People often ask me how I got into tree care, but the truth is, my story didn’t begin with trees.

I grew up watching my father run his restaurant. Long before I understood what it meant to own a business, I watched him take care of people. I saw the long hours, the sacrifices, the pride in doing things properly, and the importance of treating every customer with honesty and respect. Without realizing it at the time, that became the foundation of how I would eventually approach my own business and the level of service I wanted every SapBorn client to experience.

Before becoming an arborist, I also spent more than ten years with one of Canada’s largest telecommunications companies. I started as a Customer Service Representative before becoming a Team Leader and eventually a Training Officer, helping develop the people responsible for serving thousands of customers every day. Those years taught me something that has stayed with me ever since: people may not always remember every detail of the service they received, but they’ll always remember how they were treated.

When I entered the arboriculture industry, I found a career that challenged me in every possible way. Over nearly fifteen years, I learned from experienced arborists, climbed thousands of trees, worked through storms, tackled complex projects, and developed a deep respect for the responsibility that comes with caring for something that can take decades—or even centuries—to grow. The technical knowledge came with experience, but my approach to people had already been shaped long before I ever put on a climbing saddle. Those experiences continue to influence every tree care recommendation and every tree service we provide today.

In 2024, I decided it was time to build something of my own.

SapBorn started with just $3,000, no truck, and very little equipment. My first contract was in Toronto, and without a vehicle, I travelled from Hamilton by public transit with my climbing gear on my back. Every dollar I earned went straight back into the business. I bought equipment one piece at a time, took on every opportunity I could, and slowly built the company through hard work, persistence, and the trust of people who believed in me before SapBorn had much of a reputation. Today, I’m proud to provide professional tree care services throughout Hamilton and the surrounding communities while continuing to build the company on those same values.

The name SapBorn has always been a reminder of where we started.

A sapling doesn’t become a strong tree overnight. It begins small, develops roots before anyone notices its growth, and becomes stronger with time, patience, and the right care. Looking back, I realized that SapBorn was growing the very same way. What started as a small idea slowly became something bigger, stronger, and more established—not because it grew quickly, but because it grew with purpose.

As the company grew, so did the philosophy behind it.

After spending most of my life working around trees, I’ve come to believe that every tree has a story. Some have survived storms that should have brought them down. Some have healed from old wounds. Some have watched families grow beneath their branches for generations. Every tree is somewhere along its own journey of growth, maturity, decline, and renewal. Understanding that story is, in my opinion, the foundation of responsible tree care.

That perspective has changed the way I see my role.

I don’t see myself as someone who simply provides tree services. I see myself as someone who’s been given the opportunity to understand something that most people don’t have the time or experience to learn. My responsibility is to share that knowledge in a way that’s honest, practical, and easy to understand. I want every client to walk away knowing more about their trees than they did before we met, regardless of whether any work is recommended.

I believe that when people understand the story behind their trees—their strengths, their challenges, and where they are in their natural life cycle—they’re able to make better decisions with confidence. Sometimes those decisions involve intervention, and sometimes they don’t. Either way, my role is the same: to educate, to guide, and to help people make informed choices they’ll feel good about for years to come. That’s what I believe professional tree care should be.

Today, SapBorn has grown far beyond those first trips to Toronto with my climbing gear on my back, but the values that built this company haven’t changed. I still believe that trust is earned through honesty, professionalism, and treating every client the way I’d want my own family to be treated. Whether we’re visiting a homeowner for a consultation or providing tree care services for a property, that’s the standard I hold myself to, and it’s the standard I want SapBorn to be known for as we continue to grow.

Every tree tells a story. We’re just here to guide it.