The outdoor seating area of the Flame Tree Barbecue restaurant at Disney’s Animal Kingdom presented a scenic backdrop, a naturalistic reflecting pond, and colorful gazebos with wildlife designs depicting the circle of life for a lunch interview with Debbie Mickler. Having twenty-six years with the company, Mickler takes her leadership role as a Disney’s Horticulture Services/Planned Work Specialist with utmost dedication. “Where did I first get started?” asks Mickler, while sampling different barbeque sauces for her pulled pork sandwich. “I began with foliage and interior plants. We were based out of the Nursery [located behind Animal Kingdom] and covered all interior plants on WDW property, plus special event staging.” Mickler fondly remembers …show more content…
These interns spend the summer job shadowing the various gardeners on property and get a taste to see what it’s like to work for an entertainment company. “The students have a final presentation towards the end of their program,” explains Mickler. “One year, I had an issue with getting students in preparing their projects. They simply thought it was a waste of time. That was a challenge for me as I hadn’t had a group in years fail to prepare on time and I was bringing in other horticulture mangers from off and across property to view these projects. So I met with each person to figure out why they felt the way they did about the project. By meeting with the students I was able to see what they were viewing and I was able to help them out.” Mickler is confident that her leadership style can be described as coaching. “I don’t brush people off,” she says. “I like to check in from time to time, see what’s going on with a person and get to learn more about them. It may seem like a waste of time for some people, however I find that getting to know folks makes that person feel more important. By learning about their ambitions, I can help point them in the right direction or set down and talk to a fellow cast member and have discussions about their careers or future goals with