Women Are Mowing Down the Competition

Ramona Mullins, owner of Mullins Lawn Enforcement and Kristy Boase, co-owner of MIL-SPEC Landscaping haven’t been slowed down due to their gender.

Kristy Boase says sheloves working outside and being able to create art with beautiful plans
Kristy Boase says sheloves working outside and being able to create art with beautiful plans
MIL-SPEC Landscaping

Landscaping pros have always been predominantly male, but more women are working in the industry today than ever before.

Ramona Mullins, owner of Mullins Lawn Enforcement and Kristy Boase, co-owner of MIL-SPEC Landscaping haven’t been slowed down due to their gender. Both Jobber customers, the duo have faced their share of adversity and benefits of owning their companies. They also share a passion of the outdoors.

Mullins, who has been in business for 11 years, almost stumbled into owning a landscaping business. Her husband was deployed overseas, and she needed to get a new mower.Mullins Lawn Enforcement

“I went into Home Depot with the intention of buying a small push mower, but instead I came out with a large commercial mower, which I learned how to use in the parking lot,” she says. “I put an advertisement in the paper and my businesses started there.”

Prior to starting the business, she had previously run a children’s before- and after-care program out of her house, but when the family moved to a new house, it wasn’t allowed due to HOA restrictions and Mullins Lawn Enforcement was the result.

Boase says she just loves working outside and being able to create art with beautiful plans and different substrates for clients. Celebrating 5 years in business, she says for her, the best part is the transformation.

“The design process is very artistic with infinite possibilities,” she says. “It allows me to take a client’s vision and turn it into reality for them.”

Overcoming obstacles

Neither of the women said the drawbacks of having a female-owned business are that severe. For both, when someone asks for the owner, there is on occasion that moment of shock when they explain that they are the owner.

“It is not necessarily an obstacle, rather an assumption that many guys make right off the bat since it is a male dominated industry,” Boase says. “Everyone laughs about it later and we generally just roll with it, so feelings don't get hurt.”

Rather than a challenge, both seems to find that having a female-owned landscaping business has quite a few advantages.“If you're a woman and want to dominate a male industry, be more knowledgeable than the men,” Kristy Boase says.“If you're a woman and want to dominate a male industry, be more knowledgeable than the men,” Kristy Boase says.MIL-SPEC Landscaping

“It provides me a competitive edge because it usually falls on women to care for homes and pay the bills, so most people who are seeking lawncare services are already women,” Mullins says.

Continuing, she says in her military small town, it’s mostly the women that are home while their husbands are deployed, and they feel more comfortable dealing with another female than they do a male.

For Boase, she flourishes in her ability to bring a feminine artistic flair to the design process when talking with female clients. “It definitely puts the wives more at ease to know that they can speak to another woman and to see another woman on their property,” she says.

Mullins estimates that 90 percent of her customers choose her company because it is female owned.

“When it comes to landscaping, I’m mostly dealing with other women who are making those decisions. They tell me “I want pretty flowers!” or something along those lines,” she says.

Of course, for both, there are some obstacles, like not being able to physically lift as much as a man. “When I first started, I focused on the things I was good at like cutting bushes, laying down mulch, mowing and gardening,” Mullins says. “My skills have only grown from there.”

Moving forward

Ignore the doubters.

“The men in my life suggested I could not run a successful company because I was a woman,” Mullins says. “Aspiring female entrepreneurs need to turn this skepticism into fuel when starting a business. Once their company is up and running, they will see the rewards.”

Boase agrees, suggesting that the best way for a woman to be successful in the is to go all in.

“Dedicate yourself to being a lifelong learner and build your knowledge portfolio before jumping in the ring,” she says. “You want to be able to look at a clients’ current landscaping, rattle off all the names of each plant without hesitation, and then provide educated design options based on your USDA zone, front row, back row, shade, sun, part shade, part sun, width, height, type of soil specific plants grow in... this list could go on and on”

She suggests partnering with a local nursey and learning to speak in the plant’s scientific name, not the common name.

“If you're a woman and want to dominate a male industry, be more knowledgeable than the men,” Boase says. “The running joke that Brian tells all of his male counterparts is that they need to go find themselves their own Kristy.”

Overall, the green industry seems to be getting better at accepting women.Ramona Mullins, owner of Mullins Lawn Enforcement encourages people to be the best they can be and take pride in what they do.Ramona Mullins, owner of Mullins Lawn Enforcement encourages people to be the best they can be and take pride in what they do.Mullins Lawn Enforcement

“I see more landscape companies hiring more women into the field today,” Mullins says. “That said, I still don’t think that women are starting their own landscaping business, most women that I know in the field are in it because their husband started the business, and they help when it comes to scheduling and invoices.”

Working alongside her husband Brian, Boase says she sees how he looks at things differently than her and is blunt.

“Women bring a different perspective, we hear things differently when clients are explaining their vision, we generally focus more on how we can make the client happy, etc.,” Boase says.

“He always laughs and tells me that we're there to fix things for them, while I am trying to get him to compliment at least one thing in their yard vs telling them all the things he's going to fix,” she says. “I do believe it's why we work so well together though. He's blunt and is focused on fixing everything for our clients, while I am more sensitive to their overall vision.”

Some landscaping companies will hire only men.

“I just had a girl I hired this year that applied to several companies and none would hire her because she was a woman,” Mullins says. “That loss was my gain, women are empathetic with customers and tend to have greater attention to detail.”

When approached by women like her recent hire who have been turned away, she views it as an opportunity to equip them with the skills they need to set off on their own.

“I don’t hire people to keep them here, but to make them the best they can be,” Mullins says. “If they have the initiative to start their own business, I’m all about helping others create their own future.”

She knows from personal experience that women often get told they can’t do something.

“We need to encourage people to be the best they can be and take pride in what they do, that will create a lot of change,” Mullins says.

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