Coach’s Corner
Where Learning Gets Personal
Connect one-on-one with select Cultivate’26 speakers and industry experts for personalized conversations focused on your business challenges, ideas, and opportunities.
Exclusive Benefit for All-Access Pass Holders
What is Coach’s Corner?
Coach’s Corner is a new personalized education experience at Cultivate’26, designed to help attendees go beyond the classroom session and apply ideas directly to their own business.
Through short, one-on-one coaching conversations, attendees can connect directly with experienced horticulture professionals, business leaders, growers, retailers, marketers, and operational experts to discuss real challenges, opportunities, and goals.
Coaches can help advise you on:
- Greenhouse production
- Retail profitability
- Leadership & team development
- Customer engagement
- AI & operational efficiency
- Merchandising & marketing
- Succession planning
- Workplace culture
- Inventory & operational systems
How Coach’s Corner Works
Step 1:
Browse Coaches
Review the roster of coaches below and identify the expert who best fits your goals or challenges.
Step 2:
Reserve Your Coaching Session
Click the sign-up button to select an available appointment time.
Step 3:
Meet One-on-One
Bring your questions, ideas, challenges, or examples from your business for a personalized coaching conversation during Cultivate’26.
What You Need to Know
- Available exclusively to Cultivate’26 All-Access Pass holders
- Coaching conversations are booked in 15 minute time slots
- Appointments are limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis
- Attendees may reserve multiple sessions with different coaches if availability allows
- Some coaches may request attendees bring specific materials or examples
- Coaching sessions are intended to provide practical guidance and idea-sharing, not to act as formal consulting engagements
Meet the Coaches
Explore the coaches below and reserve time with the experts who best match your business goals, challenges, and interests.
Innovation & Retail Strategy Coach | AI, Customer Experience & Modern Garden Retail
Clint Albin helps garden centers and horticulture businesses modernize operations, improve customer engagement, and embrace emerging technologies in practical, approachable ways. With experience leading conversations around AI, digital innovation, retail strategy, and customer experience, Clint focuses on helping businesses balance traditional horticulture values with the evolving expectations of today’s consumers.
Known for his forward-thinking yet highly practical approach, Clint works with businesses to explore how technology, branding, and operational strategy can work together to strengthen sales, service, and long-term growth.
Ask Me About:
- Practical AI tools for garden centers
- Modernizing customer experience
- Retail innovation & future trends
- Digital strategy for horticulture businesses
- Improving customer engagement
- Scaling sales & service systems
- Integrating technology into operations
- Building more connected retail experiences
- Balancing tradition with innovation
- Creating smarter workflows & communication systems
- Positioning your business for future growth
What to Bring:
Operational questions, customer experience challenges, marketing ideas, AI questions, digital strategy concerns, or examples from your business for more personalized brainstorming and discussion."
Leadership & Workforce Coach | Team Development, Talent Strategy & Organizational Growth
Rachelle Antinetti helps horticulture and agriculture businesses build stronger leaders, develop resilient teams, and create long-term workforce strategies that support sustainable growth. With more than 20 years of experience spanning horticulture operations, organizational development, workforce training, and strategic planning, Rachelle brings both executive leadership insight and a coach-centered approach to business growth.
As founder of Amplivare and former Vice President of Operations at Dave Wilson Nursery, Rachelle has led large-scale operational initiatives while helping organizations strengthen communication, leadership confidence, and talent pipelines. Her practical and thoughtful coaching style helps businesses navigate leadership challenges, team development, and organizational change with greater clarity and confidence.
Ask Me About:
- Leadership development & confidence building
- Workforce development & talent pipelines
- Team communication & accountability
- Building resilient workplace culture
- Developing emerging leaders
- Organizational growth & change management
- Strengthening employee engagement & retention
- Navigating difficult leadership conversations
- Aligning strategy with team development
- Creating stronger people systems within your business
What to Bring:
Leadership challenges, team development questions, communication concerns, organizational frustrations, or workforce-related goals for more personalized discussion and guidance."
Operations & Service Systems Coach | Team Accountability, Process Development & Operational Consistency
Vicky Cate helps interiorscape and service-based horticulture businesses create stronger operational systems, improve team accountability, and build processes that support long-term growth and consistency. With extensive experience in plant service operations and organizational development, Vicky specializes in helping businesses turn everyday workflows and protocols into systems that improve performance, communication, and customer experience.
Known for her practical and solutions-focused approach, Vicky works with businesses to identify operational gaps, strengthen service standards, and create clearer expectations that help teams perform more consistently and efficiently.
Ask Me About:
- Building operational consistency
- Developing service protocols & workflows
- Team accountability & communication
- Improving route and service management
- Creating scalable operational systems
- Training and onboarding processes
- Strengthening customer service standards
- Managing day-to-day operational challenges
- Improving efficiency within service teams
- Turning processes into better team performance
What to Bring:
Operational frustrations, workflow questions, service challenges, communication concerns, or examples from your business for more personalized troubleshooting and discussion."
Trend & Marketing Strategy Coach | Consumer Trends, Branding & Customer Engagement
Katie Dubow helps horticulture businesses stay ahead of emerging consumer trends and turn industry insights into stronger marketing, merchandising, and customer engagement strategies. As President of Garden Media Group and author of the annual Garden Trends Report, Katie is recognized throughout the green industry for identifying cultural shifts and helping businesses translate trends into meaningful customer experiences and business growth.
With expertise spanning branding, public relations, consumer behavior, and trend forecasting, Katie brings a highly practical and forward-thinking approach to helping businesses better understand their audiences and position themselves for the future.
Ask Me About:
- Consumer & garden trends
- Marketing strategy & brand positioning
- Reaching younger and emerging audiences
- Customer engagement & storytelling
- Trend forecasting & future planning
- Creating memorable retail experiences
- Public relations & media visibility
- Turning trends into sales opportunities
- Social media & content strategy
- Building a stronger, more recognizable brand
- Staying relevant in a changing marketplace
What to Bring:
Marketing questions, branding challenges, merchandising ideas, customer engagement concerns, social media examples, or future-planning questions for more personalized discussion and brainstorming."
Digital Marketing & Customer Experience Coach | Website Strategy, Email Marketing & Retail Engagement
Katie Elzer-Peters helps garden centers and horticulture businesses strengthen their digital presence, improve customer engagement, and turn websites and marketing tools into real business drivers. As founder of The Garden of Words, Katie specializes in helping businesses create clear, customer-focused digital strategies that improve communication, increase loyalty, and support long-term growth.
With expertise spanning website strategy, email marketing, customer journeys, retail experiences, merchandising, and event-based engagement, Katie brings a highly practical and actionable approach to helping businesses better connect with their audiences both online and in-store. She is especially passionate about helping businesses improve the effectiveness of their websites and digital communication tools through real-time feedback and strategy conversations.
Ask Me About:
- Website strategy & customer experience
- Email marketing & customer communication
- Improving website navigation & conversion
- Digital marketing for garden centers
- Customer engagement strategies
- Building customer loyalty through experiences
- Creative retail events & workshops
- Merchandising & storytelling ideas
- Turning experiences into revenue opportunities
- Strengthening your online presence
- Making your marketing more actionable & effective
What to Bring:
Your laptop, website, email marketing examples, customer communication materials, event ideas, or marketing challenges for more personalized feedback, troubleshooting, and strategy discussion."
Grower Operations Coach | Nursery Efficiency, Labor & Systems Strategy
Rayne Gibson brings hands-on operational experience from every level of the nursery industry — from production and inventory management to logistics, labor planning, budgeting, purchasing, and overall business operations. Having helped build and improve nursery operations across the southern United States, Rayne specializes in helping growers identify inefficiencies, strengthen workflows, and create systems that support long-term growth.
Rayne’s practical, operations-focused approach helps growers and business owners troubleshoot real-world challenges and uncover opportunities to improve efficiency, communication, and profitability.
Ask Me About:
- Nursery layout & operational efficiency
- Labor management & workflow optimization
- Production systems & bottlenecks
- Inventory management strategies
- Scaling nursery operations
- Logistics & purchasing challenges
- Grower, retailer & landscaper partnerships
- Identifying operational pain points
- Building stronger systems for long-term growth
What to Bring:
Photos, workflow challenges, production questions, or operational pain points from your business for more personalized troubleshooting and discussion."
Business Growth & Leadership Coach | Strategy, Culture & Operational Performance
Neal Glatt helps horticulture businesses strengthen leadership, improve organizational culture, and build systems that support sustainable growth and long-term success. With extensive experience working alongside green industry businesses, Neal is known for helping owners and leadership teams navigate operational challenges while creating stronger alignment between people, performance, and business strategy.
A highly practical and engaging advisor, Neal focuses on helping businesses improve communication, accountability, team development, and overall operational effectiveness. His approach combines strategic thinking with real-world implementation, helping businesses move from ideas to actionable progress.
Ask Me About:
- Building stronger workplace culture
- Leadership development & accountability
- Operational strategy & business growth
- Improving team communication
- Managing and developing employees
- Time management & productivity for teams
- Creating engaged, high-performing teams
- Aligning people and business goals
- Improving sales & operational communication
- Building systems that support growth
- Strengthening leadership confidence & clarity
What to Bring:
Leadership challenges, organizational frustrations, communication concerns, operational questions, or team development goals for more personalized discussion and practical guidance."
Leadership, Retail Strategy & Team Development Coach | Culture, Accountability & Business Growth
John Kennedy helps horticulture businesses build stronger teams, more confident leaders, and workplace cultures that support long-term success while also helping businesses improve retail strategy, operational engagement, and organizational performance. With extensive experience in leadership development, workforce training, business strategy, and organizational communication, John is known for helping businesses turn everyday challenges into opportunities for growth and stronger performance.
A dynamic educator and facilitator, John brings an approachable, practical style to conversations around leadership, accountability, employee development, customer experience, and team communication. He is also passionate about helping businesses use concepts like the Great Game of Business to improve engagement, ownership, and team alignment through practical tools like mini games, scoreboards, and measurable goals.
Whether working with emerging leaders, experienced managers, retail teams, or growing businesses, John focuses on helping organizations create environments where people — and businesses — can thrive together.
Ask Me About:
- Leadership development & confidence building
- Retail strategy & customer experience
- Team communication & accountability
- Great Game of Business concepts
- Creating mini games that drive engagement
- Building stronger workplace culture
- Training and developing employees
- Managing and motivating teams
- Workforce development strategies
- Improving employee engagement & retention
- Technology tools for business growth
- Creating clearer expectations & team alignment
- Building systems that support long-term growth
What to Bring:
Leadership challenges, communication frustrations, retail strategy questions, team development concerns, operational challenges, or workplace culture goals for more personalized discussion and practical guidance.
Team Culture & Employee Experience Coach | Workplace Engagement, Communication & Retention
Liz Lark Riley helps horticulture businesses strengthen workplace culture, improve employee engagement, and create team experiences that support long-term business success. Drawing from hands-on retail leadership experience, Liz understands how employee experience directly impacts customer experience, retention, and brand reputation.
Known for her approachable and people-centered leadership style, Liz focuses on helping businesses build stronger communication, develop engaged teams, and create workplaces where employees feel connected, valued, and motivated to succeed. Her practical perspective helps businesses turn culture into a meaningful operational advantage.
Ask Me About:
- Building stronger workplace culture
- Employee engagement & retention
- Improving team communication
- Creating positive customer experiences through staff culture
- Managing and motivating teams
- Leadership communication strategies
- Strengthening onboarding & employee development
- Building team accountability & morale
- Creating a workplace people want to be part of
- Aligning HR, culture, and customer experience
What to Bring:
Team challenges, communication frustrations, employee engagement concerns, customer experience questions, or workplace culture goals for more personalized discussion and practical guidance.
Leadership & Workplace Dynamics Coach | Team Communication, Culture & Managing Change
Matthias “Matt” Mart helps horticulture businesses navigate the evolving challenges of leadership, communication, and workforce management in today’s changing business environment. With more than 30 years of industry experience spanning operations, sales, management, and business development, Matt brings a highly practical and people-centered approach to helping businesses strengthen team dynamics and organizational culture.
Known for his honest communication style and collaborative mindset, Matt works closely with businesses to improve leadership effectiveness, foster stronger workplace relationships, and help teams adapt to changing expectations across generations and diverse workforces.
Ask Me About:
- Managing teams in a changing workplace
- Leadership communication & accountability
- Building stronger workplace culture
- Navigating generational & workforce differences
- Improving team collaboration
- Leading through organizational change
- Balancing technology & people leadership
- Strengthening employee relationships
- Developing practical people-management strategies
- Creating more inclusive and productive teams
What to Bring:
Leadership challenges, communication concerns, workplace frustrations, team dynamics questions, or organizational issues for more personalized discussion and practical guidance.
Leadership & Workplace Culture Coach | Team Communication, Risk Awareness & Employee Development
Geneiva McNeale helps businesses strengthen workplace culture, improve leadership communication, and navigate the people and organizational challenges that impact long-term success. With experience supporting businesses through operational, organizational, and risk-related challenges, Geneiva brings a thoughtful and practical approach to helping teams communicate more effectively, build accountability, and create healthier workplace environments.
Known for her collaborative and solutions-focused style, Geneiva works with leaders and teams to identify hidden organizational risks, improve employee engagement, and strengthen internal systems that support stronger business performance and team stability.
Ask Me About:
- Improving workplace communication
- Building stronger workplace culture
- Team accountability & leadership development
- Navigating organizational challenges
- Identifying hidden operational & people risks
- Employee engagement & retention
- Managing difficult workplace conversations
- Strengthening leadership confidence
- Creating healthier team dynamics
- Building systems that support long-term business stability
What to Bring:
Leadership challenges, communication frustrations, workplace concerns, organizational questions, or team development goals for more personalized discussion and practical guidance.
Personal Branding & Leadership Coach | Confidence, Communication & Authentic Growth
Meg Morrison helps professionals and teams build confidence, strengthen communication, and develop authentic leadership styles that create stronger workplace relationships and personal growth. Known for her energetic and approachable style, Meg focuses on helping individuals embrace what makes them unique while developing the communication and leadership skills needed to succeed in today’s workplace.
With experience in leadership development, team engagement, and professional growth, Meg brings a highly relatable and encouraging approach to conversations around confidence, workplace identity, communication, and connection.
Ask Me About:
- Personal branding & professional visibility
- Building confidence as a leader
- Authentic communication strategies
- Navigating workplace relationships
- Finding your leadership style
- Team connection & engagement
- Networking with confidence
- Career growth & professional development
- Embracing individuality in the workplace
- Strengthening communication skills
- Building meaningful professional connections
What to Bring:
Leadership questions, communication challenges, career development goals, workplace frustrations, or professional growth ideas for more personalized discussion and guidance.
Retail Growth & Customer Strategy Coach | Next-Generation Customers, Sales & Business Positioning
Jeff O’Brien helps independent garden centers and horticulture businesses strengthen customer connection, improve competitive positioning, and create strategies that attract the next generation of consumers. Known for his engaging and highly practical approach, Jeff focuses on helping businesses understand shifting customer expectations while identifying opportunities to stand out in an increasingly competitive retail environment.
With expertise spanning retail strategy, customer behavior, branding, and business growth, Jeff helps businesses move beyond reactive thinking and build experiences, messaging, and operational strategies that create long-term customer loyalty and stronger market relevance.
Ask Me About:
- Attracting younger & next-generation customers
- Competing in today’s retail environment
- Strengthening customer loyalty & engagement
- Retail growth strategies
- Improving customer experience
- Building stronger brand positioning
- Understanding changing consumer behavior
- Creating memorable retail experiences
- Standing out from larger competitors
- Turning customer insights into business opportunities
- Strengthening sales through better customer connection
What to Bring:
Customer engagement challenges, marketing questions, retail frustrations, branding concerns, or examples from your business for more personalized brainstorming and discussion.
Creative Strategy Coach | Trends, Storytelling & Personal Brand Growth
Becky Paxton helps horticulture businesses and professionals turn ideas into compelling stories, experiences, and strategies that connect with audiences and drive engagement. With a background spanning public gardens, fundraising, communications, design, and content creation, Becky brings a creative yet highly strategic approach to marketing, audience development, and professional visibility.
As an Account Executive at Garden Media Group, Becky specializes in helping businesses identify emerging trends, build meaningful customer connections, and transform creative concepts into actionable marketing strategies. Her work blends storytelling, design thinking, and practical communication tools to help businesses — and individuals — stand out in a crowded marketplace.
Ask Me About:
- Trend forecasting & consumer engagement
- Storytelling that drives customer connection
- Personal branding & professional visibility
- Content ideas & marketing strategy
- Creating buzz around products & experiences
- Audience engagement & community building
- Turning ideas into actionable campaigns
- Creative brainstorming & problem-solving
- Connecting culture, content & commerce
- Building memorable customer experiences
- Growing confidence as a young professional
- Standing out in the horticulture industry
What to Bring:
Marketing ideas, social media pages, branding questions, campaign concepts, event ideas, or examples from your business for more personalized brainstorming and feedback.
Retail Profitability Coach | KPIs, Margins & Garden Center Financial Performance
Timothy Quebedeaux helps garden centers better understand the numbers behind their business so they can make smarter operational decisions, improve profitability, and build stronger long-term financial performance. Through Retail KPI Consulting, Timothy works with independent garden centers to identify opportunities for increased margin, stronger inventory performance, labor efficiency, and healthier overall business operations.
Known for making financial data approachable and actionable, Timothy helps retailers move beyond simply tracking numbers to actually using them to improve decision-making, team performance, and profitability. His practical, real-world approach helps businesses uncover hidden opportunities and identify where profit may be slipping away.
Ask Me About:
- Garden center profitability
- Improving margins & financial performance
- Inventory management & inventory turns
- Labor efficiency & payroll management
- Understanding and using KPIs
- Reading and applying retail financial reports
- Identifying profit leaks in your business
- Sales performance & operational benchmarking
- Turning numbers into actionable decisions
- Building stronger retail systems for growth
What to Bring:
Financial questions, inventory concerns, operational frustrations, reports, KPIs, or examples from your business for more personalized discussion and problem-solving.
Technical Grower Coach | Greenhouse Production & Troubleshooting
Ankit Singh brings a practical, grower-focused approach to greenhouse production and operational problem-solving. With experience helping growers navigate real-world production challenges, Ankit specializes in helping businesses improve crop performance, troubleshoot issues, and identify practical solutions that can be implemented immediately.
Whether you’re struggling with greenhouse efficiency, crop quality, environmental conditions, or day-to-day production challenges, Ankit offers actionable guidance rooted in technical expertise and real-world growing experience.
Ask Me About:
- Greenhouse production challenges
- Crop troubleshooting & plant health
- Environmental management
- Improving operational efficiency
- Production workflow & consistency
- Identifying common grower pain points
- Greenhouse problem-solving strategies
- Turning technical challenges into actionable next steps
What to Bring:
Photos, production questions, or examples from your operation for more personalized troubleshooting and discussion.
Retail Innovation & Marketing Coach | AI, Customer Experience & Garden Center Growth
Rob Sproule helps horticulture businesses combine innovative thinking with practical business strategy to strengthen customer engagement, modernize operations, and drive growth. As both an independent garden center owner and marketing professional, Rob brings a unique blend of hands-on retail experience and forward-thinking marketing expertise to conversations around business growth, branding, and emerging technology.
Known for his approachable and highly practical style, Rob specializes in helping businesses identify realistic ways to use AI, marketing systems, and customer experience strategies to improve efficiency, strengthen communication, and create more engaging retail environments.
Ask Me About:
- Practical AI tools for horticulture businesses
- Garden center marketing strategies
- Customer engagement & retail experience
- Branding & business positioning
- Retail innovation & modernization
- Improving communication & content creation
- Using technology to improve efficiency
- Building stronger customer relationships
- Creative problem-solving for retail businesses
- Growing sales through smarter systems & strategy
- Balancing operations, marketing & customer experience
What to Bring:
Marketing questions, operational challenges, AI ideas, customer experience concerns, branding questions, or examples from your business for more personalized brainstorming and discussion.
Operations & Strategy Coach | AI, Leadership & Long-Term Business Growth
John Terhesh brings nearly two decades of horticulture leadership experience spanning production, nursery management, retail operations, and strategic business planning. As Nursery Vice President at Breezy Hill Nursery, John oversees both nursery and retail divisions while helping lead operational strategy, team development, and long-term business growth initiatives.
Known for combining practical operational insight with forward-thinking leadership, John helps horticulture businesses navigate growth, improve systems, and explore how emerging technologies like AI can support smarter, more efficient operations.
Ask Me About:
- Strategic planning for horticulture businesses
- Building high-performing teams
- AI tools for operational efficiency
- SOP and workflow development
- Scaling nursery and retail operations
- Leadership and organizational growth
- Data-driven decision making
- Improving systems and operational consistency
- Preparing your business for long-term success
What to Bring:
Questions, operational challenges, workflows, or examples from your business for more personalized discussion and problem-solving.
Samantha Willden
Cornell AgriTech - Assistant Professor, Department of Entomology
Technical Grower Coach | Greenhouse Pest Management & Controlled Environment Production
Dr. Samantha Willden is an Assistant Professor of Entomology at Cornell AgriTech specializing in insect management and controlled environment agriculture (CEA). Her work focuses on helping greenhouse and indoor growers develop practical, science-based pest management strategies that improve long-term production outcomes.
Dr. Willden’s research explores how greenhouse structures, environmental systems, biological controls, and production practices influence pest pressure and management success. Her approach combines cutting-edge research with practical solutions growers can apply directly within their operations.
Ask Me About:
- Greenhouse pest management strategies
- Controlled environment agriculture (CEA)
- Biological control integration
- Greenhouse structure & pest prevention
- Airflow, screening & sanitation systems
- Pest pressure reduction strategies
- UV light compatibility with IPM
- Biopesticides & practical implementation
- Designing proactive IPM systems
- Improving long-term pest management outcomes
What to Bring:
Photos, pest challenges, greenhouse layout questions, or examples from your operation for more personalized troubleshooting and discussion.
Retail Strategy Coach | Visual Merchandising, Customer Experience & Garden Center Innovation
David Williams is a fourth-generation garden center owner and retail strategist with more than 40 years of experience leading successful garden retail operations. As former owner of Williams Nursery in New Jersey, David helped transform the business into a destination garden center known for innovative merchandising, strong customer engagement, and trend-forward retail experiences.
A former President of the Garden Centers of America (GCA) and active leader within the International Garden Centre Association, David brings deep expertise in strategic planning, retail layout optimization, sourcing, visual merchandising, and emerging retail technology. His practical, creative approach helps garden retailers turn ideas into customer experiences that drive engagement and sales.
Ask Me About:
- Visual merchandising & display strategy
- Creating destination shopping experiences
- Retail layout optimization
- Improving customer flow & engagement
- Seasonal merchandising ideas
- AI tools for garden center marketing
- Branding & customer communication
- Retail innovation & trend forecasting
- Garden center operational strategy
- Increasing sales through better storytelling & displays
What to Bring:
Photos of your displays, signage, store layout, marketing materials, or customer engagement challenges for more personalized feedback and discussion.
Ready to Personalize Your Cultivate Experience?
Coach’s Corner is designed to help you move from ideas to action with guidance tailored specifically to your business.