In Episode #11, Joe Raboine, Belgard’s Director of Residential Hardscapes, catches up with Allison Messner, CEO of Yardzen, an innovative online landscape design and build platform that prioritizes technology to deliver a great client experience and beautiful landscape designs. Joe and Allison discuss the wealth of virtual resources and technology tools available to help homeowners take the guesswork out of the planning, design and product selection. For more information, visit Belgard.com/InsideOut.
Joe Raboine: Welcome back to Inside Out With Belgard, a podcast made for professionals by professionals who are passionate about outdoor living. I’m your host, Joe Reboine, director of Residential Hardscapes at Belgard, and we’re thrilled to bring you the latest insights from some of the top experts in the industry.
Today I am thrilled to welcome the CEO and co-founder of Yardzen, Allison Messner to the podcast. Yardzen is an innovative online landscape design and build platform that prioritizes technology to deliver a great client experience and beautiful landscape designs. Allison, we’re happy to have you on the podcast.
How are you doing?
Allison Messner: I’m doing great, Joe, and thrilled to be here. Thanks so much for having me on.
Joe Raboine: Maybe we could start for our listeners with a little bit of a, a background about where Yardzen started from kind of your, uh, your origin, story, so to speak.
Allison Messner: Let’s do it. So Yardzen started about four and a half years ago, and the idea was born out of a personal experience.
So I’m in Northern California and my husband, who’s my co-founder, and I have a property that was in the path of the tubs wildfire in 2017. So for those listening that live in the Western United States and you know, certainly parts of the south that have been stricken by wildfires these past few years, you’re familiar with the story.
We were home late one night and by the time we figured out there was a fire, our neighbor’s houses were already on fire. So we grabbed our babies, jumped in the truck, and fled. And we were completely convinced that our house had been, um, had been lost, and were really surprised to come back and realize that the house had somehow miraculously survived the fire.
It’s a hundred year old farmhouse and we had little outbuildings and a fence that were destroyed. The fire even burned right up to the rain gutter. So it came extremely close to the house, was completely harrowing. Um, but after the fire, we were left with a property, a, a home essentially, that was on scorched earth.
And so we had to rebuild our outdoor spaces and we navigated the process of hiring an architect and, um, and going through that path and recognized that there were lots of efficiencies to gain as homeowners. We wanted a beautiful visual that would help us greenlight the project. We wanted to be connected with a contractor that we could trust, and we wanted the process just to be as seamless, seamless as possible.
And so we essentially built the, the service that we wished had existed for us at that time.
Joe Raboine: These innovations always start where there’s, there’s some type of a, a gap or, you know, or challenge, right? And I think you, um, you know, you lived it and I can’t imagine even imagine what it had been like to live through that, first of all, but then going through that experience of trying to figure out what to do next, right?
I mean there are, uh, a lot of different ways that you can go when it comes to design, especially outdoor living. You know, there’s landscape architects, there’s landscape designers, there’s contractors, and. Um, yeah, it’s, uh, it can be overwhelming for sure. So, so you started, uh, now how long ago did you say?
Was it four, five years?
Four and a half years ago?
Joe Raboine: Okay
Allison Messner: Yeah, four and a half years ago. And, you know, I’ll add that the, the efficiencies that we wanted, I think were the same efficiencies that we imagined contractors and architects wanted.
Joe Raboine: Mm-hmm.
Allison Messner: There was a lot of, um, you know, a lot of visiting the job site, a lot of taking measurements, a lot of going back and forth to arrive at a plan for, for what to build. And so that’s, you know, kind of the promise of Yardzen. We really aim to solve for that, for both contractors and architects and for homeowners.
Joe Raboine: You know, technology has converged to where you, you’re able to do this and in looking at, you know, where there’s been a gap, I would say, where there’s, there’s an expectation that consumers have and it’s not always easy to achieve that.
Um, yeah. It sounds like, and you guys have seen just tremendous growth over the, those last four and a half years sounds like, correct?
Allison Messner: Yes, I mean, certainly, um, the pandemic was obviously devastating for many people, uh, but Yardzen saw a lot of growth during the pandemic because so many people were home.
I imagine similar to, to Old Castle and, and Belgard, um, so many people were home and, and really, you know, wanting to get more out of their outdoor spaces. They wanted their outdoor space to function as a classroom for their children, as a dining area, as a kitchen, as a relaxation space. And so, um, so yes, we’ve seen tremendous growth over those four and a half years.
Joe Raboine: It’s interesting, Allison, as you’re talking, I mean we, uh, you know, and our listeners, I mean, we’ve all lived through that obviously and, and have seen just incredible double digit growth year over year. And, you know, it’s interesting thinking about, you know, what happened and drove people to, I guess, to look at these spaces as something that they wanted or maybe even needed as a respite.
And I think. One of the things that’s, that’s fascinating to us is looking at the drivers behind that. I mean, what would you say, you know, just based on your experience, I mean you, you sounds like you deal with thousands of, of homeowners about what are they telling you that they want out of these spaces and, and why?
Allison Messner: Yeah. And, and this hasn’t really changed since, um, the world has kind of reopened. People generally wanna do the same things outdoors that they do indoors, so they want kind of this mirrored outdoor living space. Like I said, they want an outdoor kitchen, they want an outdoor relaxation space, they want an outdoor dining area.
Um, they want their kids to experience growing food, so they want a, a garden, you know, oftentimes not a large garden, but a small garden that’s manageable.
Joe Raboine: Mm-hmm.
I think what’s fascinating and interesting for us is we align on so many levels with what you’re doing and you know, kind of the purpose behind, uh, what Yardzen is and how it started.
Um, could you talk to our listeners a little bit more about that? I mean, what, what kind of the foundational principle of the company, the purpose, you know, what are some of the drivers of, of what you and your team do?
Allison Messner: Yeah, so we start our all hands meeting every week with a reminder of our mission. And our mission is to help people get more functional, beautiful outdoor spaces, and ultimately live a better life outside.
We talk a lot about how being in grained space leads to wellness, how people inherently put their phone down when they’re outside sitting around a fire. They connect, they make eye contact, you know, just sort of live, live well on a very human level. We have so many distractions inside our homes and they kind of melt away when we’re outside.
And so, yeah, Joe, I mean, from the first time that you and I spoke, it was obvious that we were very aligned there. And I think that Belgard also, you know, shares that ethos and lives that mission.
Joe Raboine: A hundred percent I think. And, and you know, COVID as you, you mentioned earlier, kind of forced people outside.
And this is something we’ve talked to other guests about as well and you know, many of them are contractors and it changed kind of the thought process about these spaces and how they’re designed and, and what some of those features are. But, you know, for us, I think, thinking through what, what this is doing for us moving forward and you know, sharing this alignment, um, per se, it does seem like people have reevaluated and are really looking at these spaces in a much different light. And I think when you look at some of the features, as you mentioned, you know, people are asking for things that, you know, I would say even a few years ago, they weren’t necessarily, um, asking for things like, you know, pollinator gardens, native plants, you know, permeable landscapes, projects that, uh, you know, don’t require as much water.
Things like gardening spaces. Um, they’re using these space on a day-to-day basis and thinking about how, how I can use this space in a way that really does improve my overall quality of life. And I know, you know, if anybody has not been on the Yardzen site, if, if you go on the site and you go through the quiz, um, you guys do a fantastic job of, of kind of following up with emails and, and different promotions, but, one of the things I love about that is it talks about these, these types of features, right?
I think there was one the other day that was talking about pollinator gardens and, and growing your own food. And I think for a lot of of people in the industry, I’ve been in this industry a long time as a contractor now on the manufacturing side, it’s easy to get bogged down into the weeds, um, no pun intended when it comes to product and thinking about these as very functional kind of, um, you know, um, superficial in a way, right?
You’re looking at just purely like, hey, this, this product does this. And, but if you do that, you definitely are missing the point of what is driving people to purchase these. And I think, um, you guys clearly recognize that. And I think that’s, I think that’s incredible and it’s really important, um, as part of that process.
Allison Messner: Yeah, I agree and appreciate the, the kind words very much. So two numbers to share. One is 130 million. It’s the number of residential lots in the United States. So if you think about what sort of impact we as a collective could have, if everybody planted just two to three pollinator plants in their yards, we create wildlife corridors for birds and bees and butterflies.
We can save water, we can reduce flooding, we can do so much good. And you know, that’s kind of our, that’s our vision behind the American Rewilding Project, which is our, our sort of, commitment to sustainability that we’ve woven through everything that we do. And then the second number to throw out is 85%, and 85% is the percentage of Yardzen clients that commit to the American Rewilding Project.
So they say yes, they raise their hand and they say, yes, I will. I will gladly plant two to three pollinator, climate adapted habitat supporting plants in my yard. And that’s just a really inspiring number. And so wonderful to see our clients in all 50 states sign up to make that commitment.
Joe Raboine: That’s incredible.
I didn’t, I wasn’t aware that, uh, that you did that. Um, I’ve heard of the Rewilding piece obviously from uh, talking to you in the site, but I didn’t realize that people could actually sign up to do that. That’s, that’s pretty incredible. I think it is funny when you talk to people about those things is, you know, it’s something as simple as you said.
It’s just a couple plants that are native that are, you know, pollinators are attracted to. You’re right, that can make a huge difference when you start to spread that across thousands and tens of thousands and hopefully millions of, of homeowners, right? It’s an easy way to give back and, and not too onerous of a way.
Allison Messner: Yeah, I mean, we went back and forth on what the commitment should be and ultimately landed on, on a number that felt, admittedly pretty small. Two to three plants is not a lot, but we wanted to set it at a place where the majority of people, the vast majority of people could, could very easily commit to that as a starting place.
Joe Raboine: Yeah. That’s amazing. You know, one of the things that I’ve talked about for years, um, that is totally related is, is, um, You know, it’s, it’s interesting to talk through these, these changes and what the drivers are, and you talk, we talk about this incredible growth, but it’s fascinating to me that simultaneously you look at the, the statistics around the, the amount of time people spend outside actually, and it varies, you know, depending on the, the source, but they’re not too far off from each other.
One I read not too long ago said that the average American child only spends four to seven minutes a day outside of unstructured play, and they spend about seven hours on screens, and the, the adults aren’t, we’re not much better. We spend about 15 minutes outside in a, about the equal amount of time on screen.
So we look at, you know, obviously that’s a threat to our business, but much, much beyond that. That’s a threat really, to our society in a way. Right? You think about the, the disconnect that’s happening outside and we know. Through tons of research now that being outside is critical to who we are as healthy, functional people.
And so for us, when we talk to our contractors and design partners, this is something that we talk about often because, you know, everybody needs a purpose, right? To get up out of bed and feel good about something. And if your purpose is to really help bring people outside and in, in that process, they’re able to you know kind of, uh, rediscover nature and, and realize how, how good it makes them feel and realize the health and wellness and mental health benefits of that, and simultaneously create a space that, um, connects families and connects, you know, friends and, and neighbors. I mean, how great is that, right? I mean, you think about, there’s a lot, there’s a lot of places, uh, to, to be in business.
But to be in a business and an industry that actually does something so profound, I think is is huge. And to your point, we have a platform, a collective platform to spread a message like this and, and do, do good really in, in many different ways, which I think is awesome.
Allison Messner: I totally agree, and anybody who’s listening who has kids knows that it doesn’t take much to create something outdoors that will draw kids there.
I have young kids and um, we unfortunately had to cut down a tree that was at its end of life, and so we had rounds that we stacked and we made stairs for the kids, and they had hours upon hours, upon hours of just joyous play climbing and jumping off and, you know, maybe you don’t have kids, but you at some point have had a non-functional outdoor space that has been made functional.
Similarly, people gravitate. So I agree with you. It, it’s very rewarding to be in this business and hear so many stories of people that started from a place where they didn’t have an outdoor space that they could live in, and then they got one and it really did change the way they live in their home.
Joe Raboine: When you think of outdoor living, uh, spaces in particular, and just the demographic because it cuts across all demographic lines, doesn’t matter. You know, who someone is, how much money they make, what they look like. Um, we all have this same kind of urge to have an outdoor space that, you know, it, it’s something that we can use on a daily basis.
One of the things that, that, uh, we talk about a lot here is, is biophilic design and this idea of, of connecting the indoor and outdoor and kind of fostering this love for nature. Are you seeing people request that or are they, are they asking for it in different ways of, of trying to see some of those types of features or connections?
Allison Messner: Yeah, I think, I mean, when I think of biophilic design, I think of connecting people in nature in built environments. And so that’s kind of at the core of, of what you do and what Yardzen does. So I think that, basically any Yardzen client that comes to us and says, help me build a beautiful, functional outdoor space, is requesting that.
Um, it’s interesting too, when you think about biophilic design indoors, you think about things like skylights and water features and living walls. But as long as you have a combination of hardscaped areas and, you know, dynamic living plants and plant life, that that is essentially biophilic design in my mind.
Joe Raboine: Yeah I agree. I mean, it’s in, it’s interesting cause we’re already outside, right? We’re, we have the advantage of already being outside, but there are elements of, of that that we can improve upon. And I think also when we speak to architects and builders and interior designers, we can design spaces, right? That help better visually and physically connect to that home and give them ideas, at least in the future if they haven’t already done it, of, of how that can be done.
And so I think there’s endless possibilities and I think with that idea we’re collectively just getting started in this industry, which is, which is super cool and exciting.
Allison Messner: Agreed.
Joe Raboine: For those who who haven’t heard already, we are thrilled to announce that we actually just entered into a strategic agreement.
Super excited about that. Look forward to integrating our product with your platform and, uh, uh, are super excited about the, uh, opportunity for, for your clients to utilize Old Castle products.
Allison Messner: As are we. So basically what that means is that now when a Yardzen client goes through the design process, they will be introduced to Belgard and other Old Castle products, which we know are absolutely best in class.
We’re thrilled to recommend the products where appropriate. And um, and then also our designers have been trained on Belgard products. So we sort of have this end-to-end from designer to homeowner all the way to contractor. Level of expertise about products. So the homeowners being educated, the designer is recommending, and then the contractor is educated on how to install.
So it really makes for the seamless process for everybody. And yeah, like Joe said, I think we’re all pretty thrilled about it.
Joe Raboine: Yeah, it’s been great. We’ve been working, uh, tirelessly behind the scenes together to train your people and vice versa, and it’s gonna be cool to see it all come to fruition.
Allison Messner: Definitely.
Joe Raboine: So what would be, I mean, you guys see all kinds of, of, uh, requests, I’m sure. I mean, what are some other cool trends or requests that, uh, homeowners are asking for?
Allison Messner: Yeah, a fun one that was born out of the pandemic but has, has persisted is the social front yard. So I don’t know if you’re familiar with that or, um, you’re nodding yes, so I, I assume yes.
Joe Raboine: We, yeah, we are starting to see that.
Allison Messner: Yeah.
Joe Raboine: Not as much as we’d like, but yeah. Keep going.
Allison Messner: Yeah. Yeah. Um, it might take some nudging, but yeah, we’ve, we’ve certainly seen it born sort of organically, but social front yards are exactly what they sound like. Historically, front yards were used for socializing. If you think back to a hundred plus years ago in the the wraparound front porch with the rocking chair and waving at the neighbors and the kids playing in the front yard with the neighbor kids, that sort of went away for a while.
And most of our socializing happened in backyards. But then when we were homebound during the pandemic and social distancing it had a, a sort of rebirth and we’ve seen that continue because front yards often are really underutilized spaces, so we’re seeing things like fire pits and conversation areas and dining areas requested in front yards so that people can make the most of, of that space.
Joe Raboine: I love to hear that. And it’s interesting, as you were talking just this past weekend, I went down to Florida with my wife and my, my two younger, uh, twins. I’ve got two sets of twins. Um, and we were walking around an old neighborhood and I was talking to my wife about this. It was probably eight or nine in the morning and four or five times in that neighborhood, um, walked by people were sitting on their porch, you know, having a cup of coffee, reading the newspaper. Every single one of them said hi. And, and had, you know, wanted to talk a little bit further, which you think about, you know, over the last 50, 60, 70 years that shift to the backyard. You’re completely right. I mean, that this idea that, especially now when, when lots are getting smaller and backyards aren’t, as large, why not use that front yard space?
And so I think, yeah, there’s a ton of creative ways to do that and it’s, it’s great to hear that people are asking for that. I think that’s, that speaks well for where we’re headed, which is awesome.
Allison Messner: Yeah. Agreed. And I would encourage any contractors listening to make that suggestion to clients if they’re, you know, if they’re helping a client arrive at what they wanna do in their outdoor space.
Joe Raboine: Yeah. Are you seeing, um, what we, we call kind of micro spaces, but beyond the front yard where you have kind of like side yard or even very, very small backyards where people are doing, you know, fairly elaborate outdoor living projects.
Allison Messner: Absolutely. And anybody, yeah, anybody who has had to design a very small yard knows that they’re the most challenging spaces because oftentimes the, the homeowner wants all of the same functions of a large yard just on a really, really small footprint.
So yeah, that’s sort of how we approach design actually, is we, we first ask about the function that the homeowner is looking to achieve, how they wanna live in their outdoor space, and then we step into design. By creating those, those micro spaces or those individual spaces, which is kind of what I was referencing earlier in talking about how people wanna live outside, right?
Joe Raboine: Mm-hmm.
Allison Messner: They wanna dine, they wanna socialize, they want their kids to play, they want a garden. And so you sort of break down those micro spaces in the design process in a way that makes the most use for the space. But you touched on side yards. Side yards are very underutilized and um, really a great opportunity for a lot of American and Canadian lots.
Joe Raboine: It’s funny. People will say, and we hear this often where, you know, like, well, I love an outdoor living space, but I live in a, you know, small lot, or I live in the city and I just, I can’t get one. And when you start asking questions like, well, how much space do you have on your side yard? Might be 10 feet or 15 feet.
And then you relate that back to an interior room, right? Like a, a dining room. You could definitely still put a table in a space like that. You can have a grill, you can now setback and ordinances may, you know, obviously be a challenge depending on when you’re at. But, um, most of the time I think you, you, you can definitely utilize those.
And the same with the back, right? If you’ve only got 15 feet, you know, from your house to your garage. Imagine a 15 foot by 20 foot room in your house, that’s a big room. I mean, you can do a lot in that room if you really design it well and plan it out. And so I think for us, I mean we’re obviously, you know, those larger suburban lots are still kind of our bread and butter and I think, you know, we’ll continue to be.
But um, there’s definitely a lot of infill and small spaces and a lot of people that are moving into very tight, um, even brand new neighborhoods that are like that. And so I think shifting that, the conversation to the front yard, to the side yard to the back, and. At least kind of promoting the idea that, you know, if you want an outdoor space, there are creative ways to accomplish that.
And some of them might be kind of like a hybrid space where you have built-in seating and, you know, vertical gardens and some of those features. But, um, you definitely can do it if you, uh, if you plan correctly.
Allison Messner: Agreed.
Joe Raboine: Good to, good to hear that you guys are hearing that as well. Let me shift back a little bit to Yardzen and, um, and the history.
So what are, you know, you guys have have seen tremendous growth over the last few years. What are some of the challenges to that that you’ve run into? Maybe for the listeners, give them a little bit of a snapshot about how the system works or the process works.
Allison Messner: Yeah, happy to. So homeowners come to Yardzen.com and they’re guided through the quiz that you referenced, Joe that helps them arrive at the best design package for, for their unique project and their, uh, unique property and their unique needs. And then from that point, there’s about 30 minutes of onboarding. So with the, the, you know, basic functionality of your, your phone, we can guide you through taking photos of your outdoor space at prescribed angles.
And, and ask you a series of questions about things like your plant preferences, the level of maintenance you wanna commit to, how committed you are to sustainability, things like that, materials that, that you prefer. And then we create a 3D model of your property remotely without stepping foot on site.
And then we have you confirm that that looks accurate, and from there we start creating the design. A couple weeks later, you get your first draft design. You provide all of the feedback and we’re confident you’ll have lots. And then we collaborate a little bit, go back to the drawing board and share your final design.
If at that point you want to continue revising your design, you may, um, most people are ready to, to be done and call their design final at that point. And then last step is, um, we connect our clients with a contractor who can build the, the project. So you asked about challenges. I will say that the biggest challenge certainly has been designing in all 50 states.
So we started in California, then we expanded to Texas and, and sort of grew from there. But having deep expertise in materials and local aesthetics and um, building requirements and, you know, all of the things that we need to be expert in in order to design anywhere in the, the United States has, has certainly been the biggest challenge.
Joe Raboine: Yeah, I can only imagine, right? I mean, there definitely are differences regionally. Um, and we, we, uh, that’s a challenge for us on a day-to-day basis. Uh, for sure. I mean, that’s fascinating. I mean, you think about the technology and the ability to do this remotely and, and have all these different tools at your fingertips.
I mean, it just makes the process obviously much more seamless for the homeowner versus, uh, I guess the traditional way. I mean, I love it. I think it’s, it’s definitely the future and, and, uh, It’s exciting to see that growth and that, you know, the interest. I mean, we’re all homeowners and I think in this kind of a post Amazon world that we live in, we want things quickly and we want, you know, them, um, kind of on our own terms.
Um, so I think it’s, it’s extremely timely and I think as we move forward, I think people are gonna continue to request this type of service more and more just because it’s, it’s just easier. And then they can do it on their own timeline essentially, which is, which is awesome.
Allison Messner: Yeah, I appreciate that. And yeah, also want to add that, you know, we’ve designed the process for designers and architects, right?
So we listened to, to their pain points in the design and architecture process, and really built yards in from the ground up to make it easy for, for them as well. So just like the homeowner can kind of go through the design process on their own time, the designer has. You know, ample time, it doesn’t have to be between nine and five.
They don’t have to come out to the client’s home site to visit. So all of those inefficiencies are sort of stripped away.
Joe Raboine: That’s awesome. Very cool. So what are some of the other challenges, I guess, with that type of, um, of, of the service? I mean, you’ve, you know, obviously, uh, they’re doing it a hundred percent remote.
I mean, there’s, there’s, is there communication challenges or is it hard to select color and and texture? Or is that, is that something you’re not seeing really because of the renders, the quality of the renders that are being done kind of takes away some of that guesswork?
Allison Messner: Yeah, I would say that guesswork, um, around colors and, and texture.
Um, you know, we, I would never say that we’ve fully solved for anything, but that is not our biggest challenge. Communication is always gonna be a challenge anytime when you have this sort of asynchronous online process. Certainly things can get lost in translation. So we’ve been iterating on what we call our feedback studio.
Joe Raboine: Mm-hmm.
Allison Messner: This, which is again, this asynchronous process in place where the homeowner gets their design and they go through and they might get somewhere between 15 and 25 renders of their design. And they might have lots and lots of feedback, lots of questions about things like materials or design, rationale.
So, you know, the process of going back and forth can, can present challenges and that’s some somewhere where I think we’re always gonna be focused and always gonna be improving. In truth, I think that there are always communication challenges, whether, whether you’re in person talking about design with a homeowner or online.
And one advantage to doing it online is there’s always this record. And so, you know, you can see the homeowner can go back and see, and the designer can go back and see, and everything’s kind of written out and in print. And so, um, I think that’s, that’s certainly helpful.
Joe Raboine: Yeah, I think with anything, anytime you’re dealing with people, especially contracting communication, um, is probably the number one issue you have to work through, right?
Allison Messner: I think so. Yes.
Joe Raboine: Yeah
Allison Messner: I think so.
Joe Raboine: Well, and it’s an, you know, and, and for a lot of contractors, you know, they look at design as, as, um, You know, some, some relish, you know, the idea of designing and some, I would say it’s kind of a necessary evil where they know they have to have a design to get the project, to do the work, you know, and, um, for many of them, they’re doing those designs in the evening.
They’re doing ’em on the weekends. We’ve talked for years about this and done focus groups. And typically, you know, it’s anywhere from 20 to 30 hours that are invested. Lots of site visits. A lot of the contractors don’t charge for design. So you think about the actual cost to them, that’s, uh, it’s pretty cr- uh, it’s pretty incredible.
And for homeowners, one of the things I’ve talked about is the, uh, people are not trying to be difficult. They just don’t understand. And so if anything you can do to help speed that up and streamline it is, is good for, for you. It’s good for them, it’s good for the industry. So, I love what you’re doing. I think, you know, for a lot of designers, for a lot of contractors, this is, is going to help them ul ultimately, and certainly the homeowners as well, to have these types of services available to, um, to offer their clients and to really help them create a space that is, is more personalized and curated for, for them.
I mean, I was a contractor for a long time and, and a lot of those, those guys are doing it, like I said, in the evenings and weekends and. If you think about, you’ve got multiple quotes to do. You, you know, you’re tired, you show up, and a lot of times you’re just trying to get it done and check the box.
You’re not necessarily working as as much as you could be to, to, to work for that client on their behalf to get that space the way it should be. So having someone that is truly working on behalf of that client, I, I think is, is awesome.
Allison Messner: Yeah, I appreciate that and agree. I think we have found that designing is not the most profitable use of a contractor’s time.
The most profitable time is when they’re actually on the job site doing the work. And so that’s kind of how we think about it. How we support contractors is by taking that, that work off of their plate so that they can more expediently get to the homeowner green lighting the project and get the work started.
Joe Raboine: So once the homeowner is done with this process, um, would you kind of elaborate on how, how that would work? How does that work from that point? Right. Does this homeowner then kind of take this plan and have to go find a contractor or, or does Yardzen help kind of assist with that? Or how do, how, how do you guys normally handle that?
Allison Messner: Yeah. So from a homeowner’s perspective, one advantage of working with Yardzen is that you own your design. That is not how it works with, with landscape architects. traditionally. If you hire the landscape architect, they own the plans and you sort of have to go with their contractor in order to, um, to move forward with the plans.
So in Yardzen’s case the homeowner owns the plans. That said, A big part of our service offering is connecting our clients with a contractor that, that we have vetted. So we have a network, a little bit bigger than 400 contractors from coast to coast, and we work very closely with them and connect our clients to them when the design work is complete.
And we aim for that transition, that introduction to be as seamless as possible. So we kind of stand, stand by after the homeowner and the contractor have done an initial meetup, a site walk, which we facilitate. And if at that point there are any changes that were discussed in the field when the contractor sees the job site, cause it’s not uncommon for the contractor to come out and have a strong perspective on what we have designed.
And we know design is fluid and you know, we, we can’t be so sort of committed to an initial design cause it will likely evolve and so we will make changes to, um, to our CAD plans, red lines, they’re commonly referred to as I’m sure everybody listening knows. And really just try to support the contractor and the homeowner through the, the kind of contract process and help get to a place where a bit assigned, which is a win for everybody.
Joe Raboine: That definitely would help streamline the process a bit as well. Um, let me shift back for a minute, so just so everyone’s clear. You, you also offer other services, right? Where it’s, you know, we talk a lot about the backyard and it’s the same for us, but I mean, you can do the front yard, you can even change the color and kind of the exterior of a home.
Is that correct?
Allison Messner: Yeah, we, we refer to that as exterior design. So we have packages that include just planting. So we call that our, our botanical design. And then we have packages that include just the front yard, just the backyard, the entire yard. And then, um, our most premium packages are packages that also include exterior design.
So we will basically reimagine the exterior of your home with paint, color and siding, and new doors and window placement. We’ll show you what a single door could look like as French doors. Um, basically anything that, that you want, that the designer can sort of imagine to, to evolve and change the exterior of your home.
Joe Raboine: Well, that’s gotta be super helpful. I’m sure homeowners love that ability, right? So not, not only just seeing their new landscape, they’re also seeing that new house color. Uh, some of those new features that are on that will be on the home as well. That’s, that’s awesome.
Allison Messner: Our big learning after a couple of years in market, is that the only time you experience your, your yard without the exterior of your home is when you’re inside the home. And so, you know, some very simple changes they could paint color can really improve the way that you experience your yard because you’re also looking at the home’s exterior.
Joe Raboine: Yeah. That’s fantastic. Well, very cool. So when you look to the future, what, uh, I guess what are some of the things that excite you? What are some of the upcoming challenges that you see as you grow your business and kind of expand?
Allison Messner: Yeah, I mean, we always want to, to go deeper with our expertise and so that’s always gonna be a challenge. Um, staying abreast of new products and, and, you know, new trends. We aim to be on the cutting edge of those trends as the largest and most scalable landscape design service in the, in the United States.
And, you know, building partnerships with companies like Old Castle and Belgard it’s really important to us, and Joe and I have spent quite a bit of time together. We’ve spent quite a bit of time learning about Belgard products so that we can really stand behind them and recommend them to our clients. And I’m incredibly proud to be partnered with you all because your products are absolutely best in class.
So yeah, staying abreast of what is on the market and you know what is possible for our clients’ yards is certainly a challenge.
Joe Raboine: Yeah, we are, we are super excited. Uh, I think, uh, so we have round one of our products, uh, being integrated and I know we just did the training, uh, session with your designers last week.
Sounds like there’s a lot of excitement there. This partnership is something that’s, is super exciting for us. Um, we’re excited to, uh, tap in your network and, and have your homeowners kind of realize the benefits of Old Castle and what we can offer with having a curated set of products that is designed to work together, you know, from a color and texture perspective, but hopefully also helps to get these projects done in a more seamless, easier way.
Buying an out outdoor living space is not always the easiest process. So anything that we can do collectively to kind of streamline that, to get it to them, you know, more cost effectively and designed, um, synergistically, um, I think is a good thing for everybody. So, super excited about this and can’t wait to see where, uh, where all this is headed.
Allison Messner: As are we, Joe.
Joe Raboine: With that, I’m gonna ask one last question, uh, which I ask all my guests, what is the, uh, most fulfilling thing, uh, for you, uh, of what you’re doing and what you’re doing with Yardzen?
Allison Messner: Hands down, hearing the stories of our clients after their yards are built. We see photos of kids’, birthday parties.
We hear about outdoor spaces being accessible by elderly parents that weren’t previously accessible. We hear the most wonderful stories about lives being changed, and I know that might sound a little dramatic, but it’s actually true. That is the most rewarding part of my job.
Joe Raboine: It’s exactly what drives me as well.
I think, you know, the idea of what we do, I mean, it’s, it isn’t just a job, and I think this is true for many of our contractors and our employees, is that, you know, collectively we are making these beautiful spaces that are, are actually doing something that’s great for people and their, and their families and for their communities.
Um, I mean, we are in the, in the outdoor business, right? We’re, our job is to get people outside. We know when they’re outside, they’re going to feel better. There’s tons of data supporting, you know, that stress is reduced and, and, uh, you know, overall happiness and contentment go up. So I think, you know, getting them off their devices and getting them outside and engaging with nature and their families is, is super cool.
And, and, uh, I couldn’t think of a better industry to be in as well, so. Well, thank you so much for joining us. Um, we’re, uh, super excited. As I said, I, I can’t wait to see. We’re all this leads and, uh, look forward to, to continuing to grow our, our partnership with Yardzen.
Allison Messner: Thank you so much for having me on.
Joe Raboine: Thank you.
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