Amanda Ragar built Natural State Pest Control around a motto that doubles as a promise: “We kill bugs. We help people. Period.”
She means the second part literally. In 12 years running her Northwest Arkansas company, Natural State always provides for customers in need. Every holiday season, the company runs its 12 Days of Pestmas program — free pest control for families and veterans struggling with infestations, no questions asked.
"We've never turned away someone who needed services but couldn't afford them," Ragar says. "That's our mission."
Brittney Oakley, Natural State's director of commercial accounts, runs point on the program alongside the company's annual Benn Banks Memorial Scholarship, which recognizes graduating high school students based on academics, athletics, and character.
Ragar and Oakley are among the 108 recipients of this year's NPMA Impact Awards for Women in Pest Management, an annual recognition that honors women at every level of the pest control industry for the leadership they bring to their teams, their customers, and their communities. Recipients will be celebrated at the National Pest Management Association Women's Forum in Charlotte, NC, May 19–21.
Thirty-nine of this year's recipients work for companies that partner with FieldRoutes, and several of them shared their stories.
The pest control industry runs on people who never make the service call but make everything else possible.
Julie Gallagher has spent three years at Bug-N-A-Rug Exterminators in Wilmington, NC, touching HR, fleet management, accounts receivable, and compliance.
"By keeping our teams supported, our vehicles and compliance organized, and our financial processes running smoothly, I help create stability behind the scenes so our employees can focus on serving our customers," Gallagher says.
Bug-N-A-Rug has operated as a family-owned business for more than 30 years. Some of its customer relationships span multiple generations.
Nancy Barton has performed similar work at Pisgah Pest Control in Brevard, NC, for 11 years, managing HR, onboarding, and benefits for a team she's helped build into a place people want to stay. Pisgah supports SAFE, which serves survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault in Transylvania County, along with schools throughout its Western North Carolina service area.
Kanisha Lang, HR coordinator at Peachtree Pest Control in Woodstock, GA, describes her role as connecting people with opportunity — keeping processes organized, anticipating needs, making sure teams have what they need to do their best work. Her company's annual holiday toy drive for children's hospitals is one expression of that instinct extended outward.
Julie Baskerville, office and accounts receivable manager at Adam's Pest Control in Medina, MN, has kept the administrative backbone of the company running for a decade. She points with particular pride to the insect lab at the new corporate headquarters for Adam's, home to indigenous and non-native species, open to visitors.
"It is a great opportunity to increase education," Baskerville says, "to both celebrate and demonstrate our stewardship of these creatures."
Ashley Morrison has led City Wide Exterminating in Locust, NC, for 15 years. The company has earned a spot on Charlotte's Fast 50 list multiple times and been named one of the Best Places to Work in Charlotte in the same period. Morrison views those two outcomes as inseparable.
"Growth doesn't mean much if you lose your team along the way," Morrison says. "When your team cares about what they do, it shows in every interaction, and that’s been a big part of what’s driven both our growth and our reputation in the communities we serve.”
Alysia Wrobel, VP of operations at Kind Pest Control in Raleigh, NC, runs on a similar philosophy. Her favorite part of the job is growing people, giving them tools to succeed and watching what they build with them. Kind partners with One Tree Planted, a reforestation nonprofit: Every service the company provides funds the planting of a tree.
Stacey Hudson, operations manager at Modern Exterminating in Columbia, SC, graduated from the Leadership South Carolina Pest Control Association program in 2025. Her team volunteers monthly with local charities.
Christina Davis, managing editor at Fox Pest Control in Logan, UT, frames her own contribution in terms that connect inward and outward at once: "My greatest success has been connecting our company with our communities to make a difference that lifts both."
Leah Hazelwood has spent 17 years in pest control with Go-Forth Home Services. She now leads Go Forth Marketing, a separate agency built specifically to help other operators grow. The ripple effect, she says, is the point.
"Through our pest control company and the marketing agency that supports it,” Hazelwood says, “we've been able to open doors for our team, improve how we serve customers, and share what we've learned to help elevate others in the industry. That ripple effect is where the real impact happens."
Go-Forth sponsors youth programming through the Carolina Core FC club in North Carolina's Piedmont Triad region. Hazelwood has spent nearly two decades building something designed to outlast any single transaction.
Desiree Carpintero, operations manager at Aptive Pest Control's Orange County branch, has spent 13 years in pest control building toward outcomes that show up in the numbers.
In 2025, her branch achieved a 93.15% retention rate among newly signed customers, a result driven by expectation-setting, consistent service delivery, and relationships built inside the company and with customers. That group of customers added more than $3.7 million in revenue to the branch.
Carpintero also serves as a mentor and subject matter expert across Aptive's organization, helping peers in multiple departments raise their performance.
AlexaRae Hackett, director of operations at Victory Pest & Critter Control in San Antonio, TX, brings two years of industry experience and a clear conviction about what the work is actually for.
"Effective pest control is not just about comfort," Hackett says. "It also helps prevent the spread of diseases, protects food sources, and keeps living and working environments safe."
The 108 women recognized this year are service technicians and CEOs. They run HR departments, sales teams, branch operations, and billing systems. Some have been in the industry for two years, others for two decades.
What connects them isn't a job function. It's an orientation — toward their teams, their customers, and the communities their companies serve.
FieldRoutes is honored to sponsor these awards and to work alongside the companies these women help lead. The full list of 108 honorees is available at npmapestworld.org.
The recipients who work with companies, listed alphabetically, that partner with FieldRoutes:
Jessi Binkley, Pest Management Professional, Accel Pest and Termite Control, Virginia Beach, VA
Julie Baskerville, Office & AR Manager, Adam's Pest Control, Medina, MN
Sheri Carlson, CFO, Adam's Pest Control, Medina, MN
Kristin Fore, CEO, All-Rite Pest Control, Lexington, KY
Viviana Harrington, VP of Corporate & Compliance Counsel, Aptive Environmental, Provo, UT
Kristen Minear, Regional Manager, Aptive Environmental, Austin, TX
Desiree Carpintero, Operations Manager, Aptive Pest Control, Yorba Linda, CA
Kim Decrescente, Brunswick Office Manager, Bug-N-A-Rug Exterminators, Wilmington, NC
Julie Gallagher, HR/AP/Bookkeeper, Bug-N-A-Rug Exterminators, Wilmington, NC
Katie Hendricks, Wilmington Branch Manager, Bug-N-A-Rug Exterminators, Wilmington, NC
Becca Young, Systems and Admin Manager, Bug-N-A-Rug Exterminators, Wilmington, NC
Ashley Morrison, President, City Wide Exterminating, Locust, NC
Abby Branch, Region Operations Manager, Fox Pest Control, Wellsville, UT
Christina Davis, Managing Editor, Fox Pest Control, Logan, UT
Calli Richards, Finance Manager, Fox Pest Control, Fielding, UT
Abagale Burt, Team Lead, Frontline Pest Control, Orem, UT
Tara Dempsey, Recruitment and Payroll Specialist, Frontline Pest Control, Lutherville Timonium, MD
Leah Hazelwood, CEO & Marketing Strategist, Go Forth Marketing, High Point, NC
Jessica Glover, Service Manager, Hawx Services, Charlotte, NC
Alysia Wrobel, VP of Operations, Kind Pest Control, Raleigh, NC
Tia Marie VanFossen, Owner, Mindful Pest & Property Solutions, Myrtle Beach, SC
Stacey Hudson, Operations Manager, Modern Exterminating, Columbia, SC
Brittney Oakley, Director of Commercial Accounts, Natural State Pest Control, Lowell, AR
Amanda Ragar, Owner, Natural State Pest Control, Lowell, AR
Ana Nedio, Office Manager, Northwest Exterminating, Lauderhill, FL
Erica Tucker, Regional Administrative Leader, Northwest Exterminating, Carrollton, GA
Elizabeth Terra, Billing Specialist, Official Pest Prevention, Elk Grove, CA
Machelle Stockstad, Region Manager, Orkin, Denver, CO
Dominique Carballo, Service Technician, Peachtree Pest Control, Woodstock, GA
Kanisha Lang, HR Coordinator, Peachtree Pest Control, Woodstock, GA
Julie Tesh-Clark, Chief Communications Officer, Pest Management Systems Inc., Greensboro, NC
Tracy Mitchell, Office Manager, Pest Management Systems Inc., Greensboro, NC
Erin Vanderfleet, Executive Assistant, Pest Management Systems Inc., Greensboro, NC
Nancy Barton, Human Resources, Pisgah Pest Control, Brevard, NC
Vicki Thomas, Customer Service Representative, Prodigy Pest Solutions, Sarasota, FL
Julie Bimmerman, VP of Brands, Rollins Inc., Atlanta, GA
Robbie Hudec, VP IT M&A, Rollins Inc., Atlanta, GA
Katia Shapovalenko, Branch Manager, Rose Pest Solutions, Wheeling, IL
AlexaRae Hackett, Director of Operations, Victory Pest & Critter Control LLC, Schertz, TX
