What is your current company & position? Texas Chiller Systems and I am an Account Executive.
What AAFAME committees are you involved in? Chairman of the Training Committee and member of the Resource Alliance Committee.
What is the most interesting job you have had? I have had many interesting experiences in the HVAC industry. One that stands out is being put in the back of a van by federal agents to go visit a top-secret facility in the middle of South Texas in order to provide them with a solution to an HVAC issue. Luckily, I was dropped back off safe and sound, but had some serious concerns at the time about what I had gotten myself into.
Do you have professional aspirations? My professional aspiration is to share my own knowledge and experience with others. I remember the feeling of being young and new to an industry that I knew very little about. It can be very intimidating and there were so many times that I just had to figure things out the hard way. We need to welcome young people into our industry and that comes with willingness to offer some mentoring whenever needed, so that they do not feel overwhelmed by the broadness and scope of what we do in supporting commercial buildings.
What do you want to do when you grow up? I am not sure that I want to grow up. I try to take life on a little at a time. Doing my best to enjoy every bit of it. The good and the bad are just a part of life experiences. I want to have as many good stories to share around a campfire as possible, today and years to come.
If your company had a theme song what would it be? "Takin' Care of Business" by Bachman-Turner Overdrive.
What are your Five Minutes of Fame? I won an art contest when I was in kindergarten,. It was a big ordeal in San Antonio and the mayor was there, along with the media for the presentation of an award. They made a poster with my artwork and when they unveiled the poster, I was standing next to the mayor and I immediately began letting everyone know that was not my drawing. Nobody really knew what to say, but I was adamant that I did not draw that. Apparently, I was really confused since I had never drawn anything on a poster. They showed me my original drawing and that cleared things up. Despite what you might be thinking, I have zero artistic abilities today.
What are your hobbies? I enjoy spending time with family and friends. BBQing is one of my favorite past times, along with camping, fishing, and hunting. Pretty much any activity outdoors makes me happy.
Do you have pet peeves? My biggest pet peeve is people disrespecting others. It's best to just be kind to one another because life can be hard and we shouldn't be making it harder for each other.
If you could change anything, what would it be? If I could change one thing it would be that every child knows what it means to be loved. Way too many children do not have a stable home where they know they're loved. I was blessed to have that and it's the single most influential thing that made me who I am today.
Do you have a favorite quote, saying or song? Why is it your favorite? "If you want to walk fast, walk alone. If you want to walk far, walk together." It exemplifies the power and importance of teamwork.
One of your goals for this year? Continue our work on the AAFAME Training Committee to bring high quality and relevant training to our members. We have such a great group of volunteers, and we have a lot of ideas that we will be putting into action this year.
Your favorite thing about AAFAME? I love to see the mentoring and willingness of others to share their own knowledge and experience to reach a common goal of making the industry better overall.