Brenda Roberts celebrates 26 years with Sod Solutions.
This summer, Brenda Roberts celebrates 26 years as the backbone of Sod Solutions’ office operations. As Tobey and Lee Ann Wagner launched Sod Solutions, Inc. in the early 1990s, they met Brenda while volunteering at Jennie Moore Elementary in Mount Pleasant, SC. Brenda has two children, Sara and Connor, and the Wagners’ oldest of four, Drew, was in the same class as her son.
“I got to know the Wagners very well during that time when we were all involved at the school together. Being a single mom, I got close to them and really appreciated all they did,” Brenda said. “It was around that time they were preparing to build a new office for Sod Solutions and were going to need someone to help manage the office so they asked me if I would be interested in coming to work with them.”
Fortunate Beginnings
Being in the early stages of starting their turfgrass company, Tobey was frequently traveling internationally to learn about and research new grass cultivars and their developments. Brenda recalls Tobey bringing seed and turfgrass samples in to teach the students at Jennie Moore about grass and sharing what his company did locally and globally. “He would even send students home with seedlings and teach them how to plant them in their yards to watch them grow,” she said. With over 20 licensed turfgrass varieties and three decades of growth, the Wagners attribute much of that success to their early days.
When a part-time employee left, the opportunity landed in her lap. Brenda started as the Sod Solutions office manager in July 1999. “I worked in the dining room beside Tobey, Lee Ann, their children and pets. It was busy and exciting. Tobey did a lot of traveling with grass samples in the back of his car to sod farms all over the country and Lee Ann and I worked alongside each other in the office.”
By the time Brenda started, Sod Solutions had three licensed turfgrass varieties already: Palmetto® St. Augustine, EMPIRE® Zoysia and Empress™ Zoysia. She laughed, remembering one of the first photoshoots they did for grass brochures, taken in plots outside the new office. “That was our first attempt at photos and marketing, which has grown exponentially since then.”
Sod Solutions marketing team now produces extensive multimedia and award-winning content globally, so she is proud to have been part of the first successful messages to promote these grasses. Palmetto, the variety in one of the brochures they photographed, has gone on to be the most sold proprietary turfgrass in the world since 1994.
The Sod Solutions team at their Awendaw, SC office in 2011, including Brenda Roberts during a time when the company was still a small but growing group.
Expanding the Team
For a while it was just Brenda, Tobey and Lee Ann in the early years until they hired former Sod Solutions Vice President Greg Douglas. “I was always so grateful for the flexibility and low stress this job presented as a single mom. They gave me the opportunity to be there for my children when they were sick, or to go on a field trip or volunteer if I wanted to and it was just so nice to be able to put my family first. I couldn’t have asked for a better job.”
The Sod Solutions team continued to grow. The company added Roberto Gurgel, a Brazilian turfgrass researcher and developer who helped create and release EMPIRE Zoysia. Tobey believed Gurgel's immense knowledge and dedication to turfgrass would help lead the business forward for many decades. Next came Joel Lane, a University of Florida turfgrass expert who helped grow sod sales. Both he and Gurgel have continued to play key roles in Sod Solutions growth and producer relationships.
Sod Solutions gradually expanded its office team as the needs came. Brenda said it’s been meaningful to grow close to the team Tobey and Lee Ann have built, especially now as she prepares to retire after more than 25 years with the company. She explained that, like her feelings towards the Wagner family, Joel and Roberto’s families soon became extended versions of her own. She felt the same when Justin Wallace, Marketing and Communications Manager, joined. “I’ve seen all these employees start their families and watched their children grow up. I’ve been a part of many milestone memories with each of them,” she said. “There are so many wonderful people not just in this company but in the entire turfgrass industry that I’ve had the opportunity to meet and know.”
Photos above are from retail blitz and farm visits from 2013-2015.
Tradeshows and Events
Roberto Gurgel, Brenda Roberts and Julie Adamski run the Sod Solutions booth as “Sod Doctors” during the TNLA Expo in September 2016.
Over time, Brenda’s responsibilities at Sod Solutions have varied from administration to financial to organizing tradeshows and event planning. “I’ve grown with the changes and taken on different responsibilities as the company has evolved,” she shared. “One of the things I enjoy most is my interactions and the relationships I’ve built with producers and the conversations I have had with many of them, even the ones I’ve never met in person before.”
Through regular communication, she has built strong bonds with producers across the world over the years. Even in her role handling collections, she said nearly every producer she’s worked with has been kind and respectful.
As Sod Solutions expanded from a few licensed turfgrass varieties to over 20, the need for marketing, communication and travel grew alongside it. Brenda played a part in nearly every trade show, field day and producer event. “These events have always been a staple of who Sod Solutions is,” she said. “I remember when there were over 60–70 a year to travel to, plan and organize.”
Reflecting on how much the industry has changed, Brenda added, “Back in the day there really wasn’t that much marketing per se. It was a long time before we had a marketing team, and it’s grown a lot, in addition to many new varieties and research. The awareness of the benefits of natural turfgrass and the research that goes into releasing so many turfgrass varieties now with different attributes is also incredible.”
Memories on the Road
Brenda Roberts (left) on a ride at Disney with Justin and Sara Wallace, and Roberto, Katia and Lydia Gurgel during the Winter TPI Conference in Orlando in 2011.
Her favorite experience was when the entire Sod Solutions team and Wagner family traveled to Australia for the Turfgrass Producers International Conference in February 2007. Her son Connor was able to join her on the trip, which was a little over a week. She said Tobey knew all the best places to go, from restaurants to zoos, and made sure they packed as much as possible into the trip while still enjoying and networking with licensed producers at TPI.
Photos from Brenda Roberts at TPI Conferences in 2007 and 2019.
“Years ago, there were two different charter bus tours for international producers and industry professionals that I helped organize. I booked all the hotel rooms as we started in Miami and worked our way all the way up to Asheville for TPI. They were labor-intensive to plan, but they were so much fun!”
As a thank you following one of the tours, the sod producers held a collection on the bus knowing that at the time Brenda served as a volunteer and on the Board of Directors for Lowcountry Orphan Relief. “I didn’t expect a thank you and when they came together and did that, it meant so much to me. It’s a great example of the type of people in this industry.” She said those travel memories will be among the highlights she carries into retirement.
Giving Back and Looking Back
Now, she continues to give back through community service, including serving as a board member for God’s Goods, a local 501c3 consignment shop in Mount Pleasant that she helped open. “I spend a large part of my time outside of work dedicated to volunteering and supporting local charities and I look forward to doing more when I retire,” she said.
She enjoys time with family and friends, learning new hobbies from her granddaughter Ella and visiting daughter Sara in Kentucky. She expressed gratitude for the family values Sod Solutions has maintained. She thanked Lee Ann for the way she embraced her and her children from the beginning. “I’ve never met anyone like Lee Ann Wagner in my life,” she said. “From the beginning to watching our kids grow up, I don’t know how she did it all. She is always so organized and structured while staying positive, happy and helping anyone that she could.”
Brenda Roberts and Lee Ann Wagner pictured celebrating Roberts’ birthday at the Wagners’ home in August 2016.
She said every day is a new adventure now that she does many different things for the company and around the office. “It was an honor to see Sod Solutions reach its 30th anniversary milestone last year,” she shared. “We reflected on our accomplishments over those years and the many producers and industry partners we have become friends with along the way.”
Looking back on a quarter of a century with the company, Brenda said she’s grown professionally and personally. With retirement on the horizon, she shared that the most lasting part of her career has been the people she’s worked with, including coworkers, producers and families across the industry. “I’ve seen the company grow from three employees to over 30. Throughout all the changes, challenges and many blessings, the Sod Solutions team has remained a steadfast family to me and I’m grateful for their support and love I’ve felt over the years.”
This article was written by Cecilia Johnson.
