Ep 18: Leslie Halleck, Certified Professional Horticulturist & Owner of Halleck Horticultural

And just pulling on it there a little bit, like, what do you think? Why do you think folks in this industry have such a hard time translating this sort of horticultural science or kind of grower background to the sort of average home gardener? Like, where does that disconnect happen? And how do you recommend folks in the industry try to better empathize with that person?

Yeah, I think a problem that's, and I'll go back to explaining it, I think a problem that's created by this disconnect you're talking about is a poor perception of value of gardening services and products by the consumer, right? It's tough.

People don't really want to pay what things are worth, products and services-wise, but that's because they don't really understand value.

our profession, they don't understand horticulture or the gardening industry, they have no idea what goes into bringing a plant to market.

They have no idea the years and years and years and the amount of resources invested in that because our industry does not do a good job of marketing and communication, which is actually how I ended up having a business in the first place.

I started Helicorticultural thinking initially about Oh, I would do horticultural consulting, which is what I had been doing kind of part time with my business for years.

And then after I resigned, after I turned in my resignation and gave him 30 days notice, I had this epiphany, completely rewrote my business plan and realized, no, I am really good at communicating.

the horticultural science, what we do and how to use it.

And that's what our industry struggles to do.

So I am going to be that outsourced person who can do that, who can take that technical information and turn it into something applicable for people in a way that communicates value to everybody.

That's where we get lost.

A lot of plant people Our plant nerds, a lot of people who are working on soils, people who are working on ecology or restoration, you know, it's very easy for us to get wrapped up in our little bubble in what we do in the sciences.

Communication skills don't always come packaged with that passion.

Right.

And I think that.

That is a necessary part of doing business in the gardening and horticulture industry is that to be a good marketer, you have to be a good educator.

We work in a science-based industry.

And unless you're willing to take the time To really get to know your customer and resonate with them and understand what language they're looking for.

To communicate that value about what they want, need, and when you want them to need it and want it.

You know, that's where things get lost in translation between the industry and the consumer.

So I've always felt like I'm a bridge.

That's my job to do that work.

But, yeah, I mean, I think marketing is also hard.

Communication and marketing, it takes up a lot of time.

And I think in our industry, too often people who are already doing other jobs get stuck with marketing, get stuck with the social media channels.