Kelly Slater, CEO of Pleasant Landscapes in Charleston, S.C., recalls a client interaction in which the client said, “Let me talk to your husband. Maybe he’ll understand me.”
“My husband doesn’t even work in the industry, let alone the same business,” says Slater, who has been with the residential design-build, install and maintenance company since 2009. “I overcame those [situations] by trying to be professional and respectful but also firm. This is my business and our industry, and I know what I’m doing and what I’m talking about.”
Slater adds that while she still encounters that type of attitude from time to time, the green industry overall has changed tremendously over the past 15 years. That's why Slater was named the overall winner of the Seasoned Pro category in this year's Women In The Green Industry award.
The Beginnings
When Slater moved to Charleston in 2008, with a background in finance, management, mergers and acquisitions, the green industry found her. She was working as a consultant when the company’s founder James Parker reached out to her in 2009.
“The first three years or so, I spent shadowing him, learning the industry, traveling to conferences, meeting other owners and educating myself on the industry,” Slater says.
Around Year 5, Parker retired, and Slater took over the business. As of now, the company serves as a one-stop shop for anything residential clients need for their outdoors.
Pleasant Landscapes
“I couldn’t imagine myself doing anything else now,” Slater says.
While the company has gained a strong foothold in the residential market in Charleston, Slater says she’s enjoyed watching her people grow even more.
“We’ve had people that have been with us for more than 20 years, and it’s watching the staff move up,” Slater says, adding that at one point, the company had seven sets of fathers and sons working for the company throughout its history. “It’s watching the team grow personally and professionally that’s my biggest highlight.”
She says the company’s success greatly relies on the team.
“Our folks care about the work they do — whether it’s a perfectly straight, crisp edge they’ve done when they finish maintenance on a property or a gorgeous six-figure installation in a backyard, they take a lot of pride in it,” Slater says.
Overcoming the Obstacles
While early on, Slater says she felt like she was in a man’s world, but didn’t let that stop her — instead opting to attend conferences, listen to speakers and educate herself on the industry.
She says that the perception that the landscaping world is only for men has eased over the years, thanks to the women in the industry being firm in their positions and recommendations.
“The women who have taken on roles in our industry and embraced them—that’s where a lot of change has happened,” Slater says. “It’s no longer that you’re someone’s wife in the industry — you’re a professional woman in the industry.”
She also credits organizations such as the National Association of Landscape Professionals—an organization she’s consistently involved in — for normalizing women within the industry and providing a supportive space for women.
“That would be the first direction I'd send somebody when they're starting off or looking to grow to get involved,” Slater says. “There’s so much that NALP offers, and it’s great that there are places that women can go and get together and have those ideation sessions and bounce things off one another.”
She says that the mentors she’s had over the last 15 years have also helped her navigate challenges — not necessarily on the specifics of the best type of plant or grass, but rather how to navigate and manage the industry and stay up to date with what’s current.
Overall though, she reiterates that it’s her people who motivate her.
“They constantly keep me on my toes, and we're always striving to be better, not so much bigger, although that’s fantastic, but to be better,” Slater says. “We want to be the best in our market, the best at what we do and recognized for that.”
What’s Ahead
Moving forward, Slater says she’d like to see more women in management and ownership.
“Women bring a different spin to things,” Slater says. “There’s a huge difference between empathy and sympathy, and I think it's an easier task for women to understand the difference and utilize empathy to our advantage in any kind of customer service situation when dealing with people.”
From a business perspective, Slater has her sights set on growing the company over the next several years.
Each year, the company targets 7-9 percent growth but has seen as much as 13 percent growth over the last four years.
“I’d like to see that growth continue organically — we don’t participate in mergers and acquisitions, that’s just not our style,” Slater says.
While she says she takes solace in her job and enjoys working on the business outside of work, she also enjoys taking cruises with her husband — particularly through the Caribbean—and spending time with her English bulldogs and family.
“My husband and I are empty nesters — we’ve got four kids and one new grandbaby, and we love trying to spend as much time with them as we can. They live a few hundred miles away from us,” Slater says. “We've got an RV that we'll take with our dogs, and we'll just do a long weekend somewhere to enjoy nature.”
