SANAH BAXTER
HVAC Expeditor at CANCO CLIMATE CARE
Board member of Women in HVACR
As a teen Sanah grew up as a so-called “tom boy” and her philosophy was “If the boys could do It, I could do it.”
Sanah was involved with all the sports and activities that her small-town school could offer. She was also one of the first females to be inducted into Boys Brigade Canada in the 80’s. Sanah loves homemade gifts and is a very giving person, giving of her time, help, and resources to anyone that needs her.
In her 2nd year of the Legal Admin program at Humber College, her fiancé, who is a gas fitter, asked if she could help him with a job one weekend. She did and found she had a knack with the gas piping. From that point on, she assisted on jobs whenever she could. The contractor that her fiancé worked for also noticed her potential and invited her to interview for the new parts person they were looking for. She was hired on the spot fulltime!
Some service technicians were not happy when they found out the position was filled by a woman. They tried to give her a hard time, but she had such a way with understanding the parts, even with the minimal info they gave her over the two-way radio. She won them over and they began encouraging her to get her license. Instead of returning to the legal program, Sanah switched to George Brown College and took the Gas Fitter 2 course while still working in parts and helping-out with dispatch. Sanah focused on gas piping jobs, water heater installs and maintenances because that is what she enjoyed most. Her knowledge made her valuable to both the office and in the field, so she split her time 50/50. Her leadership and knowledge skills were greatly requested in the office and that demand split wavered.
When Sanah decided to start a family, she adjusted to a less hectic schedule. She has held a variety of positions over the years: Office Manager, Expeditor, Service Manager, and now settled into the role of General Manager of an HVAC Company. She has never looked back, nor regretted her decision to change careers. Looking back to her first year of college, if someone asked what HVAC was, she would not have had a clue. This constantly evolving industry has kept her well employed for over 27 years, and every day is different!
She feels it is important to educate people on how critical their HVAC equipment is, as it is their heart of their home: “No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care”.
In a male-dominant industry, Sanah was always confident she could win-over doubters with her knowledge and sense of humor. “As long as you are good at your job, male or female, you will succeed. But you have to be willing to put the work in”. One of her life’s goals is to make the younger generation, particularly young women, aware of the opportunities the HVAC Industry has for them, that doesn’t mean they have to strap on the tools as she did.