by Karen Lamy DeSousa
The WHVACR organization has helped me both personally and professionally in so many ways. Membership, for me, has meant deeper access to industry events as well as new HVACR technology and innovations.
Through WHVACR, I have also developed mentorship and networking relationships that have challenged me to improve my knowledge and skills as a business owner, and invaluable friendships with women across the country that I likely would never have met otherwise.
One such friendship developed from the Women in HVACR Annual Conference in Denver two years ago. I met a woman in the industry with a passion for writing, but who was shy about sharing her work. After the conference, she shared some of her ideas with me and it turns out she not only had passion, but a great talent. With some encouragement, she submitted her first article to an HVACR magazine and was thrilled to find it immediately published. Five more published articles later, she is now working on publishing her first book! Without WHVACR, we likely would have never met. Though I believe she would have found her way into print eventually, I hope that my cheerleading helped move along her success and brought her ideas and talents to the HVACR world sooner.
I have the great honor of being president of the Women in HVACR organization for 2020. It is my mission in this role to provide greater opportunity for members and sponsors of the organization to utilize their considerable talents to take leadership roles in their organizations as well as to enhance the WHVACR mission of empowering women to succeed in the HVACR industry.
Karen Lamy DeSousa
Karen Lamy DeSousa is the Women in HVACR president and owner and president of Advance Air & Heat Co., Inc.
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Karen Lamy DeSousa is the second-generation owner of Advance Air & Heat, a certified 100% woman-owned, HVAC, refrigeration and building automation contractor serving Southeastern Massachusetts, Cape Cod and Rhode Island since 1986. Advance Air specializes in finding environmentally friendly, economical and tailored solutions to meet its customers’ individual business needs. Karen enjoys writing a blog about HVAC, life as a woman in a man’s field, and other humorous tales and musings. She is also active in several nonprofit organizations focused on the economic empowerment of women and girls, community development and supporting women in business.
