86 - Creating Opportunities with Alex Smith of Division Street Landscaping

The DMV (Washington, DC | Maryland | Virginia) Business Show

Alex Smith is the Founder and CEO of Division Street Landscaping from Baltimore, Maryland! They are not your ordinary landscaping company, they are creating opportunities for ex-offenders. Alex grew up in Baltimore City and moved to the county in his early teens. At an early age he was a lover of nature having fish tanks and a terrarium. In school he was more into the arts and music than school itself. He stopped going to school in his early teens because he started selling drugs. His uncle showed him the drug trade, he wished his uncle would have been in another type of business because he looked up to him. He was living on his own at 16-17 years old, and mentions what he learned from running the streets at an early age and how he has used and transferred those skills into business. Alex shares how at 18 years old he was sentenced to 30 years and gets sent to prison. In prison he finds himself, and talks about not being a coward and to be true to yourself. He started an horticulture program in prison with a few other inmates and goes deep into the horticulture world. He gets released out of prison early, eventually forming Division Street Landscaping to give other ex-offenders such as himself another chance. He mentions how the cause is important but always lead with business first, if you are running a pro-fit organization. Alex shares many lessons, one is most of his business is about relationships - focus on the relationship and creating opportunities!

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