Turf Talk Ep. 10 | Strategy, Advocacy & the Future of the Irrigation Industry with Marcy Cottle: transcript
This automated transcript accompanies the original Turf Talk recording. Names, figures, and speaker identification may contain errors; check important details against the audio. Timestamps refer to the episode, not advertisements.
0:00Speaker A From the fields that feed America to the landscapes that keep it all growing, welcome to Turf Talk.
0:05Speaker B I'm Jennifer, the Turfette Jones.
0:06Speaker A And I'm Eric, the Turf Teacher Jones.
0:09Speaker B are are the Green Industry Couple, bringing you real conversations, practical education, and first-hand experience.
0:16Speaker A And from the farm and the job site to the classroom and the biggest trade shows in the country.
0:20Speaker B So settle in
0:22Speaker B let's talk turf.
0:23Speaker A Welcome to Turf Talk. Let's get today's conversation. Gin started. Hey everyone, this is Eric Jones, better known as the turf teacher. I'm here with my lovely bride, the turfette, Jennifer Jones, and we have the pleasure.
0:36Speaker C to energize the leader of the Green Industry Council in Waterpalooza.
0:41Speaker B So tell us who you are, what
0:43Speaker B do you do, and where are you from?
0:45Speaker D Perfect. My name is Marcy Cottle. I am with the North Carolina Green Industry Council as well as the Carolinas Irrigation Association and the Turfgrass Council of North Carolina. I am from originally a small suburb of Chicago, Illinois, but I have been down in the Raleigh area for about 33 years.
1:09Speaker B So you are no stranger to big cities.
1:12Speaker D No, not at all.
1:13Speaker B Yeah, I lived in Chicago for about three years. I went to a Christian college up there for music. I had a music scholarship there and absolutely loved it in Chicago. But I was so ready to be home because I grew up on a dairy farm. So you can imagine the
1:28Speaker B topography,
1:28Speaker D a big change.
1:28Speaker B demographic change. I mean, it was but it was fun. It was the best time of my life from 18 to. into 22 it's just yeah
1:36Speaker B you're young learning growing so yeah nice
1:39Speaker D my daughter was just up there for four weeks dancing this summer, so she
1:44Speaker D had a good time.
1:45Speaker B it's beautiful I mean it gets hot in Chicago but those early April May months it's kind of chilly with the wind blowing and get into June it warms up a little bit it's just really I think the weather up there is just really pretty and I enjoyed the snow because around here we didn't get get that much snow so I was introduced to what real northern snow looked like in Chicago but so I want to know how did you get into the green industry
2:12Speaker D Okay. Well, literally it was through an accident. I, back in 20, well, I was working with doing some consulting starting in 2017 with some of the associations in the green industry helping build strategic plans. And then in 2022, I was in an accident that put me on. disability for three months short-term disability and while I was on there one of the company that I work for the they laid a client off of mine and I came back to no job so I just
2:54Speaker A um put some of my feelers out there and different folks started coming up um somewhere from the green industry as well as other areas of that I've worked with over the years and I just built a consulting business and I call it a strategic management company where we help organizations identify their strategy and implement them so I work a lot in the with the green industry um in quite a few different professions and helping grow awareness, education, advocacy, and supporting the professionals that are in the state.
3:32Speaker B Yeah, I think that's a great position to be in what you're doing. I think it's an amazing thing to do. So was this your very first job in the green industry?
3:43Speaker A Yeah, actually it was.
3:45Speaker A Starting in 2017, but it was, I've kind of done a lot of different things in my career from leadership, sales, service training, working with corporations to managing production and printing companies. And I just tend to find, I think one of the things that is common is I like to work with and for. nice people.
4:10Speaker A And that has been one of the things when I started my business this go around in 22, it was one of the qualifications. I wanted to work with clients that you could get to know and stay with for a long time. And really, we all have to work or most of us have to work.
4:28Speaker A So it's important to be with quality, kind people that are moving in the same direction.
4:34Speaker B Yeah, I think it's important to have community in the work that you do and
4:39Speaker B you're not always the lone ranger.
4:41Speaker A Yeah, it is.
4:42Speaker B And definitely in the green industry, there are no lone rangers in the green industry. I think from what I've seen, this is my second year in the green industry. I came from the beauty sales industry. So being in the green industry, there's not a lot of difference in sales. goals or you know business but there is a big difference in people and how people approach business and how they conduct business so I do think it's important to to find the right community for you and it sounds like this is what you found and you enjoy that yeah
5:14Speaker A It feels like home.
5:15Speaker B I think that's important to feel like home you don't want to have to leave work just so that you could go home if it's great to be at home out at work too
5:24Speaker B I think that's a good way of putting a little bit more value in life yeah
5:29Speaker A Yeah. And I get to work with some really quality people.
5:33Speaker B I'm sure you do I'm sure you do what's your most favorite part about this job
5:40Speaker A I think my favorite part is getting to... reinvent Kind of the same.
5:52Speaker B The same thing. And by that I mean they've offered, associations offer education, but I love being able to work with boards and create new ways to deliver what people are used to so that it's a little unexpected, switch up, have a conversation or a different takeaway, and being able to create strategies with people that are willing to step outside the box a little bit.
6:17Speaker C Yeah, I think that. I think a lot of people are afraid to step outside the box. I like what you said, reinvent strategies.
6:24Speaker C Sometimes it's the same strategy, just boxed a little bit differently, but
6:28Speaker C it scares people when they have to think outside the box. Oh, my husband tripped over a wire over here, so excuse us. But one of the biggest pieces of advice I ever heard in business, and you may have heard this, so I'm going to share it with you, was... Growth and comfort cannot coexist.
6:49Speaker C Either going to grow and get a little uncomfortable or are you going to stay comfortable but you're never going to grow.
6:54Speaker C So I like your strategy of reinventing things
6:59Speaker C and just repackaging the same thing but just getting people to step outside their box.
7:04Speaker B Yeah. Say it a little bit differently. Do it a little bit differently. Change doesn't happen typically in large steps and change is best managed. just a little bit at a time. Being able to know that your first time out with a new strategy, you're going to tweak it again because you're doing the best that you can with the information and data that you have and then you get new data and you continue to grow it and evolve it and you just get to meet some really neat people along the way when you do it like that.
7:36Speaker C Yeah, Hamilton was over here earlier talking about you guys have been working really hard to change some things here at. The water plays in and the Carolina Irrigation Association. So what has been your favorite brainchild in change with the Carolina Irrigation?
7:55Speaker B One of the things that I love doing with them is putting together panels.
8:02Speaker B so we had from Source to Sprinkler last year where we brought in a wide variety of individuals to talk about where the water comes from and all the way through the irrigation process. We have another panel that's coming together for today that's looking at kind of lessons learned from. making it through droughts and being able to hear and have people engage and talk with each other rather than just your traditional classroom style. And I think the speakers that we bring, even if it is in a traditional classroom format, have a much higher level of interaction.
8:46Speaker B So what has been, this is kind of a fun question. What has been the strangest or the craziest thing somebody has asked you to do?
8:56Speaker A Oh goodness.
9:01Speaker B Might take some thought on
9:04Speaker A know. I know. I have to think about that. I think. inside the green industry water palooza zone or just in
9:18Speaker B in general in
9:19Speaker A general okay
9:20Speaker B general okay
9:22Speaker A I'm gonna have to come back to that one I'm gonna
9:23Speaker A have to think about that one a little bit
9:24Speaker B think about
9:25Speaker B that one maybe that thought will pop up that's always a fun question to ask is what's the strangest or craziest thing somebody's asked you to do in business and it may turn out to be profitable or work and then it may been a flop but Those are always fun to hear what people have to say. So we'll come back
9:41Speaker A We'll come back.
9:41Speaker B to that one.
9:42Speaker B But I have a good question for you that I tend to ask a lot of people. Is what energizes you? It could be like a traditional thing that you do every day, if it's being around certain people. But what is the one thing that you implement in your daily routine or in your business that totally fully energizes you that you maybe find inspiration and courage for yourself?
10:09Speaker A A new idea. Yeah, I love new ideas. I love sitting down and I do in my previous, one of my previous lives I did a lot of training on leadership, communication styles, behavioral styles, and I am a very, I am not a very structured person. I don't do things the same way every day, any day. So having but a lot of my business is about replicating processes and steps. So if I find myself in a structured environment too long, I'll sit down and I'll just take out an idea and, you know, I'll call folks on my team. I'll be like, look, I don't really need you to do anything. I just need to talk something out and
10:55Speaker A you need you to listen and new ideas really, they don't have to be the most creative, but I love just sitting down and brainstorming. and
11:02Speaker A playing something out, writing a course, doing
11:06Speaker A something like that.
11:07Speaker B That's awesome. I think one of the things that energizes me the most is finding a certain song or something to listen to first thing
11:16Speaker B in the morning.
11:17Speaker B We talked to the president and owner of Skag last weekend and he for him it was a song. He plays a certain song every day and that's why energizes him. So I want to ask people these
11:30Speaker B questions because it kind of gives you an insight into who they are Mm and
11:33Speaker B what drives them. So I think that's cool that you're you're all about creativity.
11:37Speaker B You want to create new things.
11:39Speaker A things and make it work and
11:41Speaker A implement it.
11:42Speaker A Yeah, solve problems. That's where most of the money's made anyway is solving somebody's problem.
11:47Speaker B Hopefully.
11:48Speaker B Hopefully.
11:48Speaker A or at least we like to think so. All right, so I'm going to ask you another question.
11:52Speaker A What is one thing that you cannot leave home without and it can't be your cell phone or your laptop?
12:05Speaker A Ice cold water,
12:06Speaker A or if it's in the morning, a coffee.
12:14Speaker D And that's probably pretty much it. Like it's
12:17Speaker A Water, coffee.
12:17Speaker D not unusual for me to leave the house and get somewhere and then realize I don't have shoes on. I'm not.
12:26Speaker A That's a good one.
12:28Speaker D those are kind of important things. But now I kind of keep my car is kind of like my shoe closet. But yeah,
12:37Speaker D think that's probably. About the only thing is water and coffee.
12:42Speaker A Water and coffee. I can't leave home without a cup of something to drink.
12:46Speaker A I've always got to have something to drink with me. So in your work and your job, what's one tool or piece of equipment that you can't go without in your job?
12:59Speaker D A blank notepad.
13:01Speaker A I Yeah, for
13:02Speaker A new ideas.
13:02Speaker D I like. The artist pads for sketching. I don't want any lines on my paper and I want my Paper mate pens.
13:11Speaker A I like that. Paper Mate pens.
13:14Speaker A Do you have a specific pen?
13:16Speaker D paper mate gel
13:17Speaker A tip pens. Yeah, those are great.
13:18Speaker D I just want it in black ink. I don't want any fancy
13:24Speaker D but everywhere I go, I'll leave my computer, but I need to have a
13:29Speaker A need to have
13:30Speaker A a notepad. That's cool. Yeah, I like it. Okay, so what's harder today in business, finding work, pricing the work, or finding people to do the work?
13:49Speaker D Probably pricing. I think a lot of my business is intentionally a bit smaller because I like to be involved with the people and a lot of my business I get from working with people previously. So... And because I know folks so well, I probably don't always price or even, I mean, the hardest thing for me is invoicing.
14:25Speaker A I hear that a lot in this industry. Invoicing is a tough thing to do because you can get behind real quick in invoicing. Especially. really landscaping we
14:35Speaker A have dealt with that many times oh two weeks later oh we have an invoice so we've got to sit down an invoice
14:40Speaker A um so being in leadership Would you rather hire someone with 10 years of experience with a bad attitude or no experience at all with a great attitude?
14:54Speaker C No experience with a great attitude.
14:56Speaker A Yeah, I think that's kind of a common sense answer, but I've seen people hire people with bad attitude just because they had 10 years of great experience. So I'm always curious to hear what people have to say about
15:07Speaker A that one. What's one thing you do for your employees that you wish more companies would do?
15:16Speaker C Um, recognize when enough is enough,
15:21Speaker C that some days you just need a break or you need to shift or you need somebody to step in and just do it for you. And I think that being human and allowing folks to have bad days or to need to take a break or to just pick up and, you know, I can hear some days like. All right, do you need me to run to this store and pick up this and you can just hear it in voice and be like, no, I got it.
15:50Speaker C Just give people people a break. You know, if somebody makes a mistake, great. Fix it. Like it doesn't have to be the end of the world. Life will go on. We'll live another day. We'll say we're sorry. We'll do the best that we can. And those that. are in line with us or meant to be with us, we'll be right there. And those that aren't are probably a sign that that's not the right Exactly. fit. And nobody goes into work. This is one of the lessons from one of my mentors in leadership. You hear a lot of people say, well, they didn't do this and they didn't do that and they meant to and they and when I hear leaders say they, that usually means that they're not giving people the benefit of the doubt.
16:35Speaker C And I remember just listening to it was a leadership session and Ron Campbell and he's like, people don't show up. at work looking to mess things up. They don't show up hoping that they ruin your day by a mistake that they intentionally made. And I think we just forget about that.
16:53Speaker A Yeah, yeah. So do you find it easy or do you find it a struggle to delegate?
17:04Speaker C I think it's probably a little bit of both. I think a lot of times people delegate before somebody is fully trained
17:17Speaker C then that causes a mistake. So then they take it back a little bit. There's things that I probably don't do enough delegation in and I'm sure my team wishes that I would.
17:28Speaker A Just get out of their hair.
17:31Speaker B All the wonderful joys of being in leadership, right?
17:34Speaker B live and you learn. So tell us more about the Green Council and Carolina's irrigation. Tell us more about what you do, how it affects the green industry, and what do people not understand the benefits of these? Our
17:53Speaker B youth for.
17:53Speaker A Sure. So the North Carolina Green Industry Council is an association of associations as well as we do have individual members. So Carolina's irrigation along with five others are members of the Green Industry Council and we pool our resources for education, advocacy and Those are the two primary areas that the Green Industry Council takes care of. And so we work with a lobbyist and keep an eye on things in Raleigh for all of the green industry professions, whether you're a landscaper, a turf grass professional, an irrigation professional. We are kind of the quiet eyes and ears and keeping a pulse on everything. So a lot of times when it is advocacy related.
18:41Speaker A You don't know a lot of what's going on because you don't want to hear a lot
18:46Speaker A of what's going
18:46Speaker A on. So no news is sometimes good news. But I think that especially for like the irrigation profession during droughts, the Green Industry Council keeps a pulse on things and works with leaders and talks with legislatures and municipalities to figure out what can we do to keep the profession. going and educate them on all the different ways that water can be used and it's not entirely by our profession. So we're able to keep a pulse on things and be there when there is an emergency, but I think it's also important for associations to have that steady commitment to advocacy and legislative needs.
19:31Speaker B Well, I know that you are on a time crunch, so I'm going to ask you a couple rapid fire questions,
19:38Speaker B okay? Early mornings or late nights?
19:41Speaker A Late night.
19:42Speaker B Paper plans or digital?
19:44Speaker B I knew it was going to be paper based on what you said earlier. More customers or better customers?
19:53Speaker B phone call or text yeah
19:55Speaker A Don't call and don't text me you're calling just call me
19:58Speaker B yeah some things is I've learned I'm reading a book right now by Jefferson I think Fisher Fisher is his last name called the next conversation and he talks about how texting we have forgotten that text is just transactional now we put so much emphasis on texting relaying emotion and tone and it doesn't
20:18Speaker A Yeah, it doesn't have a ton in common.
20:21Speaker B Thanks for joining us today.
20:23Speaker A Stay on Turf Talk.
20:24Speaker B We hope today's conversation gave you something useful and worth sharing.
20:27Speaker A Follow, subscribe, or visit us at turftalkpodcast.com for more episodes and updates. I'm Jennifer the Turfette Jones.
20:35Speaker B And I'm Eric the Turf Teacher Jones. Together we are the Green Industry Couple.
20:40Speaker A Until next time,
20:41Speaker B Keep learning,
20:43Speaker A and keep talking turf.
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