I’m not going to lie: It bristles on me when I hear another woman’s accomplishments qualified by her gender —when somebody is called, “The best female fill-in-the-blank.” As somebody who has walked this planet in a female form for more decades than I’m going to admit here, I know there’s something of a junior-varsity implication there.
So it is that I hesitate to use this limiting qualification to frame the accomplishments of Debra Smith, a PSN Top 50 builder who passed away all too early on May 23 at the age of 69 after a brief battle with cancer.
Because the fact is this: Virtually anybody would envy the legacy she leaves, the example she set, the imprint she made on the industry — and the friends she made.
She was a standout businessperson, full stop. With a degree in Business Administration and a concentration in accounting, she entered the industry at a time when not many came to the table with a degree and no pool experience. Having started out by keeping Pulliam’s books, she took arguably the oldest pool builder, a family-owned business, and elevated it to the next tier of its evolution, and eventually becoming its owner. She was a pioneer in the Texas industry, deciding to join her friends and competitors in the Lone Star State and establish a dedicated government advocacy organization there.
She accomplished these things like most people must under the circumstances — by educating herself at least as much if not more than the next person and working harder. After her passing, peers talked about her work ethic, saying she started her day earlier than everybody else and ended it later, then still made time to assemble a gift basket when somebody in her life celebrated a milestone.
These achievements on their own create an enviable legacy. But context matters. The dearth of women in the industry — particularly leading a contracting firm — made her accomplishments even more impressive. And she did it with such grace.
I spoke with a good friend of hers, Kim Westbrook, regional sales manager with Fluidra, and she summed it up better than I could: “She was very humble but she was incredibly smart and driven. She held people accountable. It’s hard to hold people accountable with grace and professionalism, and you can’t worry about being liked. But she still was liked and did it well. So that was a gift.”
And, yes, if you knew her long enough, she acknowledged that being a woman in the construction industry could come with its occasional snags. So she did her best to help other women succeed, whether in the industry or her local business community.
Over the past few years, the industry has produced several events and groups meant to promote women in the industry. Every time I hear about them, I think of Debra Smith. And that will continue to be the case. I will always be grateful to have known her and seen her example.
