5 Minutes With … Peter Mezitt
Peter Mezitt is owner of Weston Nurseries, a trio of garden centers in the Boston area.
What do you love about your job?
Seeing people become successful. I have seen many people want to turn a job into a career and I am proud that we have built a company that gives people this opportunity to do that. The people who have grown within our company are influencers to those who are new to our team and can demonstrate why our company is great. If you build a culture of a positive, encouraging mindset from the top down, it results in a healthier company with less turnover and better internal and external customer service.
What keeps you up at night?
The month of March and the weather pre-spring is a bit stressful every year, as we spend a lot of money on our inventory in hopes that customers will show up to buy it in April. The weather controls so much of our success in the early spring and we have no control over the weather. I compare early spring in the green industry to early winter in the ski industry — if lousy weather or other factors get us off to a slow start, it is often tough to make up the business later on.
If you weren’t in this profession, what would you be doing?
I think I would enjoy working in the ski industry. It is another outside-based business that has similar challenges to ours. I think it is fascinating what is going on in that industry in the past five years. The industry has found a way to become more profitable and more attractive to those of us who like to ski. The challenge in this industry is convincing people to get outdoors in the winter and take up the sport.
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
Besides ski trips, I like to golf (after spring), hike and travel with my family. My three kids are all in their 20s, live close by, and we still are lucky enough to hang out with them frequently.
What’s something that few people know about you?
I don’t cook. My wife gives me flack all the time that I have never made a meal in the 28 years we’ve been married. It’s not entirely true as I do grill and can make a mean omelet, but I generally don’t have the patience to take the time to plan a meal. I tend to squeeze too much into each day and show up just in time to eat at the end. Also, my wife is one of the best cooks there is. I am very good at doing the dishes.
Favorite plant to grow? Why?
I don’t have a favorite plant. As I look at landscapes all the time, what I really like are combinations that jump out. Well-maintained perennial gardens with grasses and a few shrubs mixed in are so beautiful to me, and I always want to identify the individual plants so that I can recommend particular combinations to our customers and replicate in my own yard. My own yard is a giant experiment of damaged plants that end up getting planted (by me) at my house throughout the year.
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