Bio, Career and Mentors

My name is Brian, and I am a horticultural lifer. My journey as a professional, began about 30 years ago, starting at the very bottom, on an irrigation crew, digging trenches and installing sprinkler systems on large commercial sites. During my free time, I took the blue prints home with me, to read, study the concepts, details and notes, pertaining to the proper installation of landscape, irrigation, drainage and hardscape. Over the next 3 years, I was promoted over to the Maintenance Division, became a Portfolio Manager, and after another 4 years, I was promoted back to the Construction Division, working under the company President and Division Vice President. I later assumed, the Director of Construction Operations in 2008. In total, I spent a little over 12 years with this design/build company, in various positions. We had many divisions, including Architectural, Construction, Maintenance, Tree Service, Nursery, Logistics, and Engineering.

During the recession of 2008, I witnessed our company dramatically come to a crawl. This motivated me, to expand my horizons, and grow to be more of a complete “professional”. I went full speed ahead into the study of Aboriculture. On my own, I studied and passed the 8 hour, International Society of Arboriculture(ISA), Certified Arborist Exam in early 2009. Over the following decade, I have tried to separate myself from the competition in our industry, by obtaining 4 more licensed credentials. My credentials include: ISA Certified Arborist, TRAQ(Tree Risk Assessment Qualified), Oak Wilt Certified, TDA(Tx. Dept. of Agriculture) Pest/Herb Applicator, and a TX. State Licensed Irrigator.

I am extremely motivated, but I am also, very lucky and blessed. Along the journey, I have been humbled more than a few times, but more importantly, I have been mentored by a few awesome men. These men, saw something in me, took an interest in me, gave me an awful lot of “tough love”, but they constantly mentored me, and developed me into the professional, that I am today. This mentoring, developed me into a leader, a true professional. It also provided structure, discipline and skillsets, that emphasized the importance and development of strong client relationships. I owe so much to these men, they motivated me, let me grow through minor failures, diversified me, demanded strong ethics coupled with accountability, they emphasized performing all work correctly, and gave me opportunities. Today, I fully realize what they did for me, and I constantly attempt to “pay it forward”, by leading my crew, using an open mind, promoting inclusion of everyone involved, and working behind everyone, thus promoting the team, putting myself last. In closing, I want to provide you with something that was repeated to me many times, over the years from D.H.

“Only do, what you can do, when you can do it! Do not placate your clients.”

D. Hunter(President/Owner)