Today we’d like to introduce you to Dean Turchi.
Hi Dean, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Yes, I’m happy to be here. Thank you for inviting me.
I grew up outside Boston, in a family of 7 children. I studied in college Interior Architecture and after graduation spent about 23Yrs in the profession managing commercial design and construction projects they included hospitals, laboratories, technology & commercial offices as well as retail build outs for Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, and Starbucks Stores. I’m licensed thru The American Society of Interior Designers (Lic# 18000). For the Last 8 years I have focused mainly on residential and landscape design as well as project management.
While successful in the corporate arena for many years, I decided to make a change that was more directly connected to my creative drive. I had purchased and renovated a few homes, and been an avid amateur gardener for many years. I found I could apply my creative design and project manager skills in my own personal projects which resulted in a greater level of personal satisfaction. My first little moment of success in gardening and landscape was entering a garden contest at my local nursery in 2011. I placed 2nd in show. Gardening and landscaping is in my DNA, both my parents were also very home and garden oriented. I have many fond memories of spending the weekends with my parents, three brothers, and three sisters working in our yard, I enjoyed mowing the lawn, installing planting, mulching flower and tree beds, laying brick pathways, patios decks, and retaining walls. There was always a project in the works at home. My Dad was a civil engineer and my mom dabbled in home decoration, I’m truly a combination of both. After flipping a few homes I was very drawn to the idea of indoor outdoor living and blurring the lines between the two. With our temperate climate in California the opportunities are big to maximize the use of our outdoor spaces.
I struggled with anxiety and depression. My gardens were where I found peace. Gardening is every bit as therapeutic as people think. About seven years ago, I could not do the corporate thing anymore. Life unraveled for me. It came to the point I had no choice but to follow what fulfilled me professionally and spiritually. Something had to change! What I discovered was everything had to change. After a break I went to work for Rolling Greens Nursery, a premiere nursery in LA. I spent a year working in the nursery and adding to my knowledge of plants. While I love landscaping & trees, I found I had a knack for creating plant and succulent arrangements. When you think about arranging plants you realize you are creating a whole landscape in a single planter. Clients responded to my work positively. I knew I wanted to create a business of my own, but I felt I needed to find a way to tie it all together, so after a year with Rolling Greens, I took my skills Modern Floristry a company that did both Landscape Design, Plant Styling, and Event Design and was able to leverage my many years in project management with plant and garden planning skills.
While at Modern, I was responsible for all the operations and project management for events related to the Oscars, Emmy’s, Major Commercial Holiday Decor as well as Installations at The Original Farmers Market and Premier Commercial Real Estate Property’s like the Towers in Century City. What I learned is that I had all the parts and experiences already. These two years showed me I can put it all together and execute fully. I began to trust and have confidence in my own design vision. While I had already gone through personal challenges that were the catalyst for change, I like the rest of us, had no idea how important this would be when Covid hit. Personal loss and grief struck close. My father died in January 2020. He suddenly became ill with upper respiratory failure. After two weeks with my family and saying goodbye to my dad, I returned to work. It was difficult to function when my world felt upside down. Then Covid hit. I lost my job, I had lost my parents and, like all of us, lost normal. It could have been disastrous , yet it was the perfect storm that pushed me into paving my way forward.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Starting a business is anything but smooth. One has to find inner strength and faith and I have found taking action towards my goals, knowing that there will be a fork in the road I hadn’t expected usually advances me forward. I didn’t exactly know how to define my business and what I did to fit a perfect explanation but what I’ve learned is if I keep my focus on what my client needs, my business will define itself and grow, and so far that has been true. If I sit in paralyzed in action of all the unknowns ahead, I will end where I started. At 50 years old, I have a lot of life experience, a lot of business experience and the single most important trait I have found in all of these is the ability to move forward in the most ambiguous of environments & circumstances, to have faith in the future, and to surround yourself with positive people to be the most important. There were days the phone didn’t ring or that I could not know if what I was passionate about was something others wanted or if my skills & art were relevant in these crazy times. Social media has certainly been a great help, I am consistent in creating content to share, projects and opportunities and just from my inner circle in a relatively short period of time, I have become known as the “succulent” guy. While I do more than that, succulents are one area that has defined me, and it was a great starting point to other bigger plant and garden projects.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
My business is primarily container plantings, whether that be a balcony, rooftop, Door Front Entry Way planters, herb gardens, a succulent or orchid arrangement, if it’s planted in a container it’s the core of what I do. I design custom planter or specify and curate ones from the market place to create beautiful spaces. I’m sort of a cross between a landscape designer and a florist – and while I don’t really do cut flowers or full landscape design as a core, it’s not uncommon for me to do just that for clients. My background in Construction & Design is a perfect segue and in the end good design is based on good solid design principles that can be applied to most any medium. Color, texture, line, scale, form, material selection are relevant whether you are designing a dress for the red carpet or the carpet and plants that lead you along or the home you come home to after. I am known for artful statement plant arrangements, the type of thing you would find at an entryway to a home or hotel or at the lobby desk. I do a lot of Balcony & Rooftops Plantings. Artful Planted Succulent & Orchid Arrangements for all occasions, I have done arrangements for all kinds of Events from memorials to holiday parties and product launches.
I was recently asked to create a succulent arrangement inspired by the logo of Apple’s latest product launch Apple Fitness & the result so stunning and so beautiful that it has been requested by others many times over. I create gifts from small wood bowls planted perfect for a desk to projects that crane in fully mature trees. I work with every client individually to collaborate, often I’m working with clients interior designers and ensuring the planting schedules support the overall outcome of bigger projects, and sometimes I am the interior designer, which is something I am comfortable with as this is my career experience and education. I pride myself on not only my design but also my business integrity. I have worked and seen all kinds of business practices and one thing I am certain of is that if one is talented then acting with integrity is not extra. There is always room for good, honest, hardworking people with integrity and I think this concept has never been more important than now. Styles, Change, Designs Evolve, Trends Come & Go but Integrity is Timeless! I am currently working on garden designs & plantscapes all over the Westside from the Venice Canals to Santa Monica’s Rustic Canyon and up into Palisades and Brentwood, Beverly Hills & West Hollywood.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
My family & community (my chosen family) is everything to me. I haven’t been very public about being sober and what lead to that decision. I suffered from paralyzing anxiety and depression at one point it took a toll. I reached out for help when I knew I was in trouble. It is very challenging navigating the health care industry & particularly the mental health system even when you have the best insurance an employer could provide. Getting Help & treatment while in a full-blown crisis is a massive challenge. Getting help, treatment & sharing my experience, strength and hope has been one way in which I have been able to take dark period and use it for good. It was the best decision I ever made. It’s remarkable how simple life can be, but it took a lot of hard work, soul searching, and personal growth. I’m a firm believer that none of that happens in a vacuum & I am very lucky to have had the support and resources to help me along the way. So I do a lot of service work to pay that forward with others whom suffer from addiction or mental health challenges. Another positive to come out of Covid is a more full conversation around the importance of mental health. So while I am always happiest when my hands are in the dirt, there is more to taking care of ones mental health than gardening, but it is a great start. I believe with all my heart and soul plants heal us, plants make people happy and plants connect us to the earth spiritually, plants heal the scars of our land, of our hearts and of our souls.
Pricing:
- Gifts from $50 – $300 Available
- Projects range from $50 – $50,000
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: http://www.gardenartsdesign.com
- Instagram: GardenArtsDesign
- Facebook: Garden Arts & Design
- Yelp: Garden Arts & Design
