Don’t Pee in the Pool by Brooke Speedy

This Issue’s Table of Contents
category: Training (4 min read)

We are all in one big pool as dive pros – treat it as such.

Why Dive Retailers Needa Refresher Course by Brooke Speedy

by Brooke Speedy, Manager, Tom Leaird’s Underwater Service, Muncie, IN

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SOME INDUSTRIES REFER to the businesses and individual pros that make up their community as entities that play in the same “Sandbox.” I like to think about our industry as one big pool of pros working towards maintaining common goals.

Unlike many other industries, our pros and consumers come from diverse backgrounds, experiences, and varying levels of commitment. Diversity in professional environments has the ability to create tension and conflict in some instances that can ultimately lead to market stagnation or destruction. I believe that diversity creates the best environment for positive change when a level of safety and understanding is cultivated and maintained.

Our Pool of Pros: Swimming pools cannot be safely used if the chemical levels are not well maintained and constantly measured to ensure user safety. If we pee in the pool too often, we must shock the system or reset everything before we can begin to operate smoothly and safely. In our industry, I consider negativity, poor customer service, and lowering safety standards to be similar to “peeing in the pool.” When working or playing in the water, every action that you could normally do with ease on land becomes more risky when performed underwater. We operate with a higher standard of safety and training than many other industries because of this. Safety is at the root of everything that we do and must be considered above all else. The challenge of curating a fun recreational experience while maintaining this high safety standard is something we face. Having a positive attitude and high levels of customer service help us surmount and conquer this challenge. I’m not saying that accidents cannot happen, they will always exist. That is why we have chemicals in the pool in the first place.

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Common Goals in the Industry: In recent years, the economy, regulations, and dive accidents that negatively reflect upon our industry can make it hard to maintain a positive attitude. During discourse with our peers, we must do our best to remain positive to achieve results. Preventing negative energy from saturating the industry is the only way that positive growth can happen. The easiest way to do this is to keep our common goals in mind when working with each other and when educating our consumers. These common goals include the following:

Creating and maintaining high safety standards.
Promoting positive growth of pros and consumers through training and education.
Providing customer service experiences that leave a positive impression.

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We can all agree that during our time working in our industry, we have crossed paths with pros who “pee in the pool.” With time, repeat offenders have been weeded out of the industry due to poor customer service or lax safety standards. Maybe some of us still in the industry are guilty of peeing in the pool once or twice over the years. Now is the time to change your mindset and demeanor to foster a more positive, healthy, and safe industry. If we all do our best to work together towards our common goals, our industry will not just continue to survive, it will thrive. Diverse opinions and productive communication are the chemicals that can best keep our environment safe for everyone. Now is the best time for all of us to stop peeing in the pool! However, what you do in your own wetsuit is your business.

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