BS Marketing ‘85
Devin Cahn’s professional life traces a path through the heart of the American swimming pool industry. Raised in Florida, he showed early promise as a student and earned a marketing degree from Florida State University, graduating magna cum laude in 1985. During his time at FSU he was inducted into the Beta Gamma Sigma business honor society and the marketing fraternity Alpha Mu Alpha. He left college with more than a diploma – he carried forward the family centric values that would come to define his business philosophy.
Fresh out of school, Devin headed north to New York. There he cut his teeth in the pool business by working alongside his father, a respected figure in the industry. That year of apprenticeship taught him the nuts and bolts of distribution and retail operations, from customer care to vendor negotiations. He realized that he wanted to build something of his own back home, so he returned to Florida and opened a network of offices and partnered with manufacturers using the business model he had learned from his father. The Florida climate allowed him to keep customers swimming all year, and word of mouth helped him establish a reputation for reliability and personal service.
By the mid 1990s Devin had outgrown his local market. In 1996 he expanded into Atlanta, and six years later he was doing business in the western United States . Further growth took his company into the northeastern states in 2014 and eventually Texas in 2021. The small family operation he started in Florida evolved into Devin Cahn Associates (DCA), a nationwide manufacturer’s representative firm with more than thirty five employees. The DCA headquarters in Tampa now supervises local and regional sales managers covering every major U.S. region, providing vendors with a single point of contact for distribution, marketing and dealer relationships. Devin remains president and sole owner of the firm; his leadership team includes his brother Stuart and his son Morgan, underscoring the family’s deep involvement in the business. This past year, Morgan became the company President and Devin transitioned to CEO.
Family plays a huge roll in Devin’s life, he has been happily married for over 25 years and has 3 wonderful kids and enjoys a great relationship with all. Outside of work, Cahn indulges in a lifelong love of sports. He holds season tickets for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Tampa Bay Lightning, and loves the Seminoles. His enthusiasm for these teams often serves as a conversation starter with clients. A quieter hobby is coin collecting, a pastime that he says relaxes him and connects him to history. He also gives time and resources to philanthropic causes. DCA contributes to Metropolitan Ministries, Feeding Tampa Bay and Ronald McDonald House Charities, and Devin is particularly passionate and support programs that teach children how to swim. He remains active in his local synagogue, a testament to the spiritual foundation that underpins his family first outlook.
Nearly four decades after his first foray into the pool business, Devin Cahn continues to steer his company with the same mixture of ambition and family loyalty that marked its beginnings. Colleagues describe him as someone who leads by example; he insists on ethical business practices and prioritises employee well being. From a single small office in Florida to a national sales network, Devin has built a career that blends entrepreneurship, industry knowledge and a deep appreciation for relationships. His story illustrates how a local family business can grow into a national enterprise without sacrificing the personal touch that made it successful in the first place.
