A short discussion about making a living and a career out of tree work, the different paths available, being Unemployable, and the E-myth...

Thanks for being here, I appreciate you.

- Patrick

www.educatedclimber.com/support

Jeff Jepson is one of my all-time favorite authors and he has a new book that just came out called Groundie. His previous books include The Tree Climber's Companion, To Fell A Tree, and Knots At Work. All of them are amazing. In this episode we take a deep dive into Jeff's writing process, how he chooses projects, the close call that inspired him to get writing and educating, how he lays out his books graphically, working with his illustrator Bryan Kotwica, how he got into the trade, what he's up to these days, as well as much, much more. I know you are going to get a lot of value out of this. Thanks for being here Climber Nation, I appreciate you!      - Patrick

Visit Jeff Jepson's website to connect with him:
www.beavertreemn.com

Visit The Educated Climber Podcast on the web:
www.educatedclimber.com/ecpodcast

Check out Educated Climber on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCroL14vN79ErKamK_dcopmQ

Peace out!

In this episode, I am joined by Jake Rogers (@guilty_of_treeson). We go in-depth into his backstory, his current role as superintendent at East Side Tree Works, where the name Guilty of Treeson came from, his thoughts on social media and Youtube, training new recruits, people skills vs. tree work skills, close calls, and much, much more. 

Follow Guilty of Treeson:

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCu4pT2XOGyTfnFcIUB13YZQ

Instagram: www.instagram.com/guilty_of_treeson

View the show notes page: www.educatedclimber.com/ecp-episode-25

In this episode of Small Business Stories on the Educated Climber Podcast, I am joined by @troytreeguy, Rob Hogg. We discuss his backstory, early mentors, adventures running a small business in this trade, close calls, advice for young people getting into tree work, as well as much, much more. I know you guys are going to get a lot of value out of this one!

- Patrick

Season 2 - Small Business Stories

This is the second part of the story of how I handed a lot of the control of my company ConservaTree over to my friend Alex, and how that arrangement has worked out so far. In this episode we talk about autonomy based on trust, the importance of having a disconnect between production and sales, cashflow and deposits, back-end systems, being dispassionate in the sales process, the safety perspective as it relates to customers, avoiding the race to the bottom, becoming a category of 1, and much, much more. I hope you enjoy this ongoing discussion of the ups and downs that we have encountered over the last few years in running our own small tree service business.

For more information about our company ConservaTree, you can follow us on Instagram: @conserva.tree, on Facebook: www.facebook.com/conservatree , or check out our website: www.conservatree.ca 

Thanks for listening!

- Patrick

In this episode of the podcast, I am joined by legendary climbing arborist, SRT advocate, and co-founder of Treebuzz.com, Tom Dunlap.

We dive into Tom's backstory and his over 40-year career in tree work, his mentors and influences along the way including Don Blair, the founding of Treebuzz along with Mark Chisholm in the early 2000's, Tom's late friend Dr. Peter Donzelli, the ANSI Z133 committee and accompanying safety standard, as well as much, much more. We had a lot of fun in this conversation and I know you guys are going to get a lot of value out of it. Thank you so much for taking the time to listen!!

Climb high, Work smart, Read more.

- Patrick

Small Business Stories

Season 2 Episode 2

Erik Keenan - Keenan Tree Care

In this episode of the podcast, I am joined by Erik Keenan. We dive into his backstory and how he got into the trade, how he moved from being an employee to entrepreneur, work-life balance, training and apprenticeship, and general trials and tribulations of being an owner-operator of a small tree care company. Continuing from our last episode, we talk about the chicken and the egg problems of hiring more help when you're not sure how you're even going to pay yourself, and how difficult it is to wear all of the hats in your business. Stick around, this is gonna be good!

Climb high, Work smart, Read more.

- Patrick

Season 2 Ep. 1 - Small Business Stories

This is (part of) the story of how I handed a lot of the control of my company ConservaTree over to my friend Alex, and how that arrangement has worked out so far. In this episode we talk about how Alex came to be involved in the company and in the trade, the decisions that lead up to his appointment as boss, how our arrangement works on a practical level, his role as diplomat with both customers and city officials, where we see the business heading in the future, his insights into training new recruits, why every tree care company needs a dedicated customer service person, what happens if you play Harvest Moon too long, and much, much more. This is gonna be good!

Climb high, Work smart, Read more.

- Patrick

In this special episode, we take a look at tips and tactics that could help a first-time competitor in an ISA-style tree climbing competition. I give my own advice, and then I'm joined by Chris Sallows and Brick Reilly who give us their own unique perspectives. My hope is that this information could be very helpful to someone who is competing for the first time and feeling overwhelmed in their preparations. This is by no means a definitive guide to competition climbing, but I definitely think there is some value here. Thanks for listening!

Climb high, Work smart, Read more.

- Patrick

Chris Sallows is a talented production climber in the private sector, as well as an up and coming competition climber on the Ontario circuit. In this conversation we talk about his backstory and how he got into the trade, mentors along the way, tornados, training for competitions, stress eating, heavy metal bands, and much, much more.

Climb high, Work smart, Read more.

- Patrick

 This episode of the Educated Climber Podcast is brought to you by the new SAKA mini-MAX from Richard Mumford at ClimbingInnovations.com. This is the newest version of the classic SAKA knee ascender that is known and loved the world over. The new mini-MAX has be redesigned to be more versatile and adjustable. Get your SAKA mini-MAX today at www.climbinginnovations.com!

Chris on Instagram: @chrissallows

Chris on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA_d9bAPn1HrCCplPuCaBMg