Turning Over a New Leaf
“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new”
-Socrates
It is inspiring to look back on the past 14 years and to see how far our firm has come, all the changes we have experienced: weathering the great recession a mere 2 years after the company’s founding in 2006; experiencing a slow but steady rebound as the economy began its plodding trudge towards recovery. Whereas the company initially began performing exclusively design, consulting, and project management services with minimal garden maintenance work, the recession of 2008 necessitated completely flipping that business model to where we are today, with the larger portion of our business focused on professional fine garden maintenance work while continuing to provide design and consulting services.
The ensuing growth of our company in making that change to a fine garden maintenance focus was acknowledged by the need to bring on additional gardeners who share in a passionate love of horticulture – the foundation of our company. The ability to respond to changing circumstances, to redirect the passions, energy, and focus which originally manifest it into being by providing high skill, high knowledge base, professional gardening services needed in Seattle is an enormous asset and distinguishes our firm from those of our peers.
As a company we strive to adapt as we grow, adjusting not only with the environment (starting the company working out of a small garage stall on Capitol Hill, then to a townhouse garage in the Central District, and now in the Fauntleroy neighborhood of West Seattle) but also adjusting our services to the skills and super-powers of our various team members. Tapping into the strengths of our team members and leveraging those abilities makes us durable and resilient as a firm.
As I think back on the evolution of JKDL, how it had been a one-person company at first then growing to attract skilled team members, the eponymous company name reflects the passions, thoughts, ideas and even whims of one person. That name, if lacking in creativity, was a clear reflection of who and what our clients were getting when they hired JKDL to perform design or garden work. As we have grown though, bringing on brilliant, passionate, driven team members with titles and areas of expertise entirely of their own, it only seems right that we revisit the name of the company to disentangle it from Jason Kibbey. The goal being to give it a name which all team members can feel empowered to take up and burnish, unencumbered by a single individual’s name.
Ideally it would be a new firm name that will anchor us to the neighborhood in which we have already set our roots, and by so adopting, will grow those roots even deeper. A name that would reflect our community as much as it reflects our desire to be active stewards not only of our clients’ gardens, but also of the neighborhood in which we live and work. A name that at once conjures a place, and an historic feel, as well as images of the natural beauty of the Puget Sound, cove, iconic ferry crossing and cherished stream. A name, in short, which fixes in the minds of our team and our clients more than an individual, but of a shared place.
I am incredibly proud to announce that we are changing our name from Jason Kibbey Design & Landscape, LLC, to Fauntleroy Gardening Co, LLC. Aside from the name change, you will notice too that we have a new emblem and rebranded uniforms, signage, etc., all of which reflects our neighborhood and our desire to make a positive impact therein. As a team, we are committed as ever to the continued growth, development, and stewardship of our clients’ gardens. As a professional fine garden maintenance firm, you can expect our services to improve and expand beyond what you had experienced under the old name. We will do this by continuing to bring on talented garden designers, gifted seasonal color design, and eventually fresh flower arrangement services. Our Edible Urban Gardener Specialist will fill a much-needed gap in our services, providing our clients with recommendations and care of fruit and vegetable gardening. Our Community Outreach Coordinator is coming up to speed and will be working with non-profits in our community so that we can give back by offering our time and expertise in service to our community.
Change is coming in our name, and our branding, but what you can rely upon, what will not change, and what we want each of our clients to know is this: we are here for you as passionate horticultural experts who care deeply about our clients’ gardens, our team members, and our community.