We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Doug Holland a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Doug, thanks for joining us today. Getting that first client is always an exciting milestone. Can you talk to us about how you got your first customer who wasn’t a friend, family, or acquaintance?

When I started trying to sell landscaping I didn’t anticipate starting a business, I was being featured in an art gallery for my photography and got some prints made that over drafted my account by $300 with payday two weeks away. So I hit facebook and reached out to everyone that I knew and offered to pull weeds, spread mulch, prune bushes, anything flowerbed or garden related. My first job was $350, saved me an overdraft fee. On the drive back, Althea by the Grateful Dead came on the radio with the sun setting as a backdrop; it was a moment of pure realization that told me this was my career path.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

I grew up in a gardening family and have always enjoyed landscaping related work. after graduating college, I opened an events business as a means of creating events that I can showcase my own art, prove myself as a creative director, and get experience designing spaces and experiences. after I decided to leave that sphere and move towards landscape and landscape design, I realize it was pretty much the same skill set and I was approaching the problems very similarly: how do I want you to feel in one of my gardens? What is the experience I aim to create?

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Taking pride in my work. I get a good amount of referrals because I care about the product, I care about craftsmanship, I care about the client experience. I walk them thru the finished job and make sure they are happy with the quality, I like to treat them as my QC department. People tend to like it when you place them, their opinions, and their spending on pedestals and tell them their wants are important.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

Do Hard Things by Steve Magness, Atomic Habits by James Clear, and Range by David Epstein. These three provide a solid foundation from which to build yourself and where monumental in the way I think about my own abilities, how far I allow my interests to deviate, and how to build on momentum.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/douggert_/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/douglas-holland/
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/douggert

Image Credits

the shots of me are by Virg™, and the pop art shots are my own art. Had to throw those in here because they are just too good!