Preston Peterson: Scaling Alta Pest Control to $70M+ (M&A, Leadership, and Faith)

Tony Hoffman: Scaling Rumble Pest Solutions from $40K to $12M (ft. Rumble CEO)

In this episode of Pest Control Legends, Dan Leibrandt interviews Tony Hoffman, co-founder of Rumble Pest Solutions, and Greg Lake, Rumble's CEO. Tony and his three partners started the company in Springdale, Arkansas in 2017 with a $40,000 investment, $10,000 from each founder. They were cash flow positive in two months and profitable in six. Nine years later, Rumble is doing $12 million in revenue and just landed on the PCT Top 100 for the first time. Greg joined as CEO in August 2025 after two decades scaling TruGreen from $200 million to over $1 billion and running 200 branches with 3,000 door to door reps. We get into the actual mechanics of how Rumble scaled: the door to door playbook, why they keep sales teams small at 12 to 15 reps per market, and the 18 month retention cliff that determines whether a customer stays long term. Tony breaks down how he thinks about partnerships and why he treats his four way co-founder relationship like a marriage. Greg walks through what he learned running pest control at scale and how it applies to a growth stage business now backed by Dynamic Core Capital Partners. We also cover their acquisition scorecard, their greenfield expansion model for two new markets, and how private equity values door to door companies differently than digital-grown ones. The back half of the conversation gets into culture and people. Greg explains the difference between internal and external customers and why every operational decision at Rumble runs through both. Tony talks about the hiring profile that has worked best for them in door to door (small town kids with manual labor backgrounds over flashy talkers), and the pressure test he uses for every business decision: whether his technicians are proud to wear the logo to their kid's soccer game. We also get into Greg's framework for consistency across branches, why pursuing excellence means refusing to be mediocre, and how culture functions as the personality of the organization rather than a poster on the wall. Tony Hoffman, Co-founder of Rumble Pest Solutions: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonyhoffman/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anthony.j.hoffman.1 Website: rumblepestsolutions.com Dan Leibrandt, Host of Pest Control Legends: Facebook: https://facebook.com/DanLeibrandtOfficial   LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/danleibrandt/    Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanLeibrandt    Website: https://danleibrandt.com Pest Control Legends Platforms: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PestControlLegends  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/46XRaco5nPWcqHWIoQ2eZ5 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pest-control-legends/id1768175212 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b060991d-e5d5-4683-b83f-8db469714ba7/pest-control-legends  Podcast Chapters: 00:00 Intro 00:51 Tony's Path Into Pest Control and Starting Rumble 06:01 Is Door to Door Required for Pest Control 07:30 Greg's Journey From TruGreen to Rumble 14:36 Customer Obsession and Internal vs External Customers 22:59 Scaling From $1M to $10M Through Retention 26:56 Consistency Across Branches 31:26 Advice for Operators Under $1M 37:00 Partnership Dynamics and the Four Co-Founders 39:08 Greenfield Expansion and Private Equity Backing 44:02 Door to Door Tradeoffs and the 18 Month Cliff 48:47 Hiring for Door to Door and Management 52:02 Building Culture 54:36 Final Message to Pest Control Operators #pestcontrolmarketing #pestcontrolbusiness #pestcontroladvertising #pestcontrolleads #pestcontrolads #pestcontrollegends #danleibrandt #pestcontrolowner #pestcontrolpodcast

Jeremy & Jason Julio: Selling Pest Business For 8-Figures (While Teaching PE Full-Time)

In this episode of Pest Control Legends, Dan Leibrandt interviews Jeremy and Jason Julio, better known as the Blue Collar Twins. Jeremy and Jason built Last Bite Mosquito and Tick Control and Total Home Pest Control into a multi seven-figure operation with 55 technicians, all while teaching PE full-time, before selling both companies to Viking in an 8-figure deal in 2023. Today they co-host the Boardroom Buzz podcast, advise operators through their Blue Collar Twins platform, and are running the playbook again with a new venture in dog waste removal called Ruff Stuff. Jeremy and Jason share how they bootstrapped Last Bite with a $7,000 investment and one truck, reinvested every dollar of profit for the first three years by living off their teaching and coaching incomes, and built a prepay model that had 70 to 80 percent of customers paying upfront annually for a 20 percent discount. They walk through the guerrilla marketing tactics that drove growth, including infiltrating local Facebook groups, branded yard signs on every job, creative video ads, extreme charity fundraisers that earned them statewide media coverage, and a deep community involvement strategy built on chambers of commerce, youth sports sponsorships, and authentic relationships. Tactical takeaways include why they chose to niche down on mosquito control instead of going general pest, how they later acquired Turner Pest Control and grew it from $100K to $1M in a few years through cross-marketing, how they structured the Viking deal with Potomac's guidance after walking away from a low initial offer, what they look for when starting a new home services business in an underserved market, and why community involvement and customer-facing ownership beats outsourced marketing every time. Jeremy Julio, Cofounder of Ruff Stuff Pooper Scoopers: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremy-julio-532a0a168/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/j_s_julio/ Blue Collar Twins: https://bluecollartwins.com/ Jason Julio, Cofounder of Ruff Stuff Pooper Scoopers: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-julio-68133786/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jjulio08/ Dan Leibrandt, Host of Pest Control Legends: Facebook: https://facebook.com/DanLeibrandtOfficial   LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/danleibrandt/    Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanLeibrandt    Website: https://danleibrandt.com Pest Control Legends Platforms: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PestControlLegends  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/46XRaco5nPWcqHWIoQ2eZ5 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pest-control-legends/id1768175212 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b060991d-e5d5-4683-b83f-8db469714ba7/pest-control-legends  Podcast Chapters: 00:00 Intro 02:01 How They Got Into Pest Control 04:05 Scaling While Teaching PE Full-Time 11:15 Breakthrough Moments And The Prepay Model 15:46 Why They Niched Down On Mosquito Control 20:54 Acquiring Turner Pest And Scaling To $1M 25:16 Guerrilla Marketing And Extreme Charity Events 31:18 Selling To Viking With Potomac 38:01 Advice For Owners Looking To Sell 42:00 Starting Rough Stuff Dog Waste Removal 45:14 Running A Business As Identical Twins 49:00 Lessons From Boardroom Buzz Interviews 58:09 Yard Signs, Facebook Groups, And Community 1:06:22 Final Message To Pest Control Owners #pestcontrolmarketing #pestcontrolbusiness #pestcontroladvertising #pestcontrolleads #pestcontrolads #pestcontrollegends #danleibrandt #pestcontrolowner #pestcontrolpodcast

Ryan Marshall: Why Service Managers Are the Real Growth Lever in Pest Control

On this episode of Pest Control Legends, Dan Leibrandt interviews Ryan Marshall, founder and CEO of Vinx Pest Control. Ryan started Vinx in 2015 with a $10,000 Costco credit card, a white truck, and a bunch of stickers he ordered online. Eleven years later, Vinx is a multi-state operation with locations across Utah, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia servicing tens of thousands of homes, and Ryan has become one of the top operators in the door-to-door pest control space. Ryan makes the case that service managers, not sales reps, are the real growth lever most pest control owners are overlooking. He breaks down what he actually looks for when hiring service managers, why he wants them in the field instead of the office, and how a great service leader bridges the retention gap that kills most door-to-door companies. He also gets specific on how Vinx got their technicians to embrace upgrades without using the word sell, the Roger Bannister effect inside a technician team, and why paying up for A-plus talent has been one of the harder but more important lessons of his career. The second half of the conversation goes deep on the tactical side. Ryan shares the initial-service pricing study that changed how they pay door-to-door reps, the selfie-style proof of service videos that have transformed customer retention, how implementing EOS helped them cut average route miles from the fifties down to the low twenties, and the specific KPIs Vinx tracks every week. If you're scaling a pest control company, wrestling with door-to-door attrition, or trying to figure out where your real bottlenecks are, this episode will give you a full playbook of things to steal. Ryan Marshal, CEO and Founder of Vinx Pest Control: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ryan-marshall-14205b26 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/llahsramnayr Dan Leibrandt, Host of Pest Control Legends: Facebook: https://facebook.com/DanLeibrandtOfficial   LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/danleibrandt/    Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanLeibrandt    Website: https://danleibrandt.com Pest Control Legends Platforms: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PestControlLegends  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/46XRaco5nPWcqHWIoQ2eZ5 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pest-control-legends/id1768175212 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b060991d-e5d5-4683-b83f-8db469714ba7/pest-control-legends  Podcast Chapters: 0:00 — Intro 0:50 — Starting Vinx with a $10K Credit Card 4:20 — What Makes a Great Service Manager 9:00 — Leadership and Motivating Your Team 11:50 — Getting Technicians to Embrace Upgrades 18:10 — The Roger Bannister Effect and Team Culture 21:00 — Door-to-Door Sales and What Actually Works 23:50 — Solving the Door-to-Door Attrition Problem 27:30 — Vinx's Tech Stack and Proof of Service Videos 32:40 — Why Word Choice Matters in Pest Control 36:20 — Managing a Multi-State Operation 39:20 — Implementing EOS and Tracking KPIs 44:20 — Cutting Route Times in Half 46:20 — Final Message: Stop Being the Bottleneck 49:50 — Where to Connect with Ryan #pestcontrolmarketing #pestcontrolbusiness #pestcontroladvertising #pestcontrolleads #pestcontrolads #pestcontrollegends #danleibrandt #pestcontrolowner #pestcontrolpodcast

Preston Peterson: Scaling Alta Pest Control to $70M+ (M&A, Leadership, and Faith)

On this episode of Pest Control Legends, Dan Leibrandt interviews Preston Peterson, co-owner of Alta Pest Control, ranked #26 on the PCT Top 100. Preston started out selling pest control door to door, built Ardent Pest Control onto the Inc 5000 for seven consecutive years, then merged with Alta in 2022 to create one of the fastest-growing companies in the industry. He has had six exits in pest control and now owns multiple businesses across different industries from his home base in Puerto Rico. Preston walks through the full story of the Ardent and Alta merger, a rare true strategic merger where neither company bought the other, and explains why seeing the bigger picture is what makes deals like that possible. He breaks down the private equity process that followed, why he stepped back from the CEO seat after 20 years of running companies, and why most pest control owners stay small because of ego rather than strategy. He also gets tactical on culture, sharing the specific things Ardent did to create a company where technicians literally tattooed the logo on their bodies. The conversation also goes somewhere most business podcasts don't. Preston opens up about the depression he experienced after his biggest exit, the identity crisis of having money but no purpose, and the day trading losses that came with it. He shares how faith, serving the youth at his church in Puerto Rico, and returning to vision-based goal setting pulled him out of it, and why chasing results without becoming the person who can handle those results is the fastest way to lose everything. Whether you're bootstrapping your first branch, eyeing a merger, or wondering what comes after the exit, this episode will give you a lot to think about. Preston Peterson, Co-owner of Alta Pest Control: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/preston-peterson-9637304 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/preston_peterson848/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/preston.peterson.33 Dan Leibrandt, Host of Pest Control Legends: Facebook: https://facebook.com/DanLeibrandtOfficial   LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/danleibrandt/    Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanLeibrandt    Website: https://danleibrandt.com Pest Control Legends Platforms: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PestControlLegends  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/46XRaco5nPWcqHWIoQ2eZ5 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pest-control-legends/id1768175212 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b060991d-e5d5-4683-b83f-8db469714ba7/pest-control-legends  Podcast Chapters: 0:00 — Intro  0:50 — How Preston Got Into Pest Control 3:00 — Starting Ardent with $7K and Credit Cards 6:00 — The "20-Year Overnight Success" Reality 7:30 — College vs. Dropping Out to Build 10:10 — The Ardent and Alta Merger Story 14:00 — Why Most Owners Can't See the Bigger Picture 17:45 — Going Private Equity After the Merger 19:45 — Why Owners Fight to Stay Small (Ego vs. Growth) 23:30 — Building a Culture People Tattoo on Their Bodies 28:00 — Hiring Leaders Who Actually Believe Your Core Values 31:30 — Bootstrapping vs. Raising Capital 33:40 — Becoming the Person Your Business Needs 37:00 — Moving to Puerto Rico and the Depression That Followed 44:00 — How Faith and Serving Youth Pulled Him Out 47:00 — Vision Boards, Prayer, and New Businesses 53:00 — Why You Can't Skip the Journey 57:30 — Being Around Billionaires in Puerto Rico 1:02:00 — Why Pest Control Owners Are Prideful 1:06:30 — Your Business Is Either Outgrowing Your People or Vice Versa 1:15:50 — Final Message: Enjoy the Journey 1:18:20 — Where to Connect with Preston #pestcontrolmarketing #pestcontrolbusiness #pestcontroladvertising #pestcontrolleads #pestcontrolads #pestcontrollegends #danleibrandt #pestcontrolowner #pestcontrolpodcast

Greg Young: Selling Natura Pest Control for $4M and Rebuilding to $7M+ (from Scratch)

On this episode of Pest Control Legends, Dan Leibrandt interviews Greg Young, co-founder of Natura Pest Control. Greg has spent nearly two decades building pest control businesses across the US. He started his first company in 2012, scaled it to five offices, and sold it to Terminix in 2017 for over $4 million — then started over from scratch that same year and has since built back to roughly $7 million in revenue. Greg opens up about the hard lessons from his first company, including why being three salespeople-turned-owners created a business that was great at selling accounts but terrible at keeping them. He walks through the partnership dynamics that shaped two decades of his career, how to recognize when partners want fundamentally different things, and why getting brutally honest about what you actually want is the single biggest unlock for an owner. He also explains how his perception of money completely shifted post-exit, and how that change reshaped every decision in the rebuild. The conversation goes deep on building a customer-centric operation, including the 7-step customer experience roadmap Natura uses to drive retention, why your professional background (sales, tech, accounting) silently defines how you run your company, and how they took churn from 38% down to 14%. Greg and Dan also cover when door-to-door is the right play versus when it becomes a long-term liability, what traits actually matter in a business partner, and why the most important job of a pest control owner is finding the #1 bottleneck holding the business back — which is often the owner himself. Greg Young, Co-founder of Natura Pest Control: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregcyoung/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/graphicbeast Dan Leibrandt, Host of Pest Control Legends: Facebook: https://facebook.com/DanLeibrandtOfficial   LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/danleibrandt/    Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanLeibrandt    Website: https://danleibrandt.com Pest Control Legends Platforms: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PestControlLegends  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/46XRaco5nPWcqHWIoQ2eZ5 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pest-control-legends/id1768175212 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b060991d-e5d5-4683-b83f-8db469714ba7/pest-control-legends  Podcast Chapters: 00:00 Introduction to Greg Young 04:23 The Journey of Starting Natura Pest Control 10:38 Understanding What You Really Want in Business 15:11 The Dynamics of Business Partnerships 21:32 Traits of Successful Business Partners 24:40 The Reality of Entrepreneurship 25:50 Navigating Business Challenges 28:34 The Decision to Sell 29:41 Starting Fresh: A New Approach 31:46 Customer-Centric Business Model 37:00 Understanding Churn Rates 40:45 The Ethics of Door-to-Door Sales 45:05 Diversifying Marketing Strategies 47:53 Finding and Fixing Bottlenecks #pestcontrolmarketing #pestcontrolbusiness #pestcontroladvertising #pestcontrolleads #pestcontrolads #pestcontrollegends #danleibrandt #pestcontrolowner #pestcontrolpodcast