Gabriel Mendoza takes OAN President Ben Verhoeven on a tour of Robinson Nursery Inc. Photo by Belén Sternfeld
It’s a cool spring morning as I pull into Robinson Nursery Inc. in McMinnville, Oregon. Gabriel Mendoza greets me with a warm smile and a cup of freshly brewed coffee. What a welcome!
Gabriel was the first employee of Robinson. He is now the production manager, helping prioritize tasks for over 100 employees. I’ve come to learn what improvements and insights he can share.
We hop in his truck for the first of his daily tours of the nursery. He greets everyone he sees by name and asks what’s happening with them. This is the first lesson Gabriel teaches me: the value of everyday interactions. You can see his team respond. “If you see someone three times, you need to say hello three times,” Gabriel tells me.
On our way, Gabriel shows me one of the inventions for planting that the Robinson team built. It is a series of “beds” attached to a three-point hitch, with a roof above. Previously the work was done from a standing position, bending double to plant each plant, which was very hard on the back. Now a worker lies on their stomach and plants comfortably, in the shade if there is sun and dry if there is rain. Now the work is more comfortable and faster.
Gabriel introduces me to two of his brothers who also work at the farm. “I treat my brothers just like other employees,” Gabriel says. “It’s important that people see I am not playing favorites.” This is the best leadership lesson of the day: “Everyone is equal.”
As we part ways, I’m struck by how happy folks seem. By respecting the work, ergonomics included, and treating everyone equally, starting with hello, you can see why Gabriel and Robinson Nursery are so successful.
From the June 2025 issue of Digger magazine | Download PDF of article
