The beginning of… a rollercoaster of emotions, financial stress, sacrifice, mistakes, late nights, hot days, and tears. My name is Peter Rivera, I am the President, and founder of Gaea Landscaping.
My journey began in high-school at the age of 15, when I mowed empty lots in town with my father for our landlord. Back then we were charging $20-25 per property, sometimes barely breaking even. I remember the days we got caught in the rain, mowing away with our push mower. Through high-school we did this on the weekends, and then came the day I graduated. I enrolled in community college in an effort to help my family. Many thought I stayed because I couldn’t get into a university. Nonetheless, I enrolled into a business program at FSW, committed to doing something productive with my life.
I gave school a go, but soon became bored by what I was learning. I always carried a journal in class, and wrote down all of my ideas on how to make money. Two years into school, and I vividly remember the day I walked out of my math class. I always struggled with focusing, not because i didn’t want to learn, simply because I had another vision.
I dropped out of school, and didn’t tell my parents. Two months passed and they took notice in the trend of me getting home early. They sat me down, and then came the big question. “Are you still going to school?'“ They knew the answer. Unfortunately, they became sad, and disappointed in my decision.
I knew what had to be done, and so I did exactly that. I continued on my journey. I looked for work, I advertised through social media, I knocked on doors, I put up door hangers, I shook hands, I lost money, but I learned. The time passed and I purchased my second commercial mower, and had enough work to hit 40 hours a week.
Along the way, I was blessed to have met a lot of people that helped propel our company to where it is today. One individual that had a huge impact on my business was a man in town named David Fry.
David Fry gave me one of my first landscaping projects. At the time I didn’t know the difference between cocoplum and clusia, but he pushed me to learn as much as I possibly could. In the next 3-5 months leading up to his project, I developed the knowledge to price, locate, and supply plants. To this day, Mr. Fry continues to impact my business with his positive support, and advice. His advice has kept me going in some of my toughest times, and I don’t think he realizes that.
Gaea Landscaping, has evolved into a full landscape and maintenance firm, with the ability to provide services to any size community and project. We have completed six figure projects without bank financing, and that says a lot of what we are capable of doing. We are committed to providing quality service, quality plant material, and establishing long lasting business relationships.
All the struggles we have faced have molded us into a different type of company. A company that keeps it’s word, and fully commits to every project, and property.
We may not yet be a multi million dollar firm, but we do have multi million dollar work ethic.
Our teams are committed to excellence.
We are, Gaea Landscaping.