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

Brian, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s jump right into the heart of things. Outsiders often think businesses or industries have much larger profit margins than they actually do – the reason is that outsiders are often unaware of the biggest challenges to profitability in various industries – what’s the biggest challenge to profitability in your industry?

I say task saturation is the greatest threat to profitability. Plant nurseries are super task oriented environments. Most are time sensitive. Many require subjective analysis.
Task hierarchy can change by the hour too. Yet some are predictable and systematically repeated.
A single forgotten task can negatively shift momentum. Good momentum is valuable and requires time to gain.
What is the optimal span of task control? I think it’s a range and varies from each person.
The answer for me is awareness.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Native Plants Nursery was founded in January 2022 after seven years of propagating exclusively for Sweetleaf, our landscaping company that I began in 2009. Today, Sweetleaf focuses on designing, creating, and maintaining native plant gardens. We grow healthy pollinator-safe plants without use of chemicals at any stage of plant development. This matters because plants that are grown with chemicals systemically uptake toxins thus poisoning pollinators and wildlife. 
Currently we grow 480 species of North American native forbs, wood stems, grasses, and sedges. We are open to the public year-round.
Our aim is to cultivate ecological awareness, improve biodiversity, and reconnect the prairie with urban spaces.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Unlearning how best to communicate. My default is to assume my message, vision, goal, or whatever I am trying to convey is being heard.
Incorrectly I assumed that people learn as I learn, by watching and doing. I now see how ridiculous this notion is but still struggle to unlearn poor communication habits. People are individuals and should not ever be categorized.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Remember the basics. Seriously. Be kind. Respectful. Share. Apologize when wrong. Show up. Stand up for your team and share your vision..often.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.nativeplantsokc.com and www.sweetleafokc.com
• Instagram: @nativeplantsokc
• Facebook: @nativeplantsokc
• Youtube: @nativeplantsokc (Native Plants Nursery)
• Other: [email protected]

Image Credits
Native Plants Nursery