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KATELYN BROWN
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Dive into your very own backyard oasis with Nashville’s first plunge pool company, Palmingo Pools.
By rethinking and reinventing the status quo of pool installation, Palmingo Pools is streamlining the often-arduous process inhibiting homeowners from having the pool of their dreams. With a simplified installation process, approachable price point, and intentional designs, Palmingo Pools can be enjoyed year-round, even in the most challenging spaces.
For founder Amanda Stone, entrepreneurism was in her DNA. As CEO of the Nashville marketing agency A&M Agency for nearly a decade, in addition to growing up in an entrepreneurial family, Stone has always welcomed an opportunity to problem solve. So when she moved into her Brentwood home five years ago, with a sloped yard deemed impossible to install a pool, Stone chose to find what was possible instead.
“I just wasn’t thrilled with the small pool options I was finding, or lack thereof. I wasn’t finding anyone who specialized in small pool installations so eventually in my research I stumbled upon a prefabricated small pool brand out of Australia and I just fell in love with the concept of these small pools that are manufactured in warehouses, shipped on a flatbed truck to a home, and popped into place using a crane,” Stone recalls. “It just made so much sense to me. It cancels out so many construction variables, it streamlines so much of the installation, and I loved the consistency of something prefabricated.”
When Stone discovered the Australia-based company was in the midst of launching its first U.S. production facility, she knew the time was right to dive in and bring her newfound solution to fruition.
“I learned so much more about pools than I ever thought. I’m now working with about six different brands and just making so many new connections within the industry here with subcontractors, architects, contractors and just really exploring the different avenues where Palmingo can go,” she says.
More affordable, more compact, and more efficient to maintain, Palmingo Pools is already growing in popularity since its soft launch of sales earlier this year. In Middle Tennessee, outdoor pools take on average over a year to build and finding a contractor can be strenuous. Pools can then cost upwards of $150,000, discouraging many homeowners from acquiring one. Stone, frustrated with this process herself, set out to change it with Palmingo Pools.
These cost-efficient, design-centric plunge pools —crafted from prefabricated concrete, converted shipping containers, or stainless steel— are designed with aesthetic and functionality in mind. Ranging from 5’x8.9’ to 10’x20’ in size, with an additional extra-large option of 12’x40’, these compact pools can be efficiently heated and cooled for year-round use. The full installation process from start to finish (including the designing, permitting, and production process) takes just five months, with approximately two weeks allocated for ground preparation and pool placement taking place in a single day. Starting at $70,000, plunge pools can be installed even in the most challenging spaces with the option to be placed in-ground, semi-elevated, fully elevated, or built into a deck or rooftop.
Beyond the logistics, Stone has also revamped the critical customer service component accompanying pool installation. With a process rooted in transparency and open communication, Stone aims to not only simplify the process but to enhance it.
“I would say the communication is different than what a lot of these homeowners have experienced otherwise, and I would say it’s a combination of the speed of response and then also being proactive with keeping them in the loop,” says Stone. “It’s kind of unsettling when you don’t know what the latest news is, so just keep open communication and be very responsive and proactive.”
With her extensive background in project management through events and marketing, Stone sees Palmingo Pools as a holistic vision far beyond the pools alone. The project doesn’t end with a pool being placed in the ground— landscaping and hardscaping, in partnership with local landscapers, are the final steps in the Palmingo Pools process. For Stone and her team, the project is not complete until customers are left with the space of their dreams.
“A lot of pool builders and installers really just focus on the pool, but I recognize how hard it can be for homeowners and I want to help them get the backyard they’ve always wanted. I don’t just want to stop at the pool— I want to be connecting them with people who can turn around their landscaping, hardscaping, so that they’re not just staring at a pool surrounded by dirt for a month,” Stone says.
Palmingo Pools was the solution to a problem Stone herself encountered, and she quickly realized its potential to become a solution for so many others. And she is elated to watch the company grow by providing customers with the pool of their dreams to turn their outdoor space into a retreat.
“I think that people were just relieved to find a new solution that was based in more logic and functionality because ultimately these small pools are built for how people actually use pools,” she says. “Ultimately my biggest goal is to help make people even happier at home and create a space that they can enjoy with their family or their friends. I just want to help create spaces where people want to spend their time.”
(2713 Greystone Rd., 615-274-1301; palmingopools.com)