The GROW! Show

Marty Grunder
  • 5.0 (48)
  • 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. 3d ago

    Next Year's Training Manual: How to Prepare Your Team Now for 2027

    Join Us for a GLC Field Trip (Dayton, OH) Join Us for GROW! Snow 2026 (Dayton, OH - September 21-23, 2026) Connect with Fellow ACE Members at ACE Connect (Tucson, AZ - November 17-20, 2026) Master Aspire Software at the GLC Aspire Workshop (Dayton, OH - August TBD & December 2-3, 2026) Register for GROW! 2027 Annual Conference (Savannah, GA - February 17-19, 2027) Episode #181: Spring may feel far away, but the best landscaping companies are preparing for it right now. In this episode of The Grow Show, Marty Grunder shares how landscape professionals can use the fall season to strengthen their teams, improve performance, and build a training program that sets them up to hit the ground running next spring. BOBYARD is an AI-powered takeoff and estimating platform that automates the most time-consuming parts of bidding work. Contractors report up to 65% reduction in takeoff time and 3-5x more bids submitted per estimator. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Leave a Review for the Grow Show! ️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  Subscribe to Our Youtube Channel! Key Learnings Spring Training Starts in the Fall: If you wait until January or February to start training, you're not building a program. You're panicking. Right now you have the most valuable thing possible: evidence of what your team knows and what they don't. Train What You See Right Now: Training doesn't need a classroom, a PowerPoint, or a four-course breakfast. When you see a mistake, don't just fix it. Teach it. The habit every leader should build is saying "I saw something today we can teach from." Keep a Running List of What Went Wrong: Start a note on your phone called "What We Need to Train On." Every mistake, every near miss, every cringe moment. By the end of the year you'll have 20 to 30 items. That's your training calendar. Do Not Confuse Telling With Training: Telling is one-way. Training is two-way. The framework is Tell Me, Show Me, Let Me Do It, Check Me. Most managers stop at "I told him." That's why the same mistakes keep happening. Use Your Best People as Trainers: The person who loads a truck perfectly, prunes correctly, or closes out jobs well should be teaching others. Two big wins: you multiply your trainers, and the person teaching gets sharper too. Capture Your Best People Before Winter: Your best team leaders have knowledge that isn't written down anywhere. Get your phone out. Ask them to show you how they do it. Record five-minute videos. Do two a week and you'll have 20 videos before winter. Train on the Things That Make or Lose Money: Team members often don't understand how the company actually makes money. Teach productivity. Teach why forgetting a tool and driving 20 minutes back to the shop costs three man-hours. Those little lessons change behavior. Train Your Leaders Differently: When someone becomes a crew leader, their job changes. Now they're leading people. Teach them how to start the morning, correct someone properly, coach the slowest person, handle a conflict, and close out a job. You can't promote someone Friday and expect them to lead on Monday. Finish This Year by Getting Better: Take the last 6 to 10 weeks of the season and pick one skill each Monday. Fifteen minutes. Reinforce it during the week. You'll be better at Christmas than you are today. Build Your Wint... Chapters (00:00:00) - Start(00:01:34) - Why Your 2027 Training Starts Right Now(00:02:59) - Train What You See in the Field(00:04:42) - Start Your Running List of Training Topics(00:06:00) - Why Telling Is Not Training(00:07:45) - Thank You Aspire!(00:08:26) - Use Your Best People as Trainers(00:10:08) - Capture Your Best People As Trainers(00:11:21) - Train on What Actually Makes or Loses Money(00:12:41) - Sign Up for GROW Snow!(00:13:10) - Why Your Leaders Need Trained Differently(00:14:00) - Finish This Year Stronger Than You Started(00:15:22) - Build Your Winter Training Calendar Now(00:16:21) - Do Not Wait Until Spring to Build Orientation(00:17:41) - Inspect What You Expect and Build the Culture(00:19:11) - Marty’s 5-Part Fall Training Challenge(00:19:56) - Final Takeaways

  2. Sep 2

    Interview Series: What Would Happen If Someone Else Ran Your Company ?

    Join Us for a GLC Field Trip (Dayton, OH) Join Us for GROW! Snow 2026 (Dayton, OH - September 21-23, 2026) Connect with Fellow ACE Members at ACE Connect (Tucson, AZ - November 17-20, 2026) Master Aspire Software at the GLC Aspire Workshop (Dayton, OH - August TBD & December 2-3, 2026) Register for GROW! 2027 Annual Conference (Savannah, GA - February 17-19, 2027) Episode #180: What would happen if you let another landscaping company owner run your company? We launched this new part of our ACE Peer Group Program earlier this year with the ownership of Coastal Greenery switching places with ownership of Malone's Landscaping. In this episode, the group that swapped places talks about what they learned from getting fresh eyes on their company and also spending a week running another landscaping company. They talk about all the hot button issues: managing teams, technology, branding, overhead costs, and much more. BOBYARD is an AI-powered takeoff and estimating platform that automates the most time-consuming parts of bidding work. Contractors report up to 65% reduction in takeoff time and 3-5x more bids submitted per estimator. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Leave a Review for the Grow Show! ️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  Subscribe to Our Youtube Channel! Guests: Jim Cali - Founding Principal at McFarlin Stanford, ACE Peer Group Facilitator, Grow Group Strategic Partner Jeffrey Johns - Owner, Coastal Greenery (Brunswick, GA) Jacob Johns - Controller, Coastal Greenery Jim Malone - Founder, Malone's (Seattle, WA) Ryan Malone - President, Malone's Jake Malone - Branch Manager, Malone's Resources Mentioned: Coastal Greenery (Brunswick, GA) Malone's Landscape (Seattle, WA) ACE Peer Groups (via The Grow Group) McFarlin Stanford Clancy's Restaurant, New Orleans Key Learnings You Cannot See Your Own Business Clearly From Inside Your Own Business: No matter how sharp you are, you walk past things every day. An outside set of eyes will see in 15 minutes what you have missed for years. Peer-to-Peer Learning Beats Zoom Every Time: The value of the CEO Swap wasn't in the ideas exchanged, it was in the one-on-one meetings with each other's team members. There's no hiding, no deferring, and no shortcut when you're on site. Sense of Urgency Is Often the... Chapters (00:00:00) - Start(00:00:30) - Introduction(00:02:09) - The CEO Swap: What It Is and Why It Worked(00:03:47) - Meet Coastal Greenery (Brunswick, GA)(00:08:11) - Meet Malone’s (Seattle, WA)(00:11:34) - Where the CEO Swap Idea Came From(00:14:21) - Why On-Site Beats Zoom Every Time(00:16:10) - How the Swap Was Structured (And the Surprises)(00:19:17) - Why Vulnerability Makes Feedback Land(00:24:26) - Coastal Greenery Takeaway #1: Account Manager Churn(00:29:31) - Coastal Greenery Takeaway #2: Sales and Estimating(00:32:58) - Coastal Greenery Takeaway #3: Labor Shortage Reality Check(00:34:35) - What Coastal Greenery Is Doing Exceptionally Well(00:36:28) - Clear Career Paths Change Everything(00:37:06) - Why Microculture Moments Matter So Much(00:39:03) - Our Partner, Bobyard(00:40:00) - Malone’s Takeaway #1: Small Standards Reveal the Real Standards(00:43:41) - Malone’s Takeaway #2: The Org Structure Inflection Point(00:46:15) - Malone’s Takeaway #3: Knowing Every Account Number(00:47:16) - The Tech Spaghetti Confession(00:49:04) - Malone’s Culture: Happy Crews in the Seattle Rain(00:51:33) - Clean Trucks Equal Clean Work(00:53:28) - The Real Power of Peer Group Accountability(00:55:53) - What Each Company Is Prioritizing for 2027(01:01:18) - Why Execution Beats Ideas(01:02:51) - Join Us at ACE Discovery(01:04:09) - A Note on Family Business(01:05:11) - Please Like, Share and Subscribe!

  3. Aug 26

    Get Unstuck: Why Companies Have Trouble Growing Beyond $2M

    Join Us for a GLC Field Trip (Dayton, OH) Join Us for GROW! Snow 2026 (Dayton, OH - September 21-23, 2026) Connect with Fellow ACE Members at ACE Connect (Tucson, AZ - November 17-20, 2026) Master Aspire Software at the GLC Aspire Workshop (Dayton, OH - August TBD & December 2-3, 2026) Register for GROW! 2027 Annual Conference (Savannah, GA - February 17-19, 2027) Episode #179: Marty Grunder breaks down the $2 million trap, the point where the hustle that built your company stops working. He walks through six areas where landscape businesses commonly get stuck as they grow, from broken systems and wrong hires to weak delegation, unclear structure, loose finances, and too few developed leaders. BOBYARD is an AI-powered takeoff and estimating platform that automates the most time-consuming parts of bidding work. Contractors report up to 65% reduction in takeoff time and 3-5x more bids submitted per estimator. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Leave a Review for the Grow Show! ️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  Subscribe to Our Youtube Channel! Key Learnings What Got You Here Will Not Get You There: Getting to two million is about hustle. Growing beyond it is building a company. The Owner Becomes the Bottleneck: Too many clients, jobs, and decisions eventually flow back to one overwhelmed person. Your Systems Break First: If something happens only because someone remembers to do it, it needs a system. You Make the Wrong Hires: Your best salesperson is not automatically your best sales manager. Leadership is different. Three Reasons People Fall Short: They were not trained, they lack capacity, or they carry a bad attitude. The Owner Will Not Delegate: Doing it yourself today signals you do not trust your team to grow. Delegation Is Not Abdication: Give clear responsibilities, clear expectations, and the authority to make real decisions. Structure Always Follows Strategy: A good org chart answers one question. Who owns what? Financial Discipline Becomes Critical: Sales are vanity if there is no profit left at the end. You Cannot Scale Yourself, Only Leaders: Develop managers who can think, decide, and solve problems without you. Reflection Questions What happens in your company today only because someone remembers to do it? What still has to go through you that someone else could own six months from now? Who on your team could become a stronger leader in the next twelve months if you gave them room? This Week's Homework Write down everything that still has to go through you. That is your bottleneck list. Identify one system living inside someone's head, document it, and build a system for it. Identify one person who could become a stronger leader in the next twelve months and start developing them now. Additional Resources: BOBYARD  Chapters (00:00:00) - Start(00:01:05) - The Importance of Taking Time Off(00:02:01) - The Two Million Trap(00:04:55) - When Your Systems Break(00:07:22) - Stop Making Bad Hires(00:11:15) - The Owner Bottleneck(00:13:49) - Who Owns What(00:15:01) - Sales Are Vanity, Profit Is Sanity(00:15:49) - You Can’t Grow Your Way Out of Bad Finances(00:16:51) - You Cannot Scale Yourself(00:20:24) - Your Homework This Week(00:21:42) - How We Can Help(00:23:09) - Please Share & Subscribe!

  4. Aug 19

    How to Finish 2026 Strong: Access, Awareness, and Action | Vince Torchia

    Join Us for a GLC Field Trip (Dayton, OH) Join Us for GROW! Snow 2026 (Dayton, OH - September 21-23, 2026) Connect with Fellow ACE Members at ACE Connect (Tucson, AZ - November 17-20, 2026) Master Aspire Software at the GLC Aspire Workshop (Dayton, OH - August TBD & December 2-3, 2026) Register for GROW! 2027 Annual Conference (Savannah, GA - February 17-19, 2027) Episode #178: In this short, tactical episode of The Grow Show, Vince Torchia shares the three things every landscape leader should be focused on right now: access, awareness, and action. With a month and a quarter left in 2026, Vince gives you a quick filter to run your business through so you can finish the year strong and set yourself up for a great 2027. BOBYARD is an AI-powered takeoff and estimating platform that automates the most time-consuming parts of bidding work. Contractors report up to 65% reduction in takeoff time and 3-5x more bids submitted per estimator. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Leave a Review for the Grow Show! ️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  Subscribe to Our Youtube Channel! Key Learnings Access: What did you not have access to earlier this year that would have made your life easier now? Missing reports, vendor portals, margin data, or client information. Identify the gaps and put a plan in place to fix them. Leaders Often Lose Access as Companies Grow: As businesses scale and add team members, CEOs and senior leaders sometimes lose access to information they used to have at their fingertips. Get it back. The Thursday Night Test: If you're laying in bed on Thursday night wondering if Mrs. Jones has paid, you should not have to text someone to find out. Access the data yourself in real time. Awareness: Are the key people in your organization aware of everything they need to be aware of? Team members, peers, clients, vendors. If it's a maybe for you, it's a no for them. We All Think We Communicate More Than We Actually Do: Take that as an opportunity to get better, not a criticism. Zoom out. Put things in writing. Make people aware. Good News, Bad News, It's Just News: Do not sit on information because you're worried about how it will land. Get over the hump, have confidence in what you're doing, and make people aware. Action: With a month and a quarter left, there's still time to make real progress. Meetings, emails, texts, huddles. Whatever gets it moving. Action Begets Action: Momentum is real. Crossing something off the list feels good. Building momentum with your team feels even better. Reflection Questions What is one piece of information you wish you had access to right now that would make your job easier? Who on your team is not aware of something important, and what is stopping you from telling them today? What is one action you could take this week that would create momentum going into the final quarter of the year? Additional Resources: BOBYARD  Chapters (00:00:00) - BOBYARD AI(00:02:06) - A #1: Access - Where Did You Miss It This Year?(00:03:27) - Why Leaders Lose Visibility As They Grow(00:04:24) - A #2: Awareness - Is Your Team in the Loop?(00:05:19) - Document, Communicate, Repeat(00:06:52) - A #3: Action - The Final Quarter Sprint(00:07:46) - Procrastination Is the Language of the Poor(00:08:28) - Final Takeaway

  5. Aug 12

    Interview Series: Katie Roell of Boss Snow on Preparing for Winter in July

    Join Us for a GLC Field Trip (Dayton, OH) Join Us for GROW! Snow 2026 (Dayton, OH - September 21-23, 2026) Connect with Fellow ACE Members at ACE Connect (Tucson, AZ - November 17-20, 2026) Master Aspire Software at the GLC Aspire Workshop (Dayton, OH - August TBD & December 2-3, 2026) Register for GROW! 2027 Annual Conference (Savannah, GA - February 17-19, 2027) Episode #177: In this episode, Marty Grunder sits down with Katie Roell, Senior Marketing Manager at Boss Snowplow, to talk about why the best snow contractors are already preparing for winter right now. Recorded in the middle of August, Katie shares how successful contractors use July and August to optimize their equipment mix, evaluate their data, train their people, and get ready for whatever the winter brings. They cover forecasting, worst-case scenario planning, sidewalk automation, insurance challenges, and why the future of snow depends on people just as much as machines. Plus a preview of what to expect at Grow Snow 2026 in Dayton, OH this September. Resources Mentioned: Boss Snowplow Boss Weekly Snow Forecast Email (sign up through Boss) Spiro's (Iron Mountain, MI - Katie's favorite spot) BOBYARD is an AI-powered takeoff and estimating platform that automates the most time-consuming parts of bidding work. Contractors report up to 65% reduction in takeoff time and 3-5x more bids submitted per estimator. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Leave a Review for the Grow Show! ️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  Subscribe to Our Youtube Channel! Key Learnings Stop Asking What Winter Will Bring. Start Asking How Prepared You Are: No one truly knows what the winter looks like. Great contractors don't gamble on forecasts. They gamble on preparation. Whether it's a banger year or a light year, the ones who prepare in July and August win. Dealer Schedules Are Filling Up Right Now: You can't wait until October or November to get your truck in for service. Get your preventative maintenance scheduled now. If you can't run because your equipment is down, you lose. Your Data Is Your Playbook: You own the data. You are the coach. Go back and look at where you fell down last year. What lots gave you trouble? What routes need optimization? Where did downtime cost you the most? Buy Equipment for the Contracts You're Winning, Not for the Sake of Buying: Start with one contract you want. Look at the acreage, the services, the ideal equipment mix. Get that tight. Then build the rest of your fleet around that model. Plan for Worst Case, Not Just Best Case: The worst case scenario isn't a 12-inch storm. It's zero snow with equipment payments still coming due. Or a downed truck mid-storm with no backup. Build your plan around the scenarios you can't control. Snow Doesn't Give You Downtime Flexibility: In landscaping, if a mower breaks you can fix it in four hours. In snow, if your equipment breaks, you can't tell a client "we'll be back later." Reliability is not optional. Your Team Is the Biggest Risk in Your Own Head:... Chapters (00:00:00) - Start(00:01:22) - Meet Katie and Boss Snowplow(00:03:54) - The Real Question About Winter Prep(00:06:05) - Prep Mistakes to Avoid Right Now(00:08:21) - Why You Should Debrief and Look at Your Route Data(00:10:47) - Scenario Planning and Building Backup Plans(00:15:19) - Getting Data Out of Your Head and Into a System(00:18:31) - Buying Equipment for the Contracts You Actually Want(00:21:08) - Cold Front Technology and the Future of Automation(00:26:53) - Labor Shortages, Insurance, and the Industry Shifts Ahead(00:30:33) - Why the Best Contractors Are Constant Learners(00:34:22) - Lightning Round and Final Takeaways

  6. Aug 5

    You Can't Find Great Team Leaders, You Have to Build Them with Marty Grunder | The Grow Show

    Join Us for a GLC Field Trip (Dayton, OH - August 5-6, 2026 and More Dates!) Join Us for GROW! Snow 2026 (Dayton, OH - September 21-23, 2026) Connect with Fellow ACE Members at ACE Connect (Tucson, AZ - November 17-20, 2026) Master Aspire Software at the GLC Aspire Workshop (Dayton, OH - August TBD & December 2-3, 2026) Register for GROW! 2027 Annual Conference (Savannah, GA - February 17-19, 2027) Episode #176: Finding great team leaders is one of the biggest challenges in the landscaping industry, but what if you're asking the wrong question? In this episode of The Grow Show, Marty Grunder shares why the best team leaders aren't found - they're developed. Drawing from decades of experience at Grunder Landscaping Co., Marty walks through the systems, habits, and leadership principles that have helped build high-performing crews and future leaders from within. Resources Mentioned: Episode 162: Jimmy Hendricks on The First Steps You Should Take on Every Installation Dayton Foodbank  Aspire  Exmark Bobyard BOBYARD is an AI-powered takeoff and estimating platform that automates the most time-consuming parts of bidding work. Contractors report up to 65% reduction in takeoff time and 3-5x more bids submitted per estimator. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Leave a Review for the Grow Show! ️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  Subscribe to Our Youtube Channel! Key Learnings Great Team Leaders Are Made, Not Found: Stop asking where to find them. Start asking how to build them. The best crew leaders come from within your own company, developed with intention. Great Days Start the Day Before: The biggest mistake team leaders make is arriving in the morning to start figuring things out. That's 12 to 15 hours too late. Great days start at 3 PM the day before. Ask Where Your Weakest Link Is Tomorrow: Before the day starts, ask what could stop you and where the weakest link is. Then get ready for it. The weather, a missing crew member, a picky client. Anticipate. A Team Leader Should Never Say "Nobody Told Me": The information is there. Read the notes. Study the prints. Know the plan. Ownership starts with reading what's in front of you. Group Leaders Are the Ones Training Team Leaders: Mowing group leaders can handle 10 crews. Construction group leaders max out at 5 because the work is more detailed. Land keeping group leaders handle about 6. The group leader's job is to mentor and empower, not to give every answer. Own the Morning by Prepping the Night Before: Show up at 6:45. Truck is fueled. Trailer is checked. Tools are staged. Notes are reviewed. The morning is about executing, not figuring things out. Every Crew Member Has a Job: The number two (team tech / team leader in training) reads the tablet on the way to the site. The number three loads supplies, fills seed, fills fuel cans. Chaos in the morning means chaos all day. Organization creates profit. Chapters (00:00:00) - Start(00:01:00) - Generosity to Dayton Food Bank(00:03:16) - Why Team Leaders Matter(00:03:58) - Preparation Beats Firefighting(00:06:01) - Point 1: A Great Day Starts the Day Before(00:10:26) - Point 2: Own the Morning(00:14:02) - Point 3: Safety Before Production(00:15:53) - Point 4: Lead People, Not Just Jobs(00:17:00) - Point 5: Think Like an Owner(00:17:58) - Point 6: Finish the Job Professionally(00:19:10) - Jimmy’s Three Habits: Pre-Plan, Coach, Review(00:20:35) - Why Your Crews Are Your Reputation(00:22:07) - Create Your Team Leaders

  7. Jul 29

    Interview Series: Lex Mason on Succeeding Your Father, Building a Culture, and the Future of Irrigation

    Join Us for a GLC Field Trip (Dayton, OH - August 5-6, 2026 and More Dates!) Join Us for GROW! Snow 2026 (Dayton, OH - September 21-23, 2026) Connect with Fellow ACE Members at ACE Connect (Tucson, AZ - November 17-20, 2026) Master Aspire Software at the GLC Aspire Workshop (Dayton, OH - August TBD & December 2-3, 2026) Register for GROW! 2027 Annual Conference (Savannah, GA - February 17-19, 2027) Episode #175: In this episode, Marty Grunder sits down with Lex Mason, the new CEO of Weathermatic, for an honest, wide-ranging conversation about what it actually takes to succeed your father, build a company culture people want to join, and reinvent the irrigation business. Lex opens up about growing up testing sprinklers in a hot Dallas warehouse, dropping out of college for two months to help save the family business, being sent to Houston with an expense card and a quota, and eventually taking over from his father Mike. Along the way, he shares practical wisdom on succession, mentorship, sales, and why the irrigation division might be the last untapped profit center in your landscape company. Resources Mentioned: Weathermatic SmartLink by Weathermatic BOBYARD is an AI-powered takeoff and estimating platform that automates the most time-consuming parts of bidding work. Contractors report up to 65% reduction in takeoff time and 3-5x more bids submitted per estimator. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Leave a Review for the Grow Show! ️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  Subscribe to Our Youtube Channel! Key Learnings Succession Actually Starts Day One: Lex's dad read him the Wall Street Journal at Starbucks as a baby. The "dinner table MBA" started at 11. Whether you are preparing your kids to succeed you at your company or somewhere else, you are always preparing them to succeed you at something. Bring the Next Leader In Early, With No Voice at First: Mike put Lex in the leadership meetings early, but not as a decision-maker. He had to earn a seat at the table by first earning ears at the table. Then gradually, "What do you think about that?" started getting asked. Give the Dog Enough Rope to Get in Trouble: Mike sent Lex to Houston with an expense card, a quota, and a $2 million product sitting on a shelf. That test built the Partner Program that now has 400+ clients. If you cannot let the leash out, you will never know how they handle no leash. How You Talk About Your Kids in Public Matters: Founders who flippantly say "That's not Johnny's thing" or "He's really struggling with that" destroy their kid's brand equity with the team. If you want the org to accept your successor in five years, start building them up positively today. Fill What You Are Best At, Not What They Were Best At: Mike is the guy who runs through walls once a year. Lex's job is to figure out how to do that 52 times a year at scale. The successor's job is not to be a copy of the founder. It is to bring the next chapter. Have a Strong Leadership Team So It Is Not Just You vs. the Founder: When Mike and Lex disagree, the leadership team steps in. Ben on sales, Bill on technology, Brodie on customer success. That takes the pressure off the family dynamic. ... Chapters (00:00:00) - Intro(00:01:57) - Meet Lex Mason(00:03:30) - Growing Up in the Test Center(00:04:33) - Choosing the Family Business(00:09:14) - Earning It Beyond the Last Name(00:12:03) - Working With Dad as Chairman(00:15:20) - The Hardest Part of Succession(00:17:43) - Mike Mason's Origin Story(00:21:25) - What Mike Did Right in Succession(00:24:11) - How Founders Destroy Succession(00:27:12) - When Succession Really Starts(00:28:53) - Giving Enough Rope(00:30:52) - Sent to Houston to Figure It Out(00:32:36) - The Vince Torchia Parallel(00:35:25) - What Lex Would Thank Dad For(00:36:44) - Perseverance Stories From Sports(00:38:27) - Bringing EOS to WeatherMatic(00:40:32) - Remembering Brodie Bruner(00:44:14) - Irrigation Is a Profit Center(00:46:41) - Inside the SmartLink System(00:49:51) - How to Build an Irrigation Division(00:51:21) - AI, Labor, and the Next 5 Years(00:53:01) - Lightning Round

  8. Jul 22

    Interview Series: Snowfighting with Phil Harwood, Part 2 | The People & Process Behind Every Great Snow Company

    Join Us for GROW! Snow 2026 (Dayton, OH - September 21-23, 2026) Join Us for a GLC Field Trip (Dayton, OH - Multiple Options in 2026!) Level Up Your Sales Manager at Virtual Sales Manager Bootcamp (July 8-9, 2026) Connect with Fellow ACE Members at ACE Discovery (Tucson, AZ - November 17-20, 2026) Master Aspire Software at the GLC Aspire Workshop (Dayton, OH - August TBD & December 2-3, 2026) Register for GROW! 2027 Annual Conference (Savannah, GA - February 17-19, 2027) Episode #174: In Part 2 of Marty's conversation with Phil Harwood of Snowfighters Institute, they dig into the people, process, and preparation that separate great snow companies from average ones. Phil shares how to recruit and retain drivers, why subcontractors should be treated more like employees, what a great snow team looks like before the first event, and how to run your operation like a well-trained military unit. Plus more details on GROW! Snow 2026 in Dayton, OH this September. Resources Mentioned: Snowfighters Institute SIMA - Snow and Ice Management Association BOBYARD is an AI-powered takeoff and estimating platform that automates the most time-consuming parts of bidding work. Contractors report up to 65% reduction in takeoff time and 3-5x more bids submitted per estimator. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Leave a Review for the Grow Show! ️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  Subscribe to Our Youtube Channel! Key Learnings Preparing to Recruit Is Half the Battle: Before you post a single job, scrub your job descriptions, clarify weekend and holiday expectations, and rebuild your compensation and incentive plans. Bring people on before you are ready and you set them up to be disappointed. Job Postings Are Not Classified Ads Anymore: You are not paying per letter. Use the space to talk about mission, culture, and why. Most postings are terrible because they read like a task list. Great postings sell the opportunity. Speed of Response Is a Snow Pro Advantage: When someone answers your ad, get back to them in 15-20 minutes by text. Nobody wants a phone call anymore. Automate this if you can. Build Real Pipelines, Not One-Off Hires: Vocational schools, homeschool networks, sports parent groups, recovery community programs, laid-off seasonal workers from painting or carpentry crews. If you can pluck one or two out of a community, they will bring more. Treat Your Drivers Like Franchise Players: Every event, even a light dusting, give them the hours. Buy them Carhartts and boots. Hook them up. The best contractors treat their drivers like gold because they are. Don't Be Afraid to Train Your Subs: If your sub is a legitimate business with their own EIN, trucks, shop, and insurance, you can absolutely bring them in for onboarding, training, or hot chocolate. The employee-vs-contractor issue is about control, not communication. Meet with Subs in the Off-Season: Walk their shop in July. Ask about their sweet spot, their backup equipment, their quality assurance. Be their consultant. You are investing in a relationship that pays off in a storm. A Great Snow Team I... Chapters (00:00:00) - Intro(00:01:07) - The Sam's Club Service Lesson(00:05:08) - The Preseason Recruiting Checklist(00:10:00) - Building Real Hiring Pipelines(00:12:53) - Treat Drivers Like Franchise Players(00:13:23) - Getting Your Team Ready for Snow(00:15:16) - Safety Training and Liability(00:17:53) - The Mental Demands of Snow Fighting(00:23:06) - The Subcontractor Myth(00:26:20) - Off-Season Check-Ins With Subs(00:27:42) - Integrated vs Remote Subs(00:28:39) - What a Great Team Looks Like(00:30:40) - Operator Tools and Site Prep(00:34:26) - Tabletop Storm Simulations(00:35:31) - The Weakest Link Question(00:36:48) - What to Expect at GROW! Snow 2026(00:38:59) - Storm Flow and Documentation(00:41:57) - Debriefs and Recognition Done Right(00:43:44) - Running Snow Like the Military(00:46:58) - The Two Biggest Contractor Mistakes(00:48:06) - 5 Moves to Make Before Labor Day(00:50:55) - Final Takeaway

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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
    180
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2023
  • Show Website
    The GROW! Show

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