When you’re building a company that’s changing the HVAC industry from the inside out, you have to stay grounded in the work. So I did something most people in my position wouldn’t: I took a job as an HVAC apprentice to a 40-year veteran.
Not because I needed a paycheck—but because I was evaluating his business. I wanted to see how he operated in the field, how he trained, and whether there was a fit for Shelter Air to acquire or collaborate.
You could call it my Undercover Boss moment—except there were no camera crews and no reveal. Just me, in the attic, doing the work.
We met at a technical training class. Months later, he called looking for a helper—someone to assist with a difficult attic system install. I referred a couple of capable techs to him, but he said they “wanted too much money.”
So I had a bright idea: “Hire me.”
He laughed. Said he was old-fashioned and didn’t think I could handle the work. I told him I’m a volunteer firefighter. I’ve carried a SCBA, worked in turnout gear, and I’m a lot stronger than I look.
Eventually, he agreed. He worked around my schedule, and we started at 7:30 AM.
It was a cool, misty spring morning. We were outside replacing a condenser. I checked the panel—there were two breakers labeled AC. I said, “Let’s turn off both to be safe.” He replied, “No, just the top one.”
I tested the line with a meter and told him it still looked live. He brushed it off: “That’s just residual electric.”
It wasn’t.
I went to remove the disconnect box, my arm brushed a wire, and I got shocked. I have the burn on my wrist to prove it.
I sat down on the condenser, caught my breath, and got back to work. That was the first hour of day one.
We spent the rest of the day ripping out the old duct system, which was made of duct board.
When I arrived the next day, the new ductwork was already in the attic. “How’d you get it up here?” I asked.
“The homeowner helped,” he said.
We spent the day assembling the system. No mastic. No duct sealing. No pressure testing. Just tape, screws, and hope. He connected new trunks to filthy flex runs without checking sizing or airflow.
I flagged it. “I don’t do duct cleaning,” he said. In the attic, I pointed out insulation gaps around recessed lights. “I don’t do insulation,” came the reply.
That sentence—that mindset—is what’s broken in this industry.
It was a ten-hour day. I showed up early, ready to work. But he did most of it himself. When things went wrong? He blamed me.
He grumbled that he was trying to teach and that’s why he was making mistakes. Yet I had offered to help every step of the way.
“There’s no good help anymore,” he kept repeating. Then he’d flip: “You’re the first helper I’ve had show up with tools.”
The truth? He doesn’t have help because he doesn’t allow it.
At one point, he asked me to grab a rag. “I don’t see one,” I said.
“That hoodie! That’s the rag!”
“Oh,” I replied, “I thought that was your jacket.”
“Did you see me wearing a jacket?” he snapped.
Poor communication. No training. Constant frustration. That’s not leadership. That’s burnout.
I picked up useful tricks—like using a pipe cutter to hold back insulation on line sets. I learned how to solder, bleed a hydronic system, and rebuild a hydro coil air handler.
And I saw how pride and inflexibility sabotage the process.
He replaced a faulty zone valve but didn’t solder it right. I found water pouring across the floor in the basement. He hadn’t noticed.
I pulled the shop vac from my truck—because I always have one—and cleaned up the mess.
He didn’t acknowledge the mistake. “I’m used to working alone,” he said. “Having you there threw me off.”
On day four, he invited me to watch him commission the system. Then said, “But I won’t pay you.”
So much for valuing time. So much for collaboration.
At Shelter Air, we do it differently.
From the beginning, I committed this company to building science. HVAC and home performance go hand-in-hand—we never treat them separately.
We provide:
Load calculations and proper duct design
Insulation and air sealing assessments
Complete system evaluations
High-quality installs sealed with mastic
Respect-driven team training and development
We also hire women. Because skill, standards, and mindset matter—not gender.
He didn’t think I could do the work. But he learned otherwise.
I learned a lot, too. Not just about tools or soldering, but about leadership.
If you’re burned out, working alone, and blaming everyone else—maybe it’s not your helpers.
