REWILD Landscapes is a local queer-owned ecological “landcare” business. Its co-founder, Jeff Collins, rang in the new year with a pitch on CBC’s Dragon’s Den on Jan. 2.
Though they weren’t backed by a “Dragon,” Collins says they gained valuable knowledge and support. I recently chatted with them about the experience and their business.
“I didn’t seek this out,” Collins admits, “so when opportunity knocks, you go for it… even if I wasn’t fully prepared because I hadn’t been thinking about it. I had to open the door and explore that opportunity.”
“I did get to have a really nice call with Brian Scudamore afterwards,” Collins elaborates. “He sent me a book… all about how to be an entrepreneur.” That book was The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber, and the message was clear. “[Scudamore was] like, ‘I think you’ve got what it takes so I’m going to send you this book.’”
Scudamore also offers future resources. “Once we hit a million dollars,” Collins says, “he’s going to send me a recommendation to a club for entrepreneurs.”
With this offer in mind, Collins says REWILD Landscapes will continue to grow.
“This isn’t the end. This is just one step forward,” Collins says. “I’m going to increase my knowledge as an entrepreneur and talk with my community, talk with my colleagues, and see if―in a couple of years―[Dragon’s Den is] something that we want to look at again.”
REWILD Landscapes co-founder Phil Collins. Photo provided.
The idea for REWILD Landscapes was born during the pandemic, Collins says.
Having a daughter during lockdown in 2020 intensified a feeling they’d been having for a long time, they continue. “If I’m passing on this planet to somebody else, I need to do something that has a positive change.”
Inspired by this feeling, they began the business in 2022 with their partner and co-founder, Ali Collins.
“We’re taking somebody’s yard and transforming it from the way it currently is to something that has an ecological benefit,” they say, adding, “if we act positively on our environment, it will have ripple effects outward.”
“We want to engage with our environment,” Collins tells me. This means making our landscapes pretty, but also “setting up pollinator habitats, areas for birds to nest or to feed from, and getting that love of nature that is in all of us.”
Collins describes this love as both spiritual and biological. “We hear the sound of birds, and it releases endorphins. It tells us we’re in a safe environment. There are no predators around because there are birds singing, so that lowers our cortisol levels.”
“Ecological landscaping makes us realize that we are stewards of nature and not controllers of nature, and that we are part of the environment and not separated,” Collins adds.
REWILD Landscapes. Photo provided.
This led me to wonder how the average person could be a good steward.
“Number one, just educate yourself so that you don’t make mistakes that make you disinterested,” Collins says. “There’s a lot of media around climate change, climate activism… that can make you feel like you’re not doing enough or it’s all too much. But just taking one step forward in the right direction is massive.”
REWILD Landscapes has plenty to offer and Collins plans even more for the future.
“What is next is solidifying and consolidation of what we do and what we offer… and then having an educational component, maybe it’s something on HGTV or CBC Gem. I would love to fill the space left by Ed Lawrence.”
Apartment613 wishes them the best of luck.
Want to learn more? Visit REWILD Landscapes. For more information on ecological landcare, Jeff Collins recommends The Urban Botanist, The Auditor General’s 2022 Report – Management of Invasive Species (particularly pages 23-34), the Ottawa Wildflower Seed Library, and Rain Ready Ottawa.
