Building a 60-Year Legacy in the Desert (with Skip Ast III of Shasta Pools)
In this episode of the Knoodle Founders Hour, host Rosaria Cain sits down with Skip Ast III of Shasta Pools to explore the history, challenges, and innovations of one of Arizona’s oldest family-run businesses.
Founded in the late 1960s by Skip’s great uncle Bob and grandfather Skip Sr., Shasta Pools capitalized on the booming Phoenix housing market by bringing water to the desert. Growing up in the industry, Skip III learned the business from the ground up—literally—by taking on character-building summer jobs tying steel in 135-degree pool pits. Today, he leads the company’s sales team and works alongside his father (Skip Jr.) and grandfather, continuing a 60-year mission focused on enhancing family life.
In this episode, you’ll discover:
- The Reality of a Family Business: What it’s truly like to work in a multi-generational company, and why they consistently reject lucrative private equity buyouts to protect their brand and their customers.
- Pioneering Pool Innovation: How Shasta Pools is challenging the industry’s traditional reliance on chlorine by partnering with Arizona State University to introduce healthy, nano-bubble oxygenated pool systems.
- Surviving the COVID-19 Tsunami: The unprecedented surge in demand for backyard resorts during the pandemic, the struggle of major supply chain shortages, and how the crisis forced the company to modernize by ditching manila folders for cloud technology.
- The Backyard as a Necessity: Why swimming pools in the Phoenix market have shifted from a luxury status symbol to a vital, year-round extension of the home’s living space.
- Future-Proofing a Legacy: How the 60-year-old company relies on a culture of continuous improvement and is exploring AI integration to better serve the next generation of families.
Entrepreneurs in family-run enterprises, leaders navigating rapid industry shifts, and innovators in traditional markets will all benefit from this deep dive into building a business that lasts
Listen to the full episode of the Knoodle Founders Hour podcast to learn what it takes to keep a multi-generational legacy thriving.
Ful Transcript
Rosaria Cain 0:00
Welcome. Skip Ast III of Shasta Pools. We’re so happy to have you. It’s swimming season. Pool season. The weather is, I don’t know, wasn’t it 109 a couple days ago, and we’re barely in May?
Skip Ast III 0:12
Yeah.
Rosaria Cain 0:13
So it’s going to be a good year,
Skip Ast III 0:16
I think so.
Rosaria Cain 0:17
I can imagine that makes you completely recession and inflation proof, which might come in handy about now.
Skip Ast III 0:24
Mostly recession-proof. Yes, yes.
Rosaria Cain 0:26
So 60 years of building pools,
Skip Ast III 0:31
I look pretty good for
Rosaria Cain 0:32
You look pretty good for 108.
Skip Ast III 0:35
Yes, thank you.
Rosaria Cain 0:36
Well, my pleasure. Of course, you are the grandson of the founders, so you didn’t you haven’t been around that long.
Skip Ast III 0:44
No, right?
Rosaria Cain 0:45
Tell me about the beginnings of the company and how you grew up in it and how this family business has evolved.
Skip Ast III 0:52
Yeah, so the beginnings are folklore stories for me that I’ve just learned to retell and regurgitate. But my great uncle, Bob Ast, had he was a part of a home builder that was actually including swimming pools for the valley. Because so many people were migrating to Phoenix even then, if I remember correctly, it was somewhere in the 60s, toward the end of the 60s, where the Phoenix metro quadrupled.
Rosaria Cain 1:22
Did we even have air conditioning back then?
Skip Ast III 1:25
It was, again, folklore, for what I read and regurgitating from family stories. It was kind of just beginning.
Rosaria Cain 1:34
Evaporative coolers were a thing, weren’t they? Because I moved here in the 70s with my family. I was a kid, and I remember evaporative coolers.
Skip Ast III 1:42
Yeah.
Rosaria Cain 1:43
And they didn’t work.
Skip Ast III 1:44
My only experience with that is going to school and playing football in the Midwest,
Rosaria Cain 1:48
Yeah.
Skip Ast III 1:48
And I remember thinking, “This isn’t good enough.” I’m used to something different in Arizona that was much more efficient, but they were just looking to get people excited to move here in the Valley. And I think when people moved here in the valley, they’re thinking palm trees and sunshine, and then they got here in the summer and like, “Uh-oh,” so pools were a really good add on or include with the sell of the home. So he had actually,
Rosaria Cain 2:15
That is a great add on.
Skip Ast III 2:16
Yeah. Well, it was smart. I always joke that my great uncle and grandfather were not dumb for starting a pool company in the middle of the desert. Bring water where there’s no water.
Rosaria Cain 2:26
Really smart.
Skip Ast III 2:27
Yeah, yeah. So my great uncle, Bob, started the company, and then, because he’s more of a sales mindset, relationship, he recruited his brother, my grandfather, Skip Sr., Skip number one, if we’re assigning numbers, to come on and kind of be the operational side of it, he was the construction, how do we build this right? How do we build it efficiently? So he came on a year later, and it was just two short years where he was the highest volume pool company, privately owned pool company in the world in 1968.
Rosaria Cain 3:03
That’s incredible. You’ve had a few competitors kind of pick up.
Skip Ast III 3:09
Yeah. Well, the joke is, in Arizona, if you grew up here and you’re not sure what to do after high school, you either buy a lawnmower and become a landscaper, or you buy a, you know, a pool pole, and become a pool guy.
Rosaria Cain 3:20
There you go.
Skip Ast III 3:23
We’ve seen both for sure.
Rosaria Cain 3:25
Well, how was it growing up with with your family entrenched in the pool business?
Skip Ast III 3:30
Oh man. Well, my therapist said… I’m just kidding.
Rosaria Cain 3:36
Family businesses.
Skip Ast III 3:37
Oh my goodness. So I didn’t really know any different, but I started picking up on different lifestyles from some of my friends in school. Like, wait, what do you mean you get to just play on the weekend? That sounds fun. No, it wasn’t. It wasn’t as bad as I’m making it sound right now.
Rosaria Cain 3:56
You have an inside job? Your parents have a job indoors?
Skip Ast III 4:00
My football coaches always wondered why I showed up to practice already sick, where they’re like, that’s our job to run you until you’re sick. Why are you already sick? Like, well, heat strokes a thing. No. Growing up, my dad did a pretty good job of not making it about everything my brothers and I did, he encouraged us to play sports, even go to school and college for just totally different things. And his message to us was always, “You’ve got to make your own path. Do what’s best for you and the family business is here if it’s right.” And so we had, I had some character building jobs through the summer.
Rosaria Cain 4:48
So, what was your major?
Skip Ast III 4:49
So I’m a Bachelor of Science Kinesiology major, which has next to nothing to do with this industry.
Rosaria Cain 4:57
Well, that’s in the field of health.
Skip Ast III 4:59
It is. Well, this last two years has been the first time I could legitimately say I’ve actually started using it. There are some things we’re doing that. I mean, I’m sure we can get into later where it’s actually kind of health focused. We’ve partnered, officially partnered, with Arizona State University and their science and innovation. So there’s actually some really cool things happening. Like, oh, I remember some of this that I studied in school. I get to use this a little bit, but
Rosaria Cain 5:27
It’s never for nothing. Education is never for nothing.
Skip Ast III 5:30
I agree. If nothing else you go to learn how to learn and discipline and your next employer is going to appreciate it.
Rosaria Cain 5:35
And stay on top of things.
Skip Ast III 5:36
Yeah, yeah. So that was, that was a good juggle, but a lot of summer jobs that I think, knowing what I know now, I might have reported family to child labor laws, but
Rosaria Cain 5:48
Oh yeah.
Skip Ast III 5:48
In the moment it’s it was good character-building jobs, tying steel,
Rosaria Cain 5:54
Not fun jobs.
Skip Ast III 5:55
No.
Rosaria Cain 5:56
I mean hard work.
Skip Ast III 5:57
Yeah.
Rosaria Cain 5:58
In the heat.
Skip Ast III 5:58
No, none of it was fun.
Rosaria Cain 5:59
Yeah, in the heat.
Skip Ast III 6:00
None of it was fun, and for next to little to no pay, it was,
Rosaria Cain 6:05
That was the character building.
Skip Ast III 6:06
It was the character building part. Yeah, it’s kind of a nerdy, fun fact that no one would ever share at a party. But when you’re inside the pool, in the hole, tying steel, it averages between 35 and 40 degrees hotter inside the hole than what the actual outside air temperature was.
Rosaria Cain 6:25
I didn’t know that.
Skip Ast III 6:26
So when we hit 115, we got like–
Rosaria Cain 6:27
It was 145?
Skip Ast III 6:29
Yes, yes. So that’s my version to my kids of walking 20 miles in the snow.
Rosaria Cain 6:37
Yeah, well, that was worse.
Skip Ast III 6:37
That was, and they roll their eyes.
Rosaria Cain 6:39
I’d rather walk 20 miles.
Skip Ast III 6:41
I, yeah, dependent on the day. I think I would too. It would actually feel refreshing.
Rosaria Cain 6:45
It’s like running a marathon every day.
Skip Ast III 6:47
Yes, and I don’t like running.
Rosaria Cain 6:49
I love running.
Skip Ast III 6:49
I have kids that run like crazy. I’ve got a daughter who’s gonna go run for NAU that wasn’t me.
Rosaria Cain 6:55
That’s she’s not doing swimming pools.
Skip Ast III 6:57
Correct?
Rosaria Cain 6:57
Yeah.
Skip Ast III 6:57
Correct.
Rosaria Cain 6:57
She might have a whole different outlook.
Skip Ast III 6:58
Yeah, she got to choose her outlook. And she actually thinks pain is fun, like you do. I guess
Rosaria Cain 7:00
I like running. I do. I just like it.
Skip Ast III 7:01
Yeah, see she likes it too. She loves it.
Rosaria Cain 7:07
Yeah. Well, so, what happened after that? So you did a lot of summer jobs in the 135 degree pool pit.
Skip Ast III 7:15
Yeah. So I got recruited to go play football, had a couple options, and ended up at a small NCAA school just outside of Chicago. I thought it would be fun to be a kinesiology major. It seemed like it was a fit with football, and I got to do a lot of applied things. So that was fun. Got married during college, which, socially is kind of looked at like you’re crazy. But now,
Rosaria Cain 7:44
How long have you been married?
Skip Ast III 7:45
22 years.
Rosaria Cain 7:46
Congratulations.
Skip Ast III 7:48
Thank you.
Rosaria Cain 7:49
First marriage?
Skip Ast III 7:51
Yes.
Rosaria Cain 7:51
No practice marriage?
Skip Ast III 7:52
No practice. That’s what’s good. All the credit goes to my wife.
Rosaria Cain 7:57
That’s great.
Skip Ast III 7:58
She’s a strong, independent woman, and she holds the house together.
Rosaria Cain 8:03
That’s great.
Skip Ast III 8:03
She gets all the credit.
Rosaria Cain 8:05
That’s awesome. So what’s the secret of longevity? So you been around 60 years? That has to be one of the oldest businesses in Phoenix.
Skip Ast III 8:15
Yeah, I don’t, I’ve never thought about that but maybe.
Rosaria Cain 8:16
I can’t think of any that are older, but I think it would be one of those things to investigate for your marketing. But I think it has got to be one of the oldest businesses. You know, we deal with Fulton homes, and they’re right at 50.
Skip Ast III 8:34
Wow.
Rosaria Cain 8:34
Yeah, and they’re one of the oldest. So I would imagine that you may hold the title as old as currently running business in the market, and that’s a real distinction that you should be proud of.
Skip Ast III 8:49
Yeah, no, I’m for sure the pool industry, we know that, but I love that you asked that question, because it’s making me think, how do we compare?
Rosaria Cain 8:57
Because in other markets, it’s different, because Phoenix is a fairly new town,
Skip Ast III 9:01
Yeah?
Rosaria Cain 9:02
Truly, in the scheme of things like the east, the northeast, it’s, it’s been around since the colonies. So there’s a little bit more history, yeah. But here, I mean, we’ve only been a state. I don’t even know how long we’ve been a state in that terrible I should really go back to my history. Wasn’t it like Valentine’s day in the does anybody know what the no either. No one knows. No one has somebody call it in. I’m gonna do that right after this.
Skip Ast III 9:31
This is my home. I should know that.
Rosaria Cain 9:33
Was it like in the 1900s though?
Skip Ast III 9:35
Yes, well, maybe.
Rosaria Cain 9:37
It was a newer state. Yes. Arizona is a newer state.
Skip Ast III 9:40
We’re young compared to the rest.
Rosaria Cain 9:41
Yes, yes, yeah, so therefore you guys have really killed it.
Skip Ast III 9:46
Thank you.
Rosaria Cain 9:47
Probably the oldest business in Arizona, the longest currently running business in Arizona. We’ll fact check it. Yeah, absolutely. What’s the secret? Not killing yourself in a family business or killing each other and keeping the business running.
Skip Ast III 10:01
No, no, no, I’ll hearken to kind of so my grandfather’s 89 he still comes in every day.
Rosaria Cain 10:10
Okay.
Skip Ast III 10:11
So I think there is a kind of a Kaizen never-satisfied-with-the-status-quo mentality that is kind of part of our culture. That’s easy to say, and I think anyone could probably repeat that. Any company could say, oh, we’re never satisfied. But there’s, there is you mentioned earlier, alluded to earlier. There’s a uniqueness to a family business, to where it’s kind of a part of your DNA. And you care so much. It was very trendy, especially in the last five or so years, that private equity would come in and scoop up.
Rosaria Cain 10:53
And it has! It has scooped up people in the industry.
Skip Ast III 10:57
The biggest volume of companies it has. So there’s a care when people hear from us, it’s we genuinely care about the result. My grandfather would kind of cheesily say that, “This is our home, and if we run into a family that we built a pool for, we don’t want to duck into the candy aisle because we’re embarrassed,”
Rosaria Cain 11:20
Right?
Skip Ast III 11:21
That nothing goes perfectly, right? The works always done by human hands, but we want to just proudly and excitedly give them a hug if they’re open to that, or a handshake,
Rosaria Cain 11:22
Right? Hold your head high.
Skip Ast III 11:31
Yeah, and just be very proud that we did everything we could to enhance their life. So again, that’s kind of words, and it’s easy to say, but it truly is a part of our culture that we want to do the right thing by people, and a part of that goes into the products we offer and the equipment, and this is not a sales pitch that by any means. It truly is, hey, if we offer a particular–one of the first questions out of my dad’s mouth today is “Explain to me how this makes the family’s life better, not what’s our profit margin?” That’s almost never the discussion. And to our CFOs…
Rosaria Cain 12:10
Probably a good idea every once in a while.
Skip Ast III 12:12
Yeah, it’s we just had a meeting today, actually, like, hey, let’s work on that. But usually, the first question is, how does this make this family’s life better, and I think because of that filter and that heart behind the family business, I think people feel that, not perfectly, but I think that’s what has really helped keep things going.
Rosaria Cain 12:33
I imagine you have been approached by some private equity firms, being as big as you are and as popular.
Skip Ast III 12:38
It’s not an exaggeration to say, and I think they’re emailing the wrong skip, but it’s easy to get confused, empathize with them.
Rosaria Cain 12:46
And you said, “Sure!”
Skip Ast III 12:47
Yeah, sometimes there is a temptation to hit “send” or “reply.” I probably get,
Rosaria Cain 12:56
Put a lot of zeros at the end of the check.
Skip Ast III 12:57
Three emails a week.
Rosaria Cain 12:58
Yeah.
Skip Ast III 12:59
And again, it’s certainly escalated since–
Rosaria Cain 13:03
They’re trying to package them up.
Skip Ast III 13:04
Yes, yep. So it’s, I don’t remember it in the 2018-2019 era, but since 2020, and we know what happened during then it’s probably two or three emails a week. I just delete them right now, because I know what the answer is gonna be.
Rosaria Cain 13:20
Right? And as you should.
Skip Ast III 13:21
Yeah.
Rosaria Cain 13:21
What keeps you private equity resistant? Is it just enjoying what you do every day and having no intention of going that way? Or is it a matter of principle that you don’t want to leave people with that?
Skip Ast III 13:39
Yeah, Ithink the candid answer is a little bit of both. It is a little bit of both, because we have seen firsthand what naturally happens to companies when they’re bought. A perfect example that some of the valley residents would probably remember is Paddock Pools.
Rosaria Cain 13:57
I remember, yeah.
Skip Ast III 14:00
Ghiz.
Rosaria Cain 14:00
Edward Ghiz.
Skip Ast III 14:01
Yes.
Rosaria Cain 14:02
Yes, I remember.
Skip Ast III 14:02
The Ghiz family. Yeah. So they actually started Paddock pools just a few short years before my great uncle and grandfather. So it was always for years, especially when I first came on about 20 years ago. I mean, on the books I came on to the family business. It was always Shasta Paddock. Shasta Paddock. These are the two family businesses we want to go with and look at, well, when they sold, don’t quote me on this. I want to say was about 2004 which was perfect timing, before the great financial crisis. We saw what happened to the brand, and we saw what happened to families, and we got a lot of those phone calls, and all my warranties gone and all sorts of things. And I think that was just kind of a real life lesson for us, like you know what? Let’s do this built to last. Let’s keep it going. I mean, as long as the good Lord smiles on us and we can keep it going, let’s keep doing that.
Rosaria Cain 14:52
Well, who’s next to take this over? So you’ve got kids. I have to ask, is there a Skip IV in your family?
Skip Ast III 15:00
No, because I love my kids so much so, out of respect for my father and my grandfather, my oldest son’s middle name is Skip.
Rosaria Cain 15:10
Okay.
Skip Ast III 15:10
But that’s way too many confusing phone calls. One too many Christmases where I got to open a tie or something really boring, and my dad’s open, like an RC car, like, oh yes, this is yours. Like, that ruined the fun of it. So no, we had a good, long talk. My wife’s felt was pretty instant. But just out of respect for my my father and my grandfather
Rosaria Cain 15:38
I understand yeah, that’s harder to be confused with a middle name. Well, do any of your kids want to take over the business?
Skip Ast III 15:44
You know, there’s kind of a funny story we joke about. There was a close friend of ours in the neighborhood who was helping and subbing in one of the kids. I think it was, it was either kindergarten or first grade, and it was Career Day. And, of course, because in a family business, I couldn’t be there, but there were, like firefighters and some other people.
Rosaria Cain 16:01
All the really cool professions.
Skip Ast III 16:03
The cool ones. So they’re going around the room, like, what do you want to be when you grow up? What do you want to be? And then I apparently, when I got to my son, he stood up and he said something fun, like, “I want to play in the NFL, but I think I’m going to be a pool guy like my dad.” And he kind of shakes his head. We laugh about that, but I it’s not like you grow up, like I would love to be in the pool industry. I love to swim in pools, but no one ever goes. That’s what I want to be a part of. You know what I mean?
Rosaria Cain 16:31
Well, they don’t want to go into advertising either. So, you know.
Skip Ast III 16:34
Really, no? I don’t know. It seems glamorous sometimes.
Rosaria Cain 16:38
Maybe a little Mad Man. That was fun then.
Skip Ast III 16:40
Yeah, exactly.
Rosaria Cain 16:40
But I mean it’s not like that anymore.
Skip Ast III 16:41
Exactly. But since kids don’t watch that show, maybe not as much, or at least they shouldn’t.
Rosaria Cain 16:46
That is– they should not. That is true. That is absolutely true. Have you ever wanted to expand markets? So you’re just in the Phoenix Metro area, correct?
Skip Ast III 16:55
Yeah, you know we’ve talked about that. There are certain markets where pools from the, we mentioned profit earlier, are much more profitable. So that has been tempting.
Rosaria Cain 17:08
Probably Texas, maybe.
Skip Ast III 17:09
Texas is the perfect example.
Rosaria Cain 17:11
Florida. So you have to be in a year-round
Skip Ast III 17:13
Florida is okay, but yeah, if you’re looking at sunbelt states, Texas is super attractive, but we’re a part of a worldwide guild called the Master Pool Guild, and it’s basically a think tank. It’s not a buying group, but it’s a think tank of like, Hey, have you tried this technology?
Rosaria Cain 17:31
So kind of an industry specific sharing.
Skip Ast III 17:34
Yeah. It’s very educational, it’s very family oriented, sharing. How can we, you know, high tides, raise all ships. So we’ve kind of an agreement, if you will, that we won’t encroach in each other’s territories. In fact, there’s Master Pool Guild partner of ours in Tucson called Pools by Design, so we just we don’t cross those lines. So certainly we can find points on a map where we could expand to but we felt it’s best to just kind of concentrate in this area, do what you do best. And this is home for us. We love home.
Rosaria Cain 18:06
Well, Arizona’s special.
Skip Ast III 18:07
It is. Arizona is super unique. I heard that I didn’t appreciate it until I got to Chicago, in all of these different athletes and people attending school from all over the country, sometimes different parts of the world. And I’d tell them where I was from, and they go, “Oh my gosh, you’re from Phoenix. Oh, you’re so lucky. And I well, you’re lucky.” And I’m like, oh!
Rosaria Cain 18:26
You’re lucky, like, October through April.
Skip Ast III 18:31
They don’t know that. That’s the only time they visit is March for spring baseball, October to go golfing. But they had so glowed about it. My brother lives in Hawaii, and when I would hear them talk about me being from Phoenix, I would be think, you got I didn’t say Hawaii, I said Phoenix, but it kind of occurred to me–
Rosaria Cain 18:53
We’re a resort town.
Skip Ast III 18:54
Yes, and it actually made me appreciate everyone else’s appreciation for Arizona, like, you know, I am from a pretty cool town.
Rosaria Cain 19:01
You could almost say you are in the resort making business, right? Because this is one of the things, is, and this kind of, some of this thinking emerged out of covid, right? Making your home a place you want to spend time, yes and a resort feel
Skip Ast III 19:19
Yep, without question. I think people enjoy and appreciate I know that sounds cheesy, the memories you can make around it, the ability to kind of float and escape reality. I mean, God knows we want to escape reality today. Don’t turn on the TV and just go float in the pool with a drink.
Rosaria Cain 19:38
Well, and when it’s hot.
Skip Ast III 19:41
Yes, that too.
Rosaria Cain 19:41
There’s nothing more refreshing.
Skip Ast III 19:43
Right?
Rosaria Cain 19:43
And since March, it’s been, you know, a little on the warm side.
Skip Ast III 19:47
The switch got full really fast on us.
Rosaria Cain 19:50
Pool weather starting in March.
Skip Ast III 19:52
Yeah, yeah, no, this was the right state for my great uncle and grandfather to start it, because we have Master Pool Guild friends all over the country. Some are just outside of New York or outside of Buffalo, New York. You swim like one month out of the year. Why do you do that? They love it. They enjoy what they do.
Rosaria Cain 20:10
And they have mosquitoes there.
Skip Ast III 20:12
Yeah. What are those?
Rosaria Cain 20:12
They look like birds.
Skip Ast III 20:13
Yeah.
Rosaria Cain 20:13
They’re the size of birds there?
Skip Ast III 20:14
I heard, I heard stories, yeah, nothing, nothing.
Rosaria Cain 20:15
Ours are not really a problem compared to that.
Skip Ast III 20:16
No, they die in mid air as soon as they’re born. They just drop because the heat is so dry.
Rosaria Cain 20:18
Yeah, oh, yeah, it’s nasty. It is. Well, so let’s talk a little bit about the family dynamics. You’ve got Skip Sr., Jr. and three, as you are affectionately called, who’s running the place right now? Are all of you running the place?
Skip Ast III 20:43
I don’t know who. I’m just kidding.
Rosaria Cain 20:46
You’re running the sales team, for sure.
Skip Ast III 20:47
Yeah, I am.
Rosaria Cain 20:48
I saw that on the website.
Skip Ast III 20:49
Yeah, yeah. You did good research. Skip Jr, or number two,
Rosaria Cain 20:54
Yes. Or your dad.
Skip Ast III 20:55
My dad,
Rosaria Cain 20:56
Yeah.
Skip Ast III 20:56
That’s one way to put it. It gets interesting in meetings when you’ve got a group of other people.
Rosaria Cain 21:00
Because then you have to call each other by your first name.
Skip Ast III 21:02
Exactly. Yes. Well, I think that’s probably the proper thing to do. It’s maybe a little weird for other employees to hear “Hey, dad.”
Rosaria Cain 21:09
We have a mother and daughter on the team. We have a project manager, Sandra’s daughter.
Skip Ast III 21:14
Oh.
Rosaria Cain 21:15
At Knoodle and they refer each other by their adult names.
Skip Ast III 21:21
It’s out of respect for other team members. And I don’t know it just feels proper.
Rosaria Cain 21:25
I understand.
Skip Ast III 21:26
When you’re thinking of others, it feels improper.
Rosaria Cain 21:28
But it seems weird, doesn’t it?
Skip Ast III 21:30
All the time.
Rosaria Cain 21:30
Okay.
Skip Ast III 21:31
Every day.
Rosaria Cain 21:32
Never gets comfortable.
Skip Ast III 21:33
Never normal.
Rosaria Cain 21:34
Okay.
Skip Ast III 21:35
Not at all. But I would, you know, I would say Skip Jr is really got the reins right now, Skip Sr. comes in, he’s kind of the face in the head of just the generational aspect.
Rosaria Cain 21:47
He’s got all the tradition and the history.
Skip Ast III 21:49
He does. So yeah, I just know that if something happens or I need advice, I just find a Skip.
Rosaria Cain 21:58
Now, at some point you’re gonna take the helm, right?
Skip Ast III 22:01
I don’t know. Assumptively.
Rosaria Cain 22:05
I mean, at some point I imagine Skip Ast Jr. will decide, perhaps, he might want to travel or, or do something,
Skip Ast III 22:17
Yeah.
Rosaria Cain 22:18
different.
Skip Ast III 22:19
You know that… I just for my own sanity, I like to just, you know what? That’s for wiser,
Rosaria Cain 22:27
Yeah,
Skip Ast III 22:28
people to decide.
Rosaria Cain 22:29
But you’re next up. You’re next at bat.
Skip Ast III 22:31
In theory.
Rosaria Cain 22:32
Yes, that’s good!
Skip Ast III 22:33
In theory, if we’re keeping it within the family batting line of rotation: Mayb. But, I don’t stress about it.
Rosaria Cain 22:41
So you’re the understudy.
Skip Ast III 22:42
I am.
Rosaria Cain 22:43
And that’s good.
Skip Ast III 22:44
Yeah.
Rosaria Cain 22:44
That’s good.
Skip Ast III 22:45
It’s kind of an apprenticeship, maybe.
Rosaria Cain 22:46
Isn’t that so comfortable and comforting that you’ve had all these years to kind of absorb it and you’re still using the information that you’re absorbing.
Skip Ast III 22:56
Yes.
Rosaria Cain 22:56
And that at some point, if you end up taking over the reins. Taking the reins, you at least have everything you need. So many people don’t get that situation.
Skip Ast III 23:05
Yes, I mean literally from the hole up right? Like, just starting in the bottom of the hole, and things that I questioned life choices, then I absolutely can appreciate now, especially talking to a family. It’s not like a silver spoon, like, well, here you go.
Rosaria Cain 23:21
You’ve earned it.
Skip Ast III 23:21
I could actually speak to, well, this is what happens in the bottom of the pool. And I was there, you know, so that I see that as a benefit for families that I get the pleasure of, you know, talking with.
Rosaria Cain 23:32
So which one of your kids gets the reins?
Skip Ast III 23:36
I think they are in a place where they’re like, Dad… They’re kind of in that journey I was where–
Rosaria Cain 23:42
They’re not thinking about it yet.
Skip Ast III 23:44
Not even a little bit. No, my oldest is going down the medical path. Playing football in North Dakota.
Rosaria Cain 23:50
See, he’s kind of like you.
Skip Ast III 23:51
Yeah.
Rosaria Cain 23:52
Not kinesiology, but definitely in the healthcare.
Skip Ast III 23:58
He’s the smarter version of it. No offense to any other kinesiology out there, but going full medical path.
Rosaria Cain 24:03
Like Doctor?
Skip Ast III 24:05
Yeah.
Rosaria Cain 24:05
Does he have a certain specialty in mind?
Skip Ast III 24:09
He likes the anesthesiology path, but we’ll see.
Rosaria Cain 24:13
Very smart, because they don’t have to work emergency hours a lot of the time. That’s really smart.
Skip Ast III 24:18
Right? Yep, he didn’t get it from me. He definitely got it from mom. He’s very methodical, planned.
Rosaria Cain 24:26
Linear?
Skip Ast III 24:26
Very linear, very linear. So it was not me at all
Rosaria Cain 24:30
That’s awesome.
Skip Ast III 24:31
Yeah, it’s fun to watch.
Rosaria Cain 24:32
It’s a good thing.
Skip Ast III 24:33
It’s fun to watch the kids do it.
Rosaria Cain 24:34
So I’m reading on your website too. You guys have done a lot with innovations.
Skip Ast III 24:40
Yeah.
Rosaria Cain 24:41
Like replacements for chlorine, for instance. And that must be really hard to stay on top of. Tell me about what you’ve done with with the innovations in this industry.
Skip Ast III 24:50
Yeah, the one you’re referencing more specifically, I think, the pool industry as a whole, and this is no offense to anyone, in the pool industry, is very set in its way.
Rosaria Cain 25:03
Very traditional.
Skip Ast III 25:04
Yeah, very and hey, we’ve always done it this way. And don’t, you know, don’t upset the apple cart. You know, chlorine does a great job. And I think again, with that kind of, that Kaizen approach, just never being satisfied, it’s kind of forced us and caused us to look for, you know, healthy alternatives, different construction, better ways to build. And the nano bubble oxygenated system is one of those. We actually found a company, a local company called Aqua Day, that was in that space. It was really high end professional athletes, like really, really big projects where they were finding ways to remove the need for chlorine at all and, in fact, replace it with something extremely healthy, which is oxygen.
Rosaria Cain 25:54
Now, what’s the problem with chlorine? It’s not good for your hair or your skin.
Skip Ast III 25:59
Or your body.
Rosaria Cain 25:59
Or your body, and it doesn’t taste good.
Skip Ast III 26:01
No, don’t drink it!
Rosaria Cain 26:03
And it makes you smell funny.
Skip Ast III 26:04
And your skin dries. You know that chlorine, this is such a pool nerdy thing to talk about, or say chlorine has been the easy route for the pool industry, because it just it stays there. We call it residual. It just resides. It stays there. The sun can burn it away eventually, but it’s very hard to find something that will continuously kind of get rid of all that gross green stuff that can come from a swimming pool. So I think the industry’s really leaned on that, whereas when we found this organization, and then we partnered with Arizona State University, who I was shocked and found out that they were number one in science and innovation for the last 11 consecutive years over every school.
Rosaria Cain 26:52
Go, Michael Crow.
Skip Ast III 26:54
Yes. Oh, amazing.
Rosaria Cain 26:56
Yeah.
Skip Ast III 26:57
So I grew up, I mean, being, you know, Sun Devil fan thinking, “Oh, it’s the party school,” That’s why I didn’t go to school there.
Rosaria Cain 27:03
It used to be.
Skip Ast III 27:03
Used to be.
Rosaria Cain 27:04
But that’s dated.
Skip Ast III 27:04
No they are making leaps and bounds as far as universities go. So how cool is it that right in our backyard, our organizations that are helping us find a way to like, hey, let’s be done with chlorine. If we can, we’re not forcing it on anyone.
Rosaria Cain 27:21
So it’s an option.
Skip Ast III 27:22
It is an option, and you get to choose it.
Rosaria Cain 27:26
Wow. But are there any downsides to to this option?
Skip Ast III 27:30
It’s just new.
Rosaria Cain 27:31
And it’s good for you.
Skip Ast III 27:32
It’s It’s kind of scary for people. You know, even some families who grew up in Arizona, they’ve always owned pools and they they comfortable with chlorine. They know chlorine.
Rosaria Cain 27:42
Turns your hair green.
Skip Ast III 27:43
Yeah, yes, it can. I’ve never had to worry about that, but certainly, yes.
Rosaria Cain 27:49
Yeah.
Skip Ast III 27:50
So yeah, there are definitely some health ramifications to consider.
Rosaria Cain 27:55
That’s so exciting.
Skip Ast III 27:56
Oh, it’s been a lot of fun. I was one of–I was the guinea pig for this residential version that we were able to partner with
Rosaria Cain 28:06
You were the beta test.
Skip Ast III 28:07
Yep. And because I love my wife so much, she knows next to nothing about swimming pool equipment, and when we spliced this into our pool, it was funny. When she first felt it. She was like, “Oh, well, if we ever move whatever is doing this, we’re bringing it with us.” Like, that’s how happy she was with just how it felt. And, yeah, just very interesting. I mean, we’re not a health organization by any means, so legally, I, you know, can’t really share some of it, but some of the personal benefits.
Rosaria Cain 28:42
Can’t do claims.
Skip Ast III 28:43
Yes, no claims,
Rosaria Cain 28:44
But people really like it.
Skip Ast III 28:45
It’s amazing. It somewhat parallels some of what we’ve read about hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
Rosaria Cain 28:52
Kind of like, almost like a spa experience.
Skip Ast III 28:55
Yes, the water is shockingly soft, and we learned from a professor
Rosaria Cain 29:01
Oh, not like Arizona water.
Skip Ast III 29:02
No.
Rosaria Cain 29:03
I mean, in its natural state, without softening.
Skip Ast III 29:05
No, you come up with like white crystals on you in Arizona water. But no, it’s a it’s a wildly different experience. And it’s been really fun for the families that are excited about it or appreciate it. It’s like, Hey, here’s just another path. You get to choose. Here’s pros and cons. You pick what’s best for you. You asked earlier, what? What are, you know, some downsides. It’s just the new knowledge, and it’s you can go with a cheaper option. There’s systems that cost less.
Rosaria Cain 29:37
It’s an upgrade.
Skip Ast III 29:38
Yeah, it definitely is an upgrade. But the lifestyle benefit for a lot of families, very little to no cost of ownership, but just the overall feel and experience is pretty fantastic.
Rosaria Cain 29:49
It sounds great.
Skip Ast III 29:50
It’s been fun. Selfishly speaking, I get in the pool by myself now, which is weird. It was always with kids, or it’s always a party or an event, or something. I get in by myself.
Rosaria Cain 30:01
More a serene experience.
Skip Ast III 30:03
It is, it is kind of it’s relaxing.
Rosaria Cain 30:05
Very zen.
Skip Ast III 30:06
I feel better. I can breathe deeper after.
Rosaria Cain 30:08
See, you should run. I would love that.
Skip Ast III 30:13
I’ll swim. I’ll do some laps in the pool. You and my daughter would be two peas in a pod because she’ll run forever. I unless I had a football in my hand, I’m kind of Neanderthal. I, I didn’t see the point in running.
Rosaria Cain 30:27
I never started till I was 40.
Skip Ast III 30:29
Oh,
Rosaria Cain 30:29
And I just really liked it. Kind of like Forrest Gump.
Skip Ast III 30:33
You’re making me feel guilty now like I should pick this up.
Rosaria Cain 30:35
Well, you know, it’s probably, but I think swimming, swimming is also really good.
Skip Ast III 30:38
Yeah.
Rosaria Cain 30:38
So there’s no… do you have any other innovations in mind, or, I’m sure there must be other things you’re working on.
Skip Ast III 30:44
There’s all sorts. Some of them are technical and how we build.
Rosaria Cain 30:47
So you really never are satisfied.
Skip Ast III 30:50
No, it’s sometimes it can be exhausting, in a sense, or you get settled into a new innovation. And, you know, in a healthy way, we’re always being pushed all right, well, what’s next? And it’s like, we just, we just finished with this innovation, like, let us perfect. But that’s that’s not our culture. Our culture is always looking for better ways to build, sanitize and again, that the end, why not to sound cheesy, is, does this enhance the family’s life?
Rosaria Cain 31:18
That makes sense?
Skip Ast III 31:19
Does this enhance the end users life? And it and again, it’s not from a sometimes to our detriment, not from a profitability perspective, because we know that’s a lag measure that’ll that’s a result. It’ll come later, but it is fun to be unique and different in that way that it’s the end result is fun. The process sometimes is taxing.
Rosaria Cain 31:38
What’s the future look like for Shasta pools?
Skip Ast III 31:42
Oh, my goodness.
Rosaria Cain 31:43
Like maybe five years from now, 10 years from now, let’s see your company will be 65 or 70?
Skip Ast III 31:50
Yeah.
Rosaria Cain 31:51
That’s crazy.
Skip Ast III 31:52
I know it literally is crazy. You know, I see a really significant integration into AI. We’ve already started down that path. We’re just always looking for efficient ways to serve more families, because especially in the Phoenix market, there’s even when the economy is not amazing like it is right now, there’s still such an intense demand for life enhancement and ways to relax. I mean, it’s anymore in an Arizona backyard, it’s seen as kind of an extension of the home. So families are treating it like how they decorate a living room.
Rosaria Cain 32:30
Almost a necessity.
Skip Ast III 32:31
Yes,
Rosaria Cain 32:32
In other markets. Pools are treated as a luxury item, like something for people that are rich, for lack of a better term.
Skip Ast III 32:39
Yeah. Or to show off. Kind of like the Clark Griswold thing we’re showing off.
Rosaria Cain 32:43
It’s more of a need.
Skip Ast III 32:45
Yes.
Rosaria Cain 32:46
If you’re gonna live here year round.
Skip Ast III 32:47
The lines get blurred significantly between want and need here in Phoenix.
Rosaria Cain 32:51
It does.
Skip Ast III 32:52
But when it is November, or it is February and March and the weather is just perfection, to have that as an added entertainment space, or a space where the kids play, or it’s, we were the safe house. We were house where all the kids and the sports teams would come over.
Rosaria Cain 33:11
Because you had a great pool.
Skip Ast III 33:12
Yes, yeah, and it was, it was fun. We were the parents that were going to be home. Or at least my wife will roll her eyes if she ever watches this. She’s always the one that was home and I’m at work.
Rosaria Cain 33:25
Lucky, lucky, lucky her with the 20 teenagers.
Skip Ast III 33:29
Yeah. Well, true. That’s that comes with some unique challenges, too.
Rosaria Cain 33:33
Oh, I bet.
Skip Ast III 33:33
But that that’s the fun part about being the fun house, safe house, and the house where a parent is always going to be there.
Rosaria Cain 33:41
You have some control.
Skip Ast III 33:42
It’s fun control.
Rosaria Cain 33:43
It is. It is fun control. I’ve been in business 26 years.
Skip Ast III 33:48
Congratulations.
Rosaria Cain 33:49
Thank you. Not 60, but I think about all of the challenges that have happened in the last 26 years, and you’ve been through them too. For we had 9/11, we had the stock market crash. We had a 10 year recession, and it might have been 13 years. I think 10 years is optimistic. It was more than 10 years, and then we had covid. We’ve had, in recent years a lot of challenging experiences for business, for people in business of any kind, but particularly for an item that’s not a necessity,
Skip Ast III 34:12
Right.
Rosaria Cain 34:12
Which is both of our businesses really.
Skip Ast III 34:26
Sure.
Rosaria Cain 34:26
How has that shaped your outlook and what you do differently because of those times?
Skip Ast III 34:34
You know, it’s it’s interesting talk to my grandfather, and for all that he’s been through since the 60s, he would say, and has said, that the covid era was probably the most challenging and uncomfortable, and a sane person, wouldn’t say, “Yeah, let’s go through that again.” However, with with our culture and our family dynamic, we looked at it… we would never want to go through that again, or have want any families to go through that. But what it taught us, it helped us to look inside, because we were very candidly, not prepared for 90+ percent of it. We were very used to old school like, hey, everyone’s in the same space. Hey, this pool just finished excavation. It’s ready for the next phase and you hand them Manila folder over.
Rosaria Cain 35:24
We became a world of zoom meetings.
Skip Ast III 35:26
Yes, yeah. So we were very used to processes in business that were very manual and out of discomfort, what it taught us was, “No, no. We need to, you know, teach grandpa what the cloud is. It’s not stuff that floats in the sky,” we’ve got to migrate to things that anyone from anywhere can access to better serve a family. It helped us to think of new and different ways invest in things, in systems that, you know, can communicate with customers remotely.
Rosaria Cain 35:58
So it took the old school out of a lot of businesses.
Skip Ast III 36:02
It forced us into getting into this century. And I the quality of build was always there. That just ingrained in my grandfather the innovation of products and systems for families. But I don’t think, candidly speaking, we ever really looked at or focused on, okay, how are we, how we operating? Is that, can that withstand almost anything we went through the great financial crisis in, you know, ’08-’09, so we learned a lot from that, but to have everyone all of a sudden not in the office,
Rosaria Cain 36:36
Right?
Skip Ast III 36:36
And we’re in backyards
Rosaria Cain 36:37
And stuck home.
Skip Ast III 36:38
And stuck home, and then you get the tsunami of demand. I mean, it like tripled the demand because families are now you don’t know how long you’re going to be at home. How long is this gonna last?
Rosaria Cain 36:49
And you can’t go anywhere.
Skip Ast III 36:50
No.
Rosaria Cain 36:51
So you might as well enjoy what you’ve got.
Skip Ast III 36:52
Either I sit in the air conditioning all day, or is there? The vacation, the Disney vacation that got canceled? Can I replicate that somehow in my home or in my backyard? And that tsunami, plus us being a little stuck in some old what manila folder type ways forced us to really take a leap forward so it was wildly uncomfortable, and we felt horrible for the families we were just trying to keep up with. Like, where is this project? You know what? You know who’s showing up today? You know, it was very just scrambled, but, but now we look back and we are thankful for those painful lessons, because we believe now today, families are getting served not perfectly, but much better than what the pool industry was doing back then.
Rosaria Cain 36:53
Probably more efficiently.
Skip Ast III 36:53
For all the things you mentioned, we’ve gone through both marketing and the pool industry and other industries. It was a tough lesson learned, but it was a worthwhile lesson.
Rosaria Cain 37:15
How long did it take you to figure out that was going to happen before you, before the tsunami? Because I don’t know that anyone was really thinking that far ahead back then.
Skip Ast III 38:03
No, we weren’t. I mean, it was you. I mean, you remember, it was, gosh, what happens tomorrow? Can I go buy groceries? Like, what’s what does that mean for kids with school?
Rosaria Cain 38:06
Where’s the toilet paper?
Skip Ast III 38:14
Yes, oh my gosh. Why was that a thing?
Rosaria Cain 38:16
That’s a necessity, right?
Skip Ast III 38:18
We had subcontractors sending us gifts of baskets of toilet paper for just choosing them, you know, it used to be like gift cards, let’s go out to dinner, but now it’s baskets of toilet paper.
Rosaria Cain 38:31
That’s smart, actually.
Skip Ast III 38:28
Like, oh, we are really, truly in a different era now. But it good lesson learned. But I think my grandfather would say that was the toughest because you had so many families wanting to enhance their lives, we had only so much capacity, and then antiquated systems that just weren’t getting the job done. So, man, it didn’t feel like we started feeling that. But two, three months later. I mean, we had major so I won’t name them, but major product suppliers that were deemed non essential. We were essential because we’re part of home construction or backyard. So we kept going, and we didn’t, in some cases, find out until two, three months later. Oh, hey, we don’t have any of this. I don’t want to get too specific product for you anymore, like, whoa, whoa, whoa. That’s like the engine of a car, and we’re down to, I mean.
Rosaria Cain 39:18
We don’t have parts.
Skip Ast III 39:24
We didn’t so we had the body of the car built, and no engines to put in the car to actually make them run. So there was a couple of weeks there where we’re just on phones as a team in a meeting with the suppliers on conference call, like we have hundreds of families ready to turn the pool on, and there’s no product or engine there to make it go.
Rosaria Cain 39:46
I guess it depended on what state they were in, too.
Skip Ast III 39:48
Yes, yes, that was
Rosaria Cain 39:50
Because every state had different rules.
Skip Ast III 39:51
It was such a serious juggle.
Rosaria Cain 39:53
Yeah,.
Skip Ast III 39:53
Yeah, we found out real fast.
Rosaria Cain 39:55
This is where Arizona becomes really popular.
Skip Ast III 39:57
Very.
Rosaria Cain 39:58
Yeah, and Texas and Florida.
Skip Ast III 40:00
Yep, yep. The Sun Belt states did. Did okay. We, I think we, there’s some of our partners that they assumed after years and years, a lot of family businesses, within the Master Pool Guild. We heard a lot of whispers like, maybe this is it. Maybe this is where the legacy and so we were blessed to be in such a great state that I feel like, not perfectly, but it was this balance.
Rosaria Cain 40:25
No, I feel the same way. Yeah, we stayed open the entire time.
Skip Ast III 40:29
Yeah, good for you.
Rosaria Cain 40:30
Because we serve essential businesses.
Skip Ast III 40:33
Right?
Rosaria Cain 40:33
And so therefore,
Skip Ast III 40:34
Right,
Rosaria Cain 40:35
marketing was needed as part of the as part of the process. But it’s, it was definitely a it was one of those times that you wonder if it, I remember wondering if it was the end of good things.
Skip Ast III 40:48
Yeah, me too.
Rosaria Cain 40:49
If we were really seeing something that resembled not the end of the world, but maybe the end of good times, for a long time.
Skip Ast III 40:57
I agree.
Rosaria Cain 40:58
And then it left as quickly as it showed up.
Skip Ast III 41:01
It did,
Rosaria Cain 41:02
Which was crazy.
Skip Ast III 41:03
It did, and I don’t want to repeat it
Rosaria Cain 41:05
No.
Skip Ast III 41:05
But great lessons learned for sure.
Rosaria Cain 41:06
I don’t either. And maybe, maybe everyone will learn from the next time there’s a crisis what to do and what not to do.
Skip Ast III 41:12
I hope so. But unfortunate thing about history is sometimes it has a tendency to repeat itself.
Rosaria Cain 41:17
Let’s not go there. So, on a personal side,
Skip Ast III 41:22
Yes,
Rosaria Cain 41:24
what do you do for fun when you’re not in pool pits of 140 degrees?
Skip Ast III 41:30
My wife does encourage me to pick up a hobby every now and again.
Rosaria Cain 41:32
That’s good. Do you have any hobbies?
Skip Ast III 41:34
Not particularly, you know what? It’s funny. I remember being,
Rosaria Cain 41:37
My husband doesn’t have a single hobby, so I totally understand.
Skip Ast III 41:40
Okay. So I can relate.
Rosaria Cain 41:41
It must be a guy thing.
Skip Ast III 41:42
Maybe I think it is. No, I, you know, it’s funny. I had someone. We were at a, I won’t say where it was, a particular vendor dinner table.
Rosaria Cain 41:51
You’re saving everybody’s reputation.
Skip Ast III 41:53
I’m doing my best. But they’re going around the table talking about what they love to do. And one gentleman said, Oh, I love to ski in Aspen. Another was like, sailing and somewhere overseas. And they get to me, and I’m like, oh, no, my answer is just so regular.
Rosaria Cain 42:07
I love to build pools!
Skip Ast III 42:09
Yeah? Well, it actually my, my happy place is watching my kids do their thing. I love watching my daughter run. Which I never thought,
Rosaria Cain 42:18
You don’t think you’d want to run.
Skip Ast III 42:19
No, not at all. But she does it so well. I that’s like, oh, wow, that’s really cool. She does well, you know, watching my kids play sports.
Rosaria Cain 42:28
I bet she wants you to run a marathon with her. I bet that would make her so happy.
Skip Ast III 42:33
She might tolerate me riding on a bike next to her. But she did say one time I did offer like, oh, you know, because she’s always running. I said, “Well, maybe I should run down.” “I’m gonna be a little too fast for you dad.” And I’m like, “Oh, no offense taken. I guess I won’t get on the bike.” But okay. But no, she’s, she’s just like her mom, very candid, independent, strong. So she lets me know, what she thinks.
Rosaria Cain 42:57
Congratulations on raising independent children.
Skip Ast III 43:00
Thanks, it’s my wife’s fault, not mine.
Rosaria Cain 43:03
Well, she deserves a lot of credit.
Skip Ast III 43:05
She does.
Rosaria Cain 43:07
If you were gonna write a book, what would you call it?
Skip Ast III 43:11
That’s a fun question. I would probably call it Diary of a Pool Boy, or Memoirs of a Pool Boy.
Rosaria Cain 43:19
Well pool boy has a lot of implications.
Skip Ast III 43:21
I know, and that’s you got to come up with a catchy title, right? That’s just in the moment. I’m sure Ann would help me come up with something.
Rosaria Cain 43:26
Confessions of a Pool Boy
Skip Ast III 43:27
There you go. There you go. Yeah, we missed opportunities at allowing a reality TV camera crew into our family business.
Rosaria Cain 43:33
There’s still time. Like, Bar Rescue?
Skip Ast III 43:40
Yeah, sort of, sort of, that’s the drama makes it entertaining. And we’re not short on that when, yeah, within the family business.
Rosaria Cain 43:49
Even taking business out, no family is short on drama.
Skip Ast III 43:53
It’s definitely entertaining. No, not a dull moment.
Rosaria Cain 43:56
One last question, what about you would surprise people?
Skip Ast III 44:01
I’m pretty I guess I don’t think I am super entertaining. I’m a pretty regular guy. I think maybe people would laugh or think that sometimes I have Zen moments and listening or watching Bob Ross paint, because it’s like, kind of relaxing. It’s a part of me likes collecting sports cards like my grandfather used nice, kind of combines
Rosaria Cain 44:29
Very old school.
Skip Ast III 44:30
Very old school. Yeah, I remember going to the card shop and things with my mom’s father years ago, and he was alive. So that was core memories.
Rosaria Cain 44:38
What sport? Any sport in particular? Like baseball?
Skip Ast III 44:41
Kind of all of them, more probably football, that’s kind of fun. I used to use my kids as the excuse why we do it, but now that they’re like, maybe my 14 year old will get into it every now and again. But there are some times where it’s just a Sunday night and I’m mentally, emotionally preparing for the week ahead, like I’m gonna open a box of cards right now so it’s, it feels a little childish, but it’s kind of just relaxing.
Rosaria Cain 45:05
We all need an escape.
Skip Ast III 45:06
Something, it’s better than a punching bag, I guess, because that seems violent.
Rosaria Cain 45:10
Well a punching bag can be helpful for a whole different reason.
Skip Ast III 45:12
Yeah.
Rosaria Cain 45:13
ind of gets out that frustration that
Skip Ast III 45:15
Yeah. So I don’t know how surprising that would be, but
Rosaria Cain 45:18
I’m surprised.
Skip Ast III 45:19
All right, as long as you’re surprised it’s worth it.
Rosaria Cain 45:22
And a lot of people will be surprised, I want to thank you for coming by today.
Skip Ast III 45:25
It’s my pleasure,
Rosaria Cain 45:26
And it was a great look into a heritage family business.
Skip Ast III 45:30
Thank you.
Rosaria Cain 45:31
Thank you for sharing.
Skip Ast III 45:31
Oh, of course.