Today we’d like to introduce you to Brittney Petrovics Adams And Tommy Adams.
Hi Brittney Petrovics Adams and Tommy Adams, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
hank you for the interest in our story.
Before Blue Olive, Tommy and I both had careers we were proud of. Tommy built his career as a superintendent with a leading commercial general contractor in San Antonio, overseeing large-scale projects including K-12 campuses and university facilities. I spent my career leading marketing teams for healthcare and biotech startups in San Antonio and Philadelphia, including one that made the Inc. 5000 list three years in a row. We met at Tycoon Flats on St. Mary’s (still one of our favorite places!) through mutual friends in 2014, got married in 2016 at my family’s place on the Frio River, Rio Bella Resort, shortly after it opened. We built our early life together in San Antonio and it holds a special place in our heart and story.
For a while, we were going through the motions of life, trying to get ahead. We were working hard, raising our daughter who was born in 2019, and chasing the next opportunity to land in our path. Then in 2021, at the height of COVID and with a toddler at home, we lost Tommy’s mom to cancer. Losing a parent is one of the most painful and transformational experiences someone can go through, and the grief completely changed our family overnight. To add insult to injury, we were both laid off within 12 months of each other. Those were very difficult years that made us dig deep and reflect on what kind of life we actually wanted for ourselves and our family.
By 2023, we were burned out and ready for a new start. This time, we wanted to be intentional about the life we were building, so we moved to Leakey, a few miles from Garner State Park on the Frio River, where I grew up. Part of it was personal. We wanted our daughter to grow up surrounded by nature, a tight-knit community, a slower pace of life, and near her grandparents, great grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.
But it was not just about coming home. We also saw opportunity here. Leakey is rural, but many tourists visit its natural beauty year round. It is one of the hidden gems of the Texas Hill Country. Watching my parents fulfill their dreams of building Rio Bella educated us, shaped the way we learned about business, and inspired us. Over the years, we learned how a successful business was run, what services our community needed, how tourism trends shaped the local market, and the unwavering work ethic and set of values my parents modeled for us.
Shortly after we moved, we were approached with an opportunity to buy a small local pool company. We sold our house and invested a large portion of our savings into building Blue Olive. It was an unconventional decision and a huge risk, but it felt right for us. We were lucky to have a foundation to take that risk from, and we did not take that for granted. In hindsight, I think it was the universe redirecting us where we needed to be. Tommy brought the field and technical expertise from years in construction. I brought marketing, operations, and business strategy. Our skill sets complement each other, and if we could make it through the years we had just endured, we could build a business together. We both felt confident in ourselves, in each other, and in the support from our family and community to go for it. We were betting on ourselves.
We started with cleaning routes, mainly for vacation rentals, commercial, and residential properties. In under two years, we’ve grown the business 10x and expanded into repairs, leak detection, renovation, new builds, and commercial work. About 30 to 40 percent of our clients are San Antonio weekenders, investors, and second-home owners who trust their properties to people who understand the Hill Country tourism market. We’re still in the growth phase, but we’re building something that’s ours.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Not even a little bit. On top of the financial risk we had already taken, there was no safety net and no Plan B. Not something I would recommend if you are risk averse, but it is working for us. Sometimes you just have to take that leap of faith and trust in yourself.
The back end has been the biggest learning curve. Navigating taxes, insurance, payroll, cash flow, and personal finances as a business owner is something nobody teaches you. It’s the tiny details that can make or break your business. We have had to figure it out ourselves and learn more than a few lessons the hard way.
We also started this business while raising a young family and still healing from the loss of Tommy’s mom. Olive’s little sister, Isla Blu, was born in December 2024, right in the middle of our fastest growth year. Growing a business and a family at the same time is not for the faint of heart. It’s as hard as it is rewarding, and we are so grateful for all of it.
Some days it feels really overwhelming, but on those days we try to get back to center. If we only do one or two things that move the needle, we accept that and try again tomorrow. We don’t want to burn out again, so protecting our mental health is a priority for both of us.
What has kept us going is that we believe in ourselves, each other, what we are building, and the community we are building in. We have made mistakes and we will keep making them, but we have purpose and the flexibility to be present for our daughters during their childhood. That is our North Star, and it is what matters most to us.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Blue Olive Pools is a full-service pool company based in Leakey, serving San Antonio and the greater Texas Hill Country. We provide weekly maintenance, repairs, leak detection, renovations, and new builds. We’re also licensed through the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) as a Residential Appliance Installer.
What sets us apart is that we understand many of the properties we serve aren’t just homes, they’re businesses. We’ve spent a lot of time around the short-term rental and tourism market through Rio Bella and other managed properties in the hill country, and we see how directly a pool impacts rental performance.
A pool is tied to the guest experience. The guest experience is tied to the review. The review is tied to revenue. A green pool on a holiday weekend isn’t just a cleaning issue. It’s a refund, a one-star review, a lost booking, and a hit to reputation. We respond with urgency because we know that revenue and reputation are on the line.
I’m most proud of how we’ve grown the business while raising a young family. We’ve grown the business more than 8x in under 3 years and are continuing to scale at a strong pace. We are continuing to refine our operations and systems while shifting focus toward marketing and scaling intentionally.
Over the next 12 to 24 months, one of our biggest priorities is building out our social media presence. We’re in the early stages of this and using it to actively promote and collaborate with the commercial properties we service. Our goal is to give our clients additional reach, more visibility for their listings, and a partner who is genuinely invested in their success. We see ourselves not just as a service provider, but as a growth partner to the businesses we work with, and we believe that will be a meaningful differentiator as we grow.
We’re also expanding more seriously into leak detection, not just for pools but into residential plumbing and rural and semi-rural municipalities. I grew up on the Frio River and have seen how much it’s changed over time. With continued population growth and increasing pressure on shared water resources, water conservation is a central issue. It matters not just for our business, but for the long-term health of this region and the communities that depend on it.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
For us, success is not a revenue number. It is living life with intention and setting a good example for our children.
We are still growing Blue Olive, but the work ethic and values that got us here came from watching the people around us build successful lives and businesses of their own. Tommy grew up around architects, doctors, and artists. I grew up around educators, business owners, and community advocates. People who have integrity, work ethic, and who are assets to society. We know not everyone gets to grow up with examples like these, and we do not take it for granted. We had great examples to learn from, and our hope is to be the same for our daughters, and for them to be the same for their own children one day. That is the idea of success we care most about.
We are also part of something bigger here. Across our extended family, several of us have chosen to build businesses and non-profits in this community across hospitality, retail, construction, food and beverage, and the arts. Each one stands on its own, and we cheer each other on. Together, we contribute to the tourism, economic activity, and philanthropy of the Hill Country.
One example that I am proud to be a part of is Songs on the Frio, an annual songwriter festival in Leakey where I serve on the board. Each Veterans Day weekend, the festival brings nationally recognized songwriters and Hall of Fame artists to the Hill Country for an intimate weekend of music. Collectively, our team has raised over $400,000 for community causes over the past four years, including local emergency services, arts and culture, youth initiatives, and more. It is a way we invest in the place that has invested so much in us.
The goal across all of it is to build a future for our family, invest in the Hill Country, create something meaningful in our community, and set an example for our daughters, Olive and Isla Blu, who Blue Olive is named after. In this way, we are building a legacy measured in family and community, not just finances.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://blueolivepools.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blueolivepools/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blueolivepoolstx
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/blue-olive-pools/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/blue-olive-pools-rio-frio?osq=Pool+Cleaners&override_cta=Get+pricing+%26+availability
