Popken works as arborist
He doesn’t climb trees for money; he does it because he loves it. A 16-year-old junior is turning one of his favorite hobbies into a licensed skill.
This licensed skill would be arboriculture – managing plant health care alongside tree cutting and cultivation.
Caleb Popken has been assisting his father’s tree and lawn-care business, Lawngevity, for almost three years now. After only being able to pick up sticks during these years, he is ready to take the next step.
“I always just picked up branches and raked; I didn’t really do a whole lot,” Popken said. “It wasn’t until this last summer where I started looking more into my future and open more doors.”
With Lawngevity being a family business, Popken enjoys working with his brothers and dad. His father, Kevin Popken, knows Caleb features qualities that make him a great arborist.
“Besides physical strength and agility,” Kevin said, “he also enjoys nature, has attention to detail, and a desire to improve his natural surroundings.”
Although tree-climbing is the main enjoyment for Popken, acquiring an arborist license has its difficulties beyond the equipment and climbing.
“You need to have a bunch of CPR and medical first-aid background,” Caleb said. “The hardest part of it is definitely going to be the biology; I don’t necessarily know a whole lot about it.”
Having to learn new things and take on challenges is nothing new for Caleb. He enjoys having to earn the good things in life.
“If you’re willing to work, you can so easily get ahead in life,” Caleb said. “I started learning how to invest into better equipment, prioritize time better, work harder, and just be able to get a sample of what real life is like.”
Caleb doesn’t only assist his father’s business, but he has his own job on the side. Caleb said that with his father owning Lawngevity, it puts him in a unique position where he has the ability to do extra things like mowing, which positively affects his work tactics.
“I’ve been doing a little side hustle which is mowing,” Caleb said. “Quite a handful of people give us calls about lawns, and my dad has started forwarding those jobs to me since I’m starting to do lawns.”
Balancing school, sports and classes to earn his arborist license - Caleb Popken can do it all. Having this job has made Caleb into the accomplished person he is today.
“I tend to enjoy work, not so much for the money, I just enjoy it in general,” Caleb said. “It’s just fun to be able to finish something, work hard, and just look back at what you did and feel accomplished.”
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