We recently connected with Denise Harrison and have shared our conversation below.

Denise , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you take vacations? How do you keep things going – any advice for entrepreneurs who feel like they can’t step away from their business for a short vacation?

In the beginning of building the business, the business ruled my life. Long days led to even later nights. I rarely took time away and when I did, I always brought my work computer and phone with me. I would answer calls while on vacation, reply to emails, or do whatever it took to keep everything going. I was living life but was very distracted with work. I was not very good at having a work life balance. I thought as we grew, and I had more help, that I would spend less time working and more time with my family. However, as we grew there were more tasks that needed completed and I was working more and more each year. A few years ago, that all changed.

In March of 2021 I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. I had to undergo 16 rounds of chemo and then scheduled for a double mastectomy after treatment. In the beginning I thought to myself how am I going to be able to do treatment, run leads, and keep the company going. I spent a lot of time in Drs Apts. and was unable to answer my phone. This led to me hiring an answering service to field my calls so that I was able to concentrate on my appointments and treatment. This was the first step to not feel guilty about not being able to answer the phone. As chemo started, I found myself in a very different routine than before. I had chemo on Fridays and then needed Mondays to recover. Tuesday-Thursday I was back to work! And on the weekends, I took the time to try and enjoy myself and spend that time with my family as well as get some much-needed rest. The moral of the story was that I was working less, spending more time with my family, spending more time traveling, and the company was still running perfectly normal. I worked part time for those 6 months during treatment and still hit a record sales number. That alone showed me that it was ok to take time off! With a better work life balance the company was thriving and I myself was getting healthy and working less. Knowing that I could work less and still succeed I changed my work habits. I started to turn my phone off at 5pm, stopped looking at emails all hours of the day and night, and closed completely on the weekends. When we went on vacation, I was no longer afraid to put up an away message and step away from work. Everyone needs a break. It you do not take the time to put work on the back burner, you yourself will find yourself burnt out eventually. Everyone one deserves time for themselves, and you need to the time to make meaningful memories with family and friends. What has also helped me feel more comfortable stepping away is the great team we have built that continues to run the day-to-day task while we are away. I had to learn to lean on them and trust that they could do everything without me! Build a great team, have trust in them, and you will succeed. But do not feel guilty taking time for yourself as well as your family. We all need and deserve some downtime. Do not wait until you are in a situation like I was to realize this!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Denise Harrison. I am currently 35 years old. I grew up in Franklin, Ohio where I still live today. I obtained my bachelor’s in biology from Miami University in 2013 and shortly after became a Certified Arborist. I started dating my husband back in 2008 and we married in June of 2016. I am also a Breast Cancer Survivor as well as a Heart Transplant recipient.

When I met my now husband back in 2008, I was waiting tables as I attended college. I was looking to get into something else because I wasn’t making enough money serving and I asked for an opportunity to work on his crew. After some hesitation he allowed me to come out and show him what I could do. I started with dragging brush and cleaning up the job sites. Soon after I was running chain saws, trimming and removing trees, and even climbing smaller trees. I caught on quick and loved being outdoors and at a new location every single day. In the beginning we only had a truck and trailer and no machinery, so we hand carried everything and stacked it on the trailer to be taken to the dump. About 6 months later we bought a chipper and dump truck and then grew substantially after that. Our main services that we provide are Tree Pruning, Tree Removal, and Stump Grinding.

We have been in business for almost 16 years. We help clients preserve their property as well as protect their investments. We remove hazardous trees that could cause substantial damage to their property, and we provide pruning services to keep trees healthy and keep them cleared from structures. Trimming trees back from structures helps to keep animals from damaging their homes. The customer service we provide, our professionalism, and safety is what sets us apart from our competitors. Our Arborist educate our clients on the proper way to care for their trees and when we are finished, you usually cannot tell we were even there. Our cleanup is meticulous.

We are a 5-star rated company and take great pride in this! We invest highly in our business to provide our employees with the most recent state of the art equipment to allow them to do the jobs more safely and efficiently. I am very proud of how hard our crew’s work! Every day is a different challenge. We run very large crews and approx. 6 trucks a day. This season we had a large crew of 15 individuals. When we arrive at a job site our customers are amazed with the number of people, amount of machinery, and how quickly we get the job done!

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

As I mentioned in the previous question, I am a Breast Cancer survivor as well as a Heart Transplant Recipient. In March of 2021 I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. I did 16 rounds of chemo followed by a double mastectomy on November 11, 2021. During my treatment I kept a positive attitude and if it weren’t for me being bald with no eyebrows or eyelashes most people would not have known I was sick. I worked through my sickness although I only worked part time. I remained positive and resilience through it all. I tried to keep a normal lifestyle and continued spending time with family and friends as well as traveling when we could.

December 3rd, 2021, 3 weeks after my mastectomy my heart failed, and I found myself on life support for 6 days. I was in the hospital a total of 18 days and found out that I was in congestive heart failure. My heart was only working at 5% and out of rhythm. During the time in the hospital, I fought every day to stay alive. I failed on multiple occasions and my family was called in twice to say their goodbyes. I was resilient and kept fighting! I was informed that I indeed needed a heart transplant but was ineligible due to the recent cancer. I was finally released a few days before Christmas and started therapy right away. During my stay in the hospital my body got so weak I was unable to walk. I had to relearn to walk a few days before being released. Upon my return home we took every precaution to keep distance from people to keep me safe and healthy. It was a lonely time for me. With Covid and how sick I was, I was only able to see my husband and mother-in-law while in the hospital. I was fighting with everything I had but it was hard to not see my friends and family. I made it home a few days before Christmas and was able to have some quality time with my family for the holidays. It meant everything to me to see them all. We knew it would take a lot of time to recover fully but I was ready for the fight. I had already beat Cancer and I wasn’t about to lose this fight!

For moths I struggled with breathing and retaining fluid. I was in and out of the hospital every other week. It was draining. It was also scary to not be able to breathe. I went to bed at night unsure if I would wake up in the morning. For months this went on until finally on March 8th, 2022, my heart failed while I was already in the hospital, and I was rushed into surgery to place a balloon pump to keep me alive. I was then notified that I needed a LVAD which is an implanted pump in the heart that continually pumps blood through the heart. My LVAD was implanted on March 9th, 2022, and once again I was on the road to recovery. Unfortunately, while in the hospital for this procedure my father also passed. It was a very rough month for me, but I knew I had to focus on recovering and getting back on my feet. With the LVAD you are connected to 2 batteries and a controller 24/7 that showcases various information about the pump. With the pump you cannot submerge in water. So, no swimming, no baths, and don’t get caught in the rain! I once again adapted to my new life. With the pump and I felt 100% better. I could finally breathe again, and my heart was pumping better than it ever had before. I started therapy once again relearning to walk and was able to get back on my feet and back to work full time soon after. I was also back to traveling again. I spent time with family and friends and had a support system like no other.

Although I had the pump, I needed a heart transplant. The pump was great, but I did not want to have to live with that for the rest of my life. The biggest challenge with the pump for me was no baths and no swimming. We have a boat, and I spent the whole summer on my boat gazing out into the water dreaming of when I would be able to swim again. After therapy ended in April, we started the transplant evaluation. During my first evaluation I was denied. I was devastated. But I knew if I kept fighting and kept a positive attitude that eventually I would be accepted. In November of 2022 I was finally added to the list. 3 Days later I got the call and had my heart transplant on December 2nd, 2022. Another rough surgery and a long road to recovery. Everything went great with transplant, and I was released 1 week after. Relearning to walk for the 3rd time in a year. Recovery was rough but once again I made it through. My positive attitude, faith in God, and my support system carried me through and continues to do so. I am coming up on my one-year post transplant and as I look back, I am overwhelmed with what I have gone through. But every single day I smile, I pray, and I continue making meaningful memories with my family and friends. I have fought long and hard and will not give up. I am back to working full time and continue to share my story in hopes of helping others!

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

The best source of new clients for us has been networking. We are involved in various associations that have helped grow our business exponentially. By attending these networking events we have met many people that we otherwise never would have. We have had the chance to showcase our services and also make new friends.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.myprotree.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/harrisonsprotree/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HarrisonsProTree/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/harrisons-pro-tree-service-franklin-2