Allison Messner: Yardzen Co-Founder and CEO

Second Life

Clique Media, Female Founder, Entrepreneurship, Career Change, Career Pivot, Fashion & Beauty, Hillary Kerr, Personal Journals, Who What Wear, Clique, Career, Arts, Business, Careers, Second Life, Career Advice, Self-made, Entrepreneur, Mydomaine, Society & Culture

4.7 • 3K Ratings

🗓️ 22 April 2024

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In 2017, the outdoor space surrounding Allison Messner’s home in Northern California was destroyed by a devastating wildfire. In the aftermath, Allison and her husband decided to hire a landscape designer to help them rebuild their green space, but they quickly realized how difficult, long, and expensive the process was going to be. The two began developing an idea to make the process more efficient and accessible by incorporating new technology, and in 2018, they launched Yardzen, a digital landscape design and build platform. Today, the company operates in all 50 states with a network of hundreds of designers and architects. But before Allison disrupted the landscape industry, she reported as a journalist in Alaska, worked at a prestigious PR firm, was CMO of the tech company OpenDNS when it was acquired by Cisco for $635 million, and even started her own venture capital firm.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi everyone I'm Hillary Kerr, the co-founder and chief content officer of who
0:10.8	what where and this is Second Life, a podcast spotlighting women who have truly inspiring careers.
0:18.0	We're talking about their work journeys, what they've learned from the process of setting aside their doubts or fears, and
0:25.8	what happens when they embark on their second life.
0:29.1	Today on the show, I'm speaking with the co-founder and CEO of Yard Zen, Allison Messner.
0:36.2	In 2018, after experiencing a devastating wildfire in their recognized how slow, difficult, and expensive the typical landscape design
0:54.4	process was and a light bulb went off. The two began developing an idea to
1:00.0	make the process more efficient and accessible,
1:03.4	and soon they launched Yard Zen,
1:06.5	a digital landscape design and build platform.
1:09.8	Today, the company operates in all 50 states with a network of hundreds of designers and
1:15.4	architects has partnered with brands like Creighton Barrel and has raised
1:20.4	11 million dollars in venture funding.
1:23.6	But before Allison was disrupting the landscape industry,
1:26.8	she reported as a journalist in Alaska,
1:29.7	worked in PR, served as CMO of the tech company Open DNS when it was acquired by Cisco for $635 million
1:38.7	and even started her own VC firm.
1:43.0	Allison's story is beyond inspiring,
1:46.0	and I'll let her tell you the rest of it herself.
1:50.0	Now, on Second Life, it's Allison Messner.
1:53.6	All right, Allison, you ready?
1:58.6	I'm ready.
	...

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