The Edge January/February 2026

WHAT’S A STRONGLY HELD BELIEF YOU’VE CHANGED YOUR MIND ON OVER THE YEARS? The belief that I can do it all myself has changed to I need great people around me who are not just better at the task, but experts needed to be a successful organization. HOW DO YOU DEFINE SUCCESS TODAY COMPARED TO WHEN YOU FIRST TOOK OVER THE COMPANY? I originally defined success as just getting a new customer, getting through the day and getting my scheduled work done. We talked about the “$300 day” as the gold standard for a very productive day. That is equivalent to about $2,000 in today’s dollars. Now I feel that success is watching a team member grow in their position or advance to a new position. I take great pride in seeing their families grow up, all the activities they do - the sports they and their families show images of on our company social media site - all the things that they are interested in. Success is more about our teammates’ success in life. HOW DID YOU COME TO THE DECISION TO PARTNER WITH GTCR? There were multiple reasons we selected GTCR. Of course, most important was the money they brought to the table. But almost as important was after interviewing all the suitors and listening to their stories, evaluating their style and listening to their vision for the next step, GTCR leaders had the people we wanted to work with. Their methods of developing leaders in their organization and sponsoring them to build platforms of great value made it an intriguing proposition to go with them. They had a previous lawn care company as one of their projects in the 90s. Barefoot Grass was sponsored by GTCR and eventually sold to ServiceMaster. I felt we could have the same or better outcome given the state of the industry today. WHAT HAS IT BEEN LIKE MOVING TO THE ACQUISITION AMBASSADOR ROLE FOR SENSKE FAMILY OF COMPANIES? When we had our company meeting to announce the participation of GTCR, during my presentation, someone asked what I was going to do. I responded that I would be part of the board of the new Senske and a kind of acquisitions ambassador, talking to other companies

reins and execute allowed me to have strategic ideas to make the business grow. There have been plenty of ideas that my team would laugh at the absurdity or roll their eyes at, and even come to call the process ‘Chris throwing a grenade.’ If you are going to have a multi branch operation, you have to be able to delegate with confidence that your team will execute. WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO OTHERS TRYING TO GROW A SUCCESS FUL BUSINESS? Focus and focus with discipline. But don’t put on the blinders. To make the business grow, you need to have creative ideas on new offerings, new ways to market the business and new ways to look at the customer experience that don’t stray too far from core competencies. Don’t get greedy. What I mean is don’t extract excess cash from the business because your spouse wants the new Porsche. Growth takes cash! Our business is not very attractive to bankers to loan operating capital as a smaller operation. They want to see products on the shelf that can be collateralized, not a project ed revenue stream on a spreadsheet that is difficult for them to monetize – at least for a banker. During one of our early growth spurts, I needed money to buy 13 application rigs, about $600,000. The banker looked at my financial statement and said, “You are bankrupt!” because we had no “inven tory,” only a couple million dollars of pro jected business on the books. He didn’t get our business. I got another banker who ‘got’ the business and we had a nice relationship for the next 30 years. Finally, for Senske, the most difficult advice to follow (because we were head quartered in a small community of about 150,000 people in the remote desert of Washington state) is to hire the best people you can afford - at least ones you will be able to afford in the near future as the business grows into their capabilities. This is a lesson I actually learned watch ing and listening to my good friend Matt Jesson of Green Lawn Fertilizing. Ultimately, we were able to attract great team members who were open to a different lifestyle. We were selling the outdoor and quality of life opportunities in the beautiful Northwest.

and looking for growth opportunities. That term stuck and I adopted it as my title. I really am doing similar things I did for the five years prior to the sale. I partic ipate in association meetings, com mittees and trade show visits, learning about other companies and what they are doing to grow. I really try to represent Senske as a potential partner for other companies’ future plans. I love the con tinued engagement with the business and the industry I have spent my entire life working in. Would I like to be more engaged in the business? Sure! But Catie, my wife, has different plans for our next couple of decades. WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO OTHERS LOOKING TO PRESERVE THE LEGACY OF THEIR COMPANY BUT PASS ON THE REINS? Most important is to come up with a succession plan on what is right for you and your family to transition. Unfortunately, we all get older and will need to make those kinds of decisions – how we gracefully move on. Whether it is a plan to transfer ownership to a family member, an employee or sell to another company or individual. It has to be right for you. At Senske, we try in most cases to keep all the leadership who want to continue to work and we preserve the brand in their markets when possible. That is why we are called Senske Family of Companies.

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