Max Gervais — 30 Under 40 2026
Max Gervais’ first job in the hot tub industry paid 25 cents per spa.
He was 5 years old and cleaning hot tubs in his family’s Carefree Leisure stores. From there came sweeping warehouse floors, deliveries and service work, followed by a spot on the sales floor. Today, Gervais is vice president of the four-store New Mexico company, continuing a career that has touched nearly every part of the business.
“My goal is to take over the family business when my dad retires, and to continue the legacy of helping people improve their lives and health,” Gervais says.
For now, he enjoys the variety that comes with the work. Meeting new people, solving problems and seeing customers enjoy their spas, swim spas and saunas are among his favorite parts of the industry.
And problems are inevitable.
“Every day comes with a new challenge, and we eat problems for breakfast here,” he says.
— MAX GERVAIS
But some of Gervais’ most meaningful experiences in the business have come from opportunities rather than challenges. Through Hot Tub Angels, Carefree Leisure’s charity, the company donated and delivered a hot tub to a family with a child with disabilities — an experience Gervais counts among his proudest.
As someone who grew up around the business and attended his first spa trade show at 6, Gervais also has ideas about where the industry can improve. At the top of his list are better standards.
“I would like to see a higher level of professionalism and service throughout the industry so that fewer people have a bad experience with subpar dealers or mass merchants,” he says. “I would like to see improved journeyman and apprenticeship programs. Better training leads to a better industry.”
It is an outlook that fits someone preparing to carry a family company into another generation: Honor what has worked, but keep raising expectations for what comes next.
Outside Carefree Leisure, Gervais golfs, weightlifts and travels. He loves dogs and enjoys learning languages — including Spanish and French — and meeting people whose perspectives differ from his own.
Locations refer to company headquarters; honorees may work remotely or live elsewhere.
