From Minimum Wage to Rooftop Gardens

Teresa Carleo’s client roster reads like a who’s who in New York real estate development. But her success started with the question, “What am I going to do with my life?”

Twenty-three years ago, Teresa Carleo’s life was at a crossroads. She had taken a month off from her career as a photographer’s rep to care for her father before he passed away. When it was time to go back to work, she realized the job wasn’t worth the stress it caused her. “It was a hard business,” she says. “There were more photographers than photo assignments. It was a hard sale.”

What Am I Going to Do with My Life?
She knew something had to change, and thoughtfully considered what she enjoyed doing. For Carleo, the answer was cooking or gardening. Her decision was finalized when her now-husband asked, “Do you really want to be inside all day working over a hot stove?”

Turning Passion into Profit
Having discovered a passion for gardening and all things plant related—from floral arrangements to landscaping—it was time to earn livable wages. Carleo paints no illusions; starting the business from scratch was difficult. “It was just me out there trying to get clients…. For a while, it was painful and depressing,” she says. Finally, she got her first customer and a contract for $100 a month. “I had all this passion, and I wanted to work, but it took a while to develop a customer base and build a business.”

As a photographer’s rep, Carleo had developed valuable sales skills, but she wasn’t crazy about the idea of cold-calling. Instead, she says, “I took the path of least resistance. I dressed in business attire and visited apartment buildings. I’d ask to speak to the property manager and asked if they would take bids on landscaping.”

Pounding the pavement eventually paid off. One of her first contracts was for The Corinthian, a 55-story apartment building in Manhattan owned by Bernard Spitzer. That project led to contracts on five additional properties owned by Spitzer. It also gave her a new idea on how to market her landscape services.

To earn more contracts, Carleo created a portfolio of professionally mounted photographs. She then called on other real estate developers and contractors and showed them her work. Eventually, her marketing strategy brought in new jobs that led to new contacts. Through the years, she’s built relationships and a reputation that have helped her secure contracts with New York’s elite in real estate development, including Macklowe Properties, The Trump Organization, World-Wide Holdings Corporation, Spitzer Engineering LLC, Jack Resnick & Sons, O’Connor Capital Partners and many others.

A Growing Business
Even in a down economy, Carleo’s business, Plant Fantasies Incorporated, continues to thrive. Word-of-mouth advertising and making a point to stay in touch with customers have helped her grow. As a result, she is able to employ between 30 and 50 people, depending on the season. For Carleo, both are clear markers of success. “Success, to me, means employing people and making a difference in their lives, making my customers happy and making the city beautiful,” she says.

Read the Editor’s Blog for more success tips from Teresa Carleo.

Additional Reading

• Reinvent Your Career: Success Tips from Teresa Carleo
• Turning “What If?” into a Multimillion Dollar Business
• Reinventing Your Career: Success Tips from Debra Cohen