When Paul Wisniewski started at Level Green Landscaping as a branch manager, he made a point to thank his crew members at the end of every day, a bit of courtesy that meant a lot.
Joey Schneider started as an account manager, and told how his favorite part of the job was making customers happy.
Marion Delano started at the company hardly knowing anything about landscaping, so he dug in and started learning everything, from crew work to sales calls.
Where are they now?
Thriving in new positions at Level Green after moving up in the company.
They’re using new skills, tackling new challenges, buying houses, getting married. Maybe even adding chickens to the family.
Let’s check in.
Schneider started as an account manager in 2012, taking care of customers, establishing great communication, making sure properties shined.
Schneider was promoted to branch manager in 2018 after proving himself in every area, from sales to production to supporting and developing people.
Schneider oversees Level Green’s North and Anne Arundel branches as a regional manager, focusing on training and development for team members and increasing efficiency.
Promotions like Schneider’s mean greater challenges at work and more responsibilities. But they also mean improvements in your personal life.
Schneider and his family moved at the end of 2021 from Annapolis to Kent Island after they outgrew their small three-bedroom townhouse.
Their new five-bedroom house is on a roomy half acre within walking distance of the community’s beach and pier on the Chesapeake Bay, perfect for family outings with kids Brennan, 11, Harper, 10 and Jam Jam, 7.
Family life is important at Level Green. Regional Manager Schneider is also Coach Schneider. As his kids have grown he’s loved coaching their sports teams — baseball, soccer and, his favorite, hockey.
He’s head coach for Brennan’s pee wee team and assistant coach for Jam Jam’s mite squad. They’re at the rink several days a week.
“We might get chickens this spring, as our new house came with a coop,” Schneider says, “but we’ll see.” (All kids know that ”we’ll see” often means no, but let’s keep our fingers crossed.)
Schneider has also been working on his master’s degree in organizational development and leadership at Saint Joseph’s University. He’s in the second year of the program and expects to graduate this fall.
He’s learning about how organizations function, boosting his leadership skills, and along the way honing his juggling act as he balances work, family life, and college.
“Although it’s a ton of work, it’s extremely rewarding,” Schneider says, “and I think it has really helped me grow as a leader and a person over the past year.”
Delano started out at the North Branch in Level Green’s management training program, where you learn on the job how to be an account manager or operations manager— then step right into your new position.
“I knew little to nothing about landscaping and the industry,” he says. So he learned on the job, from sales calls and customer relations to writing proposals for enhancements and supervising crews. He touched every part of the business, spending three months out in the field, then working as an operations manager.
Delano moved into a business development manager position, then to account manager in the Virginia Branch in August 2020.
Meanwhile, he started working on his MBA part time at the University of Maryland and graduated in December 2020. He got engaged to his fiancé, Molly, they bought a condo, and plan a June 2022 wedding.
Delano is branch manager of the North Branch, where he started his career five years ago. He was promoted to the role in November 2021.
"It feels like coming full-circle in many ways,” Delano says. “Many of my direct reports are the same people who trained and mentored me when I first got there.
“It’s been a lot of fun to be able to work with them on a day-to-day basis,” he says, “while also training and mentoring our new employees who are in the same spot I was five years ago.”
Becoming a branch manager was his long-term goal when he first started at the company. It means a lot to his dad, too, he says. Marion’s dad, Doug Delano, co-owns the company with business partner Bill Hardy.
“That makes it even more special,” he says. “He cares about this company so much and I believe it's validating for him to see me move up in the company and the effort that I've put into reaching this goal.”
The pay raises that come with moving up in the company have allowed him to hit a lot of life milestones, Delano says, including purchasing a home.
“It feels a little crazy to see how quickly I've transitioned up the ladder,” he says, “but at the same time I feel like everyone at Level Green has done such a good job at preparing me along the way."
Wisniewski started in 2013 as a branch manager.
After four years of learning the business and honing his skills, he was promoted to division manager, a new position at the company, in 2017.
After five years as division manager, Wisniewski helps run the company, with responsibilities in administration, operations, and production. He also supervises two regional managers.
“It’s important to all of us that our culture stays the same as our company grows,” Wisniewski says. “The family aspect, and the open door policy where people feel they can come to us about any challenges they’re having.”
When you move up in the company, you have more flexibility, he says, a big benefit when you have a family. Wisniewski and his wife Stefanie have three kids: Levi, 12; Samantha, 9 and Cameron, 6.
“That flexibility has been especially helpful during Covid,” he says. “I could work from home, and help homeschool the kids.”
“Stefanie and I like taking the kids on hikes,” Wisniewski says. He laughs. “They don’t always like it. Cameron will walk 100 yards then I have to carry him on my shoulders. So we don’t go too far.”
The financial stability that comes with moving up in the company means less stress, Wisniewski says.
“It’s expensive to live around here,” he says. “When you move up in the company you can move out of an apartment and buy a condo or a house, so you have more living space for your family. We’re watching more and more managers be able to do that. It’s really exciting.”
Wisniewski loves the encouragement Level Green team members get to learn, grow, and move up in the growing company.
“It’s always our goal to promote people from within,” he says. “There’s growth and opportunity here. You can see it firsthand.”
Joey, Marion, and Paul are just three 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 company where you can work hard, move up, and maybe even get chickens?