We all need a pep talk sometimes.

Why I started Peptexts

I started My Organic Turf in my garage in Tampa. Six years later, it was a multi-million-dollar pest control company, and I sold it to a private equity firm.

What most people never saw was the text that kept me going. Nearly every morning, my wife, a fifth-grade teacher and lifelong educator, sent me a few lines of encouragement. Sometimes funny. Sometimes just “You've got this.” Always right on time. We called them pep texts.

They worked because I'd been doing a version of this my whole life. I grew up with a learning disability and ADD, and school was a grind. Before every test and every big assignment, I gave myself a quiet pep talk. It didn't make the work any easier. It made me believe I could do it.

After the sale, one question stuck with me: what about everyone who doesn't have someone sending them that text? Peptexts is my answer. Real people write every message, and we make sure it reaches you. On Pep Plus, write back and a real person will answer within the hour.

When I'm not working, you'll find me on the Weeki Wachee River or paddling another Florida waterway in my kayak, usually with my family along for the ride.