UAC NEWS overseeing homeowner’s associations accounts that included spaces like entrances and common areas, and large spans of turf on industrial properties. Her favorite part was working with the customers. “I had a very strong knowledge of plants, but knew nothing about turf or irrigation,” she says, sharing how the learning experience showed her that her passion simply wasn’t commercial maintenance. “Spaces for people are intimate and unique,” she says. Plants Creative is purely residential for this reason. The early days were centered on maintenance, as Dooley built the business one account at a time. “I called our Realtor and asked if he’d let me mow his lawn, and would he pay me $35 to do it,” Dooley says. He’d overpay Dooley and self-fund cleanup certificates for closing packets that allowed Dooley to get her foot in the door with new homeowners. In 2008, he called Dooley and said, “I found your next location. Bring your checkbook and meet me.” Dooley’s reply? “I’m not looking.” But she did anyway, trusting his instinct on a commercial property. She went under contract that day and moved on to build the Plants Creative headquarters from scratch from 2008 to 2011. It’s a proud career milestone for Dooley. “And it was during a time when banks were collapsing, so I had to go through the [financing] process three times because the first two banks went out of business during the recession,” she says. During that time, after joining a peer group, she dove head-first into budgeting and forecasting, benchmarking and accountability. “Just to show up prepared for that group, there were a lot of lessons learned,” she says, adding that a valuable side benefit was the travel. “I love the blend of working and playing. And that’s what I enjoy about the National Association of Landscape Professionals (NALP) trips and Leadership Forum. It’s time to connect to the industry — and I love experiences and to get into the culture and find non-chain places to hang out.” As a current board member of NALP, serving the industry organization is about “what I can learn and what I can give, what I can continue,” Dooley says. “I’m just so passionate about the professionalism and opportunities in our industry.” Opportunities are what Dooley intuitively seeks. So, in 2017 when a property became available two miles from Plants Creative’s main shop, she jumped on it as
2021 Leadership Awards
Presented in partnership by Lawn & Landscape and Syngenta
For more than 19 years, the Lawn & Landscape Leadership Awards have been presented annually to industry professionals in the green industry who have demonstrated the strongest leadership skills in the world of landscaping and lawn care. They have worked relentlessly to make the industry better for their colleagues and companies, and the world around them a better place. Join us in congratulating this year's class. Daniel Currin CEO, Greenscape
Dean Desantis President and Owner, Desantis Landscapes
Pam Dooley Owner, Plants Creative
Paulita LaPlante Emerging Leader Award Recipient CSO, Prescription Landscape
a way to expand. She sold “her baby”— the original headquarters she constructed from scratch — which showed her people that she was serious about growing and changing. In fall 2020, she executed on another key business decision — the last during a recession, and this one during a pandemic. “We found two acres of commercial property in Blue Ridge, which we built up as a branch because we want to continue expanding across Georgia,” Dooley says. Mary Kay Woodworth, executive director, Georgia Urban Agriculture Council, calls Dooley a visionary. “She is always thinking a year or two or five ahead of where we are in the lifecycle as an industry,” Woodworth says.
Always innovating
A prime example of Dooley’s trailblazing nature is her move toward robotic mowers. Woodworth happened to be one of first clients to have autonomous mowing.
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