Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Keenan McGrath. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Keenan, appreciate you joining us today. Almost every entrepreneur we know has considered donating a portion of their sales to an organization or cause – how did you make the decision of whether to donate? We’d love to hear the backstory if you’re open to sharing the details.

When I named myself the Queen Bee of pet control, I didn’t realize how this would set the pollinator-loving world a-buzz!
Pest control, especially mosquito control does use products that can harm bees, so it beecame a mission for my company to do whatever we can to counteract our insecticide use. So on top of our chemical-free and reduced spray options, I started trying to learn more about bees from local beekeepers and what you quickly discover is that bees need you to buy their honey! I partner with local beekeepers to use their products in my marketing, and one year I had a hive box that I painted pink and the beekeeper taught me how to harvest the honey, which was so sweet!

I’ve also made a line of bee-themed tees and hats that I offer on my website and all of the proceeds go to pollinator research at N.C.State University.

Beeyond pollinators, I make almost all of my donations locally. Some people have “squad goals,” I have “hive goals,” and those are to bee supportive of the organizations in my town that make an impact on our community hive. So, I sponsor the high school baseball team, community theater companies, my friends’ charity fundraisers, and small, local non-profits who I see helping make life sweeter for my hive members specifically.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Seven years ago I started a mosquito control company out of my garage, with a backpack blower and a dream…
Well actually, I just wanted to work somewhere I could wear a crown every day, and finding no job listings for a Queen Bee, I figured I might as well crown myself!

Originally I only offered pest control for the yard– mosquitoes, fleas, ticks, fire ants, but eventually I was able to qualify for a structural pest license so now I offer the full range of pest control services. It’s been a really funny transition from my previous world, where I sold luxury jewelry… selling a $60 bug spray and a $60,000 necklace don’t seem to have much in common.
But the thing is, no matter what someone is buying, they want to get the most value they can, and I think my niche has been to give the luxury experience in pest control. I’m all about the Royal Treatment, so communication is constant, flexibility is necessary, and respecting people’s property is the top priority.

Families rely on us to keep them safe from disease and discomfort from bites, and each house deserves time and attention. It’s not about how many houses we can treat in a day, it’s about how many we can treat properly. It’s about taking the time to fully inspect, educate the customers on what’s happening and solve the problem. And along the way, we get to beecome a part of their hive, and allow them to enjoy the space they have worked so hard to create.

I love that we get so many referrals each year from families who have been able to play outside without mosquito bites, and whose kids get excited to see our pink trucks roll up and leave them a honey stick and a promise that their backyard is ready for playtime!

The company is 100% woman-owned and 100% local. Not a franchise. Not a part of a larger conglomerate. We make all our decisions based on what we feel is the right thing to do for our neighbors and friends. Sometimes I lose a few dollars, to a bigger company with a cheap price and a team of door-to-door salesmen, but I know that the products we use and the service we provide is fit for a Queen, and people who understand our value stay in our hive year after year.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

In 2018, I had a full-time job in the luxury jewelry industry as the US sales director for an international fine jewelry company, so I traveled a ton, and missed a lot of time at home with my family.
This was beefore Covid, so finding a job at an executive level was all about fitting right into the box they were looking for and my experience was relegated only to jewelry, though I felt my skills were in easily translatable to other industries.
My brother encouraged me to start a mosquito business and he gave me some training that spring. I basically took $2,000 from my tax return and bought a blower and a website and started spraying!

Beecause mosquito is so seasonal, the business basically shut down at the end of October every year, so growing was slower than I expected, and every spring I would have to start over with a new staff and pray my customers returned. Not to mention I was still traveling all the time, so I would kill bugs in my overalls a few days, then hop on a plane and sell diamonds in my heels. It was a lot.

I’ve always had some worker bees, but seasonal workers that met my customer service standards are also hard to find, so staffing has always been an issue. But over the years I built the route and trained for my full pest license. Last summer I was finally able to take the exam and bee licensed for general pest control and officially run a year-round buzzness!

Some of my favorite milestones:
2020- bought my first truck and wrapped it in all pink
2023- bought my second truck and wrapped it in a different pink
2023- added Holiday Light installation to the service offerings
2024- leased an office/warehouse space and moved the business out of my house
2024- officially licensed by NC for general pest control
2025- 3 official vehicles on the road
2025- officially licensed by SC for general pest control

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I won’t say I have completely unlearned this, but….I have come to the realization that I have control issues (a fact which doesn’t seem to surprise my family at all), so why in the world I chose a business with employees and that works around the weather, I will never understand.

My reputation as a professional is super important to me, and for many years I would completely stress over if it rained, and having to move the routes around, and not bee-ing at someone’s house the exact moment I said I would because there was a thunderstorm. Like, how is that my fault in any way? But I would bee hustling to make up for nature, and the reality is, everyone saw it rain, everyone knows there are only so many hours in a day.
Sometimes I would just get beeside of myself to get to a customer who had an issue, thinking they were tapping their foot, counting the minutes, and then I’d call and they’d say – oh just come next week, I’m out of town….you know, like a normal person not living and breathing their pest control.

So I have had to learn to not take every issue in my business as a reflection of my personal abilities, and give myself some grace to meet realistic expectations.
I mean, I’m a Queen, not a magician.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.queenbeeclt.com
• Instagram: @thequeenbeeclt
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/QueenBeeCharlotte/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keenan-mcgrath/
• Youtube: @queenbeeclt

Image Credits

Ron Fallica Photography
Chaeli Berglund Photography
Becca Bond Photography