Expert: "An ordinary fellow from another town" - Mark Twain "A man fifty miles from home with a briefcase" - Will Rogers
I brought this up at the Dallas Regional SCORE Training for the American Small Business Champions. Where I currently live and work, I am not considered an expert.
But I’m not from here.
- I was born 524 miles from here, south of St Louis at a hospital where my grandmother was the head nurse.
- I went to kindergarten and first grade in Springfield, MO – 387 miles
- I went to second and third grades in Rolla, MO – 439 miles. (And our house had 18 oak trees in the front yard and 17 in the front.)
- A couple months into fourth grade we moved to Sierra Vista, AZ – 1,198 miles, where I graduated from high school
- I graduated from college with a Bachelors degree in Forestry in Flagstaff, AZ –
Chama Peak (CO) as seen from south of Cañones Creek (NM)
1,083 miles
- I worked as a forester in northern Virginia, Arizona and New Mexico before marrying my Nebraska farmer
I’m not from here. I have a briefcase. In fact, I have several. I’m also pretty ordinary. But still not considered an expert. Here. Marrying into town made this my home. So, I’m not an expert. Two plus hours in any direction landowners hire me for my tree knowledge and training. So how do I become an expert here?
Educate them
That was the answer from the SCORE Mentor at the Dallas Training. Advertising hasn’t paid off. Word of mouth has garnered 3 phone calls in the last 3 months. It’s taking a long time. Because (I think) if you read my last post, they don’t care about trees. Would love to be shown that’s not the case.
I know there are some that care. Some that like the shade a tree provides. Some that value a solid wood table made with their own hands from a tree they know of its story. I just have to find them. The ones that also don’t want trees wasted. The ones that see a mantle in a log, or shelves, or a dream. Let’s spread the word. Let’s craft a dream.