Ashton Martin | Employee Spotlight

We have a great team in Calgary, and we want you to meet them! Next up, Ashton Martin.

Meet Ashton Martin

Title: General Foreperson

Team Member Since: January 2020
Education, Certifications, Training: Certified Utility Tree Trimmer (UTT)

Career Path

Q: Describe your career path. How did you get into what you do now?
A:My professional career started in 2012. I was between semesters at college, and I came to work with my father. My duties were dragging, stacking, and chipping brush. I enjoyed the money I made over that summer so much that I did not return to college. I continued to better my skills as a utility arborist for the next five years. In 2018, I had the opportunity to go to the Professional Vegetation Management Association school at Olds College in Alberta.  After I completed my Utility Tree Worker and Utility Tree Trimmer certifications, I was put on to a bucket truck so I could track my aerial hours to become a fully certified Utility Tree Trimmer (UTT).

I started at Wright Tree Service at the beginning of 2020. Within eight months of being on the job I was offered a promotion to general foreperson. One year after becoming a GF, I applied and got the job as a Project Manager overseeing operations in the province of Saskatchewan. I worked on the road in Saskatchewan for exactly one year before moving back to Alberta as a GF managing some newly acquired work. I have been in Alberta ever since.

Q: Explain your position. Describe your role with the company.
A: I would describe my position as a problem solver. We face numerous challenges and issues on daily basis in this industry. My role is to help assist the crews and the customers we are working with to achieve our goals. A happy crew is a safe and productive crew.

Q: What are you most passionate about professionally? What excites you most about your work?
A: I am very passionate about the utility tree industry. Whenever we get new employees who have not seen what we do, it excites me. I enjoy teaching them all about our role as utility tree workers. We are not just a bunch of people who can run chainsaws and drag brush. Vegetation management is a vital part of maintaining power to the public in cities and rural areas.

Life at Wright Tree Service of Canada & ArborCare

Q: What is your favourite part about your job / working for the company?
A: My favourite part of my job is working outdoors in the rural areas. I have seen a lot of rural areas in Alberta due to my job.

Q: Who has played an influential part during your time with the company & why?
A: Dustin Brandon was my first supervisor, and he has played a big part in making me into the GF I am today.

Q: What are some words you would use to describe Wright Tree Service of Canada or ArborCare?
A: Motivating. Challenging. Rewarding. Respectful. Fair. Passionate.

Q: What is a value statement or quote you live by?
A: To be a great leader you have to lead by example. You cannot ask people to perform a task that you would not be willing to perform yourself.

Hobbies, Interests & Influences

Q: What do you like to do when you aren’t working?
A: During the summer I play a lot of slow pitch baseball. My family and I also enjoy going camping and spending time with friends.

Q: What’s something about you that not many people know?
A: There are many influential people in my life. I would have to say my Uncle Paul is the most influential person in my life.

Q:  Do you and/or your family have a favorite tradition?
A: No, not yet.