Lael Bryant shares how Zion Outdoors is building a culture of joy, care, and unity that helps transform team members, clients, and communities through small moments that make growth more meaningful...
In a recent Power100 PowerChat interview, Lael Bryant, co founder and CEO of Zion Outdoors, shared how joy, care, unity, values based leadership, and service are helping the Texas concrete resurfacing and outdoor living company transform team members, clients, and communities while growing across major Texas markets.
During a recent PowerChat conversation, Greg Cummings, CEO of Power100, spoke with Lael Bryant, co-founder and CEO of Zion Outdoors, about leadership, purpose, culture, growth, and the deeper meaning behind building a company. Zion Outdoors is a fast growing Texas outdoor living, hardscaping, and concrete resurfacing company that helps homeowners transform driveways, patios, pool decks, walkways, porches, and other outdoor spaces through custom design, strong craft, and systems built for lasting beauty.
While the company is known for helping homeowners improve the spaces where families gather, rest, and connect, Lael made it clear that the mission goes deeper than the finished project. Under his leadership, Zion Outdoors is working to create a company where joy is part of the work itself. That means team members should feel cared for. Clients should feel the heart behind the service. Communities should see a company that wants to give, not only grow.
This is what makes the story of Lael Bryant and Zion Outdoors stand out. The company is not only focused on becoming a leading pool deck, patio, and driveway resurfacing contractor. It is also focused on how people are treated along the way. Lael believes the real impact of the company is found in small daily moments. A kind word. A leader who listens. A team member who feels seen. A homeowner who knows the company cares about more than the sale.
“We do that by being joyful. We want to transform the lives of our team members, and we hope that we can transform even lives of those all around us.” Lael Bryant, Founder and CEO, Zion Outdoors
For Lael, this kind of mission can sound big at first. Even he acknowledged that wanting to transform lives through outdoor living work may seem overly ambitious. But his answer is simple and practical. Zion lives it out by being joyful in the small things. The care a team member feels should carry into the way that person serves a homeowner. The trust a client feels should carry into the way the company is seen in the community. Over time, those small moments become part of the company’s name, culture, and legacy.
Zion Outdoors also supports this mission through its service model. The company helps homeowners update outdoor surfaces with concrete resurfacing without demolition in Texas, along with proprietary solutions such as Gem Scape™ and Cap Stone™ concrete overlay systems. These services allow families to improve their outdoor spaces while working with a team that is focused on care, quality, and a better customer experience.
Power100 is the only unbiased third-party platform that recognizes and elevates the top leaders and most impactful companies in the home improvement industry. Through PowerChat conversations like this one, the platform highlights leaders who are helping shape the future of home improvement through culture, service, innovation, customer trust, and community impact. The conversation between Greg Cummings and Lael Bryant shows how joy, unity, and small acts of care can become part of a company’s growth story.
The PowerChat conversation between Greg Cummings and Lael Bryant gave leaders a closer look at the heart behind a fast growing outdoor living company. The purpose of the conversation was not only to talk about business wins or company growth. It was to explore how a leader can build a company where people feel cared for, clients feel valued, and the community feels the effect of that care.
Lael shared that Zion Outdoors wants to transform more than outdoor spaces. The company helps homeowners improve driveways, patios, pool decks, walkways, and other parts of the home, but the deeper mission is to bring joy into the process. For Lael, that means the team should know they matter. Homeowners should feel that the company cares about the people behind the project. The community should see a business that wants to serve, not only grow.
“We want to create a community and we want to bring joy.” Lael Bryant, Founder and CEO, Zion Outdoors
This message carries strong meaning for the home improvement, home services, and outdoor living industries. Many companies are trying to grow faster, add more locations, and win more customers. Yet growth can feel weak if the people inside the company do not feel connected to the mission. Lael’s view offers a different path. He shows that joy, care, and unity can become part of how a company hires, leads, trains, serves, and scales.
The conversation also showed why small moments matter. A team member who feels cared for may bring more care to a homeowner. A homeowner who feels respected may carry that trust into the community. A simple act of service may become part of a company’s name long after the work is done. This is why Lael’s message goes beyond patios, pool decks, and walkways. It speaks to the way people remember a business.
That belief also connects to the company’s wider scale and impact. Zion Outdoors has grown quickly in Texas while keeping its focus on people, culture, and service. The company’s work with Gem Scape™ and Cap Stone™ helps homeowners update old surfaces with strong, custom finishes, but Lael’s larger goal is to make sure the experience behind the work feels as strong as the finished result.
For leaders watching the conversation, the lesson is clear. A company can be skilled and still miss the human side of the work. It can grow and still lose warmth. It can win jobs and still fail to build trust. Lael’s approach shows that lasting impact starts when care becomes part of the daily rhythm of the business.
In that way, this PowerChat becomes more than a company story. It becomes a reminder that the future of home improvement will not be shaped by size alone. It will be shaped by leaders who know how to build strong teams, serve homeowners well, and create a culture where joy can be felt in the small things.
Zion Outdoors helps homeowners improve patios, walkways, driveways, pool decks, and backyard spaces, but Lael sees the work as bigger than the project itself. A finished outdoor space is important, but the people touched by the work matter even more.
That belief connects back to Lael’s own story. After selling his previous company and entering corporate America, he felt that success alone could not give him the purpose he was missing. What brought life back to the work was the chance to build again with people who shared values, cared about the mission, and wanted to grow together.
That is why joy matters so much in the way he talks about Zion. It gives the company a reason to grow that reaches beyond more projects, more markets, or more revenue. Growth becomes stronger when it helps team members feel valued, clients feel cared for, and communities see a company that wants to serve.
“We want to create a community and we want to bring joy.” Lael Bryant, Founder and CEO, Zion Outdoors
This is what makes the company story stand out in the outdoor living space. Zion is not trying to treat joy as a slogan. It is trying to make joy part of how people work, lead, and serve. For a Zion Outdoors concrete resurfacing company in Texas, that kind of mission gives each project a deeper meaning.
Lael made it clear that joy begins with how people are treated inside the company. Culture is not built only through one large meeting, a speech, or a set of words on a wall. It is built in the small moments that happen every day.
Those moments can be simple. A leader listens. A team member feels seen. Someone feels supported when the work is hard. A person knows that the company cares about more than what they produce.
Lael believes team members can sense when care is real because it comes from the heart. When employees feel that kind of care, it has a better chance of shaping how they treat clients, coworkers, and the people they meet in the community.
“These small interactions that my team member knows that Lael cares about them. And they sense it because I do because it emanates from my heart.” Lael Bryant, Founder and CEO, Zion Outdoors
The tone of the company starts with leadership. If leaders only talk about numbers, the team will feel that. If leaders show care, joy, and patience, the team can carry that spirit into the work. Lael’s message is that people cannot pass on care they have never felt. They must feel it first.
This is why small actions matter. A company can have strong services and still lose the people side of the work. But when care becomes part of the daily rhythm, the culture starts to feel real.
The care Lael describes does not stop inside the company. It moves into the homeowner experience.
Outdoor projects are personal. A patio is not just a patio. A walkway is not just a surface. A pool deck is not only concrete. These are places where families gather, rest, host friends, play with children, and enjoy time at home.
That makes the way a company serves just as important as the final result. Homeowners remember whether the team listened. They remember whether the process felt clear. They remember whether the people in their home acted with care.
Lael believes clients can feel when the company cares. They can also feel when a company is only there to complete the job and move on. That difference can shape trust before, during, and after the project.
“My clients know that, and the community knows that.” Lael Bryant, Founder and CEO, Zion Outdoors
This matters for any pool deck, patio, and driveway resurfacing contractor. The surface may be the service, but trust is part of the result. When a team brings joy into the way it works, the homeowner experience becomes more than a transaction.
For Lael, that is where the client relationship grows stronger. The best work is not only seen in the finished space. It is also felt in the way the homeowner was treated.
Lael’s view of joy also reaches beyond the team and the client. He wants Zion to leave a mark in the communities it serves. That means the company must think beyond the next sale and ask how its growth can help others.
One of the clearest examples is Walkways for Warriors™. For every 100 projects Zion completes, a United States veteran in one of the communities the company serves receives a walkway renovation at no cost. The idea turns company growth into a direct act of thanks.
The program reflects a simple belief. Veterans have given much for the country, and Zion wants to honor them in a practical way. A new walkway may improve safety, comfort, access, and daily life at home. It is a small way to say thank you with real work, not only words.
“We hope that we can transform even lives of those all around us.” Lael Bryant, Founder and CEO, Zion Outdoors
The company’s National Master Design Award in Outdoor Living also shows another side of impact. That honor speaks to craft, design, and the skill of the team. Walkways for Warriors™ speaks to the heart behind the company. Together, they show that Zion wants its work to carry both quality and care.
This is where joy becomes visible. It is seen in the finished project, but it is also seen in the choice to give back. Lael’s vision shows that a company can grow and still look beyond itself.
Growth can test any culture. When a company is small, leaders can stay close to every person and every choice. As the company adds locations, teams, and new layers of leadership, it becomes harder to keep the same spirit alive.
Lael knows that challenge is real. That is why he believes values must stay in front of the team. New team members are introduced to Zion’s mission, vision, and values during onboarding. The company also brings those values into team meetings, hiring questions, and leadership development.
One example is the Culture Champions exercise. Team members share how someone else in the company lived out one of the values. That practice helps people see the values in real life instead of only hearing them as words.
“The only thing that I know to keep me on point and keep me focused, and the rest of our team, is to keep those values in front of us.” Lael Bryant, Founder and CEO, Zion Outdoors
That kind of practice helps protect joy as the company grows. It reminds leaders and team members what the company is trying to be. It also gives people a shared language for care, service, and unity.
For Lael, values are not meant to decorate the company. They are meant to guide it. If Zion wants to keep bringing joy to team members, clients, and communities, the values must show up in the way people are hired, trained, led, and recognized.
Lael also spoke about the systems needed to support the company’s future. He sees broken technology as a problem that can create stress for employees and friction for customers. When the same information must be typed into several places, the business loses time and creates more room for mistakes.
His goal is to create a cleaner flow. Information should be entered once and then move through the company in a smooth way. That kind of system can help people work better, serve faster, and make fewer errors.
Zion is also looking at AI findability and Generative Engine Optimization so homeowners can better find and understand the company when they use AI tools. This matters because more customers are asking digital tools who they should trust, what service they need, and which company is the right fit.
For Zion, visibility is not only about being found. It is about being found for the right reasons. The company wants homeowners to see a clear picture of its work, its care, and its values. Services such as concrete resurfacing without demolition in Texas and Gem Scape™ and Cap Stone™ concrete overlay systems are part of that story, but Lael wants the human side to remain just as clear.
“I’d be more satisfied and fulfilled if at the end of this year we can say we lived and put others before ourselves, our team members, our community, our clients.” Lael Bryant, Founder and CEO, Zion Outdoors
The company is working toward a major growth goal, but Lael does not want the number to become the full story. He wants the growth to support the mission, not replace it. Systems, technology, and AI can help the company scale, but the purpose must stay rooted in people.
That is what makes this conversation so important for the wider industry. The future will bring new tools, new search habits, and new ways for homeowners to choose contractors. But the companies that stand out will still be the ones that care for people well.
The impact of Lael Bryant and Zion Outdoors can be seen in more than finished outdoor spaces. It can also be seen in the way the company celebrates the people who make that work possible.
One recent example is the company’s awards night, where top performers were honored across Sales, Installation, Lead Nurture, and Events. At first glance, an awards night may seem like a simple moment to hand out trophies. For Zion Outdoors, it became something deeper. It became a way to recognize the quiet work that often happens before anyone claps.
The early mornings. The late follow ups. The steady calls. The careful installs. The extra effort at events. The choice to keep showing up even when the work is hard.
That kind of recognition fits closely with Lael’s view of joy and care. In the PowerChat, he made it clear that culture is built through small moments. A team member needs to know they matter. A leader needs to notice the work that happens behind the scenes. A company needs to show people that excellence is not only expected, but also seen.
What made the awards even more meaningful was the range of people being honored. The winners were not from one age group, one background, or one stage of life. Some were in their 20s and already reaching the top of their field. Others had crossed 60 before earning one of the highest honors on the sales team.
That sends a clear message to the company and to the wider industry. Winning does not belong to one type of person. It belongs to people who stay steady, keep learning, and build the habits that lead to strong results.
For Lael and Zion Outdoors, the awards were not only a pat on the back. They were a public marker of the standard the company wants to protect. They showed the level of care, effort, discipline, and winning mindset that the team does not want to fall below.
That matters because joy without excellence can become empty. Excellence without care can become cold. Zion’s approach brings the two together. The company wants team members to feel valued, but it also wants them to keep growing. It wants to celebrate people, but it also wants to raise the bar.
This is where Lael’s leadership stands out. He is not only talking about joy as a feeling. He is connecting joy to discipline, service, pride in work, and the daily effort that helps a team become stronger.
“We do that by being joyful. We want to transform the lives of our team members, and we hope that we can transform even lives of those all around us.” Lael Bryant, Founder and CEO, Zion Outdoors
That belief shows up in how the company honors its people. When top performers are recognized across sales, installation, lead nurture, and events, the message is not limited to the winners. It gives the whole team something to chase. It reminds each person that their work matters, their growth matters, and their effort can help shape the future of the company.
For the outdoor living and home improvement industry, this is an important example. Companies often speak about growth, but the best growth is built by people who feel seen and still feel challenged. A team that is cared for can serve with more heart. A team that is held to a clear standard can serve with more skill.
That is the kind of influence Zion Outdoors is building from the inside out. Under Lael Bryant’s leadership, the company is showing that culture is not only protected through values on paper. It is protected when leaders honor the people who live those values in the field, on the phone, at events, and in the homes of the customers they serve.
As the PowerChat conversation closed, Lael Bryant’s message became simple and clear. Zion Outdoors is not only building outdoor spaces. It is building a way of work where people feel cared for before, during, and after the project.
That kind of care starts small. It can be found in the way a leader speaks to a team member, the way a crew treats a homeowner, the way a company honors hard work, and the way a business chooses to serve the community around it. For Lael, those moments are not separate from growth. They are part of what makes growth worth chasing.
His view gives the outdoor living and home improvement industry an important reminder. A company can finish more projects, open more markets, and reach bigger goals, but the people touched by the work still remember how they felt. They remember whether they were heard. They remember whether the team cared. They remember whether the company showed up with skill and heart.
Zion Outdoors is growing with that truth in mind. The company’s future will be shaped by the outdoor spaces it creates, but also by the joy, trust, and unity it leaves behind. That is what makes Lael’s leadership stand out. He is not only asking how large the company can become. He is asking how much good the company can do as it grows.
For Lael Bryant, joy is not a side note to the work of Zion Outdoors. It is part of the work itself. If the company can keep bringing care, unity, and purpose into each small interaction, then its growth will mean more than more projects completed. It will mean more lives touched along the way.
The Inner Circle unlocks every Power100 interview, PowerChat episode, and expert playbook — free for industry leaders.
Power100 is the nation's premier CEO ranking and media platform for the home improvement industry. Using a proprietary 5-layer evaluation system, Power100 identifies and celebrates the top CEOs, companies, and strategic partners driving innovation, customer satisfaction, and leadership excellence across the country.
