Women in Horticulture week continues on Grow! with Katie and today we had a special treat; a panel of 2 incredible women in the horticulture industry!

Today's panel was made up of Leslie Hallek of Halleck Horticultural and Lisa Fiore of Landscape Hub!

On today's show, Leslie, Lisa and Katie talked about being a woman in business, getting your voice heard, having confidence and how the only B in business should be BUSINESS (not B**ch).

Kicking off Women in Horticulture Week, our first guest on Grow! with Katie is Jennifer Jewell of the Cultivating Place!

Jennifer is the creator, writer and host of Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden.

Today’s guest on Grow! with Katie is Sheila Sanford of White Moth Wisdom.

Sheila is a community herbalist, mother of three, gardener, cook and Ayurvedic practitioner. Devoted to the study of horticulture for over 20 years, she has spent the last five focusing specifically on the art and practice of Herbalism. 

They represent 42 percent of all companies, employing 9.4 million workers and generating $1.9 trillion in revenue, according to American Express research. Specifically, 13 percent of these firms are in the professional / scientific / technical services category, which includes horticulture.

While the number of women-owned firms continues to grow, they only employ 6 percent of the nation’s workforce and contribute just under 4 percent of business revenue—roughly the same share they contributed in 1997.

That’s why supporting women in business to enable them to grow their companies to the next level is crucial. Join Garden Media Group June 1-5 to support, honor and promote these amazing professionals and their achievements during Women in Horticulture Week.

Women play a crucial role in the horticulture industry—not only as entrepreneurs, growers, researchers, marketers and employees at all levels, but also as the largest consumers of home and garden products.

As a second-generation women-owned business, I am proud to celebrate inspirational, hardworking and dedicated women and spotlight their contributions to the horticulture industry with Women in Horticulture Week.

"With women making up the majority of gardening consumers, and the growing percentage and role women play as professionals in horticulture, we need to face—head-on—the incredibly lopsided power and leadership dynamics that currently exist in the industry,” adds Leslie Finical Halleck, Halleck Horticulture, LLC.

Here are some creative ways you can celebrate Women in Horticulture Week.

Today’s guest on Grow! with Katie is author and speaker, Shawna Coronado.

Shawna was diagnosed with severe degenerative osteoarthritis of the spine, and her world was flipped upside down to the point not being able to sleep and she could barely walk. She has used her diagnosis and healing process as a way to inspire others who are going through medical difficulties.

Today’s guest on Grow! with Katie was Stephanie Rose from Garden Therapy!

Stephanie’s interest in gardening and the amazing benefits that come from gardening began with her own inspirational story of her health and how her garden helped her to overcome her illness and disability. She now uses that story and the knowledge that she obtained to help inspire others.

Stephanie’s website is full of so many great recipes, activities, projects and advice on her blog to check out!

Today’s guest on Grow! with Katie is Perla Sofia Curbelo!

Perla is a Puerto Rican journalist turned mediapreneur. In 2009, she founded Agrochic, a gardening blog for Spanish speaking garden lovers and “agropreneurs”.

Today’s guest on Grow! with Katie is Mike Rimland from Costa Farms.

Mike has been with Costa Farms for 10 years and is the Director of Research and Development for Houseplants and he has 40 years of plant hunting, breeding and production experience.

He is also called the Costa Farms Plant Hunter.

Mike’s job involves him travelling the globe, looking for new and different plants.

Today’s guest on Grow! with Katie is Mr. Plant Geek himself, Michael Perry!

Michael has had more than 18 years of experience in the horticulture industry, and has become a recognizable face in the plant world. In 2015, he was listed in the Top 20 most influential horticulturists by The Sunday Times.

Today’s guest on Grow! with Katie is Rob Cardillo, the incredible landscape photographer.

Rob has been photographing gardens, plants and the people that love them for over twenty years. A native of Pittsburgh, Cardillo now resides outside Philadelphia and travels extensively during the growing season.