EP #145 - A Heartfelt Chat on Protecting Homes with Steve Gitlin

When life throws you unexpected career shifts, you adapt and thrive—just ask Steve Gitlin of Truly Nolen. This episode takes you on a journey with a man who transitioned from engineering to pest control over four decades ago, bringing a wealth of experience and heart to his work in sunny Florida. In our conversation, Steve shares not only the ins and outs of pest management but also how personal loss has profoundly shaped his perspective on life and work.

Have you ever considered what it takes to protect your home from the silent invaders that lurk in the shadows? Steve dismantles common misconceptions about pesticides, providing clarity on the rigorous safety standards that make household pest control products less toxic than common cleaning agents. He also gives us a glimpse into the dynamic nature of the pest control industry, influenced by changing regulations and innovations in product development. This is more than just a chat about bugs—it's a powerful reminder of the strength and dedication of those committed to safeguarding our homes and the environment. Join us for this heartfelt and enlightening episode with Truly Nolen's seasoned operations manager, Steve Gitlin.

Truly Nolen Pest & Termite Control
Bonita Springs/Estero
Steve Gitlin
25071 Bernwood Dr
Bonita Springs, FL 34135
(239) 495-3668
WEBSITE

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Cabo Jim.

Speaker 2: 0:08

Schaller. Welcome Good Neighbors to episode number 145 of the Good Neighbor Podcast, estero. Today we have Good Neighbor Steve Gitlin from Truly Nolen of America. Steve, welcome, thank you, thanks for having us. Yeah, pleasure to get to meet you and learn a little bit more about what you do. I know pest control is a big industry down here in Florida. Why don't we jump right in and why don't you share a little bit about what you do over at Truly Nolen?

Speaker 3: 0:38

Okay, I am actually the operations manager here at Truly Nolen in Bonita / Estero. We've been in business over 85 years and we are a full service company. We do pest control, lawn termite and we do insulation, so we pretty much do everything here when it comes to service in the area?

Speaker 2: 1:00

Absolutely, and it's like I mentioned, it's very important down here. So let's back up your story a little bit. How did you get involved in the pest control industry?

Speaker 3: 1:27

company and said why don't you just come to work for us? Which I did, so I've been doing this now 41 years. I actually have an engineering degree, and so I've been doing pest control now since 1983.

Speaker 2: 1:40

Wow, wow, so, needless to say, no pun intended, but you worked out the bugs right.

Speaker 3: 1:43

Wow, so, needless to say no pun intended, but you worked out the bugs right. Oh yeah, I started from the bottom and worked my way up, and this will be my last haul before retirement.

Speaker 2: 1:53

There we go there we go. So along our journey, we've all had some type of challenge or maybe obstacle whether personally or business-wise that we've gone through. Is there something that we can look back at now that's maybe helped define who you are today?

Speaker 3: 2:07

Well, I've actually had a few, but the biggest one is about two and a half years ago, on November 2nd, I lost my son in a bad car wreck and it took me a long time to get over that and to figure out how to get over that, to be the person that I was and am. And the way I had to do it was I had to, and again, I don't want to bring religion into it, but I had to realize that God, let me borrow my son for 37 years and I had to give him back. And that's how I'm getting through this.

Speaker 2: 2:39

Absolutely. Yeah, that time is precious and, yeah, anytime we get to spend with loved ones is time that is very precious. So are there any maybe myths or misconceptions surrounding what you do in the pest control industry that we could clear up for our listeners?

Speaker 3: 2:58

Well, there's a couple. Number one pesticides and rodenticides are giving a bad rap. Pesticides and rodenticides are giving a bad, a bad rap. Uh, the pesticide industry. Uh, they talk about the, the harmful, uh, pesticides. I just want people to be aware that the cleaning products they use in their house is more toxic and dangerous than what we use out here in the field to treat homes. Um, everything that we use pretty much kills by weight and compared to a bug compared to us, or thing that we use pretty much kills by weight and compared to a bug compared to us, or a dog, cat, whatever it may be, uh, very minimal, what. What's going to happen? As far as nothing, really to them.

Speaker 2: 3:33

So the myth of a pesticides harming people, yeah, that's a little bit overboard absolutely and like you said it's, it's a lot of people think that, but they don't think of it in proportion to the different things in life, right? Do you see anything trending lately within the industry?

Speaker 3: 3:55

I just see a lot of you know Department of Agriculture is the law that we follow. They're our boss. They dictate to us what we're going to use and what we're not going to use, and the time of year we're going to use it, the time of year we're not going to use it. They are constantly taking away and putting on some good, some bad, but it's just. The industry is changing all the time with different products. That's where I see it going changing all the time with different products.

Speaker 2: 4:26

That's where I see it going. Do you see anything that's maybe important for people that are maybe just recently relocated to Florida that they should keep in mind compared to other parts of the country?

Speaker 3: 4:36

Well, number one termites, termites.

Speaker 3: 4:39

There's two types of people in Florida people that have termites and people that are going to get termites. That's pretty much what we say. It's very, it's very bad. Down here we have numerous, I mean many, many types of termites here. The subterranean and the Formosans are the two biggest that do the most damage. And then rodent Rodent is very bad. Here in Florida, especially in the Bonita Estero area, we're fighting rodents constantly, mainly just because of all the water base that we have around here, which they're attracted to. You know mostly, I mean, lakes are around this area that we don't even know about. Yep, yep, that's the two things we really want.

Speaker 3: 5:19

exactly that's the two things we're really fighting right now is the termite and the rodent.

Speaker 2: 5:25

Absolutely, and both are very important. So you mentioned you've been in the industry for 41 years. Are you from Southwest Florida originally?

Speaker 3: 5:34

No, sir, I'm actually from Wheeling, west Virginia, moundsville, west Virginia. Wow, what brought you down here? A company moved me down here. When I sold my business back home, another company called me up and they moved me down here to go to work for them, and that was in Orlando, and I left them back in what I've been with truly now three years. So I left them three years ago and came here.

Speaker 2: 5:59

Wow, you got to love it down here, right I?

Speaker 3: 6:02

do? I can never move back North just because of down here the life is so. There's so much to do and there's always. But you know, back North it's it's just the poverty back there is bad.

Speaker 2: 6:16

I get it.

Speaker 3: 6:17

I feel bad for our people back home. Yep, that's why we live down here.

Speaker 2: 6:22

So being outside, I know you probably don't have a lot of free time being in your position, but what do you enjoy doing outside of work?

Speaker 3: 6:28

Helping people, talking to people, dealing with the public. You know they get to be tough, but you know what's nice about our job is when we can fix something and they're happy Right, Because that's what we look at. We're looking at helping people. We don't look at it as going out and selling business. We're going out to help people and they need help. Here in Florida with the insect population and the rodent population.

Speaker 2: 6:52

Yeah, and it's important. Like you had mentioned, customer service is something that's kind of gone the way of the wayside, that a lot of people don't focus on anymore, so it's it's nice to see people actually caring about you know a customer and appreciating them and taking care of them right customers.

Speaker 3: 7:09

Customers can be tough once in a while, but if you just sit there and listen to them and hear them and give them the solution to fixing the problem, they're gonna. They're gonna turn around. You're to have a friend for life.

Speaker 2: 7:21

Absolutely Listening. That's the key, Exactly so. Is there one thing you wish our listeners knew about what you do that maybe they might not be aware of?

Speaker 3: 7:32

Be patient, especially with lawn care. Lawn care is a tough subject and it's a tough topic because with lawn care, in order for it to work, you have to have everybody involved in this, from the owner to the landscaper, to us, to the weather outside, and people don't understand why they get weeds or they don't get fungus, so they get this like it's a. It's a total of a lot of things that involve that and we explain this to the customer. But sometimes customers get a little antsy and just don't understand. They need to give it time. Give us a chance, we'll fix it. But they have to give us a chance and and work with us and we explain what they need to do. If they do what we ask, normally we can clear up their problem absolutely, and it's like you mentioned.

Speaker 2: 8:18

Lawns are a totally different animal down here compared to up north. I grew up in the Midwest and our grass up there is quite different and people expect it to be the same. It's not. Yes, I know All right, so how would our listeners go about contacting you if they wanted to learn more or had some issues they needed to address?

Speaker 3: 8:37

Well, they can contact us at trulynolancom. They can go to our website. That's what I mean. Trulynolen. com is our website. They can go on there. They can look up anything they want to look up. We have all kinds of information on there different types of bugs, services, questions they can ask. It can be answered, or they can give me a call myself and I'll be happy to answer them.

Speaker 2: 9:01

Absolutely. Hey, I love it, any last words for our listeners.

Speaker 3: 9:06

Just thank you for having Truly Nolen come into your homes and do the work for you. We really appreciate all the work that you give us and thank you for having me today.

Speaker 2: 9:17

Absolutely, Steve. It's been a pleasure getting to know you. Thank you for being such a good neighbor and I hope to see you out in the community soon. Thank you, sir.

Speaker 1: 9:25

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast Astero. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpestero. com. That's gnpestero. com, or call 239-296-2621.