Branching Out – Transcription

Karina: There’s a new voice in Canada’s green industry, and it’s focused on the next generation. Welcome to the March 2026 episode of the Landscape Ontario Podcast. I’m your host, Karina Sinclair. Today I am joined by Breanna Beck and Alec McClennan, the co-hosts of Branching Out, a brand new podcast created by the Canadian Nursery Landscape Association’s Emerging Leaders subcommittee.

Their mission is simple, but really important to help young people discover the many paths available in landscaping and horticulture, and to show that these professions can be creative and rewarding and financially viable. In our conversation, Alec and Breanna share why they launched Branching Out, what they hope young listeners will gain from the show, and how storytelling and honest conversations can help open doors for the next generation.

If you are passionate about building the future of this industry or know someone who’s still figuring out where their path might lead, this is an episode worth sharing. If you are listening to this episode and wanna put a face to the name, check out the video version on Landscape Ontario’s YouTube channel.

And don’t forget to subscribe to the Landscape Ontario Podcast to hear conversations about the challenges, opportunities, and innovations shaping the green trades in Canada.

Now let’s meet Alec and Breanna.

Music transition

Welcome to the Landscape Ontario Podcast. Alec and Brea, I’m so glad that you’re here today and I’m really excited to have this crossover edition of the podcast because, guys are not just from the landscape industry as I would normally interview, but you’re a fellow podcaster and we’re here today to give a bit of awareness to your new adventure in podcasting.

So, what I would love first is to have a bit of introduction from each of you and gimme a sense of who you are in the landscaping space. Breanna, do you wanna start with you?

Breanna:  Thank you very much. My name is Breanna Beck and I am a third generation grower. My grandpa started our company, Parkland Nursery and Landscape Services. And I came on board 20 some years ago, just as a high school student and I worked in the nursery. We do have a landscape division in our company. So I worked there and then went to university, still worked at our company during the summer, and had an opportunity to be in more of a management role, the summer after I graduated and have been here ever since. So, uh,our company ships trees all across Western Canada. We landscape mostly commercial projects within central Alberta. And, I have the opportunity to work with my entire family. So, 99% of the time, that’s an awesome opportunity that I get to have. So a little bit about me.

Karina: Fantastic. And Alec, how about you?

Alec: I’ve never been introduced as a podcaster first, so that’s a, that’s a new one for me. Thank you again so much for having us here. It’s really exciting for us to showcase our podcast a little bit. But yeah, I am a first generation,no family in the business for me, but I work at a commercial contracting landscape firm, actually in Edmonton, Alberta.

So we kind of service the greater Edmonton area. We do everything from commercial installations, subdivision work, maintenance, snow removal.

I attended Olds College, so I have my Bachelor of Applied Science there. I graduated in 2020. Basically worked here my whole career. LandTec is the name of the company. I started as a labour in my first year as kind of a co-op student type thing, and, and worked my way up from, from the ground. So now I serve as their operations manager.

Karina: What a breadth of experience the two of you have, and I love that we also get this cross Canada experience because the Landscape Ontario Podcast obviously features a lot of people from Ontario, but I myself actually live in BC and so I love that this technology platform allows people from all across the country to get together, share ideas, talk about opportunities and challenges, and just be part of this conversation that makes the whole industry better and more rewarding than ever before.

So I’d love to hear how this new podcast got started? If anyone’s looking for it, it’s called Branching Out. What was the impetus to get it started?

Breanna: Alec is actually the chair of the Emerging Leaders with CNLA. We kind of took a slow start and tried to figure out what our role was within CNLA and like what we wanted to kind of accomplish and a big pillar for us was how do we get more youth involved earlier? Because, I’m sure as you chat with many people on your podcast, a lot of people find this industry, unless they’re born and raised in it, a lot of people find it sometimes as a second, third, fourth, even fifth career choice. So, we try and expose young people is our goal.

We’ve only started since January, so we’re very newly minted and, you know, we have this committee within CNLA called the Emerging Leaders and we are chatting about different ways to engage with youth.

And we are still working on some day in the life kind of things ’cause there’s lots of different avenues you can go within the green industry. And I, and I think lots of people when they think of the green industry, they think mowing grass in the summer as a summer job and don’t really realize that it’s actually full of professionals and you can make a career out of it. And yeah, as we were trying to get the day in the life kind of up and running, I threw out, what about starting a podcast. And kind of at the end of a meeting that Alec was chairing and people were like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s a good idea.’ And then we got off the meeting and I texted Alec and I was like, ‘No, but actually, like, do you wanna co-host a podcast?’ And he’s like, ‘Sure.’ And then I find out that he actually doesn’t like public speaking a ton, which I was like, ‘You volunteered this.’ Um. And yeah, so December was kind of crazy. Alec’s uh,company does a lot of snow removal and stuff, and he was closing out projects and stuff. So we met like once before Christmas, had the Christmas break, and then January we kind of jumped in, with a lot of naivety. And a lot of enthusiasm. Yeah. What we lack in experience, I think we hope we bring up in enthusiasm.

And, you know, like Alec and I hadn’t really known each other outside of this committee, but, through some of our committee work, I was vice chair getting to meet him in person, like at the summer board meetings with CNLA, kind of felt like that we were similar in a lot of ways, probably our, our dorky landscape sense of humor being one of them. And, yeah, I just thought it would be a cool project and he was really gung-ho about the Emerging Leaders Committee. So it was also really nice when you’re doing a group project with someone who wants to put in as much effort as you.

And then we just have evolved quite quickly and we’re really proud of it. I know it’s, it’s young and we’re learning every single day about podcasting, ’cause it’s not just buying a mic off Amazon going full bore.

And CNLA, Sarah has been an absolute instrumental piece to this. And working with these two has been awesome.

Karina: For those listeners who aren’t a member of a provincial landscape association like Landscape Ontario, the BCLNA, Landscape Alberta. If you’re not already a member of one of those, then you might not be familiar with what CNLA is.

So that’s the Canadian National Landscape Association. It’s an umbrella association across Canada that helps represent landscapers and professionals working in the green trades and continuing to raise the profile and foster a positive mindset around having a career in a green trades and they’re doing a lot of work, like you said, trying to engage people who are coming into this as a new career, and especially the youth because we have lots of retiring people in this industry.

So, Alec, maybe you could tell us a bit more about that Emerging Leaders component.

Alec: Yeah, I’d love to. Yeah, we’re actually coming up on our second year. It was kind of conceptualized, I guess by the past president of the CNLA at the time. Um, they were really looking to engage that youth perspective into the CNLA. The thought process behind it was to create subcommittee of the committee, um, just to have that fresh perspective on the industry.So we, we met a few times and, and it was hard at first, I mean, we were trying to find all of our members, to find our identity a little bit. Um, but yeah, kind of in our, I don’t know, three quarters of the first year we really started to find our traction to attract youth into the industry. Like Brie said, there’s a lot of second career, or further on. So just trying to, to, uh, engage people at the early level and to showcase what career this can actually have for people. You always read about all those studies about how gardening and caring for plants can improve your whole life, mental health, everything. Um, and just trying to showcase what a beautiful industry we have. Um, so that’s kind of the overarching theme, I guess, of the committee is, is trying to engage a more younger age into the industry and broadcast everything about it is kind of our goal.

So we’re working on a few initiatives. Uh, like Brea mentioned Day in the Life, we’re trying to do a a short form video format just through the CNLA’s uh, social media,showcase what the industry is, uh, and not just, like you said, you drive by and you see someone installing topsoil or planting a tree, just to show a little bit more of that engagement. Um, we’re only three or four episodes in now, and we’re kind of doing it in a unique way, uh, kind of tailored to our industry where we’re front loading everything. So we’re recording like an episode a week and we’re trying to release a monthly. So it’s, again, it’s been a rollercoaster that way, as we don’t really have a lot of time you know, in between episodes, uh, to review and see what learning we’re, we’ve been able to glean from watching ourselves. Um, that’s, that’s kind of the, I guess, the Cole’s Notes of our committee work anyways.

Karina: What kind of audience are you hoping is gonna tune into Branching Out? Are we looking at employers who would be hiring youth or are we looking at talking directly to the youth who are maybe still even in high school or in post-secondary or trade school, thinking about what career they wanna have.

Alec: Yeah, I think like the initial target was more youth coming into it or a second career, and that’s what we’re trying to do with season one, as we’re calling it at this point, anyways. Uh, we’re trying to host a bunch of interviews with different sectors of the industry to kind of showcase how much it has to offer. Everything from construction to design work to uh, municipalities. Just showcase everything that we’re able to, to have within the industry.

Karina: And there’s so much that we can show them, you know, so many different pathways, so many exciting niche job opportunities and career paths that, unless you get exposed to it, you might never even consider it as a possibility. So to have a podcast like Branching Out that helps demonstrate those different opportunities for people wondering, ‘What the heck do I do with the rest of my life?’ And, and that could even still be people in their forties, fifties, sixties, but very exciting for those who have a long life ahead of them and going you know, ‘How can I contribute meaningfully back to society, the environment, to global health, like all of those things. And, uh,spark those conversations with younger audiences is a really great strategy to engage them.

What sort of topics and guests are you hoping to bring onto the show that are going to help continue that engagement with the youth?

Breanna: We essentially looked at the industry and kind of picked different sectors. So we’ve done education sectors so far. We have municipality up, and a landscape architect. So we kind of brainstormed as many ideas for different kinds of positions in that supply chain of landscaping, whether it’s residential, commercial and who’s involved.

And using our various contacts. Sometimes we have contacts from our Landscape Alberta connections, or our CNLA connections. Or even just our professional connections and we are trying to find some people that are also younger as well. Just like how did they get into it? What was their pathway?

‘Cause we see value in every demographic, to jump on our show and hear how they got into the industry and how are they part of the green industry?

And it’s been really cool to hear their stories and their passions because not everyone’s passion is, ‘Oh, I just like, I love trees or plants.’ Like, an episode that’s coming out quite shortly is a landscape architect who was talking about her passion for like, the connectivity bikes. And you know, like when you’re on a bike and those park systems and those kinds of things, you know, you just stop. If I see you and I know you, I would just like to stop and have a conversation. But if I drive past you in a car, like that connection isn’t there the same way. And you know, we just talked about love of Europe and how those systems are right and how much infrastructure we put for cars. Like look at how much parking lots we have, like, from square metres. It’s crazy. And think about my garage, my driveway, all the infrastructure that’s built for my vehicle. Whereas in other parts of the world, you have bike infrastructure. And you have more green spaces, right?

So it’s really cool to hear people’s passion and people’s why and what people have, like, they came into the industry liking this, but now their passion and love has changed over time, which is also really cool to hear too.

Karina: I love those kinds of stories. Have you heard anything that kind of surprised you, hearing from a younger generation of things that they’re excited about or things that they feel challenged with about entering this trade?

Alec: I think, I mean, I think the biggest surprise for us was the guests’ hobbies to kind of take their minds off of, off of their professional world, just to kind of celebrate the work-life balance. One of our guests actually was a college professor and her hobby was horseback archery, um, which we did not see coming at all. I think the rest of it, I, at least for me, nothing has really surprised me, uh, for anyone at kind of entering the industry or where they kind of led to, but especially, uh, with some of our younger guests, it, it has been a huge, not a huge topic, but more of a topic for, for like work-life balance and balancing that mental, uh, stress load and everything on that. So it was great to have those as well. Um, but yeah, I don’t think anything’s kind of crazy surprised me. I mean, again, with being in the industry for over 10 years now, it’s, you know, you kind of hear a lot of these every day. But at least for me, it’s been so cool hearing these stories and seeing these connections, like Breanna was mentioning, like, it’s just so nice to talk to people that also love what they’re doing. And we’re not just talking about the, you know, the grind of the work either.

Karina: What are some of the barriers or myths that might be holding people back from exploring the green trades as a career option?

Breanna: I think the biggest one that, and it’s no secret, is like the seasonality of it. And especially like when you’re entering it is really hard to get a year-round, full-time position. Lots of times you’re laid off in the winter, or you know, maybe you’re doing snow and ice and that’s something that fills your cup.

That college instructor that Alec was mentioning, she also agrees that that’s probably one of the biggest things that is the deterrent and probably from high school career counselors and parents that you’re like, ‘Well, can you make a living of it?’ Like, the cost of every day is expensive, then it’s not getting cheaper. So, people, wanna have maybe a, a more conventional, career where you can expect 12 months worth of work. There’s so many different opportunities. So many people don’t know it’s a trade, right?

And so like you could work all year and have two months where you’re in school collecting EI, which you’re not collecting EI when you go and do a bachelor’s or diploma. So what a cool life hack you have there. And you know, you can be 22 and be a journeyman in one winter. So I think there’s a lot of opportunity, but I think people kind of get nervous about that, ‘Oh, it’s seasonal. And what do you do for winter?’

Alec: Yeah. And I think too, like, like you said, with not very many people knowing it’s a trade. It’s, I think, that barrier of a high level career too. A lot of people just see it as they’re working with their hands for, for their whole life. For many of us, at least, that’s not the most ideal situation to, to, always want to be, you know, cutting the grass every day or installing trees. So I think that just that, how much more behind the scenes work that it can offer besides the field installations too, can be, uh, can be kind of a thought process for people.

Karina: I think in this day and age where AI is becoming so prominent and not a day goes by where I don’t see some sort of news headline about the projection of when AI will replace certain jobs or careers and entire professions actually. But there’s certain things that, you know, that physical element, like you said, working with your hands, well, AI can’t replace that and it actually seems like this would be a pretty safe bet to, instead of relying on that classic office job, be sure it’s climate controlled. Sure you get a nice comfy chair, but that’s at risk. Whereas you could be outdoors, in nature, using your body to create beautiful places. And that’s pretty AI proof. So I think there’s probably an opportunity there to lean into that when everyone else is saying, you know, the, all the jobs are gonna be lost.

Breanna: The college instructor that we interviewed, was a wealth of knowledge and she does this exercise in fourth year. So I have my journeyman, I just finished it recently.

She does this activity where you put all of the things that keep you up at night and the problems of the world on the whiteboard. And I joked with her, I was like, yeah, it’s kind of a depressing, little activity, but she doesn’t let you go home until we talk about it. And we’re like, actually there’s like a landscape element or a green industry element that can solve every one one of those problems.

Like, climate change, right? We know it’s no secret that trees are like the number one hack there. Mental health and that being in connection. Well, there’s so many studies that show how great being in nature, even for 15 minutes, like what that shows, right. Then people want to have a job that has a purpose and not just moving a piece of paper from this side of the desk to the next, well, when you build parks, like you’re building something that’s hopefully gonna outlast you.

Like that’s a pretty cool legacy to be a part of, and you’re doing something that matters. Like when people come and say, ‘Wow, the transformation that you’ve made in this space, I’ve been watching you for the last two weeks, it’s been so cool.’ That’s incredible. Right? And that’s something that’s gonna leave an impact. And so I think having a career that can solve a lot of problems, ’cause it feels like there’s a lot of big problems right now, so that you could actually do something about it and something that you actually have like a legacy.

Alec and I bonded in our first episode about driving with either family or friends and pointing out all the trees we’ve planted in our respective cities. My dad used to do that, and I used to be the kid in the backseat being like, ‘Yeah, Dad. Like I know, I know, I know. It’s not cool.’ And now I’m that person with my nephews in my backseat being like, ‘Auntie Bri planted all that.’ and Alec does that with his wife. Like that’s, that’s so cool that you can show and be proud of the work that you did, like a decade, two decades ago.

Karina: To know that what you’re doing today, if you didn’t do it today, you’re just delaying the progress of the future. How many other things can you do that actually naturally just get even better and better and better and more valuable over time?

Alec: Yeah, exactly.

Karina: What do you think the future of landscaping might look like given all the technological changes given, you know, changes happening in the world, the way we approach education, are you seeing that maybe in 10 years or 15 years, the whole way people get into this industry might be different?

Alec: I’m hoping it does change a little bit. I’m hoping it’s more of an industry that people know about and think about when making their career choices.

So I, I guess to that point I wanna see that change, I guess, to how it’s kind of being broadcasted now through word of mouth or connections, or you kind of stumble into it like I did.

If you asked me 10 years ago, I’d be a little bit more worried about where it was going, you know, if there’s gonna be enough budgets. But I think the importance of what it provides and what we can provide people, to municipalities, uh, just to have those connections in green spaces. I think that is becoming more and more important and I think that is opening up more and more space in budgets. Like with the government of Canada planting that certain number of trees to increase all the canopyspace and everything like that.

Like, I just think it’s an industry that’s looking towards the future and the technologies and how we approach projects will change. And I think we’ll just keep finding efficiencies in what we do, but I think the importance is only gonna get greater as we keep, as Brie said, kind of tackling these, these big problems that they’re, they’re definitely not going away. And I think what we provide is only gonna become more important.

Karina: Now, Brea, as you’re planning the future episodes of Branching Out, what kinds of topics are you most excited to talk about and what can listeners expect to get out of it if they go find your podcast today and subscribe and start listening from here on out?

Breanna: Well, I think goal one right now is really exposing them to like all of the different facets within the green industry and I think Alec and I have even had those moments where like didn’t consider, you know, X, Y, and Z, but yeah, that is its own little realm and that could definitely be a career opportunity within the green industry.

People at CNLA are really excited about it as well. We’re trying to get the whole gamut and I think the gamut is a lot larger than maybe we, we originally thought. The other piece is maybe highlighting some of the things that CNLA is doing because as you know, being at Landscape Ontario, there’s always so much that’s going on behind the scenes that these organizations are doing for their members and so they’re pushing the industry forward and members can go to work and do what they’re really good at.

Right. So, I think that’s also another thing that we make sure listeners know is that, the good work that CNLA and the provincial landscape associations are, are doing as well.

Karina: And where can people find your podcast?

Alec: It’s on YouTube, uh, Spotify and Apple Podcast as well. And I think we’re exploring, looking at it on the Amazon platform as well. Uh, but that’s currently where to find it. Just make sure to search CNLA Branching Out. Our beautiful podcast will show up. I like to say it’s, it’s kind of orchestrated chaos.

Breanna: It is nice to talk to someone that is doing a podcast in a similar industry, right? Where there’s not that many green industry orientated podcasts. And so it is exciting that we had the opportunity to have a chat and get to be a part of your show because we have an opportunity to keep learning ’cause we’re very much learning as we go. So we appreciate that you guys have kind of been the trailblazers on that and that we can kind of follow in your footsteps, right? And, and make our show what it is, but kind of have a framework to look at within the green industry.

Karina: Absolutely. I, you know, there’s space for both. And when I heard that CNLA was starting this podcast for the emerging leaders, I thought that that’s brilliant because there are so many stories to tell, so many ears that need to hear this. There’s no shortage of things that we can talk about.

Together, I think we can do a lot to help people understand what this profession really entails. There are a lot of podcasts out there that tend to focus on gardening. And that’s amazing too. But when we can take that step into what’s happening within the profession and how people get training, how they get inspiration, how they get past certain hurdles and embrace new opportunities. There’s just an endless amount of things that we can talk about. So I’m glad that we can help amplify your show as you’re getting started and really do some exciting things in that space for you. So thanks for taking the time to come on my show.

Alec: Of course.

Karina: Brea and Alec, I wish you the best of luck. Congratulations for getting started. I think that’s the hardest part.

A lot of people say, I should do a podcast, or I should write a book, or I should do this or that, and they just don’t get to it and you’re getting to it. And that’s a huge hurdle that you’ve already gotten past. So well done, and best of luck with all the other episodes that are in the pipeline.

Music transition

Karina: Thanks so much for listening to this conversation with Alec and Breanna, the co-hosts of the Branching Out podcast. It’s inspiring to see emerging leaders step up to tell the stories of the industry and to help young people see all the possibilities that exist in landscaping and horticulture. If you’d like to hear more, be sure to listen to Branching Out wherever you listen to podcasts and follow along as they explore career journeys, industry insights, and the many ways people are building meaningful careers in the green professions.

You’ll find links to Branching Out in the show notes of this episode’s webpage at LandscapeOntario.com/Podcast. And as always, if you enjoyed listening today, please subscribe. Share it with a colleague or a young person considering their career path.

Let us know what you think. Whether you have feedback, suggestions for future topics or ideas for guests, send me a message at Podcast@LandscapeOntario.com. Don’t forget to subscribe so you can catch all the latest stories of the landscape industry. Thanks for tuning in today. Until next time, keep growing.