If you Google “Is landscaping a seasonal job?” You’ll notice the first thing that pops up, reads like this: “The landscape industry is a seasonal business because there's a growing season when more maintenance is required to care for clients' properties. ... You're hired for the busy season to perform a job, then laid off”

While even those who have worked landscaping jobs may assume this as common knowledge, Mark Aquilino has spent enough years in the trenches to know that’s not necessarily true. 

The now 32 year old president of Outdoor Pride Landscaping Inc, Mark spent a majority of his formative years knee deep in the landscaping industry. His father, Outdoor Pride's former President, utilized his entrepreneurial skills to build the bones of what is now a $10 million plus a year business. “I got paid, when I was 12 years old, in Frostys at Wendys just to go in and help out. By the time Mark was 27, the need for advanced technology and robust finances needed to scale his business had outdated his fathers expertise and he looked to Mark to carry the torch. 

While it may seem easy to assume Mark's early success with the family business was a cakewalk, his story runs deeper than that.  Over the years since he’s taking the helm, Mark has worked tirelessly to build a structure that favors teamwork over strategy. “We are so driven and focused on our team members...I am a firm believer that culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Not only has Mark built a viable culture, but he’s done the unthinkable and transformed the stereotypical seasonal landscaping gig into a platform that is able to sustain over 70 employees year round.

Listen in to this riveting conversation as we hear about Mark's full background, how he quadrupled his family business, and why he thinks landscaping is a missed career opportunity.