How a Wharton MBA Built Miami's Top HVAC Plumbing Company | Everyday Excellence

Mehdi Khachani was presenting his biomedical engineering thesis at a conference in Shanghai when a recruiter handed him a business card. He ended up working on prosthetic limbs at DARPA, earned an MBA from Wharton, built a corporate career at Medtronic, invested in real estate, started a property management company, started a construction company, and then built what he considers his best business yet: Sunny Bliss Plumbing and Air in Miami Beach. This is that story and the marketing playbook behind it. Key Topics: o From DARPA and Wharton to 50 HVAC and plumbing jobs per day in Miami: Mehdi's full entrepreneurial journey [1:43] o Three businesses, three lessons: recurring revenue, scalability, and the acquisition that bought five years of growth [3:54] o Why PE is rolling up home service companies: EBITDA arbitrage, roll-up multiples, and what it means for independent operators [12:23] o Five culture pillars, and the one-liner about constant improvement Todd said he was going to steal [14:35] o The full marketing stack: GBP as foundation, PPC, LSA, SEO (and why it got disrupted by AI) [19:13] o AEO strategy: FAQ pages, Reddit, AI platform partnerships, and why crises are not bad [33:51] o Using Claude AI to build custom web applications and rebuild a company website without WordPress [39:05] o What separates a great digital marketing agency from one that just sells services [43:55] Mehdi Khachani is the most technically sophisticated marketing thinker in this podcast series. The conversation covers the mechanics of Google Business Profile optimization, why 4.9 stars is more credible than 5.0, the real disruption AI has caused in traditional SEO, and what a data-driven home service company with a Wharton MBA looks like from the inside. About Mehdi Khachani: Mehdi Khachani is the owner of Sunny Bliss Plumbing and Air, a Miami Beach HVAC and plumbing company serving Miami-Dade and Broward counties. He holds degrees in electrical and biomedical engineering and an MBA from Wharton. He previously worked at DARPA on prosthetics research and at Medtronic before entering entrepreneurship through real estate, property management, and construction. Website: https://sunnybliss.com/ Everyday Media Group helps HVAC, plumbing, and home service companies build the Google Business Profile foundation, PPC, LSA, and AEO content strategy that generates high-quality leads and tracks real ROAS. Todd Baldwin and the team work with growing businesses looking for a long-term digital partner. Visit: https://everydaymediagroup.com/ Chapter Timestamps 1. 0:00 - Introduction 2. 0:26 - About Sunny Bliss Plumbing and Air: Miami Beach, 50 jobs per day, two counties 3. 1:43 - The origin story: engineering, DARPA prosthetics, Wharton MBA, Medtronic 4. 2:41 - From corporate to entrepreneurship: real estate, property management, construction 5. 3:54 - What each business taught: recurring revenue, scalability, data-driven operations 6. 5:19 - The acquisition that bought three to five years of growth 7. 7:59 - Lessons from acquisitions: culture, scalability, and the human factor 8. 10:44 - Why HVAC plumbing is more sophisticated than most people think 9. 12:23 - Why private equity is rolling up home service companies 10. 14:35 - The five culture pillars: integrity, accountability, constant improvement, teamwork, desire to win 11. 15:14 - "This is the best we've ever been as a company but also the worst we'll ever be" 12. 17:14 - Investing in team education: "they cannot take your education from you" 13. 19:13 - Marketing channel #1: Google Business Profile as the foundation 14. 21:39 - PPC (Google Ads) as a demand lead generation channel 15. 28:06 - Local Service Ads: guaranteed phone calls and Google's lead volume cap 16. 30:51 - SEO: long-term highest ROI but disrupted by AI 17. 33:51 - AEO strategy: FAQ pages, Reddit mentions, and why crises aren't bad 18. 39:05 - Claude AI: building websites and custom web apps by coding with AI 19. 43:55 - What separates a good digital marketing agency from one that just sells services 20. 47:30 - Vision for Sunny Bliss: number one in Miami, more acquisitions 21. 48:23 - Advice for starting a trades business: just get started, one step at a time 22. 51:59 - Where to find Sunny Bliss: 1,200+ reviews at 4.9 stars on Google #HVAC #Plumbing #HomeServices #EverydayExcellence #SunnyBliss #MehdiKhachani #Miami #Entrepreneurship #DigitalMarketing #AIMarketing #GoogleBusinessProfile