Sarah Arms
Owner/General Manager, U.S. Lawns of Knoxville and U.S. Lawns of Pigeon Forge, Knoxville, Tenn.
1. Tell me about the businesses and how you got into the industry.
Jacob, my husband, and I are owners of U.S. Lawns of Knoxville and U.S. Lawns of Pigeon Forge. We bought two existing businesses just over two years ago. We handle commercial landscape maintenance. We also do a little bit of construction, install, a little bit of irrigation and a little bit of snow removal. We were excited to get into the industry, having known a little bit about it, but we’ve crafted our existing businesses into the U.S. Lawns model and also who we are as people.
2. Your dad, Ken Hutcheson, president of U.S. Lawns, connected us. How has joining the franchise system been beneficial to you and Jacob?
I wouldn’t trade the world for being a U.S. Lawns franchisee. It’s the amount of support that we have from the home office and corporate. I don’t think we could have transitioned into this without guidance and support. Obviously, the work isn’t done for you by any means. You have to live it, to learn your way. The first year, Jacob lived it more on his own and I was in the backseat managing books while I was still coaching. I hopped in full time in January 2023. That’s when we both went full steam and turned it into what we needed it to be.
3. You said a word that caught my ear — coaching. You coached collegiate rowing before this. Can you apply anything from coaching to what you’re doing now?
Yes, 100 percent. I started my career in coaching. I was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator (at the University of Tennessee) for 12 years. The key things that I think have helped is I know how to manage a good amount of people. In rowing, you’re managing 60 to 80 athletes every morning between injuries, success, whatever it might be, along with recruiting worldwide. You also figure people out pretty quickly and you can figure out a team dynamic. That’s one thing I could sense right away when I stepped in. You have to be willing to manage a lot of things being thrown at you all at once. Rowing is very similar. This is a team too. You’re out in the grind every day with each other.
4. Do you have a most memorable day at work?
This might feel a little harsh, but within my first week of starting, I drove a whole crew back to the shop and fired them for smoking weed in the truck. That was the turning point of creating the culture that I wanted. These were guys with experience in the industry, and I had to let them all go. We were virtually down to no employees. We built it from the ground up at that point. I hired the right people and we trained every person here to do the right thing at the right time.
5. Do you and Jacob have a family, and what do you all do for fun?
We have three boys. We have a 9-year-old and 4-year-old twins. Our 9-year-old plays baseball. Our twins are getting ready for kindergarten next year. Jacob really enjoys fishing, and the boys keep us pretty busy. I must say I’m pretty engrossed in this right now; we’re training for a relay marathon just to have something to do, something to work for. You can’t ever put away the competitive nature. It comes even with the business.