Podcast
I interview the operators, founders and advisors building the best pest control companies in the country. Every episode gets a write-up of the lessons worth stealing.
Hosted by Dan Leibrandt, founder of Pest Control SEO and partner in Pest Control Millionaires, a coaching program with over 300 members
Christian Ludwig helped take Aruza Pest Control from 600 to 33,000 customers in just over 4 years before it sold to private equity in 2022. Running operations for the first time at Nativa, he explains why he plans to keep it and how a 45-minute service shows up on Google.
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When a new episode of Pest Control Legends comes out, I send you the one thing from it worth using in your business. One short email.
42 episodes
Jason Carpenter started Environmental Pest Management in his basement in 2003, and one bed bug job turned into a $300,000 apartment account. He explains why he kept marketing at 0.5% of revenue and what he had to fix before selling to Anticimex.
Brent Agee grew his first pest control company past $1M in about 3 years, then built AXN Growth Partners through 14 acquisitions. He explains why he'll pay more for a company growing 20% and why your CSRs shouldn't be selling.
Brian Lunsford and his brother took over their dad's small Atlanta pest control company in 2005 and sold it to Terminix in 2019. Now building Kingfish in Jacksonville, he explains what 5 years as a Jaguars partner did for the brand, and why fans who knew Kingfish from the stadium still said they found it on Google.
Kyle Turner knocked doors for 6 months, then grew Pro Active Pest Control on Yelp, Google and people he promotes from within. He explains how he wins shared Yelp leads and why he still calls his own office as a customer.
M&A advisor Paul Giannamore walks through 20 years of pest control valuations and what makes a premium company today. He also explains why he compares selling your company to a divorce.
Brandon Sizemore spent 12 years in accounting before betting his home equity on Mint Pest Control in 2020. He explains why focus beats funding and why comparing your gross margin to another owner's usually tells you nothing.
Jeff Stafford has spent over 40 years in commercial pest control and now runs 10 detection dogs. He explains why commercial holds up when the economy turns and why most companies that buy a bed bug dog end up with a pet.
John Speed took 11 years to get Kilauea Pest Control to $1M while he optimized for free time, then grew it to a projected $13M. He covers hiring on an island, a $20,000 bet on his termite manager and what his acquisitions taught him.
Ryan Tate helped build Waynes into a $28M company before its 2019 sale. Now a partner in Rogue Pest Solutions in Alabama, he explains how termite work for home builders became 95% of Rogue's growth.
Tony Carder bought his dad's company at $4.4M, grew it to $24M and sold it in 2019. Now he's building TruNorth Pest Control with his kids and walks through the relationship-first playbook that grows it without door knocking.
Marine veteran David Poplin bid for 9 months before he won his first government contract. His company is now about 95% government work, and he explains the veteran-owned certification, CPARS ratings and how he picks subcontractors.
Jonas Olson walks through each revenue level where pest control owners stall, from the solo technician trap around $250K to paying up for top talent at $3M.
Tony Hoffman and three partners started Rumble Pest Solutions in Springdale, Arkansas, with $40,000 in 2017. He and CEO Greg Lake explain how retention, consistency and small door-to-door teams took it to $12M and the PCT Top 100.
The Blue Collar Twins started Last Bite Mosquito and Tick Control with $7,000 and one truck while teaching PE, then sold it and Total Home Pest Control to Viking in 2023. They explain their prepay model, their guerrilla marketing and how they found their number before selling.
Ryan Marshall started Vinx Pest Control in 2015 with a Costco credit card and a white truck. He explains why his service managers spend their days in the field and how tracking route miles helped cut them roughly in half.
Preston Peterson went from knocking doors to co-owning Alta Pest Control, #26 on the PCT Top 100. He explains the merger where nobody bought anybody out, and how faith pulled him out of a depression after his biggest exit.
Greg Young co-founded Natura Pest Control in 2012, exited for over $4M in 2017 and rebuilt to about $7M. He explains the customer roadmap behind his lower churn and when door-to-door still makes sense.
Carmen Reino left Wall Street IT to buy a $120K pest control company with no industry experience. He explains the review culture, rebrand and residential push behind Anchor Pest Control's growth, and why his 2 acquisitions went badly.
Paul and Amy Alley opened their Pestmaster franchise in 2001 and did $35,000 that year. Paul explains how they built the largest location in the system, with churn under 1% and clients like West Point.
Chad Louk sold 78 accounts his first summer and almost gave up on door-to-door. Now he runs an 8-figure Florida pest control company and explains why he knocks a new branch to $2 million, then pulls most of the reps out.
Jared LaJaunie started as a $10-an-hour termite tech at Orkin and needed 9 years to get his own company to $1M. He explains what changed once he joined a mastermind, and why he tells owners in cold markets to stop shutting down for the winter.
Chase Goodeill took his dad's pest control company to $11M in 2025. He explains why he keeps acquired companies' Google listings running, how a holdback clause saved him over $100,000 and how his phone team sells quarterly plans.
Golden Door Award winner Breton Bess grew a pest control branch from zero to $5.5M in 3 years, with 45 reps knocking in the final year. He explains who he recruits, how he trains them and why rookies lose sales by talking too much.
Dave Bradford has been part of more than 100 acquisitions and now runs Certus Pest, a $100M company. He shares the cancellation rates buyers want to see and why a good price doesn't guarantee a good fit.
Chaz Estrada went from crawling attics in Southern California to regional sales and marketing manager at Nisus. He explains why a customer who joins the inspection buys, where the networking actually happens at PestWorld and why he thinks the industry is short on hunger.
Josh Schiffman has trained over 3,000 door-to-door reps and helped build Sage Pest Control into an eight-figure company. He explains why he hires people who have failed, how a paper callback list sold 74 accounts before knocking season, and how Sage builds its people.
Josh Fleenor started Pest Pros after a moment in the hospital with his baby daughter. He explains the question that won over property managers, how he handles one-star reviews and the leadership class every employee takes.
Jeff Davenport sold 1,000 accounts in one summer, then built Official Pest Prevention past $20M a year with his brothers. He explains the paid licensing training that screened new hires, how termite took off and why starting over with Prize has been bumpier than he expected.
Kendall Hines started Clicki by sending his wife's customers $1 on Venmo for every click on a referral link. He explains how big a referral bonus should be, how Nice Pest Company runs its program and why taste matters more as AI writes the code.
Jonas Olson spent 6 to 9 months recruiting a wrestler he once coached, who now owns multiple Pest Badger branches. He also covers why he paid to spend a day with Alex Hormozi and how he tries to scare off executive hires.
Pest Control Millionaires co-founder Jake Sheldon explains how he turns lawn care and moving companies into referral partners, why his offers beat the $50-off crowd, and how he takes vested equity in the companies he helps grow.
Eric Bassett explains how Natura Pest Control promoted its service manager to general manager so the owners could step back, and how weekly development meetings and a 100-point call scorecard keep the team improving.
Mat Rogers helped grow his family's pest control company from $8M to $28M. Now CEO of Lizard Marketing, he explains why AI rewards the companies that do every part of their marketing instead of leaning on paid search.
Applause co-founder Chris Anderson explains why reviews are an output of what your technicians do, and how instant bonuses took one pest control company from 191 reviews in a month to more than 1,300.
Jonas Olson ran a $3M lawn care company before building Pest Badger to $10M. He explains why your market can cap your growth, how he prices and brands his company, and why he used to shake a Magic 8-Ball.
In his first episode, Mat Rogers explains why clicks are dropping off the marketing report and why paid social should warm up doors instead of chasing conversions. He also makes the case for putting Main Street in your mosquito blog post.
Aaron Shishilla went from home inspector to CEO of WolfPack Advising. He walks through the pages a pest control site needs, his go-to WordPress plugins and why he says AI still depends on your website.
Allan Draper grew Proof Pest Control from a door-to-door team of 8 or 9 reps in the Detroit area to 14 locations in 7 states. He explains where he'd spend a new company's first $10,000 today and how to get your first 50 reviews.
Lenny Gray sold about half a million dollars of pest control by himself in 2003. He explains where an owner should knock first, why techs shouldn't sell, and why the rep's energy matters more than the discount.
Board-certified entomologist Adam Holt went from 60-second science lessons to 2 TikToks with 50 million views each. He shares the posting, hashtag and filming habits any pest control owner can copy with a phone.
In the first episode of Pest Control Legends, Jake Sheldon explains the offers, creative and follow-up that make Facebook ads pay. His agency ran them for 368 pest control clients before he sold it.
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