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Todd Hurt: Hi. We’re here with Jenny Hardgrave.
She’s the owner of Simply Flowers, Incorporated.
Jenny works in the part of the horticulture industry
called floriculture.
Jenny, would you describe what a typical day is like for you in your job.
Jenny Hardgrave: During our busy season,
when we’re planting the flowers, we’d get up, we would load the trucks,
get all the flowers ready and we would come out, pull flowers,
prep the beds and plant the new flowers.
Hurt: So, we’re sitting here in front of Sugarloaf Country Club,
obviously one of the most pristine areas in Atlanta.
You can see the mix of colored plants around.
Jenny, where do you get your inspiration from?
Hardgrave: I find inspiration in a lot of different places. I like looking at
what interior designers are doing, what's fashionable.
I also like to go to nurseries and see how to put different
combinations together and come up with new ideas.
Hardgrave: When I was a little girl, my dad and I would go to
the nursery every Mother’s Day and we’d pick out flowers for
my mom’s planter boxes. I really loved seeing how much joy that
brought to my mom. I figured out I could make a career of that and
bring joy to hundreds, and even thousands, of people in what I do for a living.
Hardgrave: Right now we have ten people in our staff and we take care of about
three hundred properties.
Our business is just flowers,but we also use a lot of other materials.
We use mulches. We use fertilizers. So we’re relying on greenhouses.
We’re relying on retail nurseries as well as relying on the folks who
bring in the hard goods as well as the soft goods.
We are an integral part of the landscape, but we’re a niche market.
We have to work closely with the irrigation specialists and
with the landscape specialists to make sure the entire package is meeting
the needs of our client.
Hurt: I know you’ve been past president of
Metro Atlanta Landscape and Turf Association as well as,
you’re a member of the Georgia Green Industry Association.
Would you care to comment on being involved in professional
associations and how that has benefited your business?
Hardgrave: Being involved in a professional association is
absolutely key to the success of any company and I believe
any individual in this industry.
I started with twelve clients and now I have over three hundred.
Hurt: Would certification such as
the Georgia Certified Plant Professional program go a long
way in your book or the Georgia Certified Landscape Professional?
Hardgrave: I think any type of professional certification makes
an employee a better employee. It shows that people are genuinely
interested in the industry. It shows that people have the
dedication to complete a program that is not easy and it just
proves their diligence.
Hardgrave: In horticulture, any classes that you take in
horticulture are wonderful, but when it’s time to get a job,
be realistic and be ready to start in an entry level position.
If you start as a supervisor on a crew, you’re going to learn
so much more that is going to enhance your book learning and
it’s going to prepare you for a management position and
even ownership later on.
Those entry level positions are vital for building your workforce.
Hurt: Good advice would be to do some summer internships.
Get that experience.
Hardgrave: Absolutely. An internship is also going to tell
you if this is the right career for you. You learn so much during
hands-on experience with horticulture.
It also lets your staff know later that you have done
that work and you can train them better.
Hurt: So Jenny, you obviously have a great taste for color and
know how to mix things. Did you… we’re you an artist in school?
Did you enjoy art and how did you learn to work with the color pallet?
Hardgrave: I did a lot of art classes when I was in junior high and
high school. So, I learned all about the color wheel.
I learned how to put color and textures together and
I look at my job as living artwork.
Hurt: Fantastic.