Heath Padgett’s Epic Road Trip: From RV Entrepreneur to RV Help

What this episode covers

When Heath Padgett left his traditional 9-to-5 in 2014, he didn’t have much of a plan beyond a borrowed RV and an itch to see the country. He and his wife Alyssa hit the road with “no marketable skills,” as he likes to say, but plenty of determination. They filmed a documentary in which Heath worked a job in all 50 states while Alyssa learned video production. The project jump-started a career in content marketing for RV brands — and a decade-long experiment in building a life around the open road. Today, Heath has become something of a household name in the RV community. He’s traveled to all 50 states and RVed through 21 countries, from the winding roads of New Zealand to the campgrounds of Japan. He’s founded companies, sold companies, hosted conferences, and even bought (and sold) a campground in Colorado. Through it all, one theme has persisted: creating businesses that solve problems RVers face every day. His latest venture, a mobile app called RV Help, may be his most impactful project yet. Listen to the podcast interview with Jeremy and Heath by clicking on the media player above--or subscribe to the RV Atlas wherever you get your favorite shows! An RVer First If you’ve ever questioned whether the people behind RV businesses really camp, Heath is proof that some of them do — obsessively. He and Alyssa spent five years as full-time RVers, then continued traveling internationally with their two young children. RVing in Japan stands out as a favorite memory. The Padgetts were rare sights in their rented motorhome, surrounded mostly by elaborate tent setups that looked, as Heath put it, “like something out of Harry Potter.” Reservations had to be printed in both English and Japanese, every step planned with meticulous care. Experiences like these, Heath says, are his true KPI for success: hearing Alyssa say, “I love our life.” That authenticity matters because it grounds Heath’s businesses in lived RV reality. Every idea he’s launched has come directly from his time behind the wheel — from struggling to find reliable campground reservations to the endless frustration of waiting weeks for RV service. The Business Chapters Heath’s entrepreneurial résumé reads like a map of the RV industry’s pain points: Content Marketing & Video Production (2014–2016): After their documentary, Heath and Alyssa built a small agency producing content for brands like Winnebago.  The RV Entrepreneur Podcast & Conference (2016–2021): What began as a podcast about running businesses from the road grew into annual conferences with up to 400 attendees, where major brands sought feedback from real RVers.  Campground Booking (2017–2021): A software platform to modernize campground reservations, eventually sold to Good Sam.  Montrose, Colorado Campground (2019): An experiment in combining camping and co-working, born from the dream of raising their kids at a campground. Ultimately sold when the timing wasn’t right.  Each project taught lessons — about scalability, community, and the tension between life on the road and raising a family. Each also reinforced Heath’s belief that solutions for RVers should come from people who live the lifestyle themselves. The Problem That Wouldn’t Go Away Throughout his years of RVing, one frustration kept resurfacing: getting service when something broke. For full-timers, dropping an RV at a dealership for weeks isn’t just inconvenient — it’s impossible. For weekenders, a breakdown at the start of a vacation can mean the entire trip is ruined. Dealership wait times often stretch four to six weeks, and hourly rates can be staggering. Heath remembers his own family trips being derailed by simple repairs that could have been fixed on the road.