Talking Pools Podcast has named its 2026 Top Ten Pool Industry Mentors.
"These are the people others call when things go buck-nutty, the water is giving you some serious side-eye, and nobody wants the blind advice of some chooch on YouTube who couldn’t spell Pool Pro yesterday," says Talking Pools Podcast host Rudy Stankowitz. "They are the ones who pick up the phone, teach a person to troubleshoot, and help them solve the mystery without dropping spoilers, without seeking recognition or looking for a trophy."
Talking Pools Podcast will recognize the TOP TEN and give each a trophy. In October, one of them will get a championship belt made by the folks who make belts for MMA & WWE.
The 2026 TOP TEN Mentors are:
- Chris Cavanaugh, Owner/Manager, Cavanaugh Pool, Spa & Patio, Inc., Madisonville, Ky.
- Greg Beard (2X TOP TEN MENTOR), Owner, Greg Beard’s Pool Service, Garden Grove, Calif.
- John Poma (2X TOP TEN MENTOR), Owner, A+ Pool Service, Lakeland, Fla.
- Jerry Wallace, Owner, Swim Chem, Sacramento, Calif.
- Jeff Hampe, Owner, Hampe Pools, Largo, Fla.
- Terry Tamminen, CEO, AltaSea, Port of Los Angeles, Calif.
- Peter Wiedermann, Launch Director, BNI – Business Network International, Perth, Australia
- Laci Davis (2X TOP TEN MENTOR), President, The Grit Game, Hudson, Fla.
- Brandon Reed, Owner, Pool Volution, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.
- Tim McDow, Owner, Waco Pool & Spa, Waco, Texas
This year’s recognition kicked off with 103 nominations from across the swimming pool and spa industry. After the first pass, the pile was narrowed down to 20 finalists. Then each nomination was presented to the Talking Pools Podcast hosts for blind scoring so that bias could be eliminated and merit could become the sole focus.
The judges kept it simple. They looked at what each nominee did for the people they mentored, and the acumen and ongoing success of those people they had taken under their wing.
“Mentorship is not picking up the phone every ten minutes and becoming the answer guy or gal,” says Stankowitz. “Real mentorship teaches people how to think, how to wrestle problems to the ground, and how to get to the right answer without needing to call a lifeline every time one of their customers says their pool water tastes cloudy. A mentor builds people who can function without turning every Tuesday into a rescue mission.”
That difference was the spine of the 2026 selection process.
The Top Ten designation is one of the program’s biggest honors. Each of the ten selected professionals brings a different flavor of mentorship to the table, but they all share the same habit of making the people around them better.
Title Sponsors Blue Ray XL and United Chemical, Gold Sponsor LaMotte Chemical, Silver Sponsor RevdUp Apparel, and Supporting Sponsor Aqua Comfort Water Group back the 2026 Talking Pools Podcast Mentor Award.
Their participation serves as a cornerstone of professional development, knowledge transfer, and the continued growth of the pool and spa industry.
