Jim Huston: Remembered by the landscapers he knew

Michael Hornung knew he had hit a milestone with Jim Huston when, out of the blue on a random night, he looked at his phone and Huston’s name and photo was on the screen.

“He'd say, ‘Mike, Jim Huston here. I'm out in wherever, Virginia, and I'm visiting with Scott, whomever, and we’ve got some questions for you on lawn care.’ I knew I was doing something right then,” says Hornung, owner of Valley Green Companies in Minn. and longtime friend of Huston’s.

Huston, a long time industry consultant and Lawn & Landscape columnist, died April 2 at the age of 75. His death was mourned on social media platforms and also privately.

“He touched so many people in a way that you just had a sense of calmness and sincerity from Jim,” says Brian DuMont, CEO of Yardnique, based in N.C. “He knew about your family, he knew about how you're doing personally. He would check up on you.”

DuMont thought Huston only did that with him, but soon discovered that he connected that way with everyone else.

“He would drive, pull into your house, stay at your house and break bread with the family,” DuMont says. “Not only did he touch the leaders of companies, he touched their families. My dad was crying when I told him that Jim had passed — my father, who's 80 years old. He built a relationship with my dad. That's what Jim did. He didn't just connect with leaders; he connected with their families and got to know everyone involved.”

More than a numbers guy

Huston made his mark in the industry with his approach to pricing, profit and overall knowledge of numbers. But he would push clients to dig deeper with both the numbers and other aspects of a company.

Zech Strauser, founder of Urture clothing line and former owner of Strauser Nature’s Helpers in Pennsylvania, says it was Huston’s ability to go beyond the numbers is what helped so many leaders.

“If you talk to anyone that worked with him, at any capacity, they'd say he did actually make numbers interesting enough because of his personality and getting to know the team and getting to profile the leaders and guide them on where their strengths or weaknesses are,” Strauser says.

Mike Callahan, former owner of Callahan’s Lawn Care and now founder of Simple Growth Systems in Rochester, N.Y., recalls a story where Jim’s sharp eye saw something that many others would have missed.

“He didn't just go through their numbers,” Callahan says. “He tried to understand what their purpose was. His due diligence wasn't just to show up and fix the finances. He went through other parts of the business, such as their tax returns and things like that.

“I believe he saved (a client) probably about $40,000 of overpaid taxes that most people probably would've just glazed over. But his eye for detail said, ‘Wait a minute, we need to dial into this.’”

Photo courtesy of Mike Callahan

Huston wrote many books but also developed software programs when not everyone was thinking that way.

Callahan says even though Huston was a seasoned veteran in the industry, he wasn’t stuck in the past.

“Jim was up with the current times, and that was one of the most impressive things,” Callahan says. “He was adopting things like pay for performance, how the cultures are affecting the new millennials or hiring shifts. He continued to take a solid financial understanding, that stuff really hasn't changed per se over the years. “

Dumont says Huston’s ability to introduce people to each other and help them form relationships was one of the best qualities about him

“It was so sincere, and he just loved doing that. I met so many people in the industry that I consider are great friends today because of Jim,” Dumont says.

Hornung says Huston was always sharing best practices with people he came in contact with because he treated everyone as family.

“Numbers are all where it starts. That's all the baseline of it,” Hornung says.

“But he really wanted to get to know you as an individual. There wasn't a time that went by when he wasn't either in the office or we were visiting on the phone, he wasn't asking about your family, seeing how things were going on with your family, what your kids were up to, what activities they were involved in. Because I think he looked at it as, ‘We're not just businesses, but we're family.’”

Elevating the industry

While Huston’s lessons will be passed to the next generation through the thousands he worked with, DuMont hates that there are people who didn’t cross paths with Huston.

“I just feel if someone didn't get a chance to meet Jim, they missed out on a big opportunity in life,” DuMont says. “They missed out on someone that truly cared about not only the industry, but the people that he connected with.”

After hearing of Huston’s death, it reminded Chase Coates, founder of Outback Landscapes in Idaho Falls, Idaho, of how he first met Huston in 2009, and why he loves the green industry.

“I met Jim because another landscaper cared enough to make the connection,” he says.

“Every time someone offers advice, shares their time or helps you work through a challenge you haven’t faced before, they’re not just elevating the industry — they’re lifting up people. You never know how many lives that one act might impact.”

Callahan is thankful for what Huston not only did for his company but for the industry as a whole. Callahan recalls an event last year he hosted where Huston stayed late answering attendees’ questions.

“Literally sitting knee to knee with the contractors and making sure that they were ready for success,” Callahan recalls.

Even though Huston was 75, Strauser says you wouldn’t have known it by the way he was still visiting clients and travelling, usually by a pick-up truck and with his Airstream attached.

“When you talked to him and you interacted with him, and when you saw him moving and shaking across the country still, you would've never put him at the age he was,” Strauser says. “This came at a huge surprise for all of us.”

Coates says Huston wasn’t loud or flashy — just steady, wise and genuine.

Hornung recalls what Coates says about Huston — there needs to be more Jims in the world. That will be Hornung’s challenge to himself and everyone in the industry.

“He's helped raise the level of professionalism and profitability in the industry,” Hornung says. “Be more like Jim. Step up, help the younger people that are out there.”

The author is editor of Lawn & Landscape magazine.