When I graduate, I hope to continue working for my family’s HVAC business. My family started the business 18 years ago and when I was little I would tell everyone that I was going to take over the business one day. I grew up around the HVAC industry by going on calls with my dad, answering phones, helping with paperwork, picking up parts, etc.
When I was a teenager I was not as interested in the business and had other career goals. When I graduated high school, they were in need of a temporary administrative assistant who could do the job until they were able to to find someone for the position. I was in between jobs and I was able to work around my school schedule, so it worked out perfectly. I eventually got good at my job and liked what I was doing, so I stayed permanently.
In the beginning I realized how cruel some men in the industry, and even outsiders, could be. They believe women do not belong in the industry, in the office or out in the field. In the past four years I’ve learned general knowledge and troubleshooting tools for the equipment we service, and once while helping a customer, they asked if they could talk to a man instead. I’ve walked into supply houses and waited a half hour for someone to help me while men were waited on immediately, and was only acknowledged because I asked if anyone was going to help me. They responded with “Oh, I thought you were here with your dad.” I’ve learned to just roll my eyes, shake it off and move on.
Although I have been faced with closed minded individuals, I’ve been blessed to be welcomed with open arms by others. Those individuals try to teach me basic knowledge of the equipment, they make sure I’m treated with the same respect everyone else gets, and they encourage diversity in the industry.
About a year and a half ago, I won a scholarship through an organization called, “Women in HVACR.” The organization chose the most promising applicant who works or plans to work in the HVAC industry, and is continuing their education in trade school or undergraduate programs. A requirement for the application was for 3 recommendation letters from at least 2 separate parts of the industry. I asked a technician, a local distributor’s district sales manager, and a salesman for another distributor, and all were men. I had become to know each of them very well and they each encouraged me to stay in the industry. The Board of Directors from Women in HVACR even commented on how well they spoke of me in their letters and how encouraging they were for women to be apart of the industry.
My family, Women in HVACR, and the open minded individuals who encourage diversity are the reason why I want to continue working for my family’s business. I am hoping to eventually take over the family business along with my sister. Our goal is to help women feel comfortable about joining the industry and eventually work towards making women present in the industry a norm. While we currently encourage and support woman in the industry, we feel we would be more effective if a woman actually owns and runs the business.
Since the business is small, we do not have different departments that many large organizations do. One day I could be working in payroll, the next I could be working on marketing, and sometimes I’m sent in the field to be an extra set of hands for the technicians. Because of my various roles, I am in charge of general marketing, our social media pages, and our website.
This course could teach me the necessary tools to analyze other HVAC websites, evaluate our audience, the color theme, the font, etc.and design our website accordingly. Blogs also are a current trend, so I’m hoping to create a blog for our company. The blog will inform readers of “Do’s and Dont’s” of using their equipment, teach readers how to change the filters in their unit, etc. I’m hoping by the end of this course I will be able to determine how to get my information across effectively.