Many working moms admit achieving balance in life can feel impossible. While juggling a career with child care, something always seems out of sync. That was Megan Throckmorton a few years ago. She felt stuck in the cycle of never having enough time for her family while feeling unfulfilled in her career. 

Who knew researching, starting and growing a small family septic service business would be the answer to her dilemma? But it was, and while what many people would think is an all-consuming 24/7 entrepreneurial endeavor, it has given this young mom both the flexibility and business challenges she has craved.

In 2021, Throckmorton bootstrapped the startup Harris & Sons Septic LLC in Roxboro, North Carolina, straddling the border with Virginia. She quickly found success, with the company expanding inspection services planning to buy a second vacuum truck and eventually expanding into event restroom trailers.

But the situation was bleaker just before she opened the doors to the new business, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I was working just to pay my babysitters,” she says.

Throckmorton was juggling two jobs and three small children. Monday through Friday, she worked as a landscaping teacher. On Saturdays, she managed the downtown farmer’s market, all while raising two toddlers and an infant.

Life was busy but that might have been OK because she is a self-professed workaholic. The problem was she didn’t love the work she was doing. Her then-husband, Joe Harris, was also struggling in his career as a licensed general contractor.  

“It’s really hard to find anybody that can breathe and hold a hammer at the same time when you need help framing something,” Throckmorton says. “He was aggravated at his circumstances because he couldn’t get help and jobs were taking too long.”

TURN OF EVENTS

While on a job site, Harris struck up a conversation with a client. The client suggested he invest in a septic service vacuum truck and open a business. Harris approached Throckmorton with the idea and received a less than enthusiastic response: “I said, ‘You’re crazy,’” she recalls.

Despite her initial apprehension, Throckmorton couldn’t help but do a little research. She quickly discovered there was a huge need for a septic service provider in her border region. She then looked into getting a permit and started asking questions about the types of trucks available. She may have been doing all the right research but she still wasn’t interested, until circumstances forced her hand.

Throckmorton’s youngest child was less than a year old. Child care options for infants are expensive and extremely limited. When her school district planned to transition away from remote learning via Zoom, she suddenly had a problem.

“I’m not going to find anybody to watch my infant,” she says. “There’s no way I can do this and drop three children off. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back.”

She resigned her teaching post and committed to opening a pumping business. “I said, ‘We got to kick it into high gear. We got to find a truck.’”

She used Pumper to shop for a vacuum truck. She found the right one for sale in Denver, a 2014 International 4300 with a 2,000-gallon KeeVac tank and a Masport pump. Throckmorton gave the seller a call. The woman who was once absolutely against buying a pump truck suddenly couldn’t be more excited.  

“The guy selling the truck said, ‘This truck is going to sit here until you get it financed because I know you’re passionate about what you do.’”

FINDING CUSTOMERS

Throckmorton may have been new to the wastewater industry, but she was anything but new to networking. While managing the downtown farmer’s market, she developed skills in networking, marketing and social media. Building on this experience she launched a Google page and Facebook profile for the business. She then deployed one of the oldest work-from-home, home-with-the-kids tricks. She went for a drive and when the kids fell asleep she got to work.  

“I literally sat in my car and looked up all the plumbers and all the installers, anybody that didn’t have a pumper truck,” Throckmorton recalls. “I wrote down over 50 numbers and I sat there in the car with my air conditioner on while my kid was napping and I called every single one of them.” 

For someone so hesitant at first, Throckmorton was all in. She took a two-day septic inspector class in North Carolina. She passed the exam and got her inspector license. She purchased an Insight Vision camera with a 200-foot reel and began pushing inspections, especially to real estate agents in the area.

Throckmorton knows how to network with the right people. She’s involved in the local chamber of commerce and is an affiliate member of the local MLS Realtor Association. Being located on the state line also helps. Throckmorton kept getting calls from real estate agents in Virginia begging her to get licensed in their state. Once she completed and passed Virginia’s licensing course, Harris & Sons Septic went from five to 10 pumpouts a month to 25 to 30.

“Now we’re doing roughly 80 a month, less than two years later,” Throckmorton says.

Residential onsite inspections make up roughly 40% of the business. The other 60% is mainly residential pumping. Most of the older homes have 800-gallon septic tanks. Newer homes have 1,000- or 1,200-gallon septic tanks. 

CUSTOMER CARE

Chatting with Throckmorton, it’s easy to understand why networking works so well for her business. She exudes enthusiasm about her profession and people.

“I love to talk and that really is one of my strong suits,” Throckmorton says. “I would say, I’m a fun person and I want my job to be fun. I’m pretty outgoing. I can be very serious and professional but also crack those funny puns to catch the edge off people.”

Customers get a sense of Throckmorton’s personality when they review her company’s advertising. Harris & Sons Septic marketing materials have included slogans like, “We want your stinking business,” and a Halloween-themed ad that read, “A septic backup can be scary.” She also doesn’t shy away from liberal use of the poop emoji on marketing materials. 

“People will call and tell me ‘I saw that motto. I saw your ad and I wanted you guys,’” Throckmorton. “What helps back up all the funny stuff is on Google, people go out of their way to give us reviews. In less than two years, we’ve scored over 65 five-star reviews.”

Her enthusiasm gets her in the door but good service lands the business, she says. “We take our time. We explain what we are doing and why we are doing it. We do it the right way the first time,” Throckmorton says.

Throckmorton’s background in education helps her talk to customers. She’s able to walk them through the process, answer questions and teach them about areas of their home they may be unfamiliar with. She believes part of her superior service is her outgoing nature and genuine love of people.

“I’m a sucker for an old lady,” Throckmorton says. “People think they’re bothering me and I don’t mind at all. I love my business and I want to help you, 24/7. I advertise that for a reason.”

FEMALE TOUCH

She also believes being a woman gives her an edge, especially when dealing with female customers. She’s noticed men in the industry don’t always take a gentle approach. “Ya’ll answer the phone like grizzly bears and what woman who is worried about her septic backing up or something is going on with their septic can talk to somebody like that?”

She encourages other women to explore male-dominated fields. “Being women, we are so much more attentive to detail than men are,” Throckmorton contends. “It’s not easy but it’s not like brain surgery. It’s not the hardest thing to do in the world. We need women in these industries.”

Throckmorton hopes to see more women in her field in the future. But she also hopes she’s raising the next generation of pumpers in sons Ryan, 8, Paden, 5, and Truett, 2.

“My oldest loves to go, he goes with us all the time,” Throckmorton says. “This is kind of something that I feel like we’re going to be passing on to them so I want them highly involved.”

One wouldn’t think transitioning from the schedule of a teacher to the 24/7 schedule of a pumping business would be a better fit for the family, but it has been for Throckmorton. She routinely responds to appointments with her kids, and they will even answer the phone in a very professional manner. She says she’s not only passing on a business but also demonstrating what it means to work hard.

“They know we are passionate about what we do and they see what our passion and hard work gets us,” she says.

LOOKING AHEAD

Throckmorton conducts the inspections and takes care of most of the customer relations and marketing. Her ex-husband Harris runs the vacuum truck. Last summer, she expanded her inspection service to cover all of Virginia. She also moved the company base to Halifax, Virginia. The company will eventually purchase restroom trailers. The plan is to focus on weddings, wineries and small outdoor events.

There are plans to expand to a second truck because customer demand is high and the service area is large. Throckmorton plans to attend the WWETT Show this month to look at equipment. Moving forward, one of the hardest decisions is whether to purchase a bigger truck.

The company’s first truck is on the smaller side, but it is perfect for the landscape they serve. A lot of the homes in the area are small and have lots of hills and a small truck is easier to maneuver. However, due to its 2,000-gallon tank, the company typically only pumps two homes before needing to go to a wastewater treatment facility.

“A bigger truck would really help us to pump bigger facilities and get more state and government contracts and commercial places,” Throckmorton says.

Two years into her new career, Throckmorton still faces the familiar challenges of juggling family and work. She finds herself rushing out the door in the morning, coordinating child care and working those late nights. But now she does it on her terms. She’s built a business and life for her family. One that provides income, meaning, quality time and a bright future.