Podcast Series

Episode #164 – Two Brothers Grow Residential Firm To $30M and 6 Branches with Kevin McHale

Kevin McHale is the President and co-owner of McHale Landscape Design, MD.

He started the business with his brother 40 years ago. Now, it is a $30M residential business with 300 employees spread over 6 locations.

McHale’s business is unique for three reasons:

A strong branch network all focused on residential work
Ample in-house crews in carpentry and hardscape including home building
A very employee-centric culture with well-represented female leadership and high employee retention

Jeffrey Scott and Kevin discuss how McHale built his success and how others can compete against firms like his. Plus, tune in to hear the innovative moves Kevin has made with his company to be proactive as the industry evolves.

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Episode #163 Vision Is An Action Verb; Pillar 1 from “Become A Destination Company®”

This is the first pillar from Jeffrey Scott’s book, Become a Destination Company®. A Roadmap to Attract, Motivate and Retain Great Employees.

Nurture Your Company By Making Vision an Action Verb.

In this episode, Jeffrey explains why attracting, motivating, focusing, and retaining great employees starts and ends with a concrete and compelling vision.

If you do not flesh out your vision, and if you do not keep your vision front and center with your staff, it will wither and die along with your company’s energy and focus. You will learn strategies and specific tools for outlining, developing, and communicating a vibrant company vision.

Read by the author, Jeffrey Scott.

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Episode #162 – Growing to $100M “Three Million at a Time” with Teddy Russell

Teddy Russell, owner, and CEO of Russell Landscape Group, based in Atlanta, runs a $40M company with 8 locations and 465 employees.

He is the second-generation owner of a fabulous, southeastern enterprise growing with the growth goal of $100M.

Teddy has made growth look easy, with his highly attuned relationship selling approach, and understanding of superb customer service and the systems that support client retention and employee development.

Listen in while Jeffrey and Teddy discuss the magic of “hitting $3 million”, key systems that maintain client satisfaction as you scale, and the freeing nature of learning someone else can do your job better than you, even if it is that of CEO.

Jeffrey has run events at Teddy’s firm, gotten to know his team, and sees Teddy as one of the most optimistic leaders in our industry, with good reason. You will enjoy this podcast!

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Episode #161 Building a Driven, Caring $30M+ Company with Jason Craven

Jason Craven has built a mega-successful company (Southern Botanical) in the heart of Texas. At 12 years old, he started mowing lawns to earn money for a new bicycle. In 1995, he turned this endeavor into a company that includes 280+ team members who share the same devotion to quality that the company was founded on.

Jason is unique in his inspiring vision for the green industry, his dedication to the long game, his passion for constant improvement, and for the level of service he demands and trains his team to achieve.

Jeffrey and Jason discuss how ambition and drive can build a company but also how they can get in the way of its continued success. Jason shares many inside secrets and tactics they have implemented on his way to building a Destination Company®.

Learn how Southern Botanical has done extremely well during the pandemic based on their culture and focus to employees and clients.

Listen in below.

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Episode #160 – Building An Effective Sales Team with Paul Reder

Paul Reder is the President, CFO, and Marketing Manager of Reder Landscaping.

He owns this business along with his two brothers, Dave and Mike. He started working for the business as a teenager back in the seventies, mowing lawns and working the nursery. The big lesson they all learned from their dad, Walt Reder Sr., was to never cut any corners. That work ethic has made the difference and allowed them to keep growing and succeeding during challenging times over the years.

Reder Landscaping today is made up of 60% D/B and 40% maintenance and snow. Jeffrey and Paul discuss how he has been able to grow his sales team, and thus his company, and diversify their business mix by growing maintenance and enhancement sales. They employ up to 80 people during peak season and have a huge depth of talent.

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Episode #159 – The Future of Landscaping With Economist Dr. Charlie Hall

Dr. Charlie Hall is THE top economist in the Green Industry. He is a passionate speaker on all things green (money and plants).

In this podcast, we discuss economic trends, the future of landscaping, the impact of the elections and the under utilized benefits of landscaping in marketing.

Having grown up in the industry, on a nursery in Western North Carolina, Dr. Hall is a professor in the Department of Horticultural Science at Texas A&M University. He has degrees in landscape design, economics and horticulture, and is the single most influential economist on our industry.

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Episode #158 – Building A Multi-Ownership Team With Shawn Edwards

Join Shawn Edwards, President of A+ Lawn and Landscape in Des Moines, Iowa and Jeffrey Scott for a conversation on building a highly-diversified, high-profit landscape business.

Shawn is a serial entrepreneur, likes to work hard and play hard, and has enjoyed success in multiple industries.

Shawn and his team (including 4 other minority owner/managers) have built up a unique, profitable business model, with a dedication to quality, customer service and scaling their business. They serve both residential and commercial customers with an extensive range of services which makes A+ Lawn and Landscape a dominant player in their market.

A+ Lawn and Landscape will be the host of Jeffrey’s August 2020 Summer Growth Summit.

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Episode #157 – The Power of Peer Accountability

Is joining a peer group the right move for you? Join Jeffrey Scott and three inspirational landscape business owners, to explore the value and impact of peer groups on their business and lives.

Seneca Hull, Franz Witte Contracting, ID; Paul Reder, Reder Landscaping, MI; and Greg Wildeboer, Whispering Pines Landscaping, ON

As long time members of Jeffrey’s community, we discuss topics related to trust, accountability, empowerment and change management. We also cover how peer group sharing and accountability can help you create a supremely stronger team and culture, better systems, stronger profitable growth, and more fun as a business owner.

We talk about some of the key decisions and important aha’s that changed the course of their business, and how they have accelerated their growth based on the wisdom of being long time members of Jeffrey’s Leader’s Edge peer groups.

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Episode #156 – Why Growing to $20M (But Not $40M) Makes Sense

Jim McCutcheon, CEO of Highgrove Partners, Atlanta, GA (200 employees, $20M in revenue) is widely regarded as a landscape industry expert and a dynamic pioneer.

Besides his landscape firm, Jim and his wife Erin started Copiana, an organization that brings local food production to people and places. It’s a unique business model exposing people to the joys of growing and building a sustainable food chain.

Jeffrey and Jim talk about both companies, his leadership team, people strategy, how bragging rights will get you into trouble, and why he temporarily shrank his business.

Jim is active nationally as well as locally in the landscape industry. His passion comes through in our discussions.

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Episode #155 – Growing from $5M to $15M with Bob Drost

As the founder of Drost Landscape in Petoskey, MI, Bob Drost has been reinventing landscaping since the company was founded in 1991.

His pioneering spirit helped build Drost Landscape; and his integrity, innovativeness, and commitment to quality have ensured continued success with each passing year.

Jeffrey and Bob discuss how he grew his company from $0 to $5M, and then speedily from $5M to $15M.

Bob shares his newest growth plans and his biggest passion that has powered the company’s growth, along with a bit of name-dropping of those who have contributed to their success.

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