If you are familiar with Tall Trees Profiles, Growing Kids with Character, Hettie Brittz, or the tree types, you will know that we talk much about the Rose Bush, the Pine Tree, the Boxwood Tree, and the Palm Tree. We call them our “basic” tree types, although we know that they are not basic at all. We do this to create common ground and provide a basis for understanding the tree types. Truth is, a very small percentage of people can be described as being 100% one tree type. 

Our statistics show that a very small percentage of people in the 13-year history of Tall Trees scored 18 out of 18 on just one Tree Type index, making them 100% one tree. Only 33% of teens and 37% of adults have one prominent Tree Type and can rightly call themselves Pines, Palms, Boxwood, or Roses. The majority of us (53% of adults and 55% of teens) are combinations of two Tree Types. The remaining 14% of teens and 8% of adults are what we call Contra-Trees (a combination of three trees)....

Looking in the Mom Mirror

  Mother's Day highlights a particular group of precious, vulnerable people—mothers. For one Sunday in May, they are celebrated and hopefully spoiled, but they are also put under such a glaring light that many moms dread the day.

 Perhaps you read this and think, "What are you talking about?! It's a great day. I get flowers, breakfast in bed, a special prayer at church, and a lunch for which I did not even peel the potatoes! What is there to dread?" We're so happy for you! We also would guess that you are the fortunate carrier of some strong Palm Tree genes—the personality type DNA that helps you celebrate all that is good and enables you to enjoy being celebrated. This DNA also helps you forget that you forgot one of those precious kids (the one who will be peeling your potatoes) at a party last week. You don't even feel guilty anymore because you keep short accounts for happiness' sake. If any of your kids ever need therapy on...

“There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.” - Edith Wharton

Change is a buzzword. Agents of change are our new heroes. Secular culture convinces people that it is good to change everything from their eye color (long live the Instagram filter!) to their gender. The more radical the claim that everything is relative, fluid, and limitless, the louder the applause.

Change is good, right? When it comes to changing ourselves - who we are - it can be good, don’t you think? Isn’t growth just another word for change? My short answer is, “Not really.”

Change has a dark side when it comes to people. I believe there is a part of people we can’t change without breaking them entirely, just as we can’t cut away a ring of bark around a tree without killing it. People have an intricate and original design that is closely linked to their purpose. Messing with the design puts their destiny at...

All Trees are Tall Trees!

I don’t know about you, but when I heard the word “leader” I did not think of myself. Instead, I looked around to find people more important, more resourceful, more self-confident, and more self-assured than me. Leaders are people like John Maxwell, Brene Brown, Nelson Mandela, Billy Graham, Joyce Meyer, your local pastor, or the CEO of the company you work at. People with big platforms that are known worldwide. In my mind leading is directly correlated with education, importance, fame, fortune, and maybe being a huge social media Rockstar.

But leading actually is just performing to the best of your ability using your unique DNA - your inherent leadership strengths. We all have them. When we change our perception of what a leader is and become open to the idea that people can lead in different ways, a whole new world of leadership development opens up to us! You might actually discover that you ARE indeed a leader!

Take the Pine...

What I, Hettie, love most about living in Tennessee for the past five years is that I can suddenly grow things. It was not the case when I still lived in South Africa. Formerly known for my ability to kill even indoor plastic plants, I can now grow almost enough wineberries, blackberries, and blueberries to provide the whole of England with jam on their morning toast. (For those who don’t know about Tennessee Backyard Berry Farmin’, the art is to just keep clear, let Mother Nature take care of things, occasionally shoo the whitetail deer away, and exaggerate your harvest story. And for those who don’t know what jam is - it’s just chunky jelly for British folks.)

People growing is so much harder than this! People don’t flourish automatically, and letting human nature run its course, is a recipe for chaos. If you have been raising kids, please say this with me in a chorus: They ought to come with a manual!

Well, actually, they do.

When you buy a sapling...