CNGA LooseLeaf February March 2019

17 colorad o nga.org LooseLeaf  February/March 2019 Wendy Booth is a former ProGreen speaker, and was the speaker at CNGA’s Women In Horticulture Luncheon in October 2018. This annual event (open to women and men) is a popular get-together for green industry peers. Be on the lookout for 2019 luncheon information this summer, and check out other CNGA gatherings like Summer BBQs at coloradonga.org by clicking on the Events tab. The Denver Post and Colorado Homes and Lifestyles featured multi-page spreads of our work. I taught landscape design at Front Range Community College. I served on the Associated Landscape Contractors of Colorado Board of Directors. In 2007, I was the first- ever female president of ALCC. In late 2008, everything crashed. My husband’s MS claimed his life. ISD’s revenue decreased by 50 percent. Struggling emotionally and financially, I had to keep the company going and provide some stability for my children. Kaylin Kittle joined ISD in 2010. Together we rebuilt a stable company. Today we’re up to five and a half employees. We expanded our portfolio to include public sector work for greater resiliency in the face of the next economic downturn. We’re committed to being a 21st century workplace, with flexible schedules and a progressive vision of work- life balance. Our staff can be in and out a lot with client meetings and site reviews, so everybody works on a laptop with cloud access to files for maximum productivity and flexibility. Our daily office hours for team work and coordination are from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., which allows for site meetings on the way to and from the office as much as possible. It also means designers can work at home to stay out of commuter traffic, enjoy a change of pace, or work in their pajamas as they see fit. Our employee-based governance committee determines most of our policies. This past year our staff decided to eliminate vacation tracking and go with unlimited PTO (personal or paid time off ) for employees with two years or more of service. However, we also decided to limit time off to seven-day chunks in the busiest times of year, unless approved by the rest of the project team that would pick up the slack. Our employee compensation is directly tied to productivity. By not micromanaging their time, the governance committee feels staff will be the most efficient and happy. I’m proud of Ivy Street Design, inspired by our creativity, and pleased to work with wonderful people, inside and outside of our company. I believe that landscape architecture has the capacity to make the world a better place by connecting people to the natural environment. That may mean a backyard with a vegetable garden, a lovely public landscape in a busy urban/suburban concrete jungle, or a courtyard at a house of worship that creates a landscape of faith. Hudson Gardens, designers: Wendy Booth and Kaylin Kittle Photo by Maddie Merelli Montclair residence, designer: Wendy Booth Photo by Matt Quist Stapleton residence, designer: Ainslie O’Neil Photo by Ainslie O’Neil Lone Tree Arts Center, designers: Wendy Booth, Ainslie O’Neil and Megan Hull Photo by Ainslie O’Neil