Active Tree Top award winner Katrina Carmody never envisaged a career in the tree industry. Instead, it was a job she fell into by necessity and it’s a career where she has quickly excelled.

In her four years with Active, Kat has gone from chipper to operations manager on the Vic Powerlines contract. Along the way she’s gained the respect of her peers as someone who espouses the values of Active Tree Services’ dedicated team.

Kat explains she was a health and outdoor education teacher working at Gilwell Park Scout and Education Centre when the Coronavirus pandemic forced her into redundancy in 2020.

“I’d been looking for a job for a while and was at the stage where I was ready to take anything,” she says.

“And then a job just happened to come up with Active.”

Conceding she was ‘very green’ and had ‘zero experience’, Kat jumped at the chance to work in an essential industry at a time when Victoria was experiencing some of the toughest lockdown conditions in the world.

She started on the chipper before being offered the opportunity to become a Jarraff operator a year later, and says she loved “working on the big machines”.

When a fractured ankle saw her sidelined from physical duties, she moved into a customer-facing role for the annual fire cut where she liaised with clients and organised crews.

It was a position she thrived in, tapping into her people skills and previous experience working in customer service.

“It’s funny because when I was younger, I worked in retail at a discount store then at Bunnings where I’d been in the garden section and also in tools,” she says.

“I sold chainsaws before I ever used one and there’s a chance I was selling some of the trees that Active now prunes.”

These days, Kat’s role as an operations manager sees her looking after the Victorian scoping team as part of the Ausnet component of the Vic Powerlines contract.

It’s a job that involves travelling and meeting with members of the crew to ensure everything’s working perfectly, and it takes her across a variety of terrain.

Earlier this year, Kat was recognised with Active Tree Services’ most prestigious accolade, receiving the Tree Top Award for her commitment to the core values of the business.

Candidates for the award are put forward by their peers, and Kat was selected from a strong field of over 100 nominees.

It was an accolade she was both honoured and humbled to receive.

“It was a lovely shock to receive the nomination by my colleagues,” she says.

“I feel like we’re always offered the chance to explore new things and it’s something I’ve jumped on and run with.”

As part of that commitment to exploring new things, Kat is currently doing her Diploma in Arboriculture, while also juggling life as a working mum with two young children.

Outside of work, she continues to play soccer, having represented Victoria when she was younger and also has a passion for photography.

“I’d always done family and kids photography as a bit of a hobby, particularly after my partner and I had kids,” she says.

“When I lost my job it also became a side hustle, but now I’m on the road a lot more it’s more of a hobby.”

As for what’s next, Kat says her future is with Active and might one day unite her love for the tree industry with her love of teaching.

“I really value learning and that love of teaching runs deep,” she says.

“Growing up I pictured myself as a teacher and it was always what I wanted to be, but I’ve very much learned through random experiences that you’ve got to have an open mind and go with the flow.

“I believe things happen for a reason and so far, that’s all worked out for the best because I genuinely love Active and am so thankful every day for all the opportunities I’ve been presented with.”