Special thanks to this year’s program sponsor
He’s also continuing to hone his landscape lighting
skills by developing a network of peers through social media, sending photos of his work to other professionals who have been doing the job a lot longer and asking for tips. For the past few years, Walls has continued building his business in landscape lighting while expanding his professional knowledge as well by adding holiday lighting to his services offered. “My life was at a dark point,” he says. “Prison and
drugs and alcohol — darkness isn’t a fun thing. So when you put lights in on these houses that are just gorgeous — life was dark, and now I get to add light. It’s an amazing thing.”
The Expertise Builder
Working as a team across disciplines is a key part of com- pany development for Suzanne Saylor, director of Shearon interiors for Shearon Environmental Design in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania. Te privately owned company has a range of expertise in its staff such as landscape architects and civil engineers. “As a team, we’re always collaborating to see what
works and what doesn’t work,” she says. “We visit one an- other’s job sites, educate ourselves and share ideas. Tat’s a huge part of the growth that’s happened in our company.” As the pandemic reached its peak, Shearon faced a change in how clients were doing installations, going from plant-packed designs to a more open, minimalist space. To help keep her department profitable, Saylor had to expand her education in efficient irrigation and pass that information on to her team. As a hands-on manager, she worked with manufacturer reps to get assistance with some of the more challenging new irrigation installations her team was focused on.
Reaching out for expert opinions and walking through each step of the process have always been important steps for Saylor’s approach to education, especially if she doesn’t have the answers herself.
She then took that knowledge and shared it with her team as they took on the new projects. “I’ll work with my crew just to make things more effi-
cient,” says Saylor. “Since I do run a small crew, I like every- one who works for me to have the irrigation knowledge to be able to identify a problem and troubleshoot it.” Once she finds a subject matter expert or manufactur-
er’s rep to work with, she’ll reach out to them as a resource throughout the process until she feels like she’s developed a better understanding. “Tose guys are always there and they’re always happy to come out. Teir systems are the ones that are being used on the job, so they want those sys- tems represented well. If we’re not doing our job in asking for help when it’s needed, it gives everyone a bad name.” Te company encourages a culture of sharing ideas and
processes across managers, says Robert Wisnewski, man- ager. “Tere is a sense of feeling comfortable enough to ask those questions if you’re unsure about something. Tere’s no ego or pride that’s stopping people from learning. Tat’s been a really big advantage for us for a long time.” Informal training sessions are a key element to sharing
expertise on the job, as well as a weekly newsletter sent to all employees. Te newsletter is one part of an infrastructure program that’s been developing to keep the four branches of the
Aaron Walls of Purple Walrus Landscape Company teamed up with manufacturer representatives and industry experts to learn the basics of landscape lighting. Getting his first few jobs gave him the momentum to move forward and start his own business in landscape lighting. Photo: Purple Walrus Landscape Company
32 Irrigation & Lighting June 2023
irrigationandlighting.org
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