PROFILE
According to Jones, putting that work ethic into place eventually came with the realization that it could be done by using your brain more than using your back.
That cerebral approach to hard work was heavily influenced by his parents. Jones’ s father is a retired pastor, and his mother is a retired teacher and principal— both serving as examples of leadership, ministry and education. Jones also credits his three sisters— Harriet, Karen and Lela— and the strong family bonds they share for shaping who he is.
Having played baseball through high school— to the point of eventually landing some Minor League Baseball tryouts— Jones set aside dreams of a baseball career and focused on a career in computer science with a desire to build computers and understand how they worked.
That led him to the University of Pittsburgh to study computer systems. He later transferred to Point Park College where he met his now wife of 38 years, Beth. The couple eventually moved to North Carolina and Jones began work in computer operations for North Carolina Mutual. The seeds of a career change began two years into his 5-plus years with the company, when a coworker asked him if he knew anyone who cut grass. Jones didn’ t know anyone he could recommend, but he knew how to mow a lawn. So he took the job, bought a used walk-behind lawn mower that he would load in and out of the trunk of his sedan, and went to work.
“ We lived in an apartment on the second floor, so I would carry that mower up the stairs through the apartment and put it on the balcony outside,” said Jones.
Although he continued to work in computer operations, his landscape business continued to grow. He eventually made the leap to go full time into landscaping.
“ It got to the point where I was picking up legitimate contracts with corporations,” he said.“ We were handling 28 different stores between McDonald’ s and Wendy’ s corporations. That really helped establish the business. We were up to 11 employees at one point.”
Owning and operating his landscape company taught Jones how to wear many hats at the same time, how to write contracts, how to keep track of money, and how to adapt to various situations.
“ If you go through enough failures and you want to be a winner, you’ re going to figure out how to not fail the next time,” he said.
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