From Disney to Critter Gitters: Journey to pest control success

Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., is a behemoth. Employing over 80,000 people and covering 27,000 acres, it is the largest single-site employer in the Sunshine State. To keep pests away from 50 million annual visitors, Disney employs an army of pest pros working 24 hours a day. This incredible environment is where Joey Baker of Critter Gitters got his start.

Key takeaways

• The power of focus: Success often requires choosing one path. Joey Baker’s revenue nearly doubled once he shifted his focus from ranching to full-time pest management.
• Culture is an action: Core values are fruitless unless they are defined in a way that encourages current team members and excites future hires.
• Invest in experts: Bringing in outside consultants for metal-bending, rodent academies and leadership sessions accelerates the professionalization of a small team.
• Upselling through observation: Growth is driven by training technicians to be observant at accounts, identifying needs for mosquito programs or weed-and-feed treatments.

A magical beginning and a wake-up call

Baker, a Florida native, worked at Disney for six years, eventually becoming a foreman managing 10 technicians. When he moved back to Crockett, Texas, in 2006, he used that experience to create Critter Gitters Pest Management.

For years, the company grew at a pedestrian pace because Baker was more focused on ranching. It took a failed $150,000 investment in pasture work and a wake-up call at a Paul Bello business workshop to realize that pest control offered far more opportunity than ranching. Once focused, Critter Gitters saw its revenue climb from $276,000 in 2023 to nearly $500,000 in 2025.

Pillar 1: Core values and company culture

Having core values is just the start. Baker and his team are now focused on using them in every aspect of the business. By explaining each value in words that empower the staff, Baker is transitioning his team members from “having a job” to “having a career.” To keep the culture vibrant, Baker utilizes:

• Daily praises and birthday celebrations.
• “Picture-of-the-month” contests.
• Structured bonuses to reward performance.

Pillar 2: Technical excellence through training

Two of Critter Gitters’ core values — technical excellence and relentlessly improving — are backed by aggressive training. Baker doesn’t just send his team to events; he brings the experts to Texas:

• Rodent academy: A three-day intensive in Dallas for the whole staff.
• Specialized skills: Metal-bending classes for high-end exclusion work.
• Expert consultation: Flying in Jay Vincent (Smart Solutions Wildlife Removal) to teach advanced methods.
• Leadership coaching: Office specialist Amber Leow meets weekly with industry veterans Maria Sorrentino and Alan Feuer to manage the “stuff” while leading the people.

Pillar 3: Strategic upselling and observation

The lessons from a failed pastureland experiment have been repurposed into residential success. Baker now uses weed-and-feed treatments as an upsell for homes rather than pastures. A major focus for 2026 is coaching technicians to be observant on-site. By identifying needs for mosquito programs or termite work during routine calls, the company creates a natural cycle of cross-selling that benefits the client and the bottom line.

Moving forward

As the Bakers look toward 2026, their goals are lofty: doubling revenue, formalizing written SOPs and aggressively training in termite work. They are living the immortal words of Walt Disney: “We keep moving forward, opening doors.”