Chase Mullin built his St. Rose-based landscape design firm from the ground up, starting with an old Jeep, a borrowed trailer, and a dream to “create uncommon ground” 16 years ago.
Now, the award-winning firm that bears his last name is approximately 200 employees strong in the peak of spring and summer with two locations—a flagship office in St. Rose and a recently-opened location in Baton Rouge—with a reported revenue of $21.7 million in 2022.
AT A GLANCE
Top executives: Chase Mullin, Founder & CEO
Phone: 504.275.6617 (St. Rose) or 225.650.7387 (Baton Rouge)
Address: 10356 River Road, St. Rose, LA 70087
Website: mullinlandscape.com
“Our mission is to simplify the experience and shape the world around us,” Mullin says. “A huge part of the why behind our growth is that we’re determined to touch more lives and bring about more positive change as we expand.”
Mullin offers high-end design+build services and landscape maintenance for both residential and commercial clients. While the firm originally shaped the core of its business around the residential sector, Mullin has successfully expanded the same high-quality touch into the commercial arena with impressive results.
Last year, Mullin ranked on Landscape Management’s list of 150 top landscape companies in the U.S. for the second year in a row, snagging spot #139. The firm also earned two Silver Awards of Excellence from the National Association of Landscape Professionals for their work on the New Orleans Children’s Hospital expansion and Hotel St. Vincent.
“One hundred percent of our growth is focused on commercial maintenance and construction, but we still maintain a very successful high-end residential design+build division,” Mullin says.
Mullin’s approach is to elevate the vision of each client, combining functionality and style into stunning construction and landscapes. And when it comes to maintenance, Mullin believes a landscape is a living investment far beyond a first impression for customers or employees.
Some of Mullin’s favorite projects include the Oak Alley Plantation, New Orleans Museum of Art’s Sculpture Garden Expansion, Amazon’s new facility at the former Cortana Mall, and numerous projects for the Audubon Nature Institute—most recently the Wings of the World exhibit and the renovated Aquarium of the Americas.
“I’ve done a lot of things wrong over the years, but two things that I did right were to seek advice from other, wiser people and to surround myself at Mullin with an incredible team of people,” Mullin says.
That team of people is why Mullin stands out from other firms that offer similar services. Part of Mullin’s service is to ensure an exceptionally positive experience for each client, from beginning to end.
“This may sound cliché, but our people truly make the difference,” Mullin says. “We employ some of the best in the industry, and they work tirelessly to ensure that our clients receive the absolute best value and experience possible when they work with Mullin.”
The internal culture at Mullin is also award-winning, earning Best Places to Work accolades from New Orleans City Business from 2016-2022, the Times-Picayune Top Workplaces designation from 2017-2021, and the Inc. Magazine’s Best Workplaces award in 2019.
It’s no accident that Mullin’s workplace culture continues to win awards year after year. The secret to building a positive workplace culture is ultimately about treating your employees the way you would wish to be treated, emphasizing winning as a team, and clearly communicating what those wins look like to the entire team, Mullin says.
“We’re very intentional in the way that we manage our culture,” he says. “Creating and maintaining an award-winning culture in a rapidly growing company isn’t always easy. Fortunately, I’m surrounded by a team who’s as passionate about our people as I am.”
Looking forward to the second half of 2023 and beyond, Mullin plans to continue growing his business while maintaining the brand and quality the firm is known for, especially in the newer Baton Rouge commercial market.
“We’ve been so warmly welcomed to your community,” Mullin says. “We’re looking forward to creating a lasting impact on Baton Rouge just as we have over the last 16 years in New Orleans!”
