December 15, 2011
Sarah Willis
Editorial Director
What is your job description at LO?
As editorial director, my main responsibility is the production of Landscape Trades. As a member of the communications department at LO, I am part of a team that works together to produce all the publications, newsletters and consumer pieces put out by the association to support the work that ourmembers do.
What is your background before coming to LO, and when did you begin work at LO?
My background is in horticulture. I am an alumnus of the University of Guelph and the Niagara Parks Commission School of Horticulture. My first job after graduation was as a gardener at the Royal Botanical Gardens. When I was laid off in winter, I responded to an ad in Horticulture Review for a writer and Rita Weerdenburg hired me immediately. In 1991, Landscape Ontario bought Horticulture Review, so I’ve just passed my 20-year anniversary with the association.When not at work, where can you be found?
My husband and I are just getting used to being empty nesters, so are starting to reinvent our lives together after living for years at the dojo and hockey arenas with our three kids. As our children leave for school, we are gradually replacing them with large dogs, so we spend a lot of time hiking with them. I enjoy kayaking on quiet rivers, and am a knitter and beginning quilter. I also took up hockey a few years ago, so am having a great time on the ice after cheering from the stands for so long. Also, my family is part-owner of a garden centre in Oakville, so in my spare time in the spring, I can be found helping out in the sales yard.When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be a writer. When I was little, my father built me a Wendy House (Google it), and I spent hours and hours there, writing and illustrating my own magazines—which I woulddistribute to friends.