Anyone who has been self-employed in their life knows that it comes with a blessing and a curse. The blessing is the possibility of having more money and more time to do other things. The curse of almost any business owner (especially in the beginning) is being a slave to your business and having little money and no time!

The goal of every entrepreneur is to get to the blessing stage of their growing business! I have enjoyed this experience of building a company from the ground up and everything that entailed. The best part of my business has always been meeting new people, who then normally turn into customers. Another great part of owning a tree service in Northern Idaho and Eastern Washington is the fact that it’s somewhat seasonal, normally working from April through October, almost nonstop, and then having most of the winter off.

Owning Northern Lakes Tree Service has afforded my family and me the finances and time to be able to help people not just here in the U.S.

• like our half-way house for teens in Coeur d'Alene way back in 1999, but in other countries as well. Starting in 2000 and ending in 2004, at which time during the winter months we would go to Mexico and Belize, Central America, to help in the building of community centers and doing food and clothing distribution.
• In the spring of 2005, I made the first of many trips to "Haiti,” that small island country that was devastated by the 2010 earthquake. We were able to set up teams from Seattle, Washington, the Midwest, Arizona, Northern Idaho, and Eastern Washington to join us in aiding the Haitian people.
• My wife really has a heart for children, and so for the last three years at Christmas time, we have been able to buy hundreds of outfits for children in a small fishing village in the Philippines.
• The main reason my family and I have been able to experience all these things is the fact that I have been blessed enough, at a very early age, to be self-employed. I have the money and the time to help those in need.