We invest greatly in our people because we know they will in turn, invest greatly in our customers. We want people to be happy when they come to work. We want to help employees grow their talents and gifts. By making our team members a priority, we are creating a culture of happiness both inside our own walls and at our customers homes and businesses.
A visual learner and former teacher, Lara is always looking for places to bring a more vivid and meaningful view to her work and to her clients.
When you ask Lara about the path that brought her to work in customer service, she had never really considered a career in professional turf services. She’s learned that the job isn’t black and white.
Beyond looking at a client’s transactions and invoices, Lara and her team perform procedures related to the client’s needs, the professional’s needs, priorities and growth opportunities for the organization overall. Her job description is about not only embracing change but also predicting it, preparing for it, and helping others do the same.
The work “takes a village,” in her words, and that village requires a variety of backgrounds and experiences, as well as close collaboration.
Born and raised in the triangle area, Lara is a true southerner who enjoys cooking, time with family, and is actively involved in her local church. Although she has a house divided, Lara and her husband both graduated from NC State University and love to watch sports, particularly college football, basketball, and major league baseball. “My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me” Jim Valvano.
Tim has been in the turf maintenance industry for 22 years! He began his career under the influence of Craig Ember and Brad Sutton who trained their workers “the ole fashion” way. “They were like football coaches, they pushed us hard to know all aspects of turf maintenance mentally and physically.”
There are multiple features of lawn care that contribute to a successful lawn. For Tim, the most important is the ability to communicate with customers. “Helping customers understand cool and warm season turf and the mirco-environment it is faced with is half the battle. Grass is a living thing and like any living thing, you have to be knowledgeable how to best treat it.”
When Tim is not on the lawn, he and his wife participate in their church. They are active campus ministers at a local University and have taken mission trips to Africa, Marseille France, and Micronesia.
Chris was born in New York but raised in the Philadelphia area. He is a big Eagles fan. Chris has worked outdoors his whole life. He was an iron worker in NYC and he also helped run his fathers tree business in Colorado for twenty years. He moved to the Raleigh area with his family in 2012 and now he says he has finally found a home. Chris was a natural fit to Eastern Turf Maintenance, he started as a Yardner and quickly moved to Field Manager.
On the weekend he enjoys hunting, fishing, and NASCAR. Chris and some of the other guys will travel to some of the local races.
After 20 years in the lawncare business it is no surprise that Todd is the Grand Daddy Ops Manager. He is a native North Carolinian and that’s not easy so say anymore. Customer service is in his blood, he spent 16 years in the restaurant business. Then he finally understood his calling, which is the turf maintenance business. When the weekend comes around you will find him on a beach in Wilmington with his wife and their dog. He is a diehard Wolfpack fan.
Brian is from the northeast also, Jamestown New York. He moved to North Carolina when he was 17 and does not miss the snow. Brain knows his stuff, he started working for EPM, which is an old turf maintenance company some people may still remember. He took a break from the turf business for 4 years. He hit the road driving tractor trailers. This guy has seen the country. He can drive anything on wheels. After four years on the road he came back to the turf business and says he loves it.
On the weekends he goes four wheeling with the family and takes trips to South Carolina.
