Meet Juan and Maria

Juan Montano is the ultimate family man. In the late 1980s, he followed his father to Illinois from Mexico and began working odd jobs to support his family. Occasionally working the 2nd or 3rd shift, Juan would often bring Carlos to work with him so they could spend time together.

After a number of years of Juan working jobs that paid minimum wage, Maria encouraged him to start his own landscaping company. Maria came from an entrepreneurial background, as her father was a custom tile manufacturer in Mexico. She also started her own cleaning business, but as Montano’s Landscaping was founded, she dedicated her time to supporting its growth. Maria was critical to the operation as she answered phones, booked appointments, advertised, and even stenciled logos on their first fleet of trucks.

Juan worked hard to establish a loyal clientele base and provided traditional landscape services such as mowing, mulching, and deweeding. His experience in his youth managing crews on his father’s livestock farm in Mexico proved invaluable, as Juan quickly gained respect from his crews as a manager who was not afraid to work right alongside them.

When Carlos took over ownership of Montano’s Landscaping, transitioning the company to a full-service landscape design, build, and installation enterprise, Juan kept working right alongside the crews. Today, you will find him onsite 30 minutes ahead of everyone else so he is prepared to organize the crews and help everyone start the day on a positive note. He loves what he does, and Juan’s motto is “As long as God gives me the power, I am going to keep going.”