o t n i g n i v i D SUCCESS
alumni
Michael Williams, Class of 2004, Leads Own Thriving Pool Care Business
w by TERESA SCHIFFER
WEBBER INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY is proud to have produced a number of graduates who have gone on to become successful business leaders and members of their communities. Michael Williams is a prime example of the stellar grads who come out of Webber every year. The young entrepreneur started at Webber International University in 2000 and graduated in 2004. Williams then went on to start his own business, Blue Thumb Pool Care, in Frostproof, Florida, in 2008. Williams moved to Frostproof at the age of 16 with his family from Indiana. He married his high school sweetheart, Amy, and they have three sons. The Williams family has spent more than two decades in the town they proudly call home. Throughout high school and college, Williams worked at a pool supply store. He found that he enjoyed the work and liked being able to spend his time outdoors. Blue Thumb Pool Care started out just doing standard pool care, but Williams soon obtained his contractor’s license, allowing him to add pool remodeling to his menu of services.
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The company stays busy servicing East Polk County, mainly focusing on Winter Haven, Lake Wales, Babson Park and Frostproof. A member of the golf team during his time at Webber, Williams earned a marketing degree, which was a great benefit to him when the time came to start his own company. With the rise of social media in the past 15 years, the way marketing is conducted has changed some since Williams’ time in school, but the lessons he learned about planning and implementing a marketing campaign were instrumental in helping
him successfully launch his pool cleaning service. Williams is quick to credit his success in business to the education he received at Webber International University, saying, “I learned many different things during my time at Webber, though a lot of it didn’t set in until I started my own business.” Blue Thumb Pool Care is a fullservice pool cleaning company. It is prepared for any task relating to your pool, including pump/motor repairs, replacing filters, installing and maintaining salt systems and heaters, and taking care of repairs and remodels. Williams works hard to ensure that his company is thriving in order to provide for his family. Children are our future, and Williams shares what he hopes his children are learning from the example he sets in business, “The more hard work you put into it, the more successful you can be. You can be anything you want to be, really, if you just put your mind to it and work toward it.”
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