15 years ago, Amii Jones and her husband Brendan started Touchwood Tree Services, a tree removal business, the same year they got married and had their second baby. Last month, they quietly clocked 15 years in business, and Amii forgot to celebrate. That, in itself, says a lot about what running a trade business actually looks like day to day.
In this episode, Amii sits down with Nic to talk about the side of business ownership that rarely makes it onto social media. Not the wins, but the cost. And not just the financial cost, the mental one.
One thing that stood out was how the “hard” changes shape over time. In the early days, it was survival, could they pay the bills, would the business even get off the ground. Now, 15 years and a growing team later, the hard is different. It’s staffing, culture, and admitting when you, not your team or the market, are the actual bottleneck. Amii describes this as the shift from below the line thinking, blaming external factors, to above the line thinking, recognizing what’s actually within your control. It’s harder to face, but it’s also the version of the problem you can actually solve.
Then there’s the isolation. Working from home means no office banter, no colleagues to bounce things off. Amii admits some days she doesn’t leave the house, and hanging the washing out has become her version of fresh air. The lounge room mess, the dishes waiting, the guilt of doing housework instead of business, and business instead of housework, it all sits in the same space, all day, every day.
But the conversation doesn’t stay in the hard stuff. Amii and Nic also talk about what the business has given them in return. The freedom to prioritize a bad day for one of her kids without needing to ask anyone’s permission. The ability to work when her energy is highest, in the afternoons, rather than being tied to a 9 to 5. The chance to redefine what success actually means, financial comfort, sure, but also overseas holidays, drum lessons, and time with family that a job might not have allowed.
Amii is honest that she still hasn’t mastered switching off completely, but she’s found small systems that help, like handing the phone to a virtual reception every Friday afternoon and not looking at it until Monday. Nothing has fallen apart yet.
Looking back at year one, Amii says she’d tell herself to have more confidence. Would she have listened? Probably not. And that might be the real takeaway, some lessons only mean something once you’ve lived through them.
Fifteen years in, Amii isn’t chasing a highlight reel. She’s just being honest about what it took to get here, and what it’s still costing her to stay.
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