Today we’d like to introduce you to Jacqueline Wiener.
Hi Jacqueline, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’m a small town, midwestern native who knew right away I wasn’t going to stay in my hometown. I always had a knack for going outside of the normal route to get things done when I ran into a problem. I decided to join the Marine Corps at 18 for the field of public relations and journalism to become an actress after college. I know odd combination… I realized after the Marine Corps that had an unlikely success likelihood. My Marine Corps experiences were so vast and numerous they readied me, I believe, above my peers to be successful in the real world at the ripe age of 21. I was allowed to innovate even in this rigid environment and built the first website ever for Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. I got out of the Marine Corps, got a job in Washington DC and working in journalism and technology, and kept innovating. After a couple of other company moves, I became the Vice President of Interactive Media at the Bradenton Herald in Florida at 29. As the news industry was facing deep declines I changed tracks into marketing and landed a job working for an artificial turf manufacturer – my job was to create a national brand and help grow an expansive resale network and retail sales from scratch. 5 years later this $10m company had grown to more than $30m and I transitioned out during the purchase of it back to technology where I developed the first-ever augmented reality app for marketing purposes only. I was called to work a more flexible schedule after the birth of my third kiddo and was recruited by a different artificial grass manufacturer with a fully remote position. After 2 years at this job I was introduced to Vistafolia out of London – it blew me away. It reminded me very much of turf in the early days, how it was new and exciting and gorgeous (incredibly realistic and manufactured to the highest quality) and a great solution for so many reasons when you can’t have real grass. After I realized that my current company didn’t have a desire to take it to market in the US I decided to do it myself and do what I did for my original turf company for myself creating a brand and a resale and installation network for Vistafolia. I called on my husband and his 20 plus years of public relations experience as well to get this off the ground and we’ve been moving at lightning speed ever since (doing nearly $1m in sales our first year) We are the official wholesaler, importer and certified installation trainer for Vistafolia artificial living walls in the US. In the past year, we have completed more than 50 public projects that provide almost all of the amazing benefits of biophilic design without the initial upfront cost, and ongoing care, replacement, and maintenance costs of traditional living green walls. We love regular living green walls and don’t look to replace them, our solution is for areas where you can’t get live plants to grow or simply don’t have the funds or ability to maintain them but would still love to have all of the benefits of biophilic design indoors or outdoors.
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?
As usual, no the road has not been smooth. Starting way back to the news days, the newsroom wasn’t ready for digital, I was dragging them kicking and screaming into the digital era. I was never taken seriously as a young VP in the news business and didn’t want to stick around to see something that could be so amazing die off. The good in that is that it propelled me on to the next thing and I would never be where I am today with my own business should I have stayed safe there. Taking calculated risks is part of the fabric of my existence. I don’t play it safe, I use the Holy Spirit as my guide and go where God leads me. His plans are always better than mine. In the turf world I was constantly innovating in marketing, I had an elaborate teaser campaign to recruit new established landscape companies to add turf to their product line and it was hard to get those things approved. My augmented reality app caught me a lot of flack for taking up so much time, but it’s also what helped us win Microsoft’s marketer of the year award. In this business that we have now my old company wasn’t thrilled with me leaving and decided they did want to dabble in this business after I left and tried to stop me, but here we are anyway growing fast and making beautiful spaces!
As you know, we’re big fans of UpScapers. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
When I started with EasyTurf in 2010 artificial grass wasn’t commoditized yet and we as installers and distributors had this awesome window to charge a proper price for a premium product, that’s what drew me to VistaGreen. It is impeccably engineered by an award-winning horticulturist out of the UK (he’s spent 5 years developing it, the oldest install is at London’s Heathrow airport at the VIP entrance) and with zero marketing and only organic sales they moved thousands of Replica Green Wall panels into the US without any formal presence here.
The things that make it great:
Uniqueness – this is a niche, there’s no system like it, it is unique in the market and it’s growing fast.
Quality – even when compared to roll and go leaf rolls (boxwood) nothing compares to the manufacturing standards and testing of VistaGreen
Demand – In the first 6 months of introducing this to US designers and they all are currently working on some sort of project that involves a living wall or replica greenery, privacy screens and more. Since then demand has grown and search inquiries are climbing quickly as well on the residential and commercial side. Now, with our 50 plus show walls out there people are seeing it for themselves and saying I want that too.
Simplicity in installation – VistaGreen installs areas simply as hanging a picture, cutting and bending to size is fast and easy. The modularity of the system makes it easy to design and price. You still want a certified installer for any project over 6 panels or so. While it’s easy to install there is an art to it and cuts and bends and application methods are all something to consider and know how to handle before putting panels up.
Vistafolia really is in a class of its own and UpScapers customer service and attention to detail is something hard to find these days. We are here to serve everyone from the designer to the general contractor or home owner. You are special and unique and we want to improve your life with Vistafolia. The only other products out there are cheap knockoffs without thought or planning, they don’t hold up against the sun or weather and don’t look realistic. It’s easy for people to pick Vistafolia when they see the alternatives in person.
Vistafolia is the only system with color boxes, a way to personalize your wall to your own style after the panels go up. These also help blend the three different panels (planting style a, b and c) to create a beautiful, seamless look with no repetition or lines.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
So I touched on this in an earlier question. I have always taken risks. Jumping ship and leaving the news business for marketing. Moving across the country multiple times to make a fresh start and finally leaving a very well-paying 100% remote job with zero safety net to start this business. I go where the Holy Spirit prompts me. I try to spend a part of each of my days asking God what he has for me and where I can impact lives for the better, sometimes that’s taking radical risks. We have 7 kids, so you have to be confident in divine provision to leave a 6 figure job with no safety net because God says he’s got something better for you!
Pricing:
- $350 for a 7 sq. ft. panel of Vistafolia
- $185 for a color box, use on your wall or in planters
- $20 Certified installation starting at $20 a sq. ft.
Contact Info:
- Email: jackie@upscapers.com
- Website: upscapers.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/upscapersgreenwalls/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/upscapers/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/upscapers?lang=en
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCndfbmr2D05xoIKVxsXfndw
Image Credits
Jackie Wiener
