Christy Webber Landscapes: summer job to multimillion
Christy Webber Landscapes
Christy Webber  started off with a mower  weed whip  leaf blower and a truck. Now  as the president of  Christy Webber  Landscapes  one of the biggest landscaping operations in Chicago   she  has $6 million worth of equipment  $20 million in payroll and employs over 400 people.
 Webber  first started mowing lawns   she  tells CNBC Make It  shortly after  she  moved to the Windy City in 1983  while trying to figure out what to do with  her  life.  She  was working in retail at the time with a degree in physical education from the University of Denver and wanted to make a couple extra bucks on the side.
So  she  took a loan from  her  mother and invested in the few pieces of equipment  she  needed and started doing small landscaping jobs at people's homes. Slowly   she  built up  her  client base and began hiring people to work for  her .
As Webber's business grew   she  knew it was way more than a summer gig. So  she  began to think of ways to beat the competition.
"When businesses focus on one thing  they go under "  she  says on CNBC's "Blue Collar Millionaires." It was a common weakness of  her  competitors  so  she  made it a point to not just mow lawns  but also to weed and mulch  and then  she  began doing more specialized tasks  such as installing gardens and green roofs and irrigation systems.
"I feel like the more diverse we are  the bigger and stronger we are "  she  says.
Christy Webber  started off with a mower  weed whip  leaf blower and a truck. Now  as the president of  Christy Webber  Landscapes  one of the biggest landscaping operations in Chicago   she  has $6 million worth of equipment  $20 million in payroll and employs over 400 people.
 Webber  first started mowing lawns   she  tells CNBC Make It  shortly after  she  moved to the Windy City in 1983  while trying to figure out what to do with  her  life.  She  was working in retail at the time with a degree in physical education from the University of Denver and wanted to make a couple extra bucks on the side.
So  she  took a loan from  her  mother and invested in the few pieces of equipment  she  needed and started doing small landscaping jobs at people's homes. Slowly   she  built up  her  client base and began hiring people to work for  her .
As Webber's business grew   she  knew it was way more than a summer gig. So  she  began to think of ways to beat the competition.
"When businesses focus on one thing  they go under "  she  says on CNBC's "Blue Collar Millionaires." It was a common weakness of  her  competitors  so  she  made it a point to not just mow lawns  but also to weed and mulch  and then  she  began doing more specialized tasks  such as installing gardens and green roofs and irrigation systems.
"I feel like the more diverse we are  the bigger and stronger we are "  she  says.