Vice President’s Letter

Find your ‘WHY’

What motivates you as a turfgrass professional? Are you motivated by helping people? Do you just love grass? Do you find the science of how things grow and develop as interesting as I do? Is it the money (not likely if you chose this as a profession)? Are you motivated by fear? Am I going to lose my job if the greens die? If my customers aren’t happy, would I be able to make it in the corporate world? What motivates you? WHY do you do what you do?

As I get older, I find my motivations changing…sometimes dramatically. I still have big goals for my business, but what truly brings me joy is different today than it was 10 years ago. Once, I was motivated by “success”, “growth”, “numbers”. Let me tell you, there is nothing wrong with that, and if that’s not you, you need to find someone in your organization that is. However, the metrics that typically define success don’t have to be the end-all of what motivates us as turfgrass professionals.

Now, I find fulfillment in simple conversations with friends that have been in the industry as long as I have. I get excited knowing that the vendors we care about are expanding and their employees’ careers are taking off. I love when our technicians or salespeople stop by my office to ask complicated questions about why iron makes the grass green. Quite frankly, I’m motivated to invest in my staff so I can take off and go to the river an “occasional” Friday.

We’re all motivated by different things, but it’s important to identify what those things are. If the numbers bore you, someone else may find their motivation in helping you with that part of your responsibilities. If you’re motivated by helping people, but your entire responsibility is dishing out orders to your golf course staff, it may prove disheartening over time.

As I think of those that serve the ATA, we are genuinely motivated by helping professionals like ourselves. We desire to provide opportunities for you to feel more fulfilled in your profession than you would otherwise. We care about you. We care about our industry. We care about our state. We care, and it’s motivating.

We are so excited about where the industry is going in the state of Arkansas. We should be so proud of the educators we have (Dr. Richardson, Dr. Hutchens, Dr. Wright-Smith) in our state. We should be so proud of the world class golf courses we have in our state. We should be so proud of the sports facilities and the incredible LCO’s that reside right here in Arkansas. We should be proud of the improvements this organization has made over the past few years.

We hope that you will allow the ATA to serve you along the way! It’s what motivates us! We can’t wait to see each of you in Hot Springs in January.

Sincerely,

Josh Landreth

VATA-Vice President

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Don't Miss the 2024 ATA Annual Conference and Trade Show

January 25 – 26, 2024 at the Hot Springs Convention Center in Hot Springs, AR

To reserve a booth at the ATA Tradeshow, contact Courtney Landreth at ataturfgrass@gmail.com or (479) 301-5534