Mowing is Part of What I Am

Roy Mejia owns Roy’s Lawn Care in Wenatchee, Washington. He’s 28 years old and operates a company that employs six people. Five days a week, sometimes six, his three mowing crews maintain more than 80 accounts, many of which are HOAs. In addition to mowing, they prune, do cleanups, fertilize and apply weed control, offer enhancements like seasonal color, dethatch and aerate in the spring, and plow snow in the winter.

“Actually, we will do virtually anything a landscape needs,” said Mejia, who started his company 10 years ago. Life was much different back then, he recalls. “My wife, Laura, and I had started a family early, and for two years I worked summers in my stepfather’s landscaping business. In between, I worked at Target and McDonald’s trying to make ends meet.”

When events forced his stepfather, Anastacio Sanchez, to sell his company, Mejia was, in his words, “left up in the air a bit” until a previous customer called and asked him to mow her lawn. “I’ve always liked to mow,” Mejia relates. “Mowing is part of what I am, so I decided to start my own company. I tried to do everything at first, including installing landscapes, but have since focused almost entirely on maintenance.”

Big Break

It didn’t take long for his business to grow. An RV park in the nearby resort community of Crescent Bar asked the young operator to bid on its lawn maintenance. Mejia put together and won the bid. “Hiring Roy as an 18-year-old was a bit of a long shot for us,” relates HOA president Gary Wirta. “At the time, I said to my wife, Karen, ‘What were we thinking?’ But we liked the way he handled himself. We were soon rewarded by his work ethic, punctuality and communication skills, not to mention the fact that he does a great job.”

The win was a two-way street. Mejia not only landed a big account that today has more than 253 homes with lawns to mow (the park has since become a summer home for many residents), the transaction also introduced him to his first Walker Mower.

“The HOA was doing lawn maintenance in-house with two Walker Mowers,” Mejia explains. “I had never seen one, but I needed better equipment to get the job done, so I purchased one of them. Now our crews have five, the latest being the new model S14 with a 42-inch GHS deck. It’s ideal for the small lawns here at the RV park.”

Three 25-hp models with 52-inch decks and one 23-hp model, again with a 52-inch deck, round out Mejia’s fleet. He expects to purchase two more this year, noting that “people come up to me all the time and say, ‘look at those stripes.’ Yes, there’s no question the machine does a great job mowing, but it’s also very maneuverable and low enough to trim closely under trees.”

The mowing season in Wenatchee, a community in North Central Washington with a population of more than 30,000, starts around March 15 and goes through the end of October, approximately 33 cuts per year. Most customers sign up for the mowing season, but some just want a fall cleanup service, something the Walker Mower is very good at, Mejia adds.

“Our business is growing with the mowers, but we don’t want to grow too fast,” he says. “My dream is to continue to grow slowly. This will give me time to train my employees, and I don’t want to spread myself too thin, either. God gives you what you deserve when it’s time.

“Having reasonable goals and being honest is what it takes to be a success in this business,” Mejia goes on to say. “I also strive to go the extra mile. Customers appreciate that. It’s not what you say or how you look that counts in the end. It’s what you do.”

Whatever he’s been doing works. Roy’s Lawn Care was named best lawn care company in the city last year.

Dream Job?

Just because Mejia loves to mow doesn’t mean that all of his employees have the same passion he does. Even his stepfather, uncle and two friends who work with him likely can’t generate the level of enthusiasm that the company owner does.

“This is not a dream job for most people,” he admits. “This is hard work, and employers like myself have to make work fun when we can. Every year we hold an anniversary party for our employees and their families. Crews often go out to eat as a group and our company hosts barbecues. Last year we took our employees and their families to a theme park where we all had a good time.”

Mejia emphasizes that employees also respond to the owner’s actions. That’s how being honest, humble and kind applies as much to them as it does to customers.

On Deck

Advertising consists primarily of having the company name on shirts and truck. A Facebook page, however, has been effective for generating inquiries. “It’s not a hard sell by any means,” adds Mejia, referring to his Facebook strategy. “Content consists mostly of lawn care tips. But it keeps our name and what we do in front of people.”

Then, of course, there’s that all important word of mouth. “Hello,” someone yelled at the Walker Talk editor. “Do you work for Roy’s Lawn Care?” “No,” the editor replied, “just doing a story on them.” “Well let me tell you,” the homeowner, Pete Lambro, continued, “this is a great yard service. These guys get it done. I’ve been here 40 years and I know what a good lawn service is.”

You just can’t beat that kind of advertising.

What’s in store for Roy’s Lawn Care in 2017? Despite the owner’s desire to grow slowly, it’s hard for him to turn down work, hence the reason for two more Walker Mowers this year and at least one more crew. He’s also looking to hire a full-time office manager. Laura currently works in the office and does the seasonal planting, but having three children—one boy and two girls—keeps her very busy.

Part of Mejia’s long-term growth strategy is to provide current customers with more services. But mowing will always be in the mix. After all, that’s part of what he is.

Roy Mejia, owner of Roy’s Lawn Care