Celebrating Women in the Green Industry

Happy International Women's Day! Emily Mumford from Davey's South St. Paul office joins us to share her experience as a woman in arboriculture, including breaking stigmas in a male-dominated field, supporting other women in the industry and highlighting Davey's commitment to diversity and equity. 

To find your local Davey office, check out our find a local office page to search by zip code.

To learn about Davey's commitment to corporate responsibility, please visit Corporate Responsibility | Davey Tree

Connect with Davey Tree on social media:
Twitter: @DaveyTree
Facebook: @DaveyTree
Instagram: @daveytree
YouTube: The Davey Tree Expert Company
LinkedIn: The Davey Tree Expert Company 

Connect with Doug Oster at www.dougoster.com. 

Have topics you'd like us to cover on the podcast? Email us at podcasts@davey.com. We want to hear from you!

Transcript

Copy Transcript Copied

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to the Deby Tree Expert Company's podcast, Talking Trees. I'm your host, Doug Oester. Each week, our expert arborists share advice on seasonal tree care, how to make your trees thrive, arborists' favorite trees, and much, much more. Tune in every Thursday to learn more because here at the Talking Trees Podcast, we know trees are the answer. I'm joined again this week by Emily Mumford. She's an assistant district manager for the South St. Paul, Minnesota office of the Davy Tree Expert Company, and I thought this was pretty cool. Emily won the women in the green industry, Unsung Hero, Green Industry Pros Award, July 2025. Well, Emily, welcome back to the show and congratulations on the award. Tell me a little bit about that. That's

Women in the Green industry Unsung Hero Award

SPEAKER_00 0:50

kind of exciting.

SPEAKER_01 0:51

Yeah, thank you. Um, the Unsung Hero nomination is geared more towards women who have been in the field for a little while and have established themselves a bit. Um, it was a surprise and an honor to win it. Um, but I I'm glad to represent.

SPEAKER_00 1:08

So I want to talk a little bit about women in arbiculture.

How did Emily get into the green industry?

SPEAKER_00 1:12

International Women's Day was March 8th. When did you get into this and how did you get into this? Uh, because it's a male-dominated career, but lots of great women working in the industry, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_01 1:26

I've always loved the outdoors and I love science. And um, when I went to college, I got a biology degree. I was uh in like a pre-med focus. Um, but as I was nearing graduation, I was thinking about spending my life indoors as a doctor. And so um I volunteered for a summer with the St. Paul Forestry Department doing some tree surveys, and I got an introduction, a taste of what it would be like to be in Evora culture. And um, I just got super excited, my focus completely changed, and that's the direction I headed in. So um yeah, as far as being a woman in Ebora culture, you know, it wasn't much of a thought for me. I grew up in an environment where my options for what I wanted to do or become weren't very dependent on gender. Um, if you know, if it was something I liked and I loved and I wanted to pursue it, then I should pursue it. So uh yeah, that's how I got into it.

SPEAKER_00 2:29

Were there questions from people in the industry when you got into the uh arbiculture that, like, why a woman or why do you want to do it? Or did they just accept you as like, hey, okay, she wants to climb trees, she wants to cut this, let's train her.

SPEAKER_01 2:45

Yeah, I mean, most people that know me know that I'm stubborn and I'm gonna do what I need to do. Um, my grandma was pretty concerned about long-term what it would look like for me, but um yeah, I it generally was pretty easy for people to accept that this was going to be my passion and I would I would find a way with it.

SPEAKER_00 3:03

So how did you find your way to Davy?

How did Emily find Davey?

SPEAKER_01 3:06

Okay, so um after I discovered that I wanted to be an arborist, um, I did get a job with a municipal forestry department, um, just an entry-level seasonal job. We did a lot of tree planting, some inventory type work. Um I got my commercial driver's license and operated some equipment, learned to prune trees. Um, and that just developed into a year-round position. Um, basically, like it's meant to be seasonal, but I found a way to stick around every season. So um, and then I got my um official ISA Arbor certification while I was there. Um and then I wanted to come back home. I'm from Minnesota um and I was working out of state. So um looking at options, my forester at the time recommended Davy Tree is a good company to work for. Um so I applied and um I got hired to work in the field with Davy Tree. So I started out um in the field um running equipment, and then I got to learn how to climb trees, which is um just a really a big point of of joy and pride for me that I can do that. I love being up there and um I spent about a year in the field, so I won't say that I'm the most talented climbing arborist, but I can do it, and I love being up there when I can get up there.

Female climbers proving themselves in the field

SPEAKER_00 4:31

So but hey, you were climbing for a year. That's uh more than most people could do, trust me. Um you know, when the Davy team comes here, oftentimes there's a female climber. I don't think anything of it. But I'm sure you you must hear something along the lines from a homeowner. Like, are you sure it's okay for her to climb or or that sort of thing?

SPEAKER_01 4:51

Yeah, we do get some questions and resistance. Uh like initially in my first forestry job, um, there were certain like comments. Like one of my managers said, um, like women shouldn't use chainsaws because if they get a scar, um, that would like ruin their life. But men, for men, scars are a badge of honor. You know, so there are certain perceptions that you that I had to fight through, I guess. And um, even coming to Davy, um, most of the managers on were on board with hiring me in the field, but there was somebody who was really skeptical of it. I was the first female climbing arborist at at my office. So um there were hesitations on whether or not I could do it. But um, but the crew was great, and um I didn't have a ton of resistance with that, and so I feel like I was able to fit in pretty quickly, and um, we've hired a lot more female arborists in the field since then. So um I'm I'm proud of that and proud to kind of prove that that one person wrong. I feel like in the field, it's not usually like the general it community that's against women or anything, or uh there's always just like one or two voices that are that are negative, but um overall I feel like it's been pretty supportive.

SPEAKER_00 6:13

Yeah, well, one thing you said there was about proving yourself, and that's obviously what you did. Uh, but I think that's a lot of pressure. I think it's a lot of pressure when somebody in anything that you're doing, that someone kind of doubts you, which happens at work, and uh the fact that you did go in there and prove yourself, that's pretty cool. Did you feel pressure though to prove yourself?

SPEAKER_01 6:38

Yes, but I mean I think I mentioned already that I'm pretty stubborn and um you know if I put my mind to something, I'm gonna do it. I feel I almost feel like if someone tells me I can't do something, that's it's motivation rather than a deterrent for me personally.

SPEAKER_00 6:52

So after you were climbing, where

Emily moving up at Davey

SPEAKER_00 6:54

where did you transition for Davy?

SPEAKER_01 6:56

Yep, so then I moved into a sales and consulting position with Davy. So I've um I've did that position for seven years. And um there is pros and cons with that too, I guess, through the lens of being a woman. Um generally like I'm you know, doing my job, but um there, you know, with a lot of clients, I'd have to prove my background. Like people would say, Oh, what did you go to school for? Did you ever actually do this work? And then I'd have to kind of give my resume, which when talking to my male colleagues, I found out that they don't really get that kind of questioning. So um there was that. But there's also some really cool moments too, um, particularly with some of my like more elderly female clients, um, really bonded over that kind of stuff because some of the women who came before me didn't have the opportunity to get hired in this field, and they, you know, they also really love trees, and they just think it's so cool that I I've been able to do this. So um I I think that's been really special to bond in those moments.

SPEAKER_00 8:04

I think it sounds groundbreaking to me. I like that. I mean, I know you probably don't want to uh say it that way, but from looking from the outside, to me, that looks groundbreaking when wherever you you go to work when you're the first person to do something, that's groundbreaking and being stubborn. Yeah. Again, you prove you proved yourself, which is so awesome. And then moved up in the company too. You know, this is good stuff. Did you feel

Supporting women at Davey

SPEAKER_00 8:32

many more challenges as you went through your career when you got out of climbing and doing what you're doing now? Well, I mean, I've approached the topic before on the podcast, but discuss a little bit about the support you got when you moved to Davy.

SPEAKER_01 8:46

Yeah, uh one thing I found with coming to Davy is there were some women in upper management that I was able to connect with as mentors. Um, and I just want to reiterate like I had some great male mentors too, um, and people to look up to, but there is something special about being able to connect personally with other people in your field, people who are like you. So um I feel really lucky to have had the opportunity at Davy for that. Um there's also some things too, like uh Davy's really committed to having equal access to women in the field. So um they've worked closely with Arborware, for example, to create a female a women's clothing line for us, which definitely improves performance and comfortability in the field. And um, the trainers have um been really conscientious about learning how different body types are in the field. Women generally tend to use their lower body a lot more to um access trees, and men use more upper body. Uh again, these are generalizations, but knowing that it's nice to have access to foot ascenders and knee ascenders and tools for women to be just as successful in getting the job done. There's been some cool moments for me too. So that's like more field focused, but um also just as a woman who also is um married and wanted to have kids, um I did have my daughter when I was in my sales and consulting role. And because there's so few women, again, in the in the field or in the industry, um, there wasn't really a maternity policy in play yet. But um, I got a lot of support from my management team and we went to legal, and I was able to kind of draw up my own maternity plan that worked well for me. And I thought that was a huge win. And since then, seeing Davy create um some really supportive maternity and paternity policies, um, that's that's just been great to see.

SPEAKER_00 10:50

I want to go back to the uniforms and the

Women's climbing gear

SPEAKER_00 10:53

gear you're you're wearing when you're working. I think that's a fascinating point that again you wouldn't think of until you have women working in the field and realizing it's got to be different. Well, like I said, when that team from Davy comes to my place to work and there's a woman climber, that's that's the diverse part that that I like. That like anybody, you know, you look and say, Well, this is cool. Anybody could do this job if they put their mind to it.

SPEAKER_01 11:20

Yeah, I I mean I mentioned like I think less than 10% of arborists being women. Um, there's a lot of other ways to represent diversity, age and race, and you know, with gender, things like that. Um, just overall, I'm a firm believer that the more diversity you have, the more different thinking that you have that comes together, it's a win for everybody because everybody with their different backgrounds and identities will have more solutions. And so just getting everyone around the table um is a proof. So tell me

What is Emily doing at Davey now?

SPEAKER_01 11:55

about your job.

SPEAKER_00 11:55

I want to know exactly what you're doing now.

SPEAKER_01 11:58

Okay, so I'm the assistant district manager here at South St. Paul. I got this role three years ago now. It feels like it's flown by really quickly. Um, so I feel like this role is really exciting because it's always about problem solving, and I get to hire new arborists and train new arborists and find creative solutions to uh enhance our production and um improve practices here. Um I have a lot of freedom to do like one of the things I really like to do is um mini learning sessions, like we'll do mini tree ID sessions with the crew or um learning about a new bug or um a different treatment approach, things like that. I feel like in this role I have a lot of um power to just promote good aboraculture for our whole team. So that's it's been a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_00 12:56

Well, I always love to pick the brain of an arborist

Emily's favorite trees

SPEAKER_00 13:00

uh because I want to hear what some of your favorite trees are that should be planted or that aren't planted that often. I'll preface that the way I always do. We know it has to be the right tree in the right place, but tell me some of the things that you love to get into the landscape when you can, when it's when it is right.

SPEAKER_01 13:20

Yeah, I feel like I'm gonna use the word diversity again, but I I love to look around to see what's in the landscape, kind of in the microenvironment that's there, and find a unique tree for that spot. You know, we're not doing ourselves any service by planting only maples or oaks. So um, while I love certain maples and oaks, like one of the trees I'm trying to promote more in our urban environment is the American Yellowwood. Uh that's been a cool one. It's a regional native, not necessarily a Minnesota native, but um uh I went all in and planted one in my backyard and it's thriving. So I like to share that with people.

Yellowwood

SPEAKER_00 14:05

Tell me about the yellow wood. What tell me all about it, how big it gets, how it grows, why you like it so much. I don't know anything about that tree, and it sounds really interesting.

SPEAKER_01 14:14

Yeah, it's a medium-sized shade tree. It tends to be a little, if it's allowed to grow in its natural way, it tends to be a little wider than tall. But I would say generally speaking, it could be a max height of 40 to 50 feet. Um it has it's in the pea family, so it's got these really cool white flowers kind of early summer, and it's an important pollinator tree for um for bees in the area, so that's cool. Um my tree is, I don't know, super successful for some reason. It grows like three to four feet a year, so it's been a lot to um I've been structure pruning and trying to promote it to make it to the I don't know, 50 years from now. But um yeah, I I like that it's unique, it's it's got a smooth bark, I have very little pest issues with it. Um, it's just kind of a unique special tree.

SPEAKER_00 15:15

And when you are telling somebody, when you find the right spot for it, you can uh say, I've got one growing in my own yard.

SPEAKER_01 15:22

Yes, and it's amazing, and I love it. Definitely.

SPEAKER_00 15:27

Oh, Emily, that was good stuff. First off, congratulations on your award uh for being a groundbreaker. And I enjoyed talking to you again, and I'm sure we'll talk again.

SPEAKER_01 15:39

Yeah, thank you so much for having me on here, and um just it's an honor to be recognized. So um I appreciate that.

SPEAKER_00 15:48

Thanks again. Tune in every Thursday to the Talking Trees Podcast from the Davy Tree Expert Company. I'm your host, Doug Oester, and you know what I want you to do. Subscribe so you'll never miss a show and tell us what we should be covering on this podcast. There's a couple different ways to do that. You can send us an email to podcasts at Davey.com. That's P-O-D-C-A-S-T-S at D A V E Y.com. You can also click the link at the end of our show notes to text us a fan mail message. Your ideas could be on a future show. We'd love to hear from you, and as always, we'd like to remind you on the Talking Trees Podcast. Trees are the answer.