CHAPTER 1

Recession Woes

August 2010, another dreary year in the recession, and my company,Big D Commercial Landscape and Maintenance was in trouble.Like a lot of industries, we had been wrestling with a decline inbusiness over the last year and things were getting sticky.

Commercial landscape services generated big business in our stompingground throughout the Dallas and Fort Worth area, and Big D hadgradually increased over the years from one crew to a fleet of trucks andeighty employees.

The company owner, Steve Sawyer, was a talented landscape architectwho had earned a favorable design reputation throughout the metroplex,and eventually added a maintenance division which, in the landscapeindustry, was bread and butter because landscape maintenance wasongoing and ensured a steady stream of reliable revenue to supplementthe ebb and flow of design work. Fortified with these two divisions, growthover the years had moved in a steady upward direction. I was hired for themaintenance division and was eventually promoted to account manager,and had been close personal friends with Mother Nature for the last tenyears.

As a customer liaison I worked with operations to ensure thatlandscape upkeep programs were scheduled and performed in good order,and I also generated sales and participated in other projects like producingcompany newsletters and designing seasonal flower displays. Becausewe were a commercial landscape contractor rather than residential, mycustomers were mostly property and facility managers who managed thedaily operations of office buildings, homeowners associations and othercommercial properties. The primary goal was ensuring optimal curb appealso that occupancy rates stayed at the highest levels. When people asked mewhat I did for a living, I'd tell them about being in commercial landscapemaintenance, but I'd often get a raised eyebrow reaction from folks notfamiliar with the industry, as if I was saying I was strangely proud to bean outdoor janitor.

I've never understood that reaction because when I was growing upmy Granny Sadie owned a landscape company, and to me it seemed like afascinating way to make a living. During the summers when I was out ofschool, she frequently took me along with her to work. I'd be sound asleepat home when early in the morning I'd hear a tap on the window by mybed. I knew it had to be Granny Sadie, and I'd eagerly open the blinds tofind her standing there grinning when the sun had barely started to lightthe sky. "Come on Ginny," she'd whisper loudly so as not to wake up Momand Dad, who had laid down the law about her ringing the doorbell beforetheir usual time to rise. "Get dressed and let's go tag some trees!"

I'd jump out of bed, meet her at the front door to let her in, (both ofus tiptoeing), and get dressed in a flash. She always had a prepared noteto leave on the breakfast table, such as, "I'm taking Ginny with me to FortWorth to pick out some trees. We'll be back before supper." She never arrangedthese outings ahead of time, in spite of the fact that we'd both gotten intotrouble about these unplanned abductions on more than one occasion.But spending a day on the job with Granny Sadie was just too much funto be missed. This was the time before cell phones, so once we snuck outthe front door the day was ours with no interruptions.

Talk about a big adventure! All day long we'd run around pickingout trees and plants at nurseries in locations that seemed on the other sideof the world, and stop in at various job sites to see how the crews weregetting along. Her business was mostly in residential design, but she alsohad work with a few churches and retail businesses. Lawther's LandscapeServices was a small but vigorous company which she took over from herfather-in-law when he retired. Her husband, my Granddad, died in hisforties, long before I knew him. Great Grandpa Gus took her under hiswing and taught her the business to help her make a living. Granny Sadiewas a powerhouse of energy and she loved the industry.

Later when my little brother Sam was three years old, Granny Sadiestarted bringing him along with us. Nothing made her happier thanhaving her grandkids lined up in the front seat with her, chattering andgiggling. We did a lot of giggling with Granny Sadie. She had a habitof tearing around, not quite entirely certain where some of the far flungnurseries were located when she was on the hunt for a rare plant. It alwaysseemed like these special plants could only be found at nurseries locateddown remote country roads, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Oneday, as so often happened, she was temporarily lost and was asking herselfdistractedly, "Now where am I?"

Little Sam piped up, "Texas!!" That tickled me and Granny Sadie tono end. The giggles were endless when we were together.

Her favorite type of job was to reconstruct an overgrown landscape,recycling as much of the existing plant material as she could. She addednew plants sparingly, trimmed up the old plants, and repositioned things tofreshen the look, and successfully saved her customers a boatload of moneyon projects. This was a rare approach because most landscape companiesdepended on the sale of new plants to make projects profitable. But GrannySadie was satisfied with a modest profit and always had plenty of work as aresult of her prudent approach. And besides, she loved the challenge.

"These older plants are long-lived for a reason," she'd explain as sheexamined plants to be recycled. "They are native to the area, and placedin the right environment can outlive most of my customers. I love thechallenge of bringing order to chaos. Learn to do that, Ginny, and you'llenjoy the thrill of a genuinely creative life!"

Her residential customers were some of the most prominent citizens in thewealthiest neighborhoods of Dallas. Granny Sadie adored her customers butsome of them were a bit odd. One of her best customers was Mrs. Stanbridge,the wife of an oilman, who often interrupted the work to make the crews stopand pray with her behind the garage. The men thought she was crazy, but shewas apparently lucid enough not to pray in the front yard where the neighborscould see. Nor did she insist on prayer when Granny Sadie was around. But shealways recommended Granny to her friends and that was good for business,but being eccentric, she naturally had eccentric friends.

For example, Miss Leland, who Granny always described with aweas "A sure enough Daughter of the Texas Republic", had a worrisomehabit of getting the crew to stop what they were doing to bury her latestdeceased pet. She always dressed them up for burial in doll clothes orother costumes, and insisted the crew stand in attendance while she leda graveside service. Those poor cats died with an alarmingly frequencythat caused the foreman, Garfield, to kid Granny Sadie about her goingin the house alone whenever Miss Leland invited her in for iced tea on ahot summer day. Garfield would whisper dryly, "If you aren't out in thirtyminutes I'll call the police, but I'm not going in there after you."

Granny Sadie could distract these ladies from their disruptive behaviorif she brought us grandkids along. The ladies always came outdoors to greet"Mrs. Lawther's little grandchildren" and she always made sure I had neatpigtails tied with pretty ribbons, and a little cowboy hat for Sam, whichseemed to please the ladies and put them in a saner mood. With the ladiesdiverted, the crew rushed to finish the work before they were interruptedto bury another dead cat dressed in a tutu.

Granny Sadie used to tell me, "There's nothing like work you love!It makes you wake up with joy and puts a spring in your step. Find thework you love and sure enough, you'll be happy all the day long." I surewanted to be happy all the day long, and I was too, when I rode alongwith Granny Sadie.

We logged a lot of miles together every summer in her big brownChevrolet. I developed a passion for gardening as a result of tagging alongwith her. Dad went to business school, he had no interest in landscaping,and his sister, my Aunt Eulalie, wanted a career in nursing, so Grannyeventually retired and closed it all down. I never planned on following inher footsteps because when I was a girl, my dream was to be a writer.

As a kid I wrote plays and organized periodic neighborhoodproductions, getting my best friend Cathy, along with Sam and some ofthe other neighbor kids to play various parts. I wrote my own version ofCleopatra because I was fascinated by archeology, and so a lot of my playswere centered in ancient Egypt and Rome, which was not conducive tocapturing the interest of children for long. We usually got through the firsthalf into intermission, where we sold tepid, sticky Kool-Aid. But thingswould pretty much fall apart after that, and a game of "Red Rover" or"Mother May I?" would always take over. I never seemed to mind, beinga kid.

Through adolescence I wrote poetry and short stories. I longed to writenovels but never quite had the patience to persevere with longer formats.After high school graduation I wanted to major in creative writing, but waspretty sure my folks wouldn't be willing to pay for an "impractical" typeof education. So I decided to major in English, with the idea of being ateacher as a backup plan to placate the folks. But my hope was that Englishwould put me on a writer's path.

Looking back at some of my efforts during my college years, I wrotea lot of short stories that frequently involved characters getting lost inthe woods (an unintentional metaphor regarding career paths). I tried todevelop the discipline to be a novelist, developing outlines and writing afew chapters but inevitably dropped the project when I'd get intimidatedand lose confidence in myself.

I bought countless books on writing. I took an adult education class oncreative writing, but was terrified of ever sharing what I wrote. I'd think,why on earth do I want to be a writer when I'm so scared of it? Why didthis longing pester me like a buzzing fly that couldn't be swatted? I didn'tknow the answer. I had a lot of imagination but the minute I'd try andfunnel it into a plot I'd start feeling insecure and another unfinished storywould gather dust.

In between wrestling with this frustrated ambition, I had to workwhen I wasn't in class, and so I answered an ad in the paper for a parttime market research interviewer. It was interesting work and they beganoffering me more hours, and eventually offered a full time supervisoryposition that I just couldn't pass up. The future looked promising in marketresearch, so I decided to discontinue my college work and see where thisnew career would take me. I figured I could always return to school if itdidn't work out, because at that age it seemed there were reams of yearsahead of me to explore life's options.

Eventually I led focus groups, finding out which toothpaste eight outof ten dentists recommended, or if housewives thought Petal Plush fabricsoftener smelled like a dewy rose, probing their responses with, "And whenyou say the product had a questionable odor Mrs. Hill, in what way was itquestionable?" There were always interesting new products coming outevery year, and I was on the leading edge of public opinion. But in myheart, the longing to write persisted.

Through the years I continued to think about stories from time totime, but eventually the efforts became less frequent and the ambitionbecame a dim longing. You have to write to be a writer. There's just noother way.

Meanwhile, the years rolled along. It was on my forty-third birthdaythat I began grappling with the mid-life realization that time really doesfly when you're not paying attention. I had been in market research fortwenty-three years, and while my job was absorbing, it wasn't a passion. Ifelt like I'd spent a lot of time just coasting along. I'd been reading aboutcallings and began to do some soul searching. Was my life everything itcould be? There was a pleasant routine in my work but I longed to wake upeach morning and be thrilled about the prospect of working at something Iwas really excited about. I wanted to feel like Granny Sadie. I asked myself,what was the one thing I loved to do that most people would considerwork? Writing was the first thing that came to mind, but I still doubtedmyself. What else? The answer came in a flash—gardening, and that leadto landscaping. Could that be a new career path?

I decided to test this interest by going back to school. I reasoned thatif I took botany and it thrilled me, then I'd know I was on the right track.And sure enough, as Granny would say, I was hooked. The followingsemester I enrolled in a thirty hour landscape accreditation program atthe local community college that only took a year if pursued full time, butbecause I worked all day and then shuffled off to night classes, lengthenedthe time considerably. It was a long day but the learning was exhilarating,and after that first class I began to think about changing jobs right away.How I longed to talk it over with Granny Sadie! But she had passed awaya few years before. I was certain she would be thrilled if she heard myplans. I still felt her presence from time to time. I called on her duringprayer, to help me fulfill this new ambition. I never expected an answerfrom her, though I hoped she might be able to influence outcomes behindthe scene, so to speak.

I didn't have any experience in the industry as an adult, although everyspring I would be seized with the need to garden and potted plants on myapartment patio, and begged my friends to let me dig and plant in theirgardens as well. Then one day I got an idea on how to get a job.

I began sending resumes to local landscape companies, offering totrade my market research and administrative skills for a foot in the door. Itpaid off because I got hired by a company that did design and installationand bid a fond farewell to market research. I was on my way.

My parents were horrified when I gave them the news.

"Good Lord, Ginny!" said mother. "You had such a good thing at ResearchResources! Why would you want to give it up after twenty odd years?"

Dad was just as unsupportive as mother. "The landscape industry is sounstable, and you are in your forties; this is no time to start a new career!"

Dad was a big believer in playing it safe and enjoyed a solid career as aresult. My parents grew up in the Great Depression and were apprehensiveof any path that could threaten economic security. Dad had recently retiredand they were both feeling a little uncertain about their new status, so theywere especially fearful about this new decision of mine.

"Granny Sadie had a successful business in landscaping." I countered.

"But you have no idea the difficulties she experienced in the industry."Dad said.

"She took me to work with her a lot of times, Dad. She was really happy!"

"You are looking at the situation through childhood memory. Hangingout with your grandmother is in no way indicative of what it's really like."

But the die was cast. I had already accepted the job, given notice,and was ready to take the risk. I was an adult and could make my owndecisions. Maybe they were worried I'd fail and they'd have to supportme, but I'd never allow that. And besides, it was the start of an adventure.I wanted to do something I was passionate about. How was I going toachieve that otherwise?

Unfortunately, that summer we had a big drought in Texas with waterrestrictions, and all landscape installation projects came to a grinding halt.I was let go after only a few months on the job. I scrambled to find workand was hired to work in sales at a nursery. I did my best to gulp downthe plant training as fast as I could while I finished my night classes, butthe nursery went out of business a year later. After spending over twentysecure years in market research, suddenly I found myself unemployed twicein less than two years. It looked like Dad was right, but I wasn't going togive up.

My luck finally changed when I answered an ad for Big D CommercialLandscape Design and Maintenance. I did some research. Maintenancecompanies seemed to be more stable than my first two experiences. Theyoffered me a job and I was on my way, or so I thought, but the reality wasnot quite what I hoped.

A semester of psychology was a required course with the landscapeprogram and as an account manager I soon understood why. I certainlyexpected to have some eccentric customers, based on what I saw withGranny Sadie, but this was a different time and a different set of people. Iwas now dealing with commercial customers who were dealing with stickyissues with tenants. And then there were the homeowner associations,who always seemed to have at least one neighborhood troublemaker whocomplained about everything but never lifted a hand to offer serviceto their communities nor solutions for any of their complaints. Suchindividuals had powers to disrupt and alienate their community with asingle caustic remark. Often, they zeroed in on landscape maintenance asone of their targets and I had to face a lot of such individuals in my career.And there was the instability of the labor force and the always unexpectedinfluences of weather; things I hadn't taken into account when I thoughtof changing careers. Over time it all began to wear me down.