LAGUNA NIGUEL : How Couple Tapped a Lucrative Market

Success in business came almost by accident for Mike and Paula Estabrook, who recently won the South County Chambers of Commerce Small Business of the Year award.

Looking to gain an edge in the home construction industry, the Estabrooks began offering water filtration systems to make their new residences more attractive to buyers.

People liked the taste of their water, and soon the Estabrooks began getting far more orders for purifying systems than for new homes. “Neighbors called, the word spread,” Mike Estabrook said. “We began doing more business in water filtration than construction.”

The couple started Pacific Water Products in Laguna Hills. Last year, their fifth in business, the company added 200 accounts.

Estabrook said the keys to success where his becoming involved in the chamber of commerce and in Toastmasters, a public speaking group. “The Toastmasters helped give me confidence to sell my product,” he said. “At the chamber, I heard of other people’s successes and failures, and it gave us ideas on how to run our business.”

Mike Estabrook was recently named president of the Laguna Hills chapter of the South County Chambers of Commerce. He said his friends on the chamber gave him no clue about the small-business award.

“It was a complete surprise to me,” he said. “I’m very proud of this honor.”

The chamber gave its Large Business of the Year award to United Postal Service for instituting a successful ride-share program and for its contributions to charity.

For the first time, the chamber gave Businesswoman and Businessman of the Year awards, honoring Gina Lamourelle, owner of Children’s Discover Center, and David Weiss, owner of David Weiss Designs, a jewelry business.

Lamourelle worked on establishing Mission Viejo’s first celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and has lobbied state legislators to enact tougher regulation of the construction industry.

Weiss is a past president of the Morasha Jewish Day School and the Exchange Club of Saddleback Valley and has been active in the Rotary Club.