Spring 2024 Mini Interviews

Get to Know Aaron Farrer, Jan Johnsen, Jeff Allen, Scott Seargeant
& Rich Thiebaud in the Spring 2024 Issue of SYNKD

Aaron Farrer
President & Founder,
Practical Products

What inspired you to get into the industry?
I was lucky to grow up working for my dad's lawn service. We always enjoyed working together, but one part of the job that neither of us loved was loading debris onto tarps and dragging them away. After doing it so many times, though, I thought, "There's got to be a better way" and came up with an idea for a padded strap that clips into the grommets of a tarp to make cleanup jobs easier.

What’s the best part of your job?
I like the freedom that comes with making my schedule. It's wonderful to take a day completely off if I need to, but that often means I'm making it up over the weekend or a few evenings!

What’s your favorite place you’ve ever visited?
For a day trip, I love the Brown County State Park in southern Indiana. The best time to go is when the leaves are changing colors and the entire Hoosier National Forest is a sea of red, yellow, and orange.

What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced professionally?
Bringing a new product to market without a pile of cash or the experience of having done it before has been incredibly challenging. I'm just a guy trying to get The ANT out there for anyone to use, but I won't stop until it gets there.

What’s the one thing that would make the industry better?
I'd like to see more accessibility for electric and environmentally friendly equipment. The benefits are clear but, as it stands, the price of all new gear and a day's worth of battery power is astronomical compared to the gasoline equivalents.

Where’s your happy place?
At a Dave Matthews Band concert. The friendly people, carefree atmosphere, and awesome music make for the most magical summer evenings.

What’s your ideal Saturday?
Waking up somewhere I've never been and get started with coffee for a day of exploration and adventure.

What are you most proud of?
During COVID-19, I was activated by the National Guard under federal orders to assist with pandemic relief efforts in Indiana. It wasn't fun, but I look back fondly on where I was and what I was doing during that moment in history.

What is something not many people know about you?
Any time I watch TV, I like to turn the subtitles on. Most of my friends hate it, but that's just because I'm an amazing speller. Why watch something when you can watch and read?

What’s the best advice you have received for your career?
It's not much of a career yet, but I've had a tremendous boost in success from putting myself out there. I think the most recent reminder I had to do so was from Keith Kalfas during his SYNKD Live address. You don't have to make videos for social media, but take that step out of your comfort zone and don't look back. No one does anything remarkable inside of their comfort zone.

What advice would you give to someone entering the green industry?
Pay attention to what's going on with industry changes. Twenty years ago, someone didn't have to think about gas vs. electric, autonomous mowers, or noise levels. If I were to start a lawn service now, those are probably the three main things I'd have on my radar. I love the electric stuff, but can I afford a day's battery power out of the gate? Will I be priced out by robotic mowers at some point? How long do I have until the government gets involved?

What is your favorite karaoke song?
“Ants Marching” by Dave Matthews Band

Jan Johnsen
Principal,
Johnsen Landscapes & Pools

What inspired you to get into the industry?
During college, I lived in Kyoto, Japan, and got an internship in a Japanese architecture firm in Osaka. I thought I wanted to be an architect, but, on the weekends, I would visit the legendary Japanese gardens in Kyoto and was transfixed by their serenity and beauty. I went on to work at a Japanese landscape architecture office and then to study landscape architecture at the University of Hawaii. 

What age did you start in the industry?
I started as an intern in the landscape architecture office in Japan at the age of 19. From there, I finished my degree and went on to work for an award-winning French gardener-groundskeeper at Mohonk Mountain House, a resort hotel with amazing grounds in New York state. We grew 20,000 flowers from seed and planted them and maintained the gardens throughout the year.

Is this your first career or second career or tell us more?
Landscape design and professional horticulture has always been my career—I also got a master’s degree in urban planning and focused on greening cities as part of my studies. In fact, I won an award for rooftop greenhouses in New York and wrote my college thesis on hydroponics, which was published as a book, Gardening Without Soil, back in 1974. I was ahead of my time!

What’s the best part of your job?
Seeing the transformation of a place into a beautiful outdoor space that is alive with plant vitality, a place for relaxation and serenity. We need more beauty and nature in our lives. Another great part, especially now, is sharing what I have learned with others. That is my mission.  

Who do you admire most—either in the industry or outside the industry?
Roberto Burle Marx, the great 20th-century Brazilian landscape architect and plantsman, was my hero when I attended the University of Hawaii back in the ‘70s. He worked with tropical plants and championed the native flora of Brazil. He brought that awareness to us back when no one was talking about natives and their importance. He still is up there as my most admired designer and advocate of the art of landscape design. 

How many years in the industry?
54 years!

What do you like to do outside of your work?
I like hiking the trails of the Hudson Valley of New York where I live. I also like to write, which is why I write a substack called Gardentopia: https://janjohnsen.substack.com.

Do you have future career aspirations?
I aim to do more speaking and writing, and I want to learn how to do video editing so I can share more tips on landscape design and gardening with others. I don’t foresee stopping any time soon. It is a passion.

Jeff Allen
Owner,
Allen Land Design

What inspired you to get into the industry?
I needed to go to college for something to use the GI Bill after the army. I was just mowing lawns to get by. At first, I thought I wanted to be a lawyer. Once I found horticulture and realized I loved it, I switched my major. It's been a much better life than being an attorney would have been.

What’s the best part of your job?
Meeting people! A lot of people collect cars, coins, or this and that. I collect people. I have a lot of friends and a community.

What’s your favorite place you’ve ever visited?
Japan. Being in landscaping, I noticed there was so much attention to detail. They do some things there so perfectly with purpose, intentionality, and design. In Japan, even just tree staking is an art. 

What would you blow your money on?
I'm at the retirement age of 65, so I would say travel and family.

What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced professionally?
In 2008, we had a tough economy. Everything went down. I had some bad investments, and I struggled to even make payroll. 

What’s the one thing that would make the industry better?
Organic land care. I went to school for horticulture in the ‘80s. Back then, we were taught that there was spray or chemical for everything. I switched years ago, and everything we've done is organic. I never went to get the chemical license that a lot of contractors get to try to make more money. We did everything differently. I have founded some other companies and had a biodiesel company that got pretty big and sold for millions of dollars. That fuel was organic, too. It’s better for the environment. 

What’s your best childhood memory?
Playing baseball, being with my grandfather, and being good at it.

Where’s your happy place?
With my family. I have a new grandson who is a month and a couple of weeks old. Recently I traveled to Costa Rica, and I would have stayed longer. It’s just hard to stay away from the little guy.

What’s the key to great design?
Feel it, understand it, look at what you're doing, listen to the clients, and see what they want. Give them that and do better. I've been lucky to naturally be good at design. I didn't finish high school. I had a pretty rough childhood, and now I’m very successful, and it's just from being good with people, doing the right thing, and feeling it. My daughters say I’m the straight guy with the queer eye.

What three items would you take with you on a deserted island?
My wife, a surfboard, and my bike. 

What has the quarantine taught you?
Don’t overthink. 

What’s your ideal Saturday?
A day spent mountain biking.

What are you most proud of?
My three daughters, wife, and grandson.

What is your favorite phrase, or slogan?
“Don’t worry about a thing.” - Bob Marley. I just went to the movie about him yesterday. 

What’s the best advice you have received for your career?
Stay small. You have a perfect-sized business. You make plenty of money. Why stretch it?

What advice would you give to someone entering the green industry?
Educate yourself constantly. I'm always reading something to improve myself: a business book and then a fun book. I educated myself through books, classes, and looking at what’s new. It’s important to stay up to date. 

What is your favorite karaoke song?
“Be Happy” by Bob Marley.

Scott Seargeant
Owner,
Seargeant Landscape & Arboriculture

What inspired you to get into the industry?
When I was four, we moved to a 20-acre piece of bare land. While my dad built our house, my mom and I planted trees. I wanted so badly to climb them, but I had to wait until they were tall and strong. Unfortunately, as the trees grew, so did I. Still more waiting. It took 10 years before I could climb them. I've been in awe of trees ever since.

What’s the best part of your job?
Knowing my clients trust me to provide them with the best practices to keep their trees healthy and strong. I also love the process and the creativity in both landscape design and tree care. I love creating something out of nothing. I love bringing a tree back to "life" after an illness or unprofessional pruning.

What’s your favorite place you’ve ever visited?
Yosemite Valley in California. As an arborist, Yosemite has it all.

What would you blow your money on?
Research and experimentation on tree health. I've spent eight years of time and lots of money researching, formulating, and [doing] trials with my "fertilizer blends' aimed to provide trees with elements they need to recover from ailments, loss of photosynthetic parts (over pruning), and some diseases. This spring/summer is my final test before I seek manufacturing and distribution. I'm also near a formula that enhances fall color.

What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced professionally?
Ignorance, superstition, and "old ways of doing things." Education and good mentors are essential.

What’s the one thing that would make the industry better?
Holding people accountable for bad/unprofessional work.

Who do you most admire in the industry?
Dr. Alex Shigo (deceased), the "Father of Modern Arboriculture." He was the chief pathologist for the U.S. Forest Service. I was fortunate to study under Alex and attend his lectures and seminars. Purchase his books. Read and, if you do not understand, ask someone who does.

What's the key to great design?
Scale and proportion, dose, and timing are essential elements of a great design. This includes complementary and contrasting colors and textures—and how to incorporate them into a unique design that fits the site and the client's needs/budget.

What is your favorite phrase or slogan?
"Don't just plant and walk away." It's what we do after that counts.

What is something that not many people know about you?
I wrote and produced a TV pilot, won a film festival, and have written several screenplays and songs.

What advice would you give to someone entering the green industry?
Get a higher education. Find the best mentor you can who is knowledgeable and experienced, and then practice what you've learned. Also, keep in good physical shape. This industry is physically demanding.

Rich Thiebaud
Director of Sales,
Landscape Management Network

What inspired you to get into the industry?
I grew up in the landscape industry in a family business called OGS Landscape Services. Initially, it just kind of felt like my place in the world. It was everything I knew and everything comfortable. But, at a certain point in my career, I did ask myself should I be here? Is this the place for me? Looking around the industry and talking to people outside of the industry made me realize I have a deep passion for this. 

What's the best part of your job?
I get to do my favorite thing in the industry all the time for my job, which is talking to other landscapers. I've always loved, even as a business owner, networking and talking to people in the industry and sharing ideas and sort of what's working well for us and what's not. 

What would you blow your money on?
I think skiing is my first passion. So, you put a new pair of skis in front of me, I have a hard time saying no. Biking has kind of become my new one. I spend way too much money on both.

What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced professionally?
When I decided to grow my business, I had to learn how to split what I do into multiple people or job titles and try to do that without micromanaging them. Finding the right people for those roles and transferring a job that I did into four or five different jobs at a time. It was tough at first, but definitely the most rewarding when I figured it out because it really was the key to growing my business. 

What's one thing that would make the industry better?
It's not a quick thing, but just if the general public could understand and value what we do. It's an underappreciated trade and industry. 

Who do you most admire in the industry?
I grew up in my family business and I learned everything I know about building landscapes from a couple of key crew leaders, one by the name of Andy, and one by the name of Bernie. If they ever read this, they'll probably know who they are. 

What’s the key to great design?
Being unconventional with it and taking inspiration from outside the industry, I think makes the best designers. Breaking down barriers of what a typical landscape design should be. 

What has the quarantine taught you?
It taught me the value of selling in person. When you're in a good conversation, it doesn't feel like you're selling. Most of my team now is remote, and I have to make sure I keep those in-person events. There's just something about personally shaking someone's hand or seeing them. 

What is your favorite phrase, or slogan?
If I said no, what could I say yes to? I live by that.

What is something not many people know about you?
I have a large vinyl collection, and I listen to some really old stuff. I have records from my grandmother that I listen to quite often.

What advice would you give to someone entering the green industry?
Network and talk to people as much as you possibly can. That's when my career changed trajectories when I decided to start going to every industry event I could. So, just get involved with the industry. If you're a landscaper in Boston, go to a convention in Austin, Texas, and see how they do it down there.