s always there. We’re contracted with them through 2026. So that’s the spot. And it’s an amazing trade show. We typically. So last year’s stats just for Bird’s eye view, we had 220 plus vendors as exhibitors at the show. On the floor, we had 5145 registered attendees and over 1000 education participants.

Elizabeth
27:39
So we had like 70 plus classes at the show where people can come and get educated. And if you’re a member, it’s all for free. So it’s an awesome opportunity to come and get all of your licensure credits all in one kit and caboodle. Like, we have a schedule that allows you to knock them all out in, you know, one week. And it’s just a really cool opportunity. Yeah, and we have really cool parties, obviously.

Robert
28:04
We do. Of course not. No parties.

Elizabeth
28:06
Awesome parties. Our design awards are awarded at the show, so we, every year we do industry awards and design awards for beautiful pools with cool engineering features. And all of that happens at everything under the sun expo. So that’s the big event to look out for.

Robert
28:24
Very cool.

Elizabeth
28:25
Yeah.

Robert
28:26
To kind of wind down this interview and kind of come back to the entrepreneur. What are some of the common themes or the most common thing you see in your successful members? Like, what are they doing differently? Everybody else, like, if I’m listening to this being like, I want to take it to the next level. You have a really cool opportunity to see members of, you know, all shapes and sizes.

Elizabeth
28:47
Yeah.

Robert
28:48
What do you see as, like, the main thing that’s driving success within the industry?

Elizabeth
28:53
You know, it honestly, it really boils down to relationship building. In my opinion, the people that I know of that are highly successful, whether they’re running a small business or they’re part of a large business, like one of the manufacturers or distributors in the industry. The bottom line is that they surround themselves with people that they know, like and trust, maybe people that are even smarter than them, and they’re okay with that. And that’s kind of what we do as an association. Right. We help people network and get connected. So, yeah, I definitely think our members, they’re very successful because they’re open to that. You know, they want to take advantage of the free education that we offer. They want to get connected to people in their community, statewide, and they show up.

Elizabeth
29:37
They’re willing to give some time and show up for one another and kind of pursue those things. So, yeah, I think that’s the biggest thing. All that relationship building that our members do is what makes them so successful.

Robert
29:49
That’s cool. You know what things I found, too, being part of associations, not only myself, but others. You know, it can be kind of daunting when you show up to an event and you don’t know anybody. And as a member, you know, you’re. You’re standing in a corner by yourself. Maybe you shake some hands, meet somebody, and that’s that. But when you’re on the leadership level, if you’re on a board or committee and you’ve got a task and you’ve got to engage members all of a sudden, just through the work that you’re doing, there’s an excuse to meet people. You build relationships because you have to. It’s not even something that is like a focus. It just happens.

Robert
30:22
And so for somebody who is maybe thinking about getting involved, not just a member, but to actually support and come help with time, what’s the best way for them to do that and what kind of opportunities exist for them?

Elizabeth
30:35
Yeah, great question. We have a really cool program that we call our ambassador program. And so when somebody comes and they join as a new member, they get not only touched by the state office, but they get the chapter, the local chapter that they’re joining as well, at the same time wraps their arms around them. And so they’re going to get connected to somebody who’s been in the chapter for a while that actively volunteers at the chapter and the state level, and they’re going to kind of walk them through, like, what are the current opportunities? What kind of things are you interested in? We always encourage them to come to one of the state board meetings. It’s a great way to come to the board meeting, not only meet people, but just sit in the room and listen and kind of absorb.

Robert
31:20
Yeah, no obligation. You don’t have to be on the board. Just come watch what it’s about.

Elizabeth
31:24
Yeah, like, just come and listen and meet everybody. You know, the chapters typically will, you know, help those folks get situated with a hotel room and what have you so that they can be comfortable. And we feed everybody, so everybody gets their meals taken care of. And, you know, it’s a multi day event, but they come for a Friday, which is when we have all our committee and councils meeting and they can see, like, what piques their interest. Do they want to participate in any of that, which any member is welcome to do. And then we have our formal, you know, board meeting on Saturday morning. The following day there’s always a Friday cocktail hour or party, you know, so there’s fun to be had and it’s just a really great time. And so welcome new members to do that.

Elizabeth
32:06
We really encourage them. We always kind of communicate what those dates look like and just say, come check it out. Just come see what we have to offer and get involved in any way that you want. You know, we will lead you to the path if you tell us what you’re interested in. So it’s a very welcoming group. They’re really good about it.

Robert
32:23
Well, and it’s a really cool thing because, like, from an initiative perspective, it’s no obligation. You don’t have to, like, volunteer a bunch of your time. You get to go meet the leaders of leaders, the people that are actually running the association at the state level and some of the local people as well, which then it kind of in turns build relationships, just. And that’s what creates the most successful members. So if you’re listening, go check out a board meeting if you’re a member. And if you’re not, why not?

Elizabeth
32:44
Yeah, I mean, you can come as a non member if you’re considering joining as well. So you just let us know what you’re into and we’ll accommodate that. So we definitely welcome guests.

Robert
32:53
So if they’re listening to this, they’re not a member. What do they do? To sign up?

Elizabeth
32:56
All you have to do is go to the website. So it’s floridapoolpro.com. Florida is spelled out. There’s a page there, obviously for membership that talks about all the benefits, there is an online membership application. It’s like stupid simple, so it’s not anything too complicated. And if you do have questions or concerns, just reach out to us. Our entire team is obviously available to get with anybody that has questions, myself included. So, yeah, just give us a call if you have questions. We’d be happy to walk you through it. And, yeah, it’s pretty simple. It’s pretty easy. It’s pretty easy to do. We’d love to have anybody that’s curious to learn more.

Robert
33:31
And then what’s, what is, do you have a membership goal right now? Like, where are you at? Where do you want to get to?

Elizabeth
33:35
Yeah, so we currently have 700 plus members. I mean, honestly, the sky’s the limit. I would love for us to have a much more significant market share. I kind of have this like five year plan that I’d love for us to jump all the way up to, like, you know, 3000 members. Huge reach goal, but it’s definitely something we can do. We have so many members in our industry. The pool and spa industry in the state of Florida is a $12.2 billion impact, I think, annually with over 100,000 jobs. So, like, the businesses are there?

Robert
34:09
Yeah, it’s there for sure.

Elizabeth
34:11
Yeah. So, like, we definitely want to grow, but we’ve been consistently growing the past couple of years, 100 plus members every year. So, you know, it’s been very gradual. But we’ve got some plans and some ideas on how we’re going to capture more members, like very rapidly.

Robert
34:26
Well, it’s cool too, because as you start to grow membership, then those opportunities for networking, building relationships, just kind of compounds over time. So if you’re listening, not a member, join. And if you are getting involved, Elizabeth, thank you so much for doing this. I really appreciate the time.

Elizabeth
34:40
I appreciate it as well. Thank you so much.

Robert
34:42
Okay, see ya. Thanks for everybody for listening. The I am landscape growth podcast is brought to you by intrigue, where passionate marketing meets predictable results for entrepreneurs. Remember to like and subscribe the podcast so you don’t miss the next episode. And if you would like to be a guest on the podcast, please visit intriguemedia.com and click on podcasts.