Rebecca Johnson, founder and owner of Arborholic LLC, has a list of arborist credentials a mile long, but laughs when she says she’s never worked full time for a tree care company. “I actually ended up in forestry kind of by default,” she says of her degree from Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Oklahoma. “I did landscape design at one point, but I knew I didn’t have the imagination or creativity for that, and I knew I didn’t want to be a logger or go into the park service.”

Instead, Johnson says, she learned everything she could about the tree care industry while occasionally helping out at the tree company her husband worked for. “I was dragging brush and doing some mowing,” she says. “Back then (in her 20s), I looked around and didn’t see other women in this job, and I decided it was just too physical for me. I let myself believe the lie. There are so many improvements (to climbing) these days. Back then, they were still teaching hip thrust.”

To further her knowledge of trees and tree care, Johnson says she “spent a lot of time asking questions, going on ride-arounds with other companies, going to conferences, reading and talking to other arborists. I was about as hands-on as I could be without getting paid.”

She also pursued her ISA Certified Arborist credential. “I passed the exam, and no one would hire me. I present very feminine – slim and with long hair. I’m sure they thought I couldn’t do the job,” she notes. “Finally, I got hired by a nonprofit in Austin (Texas) called TreeFolks. It was a lot of fun teaching people about trees and working with volunteers at plantings at parks and other municipal sites. And I really got to stress safety, which is so important to me.”

Gaining credentials also led to her becoming more active in her local ISA chapter (ISA Texas), eventually serving on the board in leadership roles. “Serving on the executive committee of ISA Texas helped me make important connections, while also allowing me to make an impact in choosing the trainings our state chapter offered. I was instrumental in bringing the Women’s Tree Climbing Workshop to Texas, ensuring that more women have access to the training I wish I had had early in my career,” Johnson says.

Finding her niche
Eventually, Johnson struck out on her own and started up Arborholic, a TCIA corporate member consulting company since 2019. She says her husband jokingly came up with the name because of her obsession with trees and teaching others how to care for their tree investments. As her company website says, “Hi, I’m Rebecca, and I’m an Arborholic. I’m addicted to helping trees and the people who care for them.”

Johnson explains that she found her niche not in physical tree care work, but in offering arborist consultations, tree inventories, urban-forest
management plans, tree coaching – even a Certified Arborist exam prep course. “What I find most interesting is talking with the public about trees and tree care,” she notes. “But I love the (Certified Arborist) prep class I teach, because I get to talk to budding arborists and help them break out of bad habits.”
She adds that many of those taking her prep class are with tree care companies that don’t stress adherence to ANSI standards. “Safety for me is a big thing,” she says. “There are too many stupid accidents happening. Some of these people had mentors who taught one-handed chain-saw use, or who didn’t worry about wearing chaps in the summer if it was too hot. And correct pruning! I hear all the time, ‘What? I thought we were supposed to prune that way!’”

The importance of credentials
Pursuing training and furthering her knowledge of trees, pruning and general tree care has always been foremost in Johnson’s career. In addition to being a Certified Treecare Safety Professional (CTSP) and an ISA Certified Arborist, she also is a TCIA Qualified Trainer (QT), holds her Tree Risk Assessment Qualification (TRAQ) credential and is Texas Oak Wilt Qualified and Texas Wildfire Risk Reduction Qualified.

Johnson explains that the latter credential trains arborists to go out and teach homeowners ways to reduce the fire risk around their homes, such as by cleaning leaves out of gutters, keeping flammable mulch away from homes and keeping larger shrubs away from trees where they could catch fire and spark up into the canopy. “And no bamboo!” she adds. “It’s very volatile!”

The road to Accreditation auditor
With her broad knowledge of tree care and a desire to keep learning, Johnson says she definitely was interested in becoming an Accreditation auditor. “I’d heard so many good things about the program, and it fits my values and my market niche,” she notes. “I want to help make this industry safer, more professional and much better.”

Johnson adds that her experience provides the perfect segue into this new position. For one thing, she says, she worked as a paralegal and a contract compliance officer, so she knows her way around the paperwork aspect of the Accreditation process. “I also think the fact that I’m really good with people and love talking to them. I’m totally comfortable with asking the questions that need to be asked. And finally, my dedication to making the industry better, safer and understanding the science better – just taking better care of trees.

“If I could do one thing for this industry, it would be to end lions tailing once and for all,” she adds with a laugh.

Johnson’s training as an Accreditation auditor – the first female auditor to boot – started with a full day of training at TCIA’s headquarters in New Hampshire with TCIA Accreditation program staff Jen D’Urso, Alex Allbritton and Bob Rouse. Then there were several ride-alongs with Rouse, TCIA’s senior vice president of business support, to tree care companies applying for re-Accreditation in places like Branson, Missouri, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Her first solo audit will be a re-Accreditation at Kinnucan Tree Experts & Landscape Company in Lake Bluff, Illinois.

“Rebecca has a really engaging personality that helps company owners and employees feel at ease working with her,” Rouse notes. “This is one of the most important attributes of an auditor that helps all parties realize we are all working toward the same goal of business, safety and technical improvement.”

“I can’t tell you how excited I am to have this opportunity to learn more and meet more people in this industry,” says Johnson. “It’s been a lot of fun seeing all that gear and equipment actually in use (on ride-alongs), things I’ve only seen at EXPO. And seeing the joy and excitement some people have for their jobs – there’s just not enough excitement in life!”

Patricia Chaudoin has been a freelance writer/editor for more than four decades, in areas as disparate as tree care, golf, weddings, luxury travel and international non-profit NGOs. She has been writing for TCI Magazine since 2016.