Good Neighbor Podcast: South of the River
Bringing Together Local Businesses and Neighbors of South of the River
Good Neighbor Podcast: South of the River
EP #107 Creating Water Feature Escapes with Superior Ponds - Ben Bryant
Imagine a world where your backyard becomes a serene oasis, complete with koi ponds, cascading waterfalls, and lush water gardens. That's the vision Ben Bryant from Superior Ponds wants to bring to life for you. Join us as Ben shares his inspiring journey from dissatisfaction in his previous work to finding a fulfilling career in pond design and maintenance. With his expertise, he debunks the myths surrounding pond upkeep and introduces various maintenance programs tailored for both hands-off enthusiasts and passionate DIYers. Discover how Ben’s lifelong love for water and fish, rooted in his childhood adventures, drives his mission to connect people with the natural beauty of water features.
In a career where swim trunks are part of the dress code, Ben's passion doesn’t stop at ponds. He gives us a glimpse into his life beyond work, highlighting his dedication to his family, especially his new daughter, and his community engagement. Learn about the unique philosophy of "coopetition" at Superior Ponds, where collaboration with other professionals is key to creating stunning water features. If you’re curious about transforming your outdoor space or simply want to learn more about the possibilities, Ben offers insights on reaching out and exploring the potential with Superior Ponds. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to reimagine your backyard into a captivating escape.
Superior Ponds
Ben Bryant
New Prague, MN 56071
952-491-0765
www.superiorpondsmn.com
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Mark Bratton.
Speaker 2:Good morning to episode number 107 of the Good Neighbors Podcast, and today we have an incredible neighbor that you absolutely will all need to have in your cell phone. Incredible neighbor that you absolutely will all need to have in your cell phone. Please welcome Ben Bryant from Superior Ponds. Morning, ben, how you doing.
Speaker 2:Morning, mark, I'm doing pretty good. How are you doing? Oh boy, it's a great day out there. It's a little chilled, I love that, but through the day I'll warm up and I think the ponds are gonna be a little cold. But oh well, that's so. We got superior ponds. Ben, why don't you tell us a little bit about ponds out there these days, because it seems to be the hot topic out there.
Speaker 3:Oh, sure, yeah. So, um, what we really do is we connect people to water the way nature intended. So that's by building, designing, maintaining koi ponds, water gardens, waterfalls, streams, fountains and really just anything dealing with water features. Like you said, it is kind of a hot topic nowadays, people going back into the yards and trying to figure out how to love their yard again, and so I just love helping people do that.
Speaker 2:I agree, I agree. So what really got you into it? I know you've had a neat little path in your business careers, but what made you go into the pond world? And actually, since we do know each other from a few things, you are a jack of all trades. You're able to go out to the farmer's markets and have some fun out there with your wife and then move on to basically helping anybody in any home to the ponds and the yards. So you're inside and outside. So tell us a little bit about your pathway to the ponds itself sure.
Speaker 3:So in the past I was kind of um just doing a little bit of whatever, from um handymaning to running farmers markets with my wife and um. Really, by the end of the day, things were just so hectic and it wasn't anything that we were really passionate about. And the constant grinding of all those different things together just we weren't really satisfied with what we were doing. And so what happened is I was coming home every day from something I wasn't passionate about, to work in my own pond in our front yard, and I looked forward to that every single day. And finally, I was just driving home one day after doing this for so long and I was like what am I doing? I'm literally finishing up a full day of something I don't want to do to go home and spend just a little bit of time, the little time I had left, doing something I did love. And so I was just. I talked to my wife Mariah. I was like I want to go do this full time.
Speaker 2:That's a boy. If we all could do that, that he'd drive home and make a decision, talk to our spouse and then boom. Because I've been fortunate to to have those little movements, but it's always been in the sports world. But so I know you've been in a short time but I've also listened to you talk and and in every business there's always myths and misconceptions about anything. So in your world of the ponds small, big, large, deep swimming there's some shows on TV. Now, what are some of those myths you hear from the customers or just general public?
Speaker 3:sure there's. There's two big ones. One of them is very, I'd say, minnesota specific, and that is we're the land of 10 000 lakes, like there's water everywhere. Most people do have a pond somewhere in their neighborhood, but it's a natural pond that's usually not kept up, and so most people see them as these dirty, slimy things, which is not the case for a purposely designed and maintained pond in their backyard. And so really just educating people about the possibilities of a clean water feature is definitely something I love doing. And then I'd say the other is that they're hard to maintain or that they can't be easy to take care of. There's so many people who have created their own water feature in their yard who just don't have the knowledge and experience they need, and so they're struggling every single day with taking care of it, and it's a headache. And so, besides educating people about the first that they're not dirty I love educating people about how it can be enjoyable, easy and hands off. Doesn't need to be a lot of work.
Speaker 2:Well, that's exactly that. Second one was a misconception. I had a pool and people used to always say it's so hard to maintain. It really isn't. If you just get consistent, don't let it get really bad, correct, correct. So do you have a maintenance program where you can come in and help somebody once a week, twice a week? Do whatever you need to do for the ponds versus a large pool?
Speaker 3:the pool guy you know of course I've got clients where I go in there every single week. They've got a clear water guarantee where their water feature is going to be pristine all year long. And then I've got other homeowners where they just need a little bit of professional help once a month to just make sure their equipment is running properly. Do some checkups make sure their fish are healthy? So really anywhere from the hands-off to the DIYer who just needs a little bit of professional help, we kind of offer it all.
Speaker 2:Well, you mentioned fish right there. You have a fish background, or how did you get to know about what fish? I mean I'd be putting walleye and crappies and sunfish in there.
Speaker 3:So growing up we actually had a creek just about a mile away from us and it was my favorite thing with my brothers to take our bikes down there and we go fishing, and so I grew up around water, both naturally like that, and then kind of with an aquarium somewhere around the house and so, um, it's kind of a lifelong thing with just fish in the house oh, that's a huge benefit, ben.
Speaker 2:Um, I can see where your clients heck, let's, uh, let's, get this guy and put a pond in, but then after that you got the knowledge to help them, versus, uh, running down to the store every day and trying to get some, buy some fish and you don't know how to take care of them. But that's a that's a great feature for your company. Um, I have to throw this out because, uh, I just saw something on facebook but, uh, you know it's halloween and the pond guy outfit. Tell me about that. Tell everybody about the fun that Ben Bryant ran.
Speaker 3:So something I never thought I would have in my professional career is I wear swim trunks to work every day, and so it's really great, and I'm usually swimming in ponds every single day too. And so I've had some people ask me or tell me they want to look just like me and they wish they could have as much fun as I do. And so I was like, well, I should have my own little pond guy outfits. And so that meme you saw that I created was just that you know, the cargo, swim trunks, the beard, all the tools you need to get the job done. Yeah, just had a fun little kick out of that.
Speaker 2:I might have to throw out a challenge for all our good neighbors out there and say, hey, we got to go out and show Ben how much you're appreciated, and I'll put on our pond guy outfits. That'd be pretty fun. Let's get off work. Tell me about things in your life you like to do. I know you have an awesome new family member, and let's talk about your wife and daughter a little bit.
Speaker 3:I love that. So, like you said, our first daughter, reagan, was born about five months ago and that has completely changed her household, and definitely for the better. Um, just spending time with her. She's starting to roll over now. She's starting to clasp her hands and smile and, um, I mean, I'd say any free time that we had we are devoting into her and just loving that whole process of having a little one in the house commitment, right man commitment, commitment to your business, definitely your family.
Speaker 2:I know you're committed to your uh, your other neighbors, that we hang out with uh as well. But what about hobbies? You didn't mention any hobbies. You mentioned going fishing a little bit, but do you have any other stuff you like to do?
Speaker 3:You know, I think having a pond is a lifestyle in itself because I love sitting outside by our pond and reading. It's one of my favorite things, is just enjoying that. But besides that it's really my family. I'd say my family is my hobby and then our local community family. I'd say my family is my hobby and then our local community. I love like whatever it is, whether it's a Klotschke Days down the road in Montgomery, whether it's Tuszynski or just any other event happening here in New Prague.
Speaker 3:I love just heading out, and if I don't know, about it, learning more about it from the locals and spending time there with my family and with my friends.
Speaker 2:I agree, I'm a lot like you and that's why we see each other all around all the time. So how about when we work around the neighborhood and people see you and stuff? How do people want to get to learn more about Superior Ponds? Where can they go and how easy is it to get a hold of Ben Bryant?
Speaker 3:So that's pretty easy. Any social media you want to check out, whether it's Facebook, instagram, youtube or more. I know a lot of people love putting like the videos I put out in the background just of the running water, so those are great, great places to check out. I've got a pond blog on my website, so wwwSeperiorPondsMNcom, and besides that you can usually find me at a local event, so I'm pretty available um, how far do you go?
Speaker 2:I know, uh, we hang out south of the river, uh, but do you, do you get out of state, out of town to to take care? I've seen some of these monster, monster ponds out there that connect into a pool or a hot tub and stuff. Is that the superior ponds as well?
Speaker 3:a little bit for sure. Uh, south the river is our main area, but since it's kind of a specially uh, specially trade uh, we will go all over the state and typically a couple times a year I will go outside of state for larger collaboration projects, um, whether that be, uh, let me see this last year it was illinois, um still going to t to Tennessee for another collaboration project, iowa.
Speaker 2:So I do travel for it as well you say collaborate, is that collaborate with the other installers? Collaborate with the remodelers, the landscaping people? Who do you collaborate with Ben?
Speaker 3:other pond guys. Since there are so few of us out there, we have to stay connected, and so when there's a really big project going on, we kind of all get together and get our pond guy outfit on and we start slinging rocks and building a pond that in itself is really unusual and that's so refreshing to have people in the same industry as maybe competitors come together and serve their clients and I know you do that all the time and that's easily for me.
Speaker 2:It's easily shared with a referral or anybody wondering, because I know you are not afraid to bring somebody else in to make the whole experience better for your customer.
Speaker 3:I really like to see as coopetition instead of competition. Um, and besides that it's such an art like the way you place rocks and you you move water through a system is so unique, and so, whether you like my style or you like someone else's art style style, that's a personal preference for many people and I love being able to offer that.
Speaker 2:Then you hit it right on the head right as we finish up here together. But I want everybody to know exactly how to get ahold of you, so let it rip and tell everybody how to get ahold of Ben Bryan from superior ponds well, I'll repeat it again my website's probably the best place wwwsuperiorpondsmncom.
Speaker 3:Otherwise, you can give us a call 952-491-0765. Yeah, or just look up Superior Ponds MN and New Prague anywhere on Google and you'll find plenty about us it ben.
Speaker 2:Hey, I appreciate your time today and sharing with some people, and we're gonna go enjoy a beautiful day together, so take care and, uh, I'll see you next week sounds good.
Speaker 1:see you then. Thanks for listening to the good neighbor podcast south of the river. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNPSouthoftherivercom. That's GNPSouthoftherivercom, or call 952-592-3737.