CARLSBAD —— “I’ve always had a dream of discovering a new energysource,” Bill Holloway said. “I kind of got my dream. I just didn’trealize it was something as innocuous as water.”
Holloway, 64, is chief executive officer of Bio-HydrationResearch Lab Inc. and inventor of Penta Water, which is billed as”the world’s cleanest drinking water.”
“I’ve always been an inventor,” said Holloway, a Virginia nativewho traveled around the world thanks to his stepfather’s Air Forcecareer.
After a stint in the Navy, Holloway says he spent more than 30years (many in San Diego) as a combat systems engineer, providingradar, sonar, communications, navigation and weapons systems forthe military. After founding several companies, he and his wifedecided it was time for a change.
“We got tired of chasing government contracts,” Hollowaysaid.
Holloway and his wife moved to Texas and started a ceramicscompany, where he developed new technology to repair industrialpumps. However, finding a market for his product proveddifficult.
“It was hard to get people to accept a new technology,” Hollowaysaid.
A few years later, Holloway and his wife decided to move back toCalifornia. He worked as an electrical engineer at Kvaerner HRI inBakersfield, where he says he invented a new Lo Nox burner, whichis widely used in the oil industry today to meet EnvironmentalProtection Agency regulations.
Although his career was flourishing, Holloway’s health was not.In the late 1990s, he says he was virtually bedridden withfibromyalgia, a chronic, painful disease characterized bywidespread muscle pain and profound fatigue. While researching hiscondition, Holloway discovered that proper hydration with very purewater might help ease his symptoms.
Coincidentally, Holloway and his son Michael (who also is anengineer) had been trying to develop a process to produceultra-pure water for industrial applications for years. With thatadded motivation, they soon developed a 13-step, 11-hour purifyingprocess based on the concept of sono-luminescense (sound intolight), which was discovered by Germans in 1930s.
Holloway says his condition improved significantly when he begandrinking the treated water.
“I felt immediate benefits,” he said.
Healthy again and eager to share his discovery, Holloway foundedBio-Hydration Research Lab Inc. in 1999, and began producing thewater at a small facility in San Diego.
“I wanted to see if it could help people as much as it couldhelp me,” he said.
Holloway began bottling the water and giving it away. It seemedto help almost everyone who tried it, he said.
“It wasn’t a cure, but it was a great support mechanism,” hesaid.
In June 2000, what is now known as Penta Water hit the market.Five years later, Penta Water is sold in more than 2,600 grocerystores and 3,500 health food stores across the county, and has beenthe No. 1-selling bottled water brand in health food stores for thelast three years. They also have a 100,000-square-foot facility inCarlsbad with more than 55 employees and a nationwide salesforce.
“It’s been really something in just a few short years to seethis grow,” Holloway said. “It’s just mind-boggling. It’s been verysuccessful. The future of the company, I think, is huge. We’replanning on making this a billion-dollar brand worldwide.”
However, the most important benchmark to Holloway is thefeedback he receives from customers, many of whom claim that PentaWater has eased their symptoms from everything from psoriasis tochronic fatigue syndrome to chemotherapy.
“We have books this thick of testimonials,” said Holloway,holding his hand high above his desk.
“It’s really a good feeling to know you’ve got a product thathelps change people’s lives. My biggest goal is not to see anotherchemo patient have all of the side effects that they need nothave.”
Although Holloway is proud of all of the products he hasinvented, he considers his family to be his finest accomplishment.He and his wife, who live in Carlsbad, have six children.
“I think my greatest success is my wife,” he said. “We’ve beenmarried 17 years. We never fight, we never argue. She’s a reallybig asset, a really smart lady. I do the science, she does thebusiness end.”
Holloway is also proud of his children, especially his sonMichael, whom he considers to be “nothing short of a genius.”
Despite his accomplishments, Holloway remains grounded: Hedrives a Dodge van, and only recently bought a desk for his officeat the insistence of one of the company’s investors. He is alsoeager to give back: Aside from donating cases of Penta Water toeveryone from the San Diego Blood Bank to troops in Afghanistan tovictims of Hurricane Katrina, Holloway and his wife have a largerplan.
“We’d like to take individual teenagers and put them throughcollege, with the understanding that they’ll do the same whenthey’re successful,” he said.
Tips from the top
Bill Holloway, chief executive officer of Bio-Hydration ResearchLab Inc., offers these keys to career success:
— Pick your partners well; don’t necessarily go withfriends.
— Don’t give up: When you run into a problem, work yourself outof it.
— Don’t sell your principles for anything; never compromise yourproduct for a dollar.
— Plan on working 24/7 when you start a business: There’s nosubstitute for hard work.
— Try to make sure you have enough money to achieve what youwant to achieve.
— Never be afraid to hire someone smarter than you; always hiresomeone who wants your job.
— Do what’s right for the business, not what’s right for youpersonally.
www.pentawater.com
Contact freelance writer Alexandra DeLuca atAlexandra.L.DeLuca@gmail.com.
