When we started this business, we seriously had no idea it would become what it is today. We knew deep down that this was going to be bigger than ourselves and more than just our own testimonies but we had no idea it would speak to so many people all over the world!

Being an entrepreneur isn’t for the faint of heart. We often remind ourselves, that if it were easy, everybody would be doing it! With our own individual businesses, Fawn Renae Designs and Heather Payne Photography, we knew our time would be limited to invest. We’re committed to see our mission and business grow so we knew the importance of investing in others to help carry out different skills.

We firmly believe that every single person who has crossed paths with our business has been an answer to our prayer. Most of the time, we didn’t know specifically who we were praying for or exactly what role we needed them to fulfill. All we knew was that it was going to take more than just the two of us!

It’s really crazy to look back and reflect on the journeys that we’ve been through to get to this point in our lives and career. Fawn struggled so much once she earned the promotion of manager of an all-male crew. Days and nights, listening to podcasts, self-reflecting, learning how to be an effective leader, and longing for camaraderie. Heather had tackled every single part of her photography business by herself and learned all about getting in the trenches to figure it out. She was always somewhat reluctant to trust someone else to care for her business in the way she did. Both of us spent the past decade learning different skills and life lessons; we’re using those struggles as a catalyst to pour into this new adventure together.

In October 2019, we booked our first landscape installation. We knew the two of us could do the work, but we needed a few extra hands to be more efficient. While talking to our older sister Nicki on the phone, she expressed how much she wanted to be a part of it. She even said she’d take time off from her full-time corporate job to come get her hands dirty. DEAL! From there, she reached out to some of her friends and by the end of the day, we had a crew of six females. We were thrilled to get started!

After sharing that installation on social media, so many other women expressed how they wanted to be a part of our installation crew! Some even saying that they would do it for free because they just wanted to learn new skills and equipment to use in their own landscape. The rest of 2019 and 2020 would follow suit. We would fill our installation crews with women who reached out to us. Literally, women driving hours to join us! (Do you want to join us? Fill this out and we’ll get you the info!)

While the hands-on work was in full-force, we had a lot of back-end work that left us feeling like we could never catch our footing. Emails, marketing, installation logistics, quotes, merchandise + shipping, content creation, videography, photography… all the things. It was so daunting and piling up quickly. We knew that in order to push this business, we would need to invest our paychecks back into the business and grow our team! 

We’re firm believers that each team member came to us at just the perfect time in our journey! We know that each person had an impact on our lives and on our business. Each has taught us something about ourselves, helped push the business into new territory, brought new skills to the table, and definitely helped us gain momentum to push through the difficult and trying times that comes along with entrepreneurship. 

We believe in connection and sharing their stories because without them, we wouldn’t be where we are today! We’re excited to share these ladies with you and formally introduce them. These are the ladies who pushed harder than ever, working behind the scenes to provide more inspiration, education, and in turn empower more women to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty! If you’ve been part of us in any way… working an installation, prepping for a pop-up shop event, hopped on a Zoom call with us, or anything else… THANK YOU. You’re literally making dreams come true. Thank you for your countless volunteer hours, believing in us and our mission, and for pushing us to continue to step outside of the box. Love you big time!

Stay tuned for a more-detailed look at a few of our team members… how we connected, what they do within TPL, and maybe, just maybe, we caught some of the conversation on video.