From Balance Sheets to Planting Plans: Lisa Rood’s Path to Landscape Design

There probably aren't many landscape designers whose résumés included the letters CPA.

Lisa Rood is one of them.

Lisa began her professional career in accounting, earning her CPA designation and working in a field where accuracy, organization and attention to detail were essential. But along the way, she discovered she was more interested in color, texture and composition than debits and credits - and considerably happier in a pair of overalls than a business suit.

Her route from accounting to landscape design wasn't exactly a straight line. It included more creative pursuits, time at a local garden center, work as a custom framing designer and, eventually, a return to school. It has also involved a surprising amount of sweat.

“I’ve been asked whether it is tougher to pass the CPA exam or prepare for the Nebraska Certified Nursery and Landscape Professional exam,” Lisa says. “Well, I’m not done with the certification process yet, but as a CPA, I never needed to spend my weekends in 115-degree heat identifying trees and shrubs.”

Oddly enough, that's part of the appeal.

Lisa wanted a career that would allow her to be creative without spending every day behind a desk. She likes being outside, doesn't mind getting her hands dirty, and enjoys the entire process of turning a design on paper into a finished landscape.

Lisa recently graduated from Metropolitan Community College with an Associate of Applied Science in Landscape Design, earning a 4.0 GPA and recognition as the Outstanding Horticulture Graduate. Her studies included site analysis, planting design, hand-rendered plans, and introductory work in AutoCAD and SketchUp. She is now continuing to develop those skills while working toward her Nebraska Certified Nursery and Landscape Professional designation. And she hasn't waited for her first landscape-industry job to put them to work.

Since graduation, Lisa has designed and built a native pollinator garden of more than 600 square feet for Turbine Flats, a Lincoln nonprofit business incubator and collaborative community in Lincoln. The project required her to consider site conditions, plant selection and spacing, seasonal interest, maintenance, and creating useful habitat for pollinators - all while designing a space that will become more interesting as it grows.

Her earlier careers have turned out to be more relevant to landscape design than they might first appear.

Working at Kaw Valley Greenhouses garden center strengthened Lisa's knowledge of garden-loving customers, plant material and Midwest growing conditions. As a custom frame designer, she works one-on-one with customers, helping them translate sometimes vague ideas into creative solutions they feel confident choosing.

And the accountant hasn't disappeared entirely. Budgets and deadlines still matter. So do measurements, details, organization, and the reality that a beautiful idea ultimately has to work in the real world.

That's much of what attracts Lisa to landscape design.

“You're working with color, texture, shape, and composition, but you're also solving real problems,” she says. “The plants have to thrive, and the space has to function for the people using it. And unlike most other kinds of design, the finished product keeps changing and getting better over time.”

Lisa is interested in opportunities across the landscape profession where she can combine design, plant knowledge, client interaction, and hands-on involvement. Whether the project is residential, commercial, or community-focused, she enjoys the challenge of balancing aesthetics, function, plant selection, and budget - and she wants to learn from experienced professionals how great landscapes actually get built.

She also brings a different perspective to being new to an industry. She knows there's still plenty to learn, but she brings years of experience working with clients, solving problems, managing details, and being accountable for results.

She's looking for a Nebraska landscape company willing to give her the opportunity to put that combination to work and continue growing as a landscape professional.

Her path into the green industry may have taken a few more turns than expected. But accounting, art, custom framing, garden center work, and landscape education have given Lisa an unusual collection of skills that finally seem to belong in the same place.

She may have traded debits and credits for deciduous and coniferous, but she hasn't abandoned spreadsheets entirely.

After all, somebody still has to make the plant list.