TCIA Podcast

In this episode, we celebrate Women in Tree Care Month with Megan Bujnowski, and talk about being a woman in a male-dominated industry and how she has navigated it.

Megan Bujnowski was, until recently, a safety supervisor in Charlotte, North Carolina, for a large tree care company. She is currently working for various training companies and pursuing starting her own business in the industry with a focus on women-led training as well as women-specific courses.

Our sponsor for this episode is COPMA.

In this episode, we celebrate Women in Tree Care Month with Bear LeVangie, Rebecca Seibel, and Melissa LeVangie Ingersoll, and talk about the Women's Tree Climbing Workshop.

Bear LeVangie is an ISA TRAQ Certified Arborist, CT licensed arborist, and MA Qualified Tree Warden. She is the co-founder of the Women’s Tree Climbing Workshop and serves as a lead instructor and as the Executive Director. Bear's career in arboriculture includes utility, research, invasive species inspection, education, production climber, IPM, and training. Bear also served as New England Chapter Past-President holds pesticide licenses in CT, MA, and NY, and is a retired NETCC Champion and ITCC climber.

Melissa LeVangie Ingersoll is a passionate educator about trees, tree care, and tree climbing among many other extensive topics. She holds many professional certifications, including an ISA Certified Arborist, an ISA Tree Climbing Specialist, and a Tree Risk Assessment Qualification. Outside of being a Co-Founder of the WTCW (Women’s Tree Climbing Workshop) a workshop for women taught by women to climb trees with an emphasis on arboriculture; she is the Educational Director and a Business Development Advocate for Shelter Tree/RBI, a premier arborist equipment supplier. She is the Past-President of the Massachusetts Tree Wardens & Foresters Association and of the New England Chapter of ISA   

Rebecca Seibel is a passionate nature lover who draws on over 20 years of experience in the trees. Rebecca is a natural teacher.  Her easy-to-approach personality makes her an effective leader, one who understands how to empower others in order to harness their best.
 Rebecca is a lead instructor for the Women’s Tree Climbing Workshop, a lead instructor for North American Training Solutions, she also owns TreeSpirit Consulting, LLC, a contract climbing, in-person, and online safety training business. Her qualifications include: ISA Board Certified Master Arborist, TRAQ holder, TCIA Certified TreeCare Safety Professional, Consulting Utility Forester Professional Qualified, past MN Tree Climbing Champion, and past ITCC Competitor.

To learn more about the Women's Tree Climbing Workshop, please visit their website.

Our sponsor for this episode is COPMA.

In this episode, we celebrate Women in Tree Care Month with April Petree, owner of Petree Arbor Lawn and Landscape Inc., and talk what to do when disaster strikes your business.

April Petree, is the owner of Petree Arbor Lawn & Landscape, INC.  She has been in the tree care industry since 2000. She has been presented with the Patriotic Award from ESGR along with other awards the company and employees have won through the ISA and TCIA. Currently, she is in the process of obtaining Certification to classify as a Women-Owned business.

Our sponsor for this episode is COPMA.

In this episode, we sit down with Stephenie Drago, Director of Marketing and Communications at TCIA, and talk about the marketing strategies that she believes will help make a brand successful.

Stephenie is a seasoned communications and business development professional who has partnered with a variety of companies to grow their professional brands. Her focus is building human-to-human relations with one common goal: to provide information, products, and educational services to consumers by enriching their experiences and creating profitability for companies. Steph brings what truly drives conversions both in clients and staffing – how well you connect with the heart-beating people your staff is trying to serve and supporting the staff that you serve.

Our sponsor for this episode is COPMA.

In this episode, we sit down with Heather Dirksen, President of Arbor Masters Tree and Landscape* and talk about the strategies that she implements that have led to her becoming a successful leader.

Heather is the President of Arbor Masters, a 3rd generation family-owned business located mainly throughout the South and Midwest. She served in the military and became an entrepreneur at the age of 28 when she started a flight school to mitigate the cost of training. A few years later she joined her husband at his landscape company and ended up falling in love with the green industry, especially trees. Heather is passionate about developing leaders and developing herself to lead better. 

Our sponsor for this episode is COPMA.

*Since this episode has aired, Heather has pursued other opportunities and is now the Strategic Advisor at SingleOps LLC.

In this episode, we sit down with Aiden O'Brien, Advocacy and Standards Manager at TCIA, and talk about Leg Day, WMC, and the tree care standards for OSHA.

Aiden is TCIA’s Advocacy & Standards Manager. Previously, he worked as a Government Affairs Associate, representing corporate and trade association clients before the New Hampshire Legislature. He has experience in both public policy and campaign politics and is working towards expanding the use of the ANSI A300 Standards and enhancing the VFT-PAC: TCIA’s political action committee.

To sign up for the Rooted in Politics Newsletter, visit our website.

Our sponsors for this episode are Samson Rope, Bobcat and COPMA.

In this episode, we sit down with John Lewis and Bob Longo and talk about the importance of networking.

John and Bob are both Membership Engagement Coordinators (MECs) at TCIA. John is the MEC for the Midwest Region, while Bob is the MEC for the South Region. As MECs, their job is to provide our members with the resources they need to help their businesses succeed. This means not only are they knowledgeable about all of our TCIA programs and offerings, they are also knowledgeable in how to run a successful business.

To learn more about John, Bob, or any of our other MECs, just visit our website.

Our sponsors for this episode are Samson Rope, Bobcat and COPMA.

In this episode, we sit down with Tana Byrd, Star Quintero, Nicole "Carni" Benjamin-Harden , Maria Tranguch, and Betsy Park to talk about climbing competitions and the connections that they have made by participating in them.

Our sponsors for this episode are Samson Rope, Bobcat and COPMA.

In this episode, we sit down with Peter de Vries and Josua Hundertmark to go over access lines and the safety standards of tree care in other countries.

Peter de Vries is the owner of Designs by de Vries and North American Courant Vertical Living Promoter. He has been in the green industry for 25 years and specifically trees for the last seven years. Peter is also a volunteer firefighter for the past 15 years and is am currently the Fire Chief at my local hall. He has also been married for 15 years and has two sons ages 11 and 9. You can check out Peter's Instagram here.

Josua "Josh" Hundertmark, has been in the trees since 2006 and self-employed since 2012. His tree care business is a small network-based tree care company. Additionally, Josua is a tree-climbing teacher in Germany as well as a Courant Vertical Living Promoter for Europe since 2021. Josua is Married and has two girls 3 and 6 years old. Currently, he is living in Michelstadt, a small town in the southern portion of Germany. You can check out Josua's Instagram here.

Our sponsors for this episode are Samson Rope, Bobcat and COPMA.

In this episode, we sit down with Tim Walsh and discuss his achievement of being CTSP 000001 and his support of the program.

Tim is the Corporate Safety Director for the Davey Tree Expert Co.
Tim is working on his doctorate, in ergonomics and safety. His research looks at risk in the tree care profession. He has a Master’s degree in ergonomics from the University of Massachusetts-Lowell. He has Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Urban Forestry from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. He is a Certified Treecare Safety Professional. He is an ISA Certified Arborist and Tree Worker, New Hampshire certified arborist, and a Maine licensed arborist. Tim has also been a climbing arborist for more than 30 years, has owned his own business, and worked with companies around the world.

Our sponsors for this episode are Samson Rope, Bobcat and COPMA.