Keeping the Family Name Alive

LOS ANGELES — When Rian Goins’ aunt, Georgia Washington, owner of LJC Pest Control, Los Angeles, passed away in April 2022, he had two choices: keep the family business alive and continue servicing her customer route, or dissolve the company.

That’s when Get Goins Pest Control was born.

The structural pest control board told Rian and Noelle Goins, owners Get Goins Pest Control, Los Angeles, that they had to register the company under a new name. The husband and wife team inherited her small number of clients and used their last name to keep pest control work in the family.

Rian said his aunt and uncle, Georgia and Arthur Washington, owned the company together for more than 30 years, working in the field together until his passing in 2020.

“The fact that we’re a married couple starting out the same way, made a lot of her customers feel comfortable because they were so used to seeing him and her together,” he said. “To have customers for 30 years, it means you had relationships built.”

Noelle said she hopes the two can continue growing in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernadino Counties, while still fulfilling the longtime, committed customer base.

“We came in honoring her [prices] and we grandfathered everyone in, even though it was tough to serve at such a low rate,” she said. "We stepped up the technology because they were very old school and had no software for routing and everything [was] hand-written. We did upgrade all of that to a more 2023 operating level.”

© Rian & Noelle Goins

The couple also inherited her “very old” work van, which took a blow within the first couple months of using it.

“[Throughout] the summer, we were putting money aside and putting [the money] back into products or the van. Finally, the van’s transmission went completely out after a job one night and we were stranded on the freeway,” Noelle said.

Noelle said while many pest control companies go for a larger volume customer base, their goal is to give each stop the proper time it needs and have extra time left in case something comes up.

“[We are] making sure we’re not loading ourselves up with stops that aren’t practical,” she added. “We really want customer service to lead.”

MAKING CONTENT CREATION PROFITABLE

But their love for creating digital content also helped Goins get off the ground.

Noelle joined Triller, a social networking platform for users to create and share content with others, in February 2021, before the two started Get Goins.

She had the opportunity to join The Assembly for Black Creators, a Triller program where creators were paid for their content. Noelle said the money she set aside from creating content helped get the business ‘Goin.’

“When you’re starting a business like pest control, there’s a lot of fees and expenses that come with that and our regular living expenses,” she said. “That income was almost to be like an investment or grant to fund the business.”

Now the couple creates digital content for their business pages to start building their own customer relationships. Noelle said you have to be ready at all times for content opportunities.

“As much as people love to see the gross side of bugs, there are also moments where we see bugs in real time like a worm slithering by my bait station,” she said. “I think adding the pest control element into creating content adds a whole new level.”

Rian said from what he’s seen in the industry, many pest control companies have not leveraged the opportunity to use social media to promote their services and reach a larger audience.

“The digital age is where we are at, everything is on the phone,” he said “It feels natural to always be creating content and we respect people’s privacy which is important.”

PROVIDING PROFESSIONAL AND PERSONAL FORTUNES

While a fresh coat of paint still lays over the company’s name, Rian and Noelle are already hoping to impact their communities in more than one way.

The two created the Keep It Goins Foundation, which launches this summer, to cover costs for people who cannot afford to hire a pest control company to exterminate infestations.

© Rian & Noelle Goins

“When you’re going into people’s homes, seeing the need for those who can’t afford pest control, we [hope to] cover extermination costs, clothing and laundry services for bed bugs or just [finding people] temporary housing,” Noelle said. “We hope the foundation will improve the relationship between owners and renters.”

Rian and Noelle are the only two individuals running the business but have big plans to hire employees and create a well-established team.

“When we get to the level of hiring folks, we want them to think like pest control owners,” Noelle said. “We want them to think ownership and like an entrepreneur.”

The couple also appeared on The Steve Harvey Show that aired in January 2022 to share their love story and won a honeymoon trip to Barbados.

“Someone that knew me from [my previous] music [career] was working at The Steve Harvey show, saw my engagement announcement and said this was an [interesting] story,” Noelle said. “They pitched it to the producers and they liked it so we were flown in to tell our experience."