From Olympians to Entrepreneurs — Here’s Their Gold Medal Strategy

Jennifer Jones and Brent Laing have competed in curling for Team Canada in a combined total of three Olympic games — with Jennifer winning Gold in 2014 — so they both know something about determination. Now, after retiring from competing, they’re bringing that same competitive spirit and dedication to their family lawn care franchise, Weed Man, in Ontario, Canada.

“The transition’s been really fun,” Jones says, of the ice-to-grass shift.” After retiring from competition [in April 2024] and looking for what to do next, it seemed like a great fit. It’s a well-established business and just dealing with the customers and trying to learn the business has been a lot of fun.”

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Weed Man

Ontario-based lawn care company Weed Man, ranked #281 on the 2024 Franchise 500, was already familiar to Laing — his parents originally opened the franchise in 1982, then purchased a neighboring territory in 1992. Laing, who is a three-time Canadian and world champion who narrowly missed medaling in the 2018 Olympic Games, worked at the franchise when he was a teen and in his early 20s. The brand, he explained, has become part of the fabric of his family, and when his parents began talking about selling, it got him and Jones thinking.

“My mom and dad put their blood, sweat and tears into this for 40 years,” he says, “regardless of who was going to buy, it was just going to be strange to not have it in the family.”

So when his parents finally decided to retire earlier this year, it seemed like a perfect entrepreneurial opportunity for Jones and Laing.

“We were looking at trying to start a business or create an entrepreneurship environment for our family,” Jones says, “and so it seemed like the perfect fit.”

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Olympic lessons

So does being a world champion Olympic athlete translate to franchising? Jones — who is a lawyer by trade, so she’s not completely new to the business environment — thinks so.

“It’s the competitive nature and always trying to strive to be better,” she says. “As an athlete, you’re never satisfied with the status quo. You’re always trying to figure out ways to be better.”

She adds that work ethic, the belief in yourself and the willingness to take constructive criticism are also skills and traits she’s carrying over from competing to her franchise life.

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Community First

Laing and Jones are committed to fostering a sense of community through their franchise. They emphasize the importance of local involvement and customer relationships, an approach laid out by Laing’s father when he opened the franchise in the 1980s.

“It was just my dad in the beginning, him and a truck, knocking on doors,” Laing says, “and we’ve never lost sight of that, It’s a family business. It’s a big company, but we’ve always focused on that it’s the Laing family business.”

Jones points out that they are literally a community-based business — their office is right in the center of town — and adds that that visibility is essential to being the type of business they are.

“We get to know our customers this way,” she says, “they come by the office and I like hearing their stories.”

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Balancing family and business

As parents and business owners, Jones and Laing are understandably busy. They have two daughters together who are under 13 and Laing has an older son from a previous marriage. According to Jones, running a thriving franchise is not much different from competitive curling, as far as the whole family is concerned.

“It’s been our life since the kids were little,” she says, of the hectic schedule. “Our two daughters have come on the road with us their whole lives and understood that flexibility is a part of our life. So it’s just become part of our family, just like curling was.”

The family feel, including their kids helping around the office, is something that they want to keep. Both Jones and Laing said they feel an important responsibility to the legacy of Laing’s parents — both in keeping the business running strong and in continuing the small business feel that has made it successful.

“It’s a balancing act,” Laing says, “we have to make sure that we keep it local and family-focused and make sure that we always answer the phones and we don’t become too corporate. We want to make money, we want to grow, but it’s all about that reputation that mom and dad have worked so hard to build.”

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