Serving as a mentor in the PLANET Trailblazer program gives Burt DeMarche a mind to change his own business for the better.

“It helps me reflect on our systems and people, and what works for us and the things that are not working as well,” says DeMarche, president of The LaurelRock Co., Wilton, Conn.

The opportunity to mentor other landscape professionals can be a real eye-opener. And for participating landscapers who get an opportunity to spend a day, one on one, with an industry leader and receive free advice and techniques, the experience is like having a coach on board.

When DeMarche visited a New Jersey landscape firm, the owner was operating the company out of his home. “It brought me back to when we started our company and some of those hurdles we went through,” he says.

Another owner DeMarche is mentoring based in Oregon is struggling with keeping the company viable. DeMarche told the owner to call any time. “I feel like a moral support for him,” he says. “I told him, ‘If you ever need to talk through an issue, just call me.’”

DeMarche likes that he can give back to the landscape profession as a role model, and he’s humbled and proud when he returns home to his business. “It refocuses me when I get back,” he says.