What is Humans of HVAC?
Humans of HVAC (HOH) is a storytelling platform dedicated to the people who make the HVAC industry possible — technicians, engineers, contractors, manufacturers, and innovators around the world.
Through real stories from across the global HVAC community, HOH helps build a shared understanding of the industry, inspire new professionals, and highlight the human side of a sector that quietly supports everyday life. Every experience matters, and every voice helps strengthen our community.
Latest Stories
Educator, Not Influencer: Tim DeStasio on Three HVAC Careers, the Hair Salon Parrot, and Why the Trade Needs Balance
Connect with Tim on Linkedin – FALTA AÑADIR ENLACE DE LINKEDIN Three Careers, One Industry My name is Tim DeStasio, and I’m an HVAC consultant, trainer, and designer. I’ve been in the trades since the late 90s — close to thirty years now. It’s all I’ve ever done in my adult life. I started in…
From Hydroelectric Blackouts to AI for HVAC: Rahul Subramany’s Mission to Bring Commercial HVAC into the Intelligence Era
Connect with Rahul on Linkedin Where I Come From I grew up in southern India, in a small town in the state of Kerala. Back in the late 90s and early 2000s, over 90% of Kerala’s electricity came from hydroelectric power. In the summer months we had constant blackouts — 30 minutes here, an hour…
Everyone Needs an Andrew: Andrew Tekle-Shirley on Going from the Field to Product Management
Connect with Andrew on Linkedin From a Craigslist Posting to Twenty Years in HVAC I’m from Pittsburgh, PA, and I’ve been in HVAC since I was twenty — so I’m coming up on twenty years now. Before HVAC, I was a customer service rep at Comcast, back when it was still called Comcast, not Xfinity.…
From Queens to Comfort: George Wong’s Story in HVAC
Connect with George on Linkedin Growing Up Around the Trades I grew up in Queens, New York City, in an area where a lot of the people around me were Italian, and many of them were plumbers or part of the union. That was the environment I was surrounded by. It was very common to…
Leaving Certainty to Build Something Better: Jane Sidebottom’s Perspective on Growth, Leadership, and Change
Connect with Jane on Linkedin A Different Kind of Beginning I wasn’t born into HVAC, and I didn’t grow up imagining a career in this industry. I was born in Bermuda and moved to the United States just before I turned three. My parents are English, and my father worked in support of the U.S.…
The Harder I Work, the Luckier I Get: Mitch Lloyd’s 40+ Years in HVAC Sales
Connect with Mitch on Linkedin A Forklift and a Reorganized Warehouse I needed a job. My first one was driving a forklift at Robertshaw Controls in Corona, California. I’d been in the Marine Corps, I was out a couple of years, no college, just looking for work. I went into the warehouse, started stocking shelves…
The House Is Talking: Corbett Lunsford on Listening, Testing, and Telling Better Stories
Connect with Corbett on Linkedin Before I Ever Touched HVAC I did not come from a trade family, and I did not start out in HVAC. My previous career was music. I made up music for dancers, and I got to travel as part of that. It was a fun life in some ways. I…
Engineering Trust Across Borders: Jaime Sotelo
Connect with Harry on LinkedIn From a “Not-So-Sexy Product” to the World Behind Refrigeration I entered the refrigeration and air-conditioning world around 2002–2003, while I was still in university studying engineering. Before that, I had briefly tried something completely different: a Forex business inspired by a financial engineering course I had taken. It didn’t work…
Harry Zaimis: Finding the Space Between Technology and the Trade
Connect with Harry on LinkedIn When I decided to pursue a career in HVAC, it wasn’t because I had some lifelong dream of working with heating and air conditioning. It was practicality. I was looking at different career paths and noticed how crowded many of them were. Everyone seemed to be chasing the same jobs.…
From Desert Summers to Product Strategy: Karim Yasin’s HVAC Path
Connect with Karim on LinkedIn I didn’t grow up dreaming about HVAC. Like many engineers, my imagination as a kid was closer to aerospace—the idea of building machines that fly. I began college pursuing that fascination before switching to mechanical engineering. At graduation I had two offers on the table: one in defense and one…
Building Structure, Vision, and Momentum: Brigido Natera
Connect with Brigido on LinkedIn From Immigration to Industry I came to the United States from Venezuela when I was 23 years old. At that time, HVAC wasn’t part of any plan. Like many immigrants, my focus was simple: work, learn, and build a future. The HVAC industry found me before I found it. My…
Finding the Path by Saying Yes: Jacqueline Quinn’s Story in HVAC
Connect with Jacqueline on LinkedIn An Unexpected Beginning I didn’t grow up wanting to be in HVAC. There was no family connection to the trades and no long-term plan. I got hired. I was 19 years old when a local HVAC company in my hometown brought me on as a CSR II. I remember being…