For Mike de la Selva, a pool is more than a place to swim. It is an opportunity to connect water, architecture and nature. As the creative force behind Dzenotik, he draws inspiration from Mexico’s cenotes, historic haciendas and the landscapes of the Yucatán Peninsula.
His approach is deeply personal. Childhood adventures, years of exploration and a search for purpose have shaped the way he designs. The result is a creative language rooted in natural textures and spaces that feel less constructed than discovered.
Yet his journey into pool design began with an unexpected request: his mother wanted a swimming pool.
How Mike de la Selva’s First Pool Inspired Dzenotik
With little experience, Mike took on the project in Mérida. He dug the excavation himself, working through rocky terrain, and developed the design alongside a local builder.
When the finished pool gained attention on social media, it opened a new direction for his work. What began as a family project encouraged him to explore more personal approaches to design.
The turning point came when he joined forces with his two current partners, who are also his best friends. Together, they created his second pool and Dzenotik’s first official model.
According to Mike, the project generated hundreds of millions of views across social media. More than its reach, however, the response revealed the potential of a brand with a distinct identity.
They were creating something people connected withmand a story they wanted to follow.
Pool Design Inspired by Mexico’s Cenotes and Haciendas
Mexico sits at the center of Mike’s creative world.
“I could be born and reborn in Mexico a thousand times and still fall in love with it all over again,” he says.
His connection to the country began in childhood, when his parents took him to cenotes, beaches and jungles. Camping trips introduced him to landscapes that would later influence his designs.
At twenty-seven, he founded a tour company in the Yucatán Peninsula. He describes it as eventually becoming the region’s number one Airbnb experience. Through that work, he explored abandoned haciendas, ancient Maya temples, hidden cenotes and remote coastlines.
These experiences became the foundation of Dzenotik’s design language.
The textures of Maya stucco, exposed stone walls and the atmosphere of cenotes inform his work. So does the calm he finds along Mexico’s coastlines. Rather than copying a landscape, he seeks to translate its character into a space people can experience.
Finding Purpose Between Entrepreneurship and Nature
Mike studied Business Creation and Development at Tecnológico de Monterrey. At twenty-six, however, he left his family’s business to search for a purpose of his own.
He moved into the mountains and spent time living in solitude. Faith and a desire for deeper meaning guided that period.
For nearly six years, he felt pulled between two ways of life: entrepreneurship and a longing for simplicity, contemplation and closeness to nature.
Eventually, he found a way to bring them together.
Today, he sees construction, design and architecture as expressions of his spiritual beliefs. Working with form and materials gives him a way to connect his inner life with the physical world.
How Intuition Shapes Dzenotik’s Designs
Faith also influences Mike de la Selva’s creative decisions.
He describes intelligence as a quality of God that people can channel, while intuition is a quieter form of guidance. His responsibility, he believes, is to keep his mind clear enough to recognize and apply it.
That philosophy becomes practical when he reviews a design. If something feels forced or incomplete, he continues exploring.
The process is not finished simply because a plan works on paper. He looks for a sense of clarity and connection between its parts before moving forward.
For Mike, this attention to how a space feels is central to creating an immersive experience.
Lessons From Failure and a Commitment to Quality
Before Dzenotik, Mike experienced more than ten unsuccessful businesses. Each came with a cost in time, resources and emotional energy.
He learned to view those setbacks as tuition: an investment in lessons that could shape his next decision.
That perspective does not make failure painless. He recalls periods of frustration and doubt. Still, he believes hardship can teach people without defining their future.
At Dzenotik, those experiences have reinforced two priorities: excellence and honesty.
Mike says the team would rather lose a project than compromise its quality. Creating something meaningful requires transparency, discipline and a willingness to give more than expected.
Mike de la Selva on Legacy and What Comes Next
Nature remains Mike’s greatest source of inspiration and a reminder of his faith. A flower, river or cenote can reveal new possibilities for creation.
He measures legacy through impact: the ability to make something that continues to resonate over time. While that outcome cannot be guaranteed, he believes innovation, courage and humility remain within his control.
One ambition he would like to pursue is a world-class thermal sanctuary, extending his interest in water and immersive spaces.
His advice to others pursuing a dream reflects his own experience: trust the journey, stay close to your beliefs and keep taking action.
It took him ten years to find his answer. For Mike de la Selva, every attempt helped reveal the path toward Dzenotik and a way to bring Mexico’s natural beauty into the spaces he creates.
Follow @dzenotik on Instagram to discover more of its nature-inspired pools and projects.
