The GROW! Show

Marty Grunder
  • 5.0 (41)
  • MANAGEMENT
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

The GROW! Show is a show that highlights Marty Grunder's annual conference, GROW!. The GROW! show will showcase how anyone in the green industry can grow themselves, their team, and their business.

  1. 5D AGO

    Interview Series: Megan Parker on Leadership and Accountability in Action at Landscaping Companies

    In this episode, Marty Grunder is joined by executive coach Megan Parker whose coaching has been instrumental in many landscaping companies' success and whose sessions at past GROW sessions have helped managers become the leaders their teams need. They talk about accountability as leaders and how to encourage accountability among their teams. Sign up for Grow 2026! ACE Peer Groups StrengthsFinder 2.0 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Leave a Review for the Grow Show! ️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  Subscribe to Our Youtube Channel! Episode Timestamps 00:30 - Introduction & Welcome 02:40 - Megan’s Background and Connection to Landscaping 04:52 - The Importance of Accountability 10:01 - Skill and Will in Leadership 11:56 - Practical Tools for Accountability 16:47 - Advice for Landscaping Business Owners 22:33 - What to Expect at Grow 2026 Key Learnings Accountability Is a $10 Word That Gets a Bad Rap – Accountability is one of those $10 words. It's a great word, but a lot of times I find that people don't really know what accountability means or how to do it. When you think of accountability, what word or feeling comes to mind? My guess is your reaction might not have been a positive one.  The Three Key Ingredients of Accountability – First, you have to have clear expectations. If we are not on the same page about how to plant a tree, then you can't hold me accountable for the way the tree was planted. Second, we need to have resources. I have to have the ability to do my job. Third, those consequences. If you and I are not clear on what happens as a result of a failure to meet those expectations, then you can't truly hold me accountable. Skill and Will: Why Accountability Is So Hard – When I think about why it is so hard, I think about two things: skill and will. Does the person have the skill to do it? And do they have the will to hold someone accountable? Skill means do I know how to hold people accountable? Do I literally know how to have a conversation without flying off the handle? Will is, am I willing to hold people accountable, to be the bad guy, to worry about what people will think of me? Flying Off the Handle Sends People Into Fight, Flight, or Freeze – You're gonna send people into fight, flight, or freeze mode. Everyone will have one of those three reactions. When you go into that mode without the skill to have that conversation, you're gonna send people into fight, flight, or freeze mode, and nothing productive is gonna come from that. That's why the skill part is really important. A-Players Don't Want to Work With People Who Aren't A-Players – Do you want to work for someone who will not hold you accountable? The answer is typically no. The biggest issue with people who aren't pulling their weight is that other A-players do not want to work with people who are not A-players. Your best employees, your A-players, they want to be held to a high standard. They want to be held accountable, and they want others on the team to be held to that same standard. The Pilot Never Says "Let Me Call My Supervisor" – Your expectation for the pilot is that they need to get a plane full of people to the destination safely. If you're flying through a storm, you can adjust altitude or fly around it. Never once have you ever heard the pilot say, "I need to reroute, but I need to call my supervisor and ask him." You don't want your clients feeling like the perso...

    29 min

  2. JAN 7

    What We'll Learn at GROW! 2026

    In this episode of The Grow Show, Vince Torchia and Emily Lindley detail the planning that has gone into GROW! 2026, what will be different about this year's event, and how landscape pros can get the most out of this learning experience - whether they attend or not. Sign up for Grow 2026! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Leave a Review for the Grow Show! ️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  Subscribe to Our Youtube Channel! Episode Timestamps 00:50 - Introduction to Grow 2026 02:04 - Insights from the Peer Groups 03:45 - Event Space and Logistics 04:50 - Changes to the Tour Schedule and Innovations 08:20 - Networking and Dining Rounds 10:27 - Maximizing Your Event Experience 14:18 - Ways to Follow Grow 2026 Key Learnings We're Expecting About 1,000 More People Than 10 Years Ago – Complete Land Sculpture hosted this event 10 years ago in 2016. We had about 225 people. We might have a thousand more people than that for 2026. Gene and Chris have been to every Grow since 2016, so they have awesome ideas and know how they want their tour to run. More Space Than Last Year—No Crowded Escalators – Last year we had an awesome event in Columbus hosted by Hidden Creek. We had a lot of late signups, which we loved, but there were some tight breakout rooms, tight space with sponsors at happy hours. Other than escalators working in Dallas, I am excited that we have larger space this year—more space in our main stage room, breakout rooms, and general function area. The Tour Is Reinvented: Fewer Stations, More Time – Gene and Chris put together a really good tour schedule that involves less stations that are longer. So we have more time in stations, less movement of people, some more movement of presenters, and finally an actual formal walking tour of the facility. We've also taken some of those tour stations and brought them back to the hotel. Divide and Conquer Breakout Sessions as a Team – I would set up a meeting two weeks before the event with all the people from your team who are attending. Look at the agenda, pick out which breakout sessions everybody's going to. What I would recommend is that teams divide and conquer. Don't all go to the same breakout session. Take your notes and come back together to share knowledge from all the different sessions. Set a Pre-Event and Post-Event Team Meeting – During that pre-event meeting, talk about dine arounds, dinner reservations, what you want to get out of it as a team. Is there a specific challenge you're facing that you really want to find an answer to at Grow? After the event, do a debrief. Talk about breakout sessions, notes, takeaways, action items. Narrow down everything to five things you're gonna implement over the next year. Think: Today, 30 Days, 60-90 Days – Think about what's one thing you're gonna get done today, what's low hanging fruit you can get done right away when you get back home. What's something you're gonna get done in the next 30 days? And then what's something you're gonna get done in the next 60 or 90 days? Make it a manageable to-do list so it doesn't just live in a notebook. We Listen to 210+ Companies to Build the Agenda – We're always listening to not only what we're experiencing at Grunder Landscaping Company, but also taking a deep dive into the over 210 companies that we have in our ACE peer groups. We take into account all those meetings, conversations, accountability calls, and naturally things just bubble up to the top. We'll have more breakout sessions than we've ever had this year. Resources:

    16 min

  3. 12/31/2025

    Strategy: Setting Your New Year Up for Success

    In this episode, Vince Torchia shares how he sees landscaping companies set their year up for success early with planning, refining messaging, defining the wins, and communicating all of this with teams. He shares the themes that have driven Grunder Landscaping's growth and messaging, and how to evaluate where your focus should be for 2026. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Leave a Review for the Grow Show! ️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  Subscribe to Our Youtube Channel! Episode Timestamps 01:32 Setting Up for Success: The Importance of a Yearly Theme 05:05 Recognizing and Appreciating Your Team 09:45 Effective Communication Strategies for 2026 13:54 Conclusion and Upcoming Events Resources: Virtual Sales Bootcamp   Grunder Landscaping Field Trips   The Grow Group    Grunder Landscaping    Marty Grunder LinkedIn   Stihl   Key Learnings 1. PICK YOUR THEME What is your theme for 2026? Is it a culture year? A sales year? An operational efficiency year? There are no right or wrong themes Think about 2025, think about what needs to happen in 2026 Kick it around with managers, leaders, salespeople Examples: "Back to Basics," "Grow Maintenance," "Be the Buffalo" How will you communicate it? End meetings with it? Recognize people for living it? 2. RECOGNIZE THE UNDERAPPRECIATED Team Members: Who needs to feel the love? Thank you notes, praising in public, opportunities for advancement Clients: Who never complains, always pays on time, refers business, but we take for granted? Vendors/Subs: Who springs into action when we need them? Who's making things happen for our business? Host a luncheon, be top of mind for referrals, bring them a meal, recognize their team 3. CREATE YOUR COMMUNICATION PLAN Put communication on your calendar for what's happening in the business At Grunder: Monthly "Grow Meeting" - state of the union, all hands on deck, same message at the same time Do you have monthly meetings? Scoreboards? Written communication in English and Spanish? Chart the course so no team member ever has to ask: How are we doing? Where are we trending? What's the update? Reflection Questions If you asked your entire team right now "What's our theme for 2026?"—would they all say the same thing, or would you get blank stares? Who are the three most underappreciated people in your business (team members, clients, or vendors) who deserve recognition but never get it b...

    15 min

  4. 12/24/2025

    Leadership: How to Use the Holiday Week as a Quiet Advantage

    Happy Holidays listeners! In this episode of The Grow Show, Marty Grunder shares the routine he follows during a holiday week to make equal time for recharging, reflecting, and resetting. Make time for yourself and your loved ones, but don't miss the opportunity to set your 2026 up for success in this final week of the year. Dorothy Lane Market Stihl GTA 26 Cordless Pruner (Complete the challenge below to have a chance to win!)  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Leave a Review for the Grow Show! ️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  Subscribe to Our Youtube Channel! Episode Timestamps 01:47 - The Holiday Dilemma for Landscapers 02:32 - Managing the Week Between Christmas and New Year’s 05:03 - Recharge, Reflect, and Reset: The Three Buckets 05:45 - Five Practical Areas to Focus On 08:25 - The Grow Show Christmas Week Challenge 10:03 - Please Share & Subscribe! Resources: Virtual Sales Bootcamp   Grunder Landscaping Field Trips   The Grow Group    Grunder Landscaping    Marty Grunder LinkedIn   Stihl   Key Learnings How You Manage This Week Says a Lot About How You Manage Your Business – The worst thing you can do is let this week become a Netflix sit-around, eat junk, do nothing this week. That's not good. If you spend six to 10 hours the week between Christmas and New Year's, you'll return to work January 2nd seeing your business in a whole new focused way. Resting Is Okay, Drifting Is Dangerous – I organize this week around three buckets: Recharge, Reflect, and Reset. Recharge is time with family. Reflect means looking at reality, the good, the bad, and the painful truth. Reset means making decisions—what will I stop doing? What will I delegate? What am I gonna double down on? I Get to the Coffee Shop at 5:45 AM While My Family Sleeps In – I head to a coffee shop around 5:45 AM on the days they're open, even though I don't drink coffee, because I like that environment. I open my calendar, scroll month by month. What felt heavy? Where did we have callbacks? Where was I overwhelmed? I delve into Aspire, check dials, reports, numbers, because data doesn't lie. All Planning Is Good, But Planning Only Happens When You're Intentional – You've heard me say this many times. All planning is good. Credit to Dave Sullivan from 1997. This process I'm sharing with you is planning. At some point you're gonna have to say, I'm getting my act together. This is that week. Chaos Is Really Expensive, Order Pays Dividends – People come in my garage and they say, my goodness, what happened here? You could eat off the floor. It's always like that. I guess it's my OCD, but I just feel so much more in control when I have things organized. Chaos is really expensive, folks. Order pays dividends. The Daily Rhythm for Winning This Week Each Day: One hour in the morning for yourself

    11 min

  5. 12/17/2025

    What Marty Learned While Previewing the GROW! 2026 Tour of Complete Landsculpture

    In this episode, Marty details what the Complete Landsculpture team shared during our tour session rehearsals that had him frantically scribbling down notes to help the team back at home. He shares what impressed him from this, and then what he's working with his own team to implement as a result. Cookie Recipe Sign up for Grow 2026! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Leave a Review for the Grow Show! ️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  Subscribe to Our Youtube Channel! Episode Timestamps 00:54 - Upcoming Grow 2026 Event in Dallas 03:29 - The Four P’s Framework 06:39 - Focus on Your People 08:41 - Process Excellence at Complete Landsculpture 12:20 - Insights on Procurement and Profits 14:03 - Sign up for Grow 2026! 16:09 - Please Share & Subscribe! Resources: Virtual Sales Bootcamp   Grunder Landscaping Field Trips   The Grow Group    Grunder Landscaping    Marty Grunder LinkedIn   Stihl   Key Learnings Every Presenter Mentioned Their Mission and Focus – Complete Land Sculpture's mission is to create complete outdoor client experiences and exceed those expectations. They're fanatical about it. Every single one of them mentioned that main focus in their presentation. Even HR mentioned that maintenance is their focus of growth right now. I was listening to people that weren't at the top of the org chart talking about the value of doing maintenance and the reoccurring revenue. Your External Customer Service Will Never Exceed Your Internal Customer Service – When I see a company that offers good service, I know that the team is well managed. The team knows that people care about them, and that's just a byproduct of taking care of your team. The place oozes with consistency of the brand, the looks, the smells, the way the office and the shop and the grounds are set up. They Give Clients a Weekly State of the Union Email – They communicate well with their clients, giving them a weekly state of the union email with full reports—amazing detailed reports with photos of how the job's gone. They do a complete budget, but then they put the budget into the months that they think their client could spend and they give them the budget. Many of their property managers struggle with that, so they try to make it easy on them. Take 5-7 Clients to Lunch and Ask for Feedback – Scott said they take five to seven clients to lunch and ask them how they're doing, ask for feedback. It goes over well because it's five to seven clients that are in the similar industry, real estate, and they like talking with each other. He said, we know we're good and we don't have anything to hide. So we have a conversation with them about what we can do better. Procurement Is Where Most Companies Waste Money – Xavier handles procurement for Complete Landsculpture. He didn't look at his slides, didn't look at his notes. Gene said, we can tell you know what you're doing. Xavier said, I don't have to look at them, this is what I do all day. It's not sexy, we just don't do it well. We waste...

    17 min

  6. 12/10/2025

    Year-End Reflections: The Highs and Lows of 2025 of Grunder Landscaping

    In this episode, Marty Grunder and Vince Torchia recap what 2025 looked like for Grunder Landscaping Co. and the ups and downs that we saw. There were some great wins and also some lessons learned, all shared in our best effort to help other landscaping teams. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Leave a Review for the Grow Show! ️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  Subscribe to Our Youtube Channel! Episode Chapters: 00:54 - Landscape Pros Playbook Overview 01:48 - Reflecting on 2025: Wins and Learnings 02:19 - Platform: Culture and Growth 08:56 - People: Team Additions and Changes 18:02 - Process: Improvements and Challenges 21:14 - Profit: Financial Insights and Investments 26:56 - Looking Ahead to 2026 30:20 - Please Share & Subscribe! Resources: Virtual Sales Bootcamp   Grunder Landscaping Field Trips   The Grow Group    Grunder Landscaping    Marty Grunder LinkedIn   Stihl     Show Notes: We Added $4 Million and 40 People—Training Couldn't Keep Up – We grew a lot this year. We added $4 million in revenue and about 40 more people. When you grow like we have, you assume people know how to do things and you don't slow down enough to train them. We've gotta train better. We have a saying here that's trust the process, but you can say that as long as you understand the process. I think we have so many new people here, they don't understand the process. Landscaping Isn't Simple When You Do This Many Transactions – We often hear from people or the inference is that landscaping's a simple business. I don't think it is when you do the number of transactions that we do. Now in lawn care, some of those transactions are $80 lawn apps and you have weather to deal with and all these people and complicated projects. There's just a lot, and when you grow and add new people, it takes a while for them to understand how to do things. Our Peer Groups Give Us a Reality Check – The great thing about our peer groups is the barometer that we get out of almost 250 companies. That's closing in on one and a half billion dollars in collective revenue. When you're in those meetings and you hear what other people are dealing with, you realize you're not alone and you get perspective on what's normal versus what needs fixing. Cash Management Requires Daily Review—Not Just Systems – The biggest thing I've learned this year was accounts receivable communication with the team. Yes, it's centralized and yes, we have a process for how we do it, but just because you are not involved in that collection does not mean you just get to put your arms up and be like, well, I'm not getting involved in that. Everybody on the team has to understand who owes money, why they owe money, and what we're doing to collect it. Nothing will ever beat daily review of cash in, cash out, and AR balances. We've Learned More About Our Ideal Client This Year – We've done a fountain project, we've done a historical renovation of a property, we've landed more commercial snow work this year than ever before. We changed the mission statement to create opportunities for our team to grow and succeed. I think from a platform perspective, we are doing that through looking at our ideal client in a new perspective for the kind of work...

    31 min

  7. 12/03/2025

    How We Work Matters: Four Keys to Growing Through Referrals

    Grunder Landscaping’s Cincinnati location recently secured a high-profile account simply because a prospect walked by one of their crews and was impressed—even though they couldn't see the actual work being done in the backyard. In this short episode, Marty breaks down the four key philosophies that turn job sites into referral generators, from treating your internal team better than you expect them to treat clients to consistently looking for the good instead of just pointing out problems. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Leave a Review for the Grow Show! ️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  Subscribe to Our Youtube Channel! Episode Timestamps 00:57 - Site One Early Order Program 01:55 - The Importance of How We Work 02:22 - Securing High Profile Accounts 04:24 - Four Key Philosophies for Success 08:16 - Internal Customer Service > External 08:32 - Be Great At What You Want to See 09:38 - Be Present and Engage 12:43 - Look for the Good 14:36 - Training and Systems Matter 16:30 - Please Share & Subscribe! Resources: Virtual Sales Bootcamp   Grunder Landscaping Field Trips   The Grow Group    Grunder Landscaping    Marty Grunder LinkedIn   Stihl   Key Learnings Your External Customer Service Will Never Exceed Your Internal Customer Service – How you treat your team is how they're gonna treat your clients. If you treat your team poorly, you don't give them the tools they need, you don't respect them, you don't appreciate them, you don't have their paychecks ready on time—they're not gonna treat your clients well. You Gotta Be Great at What You Want Your Team to Be Good At – I can't expect my team to wave at people, throttle down blowers when someone walks by, be kind, and wave at the competition if I'm not modeling that behavior myself. We teach our people to wave to people, to be polite, to look like they care. That starts with me. Be Present and Bump Knuckles – I listened to a podcast with Corey Ballard who said you gotta get in there and bump some knuckles. You gotta be talking to people, firing them up, setting a good example, being present. When I'm in town, I go in early, I partake in our stretch and flex, I walk around with my nail apron stuffed full of candy. Lenin, one of our lawn care technicians, said "I missed you. I haven't seen you in a while." That made me realize showing up and being seen matters. Look for the Good and Reinforce It – When I have my apron on and passing out candy, I often see things that are bad. Yesterday I saw a truck that hadn't been cleaned out, a bald tire, and a mesh gate pushed out. I took a picture and sent it to the managers, but I don't go yelling at people. I'm a cheerleader, I'm a knuckle bumper. I look for the good, reinforce that, talk about it in circles, and post pictures of good jobs. The Exercise That Changes Everything Marty closes with this powerful exercise he uses when working with groups: The Question: Knowing what you know about landscaping, what would a crew have to do—to look like, to sound like—if they were working at the neighbors of your brand new vacation home in Florida that you just built because you did so well with your landscaping company? What would that team have to do to impress you to the point...

    18 min

  8. 11/26/2025

    Gene Freeman & Chris Strempek: 34-Year Partnership, Scaling Complete Landsculpture & Hosting Grow 2026

    Sign up for Grow 2026! Chris Strempek and Gene Freeman have been partners at Complete Landsculpture in Dallas, Texas for 34 years. In this conversation, they reveal why they would've hired consultants and learned their numbers much earlier, how treating team members like owners transformed their culture, and what makes their partnership work after more than three decades together—essential lessons whether you're building a partnership, scaling your business, or just trying to figure out your next hire. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Leave a Review for the Grow Show! ️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  Subscribe to Our Youtube Channel! Episode Chapters: 01:52 - Chris’s Journey: 40 Years from College Job to Company President 04:06 - Gene’s Story: 34 Years of Partnership 05:58 - Roles and Responsibilities for Gene & Chris 06:55 - Business Development at Complete Landsculpture 07:52 - Company Structure and Services 08:55 - Unique Value Proposition & Customer Service 11:31 - The 5-10 Rule 13:55 - Growth and Challenges for 2025 19:06 - What to Expect at Grow 2026 25:26 - The Opportunity to Challenge Our Team 26:20 - Labor Situation & H-2B Program 28:37 - Challenges in Staffing & Growth Opportunities 31:21 - Celebrating Team Success & Culture 34:47 - Time Management Tips 38:02 - Community Involvement and Giving Back 41:46 - Relationships Matter At All Levels 43:18 - Chris’ Leadership Style Over the Years 46:44 - Thoughts on Private Equity 52:11 - Advice to Younger Self 58:41 - Please Subscribe! Resources: Virtual Sales Bootcamp   Grunder Landscaping Field Trips   The Grow Group    Grunder Landscaping    Marty Grunder LinkedIn   Stihl     Key Learnings: The 25-Year-Old Me Needed a Consultant Yesterday – I would seek the advice of consultants and get help developing a real, executable, goal-oriented business plan. The biggest tendency for operators starting out is spending all your time as a technician, virtually no time in the entrepreneurial or visionary role. You can't articulate to team members what you don't know yourself. We Didn't Know Our Numbers—Top Line Blinded Us – We just looked at top line. God, if we get to $4 million, we're gonna be on high cotton. We thought we'd be sitting pretty, wondering where we'd spend all the money. Not knowing your numbers, not knowing what you don't know, that held us back. Labor costs, material costs, ratios, overtime, indirect time—these KPIs are transcendent whether you're in Washington or Texas. Treat Team Members Like Owners and Challenge Them – We empower our team to make decisions and think like owners. We've learned over the years that there are things we suck at, but we have rock stars in our organization who can take those areas well beyond what we ever could. We gotta get out of their way. Don't Let Pride Get in the Way of Your Success – You've got to be willing to own your mistakes. We're far from perfect and we're seeing cracks right now. We try to acknowledge them, bring them forward, make them public, and learn from them. Make sure...

    1 hr
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About

The GROW! Show is a show that highlights Marty Grunder's annual conference, GROW!. The GROW! show will showcase how anyone in the green industry can grow themselves, their team, and their business.

Information

  • Creator
    Marty Grunder
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    100
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2023
  • Show Website
    The GROW! Show

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