True to form

JT Wilkinson says he always knew he’d get to California eventually.

After growing up with a love of nature and all things outdoors, he found his way to FormLA Landscaping in 2019 and now serves as one of the company’s dedicated maintenance managers.

“I always wanted to come out to California,” he says. “FormLA opened their arms to me and let me kind of soar within their company. I started in 2019 and with them being so sustainability focused…That really fit so well into my mindset. I was afraid I wasn’t going to find that within the landscape industry. It’s been really nice to be able to expand my career with the company.”

Wilkinson adds despite only being with the company for six years, he’s been in the green industry for a lifetime.

“I’ve been doing landscaping my entire life,” he says. “I grew up in Mississippi on a large piece of land, so me and my dad were always doing landscaping, and then college just deepened my love for it.”

Wilkinson holds a degree in landscape construction and sustainability from Mississippi State University.

Native know-how

It’s evident to everyone who works with Wilkinson that he has a true passion for not only landscaping but for native plants and their protection.

“When JT jumped on board with FormLA, it was a breath of fresh air to have him on board,” says Oscar Ortega, co-maintenance manager at FormLA. “In the past we didn’t have people as passionate about this field of work, and I’m as passionate about this field as he is — so that’s why I think we get along so well together. It’s a great working relationship.”

And Wilkinson is sharing that passion for plants of his with coworkers and customers alike,

“I’ve been a client of theirs for six or seven years now,” says Teresa Mackey. “They came in and did my garden, and that process took like a month and half to redo. The whole process working with FormLA was delightful. I really had no idea about working with native plants or anything like that…Once it went in, I realized that I wasn’t a gardener, so I had them stay on as my maintenance.

“His responsiveness is impressive just to begin with — but his knowledge of native plants and how they grow is great,” she adds of Wilkinson. “Just this year the coffee berries seemed to have gone belly up for some unknown reason, and he’s been very responsive in trying to save them as much as possible.”

Kris Anderson, FormLA’s enhancement manager, has also been taken aback at how extensive Wilkinson’s knowledge of California’s ecosystem is.

“I’ve been FormLA just a little over six months,” Anderson says. “My previous background is in commercial landscaping…JT has been very helpful. I did not have a whole lot of experience with native plants when I first came on, but JT is an avid native plant lover. He really knows everything about them just inside and out.

“He’s really knowledgeable about all the plant material we use, and he’s really just taken me under his wing,” He adds. “He’s taught me a lot.”

In order to lift up the whole team, Anderson says Wilkinson has been adamant about getting as many people as possible up to speed on native plants.

“One thing that he’s been so integral with is the Theodore Payne Foundation,” Anderson explains. “They have a California Native Plant Landscaper’s Certification program, and he’s actually spearheaded getting different crew members, and myself, certified and involved in that program. That’s been so helpful in learning about native plants and how to take care of them.”

The crux of any culture

But that’s not the only initiative Wilkinson is leading at FormLA.

Cassy Aoyagi, the company’s president who nominated Wilkinson for Employee of the Year, says he’s been instrumental in redefining the company’s core values and getting everyone on board.

“We really got our team members involved in what are our core values, and what do we really want to practice out in the field,” Wilkinson recalls. “We did a little exercise with our team members to go along with that about what we wanted to see in each other. The overarching answers were perseverance, honesty, integrity and respect.

“We’ve redirected our energy into how we can develop those core values through our teams,” he adds.

Aoyagi says that these core values, and other traits of Wilkinson’s, are things the company now looks for in the hiring process.

“Our team members all show the dedication to mission, proactive approach to problem-solving and team orientation I applauded in JT. Where I would say I’d like to see these qualities more is in the industry. We hire for culture fit, then train to know-how, so we are always on the lookout for people with a passion for sustainability, who are growth minded and team oriented,” she says.

As a smaller company, Wilkinson says culture is even more important at a place like FormLA. That’s why everything from core values to incentive programs to all elements of HR are so important.

“I believe the best thing about our company culture is that it’s not preached from the hilltops to team members — rather we have buy-in from the team members on up,” Wilkinson says. “If you see our leadership respecting each other and having integrity with each other and showing our team members how to lead — it’s so much easier. It makes our job easier; it makes all the buy in easier and it’s important for new team members especially to see that throughout our entire company.”

With only six months on the job, Anderson says Wilkinson and others certainly exemplify this.

“As a smaller, family-owned business, it has a family feel to it,” he says of FormLA. “JT has become like a family member almost and making sure everyone has what they need…JT is almost like a fatherly figure…He really looks after people and is just mindful of everyone’s safety and everyone’s feelings.”

Lead by example

That’s what makes Wilkinson the perfect person to lead these initiatives and others, Ortega says.

“JT is a person who takes the bull by the horns,” he says. “He’s not afraid of challenges, which is great.

“JT is a person who is very detailed in giving instructions,” Ortega adds. “He’s a person that at the end of the conversation on the instructions he gives employees, he makes sure they understand what he’s saying. That’s something we both agree on — if you don’t understand what the instructions were, please let us know.”

Wilkinson says teaching comes second nature to him and seems to be in his blood.

“Thankfully, I’ve always had great teachers around me,” he says. “My mom’s a schoolteacher of 30 years so I think the teaching part is probably in my blood. Also, at Mississippi, I had some great teachers.”

Anderson says he noticed immediately Wilkinson’s drive and self-starter attitude.

“He takes it upon himself to lead things up whether that’s incentive programs or other initiatives — even with our hiring process he’s kind of like the point-person for that,” he says. “You never even have to ask him to do anything, he just jumps in there and takes charge and takes care of stuff.”

Which has all come with practice, Wilkinson notes.

“As a younger manager, I started out as the friend so that was something I had to adjust but also keep hand-in-hand,” he explains. “I do believe it’s important to have a good working relationship with your entire team. I have learned how to be more adamant about what I expect out of our team members, which are just those core values.”

Another initiative that Wilkinson organized was the revamping of the company’s weekly safety meetings.

“One thing I’m proud of is now with our weekly safety meetings, instead of a manager sitting up there reading a script — we’ve turned it into an employee-led safety meeting,” he explains. “We make it fun — we spin the wheel to see who’s the next one who is going to lead it. They partner with a manager and go over what we want to cover. Have we had a near miss? I think it’s really important that we can have these meetings where team members are confident to stand up and say, ‘We did have a near miss last week.’ It’s important to see our team members have the confidence and the strength to say, ‘Hey I think we can do this better.”

Ortega says Wilkinson’s cooperative nature is another thing that makes him such a good leader and a pleasure to work with.

“We work together and if he’s not 100% sure on something, he doesn’t hesitate to ask for help,” he says. “That goes a long way with a working relationship with a person. It’s not just his way or the highway — he wants to collaborate with his colleagues and see if it’s the right strategy.”

Forming the future

Ortega adds he hopes their relationship continues to prosper for years to come.

“For the future, I just want to grow the company even further than what we’re doing now,” he says. “We’ve seen that happen from when JT started to now — we’ve grown quite a bit in the maintenance side of things. We’ve established another maintenance route; we established an enhancements division… hopefully in the next six months or so we can have a second enhancements division.”

Wilkinson adds he hopes to continue growing within the company and leaving his mark on more than just the maintenance department.

“I want to become more well-rounded in my position here at FormLA and help out every department,” he says. “We’re a very collaborative team and I enjoy helping with other aspects like design and installation.”

Aoyagi says she shares similar plans for Wilkinson.

“JT’s expressed several interests, and we aim to work as a full team to help people grow in the direction that most calls them,” she says.

“JT enjoys rounding out his overall landscaping expertise. Our approach to coordinating comprehensive services means JT and his co-maintenance team manager, (Ortega,) collaboratively learn and inform our design and build teams…There is also room to grow our maintenance practice. The team continually hones our operations, safety, services and team cohesion.

The author is senior editor with Lawn & Landscape.