Today we’d like to introduce you to Madison Gardner.
Madison, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I grew up in the Park Cities and had always wanted to operate a small business locally. I studied Finance and Spanish at The University of Texas, then came back to Dallas and started working in private equity and then for a boutique management consulting firm. I loved learning about different businesses but was hoping that someday I would find a small business to purchase and run.
I looked at several different businesses and heard that Lawns of Dallas might be for sale. I had heard of the company growing up because they have such a large presence in the community but didn’t really know much other than the founder started it almost 40 years ago mowing lawns in University Park. It initially appealed to me because the business is so relational, and you can see the impact you are making. I liked the idea of helping make my hometown more beautiful and it felt like a very tangible way to serve people. I was connected to the founder over lunch and then completed the purchase five months later.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Every business has struggles and growing pains along the way and our journey is no different. Changing ownership for the team was a huge adjustment for everyone. The first year, I was mainly focused on learning all facets of the business and improving our internal systems and procedures for how we could provide the highest quality and the best service.
One of the biggest struggles was getting the right people in the right places. At times, I felt like a full-time recruiter on the phone and in-person to find the right people. In the past two years, we have grown from around 50 to now over 100 team members. (And we are still hiring!) We have some of the best people in the industry and know that is a tremendous blessing.
Despite growing pains, we’ve taken a long-term view, both internally with big investments in our team and externally with our customers. We have great customers and when we have made mistakes associated with our growing pains, we’ve acknowledged them and tried to go the extra mile in our service. We want to be around for another 40 years and want every customer to have a pleasant experience. We are always trying to keep improving and we want to see any struggle as an opportunity to become better.
Please tell us about Lawns of Dallas.
We are a full-service landscape design, build, maintenance, irrigation, and tree care company with a knowledgeable and professional staff of horticulturists, arborists, irrigators, etc. We service residential clients in the Park Cities, Preston Hollow, Devonshire, Bluffview, and North Dallas. We also have a commercial division that serves clients all over DFW with office buildings, HOAs, hospitals, corporate campuses, retirement communities, etc. On the construction side, we can build anything outside the home including hardscape, plantings, fireplaces, patios, fences, artificial turf, pools, large trees, etc. The properties that we take care of have a full-service maintenance plan that includes all the regular mowing, pruning, fertilization, irrigation, etc. We strive to take care of our customers’ properties so they can simply enjoy it.
I am most proud of the team that we have and our relentless pursuit of excellence in everything we do. We have found that striving for excellence gives our team members great dignity and our customers want to keep doing business with us. It is an honor to have the opportunity to help beautify the city of Dallas and be a trusted service provider. It is very rewarding to contribute to the neighborhood that I grew up in and also the opportunity to meet so many different people. We have a rich history of being involved in well-known properties such as Highland Park Village, the Town of Highland Park, the Harwood District and the Uptown District.
One thing that sets us apart is that we strive to be a team of professionals in the landscape industry and not just landscapers that happen to work in a business. We have a team of industry experts with deep knowledge of horticulture, agronomy, arbor care, irrigation, etc. This allows us to have a higher bar for excellence in what we do.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
So many of my favorite memories involve going to my family ranch in Central Texas. I loved being able to play outside and there was always plenty of fun ranch adventures to be had. I also enjoyed being able to grow up in the contrasting lifestyles of the city and the country. I think this has helped me to be able to relate to people and taught me the value of hard work.
Contact Info:
- Address: 8400 Ambassador Row
Dallas, TX 75247 - Website: www.lawnsofdallas.com
- Phone: 214-357-6522
- Email: info@lawnsofdallas.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawnsofdallas/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LawnsOfDallas/
Suggest a story: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
