Steve & Lisa's Love Story: 2025 Edition

by Lisa Mason Ziegler | February 13, 2025

We love working together on the farm! Hands down our favorite.

The love, respect, and devotion that Steve and I share continue to gain depth and width as we move into our “golden years”. We fully embrace that every day is a gift and love this place where we find ourselves.

Looking back over decades at two business owners hustling, shedding blood, sweat, and tears, it all seems a blur now—not nearly the calamity that it felt like living it out. We agree that we won’t want to do it any other way, alongside each other and our families (bruises, warts, and all).

This roller coaster ride has been so worth the scary parts.

Our secret sauce? Our life values are the same: faith, family, and business. In this order and all the time. These aligned values have given us the guide rails to have a clear path to follow. Knowing where we’re going gives us the gusto to get there.

To make it clear, our lives haven’t been all peaches and cream. We’ve faced the same type of craziness others do through the years, money troubles, broken relationships, family craziness. The difference: we face it down together. And we do it by staying inside the lines we’ve made for ourselves. In a business setting, I would say we are both 100% onboard with the company mission and vision. Our values guide it all, they make this crazy life more manageable.

We are reaping what we’ve sown.

Steve has recently retired from his family’s business. The company has a 3rd generation coming into leadership and we are gaining an even deeper appreciation of his life’s work as we watch it grow for the future.

That 1968 Harley Davidson chopper mentioned in previous stories that was rebuilt in the living room (!!!) of our home during Steve’s bachelor days, it will be back on the road soon after 30 years of being quiet, thanks to his retirement. The smile this bike puts on his face is priceless! (Watch the video below).

After sitting quiet for over 30 years, Steve’s 1968 chopper is back. One of the many payoffs from 55 years of toiling.

Our story continues to unfold. Having Steve home is so new after both of us hustling in our respective companies for decades. It is proving to be the best part yet. We are quickly growing to love this new day-to-day lifestyle.

One of the sweetest pieces that is coming into view for me is this place that has been the focus of my flower farming business life for 3 decades. The gardens, the wildlife, our home, this family homeplace is richer than ever before.

One of the goals of my business has always been to make our farm and home a place we want to be when the business part is done. And we are right on track.

Steve and I are facing this time together. We are heading into a dynamic era of embracing and sharing this place like never before. While I’m not ready to retire from this business I love, yet, time will continue to write this story.

There are some pretty powerful TGW business strategy meetings unfolding at 6am each morning at the breakfast table over coffee these days. The best is yet to come.

A life partner with the same life values has made it all possible and we face it all together in one big mixing pot.