Welcome back to Driven 4word: Influential Leaders Powered By God’s Will. Join us each month as we share the life story of an influential leader who humbled themselves to God’s plan for their life and embarked on a journey that only He could orchestrate.
In the last episode, we met Donna Letier, co-founder and CEO of Gardenuity. Being an entrepreneur suits Donna’s strong drive to succeed and make a difference in the world, but she will willingly admit that it takes equal willpower to practice what she preaches through the mission of Gardenuity. Through the influential kindness of a former boss and beloved mentor, as well as being a mother to two girls and dealing with the “life/work balance” conundrum that we can all relate to, Donna has come to understand that self-care and recognizing and cherishing the source of true joy in each of our lives are crucial to being successful and fulfilled.
Let’s listen now as Donna shares the rest of her story with us.
Donna Letier is an entrepreneur, mom, wife, and co-founder of Gardenuity. Originally from Texas, she has lived in Singapore, London, California, Alaska, and Denver. After graduating from Southern Methodist University, she worked and learned the fine points of retail and creating customer experiences from Neiman Marcus and credits a lot of her success to learning lessons from the NM executive team and the legendary Stanley Marcus. Prior to founding Gardenuity Donna spent 20 years in leadership positions in areas of operations, brand marketing, and product development where she focused on consumer trends and merchandise development.
The Gardenuity science and data-backed approach to gardening and gardening experiences is impacting lives across the country and has been adopted by employees at more than 150 companies. Well-being is embedded into every garden and designed to meet people where they are. Gardenuity works in three key verticals, Mental Health, Food is Medicine, and the health of the planet.
Donna lives in Dallas with her husband Scott, is the mother of two girls, one of whom is a Gold Medalist from Special Olympics. She believes that sometimes you must get a little dirty to reap the benefits of living a good life. Donna does not believe in convenience over compassion, she practices patience in a hurry, does not believe well-being is just for some, or that cussing and praying are mutually exclusive.