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When Harry Vignocchi founded ILT—a.k.a. Italian Lawn and Tulip—the nature of his business and the extent of his success were already in the cards. Harry’s talent and passion for cultivating beauty were in his blood: his grandfather had been a master gardener, his father a mason. The son of Italian immigrants, Harry also internalized his parents’ old-world cultural values, including hard work, uncompromising artistry, and steadfast loyalty.
As a child, Donna, Harry’s daughter, watched her father devote considerable time and energy to his burgeoning company. His landscape drawings were always on the kitchen table. He spent many weekend hours at the office. As ILT Vignocchi’s sole proprietor and ultimate creative authority, Harry Vignocchi had a lot on his plate.
Donna’s been in the business since 1994, when she joined her father at the Wauconda-based landscape architecture firm. Twelve years later, she took the company reins. Working alongside her father as well as her husband, Vice President and Landscape Architect Aaron Zych.
When Donna became company president in 2006, what began as a $50,000 enterprise had grown to become a $12 million market leader serving high-end residential and commercial clients throughout Greater Chicago, eastern Wisconsin, and beyond. Today, ILT Vignocchi continues to honor its visionary founder’s ideals, yet quietly, gradually, Donna has changed the company dynamic by infusing it with her own personality and leadership style.
“What I took from my father is the importance of hard work, dedication, and taking care of the people around you. That’s the Italian way. But instead of managing from the top down, I tend to rely more heavily on the insights and talents of others, providing them with a framework of expectations and supporting them with all my blood, sweat, tears,
and heart.”
