Walker Talk editor Rod Dickens catches up with the subjects of profiles from the first 24 editions of the magazine.

When it comes to selling your wares, you don’t need a degree in marketing from a top 10 university, nor do you need an extravagant marketing plan. Oh, sure, degrees and plans are nice, but they don’t necessarily generate business. What does increase sales is a good dose of common sense. Walker users have pointed that out in issues of Walker Talk over the years, in many different ways.

When Juan Berriz’s father Gabriel immigrated to Puerto Rico from Cuba in the early 1960s, the landscaping profession was in its infancy. In fact, Juan says many of the developers on the island attributed his dad’s influence to the growth of the profession, more specifically in helping to meld together the separate disciplines of landscape design and installation. Juan now looks to carry on the tradition by strengthening the natural ties between landscape installation and maintenance.

In all my 57 years, I do not ever remember my dad, Max Walker, or my grandpa, Wesley Walker, using the “R” word (retirement). Retirement was simply not part of their thinking and I am much the same. I know there are many folks who plan and dream of retirement. Our culture encourages it, and some companies and organizations force it. Yet the reality is that usefulness, accomplishment, production, experience, mentoring, learning and wisdom are all the positives of a person who stays engaged in living as much as they are able their entire life.

It would be easy to talk about his energy, his confidence or the beautiful surroundings in which he works. But the real story of Bradley Carvalho of BJ Services in Kohala Coast, Hawaii, is where he came from and what drives him and his family to stay close to their roots.

The Alaskan growing season may be abbreviated, but is also very intense. Consider what happens when the sun is shining 22 out of 24 hours in mid-summer. “In August, our two Walkers mow eight hours a day five days a week, and sometimes six,” relates Darrin Edson. “Even then, we can hardly keep up with the new growth.”