Owner Michael Podzielinski
Writer / Braden Ochs Photographer / Whitney Williams
Noblesville-based EMPire Outdoor Solutions, founded in October of 2019 by 19-year-old Michael Podzielinski, offers residential and commercial lawn care treatments including fertilization, weed control and irrigation maintenance, as well as holiday lighting during the winter months.
Series (UTS) through his middle school and high school years. The business ran youth baseball tournaments in Cicero, Indiana, and Podzielinski was in charge of maintaining each of the baseball fields.
He started working for UTS in eighth grade as an umpire, and through high school he helped to run tournaments and maintain fields. Outside of this job, he also gained lawn care experience by mowing 35 lawns “Growing up, my dad always said you can do every week as a side business. whatever you want, but whatever you do, be the best at what you do,” Podzielinski says. After graduating from high school,
Podzielinski decided to quit UTS and start a lawn care business with his father. When he approached his employer about quitting, his employer asked him to join UTS as a partner.
EMPire was founded by Podzielinski in honor of his father, Eric Podzielinski, who passed away last May. Before he launched EMPire, Podzielinski worked at a youth sports business called Ultimate Tournament “I passed up the opportunity to start a
16 / NOBLESVILLE MAGAZINE / MAY 2020 / atNoblesville.com
business with [my father],” Podzielinski says. “I was a [UTS] partner for about a year, and then of course my dad passed away, and that partnership just didn't work out.” After leaving UTS, Podzielinski decided to pursue his love for landscaping and open a business to honor his father. In October of 2019, he started EMPire Outdoor Solutions. According to Podzielinski, the “EMP” in the company name is a nod to his father Eric, himself, and Podge, the family nickname. Podzielinski started by looking for potential clients on Facebook and creating social media ads. He began to gain clients via Facebook ads and word of mouth. The approaching winter season made landscape work difficult, and Podzielinski decided to offer holiday lighting as one of his services.
