Walker Rose on How He SCALED Turf Chief Into a $2.5M Lawn Care Empire

On this episode of Pest Control Success Stories, Danny Leibrandt sits down with Walker Rose, founder and president of Turf Chief, a fast-growing Louisville-area lawn care brand now topping $2.5M/year. Walker shares how he left civil engineering, bootstrapped from weekend landscaping to full-time owner, kept things lean (paying himself ~$12K that first year), and brought his brother in as hire #1. After hitting $1M around year 6 with Local Lawns, he spun up Turf Chief three years ago to focus on scalable services—lawn fertilization, weed control, and mosquito management—with a personal, locally rooted touch.

We dig into the marketing pivot from door flyers and cold lunches with property managers to in-house Facebook ads that actually convert—after burning six figures with agencies that delivered “robot leads.” Walker breaks down what’s working (native-feeling creatives, the right lead forms), the red flags he watches for (keep ad accounts in your name, demand transparency), and why he’s targeting residential for scale while still maintaining a 50/50 commercial split on the turf side. He also unpacks the acquisition game: five deals to date, including Daleco this spring via SBA financing and a creative seller holdback—plus how community plays (youth sports fields, banner shout-outs) turn visibility into trust.

You’ll hear his hiring and culture rules (hire for integrity and team fit, train the skills), the discipline to avoid complacency by protecting mental/physical bandwidth, and a clear plan to dominate Louisville first before expanding. Walker’s message to owners: believe in your ability, ignore the naysayers, and keep your head down—progress compounds faster than you think.

Walker Rose, Founder of Turf Chief and Local Lawns:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/walker.rose.9

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/walker-rose-35469891/

Turf Chief: https://turfchief.com/

Danny Leibrandt, Co-Founder of Pest Control Millionaires:

Facebook: https://facebook.com/DannyLeibrandt

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/dannyleibrandt/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DannyLeibrandt

Website: https://dannyleibrandt.com

Podcast Chapters:

00:00 Introduction to Walker Rose

06:00 Transitioning to Turf Chief

12:00 Lessons from Marketing Failures

17:57 Future Plans for Turf Chief

20:43 Acquisition Strategies and Experiences

23:58 Community Engagement and Local Presence

27:08 Final Thoughts and Advice

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