Lessons in Growing Things That Last

The strongest relationships begin with time, trust and a little cultivation.

Vice President and Director of Public Relations Lynette Von Minden has learned life's best lessons in unexpected places. From tending backyard gardens to building relationships in the green industry, she's discovered that the things worth growing rarely happen by accident.

In this Passion Profile, Lynette reflects on how a lifelong appreciation for the outdoors continues to shape the way she cultivates relationships that stand the test of time.
 

Swanson Russell: How did your connection to the outdoors begin?

Lynette Von Minden: I grew up south of Nebraska City, Nebraska, in a little town called Talmage. For the first seven years of my life, we lived on a farm. I remember my parents having a huge garden, and there was always an appreciation of nature and spending a lot of time outside.

My dad always encouraged us to spend time outdoors and appreciate those little things in nature, like cardinals in our bird bath or owls in our trees. Both my parents worked very hard gardening, and my mom canned much of our food. She loved lilacs, and we’d go for rides in the summer and cut them from abandoned farmsteads to bring home. From a young age, I was in touch with the outside — even if I didn't appreciate it as much as I do now.

SR: How did you eventually get into gardening yourself?

LVM: When my husband and I got married, we built a new house and decided to do our own landscaping. There was sod, and that was it. So, I created my own berm. I did lasagna gardening (a no-dig, no-till organic method) to turn grassy areas into garden beds with cardboard and then layers of dirt and mulch. I was into flower gardening, and I planted everything along all the sides and front of our house. There’s just nothing like putting something in the ground and watching it grow.

My husband was promoted from lieutenant to captain with the Nebraska State Patrol in 2018, and we moved when he was hired in Scottsbluff. Unfortunately, the land out there is not great for gardening, and the growing season is short. It's very hot and dry in the summer, and the soil is much sandier. But I kept at it and ended up growing so many vegetables — peppers and tomatoes grew like wildfire out there.

SR: Beyond new gardening techniques, what else did you explore while living in the panhandle? 

LVM: Being out west for over seven years, the camping and hiking came into focus because you don’t have big cities to visit. You have to travel long distances to do anything, and that’s why so many people out there own campers. The two places we camped at most were Lake McConaughey and Fort Robinson in Nebraska, but there were lots of parks in Wyoming and Colorado that weren’t far away either.

At first, we had a tent, but then we invested in a camper because it was easier for our puppy (and us) to sleep. We even upgraded from our first small camper to a bigger one for more room. We loved the freedom of taking our home with us on the road and being in beautiful places well beyond our yard.
 

SR: You’ve since moved back to Lincoln. Anything you miss about living out there and your hiking/camping days?

LVM: I had never lived in that part of the state before, and it gave us an amazing opportunity to see a different side of Nebraska and enjoy new places. There are rocky bluffs and hills out in the panhandle. Near Scottsbluff and Gering, it’s drier and arid, but then you get a much lusher landscape by Fort Robinson State Park. We lived about half a mile from the Wildcat Hills State Recreation Area, so I would take our dog there for exercise instead of walking the dirt roads. She loved to run on the trails.

SR: How have your outdoor passions overlapped with your work at the agency?

LVM: When I started at Swanson Russell in 2007, I worked with a national gardening brand, so I had to learn a lot about horticulture, turf, fertilizers and chemicals. I always cared about gardening, but as I’ve continued working with green industry brands, it’s started driving me inside and outside of work.

Through Jason Schmaderer, I joined the Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association (TOCA), and now I serve on the board. Its members include editors from all the landscaping, lawn care and golf course maintenance publications as well as communications professionals from other agencies and green industry suppliers. We talk about everything from chemical applications and irrigation practices to the ethical use of AI and how to write more compelling copy. We’ve toured Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, talked with golf course agronomists and seen some beautiful places like the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens.

People think it’s kind of funny to have a whole association for a niche group of communicators, but it has been a real godsend throughout my career. Making connections with all the editors in TOCA and networking with other communicators has helped me earn placements for our green industry clients.

SR: Is your approach to public relations inspired by the lessons you’ve learned outdoors?  

LVM: It feels like a direct parallel because so much of PR is about cultivating relationships. You plant a seed, invest in it over time and trust that it will grow. The same is true of the relationships I've built throughout the industry. The more care you give them, the stronger and more meaningful they become.