Scott McQuade
He is hungry. He is humble.
And he has been exactly where you are.
About Scott McQuade
Biography
Scott McQuade grew up in Colchester, Connecticut, where he learned early that real skill cannot be faked. Coming up through a vocational electrical program at a time when there was no computer to tell you the answer, you either knew your trade or you did not. That foundation built by hand, not by shortcut, has shaped everything he has built since.
Scott went on to run an electrical contracting business and build API Pools from the ground up into a nine-person operation with four repair technicians and five pool cleaners. In 2008 the recession exposed what he had not yet learned. The electrical business was wide on revenue and shallow on profit. It cost him the pool business he loved to clean the debt and start over. That decision was one of the hardest of his life. It also became the education no program could have given him.
Out of that season came clarity. He rebuilt with intention, eventually founding Margie Mae’s Holiday Decor in 2009, now a family business in the truest sense. His daughter Samantha and his son Hunter, now 25 and 22, both work alongside him in the company. The electrical work continues today under MM Lightscapes.
In 2015 Scott was relearning through EntreLeadership and met Chris Oakley, a mentor who told him the truth and pushed him toward coaching when he was not sure he was ready. One line from Chris has stayed with him every day since. If you are not moving up and to the right, you are losing.
Scott has spent the last three years coaching service business owners one on one, focused on the same lesson 2008 taught him, net margin first, then grow. He is a Christian, a past youth baseball coach, and an avid power boater. He is based in Phoenix, Arizona with his wife Erin.
He is hungry. He is humble. And he has been exactly where you are.
I am not the coach who figured it all out from a corner office.
I am the one who built something, lost most of it, rebuilt it differently, and spent the last decade helping other owners do the same thing faster and with far less pain than I went through.
Classic AI Group exists because of everything I learned the hard way. And because of one man who saw something in me before I saw it in myself.
If you are going to trust someone with your business, you should know who they are.
Who is Scott and why does he coach business owners?
Scott McQuade is the founder of Classic AI Group, a business mentor who built, rebuilt, and scaled multiple service businesses before coaching owners nationwide on profit, systems, and owner freedom.
Where It Started
I grew up learning to work with my hands.
“I came up through a vocational technical high school in the electrical department. That is where I learned that skilled work done right has real value. That precision matters. That shortcuts always cost you more in the end than doing it correctly the first time.
Those lessons never left me. They just moved from the job site to the boardroom.
I went on to build and lead businesses. I ran an electrical company. I built a successful recurring monthly revenue pool cleaning and repair business from the ground up. I learned what it meant to have a team, to make payroll, to serve clients, and to carry the weight of an organization on your back.
And then 2008 happened.
The recession hit and it hit hard. My electrical business was shallow and wide. Revenue looked fine on the surface. But the profit was not there. The margin was not there. The foundation was not there.
I had to make one of the hardest decisions of my life. I sold the pool business I had built and loved in order to clean the debt and start over with a clear foundation.
That decision taught me more about business than any program, course, or mastermind ever could.
It taught me that revenue without margin is a slow emergency. That being wide and shallow is not a business model. That the owners who survive hard seasons are the ones who are focused, profitable, and built on something real.
Out of that season I found holiday decor. And I found what a high margin, highly focused, deeply relational business actually feels like. That discovery changed everything about how I think and how I coach.”
The Mentor Who Changed Everything
In 2015 I was relearning through EntreLeadership and met Chris Oakley.
“Chris was everything a mentor should be. Direct. Warm. Deeply experienced. The kind of person who tells you the truth not because it is easy but because he respects you enough to not waste your time with anything less.
He saw something in me that I had not yet fully seen in myself. He pushed me toward coaching when I was not sure I was ready. He believed in the value of what I had built and what I had survived and he helped me understand that the hardest lessons I had learned were exactly what other owners needed to hear.
Chris gave me a line that I have carried with me every day since. A line I have shared with every owner I have worked with. A line that is now baked into the DNA of Classic AI Group:
“Doing Less, Better — so we can Do More of What Matters.”
Chris Oakley is no longer with us. But his voice is in every conversation I have with an owner who is working too hard for too little. His conviction is in every engagement where we strip away what is not working and build what will. His legacy is in this firm.
I am grateful for him every single day.”
The Family Is The Whole Point
I did not move to Arizona for the weather. I moved for what mattered more.
“Family is not a footnote in my story. It is the reason for all of it.
When Chris pushed me toward coaching and I began building Classic AI Group, the goal was never just revenue. It was the freedom to be present. To coach my son in sports. To build our holiday decor family business alongside my daughter. To be the husband, father, and grandfather who showed up fully, not the one who was always somewhere else mentally even when he was physically in the room.
Today my son is part of our family business too. That is not an accident. That is what happens when you build a business around what actually matters and then protect it with the same discipline you bring to your profit margin.
Doing Less, Better is not just a business philosophy. It is how I live. And it is what I help the owners I work with build toward every single day.“
Why Scott
My orthopedic surgeon once told me he is the best B-plus doctor I will ever know.
“I love that. Because it is honest. And honesty is the foundation of every good coaching relationship.
I am not going to tell you I have worked with hundreds of businesses or that my clients have generated hundreds of millions in revenue. What I will tell you is what I actually bring to the table and let you decide if it is what you need.
I have built things.
I have spent years inside real businesses solving the same problems you are dealing with right now.
Not on paper. Not in theory. I have run crews, managed operations, served clients, made payroll, and carried the weight of a business on my back. I know what it actually feels like to be you because I have been you.
I have lost things.
And I rebuilt. That is not a weakness on a resume. That is the most valuable education a business mentor can have. I know what breaks first, what to protect, and what to let go of. I learned it firsthand in 2008 and I have been passing those lessons on ever since.
I have been mentored by the best.
Chris Oakley. Josh Latimer. Mike Michalowicz. These are not name drops. They are the shoulders I stand on. The thinking that shaped how I see profit, systems, leadership, and what a business is actually for.
I am patient and I build trust before I challenge.
I will not walk into your business on day one and tell you everything you are doing wrong. I will sit with you, understand your world, earn your trust, and then tell you the truth. In that order. Because truth without relationship is just criticism. And criticism without context rarely changes anything.
I bring energy and I will not let you stay comfortable.
Comfortable owners do not grow. I will encourage you, challenge you, hold you accountable, and celebrate your wins with genuine investment in your outcome. Not because it is my job. Because I actually care whether you get there.
I work across industries and I know the ones that matter to you.
Pool and pest control. Holiday decor. Flooring and cleaning. Plumbing and electrical. Recurring monthly revenue businesses of all kinds. I know these worlds. I know the margins, the seasonality, the client dynamics, and the team challenges that are specific to service businesses at your revenue level.
And I have faith in something bigger than the bottom line.
My faith does not show up as a sermon. It shows up in how I treat people. In the patience I bring when things are hard. In the conviction that business built with integrity lasts longer and means more than business built purely for profit. You will see it in how I work long before I ever say a word about it.
I am not the coach for everyone. I am the right coach for the owner who is ready to stop working harder and start building smarter. If that is you, I would be honored to be in your corner.
Most of what I teach comes from lessons learned the hard way, building businesses here in Arizona.”
Background At A Glance
- Vocational technical background in electrical from high school through early career
- Built and operated an electrical contracting business
- Built and sold a successful recurring monthly revenue pool cleaning and repair company
- Founded and operates Margie Mae's Holiday Decor, a family-owned luxury holiday decor firm in Arizona since 2009
- Three to five years actively coaching small business owners in profit growth and business architecture
- Industries served: pool and pest control, holiday decor, floor cleaning, plumbing, electrical, and service-based RMR
- Trained through EntreLeadership and influenced by Josh Latimer and Mike Michalowicz
- Mentored personally by Chris Oakley beginning in 2015
- Based in Arizona. Serving South Scottsdale, Tempe, and surrounding communities
Everything I teach, I had to learn the hard way first.
If you have read this far, you already know whether this is the right fit.
I am not hard to find and I am not hard to talk to. If your business is generating $500K or more and you are ready for a mentor who will tell you the truth, build alongside you, and stay until it works, let us have a conversation.
No pressure. No pitch. Just an honest conversation about your business and whether Classic AI Group is the right partner for where you want to go.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Scott McQuade's background?
Scott McQuade grew up in Colchester, Connecticut through a vocational technical electrical program. He built and operated an electrical contracting company and grew API Pools to a nine-person recurring revenue operation before the 2008 recession. He sold the pool business to clean debt, rebuilt, and founded Margie Mae’s Holiday Decor in 2009. He has coached service business owners for the past three years. Every Classic AI Group engagement is handled personally by Scott.
Why does Scott coach business owners?
Scott was pushed toward coaching by his mentor Chris Oakley after years of building and rebuilding real businesses. The experience of surviving the 2008 recession, selling a business he loved to clean debt, and rebuilding with a profit-first philosophy gave him the education no program could. He coaches because the hardest lessons he learned are exactly what other owners need to hear, and because he believes old school mentorship is what is missing from the industry.
Based in Arizona. Coaching service businesses nationwide via Zoom.
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