thought he was too young and inexperienced and
did not award him the job.
Core's pride took a hard hit, so he decided to
head a new direction and join the United States
Marine Corps. Even in this new environment,
though, his focus stayed the same, and within a
week, he found himself in charge of the equipment-maintenance operations. "I'm never afraid
to take over a situation," he says.
After serving his time in the Marine Corps,
he moved to Louisiana with his wife and children to take over a family farm, but he eventually concluded this type of life wasn't for him: "I
was scared to work this hard and lose everything
because of one bad season," he says. "I was exhausted, didn't see my family and wanted to do
more for my kids."
So he decided to focus on his real passion,
landscaping, and packed up his family and moved
to Texas where he worked as a general manager
for a landscaping company.
When that business went under, Core
worked for another landscaping company as a
laborer for $8 an hour. "I was on the opposite
end of the spectrum," he says after losing the
With a dolphin water feature that flows into a
stream, this plantation-style residence extends down
a pebble path to a gazebo with a waterfront view.
24 TOTAL LANDSCAPE CARE / /December 2012
TOTAL LANDSCAPE CARE December 2012
