To paraphrase an old Animal House line, I'm
currently enjoying "double secret" retire-
ment! The "double" part is that I formally
retired from Davey Resource Group in
2018, and this year I get to officially start
drawing my retirement pension from the
City of Cincinnati, Ohio, where I started my
urban forestry career. The "secret" part
is that I'm actually still working full time.
To me, retirement means doing what you
love, when you want, and on your own
terms. And since I love urban forestry
and the community of professionals in it,
what better way to spend my early retire-
ment than to start my own consulting
firm, which allows me to stay connected
with old friends and make new ones.
My business partner, Rachel Comte, and
I hung out the Urban Canopy Works,
LLC shingle in the spring of 2018, and
it's been great. I'm still getting my boots
muddy on construction sites, wearing
my hardhat for tree risk assessments,
yet dressing for success to conduct
public meetings for urban forest master
plans. Currently, I'm really excited to be
under contract as the Distiller's Arborist
for a major distillery on the Kentucky
Bourbon Trail to help them better manage
the trees on their historic property.
Rest assured, I am making time for per-
sonal endeavors, goals, and projects.
I got married three years ago, and my
husband Bill and I bought a mid-cen-
tury modern home/money pit in Union,
Kentucky that we really enjoy restoring.
I tried raising chickens, but that didn't
quite work out as I planned. I did adopt
three stray kittens, upping my house-
hold feline population to five.
I go on road trips with my husband on
his Harley, and through our travels we've
joined five wine clubs, from California to
Texas to Kentucky. I am also so looking
forward to traveling to Chile this fall to
celebrate a—let's just say, significant—
birthday. Seeing the Southern Cross
constellation has been on my bucket list
since college (and dang if I'm not getting
closer to that bucket every year!)
I highly recommend the retired
life to everyone, but if I can still be
of any assistance to you my good
friends, just give me a call. It will
help me stay gainfully "retired"!
—Jenny Gulick
urban-forestry.com 21
Jenny Gulick enjoying "retirement"
with her husband Bill.
