The Sprinkler Nerd Show

Ever asked, "Why can't we just…?" and watched an engineer take a deep breath?

You might be technical enough to annoy engineers.

Maybe you see connections before you understand all the details. You can picture what something could become, even when you haven't figured out how to build it yet. And you're willing to ask the question that everyone else seems comfortable leaving alone.

In this episode of the Sprinkler Nerd Podcast, we're exploring that space between curiosity and expertise. The ideas that won't leave you alone. The questions you're almost afraid to ask. And what happens when you start experimenting before you have every answer.

There's real skill in making an idea work, and plenty to learn from the people who know how. There's also value in being the person willing to ask, "What if?"

Whether you're working in irrigation, building a business, or learning something new, I hope you recognize a little of yourself in this conversation.

What's a question you've asked that challenged the way something has always been done? Share it in the comments.

Keep asking why.

I've come to realize that what I do is art.

Because making things is where I feel the most free.

In this solo episode, I reflect on creativity, curiosity, and the relentless pursuit of making things better. Why I believe there is no single right way to do something, why I had to figure so much of it out myself, and how the process of making has helped me discover a vision I couldn't fully explain when I started.

For years, that vision existed mostly in my head. I had to build it, break it, learn from it, and build it again. There was no shortcut. The making was the learning.

And now, something is changing. The vision is becoming real, and I'm beginning to see how other people can become part of it.

Whether you're an irrigation technician, contractor, entrepreneur, or someone who simply loves what they do, I hope this episode encourages you to think differently about your own craft.

What's your art?

Stay curious.

You're paying for clicks and leads. How much of that is actually turning into paying customers? I'm in St. Louis at Chans Weber's office at Agile & Co., with marketing questions straight from a podcast listener who wants to know whether his money is being well spent.

Google Business Profiles, Google Ads, marketing reports, and return on ad spend are all on the table. How do you expand into another neighborhood without landing in "Google jail"? Which numbers should your marketing company be showing you every month? And with a $700 average service ticket, what can you afford to spend to win a customer?

There's also the part we have to own as contractors: answering the phone, following up quickly, and turning an inquiry into a booked job. Before spending more on advertising, it's worth asking what's happening to the leads you're already buying.

This episode is for irrigation and landscape business owners who want to understand their digital marketing, ask better questions, and grow a business that makes money—not just looks busy.

Daniel Overton is 25 and already has 8 years in irrigation. He works for Ricci's Landscape Management in northwest Indiana, listens to the podcast, and reached out to me back in July. We've stayed in touch, I sent him a soil moisture sensor to experiment with, and I wanted to get him on the show to hear what he's seeing in the field.

We talk about learning the trade, the hardest parts of being an irrigation technician, and why your troubleshooting process matters more than the tools you carry.

I'm curious what keeps people like Daniel excited about this work, what technology they see coming, and what they wish the industry would do differently. There's a lot we can learn by asking the younger people already doing the job.

What if life isn't like a box of chocolates?

Maybe life is like a box of choices. Choose wisely.

Today I'm recording from CitiesAlive, the Green Roofs for Healthy Cities conference in New York City. I'm here not because I have to be. Not because someone sent me. I'm here because I chose to be here.

And that got me thinking about the last 25 years.

I didn't just "end up" in irrigation. I chose irrigation. And I've continued choosing it—through curiosity, technology, entrepreneurship, sensors, water, mistakes, questions, and thousands of little decisions along the way.

In this episode of the Sprinkler Nerd Podcast, I explore what it means to actively choose the work you do, how to know when it's time to choose something different, and why not making a choice is still a choice.

Ask yourself one question:

Knowing what you know today, would you choose what you're doing again?

If the answer is yes—choose it. Go all in.

If the answer is no—choose something else.

You don't have to know exactly where it will lead. You just have to remember that you can choose again.

Life is a box of choices. Choose wisely.

What does it really take to go all in on a landscape business?

Dean Ricci started mowing lawns at just 10 years old, pulling his mower behind a bicycle with a homemade trailer built by his dad. By high school, he had trucks, trailers, equipment, and employees. More than 30 years later, Ricci's Landscape Management has grown into a multimillion-dollar company with more than 65 employees.

But this conversation isn't really about landscaping.

It's about building a business.

Dean and I talk about the transition from doing the work yourself to building a team that can operate without you, creating systems and SOPs, developing leaders, adopting technology, making mistakes, letting go of control, and surviving the growing pains that come with scaling a company.

We also talk about something every contractor eventually has to confront:

At some point, working harder stops working.

If you're an irrigation contractor, landscaper, plumber, electrician, HVAC contractor—or anyone trying to turn a trade into a real business—there's a lot to learn from Dean's journey.

From a lawn mower behind a bicycle to more than three decades in business.

Dean Ricci went all in.

Your next opportunity might start with a message you haven't sent yet.

When I started sharing my cell phone number on the podcast, I thought I might get overwhelmed with calls and texts. Turns out, very few people reach out. But an irrigation contractor in Indiana did—and the day this episode drops, we're meeting in person to explore technology, IoT, and possibilities for their business.

In this nano episode, I'm reflecting on that small step between being curious and acting on it. Asking a question. Starting a conversation. Taking a little chance on something you'd love to understand better.

We spend plenty of time talking about connecting devices. Here's a reminder to connect with people, too.

Bring your curiosity. Just press send.

At some point, growing a service business requires the owner to stop being the person who does everything and become the person who builds the company.

In this episode, Andy talks with Christy Carter, founder of WorkWife. Christy built an HVAC company from the kitchen table to more than $5 million in revenue before selling it. She knows firsthand how difficult the climb from a few hundred thousand dollars to several million can be—especially when every phone call, scheduling problem, unfinished process, and administrative task keeps landing back on the owner.

Christy now helps service businesses strengthen their back-office operations with systems, implementation, and virtual assistant support. Her goal is simple: clear the owner's plate instead of adding more work to it.

Andy and Christy discuss the messy middle of business growth, why the $2 million to $5 million stage is especially challenging, what begins to break as a company grows, and how owners can finally create enough space to lead.

It may be time to put down the tool bag.

Live While You're Young

What if you never hated learning? What if you only hated being told what, when, and how to learn?

It's Labor Day weekend, everyone is heading back to school, and I've been thinking about the difference between school and learning.

I was never meant for school. Both of my parents were teachers. My dad taught teaching at Middlebury College. I played by the rules and did the best I could—but I kept asking one question:

Why?

Why do I need to know this?

Where will I use it?

What problem does it solve?

Why does it matter?

Years later, I realized that kid asking "why" never hated learning. He fucking loved it.

For those of us in irrigation, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, landscaping, and the service trades, the field can become our university. The truck is the classroom. The job site is the laboratory. And when something doesn't work?

Figure it out.

You get to choose your curriculum now.

This is your chance to unfuck what school may have taught you about learning. Take back your curiosity. Ask questions. Get things wrong. Go down rabbit holes. Become the world's best learner.

You're not taking orders anymore.

You're taking over.

You are the captain of your learning ship.

Sail well.

Sometimes the view changes when you stop looking straight ahead.

In this Quickie, I'm thinking about perspective, curiosity, and what happens when we're willing to look through a different window—or maybe even fall through the looking glass. The answer you're searching for might already be there. You may just need to change where you're standing

This week, I'm in Palm Springs, California, helping build a LoRaWAN data layer across a private golf course.

The first use case is simple: BLADE soil moisture sensors in the greens, giving the superintendent real-time insight without relying entirely on manual field scouting. But the bigger opportunity is the network itself.

This isn't command and control. The irrigation controller already owns that job. This is a separate, open data layer — one that can support soil moisture, pressure, rainfall, water level, weather, flow, and whatever else we become curious enough to measure.

Every golf course needs a data layer.

And maybe every large landscape does too.

Follow your curiosity. Try something. See what happens.

Stay curious, my friends.

Try MODURA for FREE: http://monitor.modura.app

In this episode of the Sprinkler Nerd Show, Andy reflects on a lesson that has taken decades—and a whole lot of technology—to understand: technology is not the answer.

Inspired by Jimmy Buffett's Life Is Just a Tire Swing, Andy goes back to where much of his curiosity began: riding in a truck with Paul Bassett, asking questions and getting honest answers about how irrigation really worked—and how it could work differently.

After a career surrounded by controllers, sensors, flow meters, soil moisture, LoRaWAN, analytics, and AI, Andy is more convinced than ever that the future of irrigation starts with people first, simple mechanical solutions second, and digital technology third.

Because information alone doesn't change anything.

People do.

What if you could spy on an irrigation system without ever touching the controller?

Welcome to Irrivoyeurism.

In this quickie episode, Andy explores how a simple soil moisture sensor can reveal the hidden behavior of an irrigation system—from how often it waters and how long it runs to how quickly the soil dries down between irrigation events.

For decades, if you wanted to understand an irrigation schedule, you went to the controller.

Now you can go straight to the soil.

Because every irrigation event leaves a signature.

The soil becomes the diary of the irrigation system, recording what actually happened instead of what the controller says was supposed to happen.

Drop in a sensor. Watch the data. Follow the evidence.

The soil tells the story.

Every episode, Andy ends with the same invitation:

"Reach out anytime."

Thousands of people have heard those words. Only a handful have ever acted on them.

What separates the people who send the email, make the phone call, introduce themselves, or ask the question?

In this five-minute Quickie, Andy reflects on a story from Steve Jobs about calling Bill Hewlett at just 12 years old and how one simple question changed the course of his life.

The biggest opportunities often begin with a single act of curiosity. Sometimes all it takes is the courage to ask.

So... are you one of them?

What does it really mean to be real?

In this short solo episode, Andy shares why authenticity has become one of the most important ideas shaping his life, business, and leadership. From admitting you don't have all the answers to trusting data over assumptions, this episode is a reminder that curiosity and honesty often build more trust than certainty.

Andy also reads a heartfelt message from a young irrigation professional whose journey perfectly captures the spirit of the Sprinkler Nerd community—a group of people committed to learning, improving, and raising the standard together.

Whether you're leading a team, serving customers, or simply trying to become a little better every day, this episode is an invitation to show up as yourself.

Sometimes the most powerful words we can say are:

"I don't know... but I'll find out."

What if the goal isn't to have your life perfectly mapped out?

While listening to Jimmy Buffett's Don't Chu-Know, one lyric stopped me in my tracks:

"The best navigators are not quite sure where they're going until they get there."

Whether it's an old sailing saying or simply a brilliant lyric, the idea has stayed with me for years.

In this short solo episode, I share why I believe the best leaders, entrepreneurs, and even the best versions of ourselves aren't defined by having the perfect plan. They're defined by their ability to pay attention.

Life gives us new information every single day. Businesses evolve. Relationships change. Opportunities appear where we least expect them. The question is whether we're willing to adjust our course or stay committed to a destination that no longer makes sense.

As someone who's built businesses, started this podcast, and experienced more than a few unexpected turns, I've learned that you rarely see the whole path ahead. You simply take the next step, learn something new, and keep navigating.

If you've ever felt pressure to have everything figured out, I hope this episode reminds you that curiosity, awareness, and the willingness to change course may be the greatest navigation tools we have.

Thanks for listening, and as always, keep learning, keep growing, and keep navigating.

It's easy to focus on technology.

Smart controllers. Sensors. Weather data. Flow meters. Soil moisture. Automation.

All of that matters. But in this episode of The Sprinkler Nerd Show, Andy Humphrey and Dustin Nihsen bring the conversation back to the person behind the system.

Because even the best irrigation technology in the world is only as good as the operator.

Dustin Nihsen, owner of Sprinkler and Irrigation Services in Gretna, Nebraska, has spent more than 30 years in the irrigation industry. He started in the dirt, digging holes and learning the trade the hard way. Since then, he has designed thousands of sprinkler systems, earned multiple Irrigation Association certifications, helped lead one of the Midwest's largest sprinkler companies, and built a business focused on raising the standard of the profession.

This conversation is about what it really means to put professionalism back into the irrigation profession.

Dustin shares how irrigation contractors can stop competing as "just another sprinkler company" and start becoming the Purple Cow: the company that stands out, communicates better, trains harder, inspects deeper, and delivers a higher-value experience. He explains why professionalism shows up in the small details: how the truck is parked, what the technician wears, how the customer is greeted, how systems are tested, and how confidently a company communicates its value.

Andy and Dustin also talk about smart irrigation from a field-level perspective. Sometimes the smartest thing a contractor can do is not install a new device. Sometimes it is reducing runtimes, fixing broken nozzles, understanding precipitation rates, checking pressure, using cycle-and-soak, and training technicians to ask better questions.

The episode lands on a powerful challenge for every contractor, owner, technician, and irrigation professional:

If you manage 100 clients with 10 zones each, that is 1,000 zones of irrigation under management. Reducing each zone by just one minute could potentially save over 1 million gallons of water per year.

That is the power of a smart operator.

And Dustin's advice says it all:

"In order to make our industry more professional, it has to start with you."

This episode is a reminder that Smart Irrigation Month is not only about smarter products. It is about smarter people, smarter standards, smarter service, and smarter leadership.

In this episode of The Sprinkler Nerd Show, Andy talks with Scott Bowen, Commercial Irrigation Manager for Conserva Irrigation, about what happens when irrigation becomes more than service calls and sprinkler repair.

Scott shares his 30-year journey through golf irrigation, sports turf, distribution, manufacturing, consulting, design, and commercial water management — and explains how that background shapes the way he sees irrigation today.

The conversation explores Conserva's move into commercial irrigation, water management, training, site assessments, flow sensing, smart controllers, high-efficiency components, and the growing need for irrigation professionals to think beyond repairs and toward long-term system performance.

Andy and Scott also dig into the future of the irrigation technician, the difference between fixing sprinklers and managing water, why soil health matters, how commercial clients think about water use, and why training, certifications, and networking are essential for contractors who want to become more professional and more valuable.

This episode is a great reminder that the future of irrigation is not just about putting water on the ground. It is about understanding the system, the soil, the technology, the client, and the bigger responsibility of managing water well.

Brent Garrett, The Skilled Trades Coach https://www.theskilledtradescoach.com

In this episode of The Sprinkler Nerd Show, Andy talks with Brent Garrett, owner of Sirius Plumbing & Air Conditioning, founder of The Skilled Trades Coach, and author of 30 Days to a Better Business.

Brent has lived the skilled trades from the inside. He has built companies, sold companies, rebuilt companies, coached contractors, trained technicians, and learned some of the hardest lessons a business owner can learn. One of those lessons came when the lights went out in his own office because the electric bill had not been paid. That moment forced Brent to look honestly at the business, the financials, the culture, the leadership, and his own responsibility as the owner.

This conversation is for every contractor who has ever felt busy but still wondered where the profit went.

Brent and Andy talk about what it really takes to build a better trades business. They discuss why sales should not feel sleazy, why technicians should be trained as experts and problem solvers, and why the customer experience starts before anyone ever knocks on the door.

Brent shares his approach to needs-based selling, option-based proposals, and the "must, should, could" framework that helps customers choose what is best for their home, their family, and their budget. He explains why people love to buy but hate to be sold, and why value, likability, and affordability must all be in place before a customer says yes.

The conversation also gets into one of the biggest challenges in the trades: pricing. Brent explains why contractors often undervalue themselves, why revenue can become a vanity number, and why gross profit is the number every business owner needs to understand. He makes the case that a clean truck, a professional uniform, a trained technician, clear communication, and a repeatable customer experience all have value, and that contractors should price their work accordingly.

Andy and Brent also talk about marketing, Google Local Services Ads, PPC, SEO, word-of-mouth growth, and why some contractors may be spending too much with marketing companies. Brent shares how Sirius has grown through organic growth, referrals, top-of-mind awareness, and a disciplined approach to marketing spend.

They also discuss AI and technology in the trades, including tools like Claude, Zapier, AI answering systems, texting, CRM workflows, and the difference between leading-edge and bleeding-edge technology. Brent's advice is clear: use technology when it improves the client experience, reduces overhead, or helps the team. Do not chase tech just because it looks exciting.

This episode is packed with practical wisdom for irrigation contractors, HVAC contractors, plumbing companies, and any skilled trades business owner trying to move from owning a job to building a real company.

Topics covered include:

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The story behind the lights going out in Brent's business

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Why business owners can delegate tasks but not responsibility

•

Sales as a culture issue, not just a sales issue

•

Needs-based selling and option-based proposals

•

The "must, should, could" framework

•

Why likability comes before price

•

How technicians can sell without acting like salespeople

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Why "early is on time" matters

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The first five minutes of a service call

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How to ask better questions and listen with your pen

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Why customers choose the better option

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How to become your own competition

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Choosing the right customer for your business

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PPC, LSA, SEO, and marketing spend in the trades

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Why contractors need to understand gross profit

•

Revenue vs. profit

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Why working harder is often not the answer

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AI tools, texting, call booking, and customer communication

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Leading-edge vs. bleeding-edge technology

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Why the magic moment still happens in the field

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Building a business without compromising your values

Brent's message is simple and powerful: you do not have to compromise your values to build a successful, skilled trades business. You can make a fair and honest profit, serve customers well, provide for your family, support your team, and build something that lasts.

Learn more about Brent Garrett and The Skilled Trades Coach at:

theskilledtradescoach.com

Doug Lewis is a two-time Olympian, World Championship bronze medalist, coach, speaker, and founder of Elite Team.

In this episode, Doug shares what skiing, ultra-running, failure, team culture, and doing hard things can teach us about becoming the best version of ourselves.

We talk about why people avoid failure, how confidence is built, why the best teams share what they know, and why every win counts.

Say yes to the challenge.