Nicole's Quick Take: Nicole Jagielski runs Patio Produce near Chicago, specializing in kitchen and native garden installations. She credits Garden Coach Academy's structure with making her business look established right away, and years later, her work was featured in The Spruce and Martha Stewart.

From an Empty Backyard to Features in Martha Stewart and The Spruce

Nicole Jagielski didn't start out as a garden expert.

She grew up picking produce straight from her grandmother's yard, but her own first garden told a different story. Too much shade. A homemade irrigation setup that never worked right. More failure than harvest.

She eventually figured out that growing well isn't something people are simply born knowing how to do. It's a skill. That realization led her to build Patio Produce around kitchen gardens and native plantings in the Chicago area.

Years into running that business, her work was featured in The Spruce, Martha Stewart, and Mansion Global. Not a bad outcome for someone who started with a backyard full of mistakes.

Her Business Looked Five Years Old, Brand New

Here's how Nicole Jagielski describes what Garden Coach Academy changed for her:

"The way that Garden Coach Academy has the structure of the program, I felt like my business instantly looked like it was five years old and I was brand new. So that brings you a ton of credibility in the market and with the people who you're trying to convince to put their faith and trust in you."

That distinction matters. A client isn't just hiring someone who knows plants. They're trusting a stranger with their yard, their budget, and their time.

A business that looks put-together earns that trust faster than one that looks like it's still figuring itself out.

A Simple Path Instead of Confusing Advice

Most new business owners aren't missing motivation. They're missing a path.

Step one through ten, in order, is a very different experience than a hundred scattered opinions about what you're supposed to do first.

"There is tons of advice out there, and most of it's pretty bad. But Garden Coach Academy just has a really wonderful, simple, easy-to-follow path forward. You get step one through ten, and you just keep marching down the line and do a little bit every day, and all of a sudden you've started a business."

More About Patio Produce

Patio Produce helps clients across the Chicago area design, install, and grow both kitchen gardens and native plantings, and she pairs every install with ongoing private coaching so clients know how to care for what gets planted, not just admire it.

Years into building that business, her work was featured in The Spruce, Martha Stewart, and Mansion Global.

If you're in the Chicago area and want a garden built around real harvests instead of guesswork, you can start the conversation directly through Patio Produce.

What Makes a New Business Look Established

A new consulting business doesn't look professional by accident. A few concrete things build that impression fast, and Garden Coach Academy builds them into the program itself, not as something you figure out later:

• A real website and brand presence, built during the program instead of cobbled together whenever you get around to it.
• Client-facing paperwork, like intake forms and agreements, so a first-time client sees the same polish a five-year business would show them.
• A priced, structured offer for consults, installs, and ongoing coaching, so you're never fumbling an answer to "so what do you charge?"
• A real product line through Gardenary's wholesale account, so you have something tangible to sell, not just your time.

None of this replaces knowing your plants. It just means the business around that knowledge doesn't give you away as brand new. You can see the current curriculum and submit your application at Garden Coach Academy.