Her Story
About Suzanne
Suzanne Coventry serves as regional account manager for Stone Landscape, supervising eight account managers each with books of business exceeding one million dollars and overseeing thirteen additional account managers across six states while carrying her own client portfolio in lawn and snow removal. Her career in landscape services and management spans decades, beginning with high school studies in horticulture and botany as science credits and participation in Future Farmers of America, followed by college and immediate entry into the field. She gained early experience at a landscape design company, worked in Las Vegas, and later owned a high-end boutique design-build-maintain business in California before returning to corporate roles. Coventry emphasizes honesty and integrity in client dealings and attributes her professional growth to setting five personal and five professional goals each January, pursuing continuous education such as arborist licensing or irrigation auditor training, and embracing challenges daily. She advises young women entering the industry that it offers strong pay and rewards, noting increasing promotions of women into executive positions despite historical barriers in construction and landscaping trades. Among her core values, family ranks highest personally, while she sees industry opportunities in growth alongside challenges in hiring and the need for in-house training programs.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Suzanne
01What do you attribute your success to?
I tend to give myself little goals every year. At the beginning of the year, in January 1, I make 10 things for myself. I'll make 5 things personally, and then I make 5 things professionally. Always try to give myself an assignment. It's always good, and that will tie back to investing in yourself, and growing as an individual. Just because you're getting older doesn't mean you can't learn new things. Take a new class. Get your arborist license, or go take the classes and become an irrigation auditor. Always add more value to yourself.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Always investment in yourself. And do something that's scary you every day.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
There is an illusion that it is not a well-paying position or a well-paying career path, but it is. And it also can be very rewarding. We have loosened the reins. We are finally starting to see women being promoted into more executive and managerial roles. It's taken a really long time for women in the construction trades, landscaping trades, to truly be taken seriously, and they are a force of nature to be reckoned with.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Opportunity is there's a lot of growth. But the challenge is we don't see a lot of people going into this industry anymore. So hiring has become a tough thing in our industry. Kids aren't really going into horticulture, forestry, botany in school anymore. Now we've changed how we hire. We have to grow people in-house. Companies are really having to change and develop these mini colleges within their company to really grow these people.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I think honesty and integrity for both sides of the ball. Especially when you're dealing with clients, higher-end clients, corporate clients in a book of business like that, they truly respect the honesty and integrity, do what you say, say what you do kind of mentality. You build a reputation on me. And you trade on your reputation. But if you had to say what is most important to me, personally, would be my family. I put them above all else.
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