Nelson Braybrook, owner of Call Nelson Landscaping in Mississauga, Ontario, always had a passion for building, but his path to becoming a successful hardscaping business owner was shaped by a mix of fate, mentorship, and a relentless drive for growth.
The Right Place, The Right Time
Braybrook’s hardscaping career began almost by chance. It all began in his mid-twenties when he found himself searching for work. That’s when he met a pivotal mentor, a seasoned masonry expert who had risked everything—his home, his savings—to build his business.
“I was just looking for somebody that could teach me a skill,” Braybrook said. “Fate just sort of put us together.”
Under this mentor’s guidance, he immersed himself in stonework, tackling masonry projects across Parry Sound and Northern Muskoka. These early years not only honed his technical skills but also taught him key leadership principles and instilled in him the mindset of an entrepreneur.
When his wife decided to pursue nursing in the city, he followed. He found work with several landscaping companies, quickly realizing that his masonry expertise translated seamlessly into urban hardscaping.
“All the skills I developed up north transferred really well,” he said.
A New Challenge
After working with a few firms, Braybrook joined an established company with deep industry roots dating back to the 1950s. Over a decade with them, he expanded his skill set, working on large-scale projects and refining his craftsmanship. But he eventually felt stagnant.
His father’s favorite advice stuck with him: If you’ve become comfortable, you’re probably not growing.
Realizing he had spent too many years repeating the same tasks without learning new techniques, Braybrook knew it was time for a change. He began taking online courses, attending trainings, researching interlocking methods, and pushing himself to learn as much as possible.
This pursuit of professional growth led him to start his own company.
“I wanted to be professionally better,” he said. “So, the leap for me was figuring out the business side of everything.”
A Growth Mindset
While he had years of hands-on experience, it wasn’t until he discovered formal training programs through organizations like the Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute (ICPI), now the Concrete Masonry & Hardscapes Association (CMHA), that he truly began to refine his skills.
“It just so happened they had the big hardscaper showcase and I was able to take the course in person,” Braybrook said. “The courses offer a lot of value and should be a staple for anyone entering the industry.”
What stood out to Braybrook was the depth of knowledge these programs provided. Unlike some online certifications that allow users to guess their way through, the CMHA courses covered everything from the history of pavers to modern installation techniques and safety protocols.
“I ended up learning more about what I was already doing, but I also realized how much I had been doing wrong for years. A simple training course could have corrected so many mistakes early on,” he said. “I look at projects I did 10 years ago and I know some of them aren’t done right. But at the time I thought I was a wizard.”
Braybrook firmly believes that hardscaping professionals should pursue certification—not just to improve their craft, but to separate themselves from the competition.
“There are so many guys out there doing hardscaping, but not all of them are doing it right. Why wouldn’t you get the certification? It proves your commitment to quality,” he said.
Beyond the technical skills, training has also helped him connect with a broader network of professionals who share his passion for the industry.
“It’s like a secret brotherhood,” Braybrook said. “When you meet someone who’s taken the course, there’s a mutual respect. You recognize that they understand the process and are dedicated to getting better.”
Education, for Braybrook, is not just about personal growth—it’s also about raising the standard for the entire industry.
“Nobody spends all day lugging bricks into a backyard by hand because they want to see a job fail,” he said. “But they might install it unsuccessfully, thinking they’re doing a good job just because they don’t know what they’re doing is wrong.”
A Better Business and A Better World
This growth mindset drives his leadership approach at Call Nelson Landscaping.
“If a guy’s going to last with me, the first thing we do is we put them online. We put them in that CMHA course,” he said.
This commitment to training ensures that every team member starts with a solid foundation, and sometimes, even teaches him something new.
Braybrook firmly believes that strong leadership is about empowering others to lead as well.
“You have to teach them to be good enough to run your business just as well as you do,” he said.
Instead of fearing that trained employees might leave, he worries about the consequences of them staying without ever developing into leaders themselves. By providing education and mentorship, he creates an environment where his team can thrive and grow alongside the company.
“At the end of the day, it’s important to make everybody better,” he said. “Because if you’re not trying to get better, what are you doing?”
And it’s not just people that Braybrook is committed to being better. As a business owner, he is passionate about evaluating environmental impacts and using more sustainable methods, like permeable pavers.
“We have a responsibility, as people on the planet, to leave it in a better condition than what we took it as,” he said.
Advice for Aspiring Hardscapers
For those looking to enter the hardscaping industry, Braybrook offers wisdom drawn from his own transformative journey.
He emphasizes one key trait: attitude. “You have to have the right attitude,” he said, acknowledging that this can be subjective and dependent on the specific team and company you are joining.
While skills are important, being open to learning and working well with a team matters just as much. He urges aspiring hardscapers to push beyond their comfort zones and embrace challenges as opportunities for development.
Staying open-minded is another crucial factor.
“Don’t dismiss anything because, even if it seems like a ridiculous thing, there could be a monocle of truth in there that you can pull and educate yourself,” Braybrook said. “Don’t pretend like you know what you’re doing. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.”
Early in his career, he admits to rejecting different approaches simply because they weren’t what he was used to.
“I thought I knew what I was doing, but I wasn’t really trained. Who was I to say what was right?” he said.
One of the biggest game-changers in hardscaping, according to Braybrook, is proper training. He wishes he had been taught more about permeable systems and installation techniques early on, recognizing that better training would have benefitted not just him, but entire teams.
“If they would have spent the first two, three years training me on that stuff, I’d be so much further ahead now,” he said.
Braybrook (left) is pictured at a Techo-Bloc event.
Continuous Improvement and Inspiration
This journey of continuous improvement has shaped Braybrook’s outlook, even changing the way he connects with others.
“As much as the business has started to grow, I’ve continued to grow too,” he said. “You start to feel distanced from other people that aren’t growing.”
With access to global ideas and techniques, he can now learn from hardscaping professionals around the world.
“10 years ago, we didn’t have all these guys coming out with crazy custom designs. The creativity is off the charts,” he said. “…We have that connection now. The world’s an interesting place. If you’re looking for interesting and inspiring things, they’re everywhere.”
Braybrook finds fulfillment in the entire process—planning, problem-solving, and teaching his team along the way. Whether it’s a small project or a large-scale build, every step presents a new challenge and an opportunity to improve.
But at the heart of it all, though, is the satisfaction of his clients. Seeing a project come to life and knowing it has made a real difference is what drives him.
“We had this one lady; she saw her backyard and was so happy she started crying. To me that means we did the job right,” he said.
For Braybrook, moments like these are what make the work truly meaningful. He crafts spaces that enhance people’s lives, creating places where memories are made and cherished.
“Not only did we do the job right, but we were able to build the bridge to the emotional connection between the client and her outdoor living space,” Braybrook said. “This was a very emotional moment for the client and myself, and it really was something special.”
In his eyes, success isn’t just about creating stunning landscapes—it’s about constant learning, pushing boundaries, and making a lasting impact. Braybrook is building a better, more knowledgeable, and more sustainable industry, one course and one project at a time.
Braybrook is pictured at the 2023 HomeStars Awards.
