Interview: Basil Camu, Leaf & Limb

When a conventional tree service stops cutting down trees

What happens when a conventional tree service company decides to stop cutting down trees?

In this interview, I talk with Basil Camu of Leaf & Limb about the unexpected path that led him from his early days as a disconnected entrepreneur to the soil health advocate he is today. We explore how curiosity, humility, good books (!), and a willingness to rethink everything helped Basil (rhymes with dazzle!) and his team build not just a company with a strong ecological mission—but a deeply loyal customer base that may very well be a movement in itself.

INTERVIEW

Andie: Basil, take us back a bit—how’d you get into the tree service business?

Basil: Well, my backstory in business starts when I graduated college. I was interested in being an entrepreneur and had a deep affection for Africa. So, I started a travel business there—basically as a way to spend more time on the continent. It did well, but as we grew I realized I was going to have to move there, which I was not prepared to do. Meanwhile, my dad owned and operated Leaf & Limb Tree Service here in Raleigh, North Carolina. The 2008 recession hit him hard and he was struggling. I saw this unique opportunity to help my dad while still scratching the entrepreneurial itch, so I moved back to become his business partner. That’s how I got started in the tree service industry.

Andie: I see—so your interest in entrepreneurship drew you to trees, not the other way around.

Basil: That’s right. It’s crazy to think about now, but at that time I was fully disconnected from trees. I pretty much only spent time outside when I was jogging. I wasn’t camping or backpacking or doing any of the things I love now.

Andie: Oh, interesting! When did you start to notice your interests changing?

Basil: I think the shift started with the intellectual learning I was doing to try and improve the business. It seems that anyone with a chainsaw and a truck can get into tree service, so I knew we had to differentiate ourselves. I learned that the barriers to entry were higher for services focused on pests and soil health. So I dove in—and the more I learned about pest pressure, the more I was led to soil.

An early fortuitous moment—and there have been many—was when I was talking with a random person, and they said, “You’ve got to check out Paul Stamets’ book Mycelium Running.” That book blew my mind. Before then, I really had no idea the soil under our feet was alive. I thought it was just dead substrate we walked on.

That entry point led me to Jeff Lowenfels, Elaine Ingham, Acres, and other thought leaders in soil health. It helped that the regenerative agriculture movement had momentum, I was able to learn a lot from that industry.

Andie: It’s hard to imagine those disconnected beginnings given the passion and clarity in your work today. It’s so important to remember we’re not born knowing this stuff—and we’re never done learning.

Basil: Yes, I like to remember that moment because I sometimes get frustrated when people don’t know that soil is a living resource. But that was me back in 2010.

Andie: What was the process like of integrating these insights into Leaf & Limb?

Basil: Looking back, a second crucial part of my journey was experiential learning.

Around the same time, I bought my first house. I started gardening, and I wanted to get rid of the grass and grow more trees. Honestly, I didn’t do much research—I just started planting trees and flowers, trying things, and observing what took place. I was also getting loads of experiential learning through my day-to-day work with trees. I was especially affected by the transformation I observed when we improved a tree’s soil.

Having my hands in the soil and working with these plants unlocked a fascination for me. It was as if the plants had their own personalities and I could see how they participated in a greater ecosystem.

Andie: Aha! Sounds like awe.

Basil: Very much so. If I have one lucky break in life, it’s that I love reading—I can’t get enough. So the combination of the books I’d found and the personal experience I was having as a new homeowner and owner of a tree service was incredibly grounding. It reoriented me.

One of the things I read that really pushed me to shift my actions and our business was the teachings from Yvon Chouinard. I realized, ‘I could be using Leaf & Limb to do something positive’.

Andie: Some of the greatest sustainably minded entrepreneurs I know have been influenced by Yvon Chouinard’s book!

Andie: Take us through that journey of making changes at Leaf & Limb. What was the first step?

Basil: At the time, over 60% of our revenue came from tree removals. I thought we could start by training our sales team to guide customers toward alternatives that didn’t involve cutting trees down. It went... okay, but not great.

We quickly realized there was a shame trigger in those conversations. If someone called to have a tree removed and we tried to educate them on why keeping it was better—even though it’d save them money—some got angry. Others would shut down, like they felt judged. The environmental piece of the conversation was hitting a nerve for some.

On top of that, our sales team struggled. Convincing someone to save a tree took more time and usually led to a smaller sale. So even if they believed in the mission, it wasn’t really in their best interest. They did manage to decrease tree removals from 60% of our revenue to 40%, so they certainly had some success. But that took three years. At this pace, it would be decades before we exited removals, in addition to the negative client reactions.

Andie: Some unexpected roadblocks. How did you navigate them?

Basil: That phase was rough. We were getting reviews like, “These guys are too good to cut your trees down.” Not exactly what we were going for. That’s when I started wondering—what if we just stopped doing removals entirely?

So I put together a detailed analysis, pitched it to the team, and we all agreed: we could do it. So we did! In January of 2020 we made a public announcement (to hold our feet to the fire) to all of our clients that we were going to embark on this new path. We worked very hard to shift lost revenue (around $2 million annually) to other services, such as structural pruning and soil improvement. With more bandwidth for these conversations and more calls from the clients who were interested in saving their trees, we found this was achievable. We survived the transition.

Andie: That’s such a bold move. How did that decision change things?

Basil: It completely transformed our customer conversations. We made it clear on our site and in our messaging that we didn’t do removals. So folks who just wanted a tree gone didn’t call us—and honestly, while I used to want to reach those people, what ended up happening was even better. The people who did call were curious. They wanted to hear what we had to say. The conversations became way more productive. No more surprises or emotional landmines.

Andie: From a business perspective, it sounds like you figured out who your ideal customers were and found a way to draw them in. But I imagine there was still some concern about not engaging with the wider culture that doesn’t think twice about removing trees. Was that on your mind?

Basil: Absolutely. That was my biggest hesitation. But here’s what we’ve seen over the past five years:

While we always had people that loved us for providing great service, we now have next-level support and loyalty. I would call it a fan club. They love us for what we stand for.

With this base we are having way more impact now because they are very outspoken about what we do and they tell other people.

And another cool thing, we are now so differentiated from the other 400 tree services in our area that we’re essentially in a category of our own now, making us a much more effective business.

I'd say my fears were never realized. We are actually having a lot more impact than I could have expected by having this consolidated, passionate base, and by fully differentiating ourselves from all other trees services.

Andie: Totally. If you’d played it safe and tried to appeal to everyone, you wouldn’t have such a galvanized base—people who are now sparking meaningful conversations within their communities.

Basil: Exactly. And I want to emphasize that we still carry the lessons we learned from those tough early conversations. Our goal is to draw people in through inspiration—not finger-wagging or fear, which can easily burn bridges.

We’re all at different points in our journey. Not that long ago, I thought soil was just dirt—I can’t judge someone else for being where I once was. I want my team to remember where we came from. I think we’re able to connect with people now who wouldn’t have resonated with us two or three years ago. Because we’re willing to “transcend and include”—to learn from our missteps and carry those lessons forward—we’re having a deeper, more meaningful impact.

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A big thanks to Basil for sharing his story—there’s more to come this month. We’ll be digging into his advice for folks building regenerative businesses, plus some thoughtful (and practical) tips for caring for trees along the way.

Thank you for reading! Share with a friend 💚

With Love,

Andie

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About our Guest

Credit: Chris Hildreth - Rooster Media)

Basil Camu

• Co-Founder, Leaf & Limb

• Founder, Project Pando

• Author, From Wasteland to Wonder: Easy Ways We Can Help Heal Earth in the Sub/Urban Landscape

From Wasteland to Wonder is a gift from Basil! It is available for free as an e-book and a hard copy can be purchased for just the cost of printing and shipping. Get your copy here and consider making a donation to Project Pando!