The Story Behind Troops Mowing
Rewind to the start of 2020. Sam Gustin had just finished nearly six years in the U.S. Army — he’d enlisted at 21 — and moved with his then-fiancée to Dallas, then to the Austin area when she took a job here. Sam was hired as a sales director at a startup, building a sales system alongside the founder. For extra cash, and because he loved lawn care, he started mowing a few neighbors’ lawns. After a few months he felt God calling him to lawn care full-time, and in December 2020 he officially incorporated Troops Mowing — with a 2011 Ford Focus, an electric string trimmer, a broom, and the cheapest lawn mower he could find.
Sam spent most of 2021 reinvesting every dollar he could into equipment, finally bought a truck, and worked tirelessly to support his family. That same year his brother-in-law Dylan Warner and Dylan’s wife moved to Hutto, where Dylan was working in packaging sales. In his free time Dylan helped Sam wherever help was needed to wrap up the 2021 season, and the two found their strengths and weaknesses complemented each other well. At the start of 2022 Sam pitched Dylan on joining the journey; Dylan came on as a 50/50 co-owner in January 2022 and hasn’t looked back.
Our purpose is simple: to deploy transformation to the people and properties we serve.
Since then — with the help of two amazing employees, Davey and Eddie — Troops Mowing has grown into two mowing crews, a flower bed maintenance division and a landscaping division, and is still growing at a healthy pace. Sam lives in Round Rock with his wife, their son and two dogs; Dylan lives in Hutto. The company has been recognized as Best of Round Rock in 2022 and 2024 and Central Texas Best in 2023, and in 2025 Sam placed in the top 3 out of 18,000+ applicants in a nationally recognized entrepreneurship competition. The daily goal hasn’t changed: exceed customer expectations in every part of the operation and make every customer feel like part of the family.
