COEUR d’ALENE — The team at LNW Landscaping likes to use the phrase, “onwards and upwards, always.”

Marcus Felmley, project manager and business owner, seems to embody that phrase.

Felmley began selling eggs from his flock of laying hens when he was only 5 years old growing up in King County, Wash., making his first $1,000 by the time he was 12 on just a $.01 per egg profit margin due to the price of organic feed.

“(That means) I washed 100,000 chicken eggs to make that first $1,000,” Felmley said.

Instead of spending the hard-earned cash the way most 12-year-olds would, Felmley invested it into what would eventually become a successful landscape business and earn statewide recognition, buying his first lawn mower, weed wacker and other lawn care equipment.

Until he was old enough to drive himself, Felmley’s dad would drive him and his brothers into town once a week to mow lawns.

From there, a business was born.

“As time went on, we slowly grew and got the neighbors, and then the neighbor’s neighbors,” Felmley recalled.

After the family relocated to Coeur d’Alene in 2021, Felmley and two of his brothers formed LNW Landscaping, which offers landscaping and hardscaping services as well as, of course, mowing services.

LNW Landscaping has now been recognized two years in a row by Idaho’s Best, a statewide “Best Of” program. This year, the family-owned and operated business took the title of Best Landscaper for the Panhandle Region.

“It felt like all the years of hard work were worth it,” Felmley said. “Being able to repeat this year by claiming the title again was to me proof that it was more than a fluke.”

But Felmley won’t take all the credit — rather, he attributes his entrepreneurial spirit and success to both his faith and his family.

“My faith in Christ is everything to me. He is the only reason I’m where I am today,” Felmley said. “Having this business means I have an incredible platform to share his love with all of my clients I interact with on a daily basis.”

It was his parents that had motivated him to begin selling eggs all those years ago — but it was never about the money, Felmley explained.

“They instead wanted to instill a hard work ethic in me and my siblings, knowing that if they taught us how to work, everything else would come easier,” Felmley said.

Even as LNW Landscaping continues to grow, that same focus on faith and family will remain driving forces for Felmley.

“I once heard a quote and it went something along the lines of ‘be kind. You never know what he/she is going through.’ I see my business as a vessel to do just that. Being kind because Christ was and is kind to me,” Felmley said.