40 Under 40: Heath Padgett
Founder; RV Help; With company: 1.5 Years | In industry: 5 Years
Heath has built a career around noticing problems in the RV world and figuring out how to solve them. He and co-founder Josiah Mann founded RV Help to tackle the issue of RV owners waiting weeks, and even months, to get their RVs serviced.
The duo launched the company in January 2025 to connect RV owners with certified mobile technicians and inspectors. By August 2026, the platform had grown to over 1,500 active verified technician and inspector listings and has processed over 41,000 service requests.
Its capabilities have expanded as well. RV Help offers emergency dispatch to locate available providers, virtual diagnostics, warranty-processing tools and a concierge-level Pro membership for owners. And the platform has also evolved beyond a lead-generation directory into a tool providers can use to manage their businesses.
“Rather than chase growth for its own sake, Heath has been deliberate about building a company built to last, prioritizing trust and long-term partnership over speed — securing formal alignment with the RV Technician Association of America, the National RV Inspectors Association, and the National RV Training Academy so that every provider on the platform meets a real certification standard,” Heath’s nominator says.
Heath built and scaled a two-sided marketplace that delivers value to RV owners who need reliable service and independent professionals who provide it. He navigates that balance by listening to both groups and adapting the platform as their needs become clear.
His nominator says this approach reflects a pattern throughout Padgett’s career of spotting a broken system and developing a fix.
Heath’s understanding of RV owners is rooted in personal experience. Before he launched RV Help, he and his wife, Alyssa, visited all 50 states by RV. Their adventures became the subject of “Hourly America,” a documentary where Heath taught himself filmmaking to create it. The couple’s travels also took them internationally to Canada, New Zealand and Italy before they settled in the mountains of Colorado.
Heath has also spent years hosting “The RV Entrepreneur” podcast, creating a community for people building businesses while living and traveling on the road. That work predates RV Help but reflects his interest in bringing people together around the RV lifestyle.
Today, Heath takes a hands-on approach to fatherhood, raising his kids alongside Alyssa at home and while traveling.
Five years into his RV industry career, Heath is applying his experience as an RVer, entrepreneur and community builder to the challenge of getting RV owners help when something breaks.
Heath’s advice for up-and-coming leaders in the RV industry:
Ask a lot of questions and be curious. Do what you say you’ll do, and always find ways to provide value.
What it means to Heath to be a 40 Under 40 honoree:
I’ve worked in the RV industry for 12-plus years, since 2014. I’ve loved being a full-time RVer and being both a part of the RV community and the industry. It’s very meaningful to be recognized as a 40 Under 40.
