Natural Creations Company Profile Nashville,TN

EXECUTIVES > HISTORY

Matt Dawson
President
Matt Dawson’s enthusiasm for plants began at an early age while helping in his grandmother’s garden. As a teen, He provided landscape services even before he could drive. He chose to attend University of Tennessee Knoxville because of the landscape and nursery curriculum they provided. In addition to his college courses, he secured an intern position at Shadow Nursery in Manchester, Tennessee to further his knowledge in plant material and growing procedures. He graduated in 1996 with a degree in Ornamental Horticulture and Landscape Design and a minor in Forestry. He then began managing a local wholesale nursery, Kinsey Gardens. For two years, he learned the day-to-day issues that arise in operating a growing facility. In 1998, Matt moved to Nashville, Tennessee and began Natural Creations LLC. With his partners John Henderson and Becky Dawson, they stressed the importance of quality, guaranteed plant material, extensive soil amending, and knowledgeable onsite horticulturists to their landscape clients. Paul Ballenger joined the company to head the maintenance division and has made Natural Creations gardens some of the finest in Nashville. Now after more than five years, Natural Creations has established itself as a reputable high-end residential landscape company. This led to the purchase of 80 acres five miles from downtown which allowed Matt to fulfill his dream of owning a nursery, a nursery for collecting and growing rare and unusual plant material, and promoting that quality to other horticulture professionals. Samara Farms, both a growing facility and brokerage, was established this year with the help of nursery manager Rusty Skelley. Matt continues to travel and visit nursery growers to find new or improved plant varieties that can contribute to the Tennessee landscape.

John Henderson
Vice President of
Installation
John Henderson graduated from the University of Tennessee with a BS in Horticulture. After graduation, he worked at a mail order nursery (Native Gardens; Greenback, TN) that specialized in growing native plants to the Appalachian region. Later, John worked with Rijnbeek and Son (Netherlands) where he worked with an export/import company that sold perennials and bulbs. In 1998, he started Natural Creations LLC with Becky and Matt Dawson. In 2004 they started Samara Farms LLC.
John continues to further his networking and education through associations such as the Perennial Plant Association and the American Landscape Contractors of America.

Paul Ballenger
Vice President of
Maintenance
1996 - Graduated from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville with a Bachelors Degree in Ornamental Horticulture and a minor in Business Management

1994-2001 - Assistant Manager at AAA Lawn Industries and Colorburst. We maintained the lawns, beds and seasonal color for commercial landscapes such as:

2001 – Present - Maintenance Division Vice President at Natural Creations LLC. We currently specialize in high-end residential landscape maintenance. Our services include lawn mowing, bed maintenance, Irrigation maintenance, plant health, and lawn care programs.

Becky Dawson
Vice President of
Administration
While attending the University of Tennessee, Becky worked for the network engineering department and was on the team that wired all of campus for both inter- and intranets. After graduating in 1995 with a Bachelors degree in Biology and a minor in Wildlife Fisheries, Becky starting working with a bank in commercial real estate loan administration. Her proficiency in that position led to a management position at a web design firm specializing in financial institutions. During that time Becky took courses in financial analysis and accounting. In 2000, Becky began working full time with Natural Creations implementing computer software for tracking and billing.
Becky continues to work with other employees to streamline processes and to provide the most up-to-date computer equipment and software.

ASSOCIATIONS

Natural Creations believes in industry associations to help further educate its staff. It is a proud member of the following:

What is EFT?
EFT is a powerful new discovery that combines two well established sciences so you can benefit from both at the same time:

Mind Body Medicine
Acupuncture (without needles).

In essence, EFT is an emotional version of acupuncture wherein we stimulate certain meridian points by tapping on them with our fingertips. This addresses a new cause for emotional issues (unbalanced energy meridians). Properly done, this frequently reduces the therapeutic process from months or years down to hours or minutes. And, since emotional stress can contribute to pain, disease and physical ailments, we often find that EFT provides astonishing physical relief. To find out more about all the various issues that EFT has been used for and to download the complete and free EFT Manual, visit Gary Craig's official EFT website at www.emofree.com.

Participant Centricity is honoring the belief that we are all connected, and our participants are at the center of everything we do. Our products and services must be tuned to their needs. Every action we take must be aimed at providing the best opportunities to our participants, and we must listen to our participants and champion their interests at every moment.

Compassion means a deep feeling for and understanding of others without regard to race, age, creed, or social standing. This includes acceptance, kindness, generosity, forgiveness, caring, friendship, respect, love and sharing toward all participants. All participants are a son or daughter, brother or sister, father or mother.

Perseverance means the inner strength to remain constant and passionate to our mission.

Accountability means owning our actions. Clearly, to be successful long term, we all must be accountable to each other, our participants, our organization and our communities. Sedona Body™ supports organizations that educate and serve children in the wellness experience.