Our People
Teamwork makes the dream work
Sales Team
Tina Bertot
Joined Gardens America in 2000
Tina Bertot is our perfectionist. Part of Tina’s charm as an account manager is her attention to detail, her vigilance for her clients, and her passion for fairness. Tina holds all farms accountable for any disappointment to any one of her clients and takes full responsibility in righting the wrong. Tina’s clients know that they are her focus. In her spare time, she enjoys reading and working out.
Janel Granata
Joined Gardens America in 2007
Janel Granata has been in the industry for many years in retail, wholesale and now importing. Janel brings a “tell it like it is” attitude to the company. Her passion is to understand her clients’ needs and to find a way to overcome obstacles for them to succeed – using Gardens products. In her spare time, she enjoys walking trails and playing sudoku.
Renee Hesselbach
Joined Gardens America in 2015
Renee Hesselbach has a lifelong dedication to the floral industry. She utilizes her 40 plus years of experience in greenhouse, mass markets, retail, wholesale and now importing to develop strategies for growing your business profits. Renee works enthusiastically with her clients and is dedicated to their creative successes. In her spare time, she enjoys camping, being a hand bell musician, and spending time with her grandchildren.
Marcela Botero
Joined Gardens America in 2017
Marcela is passionate about flowers and constantly looks out for the best interest of her clients. She has valuable experience at the farm level which gives her tremendous insight to pass on to her clients and our team. She looks young, but don’t let her baby face fool you. She knows what it means to work hard and won’t take no for an answer. In her spare time, she enjoys gardening and dancing.
Arielle Atlas
Joined Gardens America in 2020
Arielle grew up in the floral industry. Flowers are her career, passion, and hobby. Her working knowledge and design experience is an incredible benefit to her clientele. Arielle’s drive, honesty, and detail-oriented nature allow her to excel in client service. She looks forward to helping you with all your floral needs. In her spare time, she enjoys nail art and travel.
Jorge Rodriguez
Joined Gardens America in 2021
Jorge has been in the floral industry for many years working at farm level and with retailers, wholesalers, and event planners, making sure every customer gets their flowers in time with exceptional quality and outstanding service. He has impeccable attention to detail and is the ultimate professional. Jorge is always ready to help our team with marketing material and delivers it with a smile on his face. In his spare time, he enjoys cooking and camping.
Cheryl Virgilio
Joined Gardens America in 2022
Cheryl is the newest member of Team Gardens America. She is our Sales Coordinator and assists the sales team in their administrative tasks. Cheryl’s background includes working with wholesale and retail florists. Her passion is supporting a sales team so that they can perform at an optimal level. In her spare time, she enjoys finding recipes and creating them with her own twist and playing board games.
Office and Warehouse
Kristin Gilliland
Joined Gardens America in 1994
Kristin’s grandparents started the business before she was born. She spent numerous summers stuffing envelopes, mailing invoices, filing, and assisting until she joined the team full time in 1994. Kristin has served as Office Manager, handled the Accounts Receivables, and later became General Manager. She is currently the President and owner. She takes pride in continuing the family legacy as the third-generation owner and credits the success of the company to the incredible team at Gardens America. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, traveling, and spending time with family.
Camilo Correa
Joined Gardens America in 2011
Camilo has over 25 years of experience in the floral industry at the grower and wholesale levels. His focus with Gardens is grower relations, flower buying, and sales support. Camilo’s knowledge of the floral industry has helped us grow our portfolio and our cumulative skills. Camilo is a man of few words, and he is extremely observant. His quick wit and sarcasm are an integral part of his charm. In his spare time, he enjoys bike riding and listening to music.
Joanne Carrillo
Joined Gardens America in 1999
Joanne Carrillo wears many hats, but her main job is managing Accounts Receivable. (If you do not know her that could be a GOOD THING) Joanne is also our Office Manager. Her real passion is being the Gardens America social event coordinator. In her spare time, she enjoys bike riding and spending time with her family.
Deborah Clemente
Joined Gardens America in 2002
Deborah Clemente is our Finance Manager. She makes sure that Gardens America keeps its excellent reputation for on-time payments. Debbie does the work of an entire team by managing payables, financial reporting, payroll, and much more. Don’t assume she is a boring numbers lady. In her spare time, she enjoys fashion, dancing salsa and merengue, going to concerts, and pool days with her family.
Lilliam Valdes-Dapena
Joined Gardens America in 1997
Lilliam Valdes-Dapena is our IT Manager. She keeps our entire technical network going. Lyly fixes things that we have broken and does the impossible from hardware to software and everything in between. She always does whatever it takes with a positive attitude and her trademark humor. Lyly is a true renaissance woman. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling around the world, going to the beach, spending time with family and painting.
Victoria Rodriguez
Joined Gardens America in 2006
Victoria Rodriguez is our Administrative Assistant and Director of First Impressions. She is the one who initially welcomes your call and advises you regarding the availability of your account manager. She can get you copies of invoices, shipping receipts and a whole lot more. But more than that, Victoria is the accounting department’s support team. She is always willing to do more and takes on responsibility with pride. In her spare time, she enjoys going to the beach with her family.
Michael Rodriquez
Joined Gardens America in 2009
Michael Rodriquez joined our company and worked his way up to Warehouse Manager. He constantly reminds his team that every box of our flowers should be treated as if it contains flowers for their very own family member’s special day. Mike takes pride in his work and leads his team to success - always with a smile on his face. If it needs to get done, he will find a way. In his spare time, he enjoys going to the gun range and training his American bulldog.
Alejandro Perez Machado
Joined Gardens America in 2022
Alejandro is a valued member of our warehouse team. In his spare time, he enjoys playing sports and listening to music.