The Larsen Group

Circles of Change:  Conversations with Dr. Zara Larsen

 on Change Leadership and Career Fulfillment

October 1, 2008

“Rainchaser Landscaping: An Intuitive Sense of the Land”

Guest: Gregg Trubee

Anchoring Points: 

1.  If you have a dream or an idea, you need to make the effort to ask yourself the question and in a short outline consider how to get yourself there.  The journey may not be long, as for me it took me but six weeks after my boss asked, “Why don’t you start your own business? You’ve got the talent.”

2.  A great sense of personal accomplishment and gratification come from how I made this happen, and through my own blood, sweat and tears no one can take it away from me.  Accountability and patience – you will be forced to understand this.

3.  My background in sports was about practice, practice, practice to then all of a sudden you be doing what you thought was out of your reach.  The same goes in business, when you try to get the right momentum to move the boulder, then it tips and you are running.

4.  Being on your own you have so much to be thankful for, but often no time to be thankful for it.  The key is being very present and not feeling guilty for taking the time to enjoy – and reflect on how you’ve made a lot of people a lot of money in the past.

5.  Rainchaser Landscaping is all about dependable, consistent, quality service with follow through – doing what I said I would do.  I work hard to fill the client’s needs, and if I don’t have the answer, I will go find it.

6.  Tucson has a variety of microclimates and one size does not fit all in landscaping.  Despite the encroachment on wildlife, I see us cohabitating, finding the right balance.  Working with indigenous plants and respecting the scarcity of water drive my business.

7.  There is nothing more gratifying than putting a team together and making things happen through your leadership.

8.  I was initially attracted to the culinary field as a way to travel and move across the country.  I had never cooked before seeing an ad for a culinary institute.  Freedom and working for the best, focusing on design through flavor, color and texture – the same elements that eventually led me to landscaping, in addition to a love of the outdoors.

9.  I worked so hard in the culinary business – loved the high energy, creative environment that made me feel so alive – but, I had the rug pulled out from underneath me too many times.  A defining moment to loose my job, part of my dream, despite the running of a top new restaurant.  Bar none the best eleven years of education that led me to find another way.

10.  Following a long vacation in Canyon De Chelley and working with a Navajo shaman, I came to Tucson and worked with one of the top chefs.  I had been making this migration to the southwest in my mind for years.  September 11, 2001, was my planned last day in the culinary business.  A profound day for many reasons – to pursue new life.