Mike Rhode, Vice President of Earthscapes, was born and raised in Chandler, Arizona. During his high school summer breaks, Mike worked for a family friend doing residential landscape construction, which he enjoyed very much. Upon his high school graduation, Mike joined the Navy where he was a helicopter rescue swimmer for 5 years. After his service, he decided to pursue his interest in residential landscape construction.
Throughout his early career years, he was involved in transforming the way the industry views landscape construction with his attention to detail and genuine passion for building his team. He’s completed many high-end residential and commercial landscaping projects in the Phoenix area. Mike is known for his vast experience in the business, he has worked in every aspect of the business from positions like Project Manager to becoming the Vice President of Earthscapes where he thrives today.
Mike joined Earthscapes in 2009 and completely re-vamped the organizational structure of the company. He knew he had to build trust internally and externally, his goal was to make sure Earthscapes was, “going to be done on time and deliver a great product.” Earthscapes has now had several successful collaborative projects with other general contractors, “it’s gotten to the point now where we’ve really been able to streamline and anticipate things in advance. It just helps when all three divisions are communicating from the day we’re awarded…” as a joint effort. Earthscapes is now highly recommended by other prestigious clients because of the leadership, integrity and quality that Mike and his team maintain.
During his time at Earthscapes, Mike has transformed the culture of Earthscapes through his unique brand management, personnel development, and his commitment to integrity. What Mike enjoys most about his work in addition to the variety of work is, “the people, I really enjoy working with the people that work for us.” Mike is actively involved in all of Earthscapes’ community and field outreach events. He values service and spends a majority of his time mentoring his team and helping them reach their goals.
His best piece of advice is to, “slow down and don’t be reactionary. Be more planned and methodical about how you solve issues.” There is always a sense of urgency in Mike’s line of work, but his advice is to be patient about the outcome for the best results.
Mike loves traveling and rarely goes to the same place twice. He is an avid outdoorsman and enjoys hunting and camping and spending time with his family.