Justin and Kimberly Retzlaff’s franchise story started the way a lot of real-life decisions do: with a layoff, a late-night conversation and a growing sense that the corporate path was not taking them where they wanted to go.
“During COVID times, Justin was laid off, and so we really started talking a lot about what our goals and priorities are,” Kimberly said. “My goal and priority was to be closer to family and to move back home. Justin had always wanted to run a business, so we kind of came to the agreement that we would start a company in Tucson.”
For Justin, the search did not start from scratch. He had spent years around franchise systems and knew what to look for, even if he did not always read every newsletter that landed in his inbox. “My previous jobs — a lot of them — were on the franchisor side of numerous national and international chains,” he said.
“I always got the Franchise 500 newsletter in my box and very rarely read it,” Justin said. “One very late evening, I couldn’t sleep and decided to read the Franchise 500 newsletter. One company on the list stood out. It was a pool company.”
They opened their America’s Swimming Pool Co. business in September 2021 — a local franchise operation focused on pool cleaning, repair and renovation — but Kimberly did not step in full time at the start. She kept her job in scholarly publishing while they built the operation, then joined the business as growth made the split harder to maintain. “For the first 18 months, my previous life was in scholarly publishing,” she said. “So I stayed in publishing for the first 18 months of our business.”
Justin said that transition came through a practical conversation. “I think the first conversation was whether she wanted to continue on with her career or not,” he said.
Once they were both in, the Retzlaffs leaned into a structure that matched their strengths instead of forcing both partners into the same lane. Kimberly describes Justin as the outward-facing driver. “Justin — he’s a visionary,” she said. “He is focused on following the systems to grow our business, and he is very good at marketing and sales to bring in new customers while keeping our current customers happy.”
Kimberly’s role is the systems side of the business, the part that keeps a service operation consistent when schedules change and the days get chaotic. “With my prior life being in editing — [I’m] very detail-oriented,” she said. “So I gravitated pretty naturally toward finance and marketing.”
Justin said the division keeps the partnership from turning into daily friction. “It just kind of a yin-and-yang fit,” he said. “The things we needed to operate the business, one of us was good at.”
A clear structure helps, but it does not solve the hardest part: work bleeding into everything else. Kimberly said the overlap shows up in the small moments that are supposed to be theirs. “I would say the hardest thing has been that it’s really difficult to turn it off,” she said. “Even when we go out to dinner after work or when we’re on vacation somewhere, we’re constantly talking about the business.”
Justin’s take is less about balance and more about the pace of growth that comes with ownership. “Every day we’re learning things,” he said. “We learn so much more every single day.”
In 2025, the Retzlaffs earned an internal milestone that validated what they were building. “The one thing that happened recently that we’re extremely proud of is that we were named ASP’s 2025 franchise of the year,” Kimberly said.
They have learned what many service owners learn the hard way: growth only helps if it buys back time. “This year, our main goal is to restructure our team and bring on a little bit more management support so that Justin and I can start to step back — so it’s not like we have to have our phones on us 24/7,” she said.
Justin said they are also building systems to prevent a common service business plateau. “We’ve noticed a recurring theme in development points of pool companies where they tend to plateau — hit a wall,” he said. “We’re trying to put a new system in place that will avoid us hitting that wall and allow us to keep scaling.”
Kimberly’s advice starts with alignment before the first busy season hits. “Sitting down and having that discussion about who’s going to do what, and coming to some agreement on how you resolve differences of opinion,” she said.
She also pointed to something simpler, but harder to remember when work is constant: reinforce the partnership, not just the operation. “Catch each other doing things right and compliment each other on jobs well done,” Kimberly said.
Justin said he did not expect the role they would grow into within the franchise community, but it has become one of the more meaningful parts of the journey. “We are being asked to become leaders of our franchise network,” he said. “It is humbling and affirming to have franchisees from across the country looking to us for guidance and support. It's a great group, and we feel lucky to be part of it.”
For more information on franchising with America’s Swimming Pool Co., please visit https://1851franchise.com/america-swimming-pool/info.
America's Swimming Pool
SPONSORED
A move back to Tucson sparked the leap, but the real story is how they built a structure that let both the business and their marriage hold up under pressure.
Justin and Kimberly Retzlaff’s franchise story started the way a lot of real-life decisions do: with a layoff, a late-night conversation and a growing sense that the corporate path was not taking them where they wanted to go.
“During COVID times, Justin was laid off, and so we really started talking a lot about what our goals and priorities are,” Kimberly said. “My goal and priority was to be closer to family and to move back home. Justin had always wanted to run a business, so we kind of came to the agreement that we would start a company in Tucson.”
For Justin, the search did not start from scratch. He had spent years around franchise systems and knew what to look for, even if he did not always read every newsletter that landed in his inbox. “My previous jobs — a lot of them — were on the franchisor side of numerous national and international chains,” he said.
“I always got the Franchise 500 newsletter in my box and very rarely read it,” Justin said. “One very late evening, I couldn’t sleep and decided to read the Franchise 500 newsletter. One company on the list stood out. It was a pool company.”
They opened their America’s Swimming Pool Co. business in September 2021 — a local franchise operation focused on pool cleaning, repair and renovation — but Kimberly did not step in full time at the start. She kept her job in scholarly publishing while they built the operation, then joined the business as growth made the split harder to maintain. “For the first 18 months, my previous life was in scholarly publishing,” she said. “So I stayed in publishing for the first 18 months of our business.”
Justin said that transition came through a practical conversation. “I think the first conversation was whether she wanted to continue on with her career or not,” he said.
Once they were both in, the Retzlaffs leaned into a structure that matched their strengths instead of forcing both partners into the same lane. Kimberly describes Justin as the outward-facing driver. “Justin — he’s a visionary,” she said. “He is focused on following the systems to grow our business, and he is very good at marketing and sales to bring in new customers while keeping our current customers happy.”
Kimberly’s role is the systems side of the business, the part that keeps a service operation consistent when schedules change and the days get chaotic. “With my prior life being in editing — [I’m] very detail-oriented,” she said. “So I gravitated pretty naturally toward finance and marketing.”
Justin said the division keeps the partnership from turning into daily friction. “It just kind of a yin-and-yang fit,” he said. “The things we needed to operate the business, one of us was good at.”
A clear structure helps, but it does not solve the hardest part: work bleeding into everything else. Kimberly said the overlap shows up in the small moments that are supposed to be theirs. “I would say the hardest thing has been that it’s really difficult to turn it off,” she said. “Even when we go out to dinner after work or when we’re on vacation somewhere, we’re constantly talking about the business.”
Justin’s take is less about balance and more about the pace of growth that comes with ownership. “Every day we’re learning things,” he said. “We learn so much more every single day.”
In 2025, the Retzlaffs earned an internal milestone that validated what they were building. “The one thing that happened recently that we’re extremely proud of is that we were named ASP’s 2025 franchise of the year,” Kimberly said.
They have learned what many service owners learn the hard way: growth only helps if it buys back time. “This year, our main goal is to restructure our team and bring on a little bit more management support so that Justin and I can start to step back — so it’s not like we have to have our phones on us 24/7,” she said.
Justin said they are also building systems to prevent a common service business plateau. “We’ve noticed a recurring theme in development points of pool companies where they tend to plateau — hit a wall,” he said. “We’re trying to put a new system in place that will avoid us hitting that wall and allow us to keep scaling.”
Kimberly’s advice starts with alignment before the first busy season hits. “Sitting down and having that discussion about who’s going to do what, and coming to some agreement on how you resolve differences of opinion,” she said.
She also pointed to something simpler, but harder to remember when work is constant: reinforce the partnership, not just the operation. “Catch each other doing things right and compliment each other on jobs well done,” Kimberly said.
Justin said he did not expect the role they would grow into within the franchise community, but it has become one of the more meaningful parts of the journey. “We are being asked to become leaders of our franchise network,” he said. “It is humbling and affirming to have franchisees from across the country looking to us for guidance and support. It's a great group, and we feel lucky to be part of it.”
For more information on franchising with America’s Swimming Pool Co., please visit https://1851franchise.com/america-swimming-pool/info.
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