Anchor transitions from WESH to Christmas trees
Former WESH-Channel 2 sports anchor and reporter Courtney Jasmin parted ways with the station in May, but she’s been keeping very merry in the meantime.
Since leaving WESH 2, Jasmin has focused on growing Treedrop, the Christmas tree delivery company she founded three years ago with her husband, Jerry.
“It’s very different,” Jasmin said. “I know it sounds kind of strange, like a news anchor going to trees.”
The company delivers and installs premium-grade Christmas trees from North Carolina. Guests go to the website to select the services they require, tree size and delivery date. Treedrop handles everything else, including disposing of pine needles.
Jasmin came up with the idea after struggling to get a Christmas tree in downtown Orlando and dealing with the resulting mess.
“I said, ‘I know there’s other people out there that struggle with this and maybe they want a live tree and they can’t get it,‘ ” she said. “It could be that … they’re too busy or they don’t want to scratch their car.”
So Jasmin and her husband founded Treedrop.
“I love Christmas. I love the holidays. I’ve always had a live Christmas tree,” Jasmin said. “And so this was something that was dear to my heart.”
Some doubted the business would appeal to customers, saying people enjoy the experience of selecting a tree from a big box store or tree lot.
But it appears the Jasmins may have been ahead of their time, as delivery services have grown in popularity in the COVID-19 era.
“It’s perfect because everybody’s getting everything delivered anyways,” Jasmin said. “I think it’s just sort of the way of the world right now with delivery and … making sure that you know your family is safe even though you still want a real Christmas tree.”
While Treedrop employees already wore gloves and shoe covers for deliveries, the company has also added the use of face masks and social distancing policies to enhance customer safety. They also offer contactless delivery, where they leave the tree at the front door.
“It was created just to help people for the holidays, and for people that want to get a real tree in our community, to give them a real tree,” she said. “We love to see people’s faces light up when they get it.”
In addition to working on Treedrop, Jasmin has been freelancing and making the most of her new schedule to spend quality time with her 2-year-old-daughter, Melrose, amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“I worked nights and weekends, so sometimes it could be difficult to do a lot of the normal mom things like cook dinner and give her a bath and tuck her in at night,” she said. “Those things I’ve definitely enjoyed while I’ve been home.”
She also had family members quarantined with her for five or six weeks during the height of COVID-19.
“That was nice to just sort of reconnect with family,” she said. “With our jobs and the news, it sometimes can be demanding on your time, so that has been a welcome blessing for sure to have some time to spend with family.”
Treedrop services start at $109. For more information, go to mytreedrop.com.