Alex Fransen, owner of Derby City Pools & Outdoor Living, was born and raised in Fort Smith, Arkansas, located in the Ozark Mountains. He moved to Louisville when he was eight years old and, besides college, has lived here ever since. Fransen's parents were avid golfers, so growing up in the golfing industry eventually grew into a passion for beautiful landscapes. He started working at Nevel Meade Golf Course when he was 13 years old as a cart boy. He would watch the maintenance crew mowing strips on the greens, tees, and fairways, and could not wait to get out there himself. The following summer he applied to work on the maintenance crew and fell in love. During his junior year of high school, he applied to work as part of the maintenance crew at a high-end private country club in Hurstbourne. During that summer, he was also able to save enough money to buy a commercial mower and started mowing lawns in his parents' neighborhood. He was eventually asked to prune, trim, mulch, and landscape for the customers as well. Senior year of high school, Fransen felt unsure of what he wanted to do -- all of his friends had already applied to college and he had not. The superintendent with whom he was working suggested that he should go to school to be a golf course superintendent. He could see the passion Fransen had for the industry. So two weeks before school started, he applied for Turfgrass Management at Western Kentucky University.

After Fransen’s freshman year, he rented a house in Bowling Green, packed up his clothes and equipment, and began his new life. He started a lawn and landscaping company in Bowling Green and was quickly able to grow his passion into a real business. During this time, Fransen had many older turfgrass friends who had graduated before him and were having a hard time getting and keeping superintendent jobs due to the housing market and golf courses being shut down all over the country. Fransen’s landscape company was, luckily, not feeling the effects and he had more work than he could handle. He decided that he needed to take advantage of the opportunity to get some horticulture classes under his belt if he was going to keep a landscape company thriving.

Toward the end of school, Fransen was starting to feel homesick and was receiving recruitment letters from landscaping companies everywhere. Fortunately, he was able to sell many of his accounts and create a great nest egg. After college, he took a job back in Louisville working for the industry’s largest landscaping firm. He learned a lot about commercial landscaping and what a cutthroat and passionate industry it was. While he learned a great deal and was able to produce some wonderful projects, he decided that the commercial side was just not for him. 

So in 2014, he started The Fransen Group and Derby City Pools & Outdoor Living. They are primarily a residential landscape design and construction company. Fransen now has more than 27 years of experience in the industry. He shares with us that he started his business, "through a passion for creating beautiful landscapes personalized to each individual's lifestyle. The final project completion and the joy it brings our customers are better than any monetary gain!" 

What sets Fransen’s company apart from others is that it has a dedicated horticulturist on staff leading their education and certified teams to produce the best landscape projects in town. They are constantly educating their teams to learn the best trade skills and attention to detail. Fransen shares, "Most companies in the landscaping industry are run by hardworking, passionate individuals. Unfortunately, most do not understand the cost of doing business, which is why there are so many here today and gone tomorrow. Be sure to vet the companies you want to work with. Ask if they will take days or weeks to get back to you. If their price seems too good to be true, then it probably is. Make sure they are licensed. Remember, great work is not cheap, and cheap work is not great."

Fransen and his wife, Anna, live with their dog Woody in Indian Hills. Anna is an ultra runner, outdoor enthusiast, fitness fanatic, and the best chief ever. She is a CFP and has been in the financial industry her entire adult career. Alex and Anna love to travel and enjoy the outdoors with Woody.

Derby City Pools & Outdoor Living
Alex Fransen
www.derbycitypools.com/project-planner
(502) 548-4800