Coochie Hydrogreen are the lawn care specialists that have become wildly popular in Australia over the past 24 years. 

After being founded by two brothers in 1998, fast-forward to now and CEO Ania Sienko has taken the brand to new levels.

Brothers Hugh and Ian McLeod established Coochie Hydrogreen in 1998 after years involved in the industry. 

From working in landscaping and agriculture, their entrepreneurial spirits led to them to starting their own lawn business which evolved to Coochie Hydrogreen. Then within the year their mate Andrew Turnbull, a successful accountant, joined forces with them providing business direction, coaching, and mentoring.

Together, they had the idea of selling franchises in the fertilising, weed and spraying program space that had now been fully tested and greatly accepted by a newly developed marketplace. While running their own businesses, they developed and set up the franchise business model and in 1999 sold their first franchises.

Fast forward to 2017, Hugh, Ian and Andrew made a decision to grow their impressive business further and improve group culture. They heard of a local businesswoman with a diverse and ideal skillset, who they then approached and welcomed to the Coochie family.

A new direction with a new CEO - Ania Sienko

Ania grew up in Canberra and after completing a Bachelor of Commerce, worked in an accounting firm for 7 years. She then worked for an entrepreneur (who quickly became her mentor) with a multitude of businesses across various sectors. 

This enabled Ania to develop a unique and broad skillset across hospitality, property, advertising and more, in a finance and business management capacity.

It was the perfect opportunity for Coochie Hydrogreen to solidify their already strong foundation and expand, under the guidance of Ania.

Ania joined at a time where franchisees were up for contract renewals, and so her first task was to build a rapport with existing franchise partners, inspire them about the future and sign them up for a new term to help them grow their franchises.

Caring for the franchise team led to rapid growth

Ania and Marketing Manager Grace Lindsey joined the company at around the same time, becoming a dynamic duo who set out to bring further success to the Coochie Hydrogreen franchise group.

As a single mum of two young girls who’s partner had passed away, Ania had her work cut out for her. At a time when her own personal life was in turmoil, Ania dug deep and inspired her team to bring about incredible progress.

Ania said of her team’s relationship with the franchisees, “We really are a family. We get very invested in helping our franchisees. If their business grows we feel like it’s our business growing. We really celebrate the little wins and we get very excited about their successes. You can tell they feel that and love it too.”

A successful franchise model can change lives

Ania talks fondly about many of her franchisees. 

“I've got these stories that are life changing for franchisees that I share with other people. I don’t think I'm the best sales person, but it’s easy to sell something when you tell heartfelt stories about other people's successes and what you can achieve (with Coochie Hydrogreen).”

One such success story Ania loves to tell is that of Ken Challis.

In his mid fifties, Ken was earning a humble wage and decided to invest in buying Coochie HydroGreen in Albury Wodonga. 

In 3 years of operation he built his business from the ground up, growing his customer base significantly.

Ania makes the point that Ken openly acknowledges the way the franchise has changed his life. 

Another example is Michael Morrison of Coochie HydroGreen in Newcastle. 

Ania remembers his great success after a very rocky beginning;

“Within his first week of work, Michael took a dive over a hose on a client's lawn. He injured his ACL and was out for 3 months. 

It was shocking! 

We already believed in him, so we sent someone from head office to help. We really are family. Despite this setback on top of COVID, Michael has gone on to become one of our top performers. He’s done incredibly well.”

A CEO invested every step of the way

Something that is very clear when you talk to Ania, is that she is hands on with the entire Coochie HydroGreen business…and she loves it.

Ania and Grace spend a lot of time out with franchisees, helping them make their businesses not only run smoothly but become more successful. 

Aside from initial training, franchisees have one-on-one discussions with Ania and Grace regularly, where they cover all aspects of running the business successfully. This is more frequent within the first year of a franchisee joining the group.

Ania believes in the business as much as the owners who had a dream, back in Yass so many years ago. She says, wholeheartedly;

“I’ve never seen a business that is so simple to run that is so successful…in my life.”

You can find out more about Coochie HydroGreen HERE.