Jennifer Jones and Brent Laing have been competing in curling since Team Canada three Olympic Games combined — Jennifer won gold in 2014 — so they each know a thing or two about determination. Now that their competitive careers are over, they carry that very same competitive spirit and dedication to their family’s lawn care franchise, Weed Man, in Ontario, Canada.
“The transition was really cool,” Jones said of the switch from ice to grass. After retiring from playing [in April 2024] and looking for what to do next, it gave the impression of a great fit. It’s a thriving business, and just dealing with clients and trying to learn the business was a lot of fun.”
Herb Man
Ontario-based lawn care company Weed Man, ranked 281st on the 2024 Franchise 500, was already familiar to Laing — his parents originally opened concession in 1982 and then bought the adjoining territory in 1992. Laing, a three-time Canadian and world champion who narrowly missed the medal in the 2018 Olympics, worked for the franchise when he was a teenager and in his early 20s. The brand, he explained, had change into a part of his family, and when his parents began talking about selling it, that got him and Jones considering.
“My mum and dad put 40 years of blood, sweat and tears into it,” he says, “but no matter who was going to buy it, it would be weird not to have it in the family.”
So when Jones’ parents finally made the decision to retire earlier this 12 months, it gave the impression of the perfect opportunity for Jones and Laing to start a business.
“We were thinking about starting a business or creating an entrepreneurial environment for our family,” Jones says, “and this seemed like the perfect fit.”
Olympic lessons
Does being a world champion in an Olympic sport translate to a franchise? Jones — who is a lawyer by trade, so she is not completely latest to the business world — thinks so.
“It’s the nature of competition and always striving to be better,” he says. “As an athlete, you’re never satisfied with the status quo. You’re always trying to find ways to be better.”
She adds that work ethic, self-confidence and a willingness to accept constructive criticism are also skills and traits she carries from the world of competition into her life as a franchisee.
Community comes first
Laing and Jones are committed to cultivating a sense of community through their franchise, emphasising the importance of local involvement and customer relationships, an approach that Laing’s father set out when he opened the franchise in the Nineteen Eighties.
“In the beginning it was just my dad, him and the truck, knocking on the door,” Laing says, “and we never lost sight of that. It’s a family business. It’s a big company, but we always focused on the fact that it’s a Laing family business.”
Jones emphasizes that they are literally a community-based company — their office is right in the city center — and adds that visibility is key to the form of business they run.
“This is how we get to know our customers,” he says. “They come to the office and I like to hear their stories.”
Combining family and business
As parents and business owners, Jones and Laing are understandably busy. They have two daughters who are each under 13, and Laing has an older son from a previous marriage. According to Jones, running a successful franchise is not much different from skilled curling, so far as the whole family is concerned.
“It’s been our life since the kids were little,” she says of her busy schedule. “Our two daughters have traveled with us their whole lives, and they understood that flexibility is part of our lives. So it’s become part of our family, like curling.”
The family atmosphere, including having their children help in the office, is something they need to preserve. Both Jones and Laing said they feel an essential responsibility to Laing’s parents’ legacy — each in keeping the business strong and in continuing the small-business atmosphere that made it successful.
“It’s a balancing act,” says Laing, “keeping it all local and family-owned, and also always answering the phone and not becoming too corporate. We want to make money, we want to grow, but it’s about the reputation that mum and dad worked so hard to build.”