Van Yahres Tree Company in Charlottesville, Virginia has been serving their region for over 100 years. It’s been run by descendants of the family since its inception. Five years ago, Jake Vahres and his sister Shana Clarke purchased the company and continued its long tradition with new ambitions and creative ideas for its next phase of growth. They had some concerns about the company’s culture and how fractures within the operations crew were impacting their ability to deliver well on mission. Creative Ground was hired in 2024 to shape and implement a scope of work to support their goals.
“We hired Lisa to be a thought partner in learning more about how to improve the culture of our company and push the decision-making process closer to the level of operations. Lisa spoke with several employees and senior managers including us as owners and developed a set of recommendations to consider. Lisa was extremely collaborative and keenly listened to our needs each step of the journey. As a result of Lisa’s unique learning process, I’ve witnessed all of us make significant changes in how we collaborate in a transparent way, the secret sauce to any successful team endeavor. I have so much more confidence about this senior team’s ability to model trust, excellent and coherence going forward and it’s inspiring to witness."
—Shana Clarke, Co-Owner, Van Yahres Tree Company