Who We Are

Life Saver Pool Fence Systems, Inc.

A Top-Rated Pool Fence Manufacturer

Life Saver Pool Fence has been Keeping Little Feet on Solid Ground since 1987. A family owned and operated company based in Delray Beach, FL, Life Saver products are proudly manufactured in the USA and distributed to Life Saver Distributors located in most major cities throughout the US, and also around the globe in over 15 countries spanning five continents. Life Saver has two fully stocked and operational shipping facilities, one in Florida and one in California, offering Life Saver Distributors and customers vastly reduced shipping times, no matter where they are in the country.

In 2011, Life Saver, one of the country’s top three biggest pool fence companies, absorbed Pool Barrier, possibly the country’s fourth largest, in what was the first ever major consolidation in the history of the industry, arguably making Life Saver the largest pool fence company in the world. That same year, Life Saver also acquired the specialty boutique brand, Pool Fence Pro, which brought quality pool fencing to pool industry professionals.

Executive Team

Eric Lupton

Chief Executive Officer

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Eric Lupton

Chief Executive Officer

A true leader in the pool safety industry, Eric took a small business his parents started in their garage when he was a small child and grew it into a multinational, multimillion dollar company and the largest manufacturer of removable pool fence in the world. His decades-long efforts began in 1997, joining the Life Saver Systems team; he moved into the Executive Vice President role in 2002 and took over as President in 2006. Today, as President and CEO, he has implemented his marketing vision and tripled the size of the company in the last decade alone.

Eric is an accomplished author and graphic designer. He has been featured as an expert in two New York Times Best Sellers on writing effective marketing copy and his thoughts on online marketing have been quoted by publications including the Wall Street Journal and USA Today. He was also the subject of an in-depth feature in Forbes. In addition, he was chosen by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) as a Pool Safely Campaign Safety Leader, and launched the charitable Save a Life Pool Fence Donation Program in 2011. He served as Vice President of the NDPA in 2016 and these days, Eric is mostly sought after and interviewed by the media as an expert on pool safety. He has been interviewed by over one hundred media outlets and publications, including Huffpost and the Weather Channel. Eric hosts a weekly podcast with his good friend Rich Specht called the Child Safety Source and writes a weekly post for his blog, Crippled CEO.

Eric manages all of this while living with a severe disability, cerebral palsy, caused by a brain injury during birth, that requires him to use an electric wheelchair and need help for many day-to-day tasks. His symptoms are almost identical to those that can be experienced by non-fatal drowning survivors.

When not spending time with his true love, the company, Eric enjoys going to stand-up comedy shows, hosting a weekly game night, and taking chess lessons. He may also consume more milk than anyone on the planet.

Chris Lupton

Vice President of Research and Development

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Chris Lupton

Vice President of Research and Development

A mechanical savant, Chris literally dreams in product improvements and inventions. With a bizarre level of natural technical aptitude, he is constantly coming up with new product improvement ideas and creating entirely new offerings to push forward pool safety fencing as an industry, while simultaneously contributing to the cause of drowning prevention.

The youngest son of Robert and Ruth Lupton, the company’s founders, and the younger brother of Eric, Life Saver’s chief executive, Chris was literally brought up in pool fence. He started making fence in the warehouse at age 13, continued on to learn every aspect of the manufacturing process, before moving to New York to head up the busiest pool fence installation crew in the country.

Today, beyond his product improvement responsibilities, Chris also assists with the training of new Life Savers who come down to South Florida to learn how to install Life Saver Pool Fence.

Chris is the father of one son, Dylan. He is a Jeep enthusiast and firearm aficionado.

Michael McGahee

Chief of Staff

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Michael McGahee

Chief of Staff

Mike is Eric’s right-hand man. They have been friends since they met in 1989. His primary job is to directly support Eric in everything he does to help free him up to spend time working on the business and charting the company’s course into the future. In addition, he works on new dealer onboarding, developing operating procedures, systematizing the company’s knowledge base, managing special projects, and manages the operation of the ChildSafetyStore.com website. He accepted the position after living in Chicago with his wife, Molly, for nearly a decade. While in Chicago Michael had an 8-year career in the luxury high-rise condominium management industry.

When he’s not handling all of his job responsibilities with ease, Michael enjoys spending time with family, playing golf and disc golf, mixing cocktails, cooking, gardening, watching Cubs baseball, and studying psychology. Michael is husband to Molly and father to Maddie and Jack.

Michael Doscher

Operations Manager

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Michael Doscher

Operations Manager

Michael Doscher has a lot of talents. He’s a mechanical wizard, capable of fixing literally everything, with a specialty in and passion for cars. He is technically proficient, capable of networking complex computer systems. He is a master of organization, with a penchant for streamlining anything into efficiency.

But those aren’t the talents that make Michael great. What makes Michael great is his compassion, the vast depth that he cares about people, his commitment to always doing the right thing, and the character he displays. He’d be embarrassed if we shared even just a few of the stories of him helping employees in need by fixing their car, giving them rides, helping them buy gifts for their kids, and so much more, but suffice to say: Michael Doscher is the role model we all need. He’s a constant, walking lesson on how to be a better, kinder person. He really is a Life Saver.

Michael is a father to his son Christian, a vehicle enthusiast, Taco Bell aficionado, and occasional viral sensation. He claims people call him Savage Mike, but he just wants that to be true. No one calls him that.

Mark Moore

Logistics Manager

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Mark Moore

Warehouse Manager

A former restaurant manager, Mark joined Life Saver in 2020 first as warehouse ringmaster, then as logistics whiz. He has implemented procedures, organizational systems, and plenty of morale-boosting activities, including live-televised work order boards in every department, and daily cornhole tournaments. All of this ensures that Life Saver is running smoothly and with a great deal of fun and laughter.

The day Mark started at Life Saver was an important day for another reason: he had a first date lined up with Jess! They are married now and have welcomed a son into the world. They look forward to teaching their boy the joys of board games, blessings, and baked goods.

Hunter Zunino

Director of Fulfillment Operations

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Hunter Zunino

Director of Fulfillment Operations

Everyone knows, if you want a job done right, you have to do it yourself. Or if you have a Hunter Zunino, you give it to Hunter. Because she won’t just do it right, she will do it better and faster than you would have. And she will have twelve new ideas on how to improve it for the next time.

Hunter isn’t only super-efficient, she’s the queen of learning new things; conquering areas previously unconquered.

Between her efficiency and ability to figure out the unknown, she kills it as both the Online Sales Manager and the Special Projects Ninja.

But more important than all of these things is the fact that she adds joy, happiness, and humor to every room she’s in, and is a constant fountain of delightfulness.

Hunter is an accomplished equestrian who enjoys doing lots of horsey type stuff. She also enjoys gushing over Baby Yoda and her young son, Michael. In that order.

Jenae Douglas

Accounts Payable Manager / Director of Choreography

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Jenae Douglas

Accounts Payable Manager

Director of Choreography

Jenae is Life Saver’s Accounts Payable Manager and Director of Choreography. You may not think that a pool fence manufacturing and distribution company needs a Director of Choreography, but you’d be wrong. Jenae Reynolds Douglas began her formal dance training at the age of 2 1/2 years. While in New York, Jenae danced in numerous showcase performances throughout the city and did some film and television work. NBD.

Jenae was the Artistic Director and owner of Dance Trends, a dance studio for children, for 20 long years. She has choreographed numerous award-winning musicals and halftime shows for the Miami Dolphins.

Today, Jenae holds a degree in Musical Theatre from Florida Atlantic University. She has enjoyed the last 3 years with Life Saver Pool Fence as their “fake” accountant.

Jenae has known Eric Lupton since high school and likely saved his life in 2020 by moving mountains and getting up at 4:00 a.m. to get him vaccinated.

Jenae lives with her husband and three children in Sherwood, Oregon. She is the chaos coordinator of three tiny humans that don’t listen and are constantly trying to kill themselves. She loves coffee creamer and vodka – though not usually at the same time, but sometimes both in the morning.

Javier Padilla

Business Development Manager

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Javier Padilla

Business Development Manager

Javier Padilla is the embodiment of the American Dream. After moving to the United States from Colombia at age 12, Javier taught himself English, excelled in school, and went on to build a successful 37-year career centered around leadership, customer service, relationship building, and helping businesses and individuals achieve their goals.

Javier first connected with Life Saver Pool Fence through a longstanding professional relationship with Eric and the team. Over the years, they were consistently impressed by his exceptional level of customer service. Of all the vendors and representatives they worked with, Javier stood out for his ability to make things happen, his remarkable communication, his follow-up, and his attention to detail. When the opportunity presented itself, Life Saver was proud to welcome him to the team.

Javier now serves as Life Saver’s Business Development Manager, handling new Life Saver onboarding and helping current Life Savers to level up their businesses. In addition, Javier represents Life Saver at trade shows and events around the country while building new relationships and solidifying current ones with stakeholders in the water safety industry.

Javier has lived in the South Florida area for the past 43 years and currently resides in the Wellington area with his wife Claudia. He has two wonderful children, Isabella and Jacob, and enjoys date nights with his wife and volunteering in the community.

Casey Buckley

Franchise Field Training Instructor.

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Casey Buckley

Franchise Field Training Instructor.

Rich Specht

Director of Education and Training

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Rich Specht

Director of Education and Training

A former middle school science teacher, Rich applies his skills as an educator to onboard new Life Saver franchisees as they get their business up and running. Beyond basic hard skills for running the business, Rich’s training focuses on the most important thing about being a Life Saver: knowing that water safety requires layers of protection, not just a pool fence. He teaches Life Savers many ways to become drowning prevention experts and advocates, including through a multimedia school assembly program he developed.

Rich knows firsthand the importance of water safety. He and his wife Samantha lost their 22-month-old son Richard Edwin-Ehmer (“Rees”) Specht to a fatal drowning accident in 2012. The acts of kindness that the family received after Rees’ passing inspired them to cultivate even more kindness in the world by establishing the ReesSpecht Life Foundation. The Foundation’s goal is to “make the world a kinder and safer place, one Rees’ piece at a time.”

When not training new Life Saver franchisees, Rich advocates for kindness through public speaking and producing various media, including a children’s book and an animated film.

Paul DeMello

Chief Giving Officer

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Paul DeMello

Chief Giving Officer

“Chief Giving Officer” isn’t a job title that you see at many organizations — but it’s arguably the most difficult job here at Life Saver Pool Fence. Our CGO works with families who have suffered a fatal or non-fatal drowning to get a pool fence installed for them at no charge. At a time when these families are suffering, Paul works to help ease the fear of further tragedy.

Paul is a gentle soul that grieving families can trust. He knows their pain like no one else — he lost twin 13-month-old sons, Joshua and Christian, to a residential drowning in 2010.

Through his work at Life Saver and his own Just Against Children Drowning Foundation, Paul honors his boys every single day by doing everything he can to spare other families from drowning tragedies.

“If I can help somebody else, maybe another family, not go through what we’ve gone through as a family — it helps,” Paul says. “It’s almost like a form of therapy.”

Alan Korn

Government Relations & Advisory Counsel

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Alan Korn

Government Relations & Advisory Counsel

Alan Korn is the executive director of the Abbey’s Hope Charitable Foundation where he assists the organization in its management, public policy, marketing and public relations efforts. Before joining AHCF, he was the executive director and general counsel for Safe Kids USA, a member of Safe Kids Worldwide’s global network of organizations whose mission is to prevent accidental childhood injury, a leading killer of children 14 and under. He is a member of the National Drowning Prevention Alliance governing board and its General Counsel.

Mr. Korn makes presentations around the country on government’s role in child injury prevention, nonprofit management and governance and liability issues associated with community-based safety programs. He has testified many times before Congress, federal agencies and state legislatures on issues of injury prevention and has appeared as a child safety expert on the Today Show, Good Morning America, the CBS Early Show, Fox News, CNN and NPR as well as in dozens of magazines and newspapers.

Mr. Korn is an attorney and a member of the Missouri and District of Columbia Bar. Prior to his work for many non-profits in both Washington, DC and Minneapolis, MN, he practiced law for five years in St. Louis, Missouri, specializing in health law, consumer protection and litigation. Mr. Korn received his bachelor’s degree from Indiana University and his J.D. from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis. He is married, has one child and resides in Washington, D.C.

Letter from
the CEO

The product that we manufacture and sell literally saves lives. That is its primary purpose. When we bend over backwards to help a customer when they need us, in just the way they need us, when we go above and beyond, the response we are hoping for is either akin to or literally: “You’re such a Life Saver!” When they tell their friends the story about how well they were treated, we hope they say, “They were a real Life Saver.”

This is why we are always available, why we answer the phone, why we are shockingly responsive. Life Savers are there when you need them. This is why we fix things at no charge and replace things for free even when they aren’t covered under warranty — because Life Savers help even when they don’t have to, even when the person doesn’t deserve it.

And we aren’t just Life Savers to our end users. We strive to be Life Savers to our Life Saver dealers. Through remarkable customer service and exceptional quality, yes, but more importantly, by providing them with this business that really changes and saves their lives. There’s a reason Life Saver dealers and their employees leave whatever they were doing before and choose to keep being Life Saver Pool Fence dealers. The business allows them to provide security and prosperity for themselves and their family in a way that provides fulfillment and purpose. They have the opportunity to become pillars of support for their community, to reach out and help others who are struggling like they possibly struggled before — to save lives, to be Life Savers. To our dealers, we aren’t just a supplier they get their materials from. We are constantly doing everything we can to help them grow and be successful. To our dealers, we strive to be Life Savers.

We apply the same idea to our employees. Right from the start, we often select good people who have had a rough time and need a second chance — good people who might be rejected by other employers or parts of society. Then we try to create a special kind of environment, so that regardless of what is happening everywhere else in their lives, when they come here, they are in a place with kind, happy people, that is filled with compassion, understanding, humor, and grace — a place where they’re not only safe, physically and emotionally, but where they have the opportunity to do great work that they can be proud of, to make a difference, to have a positive impact, and to challenge the ideas of what they thought they were capable of. We try to make their time at work as rewarding as possible, while paying them enough and giving them the resources to make their lives outside work better, as well. Through words, example, and action, we try to be Life Savers to the people we work with, encourage them to be Life Savers to each other, and hopefully carry that same mentality out into the world.

When we answer the phone, send an email, tape up a box, stretch mesh over a section of fence, give an employee review, or anything else we do, we try to always ask the question, “Am I being a Life Saver?” That’s the guiding light that governs our actions. Not money, not profit — being a Life Saver. Not because those other things aren’t important, because they are, but because we know that if we are Life Savers first, the rest is guaranteed to come.

We aren’t just a company that sells pool fence. We save lives, in every way we can.