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“Not only can we do beautiful designs with a lagoon-style pool, but also if someone wants a more fine modern look. We’ve been having fun exploring that style as well and just really enjoy it. We’re always reinventing the wheel and that’s what keeps me interested in doing what we do.”

PM: How did you get first involved with doing the show Insane Pools and make the leap from YouTube to TV? 2111 Eisenhower Ave., Ste. 500, 4775 Granby Circle, Colorado

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Membership for Entrepreneurs

The Pool & Hot Tub Alliance is a growing network with programs geared to support entrepreneurs and business owners to grow and crush any challenges that lie ahead. Together we elevate, educate, and advocate for our livelihood with an array of certifications, on-demand classes, and in-person courses. When we stand together, our strong voices are heard at the federal and local levels.

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LC: “We got really, really, lucky. We had our YouTube channel and people were finding us through that. Then we had, I guess for lack of better words, just kind of like a talent scout who was looking on YouTube for ideas for a new show and saw what we were doing. He made a sizzle reel and pitched it to a few different networks. The first round nothing happened. The second round was drawn out and was like this multi-year process. So it was really like gut wrenching. You think you’re going to have a show, then you don’t have a show. That kind of back and forth. After a while, I stopped telling people Lucas Lagoons was going to have a show because it was just taking so long, they thought I was just making it up.”

“I just figured I’d just put it out of my mind and whatever was meant to be, was meant to be. Luckily ‘Insane Pools’ all came together and it was definitely a much bigger and harder challenge to do the show than I ever thought it would be. In the end though, well worth it. It really got our name out there and we’re obviously very proud of the show and the pools we did. I can say one thing, it was definitely a huge challenge to try to film the show and still be able to run a business at the same time. Yeah, lots of challenges.”

PM: Can you share that with us? What are some of the challenges of building a pool for a customer that’s going to be on a TV show?

LC: “Everyone thinks that just because you’re on TV, you’re just rich and made of money. That’s the thing with reality TV, they don’t pay you hardly anything because they know that it’s an opportunity for you. So you don’t really get paid much from the show. The clients know you’re going to get advertising for it, so they want a discount and they want something special. A lot of people have seen Extreme Home Makeover where they do things for free. There’s kind of that mentality that maybe they’ll get something for free if they reach out to the show.” ”The first season was really tough because they put low budgets on the pool. I built something worth five times what I was paid. That was season one, I think that was seven years ago now. Obviously with inflation things have gone up.

So people see that first season, they think for $150,000, I can build them the pool they saw on TV. Now, that’s our average design fee just to develop these types of massive projects we’re doing. So a lot has changed.”

PM: What’s been your favorite part about doing the show?

LC: “I think just being able to connect with so many people that I wouldn’t have connected with before the show, whether it’s homeowners or other people in the industry or kids that have been inspired to be creative and want to work with their hands. These days so many kids are just kind of stuck on devices and disconnected from this kind of hard work and art. So it’s been really cool. Kids have sent me videos of them building their own little ponds in the backyard, or making Lego pools or hand drawings of pools. Just so much fan mail. It’s really cool. I love that I’m inspiring the next generation to be creative and work hard, that’s really rewarding.”

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