Today we’d like to introduce you to Jared Pollard.
Jared, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I grew up loving the outdoors! Most of my childhood was spent roaming in the great outdoors of East Texas. Hunting and Fishing were always my passion which led me towards pursuing a degree that chased that passion. I attended Texas A&M University and graduated in 2007 with a degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Management. From there, I began working for a nationwide wildlife control company where I met and worked with an amazing group of people. I learned a lot about the wildlife industry and was mentored by some great business minded people that helped me be successful.
In 2012, with the support of my amazing wife Ginny, we took a risk and started Wildernex Wildlife Control. Ginny had a stable job in the oil and gas industry which provided stability for our family while I hit the ground trying to grow our business. It’s hard to appreciate what local small businesses go through until you experience the literal blood, sweat, and tears that go into it. We grew slowly at first but continued to build relationships and strive to provide the best customer service in the industry. After a couple of years, Ginny left her career in the oil and gas industry to help me maintain some of the back-end office work which allowed me to focus more on growth and fieldwork. Soon, I had more work than I could keep up with and hired my first employee in 2015. We have been so blessed through the years and we have had the opportunity to hire some incredible employees in recent years that have helped us grow more and more. We owe a tremendous amount of our success to the great employees that we are surrounded by. In 2017, we started to expand to new territories outside of Houston opening new branches in Austin, Dallas Fort Worth, and currently opening our newest location in San Antonio. We also owe a ton of credit to our amazing customers who have been with us for years and supported us along the way!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I think the saying goes “most things in life don’t come easy.” That is certainly true when it comes to starting your own business. There are times when you live tight in order to squeak by. Times when you sacrifice your own income in order to invest and grow the business. Plenty of concerns to worry about especially when you have employees and their families that are counting on you to ensure their own success. Looking back at our business growth and success, it is easy to see how God has blessed us through it all. We do not always know what is in store for us and your situation can be a rollercoaster on a daily basis. Just last year, my wife Ginny received news that she had melanoma. It was a life changing moment as Ginny’s doctor called to give her the news that she had cancer. There is an element of an unknown going into each appointment that is unnerving. Thankfully it was caught in early stages and we live here in the Houston area with MD Anderson down the road. We had some of the best doctors and healthcare professionals in the world taking care of us and they were able to remove the melanoma. We are all faced with challenges personally and professionally, but those challenges make us stronger and, in our case, continue to increase our faith! I have a wonderful wife that supports me, the most awesome son in the world that loves alligators, and a great group of employees to work with! God has blessed me to be in this position and I trust Him in all aspects of my life, personally and professionally, through the good times and the hard times.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Wildernex Wildlife Control – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Wildernex Wildlife Control is a nuisance wildlife control company. We trap/capture wildlife and provide long term control for your home, business, or property. Animals that we control include rats, raccoons, bats, bees, squirrels, and alligators just to name a few. We were recently in the spotlight removing a 9′ 2″ alligator found inside of Humble residents’ home after the 2017 Hurricane Harvey flooding. That video hit the headlines and circled the globe pretty quickly. Our great employees called their customers to check on each one to see if they made it through the storm and if they needed anything. We had numerous customers that had their homes flooded during Harvey and we helped some of them clean out and gut their homes after the storm. Our employees willingly donated their time to help our customers.
The thing that sets us apart from many other companies in our industry is that we strive to be the most professional and most knowledgeable company in the industry. We have a team of educated wildlife biologists that can quickly and correctly diagnose your problem and they work directly with you through the entire process to resolve your problem. I think that one on one experience is extremely important for our clients. Some of our clients are surprised when they find out that the same person they speak to on the phone is the same person that comes to their house to inspect the home and the same person that will perform the services start to finish. We strive to deliver “old school” customer service which can often be hard to find in the service industry these days.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We want to continue to grow our business but maintain the small family business mindset always. We desire a customer base that we treat like family and hopefully, they care about us the same way. As a company, we also care about each and every employee like family. We want a family-oriented environment where people enjoy working and customers enjoy their experience with us!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.wildernex.com
- Phone: 832-312-5595
- Email: info@wildernex.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/wildernexwildlifecontrol
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/wildernexwildlifecontrol/
- Twitter: twitter.com/wildernexllc
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/wildernex-magnolia
Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
