
Tracy Ryan-Johnson is a testament to determination, strength and grittiness. When her husband Scott, 53, a certified arborist and owner of Bay Cities Tree Preservation, died last October, after a two-year battle with melanoma, Tracy not only had to deal with her grief, but make a decision about the company.
During Scott’s treatment and ultimate brain surgery, his brother Brad, a consulting arborist who had a small tree company in West L.A., helped run Bay Cities, based in Topanga. Tracy handled doctor visits and cared for the couple’s 10-year-old son, taking him to school and even coaching his Malibu baseball team, after another parent dropped out.
Like many couples, Scott and Tracy had carved out a niche in their 10-year marriage. His focus was the company. Tracy, who had been friends with him since 1991, was a certified trainer and actress.
After Scott’s death, Tracy felt she couldn’t let the company’s six-man work crew down. “I felt responsible for our guys,” she told the Palisadian-Post. “They needed to work.”
Tracy, who has a degree from UCLA in communications, decided to keep the company going—with Brad’s help.
“Thank God for Brad; he is an integral part of the operation. He runs the crew,” Tracy said, noting she needed someone who could make trips back and forth for needed equipment, such as a stump grinder, but could also monitor the on-site job.
Tracy also found herself tackling aspects of the business she had never planned to do. In February, she got her general contractor’s license, after passing a 120-question test in Norwalk. “I learned stuff I’ll never use, but it was also good, because now I’m the responsible managing officer of the corporation.”
At night, she writes up invoices and estimates and pays bills. She said she spends $60,000 a year on insurance, which includes workman’s comp and liability. She’s also learning to do tree estimates.
“An estimate is based on how long the job will take,” she said, noting that tree company estimates are usually more than a regular landscaper might give. “Most landscapers aren’t licensed to be in trees and even if they give a good price, a homeowner might not be insured if the gardener is injured.”
“We can compete with any licensed tree company,” Tracy said. “I tell people, let me see the estimate and if it’s legitimate, we can beat it.”
She also knows that she owns “a service company,” and although she may not know the name of every tree in Pacific Palisades, she understands what it means to provide good customer service.
Tracy, the daughter of Palisadians Charles and Barbara Ryan, attended Marquez School, Corpus Christi and Palisades High (class of 1982). She worked at the Chart House during college and then became a fitness trainer. She has trained some of her clients for more than 15 years—and continues to train them despite her expanded role with the tree company.
She was asked if there were ties to Eli Johnson’s Johnson Tree Service.
“We have a symbiotic relationship,” she said. “If I can’t do a job, I refer it to him and likewise he refers people to me. It’s competitive, but in a friendly way.” (Scott, Brad and Mark Johnson [Eli’s father] were brothers, and their father, Everett, founded the Johnson Tree Company in 1929.)
About a year ago, Tracy took her 10-year-old son Ryan along when she visited her commercial acting agent. The agent asked Ryan to try out for a part and since then he has done commercials for Pet Smart, CarMax and Conoco Phillips.
“With a laptop and phone, I can be in contact with Brad while I’m with Ryan,” she said.
Away from the office, Tracy also rides her horse Piet every day at Mill Creek in Topanga and competes in dressage on the Prix St. Georges level—three levels below the Olympic level.
The prospect of taking over a company from one’s late spouse would daunt many people, but Tracy has faced the challenges head on. Combining her current and past life, she compares the tree business to fitness training. “It goes in undulations; it’s like interval training.”
What has surprised her the most over the last eight months? “Having to do everything, and that I haven’t dropped anything.”
The company is now officially known as Johnson and Sons Bay Cities Tree Preservation. Call (310) 454-6547, e-mail baycitieskelleytree@gmail.com or visit baycitiestreepreservation.com.
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