Flipping through a newspaper when he was 15 years old, David Huber came across an advertisement that would change the entire trajectory of his life.
“I saw an advertisement in The New York Times for a company called Alley Pond Landscape. It was a picture of a pool with a waterfall and a stone patio. I still have the ad, actually,” recalls Huber, now the National Hardscape Sales Manager for Alpha Professional Tools. “Something inside me got inspired by that ad.”
That moment of inspiration led to an immediate decision. Huber went to his high school guidance counselor and switched out his class schedule to match his new focus.
He graduated with the highest average in his school’s mechanical drawing and drafting program and headed to SUNY Cobleskill for landscape design and development. Once he earned his degree, he went straight into the field working on planting crews.
But his journey through the industry would prove to be anything but linear.
Exploring Every Corner of the Industry
Huber spent four years as a designer and salesperson at O’Neill & Welischar on Long Island. He took the entrepreneurial leap in 1995, opening and running Long Island Dreamscapes, his own design-build business, for 12 years.
When that chapter closed, Huber didn’t leave the industry. Instead, he dove deeper into it.
He became a paving stone representative for Cambridge Paving Stones, then Nicolock Paving Stones, sold plant material for a broker, worked as a porcelain paver rep for Mirage Porcelain, and finally landed at Alpha Tools, where he’s been for five years.
“I worked really hard to introduce the porcelain paver to the contractors in the Northeast, as well as techniques and tips on how to install it properly,” Huber said. “…That’s something I’m proud of. I was there in the beginning.”
His vast and varied experience also helps him connect to his customers in a way that deeply resonates.
“I can talk to them on a level they understand because I’ve been there,” Huber said. “When you’re on a job site and you’re having a problem, and somebody shows up that has done this before, understands the dynamics of a job site, understands the dynamics of five guys standing around not doing anything but looking at you, burning holes in your pocket and understands the urgency of ‘we need help and we need it now.’ These are the things that being an owner helped me understand for that contractor who we’re working with.”
Sharing His Knowledge
At the upcoming 2025 Hardscape North America (HNA) tradeshow, Huber will be presenting a session on “Design Solutions and Problem Solving Using Custom Fabrication of Hardscape Materials.”
His presentation will showcase how contractors can create custom pieces on-site rather than relying on expensive specialty manufacturers. He encourages attendees to attend the session, as well as to explore both Alpha Tools’ indoor booth at HNA and their outdoor demonstrations in the Hardscape Pavilion.
The session targets contractors who want to differentiate their work and command higher prices.
“You never want to be apples to apples,” he said, “because if you come to a customer and you have the same exact proposal as the next guy, what’s the difference between you and him in the customer’s eyes? It’s price. But if you can do something different to justify your price, you’ll get more money for your jobs.”
One of the things Huber loves most about his work is when he can share tips, tricks, and ideas that help them sell a job.
“One thing that I think a lot of the contractors aren’t taught is sales—how to sell a job without just lowering your price,” he said.
When contractors tell him they’ve successfully used his sales tips and techniques, “that’s exciting. Sales is a craft that can be learned like any other craft, just like their installs.”
Advice for Aspiring Hardscapers
For young people considering a career in hardscaping, Huber emphasizes the industry’s wide range of opportunities. The satisfaction of creation remains a constant draw, no matter what role you play in that process.
“There’s a huge satisfaction in creating a space, creating something,” Huber said.
“This industry can be so rewarding because there’s so many different paths you can go on. You don’t get stuck. You can start off on a planting crew, planting plants every day, digging holes at the ground level, and you could transition into a store manager at a national chain or a hardscape supply yard, or you could be a yard manager at a quarry, or you could be a tool supply manager.”
When hiring, Huber emphasizes that experience isn’t everything.
“I think it’s better off to hire someone who maybe isn’t that experienced, but has the potential to learn and excel rather than someone who has a ton of experience that was taught by somebody else that may not be the direction that you want to go in,” he said.
He wants to look beyond their resume, especially when it comes to the job interview.
“I find that the majority of my interviews I’m asking questions that the interviewee has never heard before. It’s not about their experience. It’s not about what they’ve done. It’s about who they are,” he said.
His advice for job seekers focuses on demonstrating respect, preparation, and curiosity.
“When you come to a job interview, you have to respect the person that’s interviewing you and respect the company. That is reflected in the way you dress, the way you speak, the information you bring, your enthusiasm or lack of,” Huber said.
He also advocates for interviewees asking questions rather than just talking about themselves.
“I think you should be asking more questions than talking about yourself—about the company, about the process, about the company culture, about the management.”
Showcasing behavioral adaptability is crucial to Huber.
“One of the things that I always look for is, how do they adapt,” Huber said. “If there’s a roadblock, how do you react? If things aren’t working, how do you adapt? If you want to change the results, you need to do something you’ve never done before.”
From a teenager inspired by a newspaper ad to a national sales manager, Huber’s journey illustrates the hardscaping industry’s potential for those willing to explore its many pathways and to keep learning.
“I think when I was 15, somehow in my mind, I created a roadmap for myself that I wanted to be in this industry. I never really wanted to leave the industry. I love this industry,” Huber said. “After 30-plus years, I’ve learned a lot, and I’ve learned that you can’t take all that knowledge with you. So, the only thing you can do is pass it on to the next generation.”
