In this episode of Full Throttle Leaders, host Michael Falato interviews Curtis Evans, an Air Force veteran, entrepreneur, and real‑estate investor. Curtis explains how he and his father built EnviroSafe Tanks, a Bushnell, Florida‑based manufacturer of above‑ground fuel tanks, growing sales from $1.5 M in 2008 to about $12 M in 2023. He details the shift from pure manufacturing to offering installation services after obtaining a contractor’s license in 2016, and describes the company’s diverse customer base—including data centers, hospitals, military sites, trucking firms, and marinas—that rely on fuel tanks for backup generators. Curtis also shares his parallel real‑estate venture, managing roughly 26 tenants across mixed‑use properties, and discusses the challenges of dealing with municipal approvals and commercial versus residential tenants. His Air Force service with the Red Horse rapid‑runway‑repair unit, deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, and a back injury are recounted, highlighting the discipline and teamwork learned. Curtis reflects on a recent contractual mistake—insufficient written terms for a modular building project—and stresses the importance of detailed agreements and liquidated‑damage clauses. Finally, he outlines future plans to launch an investment fund focused on Central Florida real‑estate opportunities, while providing contact information (curtis@envirosafetanks.com, envirosafetanks.com) for prospective fuel‑tank customers and investors.
Chapters
Hey everybody, Michael Falato here again with another episode of Full Throttle Falato Leaders. We're here with Curtis Evans. I've known Curtis for about, I don't know, 10 years. He's an entrepreneur, he owns businesses, he's a real estate investor, he's a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu just like me. So we've Had our fun choking each other. And the biggest and greatest thing he's ever done is serve our country as an Air Force veteran. So, Curtis, tell us a little bit about your company that you built with your father and then how you turned it into a multimillion-dollar investment-type company that you do on your own now as well. And then tell us a little bit about your Air Force background too after that.
Okay. Our company is a tank manufacturer. We're out of Bushnell, Florida. We build above-ground fuel systems and fuel tanks. We ship them all over the world, including Florida, you know, obviously, and we do installs in Florida. So in 2008, right after the recession, I started working there. Actually, it was like right during the recession. I started working there and we got down to basically, we had, I think we had like one sale on the books. Um, so we built a website and, um, no website before 2008? No, not, we had like a landing page. Okay. But so we got, we built a website. My, one of my buddies at the time was, um, he was in, he was, into internet marketing and he was like, I mean, back then there wasn't a lot of guys doing it. So he really taught me a lot about building out an organic site and then building out an AdWords campaign. And we leveraged that and we got to the point where we grew sales from $1.5 million To like 2010, we were doing around $3.5 million. And then, um, it just continued to grow after that. And I think, uh, last year we did around $12 million in sales. So, um, basically, in 2016, I got my contractor's license and we, we started doing installations all across the state.
You guys didn't do installations, you just built back then?
Back, yeah, back when I started, we just manufactured the tanks.
Who would put them in?
So we would hire, we would sub, we would subcontract that out to, um, to petroleum contractors that would install them for us.
The people that get the tanks are companies that have fleets that don't want to keep on going back and forth to gas stations. Tell us, like, who's your ideal customer profile?
So, so Now, our customer base is pretty broad. Like, we sell to data centers, to hospitals, to military applications, trucking companies. We sell backup generators for like assisted living facilities, nursing homes.
Backup generators? You set up the—
So the tanks for— they support backup generators.
That's why data centers would need it because they can't ever be down. Right.
Yeah, exactly.
Okay.
Yeah, there's new technology for that now. Like they're using other, other types of energy, but traditionally it was all diesel generators. So we would build the fuel tanks for the diesel generators and they still use that. So we still, we still sell to companies that build data centers and install these diesel generators. But yeah, so it's just, it's kind of grown. Over the years, and 2018, I took over the business as the president, and my dad kind of retired. And now we have, you know, I have a good management team that kind of runs everything for me, and I just kind of oversee operations with them on a, you know, daily basis. So, and then on the side, I built a real estate portfolio. Um, I have about 26 tenants right now, so, um, it's nothing crazy, but it's, it's something that, you know, I—
It's amazing you built something from scratch. Okay.
Yeah.
And it was on top of your other building and you made it. You had a vision. It's, it's not a small feat. Yeah.
So it was, it was a, it was a lot of work and it still is. And the hardest part is dealing with the municipalities and the city people and getting—
And the tenants.
Yeah, getting things approved, and then also the tenants. Because most of my properties are commercial, and one of them in particular is a market, and it has multiple tenants in the same building. So I think I have in that one building, 16 commercial tenants, and then I have 7 residential above because it's a mixed-use building.
What do you like better? Do you like dealing with residential people or, or commercial tenants?
I honestly, if the commercial tenants are established businesses, they're a lot easier to deal with. Startup businesses are, are, are a little bit more difficult because they're You know, they're, they're still trying to get, you know, figure things out and get, you know, their, their kind of feet wet in the business. And they don't understand that, you know, they have to pay rent and because they're brand new, they've never done it before.
So like triple net and all those other terms that they probably don't understand, right?
Well, yeah, yeah, it's a modified gross. But yeah, if it was triple net, it'd be a lot easier. But it's not. Unfortunately, I can't do that with that property. But, but yeah, so I I have a few properties and they're, you know, they're all successful. I, you know, I always look at the numbers and make sure it makes sense before I do the deal. And yeah, we just— I'm trying to continue to grow. I'm looking at developing another property right now that I actually— I actually own the lot, but I'm partnering with some people that have established businesses. Uh, in the same downtown area that, uh, potentially, you know, do something cool down there that the city doesn't have right now. So, okay, you know, that, that's what we're looking to do.
So tell me a little bit about your military background. Why did you join the Air Force? What did you do in the Air Force? And what did it teach you to do or not do?
So the reason I joined was I think, you know, originally I was like, I'm gonna go to this college. And I joined a Junior ROTC program in my high school and I hated it.
Why'd you hate it?
Well, the guys, they were just yelling at the kids and then they would put other kids in charge. And so they would like be on this power trip. And so it was like a— it was a big— it was a mess. But I was like, after that, I'm like, I'm not going in the military. I'm going to go to college. And then 9/11 happened and everybody kind of came together after 9/11, even though, you know, now today, we, you know, everybody, it's a big conspiracy of whether it was really an attack or not. But, but back then we thought it was. And so that's, that was the main reason I joined was because of 9/11. I wanted to like serve my country after that.
What did you do in the Air Force?
I, I, I, I got— I finally got in, and then, um, I was gonna do like something with drones. That's what I wanted to do. And then they're like, oh, that's not available right now. I'd have to wait like a year. And so I know I'm not— I don't want to wait. So I ended up picking heavy equipment and, uh, in civil engineering. So I ended up, uh, joining, uh, civil— the civil engineering group. And then another group called Red Horse, which is their deployable unit for the Air Force. It's where basically they build bare bases, build roads.
You build the runways too?
Yeah, we do like rapid runway repair. We would go out and fix the airfield if it gets mortared or bombed or whatever. And so I did that. I deployed twice with Red Horse, once to Iraq, once to Afghanistan in the early 2000s.
And you hurt your back.
Yeah, I did. I hurt my back doing concrete. We were, we were trying to get the jobs done as quickly as possible so we could have time off. And so we were kind of, we were working as fast as we could. Because we were working basically 7 days a week over there, and we wanted— if we could get done early, we would have time off on Sunday. So we would try to get things done. And then I ended up blowing my back out trying to set these 36-inch steel forms. It was like they were like 250 pounds apiece, and I was like holding them myself while somebody else was setting them. Yeah, it was a bad idea.
So what's, what's something in the last 12 months that you learned that was a great idea, whether it's strategy, tech, advice from a friend, or something that you learned that was a horrible idea but you learned from the mistake?
Yeah, um, I mean, I think what a great idea— I think these podcasts, I think that's a great thing that you're doing. Um, I think that's gonna, that's gonna really help, you know, with both, you know, your business and then whoever comes onto your podcast, you can give them exposure as well. As far as a, you know, a lesson learned, I, I'm always learning lessons.
Just like, just like jiu-jitsu, right?
Yeah, yeah, it's, it's constant. So, you know, I—
What's, what's, what's a specific thing you're like, oh my God, I learned that and I'm not gonna do it again. But I lost and I learned. That's right. Something that hit here and here.
Yeah, yeah. Um, so I hired this company that, that I, I got them to install this building for me. It was like a pre-manufactured building. It's a modular unit. And I should have got the, basically the timeline and everything in writing, which I got some of it in writing, but I didn't spell out everything. And it was supposed to take 90 days and it took, and it's still not done. And, and the beginning of May will be 1 year.
This is the mobile office?
Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, I, I think the lesson there— what's that?
I didn't realize that was a year ago. I, I thought you just started doing it.
No, I know.
All right.
Well, yeah, I, I, I, I gave them the deposit a year ago. So, um, yeah, that— the lesson there is, is to make sure you get everything in writing. Um, up front. And I mean, that's pretty much common sense. But, you know, when I think— I think having like some sort of, um, liquidated damages clause in a contract is smart because they're not gonna— they're, they're not gonna, you know, waste your time and, and put you on the back burner once Just like pool companies and anybody else.
They're just— they get you started, they make you feel happy, then they move on and they're spreading their revenue across to feed the other job.
Right.
It's not a great business in my opinion, but there's always a need for them. Um, to close this out, what's, uh, what's a good way for someone to reach out to you, and who do you want to reach out to you for For business.
Yeah. So, I mean, if, if someone's interested in a fuel tank for a fleet of vehicles, above ground, above ground tank that's turnkey, that is plug and play, that they could actually install themselves, or we could do it, or, or hire it done outside of the state of Florida.
Don't do it all yourself.
Hire someone.
Curtis.
Yeah, so we— so if they want to get in contact with me for that, they can contact curtis@envirosafetanks.com. I can get them to the right salesperson for the type of system that they're looking for. If they have a fleet of vehicles, if they have a backup generator, if they have an airport, If they have a marina, anything like that, we can supply a fuel tank for, and we can finance the whole thing, even the install and the first load of fuel. So, um, yeah, just contact me. Our, our website is envirosafetanks.com.
And, um, How about the investment side? Are you taking on other investors to, to get into bigger investments? Are you kind of staying solo?
So at the moment I'm solo, but, um, yeah, I'm looking to start a fund in the future and, you know, mainly in Central Florida. So if they're interested in investments in Central Florida area, which this is, you know, obviously Florida is one of the fastest growing states in the country. And then this area of Florida is the fastest, one of the fastest growing areas of Florida. So, um, it's, it's a great time to buy and there's a lot of opportunity right now. So yeah, contact me through my, my EnviroSafe Tanks email and, um, I'll talk about either one. But yeah, I am looking to, to potentially partner with some people. Um, if you want to—
You want to at least your Do you want to give them your phone number or do you want to just stay with email?
Uh, we'll stick with the email and then they can shoot me an email and I check all my emails so, uh, I can get back with them.
Well, Curtis, thanks for being a guest. Thanks for your service.
