New beginnings

When you think of New Year’s Day, what comes to mind? Probably sleeping off the night’s festivities, wishing you were in Pasadena for The Rose Bowl, maybe that classic U2 song. Oh, and resolutions, of course!

There are plenty of people who use the start of a new year as an opportunity to change something about their life. They rip the cellophane of that brand new desk calendar and think “This year, it will be different.” And why can’t it be? The allure of starting over is fantastic. Even if you’ve been in the same place, toiling away at the same job for decades, when you come back to work on Jan. 2 or 3, try to look at your tasks with fresh eyes and a new perspective.

It’s easy to get bogged down with day-to-day responsibilities. Now’s the perfect time to take stock of your situation. Zoom out and take the 30,000-foot view. Ask yourself a few questions. If you could change something about your job, what would it be? Then figure out if it’s feasible to make that switch.

Here’s an exercise I really like. What were your hits and misses last year? Write them down. Be objective, which could be tough if you’re naturally an optimist or a pessimist. Then reflect on why the hits hit and the misses missed. It’s important to try new things, so don’t beat yourself up too much for an idea that didn’t pan out or work quite like you hoped it would. But in 2023, take what you’ve learned and spend more time on what worked than what didn’t.

For our cover story this month, I talked with a nurseryman who is not afraid to set new goals and push himself to achieve them. Arbor Valley Nursery’s Matt Edmundson overcame personal turmoil to transform his business. If you need help sticking to your New Year’s resolution, he might be the guy to call. He’s available as a growth coach for his fellow green industry business owners.

In this month’s Leadership Playbook column, Lyndsi Oestmann shared how her father prepared her for a leadership role from a young age and what you can do as a leader to help your person in the on-deck circle. I agree with her; the catcher is definitely the CEO of a baseball team. Check that out starting on page 8.

In the latest entry in our recurring Women in Horticulture series, we feature the dynamic Maria Zampini. Maria has made her share of leaps of faith, from leaving the wholesale production world to focus on new plant introductions, to founding her green industry marketing firm UpShoot, to expanding the Proven Winners ColorChoice brand into flowering trees. Read all about it on page 42.

So what are you going to do differently when the calendar flips to 2023? This is your chance for a fresh start. Just maybe avoid the gym for a few weeks.