Legacy

I think legacy is very important working for a family owned business as well as working at an independent garden center. With just being 39 days away from the first day of spring as well as being twenty days before the March 1 deadline, things are going to come fast. New Jersey has been really lucky with winter weather and people are really aching to get back outside. Even though we are getting ready for our customers to welcome spring, we should be working on self development to make ourselves the best that we can be when the spring season hits and for us to have a successful year.
I have also been in a reflective and thinking mode as I move forward in this industry. Both my boss and my counterpart, who manages the movement of the store, have both taken me under their wings because they see my potential and that I am the next generation for the company to keep it going. This industry is hard and I am apart of a legacy where I will be sailing the ship where I am still learning the ropes. In the meantime, I am still managing my nursery department and being a leader in the industry where I get to coach and teach as well as make an impact on my customers. This is apart of my future legacy.
Have you thought about your legacy in the industry? I think about this all the time. I think about how I am going to make an impact on my customers and my coworkers during that day of work and the years to come. I encourage you to think about it too.
When I put on my company’s shirt and I get to work, I am representing all of my garden center’s three locations. I am representing the family who started this family owned and operated garden center. I am representing everyone who works for the company and who retired from the company. I represent the brands that I sell and I make sure I am knowledgeable with their product lines. I represent independent garden centers. I represent everyone who taught me to be apart of this industry. I represent my customers. This is my legacy, it’s who I represent and what I stand for in the industry striving to make an impact.
When you put on your company shirt, what do you represent? Who do you represent? Are you making it a goal to continue to grow in the industry? Are you taking opportunities to attend trade shows or connect with your brand representatives?
I’ve been given the opportunity to go to trade shows and to talk to brand representatives. I’ve been given the opportunity to go to the Mid Atlantic Nursery Trade Show, also known as MANTS, to explore my passion of plants to be able to get ideas, meet my growers, and explore new options because I have two people that I work with who believes in me and that wants me to get to a higher level in the industry.
This is a message and a challenge to dedicated to independent garden centers, to the managers, to the teams who run garden centers, this is for the brands out there who support us, this is for the landscaping companies who are trying to boot up company morale. This is me helping you be the best that you can be. I have a feeling that this spring will be amazing for all - us and our customers but in order for us to make it the best, we need to take the time to think about our legacy, our company, and the ways we are enforcing our individual growth.
Tell me what you’re doing to prepare for spring or what you’re excited about professional. What’s your reflection of where you have been and where you are going in the industry? What are your goals for the 2024 year? Before March 1 hits, we are going to refine these industry values and elevate what’s in front of us and where we want to go. Let’s talk, let’s discuss in the comments. The best is yet to come.