Family First for Leo the Landscaper

By Bob Cox

Are you familiar with the old saying, “It’s nothing personal, it’s just business?” Well, I've never been particularly fond of that philosophy because it often rationalizes ruthless and self centered practices. Fortunately, I’m not alone as more and more business people are seeing the benefits of making business a very personal experience. Leonid Gopa, a.k.a. Leo the Landscaper, happens to wholeheartedly agree.

Leo is the owner of Blue Jays Landscaping in Rancho Cordova and he has a refreshing and unique approach to doing business. “The philosophy of my business is to free up people’s time whenever they come home from a long day of work and commuting. When most people come home, they face even more work do around the house. Maybe they come home to a front yard that’s full of leaves, with grass that needs to be cut and bushes that need to be trimmed. My philosophy is to give time back to those people so that they can spend their valuable time, their most precious commodity with their families. A lot of families don’t get that time; especially kids nowadays. They don’t get enough attention from mom and dad.

Q: You mentioned that you are an avid reader of positive and inspiring books. How did you get started?

A: I used to be an account representative of a company that sold nutritional meal replacement shakes. When I first joined the company, I received a subscription of Success Magazine. In the first magazine I got, it contained a motivational CD from Jim Rohn. I liked it so much I began craving more of that information. My favorite speakers and authors are Jim Rohn, Zig Ziglar and Brian Tracy. I love listening to positive motivation and right now I am currently reading Motivation Manifesto by Brendon Burchard. His book is about motivating people to pursue their dreams.

Q: How has reading positive books helped you grow personally and professionally?

A: First of all, it has opened up my eyes a lot more and I now see things that I never paid attention to before. I've heard this quote many times, “Little things don’t mean anything, little thing mean everything.” So, you have to pay attention to all the details around you in order to really enjoy life.

Q: What sets you apart from other lawn care maintenance companies?

A: I am a family oriented person. I have two young kids and a young wife who just turned 23 a couple days ago. I know what I expect from my life, I know what my kids want out of me as their dad and I know what my wife wants out of me and that’s how I came up with my philosophy for my business. She never gets enough of my attention and the same thing is going on with many other families. I want to help other people so that I can spend more time with my family and help the people I serve spend more time with each other. I’m not really looking to make money. I’m looking to help people.