Thirty Years of Growth

By Jennifer McGuiggan, Communications Coordinator

When Carole Horowitz started Plantscape, Inc., a diversified landscaping company specializing in interior and exterior landscaping, in 1973, she says, "There weren't women in the field." Now, 30 years later, Horowitz is pleased to note that her company is one of the largest woman-owned business in Pittsburgh and that "it's still fun."

Horowitz remembers her lone philodendron plant in her room during high school, but credits the true beginnings of Plantscape to "a lot of first hand digging in the soil. I started growing plants when my husband and I were first married." Then, when the younger of her two children was in kindergarten, she formerly started Plantscape.

What started as a hobby is now a $10 million a year enterprise that has won 26 major national awards, including the National Landscape Award, presented by the White House. According to its website, Plantscape is ranked as the nation's 9th largest interior landscape firm with 1,000 local and national clients. Horowitz said that the company received the Entrepreneur of the Year Award from Ernst & Whinney (now Ernst & Young) in the early days of its existence. In 1997 Horowitz was named to Pennsylvania's list of the Best 50 Women in Business.

In addition to her duties with Plantscape, Horowitz sits on the Boards of Directors for the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy as well as Pittsburgh Glass Center, a new facility dedicated to teaching, creating. and promoting glass art. She also belongs to the International Women's Forum, an invitation-only organization of preeminent women of significant and diverse achievement, which Horowitz calls an "unbelievable group of leaders throughout the world. The international convention is a 'who's who' of women in business."

Horowitz is also a member of Rotary International; in fact, she was among first group of women to join the organization in 1989. She comments on her experiences there as proof of how far women have come in business: "It was very difficult working with certain men early on. A lot of men did not know how to treat women. Even when I joined the Rotary, the men didn't know what to talk about. Usually when it was a woman and you were at a party, you talked about family…it wasn't business."

She's quick to point out that things have progressed over the past 30 years. "Gaining respect for what I did was more challenging than it is now… Now it's easy and everybody's comfortable for the most part," says Horowitz. But, she admits, "There are still some people you have to get around and humor."

Although her workforce is predominantly female, Horowitz strongly believes in men and women working together. She compares this "teaming" to bringing together the right and left sides of the brain to create a "whole" product.

When asked how technology has changed her business practices over the past three decades, she responds enthusiastically, saying, "Oh wow, it's been great! The computer has helped us get information quicker. We have 50-some technicians out in the field; it used to be laborious." Projects that in the past required a lot of running up and down to communicate with workers are now much easier - and less time-consuming - with the use of walkie-talkie cell phones. "Technology has helped us a lot," she says. "And on the other extreme, you still put your finger in the soil to tell if it needs to be watered."

Throughout the history of Plantscape, Horowitz has successfully blended family and business. The son that was in kindergarten when Horowitz started the company now he runs the Horticulture Service Department. In fact, her whole family is involved with the business. Her daughter has managed the retail store and is now in the Commercial Sales Department. Five year's after Plantscape began, Horowitz's husband brought his marketing and public relations experience to the company. Horowitz remarks that she is grateful for her family's support and says that her proudest business accomplishment is "the fact that my husband and two kids wanted to be in the business I loved and enjoyed … I feel really good about that."

Working so closely with her family has taught her a lot about integrating family and work. Her advice for family members working together is to ensure the proper division of labor by fitting everyone into the correct spot on the team. "I've kept things at a comfortable level because I don't want to do what they do," Horowitz explains, "so I'll do anything to make sure they're comfortable, so it's not at a competitive level."

Horowitz stresses the value of teamwork among all employees. "Keeping the team idea together is very, very important. There's so much to learn from each other. And I think having respect for your employees is very important."

In other business advice, she offers the following tips: "I think a sense of humor is a must. Probably having a weekly massage is a good idea; there's just a lot of tension. And having outlets, other things that interest you: hobbies. Hobbies are good not just for the change of pace from the business work, but for when you retire."

Horowitz is taking her own advice about hobbies as she practices semi-retirement. Each winter she takes a leave of absence of four to five months, leaving Plantscape's COO, Steve Falatovich, to run the company. Meanwhile, she draws on her background in liberal and fine arts at Carnegie Mellon University, and seeks creative outlets beyond landscaping, including painting, drawing, and making bead jewelry. "I'm having a good time making what would have been pretty expensive necklaces that I would not have paid for," she says. In fact, her jewelry has gotten such positive comments that people have suggested turning it into another business.

Horowitz is not looking for another business, though; she's content with the original one as it continues to evolve. As Plantscape enters its "second generation," Horowitz remarks, "we're cutting back on some of the things we've tried that weren't as profitable. We're going back to the core business which is interior plants, interior landscaping, artificial plants and trees which we send all over the world."

Referencing Falatovich, Horowitz asserts that sometimes having the expertise of an outside executive can help put a company back on the right track. "Entrepreneurs get all involved," she says. "Sometimes you don't look at it with the right eye. You keep thinking, 'next year it will be profitable,' when it should have been removed two to three years ago. That arm's length vision from someone else is always helpful."

As Horowitz reflects on the past 30 years in business, she's grateful for the people who have helped her along the way. "I enjoy the people part and the creative part. I now have the opportunity to mentor other women and people in business. So it's payback time in the nicest of ways."

July 2003