Meet Ben Gillilan | Retired soldier and business owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ben Gillilan and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ben, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
After spending 20 years and retiring from the Army I knew that I didn’t want to work for another company that had control over my life. I didn’t want anymore soldiers to worry about and I wanted to be around for my family.

What should our readers know about your business?
I started Grizzly Lawn & Home in August 2003 while I was technically still in the Army. I worked by myself for about 3 years when I realized that with no help I would never be able to have time off to enjoy life. My son-in-law came to work with me for a few years before deciding to pursue his own career, then my brother worked with me for a few years. All this time we had been hiring been hiring employees to help us grow. Our landscape maintenance side had grown as large as I wanted it to and the landscape design and install was growing quite nicely. I wish I could say that starting and growing a business was easy. When I worked by myself it was hard work physically but emotionally it was easy. I had nobody to worry about but myself, my family and customers. I really enjoyed that stage of my business. As I started hiring employees it became much more stressful. It took and still takes a lot of patience when searching for someone that will make a good fit and wants to grow with the company. But once you find the right ones you want to keep them and take care of them because your employees are the face of the company when they’re out and about. While we continued to grow be bought a nursery and garden center. That has been part of the business since January 2016 and we bought that because it was getting ready to close it’s doors. We moved the nursery and the landscape company to one large location and things have really exploded since then. My daughter-in-law runs the nursery and has a fantastic crew that does a great job with the plants and customers.
I’d like the world to know that we are a true family run business. We’re here to bring central Texas a quality product and to share our knowledge about our native plants and what we love.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Well I love the outdoors, so I would take them to Colorado Bend State Park about 45 minutes from here. They would get a great idea of the beauty of our Texas Hill Country and be blown away. For great a hangout it would be Barrow Brewery in Salado. They have fantastic beer and amazing food trucks all in a beautiful outdoor setting along the creek. I love a good small burger joint so I would take them to The Crooked Fork in Harker Heights. It’s a small place run by a family and they serve some of the best burgers I’ve hade in the area. I also love some great BBQ and I can think of no better place than to have that in my own backyard from my own smoker. Throw in my wife’s mac n cheese and with some jalepeno poppers and you’re set. And you can’t forget the Shiner.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would have to say that my wife deserves a huge shout out. Owning a business or two means that if you want to be successful then you have to be completely dedicated to do whatever it takes to succeed. That means long hours, sleepless night, skipping vacations, working weekends. That’s just to make sure that you are getting off to a good start and getting your name out there. Without Michelle supporting me through the ups and downs and then becoming part of the business the journey wouldn’t have been this successful. Then there’s my son Josh, my right hand. He started with me on long weekends at the age of 14 and now at 29 he’s ready to take over when I finally decide to step back.

Website: www.hiddenfallsnurserykilleen.com

Facebook: @hiddenfallsnurserykilleen