Amanda Bindner — 30 Under 40 2026
When Amanda Bindner started at Southern Comfort Hot Tubs in 2013, she knew, in her words, “NOTHING” about the business.
Thirteen years later, she is helping run it.
Bindner spent her first six years primarily in sales. When Southern Comfort brought its previously subcontracted service department in-house in 2019, she took responsibility for that operation as well. In 2024, she was promoted to general manager.
Now sales, service and management can all compete for her attention on the same day.
“I am so proud of myself for all the different roles I play at once, getting pushed and pulled in different directions every day,” Bindner says. “It keeps me on my toes and makes me proud at the end of the day — even if I didn’t get everything on my checklist done.”
— AMANDA BINDNER
Service has required the biggest adjustment.
A sales customer generally arrives excited about what is ahead. A service customer may call because something has already gone wrong. Bindner handles those conversations with patience, taking time to consider the situation from the customer’s perspective.
Despite the difficult days, what keeps her in the business are the customers who tell her how much their spas have changed their lives.
For years, Bindner wondered whether hot tub retail would become her long-term career. That question has been answered. She says she can no longer picture herself working anywhere else, and her next goal would deepen her connection to Southern Comfort even further.
“My goal one day is to be a co-owner of Southern Comfort Hot Tubs,” she says. “I am helping build this family-owned business, to keep it family-owned.”
Although she isn’t related to the owners, Bindner says 13 years with the company have made it feel like family. She hopes to help build a business her children would someday be proud to join.
There is also one notoriously confusing part of spa ownership she would like the industry to simplify: water care. Different brands, dealers and systems can offer conflicting recommendations, leaving customers unsure whether they are maintaining their spas correctly.
“What I want is to say is ‘No matter what hot tub you own, we make water care simple,’ ” Bindner says.
Outside Southern Comfort, Bindner’s time centers on her husband and three children. She is also active in her church, teaching a young adult Sunday school class and a kindergarten class during Vacation Bible School.
Locations refer to company headquarters; honorees may work remotely or live elsewhere.
