Meet Chuck Vogt of Metro Lawns

Today we’d like to introduce you to Chuck Vogt.

Chuck, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Because of some poor choices I made earlier in my life, I found myself bound for Atlanta at a friend’s behest with two pieces of luggage and $40 to my name. My first full day in Atlanta, I had to accept a day labor job removing animal crap in a kennel. On following day, my next minimum wage job paying $3.25/hr., I was picking up discarded cigarette butts and mowing the lawns at the DeKalb county Courthouse complex. I kept that job for a couple weeks before I was then hired as a laborer at an apartment complex. I worked there, at Post Properties for less than a year before going out on my own mowing lawns, sans picking up cigarette butts. From there the business grew to what it is today, the highest rated lawn maintenance company in Metro Atlanta.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No. While the act of mowing a lawn is not difficult, running a business is. Having acquired no mechanical skills as a young man, equipment breakdowns, not uncommon in this business required me to learn to make do with what I had. I began with a mower, a blower and string trimmer jammed inside a Chevy Citation hatchback car.

Additionally hiring men with sketchy backgrounds resulted in me, rather than simply firing them, taking more time to give them more chances to succeed. While most relished these “second chances” some did not and reverted back to their former ways. At times our equipment and trucks were stolen and in one case a company truck was found far away in an abandoned field with stiletto heels in the cabin area.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Metro Lawns – what should we know?
Metro Lawns sole focus for these past 30 years has been to mow lawns. We provide to our hundreds of clients excellent customer service and a nice looking lawn at very reasonable prices. Our typical customer are those who could do the work themselves but would rather hire a reliable company that provides them, the customer, with a hassle free experience while they attend to the more important matters in their lives.

What I am most proud of and what sets us apart is our focus on our employees. I choose to hire men who like me made lousy choices early on and as a result find themselves passed over when applying for a typical job. Most all our employees at one time had to battle thru addictions such as meth or alcohol or found themselves in trouble with the law. Our focus at Metro Lawns is not to maximize profits but rather to maximize a man’s dignity. Experiencing repeated failures in one’s life can soul crushing. We give a man an opportunity to succeed thru simple, repetitive and structured physical tasks and once mastered they then our given an opportunity to start their own lawn maintenance business with our blessing and assistance.

For example we have another employee going out on his own in June 2017 and another one in July of 2017.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Our focus on our employees. If they are mentored and then develop confidence and pride in what they do, our customers will be taken care of.

Our employees know that if they can keep the customer happy business will grow and that employee will know he can do this type of work on his own.

Winning numerous “Best of’ awards on Kudzu.com and Angies list is proof of our ability to provide the services customers demand.

Contact Info:

• Address: 3939 Lavista Rd #111e
  Tucker, Ga 30084
• Website: metrolawns.com
• Phone: 404-875-2967
• Email: chuck@metrolawns.com

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