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About Hort Mentor

Hort Mentor specializes in providing a comprehensive range of services to help your green industry business thrive. With our expertise in Video Production, we bring your vision to life through captivating visual storytelling, delivering high-quality videos that engage and inspire your target audience. Our team of skilled professionals ensures that every aspect of the production process, from concept development to post-production, is executed with precision and creativity.

In addition to Video Production, we offer Business Coaching tailored to your specific needs. Our experienced coaches work closely with you to identify opportunities for growth, develop effective strategies, and enhance your leadership skills. Through personalized guidance and actionable insights, we empower you to navigate challenges, maximize your potential, and achieve your business goals.

Furthermore, we provide Team Training programs designed to foster collaboration, boost productivity, and enhance overall team performance. Our interactive workshops and engaging training sessions focus on strengthening communication, building trust, and cultivating a positive work culture. By equipping your team with essential skills and fostering a cohesive environment, we help unleash their full potential and drive collective success.

At Hort Mentor, we are dedicated to delivering exceptional results that propel your business forward! 

Lead Mentor

My name is Ryan Watkins

Born and raised in Charleston, South Carolina, Ryan received his Management Degree from Oral Roberts University. He has been blessed to have a range of experience from small to large non-profit and small to medium businesses. He helped inspire them to grow and saw record breaking sales and other successful analytics achieved through his passion, leadership, and creativity. His passion is inspiring people to grow and he loves problem solving, brainstorming, and creative thinking to help take people and their organizations to the next level. Ryan is married to his incredible wife of 20+ years, and they have have been blessed with four wonderful children.


Green Industry Specialization

Ryan is a South Carolina Certified Nursery Professional and a South Carolina Certified Landscape Professional with 16 years of horticultural experience. He has 10+ years experience as an award-winning lead landscape designer and 3 years of experience as a Horticulture Instructor for the City of Charleston. He is the CEO of a successful, 45 year old Garden Center and Design-Build Firm. Ryan was nominated and selected as a top 3 finalist for the Young Retailer Award by Green Profit Magazine in 2015 and received the 40 Under 40 Award for GPN Greenhouse Product News in 2020. Ryan's landscape design, installation, and consulting work has been featured on DIY Network and Charleston’s local news networks. He has produced many marketing and recruitment videos used in the Green Industry. He was honored to be selected for the 2023 Inaugural Class of The HRI AmericanHort Leadership Academy.


Video Production Experience

Ryan began his work in live event production at 16 years old when he started doing lighting for his church's youth group. From there, he gained experience as an intern at a large, faith-based, non-profit in the roles of Live Event Promotion and Sales. He toured over 60 cities for 5 years lighting, hosting, speaking at, producing, and directing over 100 live events that included artists and speakers such as Toby Mac, Israel Houghton, and Jentezen Franklin.  Today, he continues to write, direct, and produce videos and live events through his company, Cerci Media. He loves to help others create compelling video content to share their message to the masses.

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Invaluable Support

“Ryan is a kind, family-oriented man who never fails to make me laugh, but as a mentor he has always encouraged me to grow into a better version of myself both personally and professionally. While you can go to school to learn about horticulture and plant design, there is still some knowledge that can only be gained through experience. Ryan’s willingness to share his own experiences and wisdom in this field has molded me from knowing little to nothing about plants and their maintainable sizes to learning design aesthetic, becoming professionally certified and ending up in a leadership role directing my own design team. His constant support has been invaluable to me.”

Mariah M.

Let’s Start Working Together!

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