I started my career in telemarketing at Manhattan Cable Television and quickly worked my way into marketing management. I then jumped to television programming at Viewer’s Choice Pay Per View Network, where I marketed movies and live events such as boxing, wrestling and music concerts. My next move was to Los Angeles to help start up the first direct broadcast satellite tv service. In my ten years with DIRECTV, I rose to Sr. Vice President of Marketing and Advertising. I then joined Virgin Mobile USA – Sir Richard Branson’s newly launched youth phone service. It seems I have a soft spot for start-ups.
In 2005, I left corporate America and headed to Charleston South Carolina to study historic preservation. I earned an Associates of Applied Science at the American College of the Building Arts (ACBA) and a master’s degree in Historic Preservation from the Savannah College of Art and Design. It was during this time that I met my future business partner Dennis Knight (ASHRAE president 2024 – 2025), as he was just about to start his own mechanical consulting engineering firm. I joined Dennis as Chief Operating Officer for Whole Building Systems, in charge of all the non- technical stuff. I too have volunteered for ASHRAE, contributing to the Historic Preservation Guideline on Energy Efficiency and most recently serving as Vice Chair for the Conference for Integrated Design Construction and Operation. There are many roles to be played in the HVAC&R industry – even if you are not an engineer!