FRIEND REQUEST: JOEL JOHNSON OF HATTON LANDSCAPES

Joel Johnson started his own business at only 20 years old after years of helping his father with landscaping as a kid. Seeing the grit of his father’s work ethic, feeling the fresh air on his face, and knowing the creative potential in a client’s property are just a few of the things that drive his success each day.

LOCAL 219: Let’s dive in. Was it your childhood, hobbies or random circumstances that led you to this position?

JOEL JOHNSON: I would say it was all childhood. Growing up my dad would landscape our house like crazy. He loved gardening. He did that when I was in high school so growing up, we were always planting flowers. He was very big into that.

I remember as a kid people would come to the house and tour all the landscaping with my dad. So that was a huge motivating factory to get into it, and I enjoyed it. When the opportunity came I kind of felt like I knew what I was doing because I had grown up doing it around the house. So yeah, my dad was the inspiration for it.

L219: How was this opportunity presented to you?

JJ: I actually was connected to someone through my church. It was such a weird scenario. Someone, I had never met before, and I just started talking, and he had a few lawn accounts he did on the weekend, but he was getting ready to move for a job opportunity. So, I kind of bought his list of customers, and his mower, and then just started doing it out of my parent’s garage then expanded it a little bit from there.

L219: What an awesome collision of circumstances. What gets you out of bed in the morning? What sets your identity apart?

JJ: That’s a good question. I really love what we do. There’s so much variety in it; every day we’re kind of doing something different and new, and I enjoy being outside. So, it’s the perfect mix for me. Being in the fresh air, outside, working with my hands.

It’s motivating to get out and do it.

L219: Not many people are excited to go to work in the morning. To be able to wake up, look forward to the day ahead, and have fun with what you’re doing for a living, is so valuable.

JJ: I think seeing the change that we bring to people’s yard is just satisfying, you know, to see that before and after. So that’s really what inspires me is, I just love it.  As far as like the office work and stuff, when I get into that mode, it’s hard for me.

L219: Agreed. If I’m behind a computer screen for too long, I just feel like the life’s being sucked out of me. I need engagement and interaction with people.

JJ: Yeah, that is so how I feel. My passion is in the field, building the work, doing the projects. I want to be able to do this for the rest of my life. That’s really a driving force.

Even just seeing some of the recent progress we’ve had. It was five, six years where we just trimmed bushes, mowed yards, spread mulch, and that I wasn’t so passionate about, but now we have people that finally trust us to do these big projects. It’s motivating to see the progress we’ve made.

L219: Who has been the biggest influence in your life?

JJ: I think it goes back to my dad, for real.

Growing up I always saw him as such a hard worker and it’s like burned in my brain being in the backyard, landscaping with him, and we’re both covered in sweat. It’s a hot summer day, and he’d just look at me, and be like, “You know, there’s nothing better than that first sweat,” and I loved that in him. He’d go to work all day and then come home and work hard again.

L219: You remember the grit.

JJ: Even as a kid when he was getting his doctorate, that was with six kids. He would go to work ‘til five o’clock, come home to be with the family, and then go to the office until one to two in the morning to work on his degree then wake up and do it all again.

So, I saw that in him at a young age, where he was pushing himself, and really doing hard things.

L219: When you see people commit to the process, in the midst of so many responsibilities, it’s difficult to come up with excuses as to why you’re not pursuing a dream or reaching a goal.

JJ: Exactly, and even just his vision for the church. He’s been a visionary who’s gone after it and seen it come to life.

L219: I think we’ll always end up regretting the visions, and true passions of our heart, that we deemed impossible and chose to let go of. I’m glad your father has held onto his. What do you feel is the biggest lesson you’ve learned along the way?

JJ: I would say a huge thing is knowing your worth. There were years where we were doing projects, barely scraping by, and that’s great when you’re starting out but that was the hardest thing for me. I always felt like just the kid with a bunch of tools, but then  learned how to grow and feel validated in myself, that personal pride that we are running a business. We’re not just a bunch of kids with a name and cards.

Grow some confidence in yourself.

Another big motivator has been my big brother, who lives in Colorado. Ronnie has been so huge in my life; just providing that encouragement of knowing your worth and charging what you’re worth. When you feel really, small it’s so important that you have someone in your corner that can speak life to you. He’s been that for me. I really believe apart from him and my dad, I don’t think I’d be doing this, because they’ve been there to be such a source of encouragement for me.

L219: We’ve touched on this a little, but what do you enjoy most about your job?

JJ: I would say recently my favorite part has really been the designing, doing the drawings and all of that. I had a mentor in my life share one time: he’s like, “I quit quoting people what they thought they wanted and now show them what they could have.” Some people will be like, “I just want a little patio and a fire pit,” but it’s like…

L219: You can make them a kingdom.

JJ: Yes. Being able to be that visionary to show people what their yard is capable of has been so fun. That’s probably my favorite part: having that clean slate where we can just come in and really ask people, “Did you know, you can do a waterfall with a bridge?”  Just all these ideas. I feel like this is what I’m created to do.

I remember when we had no patio projects, nobody was calling us for that. I would go to the office and design a patio for a customer that didn’t exist, because I wanted to be ready when those opportunities came. I think that’s super important too: find what you can do and do it. Literally there’s a bunch of designs I posted on Facebook that were for no one, but it was to create the vision of what we can do, you know?

When you’re doing your own thing and starting out really small I think it’s so important that you, number one, set yourself goals that scare you, and then second ask, “What can I do literally today to start learning and growing that craft?”

L219: I love the creative potential you have transforming the yards where people will be hosting, their kids will play, an area for them to relax; you’re making little sanctuaries for people.

JJ: Yeah, absolutely. That’s really our vision now. We started a lot of maintenance work, yard work, which again I love, but now we get to see that transition into turning people’s backyard into their own little paradise, or they’re get away. Creating spaces, they don’t want to leave.