CONTRACTOR PROFILE
By Ryan Whisner
Women Are
MOWING DOWN THE COMPETITION L
Mullins Lawn Enforcement
andscaping pros have always been predominantly male, but more women are working in the industry today than ever before. Ramona Mullins, owner of Mullins Lawn Enforcement and Kristy Boase, co-owner of MIL-SPEC Landscaping haven’t been slowed down due to their gender. Both Jobber customers, the duo have faced their share of adversity and benefits of owning their companies. They also share a passion of the outdoors. Mullins, who has been in business for 11 years, almost stumbled into owning a landscaping business. Her husband was deployed overseas, and she needed to get a new mower. “I went into Home Depot with the intention of buying a small push mower, but instead I came out with a large commercial mower, which I learned how to use in the parking lot,” she says. “I put an advertisement in the paper and my businesses started there.” Prior to starting the business, she had previously run a children’s before- and after-care program out of her house, but when the family moved to a new house, it wasn’t allowed due to HOA restrictions and Mullins Lawn Enforcement was the result. Boase says she just loves working outside and being able to create art with beautiful plans and different substrates for clients. Celebrating 5 years in business, she says for her, the best part is the transformation. “The design process is very artistic with infinite possibilities,” she says. “It allows me to take a client’s vision and turn it into reality for them.”
Ramona Mullins, owner of Mullins Lawn Enforcement encourages people to be the best they can be and take pride in what they do.
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Overcoming obstacles
Neither of the women said the drawbacks of having a female-owned business are that severe. For both, when someone asks for the owner, there is on occasion that moment of shock when they explain that they are the owner. “It is not necessarily an obstacle, rather an assumption that many guys make right off the bat since it is a male dominated industry,” Boase says. “Everyone laughs about it later and we generally just roll with it, so feelings don’t get hurt.” Rather than a challenge, both seems to find that having a femaleowned landscaping business has quite a few advantages. “It provides me a competitive edge because it usually falls on women to care for homes and pay the bills, so most people who are seeking lawncare services are already women,” Mullins says.
MAY/JUNE 2021
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