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Brian McGrady served in the Marine Corps for 20 years before retiring at the rank of gunnery sergeant. A fellow Marine introduced him to the landscape industry, and he has been in the industry for roughly five years now. “We have always had similar goals and values,” McGrady says. “He knew that this would be […]
“Yeah, why not?” was Eddie Ramirez’s response to Mark Chaffin when he suggested Ramirez join him as he started his own landscaping company. That was in 1979, when the two were working together at a restaurant. Chaffin left the restaurant industry and started EarthWorks, Inc., based in Lillian, Texas. Ramirez started as a laborer, then […]
Julie Hayes didn’t plan on working in the landscape industry. In fact, she worked as a community association manager for over 20 years before making a career change. She mentioned her boredom with her current career to Joel Sullivan, vice president of Sullivan’s Landscaping & Maintenance, based in Milford, Delaware, while waiting for a community […]
Jacob Hong started mowing lawns with his brother when he was 13 years old, but it wasn’t until he was in college that he realized he could have a career in the landscape industry. “I felt it was the best of both worlds,” Hong says. “A little bit of business along with working outside. Initially, […]
Sarah Greene has 20 years of experience in the landscape industry. She has been an account manager, floriculture manager, business development manager, garden manager, landscape designer and consultant. Greene acknowledges that her career path has been unconventional, but she was intentional about taking on all these different roles. She notes that her different jobs have […]
When Emily Seely first started working for Farmside Landscape & Design, based in Wantage, New Jersey, she was looking for some short-term office work as she was completing her associate degree and was unsure of her next steps. She admits because she didn’t have a background in landscaping, she was a little intimidated to learn […]
Guest content by Ginny Shikle, communications specialist for Michael Hatcher & Associates After pouring herself into her students for nine years, Rachel Green knew it was time to move on. “Teaching is a very demanding job, and you cannot be halfway,” says Green, a former high school special education teacher, volleyball coach, and cheer sponsor. […]
Michael Davie has always enjoyed landscaping, growing up working in the yard with his mother, but it wasn’t until after he worked at Men’s Wearhouse for 20 years that he decided he needed to change careers. Davie wanted to be involved in something he could be passionate about, so he went back to school and […]
Ever since he was a kid, Nelson Alvarado has been interested in mechanical maintenance and fixing things with his hands. However, for most of his life, he considered it just a hobby. When life threw him some curveballs 10 years ago, Alvarado was forced to make some tough decisions. He moved from the banking industry […]
Mari Medrano was 16 years old when she first started working in the office at CoCal Landscape Services, Inc., based in Denver, Colorado. She worked as an office assistant there and then left the industry for a time. She returned in 1998 while she was in college and started working in the field. “It was […]