Green Industry Perspectives

Let us know if there's a topic you'd like us to cover! Welcome back! To close out Season 13, Jay Worth welcomes Megan Townsend back to the show!Megan is the COO and Co-Founder of Altitude Arborist. In this episode, Megan joins the show to discuss training and partnerships. Specifically, she addressed the apprenticeship program she's been a part of in Colorado, and how that has been a huge boon to the recruiting and retention efforts across the state. Megan shares why having a plan for tr...

Let us know if there's a topic you'd like us to cover! Welcome back! In this episode, Jay Worth welcomes Steve Samuels to the show!No, this episode isn't a pitch for the software. Steve has the bona fides to speak to Green Industry leaders. Having been a referee for the highest levels of collegiate sports, Mayor Pro Tem of a city he lived in, AND involved in senior leadership for a large landscaping company, Steve has all the right credentials to speak authoritatively. His life has been ...

Let us know if there's a topic you'd like us to cover! Welcome back! In this episode, Jay Worth welcomes Kona Gray to the show! Kona is the president-elect at the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA). He works for EDSA, a landscape architecture firm with over 60 years of history behind it. Growing up abroad with a father who is an architect exposed him to architecture at a young age. Discovering he could couple that passion for architecture with the outdoors and create spaces that ...

Let us know if there's a topic you'd like us to cover! Welcome back! In this episode, Jay Worth welcomes Robyn Schmitz to the show! Like so many of us, Robyn discovered a passion for the Green Industry almost accidentally. Her parents ran a flower shop, so she learned plant names and color palettes at a young age. While studying something else entirely in college, she began working for a garden center to make some money when the realization hit her; she was enjoying her work outdoor...

Let us know if there's a topic you'd like us to cover! Welcome back! In this episode, Jay Worth welcomes Dylan Harper to the show!After graduating college and working with a marketing firm, Dylan quickly learned that not all agencies are created equally. He discovered that there was a seedy underside to the marketing world. Any service industry where the customer doesn't completely understand the inner workings and has to trust the professionals, there is room for that trust to be abused; thi...

Let us know if there's a topic you'd like us to cover! Welcome back! In this episode, Jay Worth welcomes Frank Mariani to the show! Vito Mariani, Sr. began the company in 1958. Frank inherited the business in 1973 and never looked back. Over the years, he's built the most successful privately owned residential landscaping company in American history. And how did he do it? By hiring associates for a career (not a job), creating a clear career path for them from the moment they join the company...

Let us know if there's a topic you'd like us to cover! Welcome back! In this episode, Jay Worth welcomes Kayla Lujan to the show! Kayla has a real passion for the Green Industry. She's got a familiar backstory, having gotten into landscaping as an "in-between jobs" job. Another leader in the industry recognized her potential and mentored her. Kayla is paying that back at Down to Earth Landscape and Irrigation. Not only is she incredibly intentional about coaching the sales team that reports t...

Let us know if there's a topic you'd like us to cover! Welcome back! In this episode, Jay Worth welcomes Jonathan Gillespie to the show! Coming from a golf course background, Jonathan is a "turf guy" through and through. But as it happens, he's a very high-level leader with a unique business model. (You'll have to contact him about that; we don't discuss it much on the show.) Jonathan explains why Green Industry businesses thrive because of communication, responsiveness, and amazing company c...

Let us know if there's a topic you'd like us to cover! Welcome back! In this episode, Jay Worth welcomes Amy Nakai to the show!An endurance athlete who has run several marathons and ultra-marathons (like, 100 miles a time, folks), Amy is also Nebraska's only female tree care owner/operator. And she likes it that way. She's also intensely passionate about giving back to her community. But our conversation about being "crew-focused" (one of the three keys to success she mentioned) strayed into ...

Let us know if there's a topic you'd like us to cover! Welcome to a new season! We kick off with Jay Worth welcoming Tyler Woodard to the show. Tyler is an Arbor Advisor with Arbor Masters. With expertise in sales processes for the Green Industry, Tyler brings valuable insights to the show. We discuss why belief in the services you're selling is vital, controlling the conversation and how to do it, and why a customer-acquisition mindset for the organization sets your business up for success. ...

Let us know if there's a topic you'd like us to cover! Welcome back! In this episode, Jay Worth welcomes Liz Lark-Riley to the show!Like so many of us, Liz came to the Green Industry in an indirect route. She studied theater in school, earning a Master's Degree in performing arts administration. From there, she and her husband ran a successful and popular event venue in Florida. Her formal education and practical experience have given her a deep understanding of how to create amazing exp...

Let us know if there's a topic you'd like us to cover! Welcome back! In this episode, Jay Worth welcomes Paul Fraynd to the show!Paul is the CEO of Sun Valley Landscaping in Omaha, Nebraska. He and a college roommate wanted to earn extra cash to support a more entertaining college experience. What started with a $50 garage sale mower has turned into a team of 70 landscape professionals serving high-end residential and commercial clients. Paul is full of energy and excitement for what he and h...

Let us know if there's a topic you'd like us to cover! Welcome back! In this episode, Jay Worth welcomes Tyler Benoit to the show! Tyler comes from a family where working in the Green Industry is the norm. Following (unexpectedly) in her grandfather's and father's steps, she is an Account Manager for Crystal Greens Landscaping in Portland, Oregon. Tyler is passionate about people. That passion is almost tangible throughout this entire interview. It's hard not to listen to it and feel the same...

Let us know if there's a topic you'd like us to cover! Welcome back! In this episode, Jay Worth welcomes Doug McDuff to the show!Many businesses that started just as the last Great Recession hit didn't survive. Landscape America, Doug's company, did. Not only that, they're thriving today, running in the high seven-figure mark for revenue and employing 50 team members. Very involved with the Massachusetts Association of Landscape Professionals (MLP), and a board member at the National Ass...

Let us know if there's a topic you'd like us to cover! Welcome back! In this episode, Jay Worth welcomes Alison Herrell to the show!Where do tree experts at Rainbow Ecoscience go when they have a question about trees? It turns out, they have an internal position for this, called an "Arborologist." That's Alison's job - to be an expert to the experts. In this role she has worked with various Arborists and companies, answering the hardest questions. And she brings that expertise to this episode...

Let us know if there's a topic you'd like us to cover! Welcome back! In this episode, Jay Worth welcomes Justin White back to the show!Justin is the CEO of K&D Landscaping in Watsonville, California. Taking over as the CEO of the family business in 2015, Justin's leadership has brought K&D from a $1 million company to over $16 million in revenue.As a passion project, Justin also co-hosts the Trades Talk Podcast to help inspire contractors. Justin joins the show to discuss t...

Let us know if there's a topic you'd like us to cover! Welcome back! In the first episode of 2024, Jay Worth welcomes Heather Dirksen to the show! An Army Vet who got her start in the Industry as a private pilot for an extremely high-end design/build firm, Heather has experience as a bookkeeper for a Green company all the way to the company President for a $45+ million dollar tree care firm. An Arborist herself and the Founder of Ascend Tree Business Consulting, Heather joins the show to talk...

Let us know if there's a topic you'd like us to cover! Welcome back! In this episode, Jay Worth welcomes Angelique Robb back to the show!Having owned a landscaping business herself, Angelique's real passion is innovation in the Green Industry and connecting (or "SYNKing") the various sectors. Maintenance professionals should have an idea of what Designers and Architects expect, and vice-versa. The publication she now owns and operates, SYNKD, promotes exactly these principles: coordination an...

Let us know if there's a topic you'd like us to cover! Welcome back! In this episode, Jay Worth welcomes Briana Johnson to the show!Briana started in the Green Industry right out of college. Using her background in journalism and communications, she started working for Greenleaf Nursery Company and Garden Debut Plant Collection in their marketing department. After years of working there, she's worked for various entrepreneurs and agencies. That exposed her to national and international market...

Let us know if there's a topic you'd like us to cover! Welcome to Season 12 of Green Industry Perspectives! In this episode, Jay Worth welcomes Joshua Malik to the show.As a young man, Joshua was a thrill-seeker. Extreme sports and the outdoors called to him. It was, in part, this passion that led him to a career in the Tree Care industry.Joshua Tree Experts has nearly 20 years in business, serving customers in the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania. Offering Tree Care, Plant Health Care, Lawn Car...