* Name: Bill Suggs
* Job title: General manager
* Location: Barn Nursery
* First job: Stoking coal at the Sunset Motel in Chickamauga, Ga., in 1954, when he was 9 years old.
* Favorite part of job: Dealing with people. “I like making sure we have good customer service here, so I take care of that, and actually working with my employees, making sure they get taken care of.” Currently, he said, there are about 50 employees at the Barn. “It’s kind of fun working with different people.”
* Worst part of job: “I don’t really dislike anything I do.” The most frustrating aspect, he said, is not being busy enough during the off-season.
* Special rewards: “The customers coming back and telling how beautiful the yards are. On the kick side of that, being able to furnish employees with lots of benefits … seeing that they’re taken care of also.” He also enjoys the benefits specific to working in a nursery, which includes 40-60 loads of new plants in a week. “It’s kind of fun seeing all the things we sell,” Mr. Suggs said. “We make people happy here, so that makes me happy.”
* Best advice: “Nothing does anything on its own. When you plant a new tree or shrub, it needs care like a baby for anywhere from a year to 18 months. If you do that, you’re going to have something beautiful.”
* Making a career of it: He holds a degree in accounting and finance, and owned and operated Ace Hardwares for 30 years. “If you want to run a business, the more business courses you have, the better off you are.”
* Another suggestion: “If you’re not a people person, I wouldn’t suggest being in retail.”
* On making a career in a nursery: “You have to kind of like the plants and the flowers and everything. The more you know about it, the better you are in helping customers or training other employees. But running the whole operation is like running any other operation.”
* On management in general: “Be committed to your work. A lot of management people like to hide in the back office. It’s better to be in with the people. You lead them, you don’t just boss them.”