Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Benjamin Deceuster. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Benjamin, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
Resilience is built over time through adversity, competition, and new experiences. Sports and physical activities present multiple opportunities to develop resilience. Throughout my life, I have participated in sports ranging from martial arts, fencing, track, basketball, and volleyball. At the same time, I stay active in the gym as well as explore the world around me by going on hikes, mountain biking, and kayaking.
Basketball embodies many of the principles of developing resilience because it is a very physical game where emotions run high so I need to maintain a level head regardless of the actions of the opposing team and frustrating mistakes committed by both my team mates and myself. A lack of resilience quickly results in a loss of focus from the actions needed to win the game. I learned early on to let trash talk roll off my back as well as to adapt to mistakes rather than dwell on them. I have been injured, frustrated, and have lost multiple championships, yet I have continued to push ahead. By developing resilience to the hardships of the game, I have also experienced highlight worthy plays, physical conditioning, and have won multiple championships.
When it comes to the gym or outdoor adventures like hiking, then I become my own opponent. I compete with my own limits to determine how far I can push myself. Resilience is gained through consistently pushing myself so that I am comfortable with the next challenge. For example, a couple years ago I hiked to the top of Mt. Whitney which is the tallest peak in the lower 48 states. I left at midnight and got back around 10pm covering about 22 miles with 6700 ft elevation change. To say the least, this hike pushed me further and harder than I had ever gone before on a single day mountain hike. Since then, I have taken on other hikes like in the Grand Canyon because I have developed the mental resilience to know that they will be tough, but I can do it.
I believe resilience can also come from new experiences and not just from hard physical challenges. A few years ago, I decided to try deep sea fishing as well as cooking. Both have been positive experiences that I have shared with several friends over the years. They both taught me to be resilient in trying new things rather than cling to the comfort of routine and what I already know. My personal development has benefitted immensely by being more resilient about going outside my comfort zone. A key lesson is to be willing to make mistakes and to ask for help from those who have more experience. I am at a point where I accept mistakes as part of the process so I am not held back from trying to develop new skills. Over time through implementing that lesson of being ok with mistakes, I am able to toss a bad dish into the garbage without worry because I have also felt the rewards of positive compliments coming from friends and family who have enjoyed the dishes I have successfully prepared.
Overcoming adversities also helps to develop resiliency towards future hardships. When I bought a landscape company several years ago, it was not performing per the financials that had been presented during the due diligence period. On top of that, key employees who had signed noncompete agreements left and took crew members and clients with them to form another company. Those times were rough and there were plenty of reasons to quit and blame others for failure; however, I simply moved forward to focus on hiring new people and winning new clients. The company turned around and has been in great shape for several years. There have been other challenges along the way. The resiliency developed early on made these challenges much easier to deal with by comparison.
From my childhood till now, resiliency has been a long and rewarding process. I recognize the personal development over time has resulted in me being able to position myself to accomplish and to experience much more with my life. Adversity will always be present, and resiliency will be there to help keep my focus and to weather the storms. Ultimately, I see resilience as the means of surviving life’s tempering process so that we can reach our true potential.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
While at my first job after college, a customer reached out to recruit me to work for their commercial landscape company. I accepted which started a career working for multiple national and regional landscape companies with positions in sales as well as operations in different states. During my career, I acquired multiple certifications, learned design programs, and focused my expertise on understanding irrigation systems and water management. I recognized the need to go the extra mile to invest in myself to acquire more knowledge in the field of landscape management and business to work my way up in the industry and towards my goals of business ownership.
I had my first experiences in entrepreneurship as side hustles doing things like property management and maintenance for 700 lots and homes for a bank that foreclosed on a portfolio of properties from a homebuilder during the 2008 housing crash. I also formed a grading and site utility company with my brother in the Southern California market. My interests focused on passive investments and so I picked up some ownership in multiple restaurants in Southern California. Side hustles were an effective avenue for building up the cash to buy real estate and eventually be in a financial position to be a full time business owner rather than employee. It is a difficult decision to break away from the perceived security and consistency of being an employee to pursue the unknown.
Eventually, the opportunity came up to buy a commercial landscape company and coincidentally had a friend connect me to someone who could help finance the deal a month before the opportunity arose. Everything clicked to make the deal happen. The transition of ownership was a little rocky as some key employees broke off to start their own company and I was shifting the company towards offering design, build, and maintenance services, not just maintenance services to HOA’s. After rebuilding the team and retooling the company, we have seen a lot of success.
Today, my main focus is still on my landscape company; however, it has not prevented me from developing other ventures. Two partners and I just opened a new restaurant in the St. George, UT area call Street Eats which features high quality street foods like tacos, burgers, etc., and working with a local farmer to locally source several ingredients. I am working with another partner on wrapping up the design and development phase for creating a company offering high quality women’s medical scrub tops. Lastly, I have invested in private ecommerce retail companies and am looking to expand more into that industry as well.
While I have been involved in multiple companies, the same principles apply across the board. Always be committed to quality in services and products you provide so you sincerely believe in what you are selling to your customers. Always self reflect as you commit to different ventures to make sure you are not overextending yourself to the detriment of your other businesses. You do not have to be in the driver seat for every venture, you can get involved with companies as a more passive investor, but just make sure you trust your partners and that they have skin in the game. Side hustles are a great way to test a concept and to confirm you are capable of running your own business before actually making the commitment. Where you put your time and money is where your true priorities are so take the time to make sure they are where you want them to be. Lastly, you have to have outlets that help free your mind from the stresses of work and responsibilities. For me, I like to hit the gym, play basketball or volleyball with friends, and take short weekend trips to places like Vegas or Southern California.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The first quality is to stay focused on going the extra mile and continued self improvement. We are always in competition so we need to keep our skills current and show our contribution is more valuable than our competitors’ both inside and outside the organization you work for. Make sure you are working for a firm that recognizes your value and just doesn’t take advantage of it.
Patience is a virtue. It takes time to develop a career and a business. Develop a list of short term goals, and make sure they keep you on your path towards your long term goals. Patience is the key to putting up with all the frustrations that come along the way trying to turn you away from your long term goals.
Talk to successful people who you want to emulate. Take the time to meet with individuals to learn how they achieved what you are wanting to achieve. Learn about both what to do and what not to do. Many of these individuals paid big bucks to learn different lessons along the way which can help you prevent similar costly mistakes in your own journey. On the other side of the coin, they have often received big payouts for making correct decisions, so you will want to learn about those so you can recognize opportunities along your own journey.
As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?
The Art of Happiness and Beyond Religion by the Dalai Lama are two books I have recently read and been studying. I got a clear sense of the sincerity and humility of the Dalai Lama’s message with how he expresses his insights on how to pursue happiness while learning to manage suffering not only in our lives, but the lives of others. It was refreshing to read through both books without sensing ulterior motives like money, religious conversion, or to stoke his own ego. The Dalai Lama lays out a clear path to acquire and exercise the wisdom to help us live happy and satisfied lives. I appreciated his focus on spiritual principle-based living rather than making the books a religious sermon. He actually comes out and says there are multiple paths and we should follow whichever works best for us. For those looking for what I consider a practical approach to spirituality, these books are a great start.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.rainmakerallseason.com
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