Jacob Mertins
Gift Shoppe Manager/Marketing
Jacob "Jake" Mertins enjoys working in all departments at Ebert's Greenhouse Village. He loves being able to work outside and spend time with other gardening enthusiasts. He manages the Gift Shoppe and is responsible for training cashiers and overseeing the merchandising of hard goods. Additionally, he helps with spring production, coordinating fall field trips, and works with Anne and Amber in developing high quality content for our Newsletter, Website, and various social media outlets.
Jake's first summer job was planting tomatoes, weeding pumpkins, and picking up potatoes for Mark’s and Ron's dad. He spent the next eight summers at the Village as general help in the growing department. After completing two undergraduate degrees, Jake packed his suitecase and headed for Asia. He spent a year in Korea, four years in Taiwan, and one long summer in China teaching ESL, Earth Science, and Biology (as well as learning a good bit of Mandarin in the process). In 2007, he returned to Wisconsin to complete a Master's degree at UW-Whitewater and subsequently began working at Ebert's Greenhouse Village again.
In addition to his duties at the Greenhouse, Jake teaches Speech, Small Group Communication, and Interpersonal Communication classes at Madison Area Technical College, speaks at various places, and even made a guest appeance on the TV show Ask Aunt Ann (about half-way through this episode).
In his free time, Jake enjoys juggling (links to ball juggling and club passing--with daughter and brother), playing softball, gardening, reading, and spending time with his wife and three children. His favorite genus of plant is amorphophallus. These plants sometimes get a bad rap for having flowers that smell like rotting meat; however, they are a beautiful, diverse group of shade - part sun plants that provide color, shape, size, and texture to many spaces. Jake currently has 13 varieties, but hopes to expand that collection further.
Something fun that you may enjoy is a video of the igloo Jake and his kids built during the winter of '20-'21: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6g3TvU5PZu8
Education:
M.S. Corporate Communication
B.A. Theology
B.A. Speech (emphasis: Public Communication)