Graines d'Or European Personality of the Year - Rachel Doyle, Arboretum

Graines d'Or brands Rachel Doyle a very trendy woman! The Arboretum garden center, property of Rachel Doyle, is located on the green hills of the western part of Ireland. The strength of Rachel Doyle is an acute sense of communication and a capacity to use all social networking. Thanks to her, Arboretum has taken a national magnitude, and even an international one. She symbolizes the moral and emotional values of the garden center.

Rachel Doyle describes her goal in terms of joy and leisure for her clients. “Arboretum’s mission, she explains is based upon a passion for plants and an ambition to make people happy while they visit the garden center during an hour or half a day.” This mission is based on three pillars: plant expertise, events organization to generate clients coming and going, and the creation of a model garden which attracts tourists for organized tours, what the English call a destination garden center.

Communication

Rachel Doyle grants a very big importance to knowledge and competence to reach her goal. Employees of Arboretum must be able to give expert advice during live radio broadcasting, on Friday mornings in the garden center. It goes without saying that knowledge and expertise are justifying talking over the microphone and allowed to communicate on subject matters with authority whether it may be on the radio or in print. In fact, since 16 years, Rachel has a written an advice column on gardening in a national Irish newspaper. In addition to expert advice, promotional events are organized in order to support the brand image and its reputation, and naturally, also to attract attention on the garden center.

To mention a few, barn dancing, a traditional harvesting feast, and breakfast with Santa. Nevertheless, most of the events launched by Arboretum are directly inspired by garden and gardening, such as for example a lecture on orchids by an expert. When it is not to share in with clients a passion for the product, the garden center has another goal to inspire at a different level. So the model gardens, the restaurant or even the Labyrinth, all contribute to create a relaxed and thoughtful atmosphere.

The catering part employs 25 people, and surprises by its use of Irish ingredients of superior quality or even with herbs and vegetables harvested in the kitchen garden of their restaurant. In the kitchen garden there is also poultry supplying fresh eggs to the restaurant and the children can go in just to see. For children, Rachel has created a Labyrinth, at the center of which you can find raised stones. Whether it may be through sculptures are plants, color effects, or in the forms of perennial plants, model gardens participate to this state of mind so important to Rachel.

Happiness

This concept, Rachel Doyle, is not only its founder, she lives it daily. She states herself to be the happiest woman in the world since every morning, she sits around with her two sons and her husband to take breakfast in her garden center. That happiness is not here by chance, happiness is hard work. In order to lead her business with her fam- ily members she called upon a coach to help her in the integration process of her sons in the business. Rachel likes to describe her target groups in the garden center by mentioning a few categories: the nice old lady, the millionaire who bargains, people who depend upon social welfare and have never worked in their lives, the snobbish lady who comes in to provide herself the latest in plants or “who prefers plastic robins big and fat...”

Social networking is important Her passion for plants, garden, her business and the fact that she found the key to happiness has led Rachel to communicate. She collaborates with other entrepreneurs and garden centers owners or other businessmen and politicians in order to best defend the country, the region interests, to fight for her colleagues’ best interest, and in order to achieve new goals. “The importance of social interaction is really underestimated” she affirms.

Rachel’s garden center, lost on the green hills of Leighlinbridge in the county of Carlow, is now nationally and internationally renowned. This fame is the result of a relentless work coming from a passionate and enduring young lady who created her Eden, far away from everything. They often used to call her “mad woman” used to refer to her as a bit “off the road”. But she likes to be all that, because soon, there will be a big billboard along the highway with the sign “Arboretum” inscribed in Rachel in the kitchen garden of the restaurant of Arboretum gigantic letters!

Source: Graines d'Or - Press Book

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