Build A Better Landscape Co. ’26 | Calgary, AB
About this Event
Most green industry owners are working too hard for margins that still feel too thin.
You know the work. You know how to lead crews. You know how to get jobs out the door. But if profit keeps disappearing somewhere between the estimate and the invoice, the problem usually is not effort. It is the business fundamentals behind pricing, operations, and accountability.
That is the pain point the Break Records Tour is built to solve.
In two days with some of the best educators in the green industry, attendees get a clearer understanding of the numbers, systems, and leadership habits that strong landscape businesses rely on. Then they turn those lessons into a practical plan they can bring back to the business right away.
What to Expect
Day One | The Main Stage (8:00 AM – 5:00 PM) | Sam Gembel
- Financial clarity you can act on
Understand where margin is slipping, what the numbers are really saying, and which issues to address first. - A pricing framework grounded in real benchmarks
Learn how to estimate work in a way that supports healthy profit, not just top-line revenue. - An operational diagnostic for your business
Identify where capacity and margin are being lost across crew utilization, scheduling, and route efficiency. - People and team systems that actually work
See the hiring, onboarding, and accountability structures that help teams perform without the owner having to drive every conversation. - AI tools you can use this week
Explore practical ways operators are already using AI to save time on estimates, job postings, client follow-up, and crew communication. - The daily habits that improve leadership
Learn the simple check-ins and end-of-day reviews that help great operators lead with more consistency. - A written 90-day plan
Leave with a focused, prioritized action plan instead of a notebook full of ideas.
Day Two | The Backstage Pass (8:00 AM – 12:30 PM) | Brian Fullerton
An immersive facility tour hosted and led by Brian Fullerton inside a real host company.
- A real operation, open to you
Walk through rotating stations led by the team behind a high-performing landscape business. - The systems behind what you see
Connect what is happening in the yard, fleet, crews, estimating, sales, and culture back to the principles from Day One. - Peer conversation that cuts through the noise
Spend time with operators facing similar challenges and learn from the discussions that surface in the room. - Three actions for Monday morning
Close the experience with three specific actions to take back and apply immediately.
Why It Matters
Across two days, attendees will:
- Learn the financial and pricing systems strong contractors use to protect margin and improve profitability
- See how leading companies build accountable, aligned teams so the owner is not the bottleneck
- Leave with an operator-built playbook that can be applied right away
Just practical education, proven business principles, and a room full of operators committed to building better businesses together.
Every attendee also leaves with the official Break Records Tour tee, because this is more than an event. It is a community of operators committed to breaking records together.
Day 1 | Workshop
🕑: 08:00 AM - 08:30 AM
Doors Open & Coffee
Info: Arrive, meet the room, grab coffee. The people sitting next to you are running the same business you are.
🕑: 08:30 AM - 09:00 AM
Welcome | The Case for Change
Info: Why most landscape businesses hit a ceiling — and what the ones that break through do differently. Sam sets the frame for the day and asks the one question every operator in the room should be sitting with.
🕑: 09:00 AM - 10:15 AM
Know Your Numbers
Info: Your P&L is telling you something. This session teaches you how to listen. Real margins, real overhead, real benchmarks from operators who've already done the work. Job costing, overhead allocation, and the financial levers that actually move the needle. You'll leave this hour knowing exactly what your numbers mean — and what to do about the ones that are off.
🕑: 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Price for Profit, Not Just Revenue
Info: How to price work so that winning jobs actually build your business. The estimating decisions most operators get wrong, the benchmarks that separate profitable companies from busy ones, and a framework you can bring back to your team the following week. Live examples, real numbers, a pricing model you can pressure-test against your own work.
🕑: 12:00 PM - 01:00 PM
Lunch + Peer Roundtables
Info: Structured peer conversation by business size and service type, facilitated by Sam. This is where you realize you're not the only one dealing with this — and where some of the best ideas of the day get shared across the table.
🕑: 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
The Operational Edge
Info: Where operators leak margin without knowing it — and how to stop it. Crew utilization, schedule integrity, route efficiency, and the day-to-day operational decisions that separate businesses running smoothly from businesses constantly putting out fires. You'll leave with a diagnostic you can run on your own operation the week you get home.
🕑: 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Leading the People Who Do the Work
Info: The hardest part of running a landscape business isn't the work — it's the people. Hiring, onboarding, training, and accountability systems that let your team perform without you in every conversation. Brian Fullerton joins for a facility walkthrough — you won't just hear about great teams, you'll walk through one the next day.
🕑: 03:15 PM - 04:00 PM
AI Tools You Can Use This Week
Info: The AI tools operators are already using right now to draft estimates, write job postings, follow up with clients, brief crews, and reclaim hours from their week. Hands-on and practical — built for green industry operators, not Silicon Valley. You'll leave with a shortlist of tools and a clear picture of where to start.
🕑: 04:00 PM - 04:30 PM
How Successful Operators Start and End Their Day
Info: The best operators share one thing: they run their business before it runs them. The daily habits that keep leaders ahead — opening your software every morning before the crew rolls out to review estimates needing approval and jobs trending over budget, and closing the loop at the end of the day before you go home. Small, consistent actions that compound into a business that's always one step ahead.
🕑: 04:30 PM - 05:00 PM
Your 90-day Plan
Info: You build it before you leave the room. Not a notebook of notes — a prioritized plan with timelines and accountability partners from the room.
🕑: 05:00 PM - 06:00 PM
Day Two Preview: Your Backstage Pass & Happy Hour
Info: Brian Fullerton joins Sam on stage to introduce tomorrow's host company and prepare attendees for what they're about to experience. This isn't a tour preview — it's a strategic briefing. Attendees leave knowing exactly which systems to look for, which questions to ask, and how to connect today's classroom to tomorrow's reality. Networking, drinks, and concert tee pickup for all registered attendees.
🕑: 06:00 PM
Close — See You Tomorrow
Info: Day 1 wraps. Day 2 begins at 8:00 AM.
Day 2 | Facility Tour
🕑: 08:00 AM - 08:30 AM
Morning Debrief at CLS Landscape Construction
Info: Brian opens the day by connecting yesterday’s classroom sessions to today’s real-world experience and sets the strategic lens for the tour. The focus isn’t just to observe — it’s to observe with purpose. You’ll learn what to watch for at each station and how to translate what you see back to your own operation.
🕑: 08:30 AM - 11:30 AM
The Break Records Tour — Live Inside a Real Operation
Info: Led by the CLS Landscape Construction team, the people running these systems every day, you’ll move through a series of focused stations. Brian facilitates the experience, pulling out key insights and tying everything back to Day 1.
You’ll see, in real time:
Dispatch, Routing & Daily Scheduling
Job Planning, Estimating & Job Costing in Action
Crew Training & Development Systems
Equipment Management & Yard Operations
Sales Process & Customer Communication
Leadership, Culture & People Systems
AI Operational Efficiencies
This is your backstage pass to a high-performing landscape business in motion.
🕑: 11:30 AM - 12:00 PM
What Are You Going to Do Monday?
Info: The tour is over. Now what? Brian helps you narrow two days of ideas into three clear actions you can take in your business immediately. An open Q&A with the host company’s leadership gives you direct access to the people running the operation you just toured.
We’ll close by looking at how top operators in the room are already using their morning check-in and end-of-day review to stay one step ahead — the daily habit in practice, from a peer who’s living it.
🕑: 12:00 PM
Program Ends
Info: Go break some records.
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
CAD 895.00
