Interview Weirdness

Jennifer Zurko

As I write this, “review time” is looming. As part of Ball Horticultural Company, Ball Publishing’s fiscal year ends when theirs does and with that comes budget time, which in turn means it’s time to evaluate yourself. Which turns out I don’t love. I find myself struggling with how to rate what I’ve done and how I feel my work performance has fared during the past year.

Really, it’s not that big of a deal. I’m just making it harder than it really is. And it makes me think about the many people I’ve interviewed over the years, even back to my college days covering baseball, girls’ softball and women’s volleyball. A lot of people are uncomfortable in front of a reporter with a recorder, pen and pad at the ready, hanging on every word—even one that only stands at an unintimidating 5 ft., 2 in. People are afraid of sounding dumb or saying the wrong thing. Or worse—that the reporter will take what they say out of context. (This is why what a lot of politicians say sounds canned.)   

That’s why I try to make the people I interview as comfortable as possible. I want them to feel like they’re talking to a friendly colleague instead of a reporter.

It turns out our Young Grower winner for this year, Jane Stanley of Saunders Bros., was a little wary, too. She and I had a great conversation and she offered wonderful insights into her career and who she is as a person. It was an easy profile piece to write.

Even though I always record my interviews, I sometimes send a draft to my sources to double check for any errors. And because it’s the cover story, I did that with Jane’s. She said what a lot of people think when they see what they say actually in print: It’s “unnerving.” And it is, I suppose. But Jane didn’t have to worry about how she came across.

As you’ll, Jane has a Type A personality that helps her juggle her many responsibilities at Saunders, but she is a genuinely nice person who truly cares about her co-workers and staff. She’s whip smart … while also being able to whip your tuckus. You’ll see what I mean when you read it.

This month also focuses on plug and cutting propagation. We’ve got a discussion on large vs. small plugs when growing perennials and whether using rooting hormone is like eating ice cream—for real! We also have the third installment on PGR best practices and all of the stuff we saw at Cultivate’16 back in July.

By the time you read this, I should have my review over and done with. So if you see me on this page again next month, then you know Beytes has decided to keep me on … at least for another year. GT