“Literally, everything I learned about stone was from my dad,” says Randy Jurgensen, Founder and CEO of WSS. Growing up, he watched his father, grandfather, and other family members build Jurgies—a small, localized business in San Diego offering landscape stone products. It was here that his fascination with the finished beauty of landscapes and the vital role stones play began to take root.

Despite this deep familiarity, Randy initially took a different path. He pursued a degree in exercise physiology and briefly worked as a physical therapist. But in a twist of fate, it wasn’t the slow formation of rocks—millions of years in the making—that tested his patience; it was the repetitive nature of physical therapy that left him unfulfilled.

Randy went back to the industry that he was intimately familiar with and secured a position at a local builder supply company. Randy later joined Jurgies and ultimately ended up working as the architectural rep at KRC Rock after Jurgies was acquired.

During this time, Randy honed his understanding of the operational challenges and logistics of the stone business, gaining the skills and insights he needed to manage the industry’s complexities. “Rock is cheap,” Randy explains. “It’s moving it around that’s expensive.” 

After leaving KRC Rock, Randy founded WSS in 2007. The early years were tough—especially during the 2007-2008 financial crisis—but Randy’s resilience saw him through. He jokes about spending that period personally redoing the pebble mosaics in his own yard—twice.

Since then, WSS has flourished, growing steadily over the past decade plus. Randy’s upbringing may have given him foundational knowledge of stones and pebbles, but it’s his commitment to innovation and efficiency that has driven WSS’s evolution. “Most Mexican Beach Pebble importers struggle with finding consistent, reliable suppliers—something we solved years ago,” Randy says. Now, his focus is on optimizing the supply chain and minimizing unnecessary handling to keep costs down.

“Mexican Beach Pebbles are hand-sorted for size and color,” Randy explains, “but after that, the goal is to touch them as little as possible. Every touch adds to the cost, so reducing those moments is crucial for keeping prices competitive.”

Beyond the business, Randy is an outdoor enthusiast at heart. Whether mountain biking, motorcycling, or surfing, he never misses an opportunity to connect with nature—a passion that reflects his life’s work and his business philosophy.