When I started my business over 40 years ago, my great aunts were among my first customers. They lived together in a nice, small home with a beautiful rose garden. It was a great testing ground for me to learn landscaping; they had finicky plants and were particular about how they wanted it maintained.
I always called them before my mom would drive me to work at their house, and my Aunt Mildred told me I was better than the company she used before because she could never reach them. I learned at a very young age how important good communication was, and this is still what my companies are known for today.
That wasn’t the only business lesson I learned from my Aunts Mildred and Tad. Aunt Mildred was a spitfire. She was tough as nails and worked in a bakery — quite the dichotomy — but she always had a soft spot for me because I reminded her of her favorite brother.
Aunt Tad was a brilliant businesswoman in an era when it was rare — and difficult — for women to own small businesses. She owned a refrigeration company, an automatic door company that worked with grocery stores and an electric motor business in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s. She never met a stranger and was sharp as a tack.
As International Women’s Day nears, I look back with even more respect for my aunts, what they accomplished and all the challenges they must’ve faced along the way. As a dad with three daughters and now two granddaughters, I’m grateful for women like Mildred and Tad who paved the way.
There were four things I saw my aunts doing constantly that I think made them successful:
They persevered. Owning a small business is never easy, although many entrepreneurs make it look that way. There will be challenges and hard days. We must persevere and do our best to look on the bright side. A bad attitude won’t make the challenge any easier to solve, but it may drive away people who could help you.
They focused on their strengths. Mildred was a fantastic baker, and Tad was a sharp businesswoman. They excelled in their roles and were successful because they stayed focused on what they could do well. Embracing the individual strengths and perspectives that every team member brings to the table makes our companies great.
They valued relationships. In the era in which Mildred and Tad worked, in-person business was more common than it is today. They didn’t have the technology we do, so business was done over landline phones or face-to-face. We can use the technology we have to work more efficiently, but I think it’s vital that we remain committed to relationships that are best built face-to-face. Networking and relationships led to our largest sales at Grunder Landscaping Co. this year — one single lunch meeting led to more than $2 million in sales in 2024.
They accepted help when they needed it. Mildred and Tad’s successes were all their own, but they were supported by the community around them. I think it’s important today that we think about how we can be part of a community that uplifts the people around us —whether that community is local or scattered across the country. This month, I encourage you to think about how you can give back with the experience you have.
I do my best to share what I know and support our community of landscape pros in my work at The Grow Group. You can get the tips and tricks I share weekly by following @growgroup_ on Instagram or subscribing to our emails: growgroupinc.com/weekly-great-idea.
The lessons I learned from my aunts were simple, but I’ve found that the best business lessons usually are. As we prepare for the spring season ahead, here’s my challenge to you: Let’s be like Mildred and Tad. Be tenacious and relentless but also invest in the relationships and the community around you. Even as years pass, that recipe for success never gets old.
