Good Neighbor Podcast Estero
Bringing Together Local Businesses and Neighbors of SWFL
Good Neighbor Podcast Estero
EP# 187 - Growing Strong: Insights from 1:16 Lawn Care’s Founder
What if transforming your backyard could become the backdrop for your most cherished memories? Get ready to be inspired by Jessica Darr from 1:16 Lawn Care as she recounts the journey of growing a thriving lawn care and landscaping business. From Illinois to Estero, Florida, Jessica and her husband balanced raising three young children while building their company. She shares how their love for Florida drove them to expand south, and the contrasting challenges they faced in different regions. Jessica offers a candid look into the highs and lows of entrepreneurship, from building a dedicated team to becoming the face of the business.
Jessica also challenges the common misconceptions in the lawn care industry, particularly the differences in service quality between northern and southern companies. She stresses the importance of superior customer service and reliability, elements that set 1:16 Lawn Care apart from the competition. Listen to her insights on industry trends, including the shift from traditional paper methods to modern, efficient practices, and her observations on regional work ethics. This episode is packed with valuable lessons and inspiration for anyone interested in the lawn care business or entrepreneurship in general.
1:16 Lawn Care
Jessica Darr
9210 Estero Park Commons Blvd
Estero, FL 33928
(239) 228-3289
officeswfl@116lawncare.com
WEBSITE
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Cabo Jim.
Speaker 2:Schaller. Welcome Good Neighbors to episode number 187 of the Good Neighbor Podcast, estero. Today we have Good Neighbor Jessica Darr from 1:16 Lawn Care Welcome.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2:Yes, pleasure to get to know people in the community and what they do and share that with our listeners. So let's jump right in. And why don't you share a little bit about what you do over at 1:16 Lawn Care?
Speaker 3:Okay, so we are a lawn care and landscaping company, where we have a lawn care and landscape maintenance division, and then we have our landscape design and install division. Our slogan is that we love to create a backdrop for your memories through property transformations, and that's what we strive to do every day.
Speaker 2:Very nice. So how did you get involved in the lawn care industry?
Speaker 3:So my husband and I started this company back in 2015 up in Illinois. Husband and I started this company back in 2015 up in Illinois and he always wanted to be an entrepreneur and do something for himself and not have to work for other people. And I was a good wife and I jumped on board and joined him in that endeavor, had three little kids with us at the time. Then he sat in the back of the truck with us while we went and grew that business. And then we came down here in 2017 and fell in love with the area visiting family, and we're like someday we're going to have a location in Florida and we worked our butts off, grew our company up there so we can start our second location down here in 2022.
Speaker 2:Very nice and I'm sure you love it down here right.
Speaker 3:I love it Way better. No, no, cold.
Speaker 2:Fantastic, absolutely so. Talking about challenges, it's a little bit different up north as far as the business is concerned year round, but starting a business can always be very challenging. There's always challenges, obstacles that we kind of go through. Is there something that maybe helped define who you are today by looking back and say you know, I went through that, but now I'm in a better place because of it?
Speaker 3:For me I would say just business ownership in general. It wasn't really something I planned to do, but I actually really found my calling. I love to build teams. I love to work with my staff. I love to pour into them. I love getting to talk to build teams. I love to work with my staff. I love to pour into them. I love getting to talk to the customers. I kind of became the face of the company. My husband would do the work and I kind of got thrust into the office and doing the sales and the marketing and I love it. I just never thought I would, but it definitely has its ups and downs through growth over the years. But I've learned a lot through all of it.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. It's strange how sometimes we find our passions and past that we never thought we'd be on yes, so are there any maybe myths or misconceptions surrounding the industry or what you guys do that maybe we could clear up for our listeners?
Speaker 3:I'd say probably the biggest thing that I noticed was when we came down here. It's like a big misconception that all lawn care maintenance companies are kind of the same. Like it's when you're looking at bids and you're talking to companies you're kind of comparing apples to apples and I noticed people down here are just used to not being treated well. Their companies will not communicate, they don't show up on time, they have no idea where they are, they don't know what services they're getting and compared to up north, that was very different for us to kind of realize, and so we just sought out from the beginning to just prove that we are different and not all companies are created equal.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. I'm from the Midwest myself, in Wisconsin and Illinois, and I'll agree that the work ethic sometimes down here isn't what it is, or up in the Midwest anyways for sure. So do you notice anything trending in the industry lately?
Speaker 3:I do feel like the industry as a whole is definitely getting more. Instead of all paper, you know, like back in the day it was all paper and pencil. I think what's nice is the industry starting to follow along with the trend of using, you know, we use a CRM and we have apps and we have, you know, brought into the 21st century and that really helps us have better communication, you know, with our customers and with the team and all that kind of stuff. But I know a lot of companies just from like having different employees and stuff, that they're still all pencil, paper, all that kind of stuff. But I feel like, as the industry as a whole starts embracing the 21st century, it's actually good for us, it's better in general, absolutely good for us. It's better in general.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and anytime you can communicate with customers, potential clients, it always helps to ease that process a little bit. Yes, so you mentioned you were from Illinois and you moved down here just because of the warmer weather, right, and you love it down here. But I know owning a business can be very demanding. So what do you do when you get them in a free time? What do you enjoy doing?
Speaker 3:So we are very family oriented. We have seven kids, so on our free time we are hanging out as a family. We love to be outside. So for Florida, you know that looks like going to the beach, walking a lot going, paddleboarding, kayaking, anything that's outdoor related. You'll find us doing it. We have a little small farm so we'll work outside, you know.
Speaker 2:so, being together, being able to be outdoors year round. That's why we love it down here. Love it Absolutely so is there one thing you wish our listeners knew about? 116 Lawn Care that maybe they're not aware of?
Speaker 3:So 1:16 actually comes from Romans 1:16. We are unashamed of our faith and that's very kind of woven throughout our whole company, from our core values to how we treat our team members, to how we interact with our customers. So I say our faith is very integral to who we are.
Speaker 2:And that's important, especially nowadays, to have that behind you. So if our listeners were interested in contacting you to learn more information or have their lawn cared for, how would they go about reaching you?
Speaker 3:So they can find us on Facebook at 1:16 Lawn Care Bonita Springs is the name there, and I try to update that regularly with all sorts of stuff that you, that we're doing, and then our website, 116lawncare. com. You can go on there and request services and just kind of check out and learn a little bit more about us.
Speaker 2:And then just to explain those services, what types of services do you provide?
Speaker 3:So in the maintenance side we have the mowing side where you know we have multiple packages based on like we kind of let the customer kind of tailor their packages based on how often they want to cut throughout the year, because you know, down here it's not fully year round, you know. And then we have landscape and bed maintenance as well. So that's our maintenance division, that we can kind of perform those services on a regular basis. And then with the landscaping side, we do everything from we'll fully design your landscaping, do a huge, massive clean out, we can do sod mulch, we do 3D designs, so we can, you know, do all of that as well.
Speaker 2:Cover it all, from front yard to the backyard and everything in between. Perfect, so any last words for our listeners.
Speaker 3:Not that I can think of.
Speaker 2:No, well, very good. Well, jessica, it's been a pleasure getting to know you. Thank you for being such a good neighbor and I hope to see you on the community soon.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the good neighbor and I hope to see you all in the community soon. Thank you so much. Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast Astero. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpestero. com. That's gnpestero. com, or call 239-296-2621.