The SPG Team
The Service Profit Group was founded on the principle of helping owners grow their business by focusing on training and accountability.

Joe O'Grady
Director of Awesomeness
Joe has been an entrepreneur for 30 years. He has started 3 successful businesses and run a $7 million plumbing and HVAC business as the Director of Operations.
Joe started in the home service industry 11 years ago at Clockwork Home Services, the largest provider of home services in the United States. He started in franchise sales, getting to know what business owners needed and matching their needs with a franchise offering. During his time at Clockwork, Joe also learned how to train owners, technicians, and CSR’s how to lead a team, run service calls, and dispatch for profits. Joe then went into private consulting, traveling all over the United States helping business owners operate more efficiently. Joe’s vast knowledge of the trades and his business acumen are paramount to his success. Joe is a natural trainer and consultant. Joe can show you what is possible with just a little tweak here and there.

Phil Denato
Director of Product marketing
Phil has been an entrepreneur for 26 years. He has owned successful businesses including a consulting company, apartment complexes, and a retail store. His passion has always been self-reliance. Phil’s systematic approach and problem-solving skills are the keys to success in his broad variety of business ventures.
Phil also has 15 years of corporate experience in IT and Operations. During this time, he spent 9 years at a leading training company running their online training portal. Phil brings a passion for excellence to our members by helping them with procedural implementation, systems integration, and overall operations efficiency. Phil’s knowledge in these areas will give you a world class perspective that will help you make the right technical decisions the first time, which will give you an advantage over your competition.

Alison Tawney
Director of Operations
Alison has 6 years of experience in the plumbing industry. She has taken on the roles as a dispatcher, operations manager, and service manager. Alison has an innate enthusiasm for ingenuity and takes a hands-on approach. She developed fundamental operational procedures and system controls that grew an Orange County plumbing company from $250,000 to $1.1 million. Alison has worked with many different software companies and has developed strategies to streamline the implementation process. Alison is passionate about developing customized methodologies for companies to improve overall efficiency.

Drew Melamed
Senior Operations Consultant
Drew got his first experience with the service industry in college owning and operating a painting franchise in Cleveland, Ohio. Since moving to Florida, he has gone on to explore a number of complimentary ventures and opportunities. Now, with 11 years entrepreneurial experience he’s had experience in residential and commercial real estate and the founder of a Commercial Energy Efficiency Consulting firm; Drew has found success learning and adapting in to these fields through his ability to navigate complex challenges for his customers and adhering to a strict code of ethics focused on doing what’s best for his clients.
With a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a minor in Business, Drew brings a unique skill set to the Service Profit group lending his clients a blend of Communication, Conflict Resolution, Problem Solving and Strategic Systems Optimization experience. Drew’s passion is consulting and coaching which come from his background in high level athletics as an athlete and coach.

Alex Zambrano
Service Manager Consultant
Alex joined the the trades in 2017 as an HVAC technician. Within a year he Started winning top tech awards for sales and achievements . He then became a Service manager for an HVAC & water heater company overseeing 3 service areas. Alex’s passion is geared toward helping build systems and procedures to help company’s grow. His core expertise is in Dispatching for profits, Accountability, and building an amazing team. Since Alex Started his journey as Service manager, that company grew from 3.5m the first year to 27m in just 4 years. One of his biggest passions is coaching and facilitating, watching people grow and experience that aha moment.

Brian Simpson
Ride Along Coach
Brian has over 15 years of hands-on experience in the electrical field. He started his training in high school and has worked as an electrical technician in multiple states across the U.S.. His experience has mainly been in residential and commercial service. In Brian’s last position as an electrical service technician, he maintained an average ticket between $1,800 – $2,000. Brian excelled in learning and implementing the SPG method and went on to train others in the company. He became the top producing technician in less than 9 months. Brian is passionate about helping others and training the next generation of service technicians to become top performers in their respective fields.

Marianne Zahl
New Member Onboarding Consultant
Marianne found a passion for the home service industry in 2017 and never looked back! She has a natural ability to develop and streamline processes while identifying solutions for key areas that need additional support. Marianne’s contributions to one of the largest Sarasota-based HVAC companies directly influenced their new AC installation division expanding from 2 crews to 7 over the course of a year. She has an extensive customer service and marketing background, that blended with her creative thinking, offer fresh perspectives and solutions that will help drive additional profit for our members.

Mark Vaughan
Operations Consultant
Mark has worked in business operations for 9 years. Starting as a plumbing apprentice, he grew from zero knowledge of plumbing systems to operating his own truck in 14 weeks, producing an average of over $10k in weekly revenue. After learning the tools needed to be a successful technician he worked his way up through the organization and took over as GM where he helped grow the business from 3 to 4.5 million in year one. His experience at all levels of a PHCE business makes him empathetic and understanding of the challenges our members face while also having the knowledge needed to overcome them. Mark is passionate about small business and takes great pride in helping our members see results. His greatest professional joy comes from helping business owners become the best versions of themselves.

Jen Jezar
Operations Coordinator
Based in Las Vegas, Nevada, Jennifer has a diverse background with 15 years of experience in both business operations and the behavioral health care fields. She has experience managing an online faucet and sink company with particular focus on inventory control, warehousing, payroll and human resources. Jennifer brings excellent energy, knowledge, and humor to our team with an affinity for systems improvement and team building. She earned her Bachelors degree in Psychology which has allowed her to apply thoughtful principals to the work place and create exceptional communication skills, critical thinking, and conflict resolution strategies.

Kyle Knighten
Ride Along Coach
Kyle has worked in and maintained connections to the construction industry for 17 years. He graduated top in state from the Cisco Networking Academy and was ranked in the top 5 in the country in the Computer Internetworking Competition by Cisco. During that time, Kyle opened his own computer service and networking security company. In Kyle’s first year in business, he grew his company from the ground up and generated $200,000 in net profit. Kyle’s IT experience along with his construction knowledge turned into a “ONE AND DONE” multi service company. His residential and commercial experience has laid a solid foundation of relationship building with his clients. Kyle’s passion is working with and coaching others to help them accomplish their goals.

Corey Cooper
Service Manager Consultant
After serving 21 years in the Marine Corps, Corey decided to learn a trade. He attended HVAC technical school in 2018. Upon graduating, Corey worked for an HVAC and plumbing company where he advanced from an entry level technician to an opportunity technician, and then to a Service Manager role supervising two service areas. Corey has a proven track record in dispatching for profits and exceptional customer service. During that time Corey earned several highest revenue and technician awards along with multiple service technician MVP awards. Corey is passionate about helping others grow by encouraging positive change and professional growth.
Coach’s Corner
In an effort to meet all of our member’s unique business needs, SPG has teamed up with some of the best coaches in the home service industry. The coaches corner is a place to find a coach or a consultant that meets your specific needs.

Lynn Wise
Owner, Contractor in Charge
Lynn Wise is the founder and CEO of Contractor In Charge. She co-owned a plumbing, heating and remodeling business for 15 years. After 15 years in the trades, she moved on to own 5 successful small businesses and has 20+ years of corporate and sales experience including with IBM. Lynn holds a BBA in Finance and MBA.
Contractor in Charge provides a Virtual Office Solutions for Home Services businesses.
- Full-Service Bookkeeping Services – Digital bookkeeping with Audit Ready Financial Statements
- Cash Management – Profit First Method
- CFO Services – Interim CFO Services for a fraction of the price
- Front Office Solutions –
- Call Handling & Outbound Selling and Scheduling
- Administrative Services – Outbound calls for FUP, Customer Satisfaction, AR Collections, and more

Kathy Neilson
Operations Coach
Kathy has been in the home service industry for over 20 years. She has served the industry in many different roles including office manager and general manager of successful HVAC and plumbing companies. Kathy found her passion for consulting and training while helping peers in the industry improve their businesses through her guidance. Kathy is certified in employee assessments with Results Group LLC. Kathy is also a great resource for training on Service Titan, Successware 21, and many other home service software packages. Kathy’s proven approach to building leadership teams and individual development include creating a proven hiring process and tools to get the right people in the right position and keep them!
Areas of expertise include:
- ServiceTitan, Successware 21, Quickbooks, and many other home service software packages
- Improving team cultures through introspection and coaching
- The hiring lifecycle
- CSR Training
- Leadership Training

Josh Nelson
Founder & CEO, Plumbing & HVAC SEO
Josh Nelson is one of the most sought after experts in Internet Marketing & SEO. He is known for helping Plumbing & HVAC Contractors increase their sales & grow their revenue by more effectively marketing online. As the CEO of Plumbing & HVAC SEO, he has had the opportunity to work with hundreds of contractors across the United States, helping them go from virtually no presence online to the point where they now dominate the search engines in their market and receive hundreds of calls each month directly via the web. Many of them growing by over $1M per year in annual revenue.
He is the author of the newly released book “How to Triple Your Sales by Getting Your Internet Marketing Right for Plumbing & HVAC Contractors” as well as “The Complete Guide To Internet Marketing for Plumbing Contractors.”
Gain Access to the SPG Team, Your Members Network, and Your Coach’s Corner Today
Increase your operations and net profit.
In this one-on-one consultation with an SPG home service consultant, you will learn industry standard KPIs, training implementation, and business improvement solutions.