SHELLEY VALLEE-EWING

Residential Sales Supervisor, Enbridge Sustain

Co-Founder of Women in HVACR

I had no idea this industry even existed when I stumbled into it by pure luck 25 years ago. My first job though an employment agency was a receptionist at Union Energy/21 Degrees in Mississauga. I moved from reception to the service department and started doing some customer sales over the phone.  I was invited to join a new forward-thinking company doing outside sales to new construction home builders.  Never underestimate the importance of networking!  Every role I’ve had has lead to another through the great people I’ve met along the way.

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Enbridge Gas began hosting “Integrated Design” Charettes where experts representing all trades, materials and equipment involved in the construction of a building got together to essentially prove that any project, with a coordinated effort by all parties, could be built more efficiently and more cost effectively.  I was hooked.  I began attending Building Code courses and performed blower door testing with a team on new construction sites.  I learned so much about how the envelope and the mechanical systems impact each other.

 

I went from that job to selling high-end windows, where again I often found myself the only woman on a construction site full of men.  My days were so varied: “Lunch and Learn” presentations to architects wearing a suit, to taking measurements with the installation team on a muddy site in my steel toes.

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Every day I meet with great HVAC business owners and their teams.  I see firsthand the competitive threats they face and I hear about the challenges to the growth of their businesses.  Big or small, urban or rural, they all report how difficult it is to find good people. 

 

I wish more young women knew about HVAC-R.  It really is the perfect mix of problem solving, exercise, interacting with customers and great money!