Deviest started his business in the summer of 2020 when he was 19 years old. He says he has always been interested in outdoor work, and really started to get serious about launching his own venture after working with an older cousin.
“When I was working for my cousin’s business, I oversaw a lot of the customer communication. When I was there working on projects, I could see how customers responded and reacted. I watched my boss interact with customers, and I learned a lot from him, but I also started to have my own ideas for how I might do things a little differently if it was my own business,” he said.
At the time, Deviest was also working at UPS. Just three months into the job, Deviest won a friendly competition to see who could complete the most work during a set period of time (for context: this took place in the summer, when it was super hot to be working in a trailer!) and was promoted to supervisor.
“I learned a lot in that leadership role. I grew my skills as a communicator, which I’ve found is probably the most important part of managing others,” Deviest said.
Once he began Superlative Lawn Pros, Deviest decided to start small, working with select neighborhoods in Smyrna and LaVergne and building a foundation of great customer reviews.
“Quality is always the most important thing to me,” Deviest said. “And that’s because I care about this kind of work so much. I want it to be right for several reasons.”
After scoring a large contract for 150 lawns per week, he was able to hire more people – starting with similarly-minded friends. As the business expanded, Deviest intentionally sought out role models and mentors, and noted that he loves it when these guides say “I wish I had known this when I was your age”. Deviest also cites his internal drive as a major influence on his success.
“I always feel that there are more ways to improve and I’m always looking to get better and grow. I bring that energy to all areas of my life, not just my business,” he said. “I’m 21, and any advice I would share with others my age or younger would be to focus less on things that don’t matter as much long-term, like cars or parties and things that are going to take money out of your pocket now, and focus on investments you can make in yourself.”
Today, Deviest’s business continues to grow. The Cumberland River Compact recommends Superlative Lawns Pros to community members interested in hiring a team to help plant their trees, and the Compact also hires the company for our own select planting projects.
“With this big tree-planting goal for Nashville… we want to be a big part of that. We want to plant a lot of those trees,” Deviest said. “Trees are a huge part of our environment, and doing tree work has become my favorite part of landscaping. And trees grow! The number one thing I love on this planet is watching things improve and watching things grow. Planting in general is a nice, calming, peaceful activity. Every time I’m out planting a tree, I have one of my guys with me, and we just have a blast. There are so many trees being taken down, but they’re literally our oxygen. Planting a tree is not a hard thing to do and brings so many good things.”
Learn more about Deviest and Superlative Lawn Pros by emailing them at splawnpros@gmail.com or calling (629) 345-1853. And say hi and share a thank you if you see Deviest and his crew out and about delivering and planting trees in Nashville!
