Meet Tim LaPointe | President of Alpine HomeScapes

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tim LaPointe and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tim, is there a bit of conventional wisdom that you disagree with?
“Nice guys finish last.” Being nice is often misunderstood to mean being soft or indecisive, especially in the construction industry. It can even be considered a weakness. That is something I struggled with early in my career; I am a nice person by nature, but I also wanted to be respected as a leader, teammate, and adversary at the negotiating table. I sometimes worried that being nice would make me unable to establish the kind of authority or expertise I needed to convey. As I got older and more experienced, though, I realized that leading by example, doing the right thing, and working hard were the traits most likely to lead to success, and all of those are perfectly compatible with being nice. In fact, people almost always react better to a nice person, making it easier to connect with clients, vendors, and teammates and build lasting, meaningful relationships. So, do nice guys finish last? In my experience, nothing could be further from the truth.

Please tell us more about your work. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?
My career path and my education don’t really line up in a traditional way. I have a Bachelor of Arts in History and Literature from Susquehanna University and a Master of Arts in Literature from the State University of New York – Binghamton. I originally wanted to be an English professor like my dad. I worked at a local landscape company/nursery during the summers while I was in college and grad school and realized that I also loved the physical challenge that landscaping offered. I took a year off after my Master’s degree and moved to Colorado to work for a family friend’s commercial landscape company while I decided if I wanted to pursue my PhD. I ended up working for him for 14 years, eventually leading the construction division. But I continued to feel the pull of academia and the classroom. I taught composition and literature at night at Red Rocks Community College for 10 years, until my day job and my growing family made it too hard to balance everything. Before starting Alpine HomeScapes, the last 7 or 8 years found me in senior leadership positions in two of the most prestigious landscape construction firms in the metro area.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I think we’d probably spend a few days acclimating and getting used to the altitude – catch a ball game at Coors Field, grab lunch at one of my old favorite haunts – tacos at Uno Mas on South Pearl or ceviche at Max’s Gill and Grill on South Gaylord, sample the beers at our local brewery, Over Yonder, and get a few warm-up hikes in on some of our favorite trails like Beaver Brook or Mt Falcon. Then I’d treat him to what i consider the perfect Colorado day: get up in the predawn hours, bag a sparsely-climbed 13er, have lunch and beers at Outer Range in Frisco, and get back to town in time to catch a show at Red Rocks.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There is no way I could limit this to any one person or even a few people. We are all the product of the people who believe in us and push us to be our best or who provide the shining example we hope to emulate. For me, this starts with my wife, Christyn, who has long believed me capable of more than i thought possible and has always refused to allow me to sell myself short. Her confidence in me buoys me every day, and her hard-working, thoughtful approach to her own career inspires me. I’m also grateful for my father-in-law and business partner, Skip, whose wise counsel, incredible breadth of knowledge, and level head help guide us through our most important decisions. And then there are the mentors from early in my career, who shaped me into the person I am, including Tano Delgado and my long-time friend and first boss in Colorado, Troy Tinberg, as well as friends and peers in the industry like Robbie Pike, Troy Sporleder, Josh Orth, and many others who have provided examples of excellence, teamwork, coaching, and friendship over the years. Our design partners – Brian Holmes, Matt Niederhauser, and Vejay Bala are profoundly talented and we are so fortunate to be able to work with them and bring their vision to life. Finally, I’d be nowhere at all without the team we have assembled at Alpine HomeScapes. Cuco and I have been friends for over twenty years and his skill, steady demeanor, and loyalty mean the world to me. Mark Bacho is a strategic whiz, brilliant long-view thinker, and trusted advisor; Jordan Salisbury is a stellar project manager, and an excellent communicator who clients love and our crews respect; Eric Stahelin is the most skilled craftsman and meticulous planner and builder that i have ever worked with; my sister Kate brings an unparalleled attention-to-detail and perfectionism to everything behind the scenes, from managing the books, to financial forecasting, to our safety program, and all things HR. She is our fiercest advocate and defender and I’m very grateful that she is always there guarding our back. We also have the best crews out there…thank you Mack, Juan, Fernando and Jose!

Website: alpinehomescapes.com

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-lapointe/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlpineHomeScapes