BonaVista Team
Melissa Brown, PEng., MBA., is the President of BonaVista Pools Ltd. in Toronto, ON., a family-run, second-generation company that her father Bob Brown started in 1969. As a Professional Engineer, Melissa is proud of the company’s history of exacting standards, innovative designs, and unwavering client focus. Melissa started working for the company at the age of 13, helping her mother with Payroll throughout the school year, then cleaning pools during the summer months. Melissa’s favourite days at work are when she gets to be in the field with her crew building pools. When she is not at work, you can find Melissa cooking up something yummy in the kitchen, tending to her gardens, or swimming in her custom concrete Endless Pool with her husband and four children.
Peter Brown, Vice President, grew up in the family pool business and learned an appreciation for a well-built pool while initially cleaning pools, and later building them, during the summer months through high school and university. After graduating from St. Francis Xavier University with Honours in Bachelor of Business Administration, Peter took over the role of Construction Manager and over the course of the next 18 years successfully managed a staff of 30 seasonal labourers and tradesmen while constructing over 600 custom concrete pools. Away from work, Peter enjoys playing his guitar and big splash cannonball contests with his 4 young children in their freeform family pool.
Jennifer Gannon, Proprietor at BonaVista’s retail store in Leaside, Toronto focuses on Hydropool hot tubs and swim spas and creating the perfect swim or soak for any urban backyard, condo or cottage. She started working in her family business thirty years ago as a student maintaining pools for clients during the summer. Following her graduation from the University of Western, she managed the service department and marketing for BonaVista Pools. She stepped away from the business for 13 years to explore a career in public relations and advertising working for ad agencies in Toronto and Winnipeg. When she returned to Toronto in 2006, she joined the family business again and opened their Outdoor Living showroom in Leaside. Jennifer and her husband have three sons and live in Don Mills. In her free time, she enjoys reading the Globe & Mail and soaking in her beautiful backyard hot tub.
Rob Irvine, Sales Manager at BonaVista’s retail store in Leaside, Toronto. Rob grew up just north of Hamilton, Ontario, and comes from a family who has been in the pool & spa industry for decades. He started in the industry helping on deliveries and installations of pools and spas during his high school years. After his graduation from the University of Windsor in 2010, Rob started in sales at Hydropool Inc. as a Sales Representative. He quickly established himself as a trusted and recognized hot tub & swim spa sales professional until he joined the BonaVista family in 2013. In his free time, Rob enjoys attending Hamilton Tiger-Cats games and is an amateur movie reviewer.
Sarah Spencer, Customer Account Manager, grew up in Toronto. She graduated from Seneca College in 1989 as a Legal Secretary and worked in that field for a number of years. She was introduced to the pool industry in 1998, and she knew that she had found her life’s passion. She joined the BonaVista Pools family in 2007, immediately bolstering our roster with her warm heart, dynamite customer service, legalese, attention to detail, and that bright smile. Sarah loves interacting with her customers, helping them enjoy the bliss of their backyard getaways. She enjoys spending quality time with her two beautiful daughters and her husband.
Donna Druckmuller, Service Department Manager. Donna grew up in Toronto and has loved pools since she was a little girl. In grade 9 Donna discovered the pool industry and started as a Maintenance Technician in the summers. After graduating from college in Graphic Design she entered that industry for a year, but ultimately decided she missed pools. She joined BonaVista Pools in 2006, and is celebrating her 20th year in the pool industry! In her free time, Donna enjoys spending time with her daughter, Northern Ontario camping trips, and seeing her favourite bands play live.
Dipal Shah, BBA, MBA, PGDWM, Controller. She was born in India and has had a keen interest in finance since childhood. She honed her investment and money management skills, studying and working in India’s Investment Banking Industry. After moving to Toronto in 2014, she pursued further studies in Accounting & Finance, and joined BonaVista Pools in 2016. She has the unique ability to take complicated financial documents and making them easily understandable to the rest of us. When she is not at work, Dipal loves traveling the world with her family, and surfing the investment markets.
Kylie Houston, Sales and Marketing Representative at BonaVista’s retail store in Leaside, Toronto. Kylie grew up in Leaside and used to work at BonaVista LeisureScapes during her summers home from Queen’s University. After graduating from Teacher’s College, she decided to bring her teaching mindset to the pool and spa industry helping clients purchase new hot tubs and teaching them how to operate and care for their water. Kylie also helps curate the BonaVista Instagram feed with fun graphics, reels, and polls. In her time off, Kylie practices yoga, writes poetry and eats Tim Horton’s sparkly donuts.
Mary Brennan-Brown, Retail Operations Manager, manages the backend of BonaVista’s retail store in Leaside, Toronto. She is the person behind the photos, the awards, the social media, the website, the accounting, the marketing emails, and anything else that can be done virtually. Mary does all the buying and inventory control at the retail store and keeps the accounts clean and up-to-date. The lady with many hats, Mary is an organizational wizard. She ‘married into’ the pool industry and after having her first child decided to leave her career as a Registered Dietitian and focus her attention on the family business. 13 years later she hasn’t looked back. Mary keeps her energy levels high with a good long run, trail adventures in the forest with her four awesome kids, and country music!
Weekly Service. Our team of well-trained, full and part-time Pool Maintenance Technicians are ready all year round to help keep your pool or hot tub sparkling, and the water chemistry clean, balanced, and healthy. When you trust the ongoing care of your swimming pool to BonaVista Pools’ Maintenance Department, you can breathe easy, knowing your pool will be there for one thing, and one thing only – your complete enjoyment and relaxation.
Service Department. The BonaVista Pools Service Department is guided by a singular vision – to locate, diagnose, and ultimately solve every issue they are presented as efficiently and thoroughly as possible. Our team of highly trained, dedicated pool industry professional Service Technicians have the knowledge and know-how to quickly solve whatever pool-related problem your backyard oasis may be experiencing. Call Donna or Sarah today to get back to enjoying that swimming pool, worry-free!
Construction Crew. BonaVista’s hardworking construction crews are the bones behind the beautiful custom pools and hot tubs that we create. They work outside in all conditions, temperatures and environments. Whether it is digging, forming, steel tying, plumbing, concrete or tiling, this talented group of individuals works extremely hard every day.