After decades of leadership for Russell Pools in Baton Rouge, La., Lee Russell is bringing his industry know-how to Great American.
“Lee brings a wide range of skills and knowledge to Great American, and we couldn’t be more excited about him joining the team,” exclaims Aaron Dixon, CEO of Great American. “The growth we have achieved over the past five years has been tremendous and as we continue to expand into new markets with higher-end systems and products, we had to have someone with Lee’s background and experience.”
Russell Pools has been a fixture in the south for nearly 60 years. Lee knows every phase of the business having followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather for years. The company was originally founded by Roy and Betty Russell in 1965. Besides designing and building beautiful pools, they also have a retail store.
“That means my head is filled with just about everything there is to know about the pool business from conception and construction to maintaining its beauty,” Lee says proudly. “It’s been 35 years of bringing homeowners their dream pools and now I’m very excited for this next chapter with Great American. The culture of innovation embraced by the leadership of Great American is unparalleled in our industry. I can’t wait to be a part of that culture and bring these innovations to the marketplace.”
Over the past few years, Great American has brought exceptional innovation to luxury, high-end builds with the creation of Zero Edge, an exotic-edge system that gives builders that sophisticated ‘Lautner Edge’ feel at a third of the price. “With Zero Edge and a few of our other new products — like ‘Vivid’ lit sheers and ‘Aqua Spout Pro’ — we’ve taken the company to a place where we had to bring in someone with Lee’s level of expertise. It’s an exciting time and happy Lee is here for it,” says Dixon.