Up Close with Dan Dyson: Football Led to Feeling Like Family on the Job

When Dan Dyson was a high school football player back in 1978, his coach suggested he work at a landscaping company for the summer to stay in shape for football. 

You never know how a landscaping career will launch. But this one stuck.

Decades later, Dan has worked at landscaping companies big and small. He’s opened branches, solved problems, boosted revenue, mentored young landscaping recruits and he even ran his own landscaping company for a while. 

As manager of the Burtonsville branch at Level Green Landscaping, Dan says his goals include sharing
his knowledge, appreciating his team and doing the right thing. 

As his old football coach might say, he’s focused on the fundamentals.

Doing the Right Thing 

Over the years, Dan says he grew disillusioned working at some big landscaping companies where profit seemed more valued than customers. 

When he made his way to Level Green in 2023, it felt right.

“I like the fact that we strive to deliver everything we tell the customers we’ll deliver,” he says. “I like that simple philosophy of ‘Do the Right Thing.’”

“Do the Right Thing” is the Level Green company motto and mission statement, not just emblazoned on signs, but taken to heart. It shows up in the choices the owners and employees make, day in, day out. 

That commitment to good makes rewarding work even more meaningful, Dan says. 
 
“Landscaping work is hard. The hours are long. That doesn’t change,” Dan says. “But it’s very satisfying when we meet all our goals for the day and we’ve done quality work.”

Dan talks about the satisfaction of snow removal season, when his branch’s team works to clear big parking lots of snow and skillfully de-ice slick sidewalks.

“We amass all the crews and get the snow out of the way so customers are safe,” he says. “It’s very satisfying helping people out that way.

“It’s the same thing with landscape maintenance,” he says, “when you leave a property and think, ‘It’s so beautiful now.’”

“I Enjoy Watching People Grow”

But at the end of the day, it’s people, not just properties, that keep him motivated every day at his 49-member branch. 

“I enjoy watching people grow, watching their careers advance,” Dan says. 

He likes being part of that, sharing his knowledge the way others have mentored him.

“I try to listen, be compassionate and patient,” he says. “Am I always that way? No. But if I lose my temper, I’ll come back and say, ‘I’m sorry, that was wrong.’

“If you ask people who used to work for me, they’d probably say ‘Dan is hard to work for. He has high expectations. But I learned a lot from him.’”

Whoa, That’s a Big RV

Dan and his wife, Denise, have been married for seven years. He has three grown kids — Timothy, 42; Tabitha, 39; and Robert, 35. 

Two dogs are part of the family, too — a Maltese Yorkie named Maggie and a Bichon frise named Gracie.

When he’s not at work, Dan loves enjoying nature, often from the home base of a 40-foot RV. It’s not exactly roughing it, he acknowledges with a laugh. 

“You could probably call it glamping,” he says. Glamorous camping makes nature more comfy. 

You might find Dan at the beach, in the woods, or relaxing by a campfire. 

Or with a hammer or saw in his hands. A home improvement whiz, Dan built an addition on his house and replaced all his home’s flooring. He helps friends with their home projects, too.

Does he use his landscaping skills in his own backyard?

“You will never see a weed in my yard,” he says.

That sounds like a challenge, Dan. 

“Here, It Really Is a Family”

Last summer Dan faced a personal health challenge that put a lot of things in perspective. He was diagnosed with tongue cancer. 

“They had to remove part of my tongue,” he says. “I had to miss some work.”

He gets emotional talking about how the Level Green team, including company co-owners Doug Delano and Bill Hardy, supported his recovery. Now, he’s cancer free.

“This company stood by me the whole time,” Dan says, as he gets choked up a bit. “I think Doug called my wife every day. They took care of me.”

That’s a big deal, he says. He’s found his work home. 

“I’ve worked at a lot of companies that said, ‘We have a family atmosphere,’” he says. “No, you don’t. I was just a number at those places. Here, it really is a family.”

Want to Join the Team?

Dan is just one of the dedicated team members we have here at Level Green Landscaping. And we’re always looking for hard-working, talented people to join our team.

Are you ready to work for a strong, supportive company that treats you like family?