We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jesse Wisley. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jesse below.

Jesse, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?

Overall, I am happy as a business owner. I do not want to have a regular job, but when things are tough, I would be lying if I said that thought did not cross my mind sometimes.

Entrepreneurship is ugly, mean, exploiting, and extremely hard. As an entrepreneur, sacrifices that you make are great. You can be easily misunderstood by people that are not entrepreneurs. I find that part the most frustrating. The things that you do every second of every day, making hundreds of decisions everyday, worrying about things constantly, never truly disconnecting, not being mentally present with your spouse and children sometimes (this one is heartbreaking for me) takes a toll on your mental health. Entrepreneurship exploits you at the highest level. It can bring you to your knees, literally. Blood, sweat, and tears. It makes you second guess yourself. It makes you second guess your self confidence. Am I good enough to keep this going? Am I lying to myself? All these things going through your head at 100mph. Entrepreneurship will take you to some dark lows that you can not adequately explain to anybody because only you know the thousands of pieces of the puzzle to keep things going.

At the same time, Entrepreneurship will take you to some very exciting highs. it is very rewarding, fulfilling, and gives you an adrenaline rush. The adrenaline rush of seeing that signed contract come across your email NEVER gets old. I have seen that email a thousand times over the past 12 years, and it gets me every time. Seeing the invoices going out everyday NEVER gets old. Seeing the satisfaction of my customers face NEVER gets old. I love helping people and entrepreneurship lets me do that in a very unique way. I get so much out of seeing my employees get ahead personally, professionally, and financially. I believe it is so incredibly important for your employees to get ahead as you get ahead. Without good employees, my businesses would be nothing. I am so proud to employ the people I do. It is one of the best rewards of entrepreneurship.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I grew up in a difficult situation. It involved 3 parental divorces and 3 parental marriage ceremonies. I experienced serious childhood trauma. I witnessed things I shouldn’t have as a child. I was called and told things that no child should ever be told or called. All this happened before I was 17 years old. It shaped me and affected me deeply. In 2008, at 19 years old and about to graduate high school, I had no direction. I had to get a job so I found one. I had my own health insurance, my own car note, my own apartment within 30 days of graduating high school. I paid for it all. It was all on me, while only making $10/hr. The struggle was real.

I landed a job at a large landscape company. I started 3 days after graduating high school in 2008. I thank God for this everyday, but they put me on the irrigation and lighting crew, and that is where I learned my trade. I worked there for nearly 3 years going from crew member to Foreman. My grandmother was nice enough to pay for a few semesters of night classes at a local community college. I would work full time and go to class at night. I eventually learned that school was not for me, and I quit going. For years, I was ashamed of not finishing school, and going to a community college. I often lied about it to people. As the years have gone on, I regret doing that. School is not for everyone, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

I was good at my job, and I thought I could make a business out of of it. in 2011, when I was 22, I started Mid South Irrigation & Landscape. We offered irrigation, landscape construction, and lighting. In 2016, I created another company called Mid South Night Lights, to focus solely on outdoor lighting. We are slowing phasing out landscape construction and will not offer it starting in 2025. We want to focus on lighting and irrigation only. Today, we are the largest outdoor lighting company and the largest irrigation company in the region surrounding Memphis, TN. I was told by people very close to me that I would not amount to much and that I would always struggle. I used that as motivation. What a ride it has been!

Can you open up about a time when you had a really close call with the business?

I started the business in 2011 at 22 years old. I was a kid, and had no idea how to run a business. Fortunately, God gave me the gift of learning from my mistakes. I just need 1 time to make a mistake and I will learn from it. That mistake was the entire year of 2013. I made 3 HUGE mistakes.

First mistake was my ego and the perception I wanted to create to other people. I had 12 employees at the peak of that year, bought two trucks, and I wanted everybody to know it. “Look at my new trucks”. “I have 12 guys working for me”. “I ave so much work sold”. I just wanted to brag. I wanted everybody to see all the big things I was doing. The reality was that I was drowning financially. Yes we were busy, but the jobs were not profitable, and I got upside down FAST.

Second Mistake was racking up nearly $40,000 worth of invoices to my main vendor in a 90 day period. I spent all the money. I was not able to pay. I had to take out an unsecured loan at a high interest rate to pay it back over 3 years. This was a very costly mistake I made because of my ego.

Third mistake was racking up nearly $12,000 worth of payroll taxes that were due to the IRS. I spent all the money. I was not able to pay. I had to set up a payment plan with the IRS for 2 years. The IRS owned me for those two years.

All this happened in 2013. This year was a near death moment for my business. I was 24, maturing some, but still wanted to “show off”. I was only 2 years into my business and I made huge mistakes. But I learned from them. I am thankful for lessons I learned in 2013.

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

For the customers: Do what you say you are going to do. Simple as that. Sure, we are all human and make mistakes, but strive for perfection. We are honest and trustworthy companies that provide quality workmanship. I am confident when I say that. Also, appearance is important. We have nice work vehicles, not an old truck that is 20 years old and looks beat up. Yes that is more expensive, but it separates you from the bunch. We present ourselves in a professional manner every step of the way for the customer, everything from the office staff, the technicians, the products, to the follow ups.

For employees: We strive to create an environment where people like to come to work. We have a nice office, shop, and yard. Our property is well kept, and looks very professional. We have nice work trucks and equipment. We pay our employees well and take tremendous pride in seeing our employees get ahead in life. We pour a lot into them. They are the reason we are successful. Great employees are the back bone of our companies. We are so proud of them.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.Mid-SouthNightLights.com www.Mid-SouthIrrigation.com
• Instagram: @midsouthnightlights @midsouthirrigation
• Facebook: Mid South Night Lights Mid South Irrigation & Landscape