We’re All Still Learning

Jennifer Polanz

I suppose it’s the journalist in me, but I love learning new things. I like reading stories that teach me something I didn’t know about a topic and learning new facts about topics I thought I knew. I enjoy interviewing people and finding out what makes them tick, and why they are where they are.

My kids always make fun of me because I strike up conversations everywhere and they call me nosy. Curious and friendly, I argue, not nosy. It’s because I love hearing people’s stories and I want to expand my horizons. It’s why I enjoy reading fiction and nonfiction alike. Both teach me something, but sometimes they’re very different lessons.

When I talked to Ashleigh Munro for her cover story as this year’s Young Retailer Award winner, I could tell she’s a lifelong learner, too. While she’s not a big fan of traditional school, she learns and absorbs everywhere she goes and translates what she learned into a more successful business in her family’s nursery, Kiwi Nurseries, in Acheson, Alberta, Canada. She even enjoys going to conferences on her time off, learning more about how to run the business. And she enjoys tacking travel and exploration time on to those trips, which is always an education in culture and history.

She’s adamant that they never stop adapting and changing to what their customers want. And, therefore, she’ll never stop learning new ways to cater to those customers. 

If you’re reading this issue, then you obviously are tuned in to learning new things every month, too. In this issue, you can learn about all the new products we saw at Cultivate’22 in Columbus. 

You may also be interested in learning ways to create a more sustainable retail operation, both for the good of the environment and your customers. Jennifer Duffield White, who also writes our GreenTalks newsletter about sustainability, is contributing a two-part series on the topic starting this month. 

Speaking of things I learned, I just learned right before I sat down to write this that our esteemed columnist, John Friel, won an award for his efforts in this magazine, as well as a newsletter he writes as the marketing manager for Emerald Coast Growers. At the most recent Perennial Plant Association event, he was given the Garden Media Promoter Award—congratulations, John, and well deserved! 

I also want to extend my congratulations to columnist Amanda Thomsen, who took the plunge and opened her own garden store in July. My colleague, Jen Zurko, went to the grand opening. Congratulations to Amanda from all of us here at Ball Publishing and I can’t wait to hear about all the things she learns along the way! GP