In this conversation, Enmanuel Tejada interviews Bryton, a young landscaper who started his business at the age of 12. They discuss Bryton's journey in the landscaping industry, his approach to client relationships, and his dedication to providing high-quality work. Bryton shares his strategies for finding clients, estimating projects, and building a team. He also emphasizes the importance of passion and dedication in running a successful business. In this conversation, Bryton shares his experience reaching out to other landscapers and influencers in the industry. Bryton contrasts this with his positive interactions with other landscapers like Chase Gallagher. He emphasizes the importance of humility, kindness, and collaboration in the industry. Bryton also talks about his motivation, inspired by his father and grandfather's hard work, and his commitment to providing quality service to his clients. He shares his strategies for growing his business, including building relationships with neighbors and offering flexible payment options. Bryton encourages young landscapers to be persistent, work hard, and be willing to work with others in the industry.
Takeaways
Sound Bites
Chapters
00:00
Introduction and Setting the Stage
01:08
Bryton's Journey in the Landscaping Industry
04:24
Transitioning to Hardscape Projects
07:41
Building Strong Client Relationships
09:03
Estimating Projects and Providing High-Quality Work
14:19
The Power of Passion and Dedication in Landscaping
20:30
The Importance of Mentorship and Giving Back
24:07
The Power of Humility and Kindness
26:34
Positive Interactions with Other Landscapers
29:03
The Importance of Hard Work and Persistence
35:22
Building Relationships with Clients and Neighbors
38:02
Strategies for Growing a Landscaping Business
41:33
Offering Flexible Payment Options
Keywords
landscaping, business, client relationships, estimating, team building, passion, dedication, landscaping, influencers, collaboration, humility, hard work, relationships, payment options
In this conversation, Enmanuel Tejada interviews Bryton, a young landscaper who started his business at the age of 12. They discuss Bryton's journey in the landscaping industry, his approach to client relationships, and his dedication to providing high-quality work. Bryton shares his strategies for finding clients, estimating projects, and building a team. He also emphasizes the importance of passion and dedication in running a successful business. In this conversation, Bryton shares his experience reaching out to other landscapers and influencers in the industry. Bryton contrasts this with his positive interactions with other landscapers like Chase Gallagher. He emphasizes the importance of humility, kindness, and collaboration in the industry. Bryton also talks about his motivation, inspired by his father and grandfather's hard work, and his commitment to providing quality service to his clients. He shares his strategies for growing his business, including building relationships with neighbors and offering flexible payment options. Bryton encourages young landscapers to be persistent, work hard, and be willing to work with others in the industry.
Takeaways
Sound Bites
Chapters
00:00
Introduction and Setting the Stage
01:08
Bryton's Journey in the Landscaping Industry
04:24
Transitioning to Hardscape Projects
07:41
Building Strong Client Relationships
09:03
Estimating Projects and Providing High-Quality Work
14:19
The Power of Passion and Dedication in Landscaping
20:30
The Importance of Mentorship and Giving Back
24:07
The Power of Humility and Kindness
26:34
Positive Interactions with Other Landscapers
29:03
The Importance of Hard Work and Persistence
35:22
Building Relationships with Clients and Neighbors
38:02
Strategies for Growing a Landscaping Business
41:33
Offering Flexible Payment Options
Keywords
landscaping, business, client relationships, estimating, team building, passion, dedication, landscaping, influencers, collaboration, humility, hard work, relationships, payment options
Enmanuel Tejada (00:00.609)
of where you can curse you can say whatever this will all be edited so if there's any parts that you want to cut out I could do that too so we'll be good is there any way you can come a little bit closer and a little bit lower like if you lower your seat a little bit is that possible?
Bryton (00:02.287)
Yeah, let me see if I could let me see this This yeah, let's see. I don't think the seat lowers. No, that's probably the best you're gonna get
Enmanuel Tejada (00:22.337)
Not the best, I bet boom, and Apollo, all good. So let's fucking get it. So I'll do the intro and then we'll get it popping off right here.
Enmanuel Tejada (00:30.689)
Hey everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Digital Toolbox Podcast. I am your host, Emmanuel Tahata. I own Landscape Maverick. We're a digital marketing agency for landscapers. And today we have a special guest. We have Brighton from Brighton Landscaping. Brighton, go ahead and introduce yourself, man.
Bryton (00:45.774)
How's it going guys, I'm Bryton with Bryton Landscape and I'm based out in Salt Lake City, Utah and I started the landscaping business at 12 years old. Now 20 years old, just hired two new guys for my business. So it's gonna be a great season and been getting my name out there as much as I can, meeting up with real estate agents, other contractors, trying to eliminate door knocking and just trying to get my name out there. So it's gonna be a great season.
Enmanuel Tejada (01:08.033)
Yes, sir, let's go. And for anybody that doesn't know, Brighton is the future landscaper for Post Malone, who's from Utah. So that's going to be happening in the next couple of years.
Bryton (01:17.549)
okay. Crazy is, is, I, so there's this guy when I used to work at a grocery store in my junior year of high school for a little bit in the winter time, cause landscaping was slow. There's this guy who worked with Post Malone and did a couple of his studio recordings and all that. And I do his maintenance on his yard. So that's, that was pretty cool. So.
Enmanuel Tejada (01:34.369)
Damn it.
Enmanuel Tejada (01:39.201)
shit, so I was just fucking joking, but you actually are kind of connected, so it is gonna happen one of these days, bro.
Bryton (01:44.493)
One of these days I'm going to meet Posty, bro. That's one of my big goals, man. One of these days.
Enmanuel Tejada (01:48.769)
Dude, let's go bro. It's gonna be epic seeing you with the phone. Hey guys, I'm here at Post Malone's. We're putting up a retaining wall today. Putting up the moats.
Bryton (01:55.757)
Yeah, that's what I'm saying. He's a cool guy, dude.
Enmanuel Tejada (02:00.641)
He is a cool dude, bro. I used to love his music when I was in high school too. And Brighton, bro, how old are you, bro? And you said you got started at 12 years old, right? So how old are you right now?
Bryton (02:09.772)
I'm 20 years old and I started at 12, so I just turned 22. So it's definitely hard to be in business at 20 years old because we live in Utah. It's a lot of the contractors are around 40 to 45 years old. And definitely, so I'm going up against bids against five to six other guys that are double, if not triple my age and already have 10, 15 guys working under their table.
Enmanuel Tejada (02:26.113)
Yeah.
Bryton (02:34.379)
So my bids usually come in about the middle. That's where the clients should shoot for. So you got the cheapest of the cheapest guys who could come and do it, but they're gonna go up to the clients and they're gonna realize that they're ripping themselves off. They're gonna go up to the clients and say, hey, we need more money. Then we got the guys that are way too expensive that overpriced themselves and wanna make the big, big money, because they got a lot of payroll and those clients aren't a tight budget with that. That's where I come in at the middle with a high quality work in the middle, not too low, not too expensive. So all my...
They've actually told me, yeah, you're the middle member. That's why we went with you. We didn't want too expensive. We don't want the cheapest. And we liked how you communicate. So yeah, it's super cool stuff, man.
Enmanuel Tejada (03:13.857)
That's awesome, bro. And let me ask you, how did you, I mean, you were 12 years old when you started, were you just doing it on your own? You were just mowing lawns or what were you doing?
Bryton (03:23.306)
Me and my buddy had to save up for basketball camp because we played basketball in high school So actually what I did is I lived in this the city called Daybreak in Utah It's a very pretty city and essentially what I did is we had bicycles, right? We ride bikes everywhere then you know where you know how you those kids sit in the bike trailers, right? So we took out the seat for the bike trailer. We put a bucket in there with then we put up a
two by four holes and then we put our shovels in there. We put our, what we do is we do weeding, we do mulching, we do all of this. We ride our bikes all around South Jordan and like 10, 15 miles if not, just all over the area. And then we put the garbage in there, unloaded at home when we got home from work. And we both started out at, I think I was 12 and he was 13.
and we both started out at 10 bucks an hour under the table. So that's pretty good for 12 to 13 years old. I remember when I was 13, I opened up like $5 ,000 or just pure 20s and I thought I was doing so good in life at 12 years old, man. But now I realize like $5 ,000, that's nothing.
Enmanuel Tejada (04:17.633)
today.
Enmanuel Tejada (04:24.449)
There bro, but that's a great that's a great beginning story bro very humble and and it's gonna it's what's allow you to take it to where you are now and let me ask you I mean, when did you start doing more of the hardscape your project, right? Because yeah, you were doing mowing and stuff like that But where did you learn how to put up a retaining wall? Where did you learn how to lay down papers?
Bryton (04:32.105)
Cool stuff last year I booked up a lot of ass so I wanted to work with companies for a little bit to kind of learn the retaining walls the sprinkler systems that because I knew how to do multi like tree trimming basically above ground, but I needed to learn a little bit more so
Enmanuel Tejada (04:57.889)
Right.
Bryton (05:01.992)
I worked with this one company for like a month and a half and they were paying me 18 bucks an hour and guess what? They came up to me and told me I wasn't worth $18 an hour. So then the other day I finally got some guy on Facebook and he was paying me a little bit better money and I was okay with it because I had to learn for a little bit and he had to spend money to teach me and he was losing money while teaching me. I worked with him from April to February and that's where I really learned a lot about irrigation, retaining walls and all of that.
And then he's like, hey man, there's no work for the season. It's February, you're laid off. I know you got hustle in mind, so you could probably find your own projects, which I did. And so what happened was I was in a really toxic relationship and I was kind of holding me back. I'd always get home from work. She'd be like, all you talk about is work, work, work, work. That's all you care about is work, work, work. And you know, I didn't really realize I was in a toxic relationship because I wanted to feel loved and I wanted to feel self -love because I didn't love myself at the time.
So that's when it really clicked is when I got out of that relationship. Something really clicked in me. I kind of sat there for four days, puking, not knowing what to do with my life. And this was a couple months ago. And then four days after that, something in my head said, hey man, get your ass up and go hand out some flyers. Fourth door I knocked on, I landed about $15 ,000 worth of work, landed the neighbors project. Then from there, my business.
Enmanuel Tejada (06:16.673)
That's it.
Bryton (06:17.382)
picking up from there and companies that I'm working with the company in Utah called Aloha Landscape and super cool people, great crew. And they're the ones that have been subbing me out for the work and I've been really appreciated of it because they have helped me out a lot with the money wise and situations and landscaping lately. And so it's more of a mindset of who you get to choose who you want to be around. That's the coolest part about it, man. It's a lot of people are not a big fan of being alone.
and be in their own space alone. And I wasn't a big fan of it for the longest time. I always had to be around people, always had to be around people to feel loved, feel wanted. And that's, that's, when you're in business, you got to really fuck with hanging out with yourself. Cause there's going to be times where you're alone for most of the day where you guys are going out and doing the jobs and you really, you really got to have a good mindset. So I make sure when I'm alone, when I'm in my work truck, I'm bumping a good happy music and I start off my morning with the happy vibe. Even if I don't, even if I feel a little bit down.
I always try to listen to something a little bit happier to start my day off. So it's all who you change yourself with. I used to go to parties, hang out with their own friend groups and all that. Then it really clicked with me and now I'm hanging out with 40 to 50 year old dudes that run multi -million dollar businesses. It's crazy to think that making $20 ,000 in a month seems so hard. That seems like a big, big, big number to make until you hang around people that make 20 grand in a day.
Enmanuel Tejada (07:29.825)
Hmm.
Enmanuel Tejada (07:41.281)
Dude, yeah, that's perspective right there, bro. That's perspective right there. And let's talk a little bit more, let's backtrack a little bit. You said you were doing some sub work for a landscaper in your area, but those first couple doors that you knocked, you said you landed your job on the fourth door that you knocked. So how did that look like? Did you have flyers? Did you have door hangers? What was your pitch like?
Bryton (07:59.812)
Yeah, so I got flyers so it's one it's it's all about how you approach the client, you know what I mean? It's all about how you show up So when I show up, you know before before I even start to talk about landscape and before I even start to talk about the yard and stuff I'll actually introduce myself where I'm from what I've created and I and I'll try to get to know the clients for about 20 to 30 minutes and
and making good eye contact, good conversations, because this is a lot of contractors in Utah, they just go out, place their bids, then the clients have to wait two to three weeks to even get their bids sent over. Me, I'm a lot different because I show up, get to know the client for about 20 or 30 minutes, then I start to talk my knowledge and they can see, okay, this kid introduced himself, he really got a good eye contact on us and good knowledge on us, let's go with him and...
Right then and there they gave me the half down check and like, yeah, let's go with it. Then I started the next Monday.
Enmanuel Tejada (09:02.849)
shit, let's go. And what was that first project? Was it some sort of landscaping project or was it hardscape or what?
Bryton (09:08.866)
That was the retaining wall that I did. So the most recent one I posted with the retaining wall, that one, that one, it wasn't mine. It said that I had to have it because I had to get some things off of my mind and stuff. So I actually dug 42 ,000 pounds of dirt up with the shovel and pickaxe and I could have used a mini excavator. But that one, I really wanted to stay locked in because landscaping is hard and I just really wanted to stay locked in and tell myself you could do it by hand.
And because a lot of landscape and some of it has to do by hand. So I really just had to get in shape for the season. So I use that project as my ability to get in shape for the season.
Enmanuel Tejada (09:45.665)
Man, how long did it take? Cause that's a lot of fucking dirt, bro.
Bryton (09:48.353)
That's a lot of fucking dirt. Yeah, you know that one actually I didn't make as much money as I wanted to but I gained a great relationship with the client that project probably took me three weeks I would say but I gained great relationship with a client and they probably got like forty to fifty thousand dollars more work at their house to still do so I That my money will start reeling in when they call me back next year than the year after that the year after that That's when my money and my paychecks actually start coming in
Enmanuel Tejada (10:14.817)
Right, because now you didn't just want that one job, you want the house, right? You run the property, like whatever else they have, whatever idea, whether it's an outdoor kitchen or whether it's another patio, maybe a seating wall in the back, maybe it's a moat in the front, they're gonna call you because now you're their guy, right? Especially after they saw you with the fucking pickaxe in the shovel. Like it adds more aesthetic. You know, you see this fucking kid, he's 20 years old, he's sweating his ass off, you see him with the pickaxe, like it builds character to them. They're like, yo, this is our guy, he's gonna work hard for us, no matter what.
Bryton (10:18.816)
Yeah.
Bryton (10:28.672)
Yeah.
Bryton (10:38.176)
It was the middle of the winter snowing and even there was dude there was a foot of snow in the garden I was out there still shoveling pickaxe and they're like hey are you gonna take are you gonna take a Saturday off and I'm like works got to get done so
Enmanuel Tejada (10:55.093)
Let's go bro, let's fucking go!
Bryton (10:58.911)
Clients want to see where their money is going. I have some clients that have to even put up cameras to watch me so they can see where their money is going, which is totally okay because I get that as a homeowner. I want to see where my money is going too. I don't think I've ever really had a client really complain too much or anything about that. I've always been paid on time. I always had paychecks coming in half down before the job started. I always got the half down when the job was done.
I try to do great business. You know what, I actually go an extra mile out of my way on every single project. I do about three to $500 worth of work on a project for free. I'll be like, hey, I noticed you got some bushes in the back. I noticed you got some of this. It's like, let me clean it up for you a little bit. They're like, OK, how much is this? How much is that going to cost? I'm like, in my head, I'm like, I'm already making $15 ,000 to $18 ,000 off of you. I'll just do it for free. You know what I mean? Like, I'm already making my money.
So that makes the client feel a little bit more comfortable with their money. Okay, like, okay, we've spent all this money, but he's being so nice and going out of his way for the extra hour. Because what's that gonna hurt, an extra hour? That's an extra hour I could be getting more jobs, but that's an extra hour I could gain that client's trust and get three or more projects because I went out of my way.
Enmanuel Tejada (12:09.281)
Yeah, good recommendations. Yeah, absolutely, bro. And I fucking love that you're doing that because that's a big thing, right? Especially now that that now that you're at the beginning stages, I mean, later on, it might be different, you know, once you're doing fucking million dollar jobs. But right now, bro, you're crushing it. I'm glad that you're doing that, bro. And I wanted to ask you, so when it comes to what's your your estimating process, like, I'm curious, like, how do you know how much to charge your client? How do you know how much square footage is there? Are you able to just look and tell, OK, I need to charge this or how do you have?
Bryton (12:23.613)
Yeah.
Bryton (12:30.11)
That's that that's a really good number so with so I'm As my old boss me and him got the same prices because we got the set we both got two guys working for our crew So I usually try to charge 120 an hour for me the 120 an hour per guy So it's about 360 bucks an hour for three guys to be working
Enmanuel Tejada (12:39.105)
How's that process for you?
Bryton (13:00.029)
And sometimes, sometimes I can even upcharge that because the five guys, we get the job done sooner. Sometimes they even come back with five to $600 an hour off of projects because guys are kicking butt and doing more than they should. And when I noticed that my guys are kicking butt, doing more than they should, breakfast, lunch, dinner, drinks, it is all on me. Because it took me a while to find a good boss and I finally found a really good boss to work for.
Enmanuel Tejada (13:11.553)
Mm -hmm.
Enmanuel Tejada (13:18.817)
Hmm.
Bryton (13:23.836)
And that man probably, when I worked with him eight months, he probably spent like two to three grand on me just on fast food and food and drinks just to make sure I was happy while I was at work while he's paying my payroll. So that's something I really saw that he went out of his way for. So if you can make your, it's okay to be an employee. There's nothing wrong with being an employee. Sometimes I rather personally be an employee than a boss, but I've been liking the money a lot and I've been liking, I'm gonna tell you, if I did not have dedication,
I would not want to do this shit at all man, but sometimes my dedication drains me in the mornings man It's like come on man like where are you coming from like slow down a little bit? You know because I'm gonna tell you I don't I don't I me personally I don't believe motivation the only thing I'm motivated to is to sit on my ass and Hang out at home. That's the only thing I'm motivated to do But when I'm dedicated to is to put smiles on people's faces and build their dream yards and make it come to life
Enmanuel Tejada (14:19.489)
Dude, I fucking love that, bro. And I love that mission statement too, because it comes from the heart. Like, you actually sound genuine. Like, most motherfuckers would say that, but they don't give a fuck. And they're not even the ones doing the work. They just sub everything else out, and they never get dirty. But you're actually out there, bro. So I respect it.
Bryton (14:34.49)
Yeah, I'm a boss that if my guys were to give me a call, I'm there in a heartbeat to come and help them. And mainly right now, it's because I only got two guys. I'm mainly on every single project of mine and try to stay organized.
And I try to make sure that the guys are not too stressed on their workload going from job to job to job. But at the same time, sometimes in business, we need multiple incomes coming in to pay payroll, to pay machines, to pay subcontractors to pay that. So sometimes I do have to bounce. But I try to stay pretty organized with my clients and make sure that when I have a job, I actually book it out two to three extra days just in case something happens on the project or someone goes home early or just the project doesn't go as expected. So I can have that two or three days as that extra space.
And then if I have that and if I finish it and have that extra two or three days, I'll actually bump that client that was the two or three days after, I'll bump them closer and they'll be like, heck yeah, let's go with it. Yeah, we're good, we're ready to go, you know?
Enmanuel Tejada (15:30.145)
Thousand percent thousand percent. And then, that's a question that I wanted to ask too. So you just signed on those two guys onto your team. So how did you find them? How did, how were you training them? How experienced are they?
Bryton (15:43.097)
Also one of my buddies that that's the same buddy that's been working me for since 12 years old He only comes and works with me up in the summertime because he's going to college to be a sports broadcaster So he won't worth broadcaster for ESPN and stuff like that. So I respect that but in the summertime He's he's a man that I need he works just as hard as if not harder as me and has a great work ethic So he's coming up and working for me than the other one actually was up in the mountains and I found him up in the mountains He's like, yeah, man, I need some work
Enmanuel Tejada (15:53.185)
for a while.
Bryton (16:10.872)
He's only been in the USA for two weeks and knows English pretty good and he's like 5 '4 but he could kick some butt man.
Enmanuel Tejada (16:18.273)
And what do you mean you find them on the mountain? What does that mean? Like how you just saw them fucking hitchhiking or some shit?
Bryton (16:23.864)
Going on the hikes and trails and stuff like that just you know everywhere I go no matter where I'm go sometimes a lot of my family It bugs them a lot because they're like all you talk about is landscaping landscaping was like well It's like when you get home from work, and I asked and I asked you how your day is you know what it is every single time I was alright. It was okay. You know you'll hear that from about 90 % of people that are employees Hey, how's your day? It was okay. It was alright I could go off for my whole day for about four to five hours of what I did how my day was I?
and I have excitement about that because I'm passionate about what I do. But yeah, I was just up in the mountains talking, having a conversation with somebody in the mountains. He's like, yeah, man, I got a buddy that needs work bad. So he referred me to one of his buddies. And dude, probably like 50 % of my work comes from the sprinkler stores. When I go to the parts stores, Home Depot, like yesterday, there was this guy that...
When I went to the part store, he had an uneven load of brick up on his truck. I spent 10, 15 minutes out of my way, helping load up that brick. And little did I know he's real estate in Utah and they're doing Parade of Homes in Utah and they're looking for a landscape or get it done pretty soon. So I'm going to go take a look at his projects because I spent 10 to 15 minutes out of my way. And he's like, yeah, man, I'm a real estate agent. I do all this stuff and yeah, let's get you on. So probably 50 % of my work comes from me just expressing my knowledge and helping others out.
Enmanuel Tejada (17:43.873)
Dude, that's freaking awesome, bro. That is awesome. And how did you approach that? To be able to sub you out, how does that look like for them? Do you take on all the risk, or is all the risk on them? How does that work?
Bryton (18:00.47)
All the risk is on me man when I when I'm at bet when I'm laying in my bed I'm up for two hours like did I do good enough job for that client and I do good enough for Health did there my guys happy working with me? You know it's like that That's what the boss mindset is sucking crazy and sometimes it keeps me up in the middle of the night looking at projects You know I'll look at my Instagram for four to five hours sometimes and I just can't sleep at nighttime I'm like y 'all. This is a cool project. This is a cool project. You know I hate
Enmanuel Tejada (18:08.161)
Haha.
Enmanuel Tejada (18:25.889)
and
Bryton (18:26.485)
I hate personally advertising my stuff because I'll get comments like, why do people pay you to do that stuff? Your projects look like dog shit. And you know, it's like, man, I'm just trying to express what I love and my passion. And you know what? These people, I'll tell them, hey, your company trucks look cool. Your logos look cool. And I'll be so sweet to them. And they'll randomly just start hating on my stuff because they can see I'm being more successful than them at half their age. And they don't like that because they see me as competition. I'm willing to give my competition more work, bro.
Enmanuel Tejada (18:54.657)
Yeah bro, and at the end of the day, I mean, you can't let that stop you. Like that's something that you have, right? Like you have that passion about it. You have that fire in your eyes. So don't never let nobody fucking, let them talk shit. It is what it is. If they want to leave hate, fuck them. It is what it is. It's just litters on a fucking screen.
Bryton (19:09.78)
The Applewood landscaping Tigran Yeah, so I've been looking up to that dude my whole life always watching his posts and all that right and There's a he's a he's a good he has a buddy of his up in Utah called his name Cedric and he does concrete too, right and so like him and the Tigran are best friends, right and Cedric was actually come to look at one of my jobs because I need some help on some concrete work I've been looking up to Cedric more than Tigran my whole life and
Enmanuel Tejada (19:12.641)
See you in the end.
Bryton (19:39.731)
and I met him in person and I was like, this is cool, this is cool. But it's like when I met him in person, he was looking up to my project more than I was looking up to him. I'm like, man, why am I looking up to these people? Because when they come out to my job site, see who I am, they're looking up to me more than I'm looking up to them. Like, what the heck, this is crazy. Then it's like, so the problem with, I've always wanted to meet T -Gren, you know what I mean? Because I'm willing to expand my business to multiple states.
And so Cedric calls Tigran while I'm on a job site and I was talking and I just want to have a five minute conversation with him because he's a multi -million dollar landscaper. Five minutes, you know what I mean? Because I could put money in his pocket later on in the future when my business expands in California, Oregon, all around the United States. That's what he wanted to do. And he basically wanted nothing to do with me unless I paid for it.
Enmanuel Tejada (20:24.705)
Right.
Bryton (20:30.002)
Go Gang thing. That's the thing. A lot of these big landscapers want nothing to do with you unless you pay them. When I become a big landscaper, I want everything to do with everybody that has looked up to me and they don't even have to pay me. If they want a five minute phone call, if they want to reach out to me, I'm reaching out back to them and I'm shooting them to sep -
And then they don't have to take money out of their pocket to come meet me. I'm willing to help them out without having to pay. And a lot of these, a lot of contractors are like, you know, I run a $5 million business, but money has to be coming in no matter what. I was like, man, you got kids looking up to you. You got other people looking up to you. Take that minute out of your couple of days and meet these kids and express your feelings for them and tell them how you started and where you got to. It's like not everything in business has to be involved with money, man.
It's like a lot of contractors like, no, I'm only a business for money. It's like, if you think that you're not in business at all, I'm sorry to say, but you're not a business. There's gonna be times we don't make any money at all and you're paying payroll and you're paying machines and all that. And you're just paying your bills and you're not coming back with any money, you know? And so a lot of these big guys that I'm actually looking up to on Instagram, it's like a lot of them see me as competition, you know? Cause I'm a young 20 year old successful.
doing what they need to do and a lot of people were not doing, a lot of these guys that fall on Instagram, these five to $10 million landscapers, were not even close to doing what I'm doing at 20 years old. So they see me as competition, man, but I don't wanna see you as competition. I hate that mindset. I wanna see them as like, hey, when I expand to your state, what's connect on business? It's like, well, you gotta pay me this amount, you gotta pay me that amount. I was like, no, let's expand and I'll put money in your pocket from work and you help me with work and I'll help you. Let's help each other out.
would stop bringing the money thing in unless we're on projects together, then we could talk about money.
Enmanuel Tejada (22:19.009)
Yeah, man. Wow. So you had him you had to in on the phone for like five minutes, but he just refused to ask. So you asked him a question he just didn't want to answer.
Bryton (22:25.716)
It was a very cocky conversation and I get it man. It's he started these exactly at my age man If I'm doing just as successful as he was at 20 if not more successful, you know what I mean? So by the time I'm his age, I'm gonna be just as successful if not double successful You know what I mean? But I don't judge my success on the other that's I just see as everybody trying to go get their money and try to Get what they want to survive. So I'm not going to assess assess assets to assets. I
bills to bills, money to money. I'm not comparing myself like that. I was just really surprised looking up to him my whole life of how cocky the conversation was. He basically wanted nothing. He was like, yeah, we'll have a conversation later when he pays for Goat Gang. I was like, so basically you want nothing to do with me unless I pay you. And I've been looking up to him my whole life, and you want nothing to do with me unless I pay you $90 a month for a couple months. You know what I mean? It's like, no, man, that's the most petty stuff I've ever heard of.
Enmanuel Tejada (23:26.241)
I mean, I see what you mean. Yeah, like it would have been good Even if he wasn't even if he didn't give you advice if it would have said yeah, bro Just listen, I'm busy right now, but just keep grinding, you know, that would have gone a long way, but
Bryton (23:37.357)
Yeah, even if he was like, yeah, exactly. Like, hey, I'm busy. Keep up the grind. Keep up the hustle. But it was more cocky than it needed to be because a lot of these bigger companies, you know, it's all they're they're cocky, man. It's like they you might see them on Instagram, right? You might and they might seem cool on Instagram. And that might it's due to a lot of these people be putting fake smiles on Instagram. I think I'm a cool person to meet in person. And I'm very, very, very humble with what I do. And I try to stay very humble. I try not to be cocky.
Because being cocky just doesn't take you far places in life, man. But if you be humble, go the extra mile, help people out, man. It brings so much more to your pocket than just money, man.
Enmanuel Tejada (24:16.705)
Yeah, I agree a thousand percent. I think we're very similar in that aspect. Like I'm fucking like, it doesn't matter how rich I fucking get or whatever the fuck I do. Like I'm still going to be me. Like if anybody that needs some advice, I'll do a real quick hit list and do this, this and this, whatever I can help with. I'm here, give me a call, whatever. Now, of course we have to be understanding of, of like, for example, in that case, Tigran's time, I guess his time is valuable. It is worth paying for. but I mean, yeah, like, like something like that, like it's overly cocky doesn't, doesn't help either.
That doesn't sit well with anybody. Nobody likes that really.
Bryton (24:47.436)
Yeah, I get time is money and business man, but when it's literally a five minute conversation I'm not paying you $90 for five minutes of your time It's like because what what clients gonna come up to me and if I go to climb like hey, yeah, I'm $90 for five minutes. I'm sorry That's that's that's that's very rare in business man. If I'm gonna be honest, I mean I've made $120 in 10 15 minutes. Yeah, but it's very rare It's because those are little jobs. You know what? I mean little jobs add up, of course
But then we get into the landscaper's mainstream landscape and he's not just as big, if not bigger than T -Gran up. Where is he? He's up in Oregon or something like that.
Enmanuel Tejada (25:23.137)
He's in Oregon, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I was just gonna mention him too.
Bryton (25:26.251)
Yeah, that's what I was gonna say. If he's not just as big, if not bigger than Tigran, and dude, that man is the most humble, one of the coolest landscapers I've ever met. I know he's on a job site and I'll text him, but heck yeah, keep up the grind, man. He responds in five to 10 minutes, he says, heck yeah, you too, brother. And he has a beautiful mindset, very humble, very sweet, kind person. And I could tell he's one of those dudes that...
If I were to FaceTime him on the video chat, he's willing to take those five minutes out of his way and not charge me and willing to say, heck yeah, man, let's talk business for a little bit because I want to expand my business up to Oregon too and we'll see how we can help each other out. You know what I mean?
Enmanuel Tejada (26:04.641)
Yeah, dude 1000 % and it was crazy. I had like you mentioned earlier. I had him on the podcast, bro He was genuine bro. Like he is so far bro out of all the landscape influencers He's my favorite bro, and he is smaller than a lot of them right as far as like followers rising But he's so fucking real bro. I fucking love that dude, bro. I ordered his book I fucking he stayed after the podcast He stayed on the phone with me and his assistant Betsy for like another 30 minutes We were just talking business talking how we can help each other
Bryton (26:23.402)
I think I -
Enmanuel Tejada (26:34.241)
He was giving me advice on what I can improve on my content. Bro, he's a fucking G, bro. I want to shake that motherfucker's hand one day, bro, and I want to take a picture, and I'm going to be like, yo, you're the fucking guy, bro, for real.
Bryton (26:34.986)
Hey.
Bryton (26:44.265)
I went through Oregon a couple weeks ago, I was about to hit him up, like, hey man, I want to take a look at Singer Projects, but I knew he was probably busy, so I've always wanted to meet him and Chase Gallagher. So actually for my 21st birthday, I told Chase Gallagher I'm going to fly up to go see him and we're going to have a dinner and all that for my 21st birthday. Man, that's my biggest dream in life. It's $2 ,500, but that's something I'm willing to pay for.
I'd rather pay that $2 ,500 than for T -Grant's $90 a month because I could tell Chase is more humble with what he does and he's a little bit more respectful for what he does and he's very sweet and kind and that motherfucker is not cocky with this stuff at all. And I could tell with how he posts and how he posts his stuff, he's very kind, sweet, humble, cool guy, man. I'd rather pay that $2 ,500 to see the motherfucker once in my life than to pay that.
to see Tigran if I'm going to be honest.
Enmanuel Tejada (27:40.865)
shit. Well shit man. And you know what's funny actually Chase is actually like an hour and a half from me. So he's in Pennsylvania. I live in New Jersey bro. Yeah. So who knows? Maybe, maybe by then it'll be the three of us. Maybe it'll be all four of us. Me, you, Jacob and Chase.
Bryton (27:54.92)
Dude Jake yeah, Jacob's like a next date over dude. I mean Dude, if there's a way that all three of us could get on a podcast, dude, that would be sick, bro
Enmanuel Tejada (27:59.553)
Hahaha.
Enmanuel Tejada (28:05.505)
That would be sick bro, yeah. And he's killing it too, but we just built his website actually like a month or so ago and he's doing big things bro. He's expanding into his own office. But you know what's funny? It's like, I think it's awesome bro. And even though that you don't like, you had that weird interaction with Tigran, I think it's awesome in the world of landscaping that.
Bryton (28:16.807)
Yeah.
Enmanuel Tejada (28:25.921)
Teeqren started at 20, right? He started at 20 doing his thing. He mentored so many people. One of them was actually Chase Gallagher. And then Chase broke out and he started doing his own coaching as well. He coached Jacob. So it's like, it's amazing how one person impacted one person, then that person impacted another person. And I can see it bro, cause like we're young. So eventually as we continue to age, like you guys are going to be passing that knowledge down to younger landscapers, right? 2030, 2040, who knows.
Bryton (28:35.751)
Yeah, like I said do T grams will always be one of my favorite landscapers I got nothing against him I was just a little bit more surprised than anything
Enmanuel Tejada (28:53.889)
So it's fucking awesome to see this shit happening in real time.
Bryton (29:03.942)
I was hoping for something a little bit more humble, something a little bit more kind and respectful. But man, I totally get it, man, because there's times in business where sometimes I'm a little bit, I have to stay a little bit cocky because I'm making this good money and I created something beautiful and I got to self -protect that. So I got nothing against him, man. It's like if I've always wanted to meet Tigran and if that means I got to pay for Go Gang for a little bit to meet him. So I'll be a man, I'm willing to pay it. But it's like Chase, but I'm a humble.
Enmanuel Tejada (29:08.321)
Yeah.
Bryton (29:31.525)
kind, sweet, willing person and I'm not trying to go assets to assets and trucks to trucks and jobs to jobs and I feel like Jacob and Chase are in the mainstream landscape and are the three guys that are really humble when it comes to stuff like that.
Enmanuel Tejada (29:46.689)
Yeah, bro. Yes, that's that's that's the three guys right there bro That that I see killing it in the coming years, right? Like they're they're they're humbleness. They're their ability to be a fucking human It is beyond awesome, bro. I think that's fucking dope Do you have any do you have any other landscapers or like hardscapers that you look up to a lot?
Bryton (30:03.109)
Dude, it's all -
Bryton (30:08.229)
Let's see do pride hardscape and up it. I think he's up in Oregon to with the mainstream landscaping
Enmanuel Tejada (30:15.265)
Pride? is there, I think there, is there a logo like a truck or like some sort of a, I think it's them that I'm thinking about, but yeah, I think I've seen their work and they're awesome too. I think they focus only on hardscape, right? They don't do much landfilling.
Bryton (30:26.021)
Yeah, I think those are orange and black.
Enmanuel Tejada (30:29.953)
Yep, yep, that's dumb then, yeah. That's definitely dumb.
Bryton (30:30.084)
So yeah, he's a cool guy. I've never personally reached out to him. I just love his posts, man.
Enmanuel Tejada (30:37.985)
Dude, that's awesome. And then outside of landscaping, I know that we both look up to people like Andrew Tay, Justin Waller. What specifically drew you into those types of guys? And then who else in that space do you get motivation from, get inspiration from?
Bryton (30:49.183)
My biggest motivation in my life is my dad and my grandpa because those are they're in the blue -collar field and When I was a little kid seeing my dad slip on his work boots the his alarms ringing out 430 he doesn't Play that night and taking off his work boots same thing the next morning to provide for a family that that that's something that's giving me goosebumps saying this because that's something that
Enmanuel Tejada (31:05.761)
Thank you.
Enmanuel Tejada (31:15.409)
Thank you.
Bryton (31:15.843)
That's something that puts one of the biggest smiles on my face, man. When I feel tired and exhausted, I always remember who provided for me to get where I'm at today. My dad and my grandpa and the blue collar family I'm in. And so that's something I want to carry on and pass on, man. The labor sucks, dude. If I'm going to be honest, dude, the labor fucking sucks, man. It is so physically, mentally draining. But dude, I'm only 20, man. I got to do this, man. It's like if I keep on doing this for five more years,
Dude, we could be on vacation, flying in jets, and our businesses are gonna be running itself because we're willing to put that extra work in now at a young age, in five to seven years, dude. We're gonna be popping off, dude.
Enmanuel Tejada (31:57.473)
Dude, you fucking got it, bro. You fucking got it. And so your dad and your grandpa, they were also in landscaping or what type of trade were they in?
Bryton (32:04.066)
So my dad has done concrete landscaping, any blue collar field for basically his whole life. Then my grandpa poured concrete for 60 years. He's actually going in for a heart surgery right now, knee replacements. He has to get shots in his knees every two to three weeks because he was willing to provide and make good money for the family and put money on the table. You know what I mean? Because as men, we're known as, it's like being a housewife, I'd rather be out in the field doing landscape than being a housewife.
For all the women out there hustling and working their butts off being a housewife is ten times harder if I'm gonna be honest but also for the men that are putting the boots every day to support their kids and family I got a lot of respect for them as well.
Enmanuel Tejada (32:47.297)
Yeah, dude, 100%, 100 fucking percent, bro. And then what about for things like, not like inspiration, but what are some of the things that, or it can be inspiration, but what are some things that you do outside of land sleeping that you kind of enjoy that kind of make you unique or that you enjoy doing?
Bryton (33:09.12)
You know, I try to get my community to get to know me pretty good of where I am and what I do. So I usually, like, I don't know, go shopping, you know, it's like I gotta get my groceries, my basic stuff. I don't got too much time out of landscaping. I like to go on hikes. I like to hang out with my dogs, family. So like yesterday, I had to go to Home Depot, grab some parts and stuff, and just get everything set up for business, right?
And I noticed this older man that dropped his concrete bag on the ground and he couldn't really bend down to pick it up or throw it back in his truck. So I hurried and picked it up, threw it up in his truck and he's like, hey man, thank you, I appreciate it. And it's like, I was like, yeah man, anytime man, you know what I mean? So I try to do little stuff like that for my community. And yesterday, so I went inside to go get some Taco Bell, right? Cause I just wanted a taco man. And I saw this very disrespectful guy that came in.
and was like, so I can't order off of here, this is stupid. And he was calling out the young girl that looks 16, man. And I went up to him and I was like, hey man, they do not get the respect or pay they deserve. And there are like 50 people in here, they're overstressed with their workload. Let's be kind and respectful and not disrespectful towards the people that are making our food. And he didn't like me saying that. And I looked him eye to eye and he walked out the store because I told him we're not gonna, and you know, I hang around myself.
99 % of the time, but if I notice someone being disrespectful towards somebody, that's something I will call somebody out there bullshit and be like, hey, you're being disrespectful. This is not okay. And the other person was like, hey, thank you so much. So they actually covered my food for free.
Enmanuel Tejada (34:41.985)
really, at the Zagreb -o?
Bryton (34:43.422)
Yeah, because they realized I went the extra mile for them.
Enmanuel Tejada (34:47.137)
sure dude, that's super interesting. Damn, that's dope. And what did that guy do? He just left, he just walked out.
Bryton (34:54.558)
He just left and walked out because he realized that he realized he's been disrespectful and getting called on his bullshit. A lot of people in this generation did a lot of people don't like me. You know, it's like I think I'm a very humble guy, but when it comes to people bullshitting, man, that's that's something I called him out and their shit. And they're like, hey, man, you're cocky with your stuff. It's like you're full of shit, man. It's because they're not willing to recognize what they did to do what they did. And it's to say sorry, man. You know what I mean? That's that.
Enmanuel Tejada (35:22.049)
I feel you bro.
Bryton (35:22.973)
world we live in people don't want to admit of what they did and if you it's okay for you to call for you for someone call it you on your on your bullshit but it's not okay for you to call them out on their bullshit that's that's that's the generation
Enmanuel Tejada (35:35.361)
That's a problem, yeah, that's a problem. That's not a...
Bryton (35:38.396)
If you could hang around people that could work with each other like that, like if you did some bullshit and I called you out on it and you recognized it and apologized, that's how you, those are your people, man. Those are your people that are willing to apologize, willing to recognize their mistakes, willing to go the extra mile to fix that. If you could hang around people like that.
that are willing to say sorry and recognize the stuff they did to create that better relationship with you, and the people that are not willing to say sorry and not create that better relationship with you. Like I said, in business, it's all about who you choose to be around, man. You could choose to be around a little bit low lifers that could bring you down, not as much hustle, or you could choose to be around contractors that want the same hustle as you.
Enmanuel Tejada (36:22.529)
thousand percent bro, one thousand percent. And you know what, Bryton, I want to be respectful of your time. So I just wanted to get some closing thoughts here and what advice would you give to somebody that's your age, maybe a little bit younger, maybe even a little bit older. and they're kind of stuck right now. They don't know what to do. They want to grow their landscaping company. They're going door to door. What can they do? They're in desperation. What advice would you give to them?
Bryton (36:46.396)
Awesome, a great question. The best advice I could do is if you land your project, so let's say you're out doing door knock, you do what you need to do, you just landed that project, after you do that project, knock the whole neighborhood, or even before you start the project, let the neighbors know, hey, we're starting up a project here, the roads might be a little dirty for a little bit sometimes, because we're gonna have dirt, we're gonna have trailers, we could have trucks coming in, that way that they know that there's gonna be equipment coming in and out of the block.
And that way they're like, okay, cool. And talk with them and say, hey, I noticed you have this going on at your yard. We could put some mulch here. We could do this. We're doing a springtime, summertime deal. Let the clients think that it's a deal. And so that way you get money. And that's something I always try to do in business is I always try to give good deals for the first time for the client. So then it saves them money. So then the next time.
That's when I come in and start making my money. So it's something that's really hard. And honestly, I reach out to a lot of landscapers in Utah to let them know who I am. Hey, I'm Bright Landscape, and this is what I do. Because if you could try to eliminate door knocking as much as you can, that's probably the best you could do. But door knocking is a pretty good thing. But when you do door knocking, don't start straight into landscaping. Start to get to know the client. Introduce yourself. Introduce your lifestyle, where you came from.
then start talking your knowledge. And then once you're on that project and people see you busting ass, people actually start coming outside of their house and saying, hey, this looks really good. We want this done at our house too. Is that something you think you could do? Then the $15 ,000 just turned into $30 ,000. $30 ,000 just turned into $60 ,000. Then it just keeps going from there to there. They got friends and they got family. Then those friends and family got friends and family.
So that's one of the best ways I recognize how to get my business out there.
Enmanuel Tejada (38:35.585)
Dude, that is killer right there, bro. And when you call those local landscapers, what are you saying to them? Are you saying that, hey, I'm a landscaper and just in the same area as you, do you have any work that you can sub out to me or how are you going about it?
Bryton (38:48.184)
So I give them calls and say, Hey, this is Bryton Landscaping. I'm a local landscaper in Utah. If you guys need any help on a project, I'd love to help. These are some of the befores and afters I do. Then if you guys need any little projects done, I feel free to call me. I love to help on those projects. So a lot of these are big guys I'm contracting with that have like seven to usually 15 guys. And a lot of the times they get overstressed on their payload and stuff like that. And they're just, they have enough work.
that all these clients want to get in fast, they want to get in soon, that summertime's coming, they want their yard looking nice, fast, and that's when they reach out to me.
Enmanuel Tejada (39:23.201)
Dude, that's fucking dope, bro. That's dope. That's a great idea too. And you mentioned you like to eliminate door knocking as much as possible. Is it because it's a higher return on the investment? Like you call one person, they say yes, or is it just that you're on the road all day knocking doors and not getting much done?
Bryton (39:24.76)
out.
Bryton (39:38.007)
Yeah, that's what I feel like you're just on the road. No, not just not getting much done There's some days where I used to hand out two to three hundred flyers. I get nothing There's one day I hand out I hand out 75 flyers and I get two houses You know what I mean? So it's a hit or miss with it because it's we live in a generation where it's very hard and a lot of people don't got a lot of money and a lot of people going to take out personal loans to do these projects.
So that's what's cool about Bright Landscaping is I'm actually willing to work with their budget and I'm actually willing to do $2 ,500 there next month, next month, next month. I'm actually willing to work with people's money so that they can get their landscaping done and get their house looking gorgeous.
Enmanuel Tejada (40:16.641)
Right, so it's like you enjoy the house looking gorgeous right now and then you just pay us over time, pay us over what makes the best sense for them.
Bryton (40:23.991)
Yeah, whatever makes, if that's a year, a year and a half, I'm willing to work with them and willing to work on their pay, their pay budget. So you got to be willing to work with the client. And yesterday, a client actually came up to me and he flipped his back towards me a little bit so the neighbors didn't hear our conversation. He's like, yeah, man, this neighbor is super picky. So just try to be really careful. And I told my client, I was like, I'm going to chill with that neighbor before I started the job.
Art, he was outside, I introduced myself, and he had really nice trucks, and I was like, hey man, that's a sweet truck, that's a nice truck, the other neighbor came out, hey nice car, your yard looks good, you know, because before you start a project, if you could see those neighbors outside, so you don't have to deal with picky Karens, if you could see those neighbors, introduce yourself and tell them they have something nice, so then that makes them feel safer with who is on the block doing the landscaping, you know what I mean?
Enmanuel Tejada (41:18.209)
Dude, 1000 % bro, that's some great advice there too, bro. I really appreciate you giving, dropping those gems, man. And Brighton, just in case there's anybody in the Utah area or anybody that wants a mentorship for you or has a question perhaps that you may be able to answer, what's the best way for them to reach you?
Bryton (41:33.876)
The best way to reach them is probably my phone number just at 385 -394 -9313 or my Instagram, Brighton Landscaping. It's B -R -Y -T -O -N instead of B -R -I -G -H -T -O -N, then at Landscaping.
Enmanuel Tejada (41:50.625)
Boom, bro, that was fucking awesome right there, this podcast, bro. I really appreciate you having your own Bryton and hopefully they guys reach out to you with some questions that you may be able to help answer for them or maybe even collab with them in some way. But Bryton, I appreciate your time, brother. Thank you for much for helping on the podcast, man. Keep doing your thing, bro.
Bryton (42:06.324)
You as well brother. Hey, how's it going broski?
Enmanuel Tejada (42:08.513)
Okay, bye bye.