This week on Trades Talk, Justin White sits down with Jerry Schill, CEO of The Landscape Collective. Jerry has built a maintenance driven organization at roughly $200M in revenue, 2,000 team members, 36 locations across 8 states and Canada, 93 percent recurring revenue, and 21 acquisitions since partnering with private equity.

Jerry unpacks the "business in a box" concept that let him refine a 15 profit center P&L into one hedgehog, the two PE recaps that funded the run, and the leadership principles that keep 2,000 people aligned across a continent. He also shares why frontline incentive pay turned into a disincentive, why he only "meddles" when the numbers slip, and why "somebody's always coming" is the mindset that has kept him hungry for 34 years.

In this episode:

• The Business in a Box playbook: Jim Collins' hedgehog applied to maintenance, laser focus on people utilization and asset utilization, and how that becomes portable enough to bolt into 21 acquisitions
• The three core values that gate every hire and fire: employee centered, customer focused, champions in the communities we serve
• Why incentive pay works for account managers, ops managers, and branch managers, but became a disincentive at the frontline and had to be uncoupled
• PE demystified: two recaps (Argon Capital, then TruArc in December 2025), what actually happens the day after the wire hits, and why PE only steps in when things go sideways

Jerry's biggest takeaway is simple. Do good, stay focused, hire slow and fire fast, and remember that somebody is always coming. Purpose is what carries you when the numbers get hard, not the other way around.

If you are a 5 to 30 million dollar operator wondering whether focus really wins at scale, considering PE, or trying to build a company that survives past your day at the helm, this one is required listening.

JW Group Website: https://www.jwhitegroup.com/ Justin LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-white-%E2%98%85-35b7a210b/ Justin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justinwhiteceo/ Justins Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@justinwhiteceo The Landscape Collective: https://www.thelandscapecollective.com/ K&D Website: https://kndlandscaping.com/ K&D Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kanddlandscaping/ Disruptors Community: https://www.skool.com/disruptors Disruptors Advantage Newsletter: https://disruptors-advantage.beehiiv.com/