Colony Confidential is hosted by Ed and Joe Sheehan. Listen on Sound Cloud, Apple Music, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, Pandora, Google Play Music, Tune In, YouTube. (Illustration: StudioGraphic / iStock / Getty Images Plus / Getty Images)
One of the longest-running pest control industry podcasts is hosted by native New Yorkers Joe Sheehan and his father, Ed, who have been recording “Colony Confidential” since the summer of 2018.
The longtime pest management professionals (PMPs) are entrepreneurs who established their own successful pest control businesses. Ed ran Checkmate Exterminators for 27 years, selling it to Terminix International in 1998. Joe is CEO of Colony Pest Management, the Brooklyn, N.Y.-based pest control company he founded 22 years ago.
Ed, who has been in the pest control business since 1967, and Joe, who had his first B&G at age five, share their insights, experiences and opinions during conversations laced with love, respect and humor.
The idea for “Colony Confidential” came from Joe’s partner, Patrise Blake, who serves as executive producer. Initially, they were going to write a book, but with her background in radio and TV and their rapport, Blake suggested a podcast instead.
“It’s simple for us to keep talking while Patrise records us,” Joe says. “Then, she edits it and makes us sound fabulous.”
Providing variety
“Colony Confidential” covers more than pest control. Sometimes they even get a little personal — and a lot off-color. “We call it sheehanigans instead of shenanigans,” Joe quips.
New York City pest control companies encounter situations like congestion pricing and taking the subway to jobsites, and such distinctions add interest to the Sheehans’ conversations. Every topic is fair game, except for religion and politics.
“When it comes to pest control, we’re certainly not reinventing the wheel,” Joe adds. “We’ve learned from our mistakes, and we’re trying to share some of our mistakes with everybody else.”
When asked what they hope listeners take away, Joe does not hesitate. “At the end of the day, it’s knowledge,” he says.
Joe and Ed Sheehan have a unique rapport and decades of pest control experience to share. PHOTO: COLONY PEST MANAGEMENT
Sharing advice
Giving people advice is something they’ve always done on a much smaller scale in the New York market, and it morphed into the podcast. Early on, father-and-son PMPs approached Joe for his feedback. “The sons asked me how we did it, and there’s no real answer,” Joe explains.
“My father was fortunate to sell his business. I never took it over, so we never had that conflict,” Joe adds. “We had clashes, but at the end of the day, I didn’t have to report to him. That’s the big difference between most parent/child relationships in the industry.”
A turning point in their professional relationship occurred when Joe purchased a bed bug detection canine for $10,000. “I thought, oh geez,” Ed says. “But that dog brought in over a quarter of a million dollars the first year. I thought to myself, he’s gonna be OK.”
Up until that point, Colony Pest Management would defer to Ed for many of the company’s bigger decisions. “After that moment, he would say, ‘Ask Joe,’ which was a great feeling,” Joe says. “It was like a changing of the guard.”
Listening and learning
Certainly, PMPs can find the answers to their pest-related questions on Google. But that’s not the case with some topics, like pricing. Business policies and procedures, artificial intelligence, drug use, acquisitions, leadership skills, finances, human resources, mental health, and professionalism are just some of the issues they have discussed.
“We give our honest feedback and share our real experience with listeners,” Joe says. “A lot of people have reached out to me, saying it has been beneficial.”
Ed enjoys the positive feedback he receives. “It’s very rewarding when you go to pest control events, and people come over to you and say, ‘I think your podcast is good. I really like listening to it,’” he says. “You just feel good.”
Later this year, the duo plans to revisit some of the subjects touched upon in past “Colony Confidential” podcasts. “We’re looking forward to pulling the curtains back a little more on some of the topics we’ve previously shared only tidbits on,” says Joe.
<p>The post Father-son dynamic of “Colony Confidential” helps set podcast apart first appeared on Pest Management Professional.</p>
from Pest Management Professional https://www.mypmp.net/2025/02/05/father-son-dynamic-of-colony-confidential-helps-set-podcast-apart/
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