Johnny Blevins worked his way through college doing construction jobs and aquatic therapy / personal training, and then returned to his hometown high school as a teacher and head tennis coach. Being persuaded by a student’s parent to come work for him in the “new” bottled water industry, Blevins left teaching to pursue a business path as the regional director of sales and marketing for NAYA Canadian Spring Water. In 1999, Blevins was recruited for an emerging new product called SoBe (South Beach Beverage), as a director for the central U.S. A few years later, PepsiCo purchased SoBe, and Blevins moved from developing start-up beverage companies to working with one of the world’s largest. In recognition for his use of creative marketing techniques, and increasing brand awareness, Blevins was awarded the 2002 Pepsico President’s Ring of Honor in a New York ceremony. Although PepsiCo was a great company to work with, Blevins loved the entrepreneurial element of building brands. In 2003, Blevins was blessed to work with a few friends from the SoBe days to develop a non-carbonated sports energy drink, and at the same time, develop a new ultra quality pet food brand, Blue Buffalo, that was eventually purchased by General Mills. In 2005, Blevins and his wife, Marci began work on their personal project of Splash Kingdom Family Waterpark in Canton, Texas. After attending the WWA show for a couple of years to meet with industry leaders and learn as much as he could about waterparks, the initial Splash Kingdom facility opened for its inaugural season in June of 2006. In 2010, Splash Kingdom purchased a second location in Shreveport, LA, then built another ground up property in Hudson Oaks, Texas in 2013, followed by additional new waterparks in Nacogdoches, TX and Greenville, TX. Splash Kingdom currently owns and operates 5 locations across Texas and Louisiana. Blevins also started P2:3 Consulting Group (Philippians 2:3 Consulting, LLC.) to help clients design and develop new parks with an owner / operator mindset. Blevins and his son Brett were asked to assist with the development of the first Typhoon Texas waterpark, located in Katy, Texas in 2015 and in 2021, P2:3 group worked with the City of El Paso, TX to open 4 new waterparks for the inaugural season, and have continued as a resource for staff and operational development. Currently, P2:3 is working with several new project owners and cities, to develop parks around the country that will fit the area they serve, as well as function and operate well for the management team. Always searching for new and better ways to increase guest experience and improve facility profitability, Blevins was co-founder of Splash Radio in 2008 with Eric Jontra of Neptune Radio. This product provides a fully customizable radio experience for its waterpark clients, while helping them increase revenue through sponsorships and in-park marketing. This product is now heard in 130+ waterpark facilities across the country and several hundred school districts and colleges under the Neptune / “Game Time” brand. The total annual audience for Neptune Radio products is now over 100 million listeners. Splash Kingdom has won more than 25 World Waterpark Association awards over the past 18 years for excellence in marketing and advertising efforts. In 2011, Splash Kingdom was honored to receive the Industry Leadership Award from the WWA in New Orleans. The WWA’s Board of Directors also named Blevins as the 2012 recipient of their Executive Board Award. Blevins also received the inaugural 2014 Community Builder Award for Canton, Texas, Entrepreneur of the Year for Parker County, Texas and currently serves on the board of directors for Educators Christian Fellowship, as well as the Texas Travel Alliance, where he is chair of the attractions committee. He recently celebrated 34 years of marriage to his wife Marci; they have one son, Brett and a wonderful daughter-in-law, Meggan and a beautiful 1 year old granddaughter. Blevins holds a B.S. in education and kinesiology. He is AFO and CPO certified, as well as a lifeguard instructor for the Jeff Ellis & Associates program.
