This week on Trades Talk, host Justin White sits down with Cole Weller, co-founder of Weller Brothers Landscape Professionals, a company that started as a high school side hustle and grew into a multi-branch, multi-million dollar business serving the Midwest.

Headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Weller Brothers now employs over 200 people and operates in Rochester, Minnesota and Des Moines, Iowa. The company offers a full range of services, from commercial and residential maintenance to residential construction, and recently expanded into pool construction and service—now accounting for nearly 20 percent of their revenue.

In this episode, Cole shares:

• How becoming a father shifted his approach to business and growth

Cole also reflects on the personal milestone of buying a home that was one of the first lawns he ever mowed as a teen. If you’re looking for real talk on scaling, team building, and staying grounded through growth, this episode is a must-listen.

This weekly update comes from Las Vegas, where Justin's at the Lawn and Landscape Technology Conference. The have brought together over a thousand professionals to explore the future of the industry. From robotic mowers to AI-powered estimating tools, the message was clear: technology is becoming a core part of how landscaping businesses will operate.

Robotic mowers were front and center, with manufacturers like Scythe and Kress showcasing autonomous machines that charge themselves and maintain perfectly trimmed turf. Experts predict they will make up 50 percent of the market by 2027 or 2028.

Artificial intelligence also took the spotlight. Tools like BobYard and Deep Lawn are already helping teams measure properties, automate takeoffs, and generate budgets with minimal input. The concept of fully autonomous AI agents handling tasks like reporting, budgeting, and scheduling is quickly becoming a reality.

In this episode, we cover:

If you're thinking about what technology your company needs to adopt next, this episode will give you a clear look at where the industry is heading.

This week on Trades Talk, host Justin White talks with Tiffany Peters, the newly appointed President of North by Northwest, a family-owned landscaping business in Austin, Texas.

Founded by her parents in 2003, North by Northwest started as a small residential mowing company with just 20 employees and $1 million in annual revenue. Tiffany grew up with the business—but wasn’t always sure she wanted to be part of it.

After college and a brief move to Houston, she returned home and found herself stepping into a crucial role: building office systems from the ground up. What started as being the sole admin turned into a leadership journey rooted in process, autonomy, and growth.

In this episode, Tiffany shares:

How she evolved from “just helping out” to running the show

The leap from family-run to structured and scalable

The dynamic of working alongside her brother Jordan, who brought design and sales firepower

The balance between family loyalty and business responsibility

Why she’s driven to lead without micromanaging and how that shaped the company’s culture

Tiffany describes the business as a “gang” she was born into and ultimately chose to grow. If you’ve ever wrestled with joining (or staying in) the family business, this episode is for you.

In this week’s episode of Trades Talk, Justin White delivers a direct and practical breakdown of what it takes to grow a landscaping business that is truly built to last. He challenges the common mindset that success in the trades is just about working harder and taking on more jobs. Instead, he introduces a bigger vision: one focused on building lasting value, creating systems, and developing a company that can thrive beyond the day to day grind.

Justin walks through five essential pillars that define a scalable and valuable business. These include setting a clear long term vision, building a strong company culture rooted in core values, implementing a thoughtful and profitable sales strategy, creating consistent operational processes through standard procedures, and maintaining full financial transparency. Each element is explained with clarity and purpose, giving business owners a real framework to evaluate and improve their operations.

This episode is a must listen for anyone serious about transforming their landscaping business into a long term asset. Justin offers a clear path from sweat equity to generational wealth, showing how to build not just a business, but a legacy. Whether you are just starting out or looking to scale, this conversation will help you rethink your approach and take the next step forward.

In this episode of TradesTalk, Justin White sits down with Christian Heaviland to unpack the evolution of a family landscaping business into a major acquisition by BrightView. Christian shares what it was like growing up in the green industry, the behind-the-scenes of selling a company, and how he’s navigating the current wave of private equity interest flooding the market.

They dig into the real challenges facing landscape companies today: labor shortages, tight margins, and the increasing pressure to operate as a low-cost provider. Christian breaks down why design-build services are gaining traction, how to position your business for exit, and why a strong M&A attorney can be your greatest asset.

Whether you're running a growing operation or planning your next strategic move, this episode is full of real-world insight on how to stay lean, stand out, and scale smart.

In this week’s episode of TradesTalk, Justin White shares what’s happening behind the scenes at K&D Landscaping as the company navigates Q3 of 2025. With $20 million in annual revenue, Justin breaks down how his team is aligning for continued growth, investing in people, and doubling down on strategic clarity.

He also previews two major industry events: The Lean Scaper Conference in Charlotte, where he’ll speak on Sweat Equity, and the Lawn & Landscape Tech Conference in Vegas, where the Disruptors will host the Disruptor Social on July 24th atop Old Red with live music, drinks, and a killer view.

Other highlights include:

A behind-the-scenes look at quarterly planning and company-wide alignment

Why “Speed over Perfection” is driving key decisions at K&D

How the Employee Success Team is building internal leaders using tools like Green Yes

An economic forecast and why Justin’s bullish on Q4 2025 and beyond

A vision for scalable growth, onboarding excellence, and staying true to what K&D does best

This episode is a must-listen for anyone building a business, leading a team, or planning for long-term growth in the trades.

In this episode of TradesTalk, Justin White sits down with Mark Sedgley, CEO of the newly merged LMN and SingleOps, to unpack his unexpected journey from mowing lawns in high school to leading one of the largest software platforms in the green industry.

Mark reflects on a career that spans teaching English in Poland, building a 300-student academy, entering the tech world through startups, and eventually running high-growth companies backed by private equity. Along the way, he’s led multiple acquisitions, prioritized people over process, and scaled culture-first organizations.

They explore what makes the landscape industry so unique: its strong sense of community, opportunity for organic growth, and its massive tech adoption gap. Mark also shares his vision for LMN and SingleOps: a connected ecosystem of tools that helps landscape companies estimate, schedule, invoice, and manage reputation from one platform.

If you’re looking to lead with purpose, embrace growth, and understand what it takes to build real systems that scale, this conversation delivers.

🎙️ Trades Talk Weekly Update #5: Own Your Three – Taking Control & Planning for Success

In this week’s episode of Trades Talk, host Justin White discusses the planning sessions for Quarter Three at K&D Landscaping, emphasizing the importance of setting three key goals, performance indicators, and daily non-negotiables — the foundation of K&D’s quarterly theme: Own Your Three.

Justin reflects on the significance of the 4th of July as a time to celebrate freedom and opportunity, inspiring listeners to take actionable steps toward their goals. He highlights how easy it is today to access the resources and knowledge needed to succeed and encourages everyone to pursue their aspirations with a focus on incremental progress. This episode offers practical strategies and a motivating perspective for anyone ready to stop drifting and start leading their life and business with intention.

Follow Justin: 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-white-%E2%98%85-35b7a210b/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justinwhiteceo/

Disruptors Community: https://www.skool.com/disruptors/about?ref=b2e0b0f99ef04679a485c3753267f34f 

In this episode of TradesTalk, Justin White sits down with Tony Battistella, the new Director of Growth at K & D Landscaping, to talk about how the industry is changing and what still matters most. Tony walks through his journey from park service attendant at 16 to running his own business in New Zealand, and now helping lead one of California’s fastest growing landscape companies. Along the way, he’s worked at nearly every level of the trade and brings a rare, well-rounded perspective to leadership and growth.

The two dive into how AI and automation are beginning to shift the trades, but Tony makes the case that human connection and soft skills will never be replaced. They explore why landscaping is likely to be one of the last industries to fully automate, and what that means for future hiring, training, and growth. Tony also breaks down what great account managers actually do — not just keeping clients happy, but becoming the key link between sales, operations, and long-term retention.

They also talk about the next generation of workers and how to build teams that can adapt, communicate, and thrive in a world where technology is everywhere  but authenticity is getting harder to find. With stories from the field, lessons learned from failure, and a mindset rooted in progress over perfection, Tony shares a fresh, grounded vision for what leadership in landscaping should look like.

In this episode of TradesTalk, Justin White breaks down why midyear alignment is a non-negotiable for business leaders looking to finish the year strong. He shares a practical framework that includes leadership planning sessions, departmental check-ins, and all-hands meetings designed to align goals, clarify roles, and create momentum across the organization.

Justin also emphasizes the connection between strategic planning and team culture: noting how honest communication, team-building, and goal-setting fuel both business growth and personal fulfillment. From navigating global distractions to resetting metrics and priorities, this episode is a must-listen for anyone looking to build a high-performance team.

Whether you're running a company or managing a department, you’ll leave with a roadmap for reigniting focus, communication, and accountability for the back half of the year.