Welcome back to ATCP in the Canopy, the official podcast of the Association of Tree Care Professionals. This episode dives into the story of a 20-year-old who lost almost everything to a Category 5 hurricane and started a tree care company with an F-150, $2,500, and a single Stihl 461. Get ready for a conversation packed with hard-earned lessons on marketing, culture, accountability, and what it really costs to build something that lasts. Host and ATCP Committee Member Austin Lee sits down with ATCP member Ty Picard, owner of Top Tier in Sulphur, Louisiana. Ty built his company from a storm cleanup hustle into a nine-employee, $2.3 million operation known for its professionalism, its wages, and a culture strong enough to police itself. Join us as he shares his unfiltered journey from zero equipment experience to business owner, employer, and advocate for higher standards in the trade. In this episode, you'll learn: 0:00 - Introduction & Welcome to the Canopy 1:03 - Hurricane Laura and Losing Almost Everything 1:32 - Homeschooled, a Business Degree at 18, and the Itch to Own Something 2:30 - From Day Trading to Tree Work 3:27 - The Storm Chaser Horror Stories That Revealed the Opportunity 4:25 - Ignoring the People Who Said Don't Do It 5:45 - Starting With an F-150, $2,500, and a Stihl 461 6:14 - Getting Turned In for Operating Without an Arborist License 7:13 - Hiring Coby, the First Employee, Still Here Five Years Later 8:11 - The Golden Rule: Own It, Fix It, Move On 9:05 - The Rough First Year and the Cost of Cheap Equipment 10:33 - "Your Parents Must Be Rich" and the Self-Made Myth 11:32 - Learning on the Job and Never Being Afraid to Ask for Help 13:23 - The Horror Story: An Excavator, a Four-Wheeler, and Midnight Cleanup 16:11 - Transitioning From Storm Work to Everyday Residential Work 17:11 - Branding Early: The Vistaprint Logo, Uniforms, and Yard Signs 18:40 - When $20 Facebook Boosts Printed Five Phone Calls 19:35 - Running 10 to 15 Lead Channels, and the One That Brought 167 Calls 20:05 - Door Hangers in the Rain: Grinding When Work Slowed Down 23:23 - Trading Your Time for the Marketing Money You Don't Have 25:50 - What Didn't Work: Four-Wheeler Trailers and Secondhand Chainsaws 26:48 - The Toxic Employee He Held Onto Way Too Long 28:15 - Choosing Bryson Over the Better Operator 30:11 - Nine Employees, $2.3M, and Shifting From Growth to Margin 31:40 - Why You Can't Pay Someone $15 an Hour and Expect a Life 32:38 - Five Employees Bought Houses, and Guys Knocking on Six Figures 33:34 - Hire for Attitude, Train for Results 34:33 - Aligning Employee Goals With Company Goals 36:50 - What It Feels Like to Provide for Nine Families 38:18 - Paying Himself Last and Reinvesting Everything 39:13 - Growth vs. Profit: Do Benefits Eat Your Margin? 41:38 - The $10,000 Crew Bonus Pool That Changed Everything 44:33 - Crew Accountability and $5 a Minute for Being Late 46:27 - Cutting $15,000 in Damages Down to $3,000 in Six Months 48:22 - Carrot, Stick, and Letting Culture Police Itself 50:34 - Radical Transparency: The Shared Note Everybody Could See 52:56 - Why Ty Joined the ATCP 53:55 - What Joe's Emergency Tree Response Class Opened Up 55:51 - The $4,000 Weekend That Paid Back $17,000 in Three Weeks 58:15 - The ATCP, the Louisiana Arborist Association, and Raising Standards Together 1:00:12 - Love, Defined as Willing the Good of the Other 1:02:06 - Lightning Round: Chainsaws, Lifts vs. Climbing, and Caffeine 1:02:56 - Would He Change Anything? Regret, Anxiety, and Staying Present 1:04:31 - The "Must Be Nice" Guys and What They Don't See 1:06:11 - Final Advice: Choose Your Hard Whether you're a solo operator with a saw in the back of a pickup or running multiple crews, Ty's story offers real, hard-won lessons on marketing, hiring, accountability, and building a place people are proud to work. Ty is 26. His climber is 27. His COO is 25. If you think you're too young, too broke, or too inexperienced to build something real in this industry, this episode will change your mind. About ATCP: The Association of Tree Care Professionals (ATCP) is dedicated to elevating the standards of the tree care industry through education, safety protocols, and professional networking. Subscribe to our channel to stay updated with future episodes of ATCP in the Canopy: https://www.youtube.com/@A.T.C.Professionals Learn more about ATCP membership: https://atcpros.org/ Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AssociationOfTreeCareProfessionals Connect with our guest: Top Tier: https://www.toptierswla.com/ If you enjoyed this episode, please hit the Like button and share it with your fellow tree care professionals! #ATCP #TreeCareIndustry #ATCPInTheCanopy #Arboriculture #TopTierTreeService #TreeCareBusiness #Entrepreneurship #CompanyCulture #TreeServiceLife #SmallBusinessGrowth
