Understandably, roofing has long been assumed to be a male-dominated trade. The truth is that women have made and continue to make big contributions to the roofing industry.
National Women In Roofing (NWIR) is a volunteer-based organization that seeks to promote careers for women in roofing through networking, mentoring, education, and recruitment efforts. By empowering women in terms of industry education and opportunity, NWIR helps shed the stereotype of roofing as “men’s work”. Many of NWIR’s members are women who found themselves in roofing, often by chance, and rose through the ranks to be top roofing executives.
One woman who has grown into a key member of the HKC roofing team is Jamie Thiel. Originally from Charlotte, NC, Jamie was first introduced to the roofing industry via working with insurance companies. She currently serves as an HKC commercial account representative. Once she came to Cincinnati, Jamie had to learn the nuts and bolts of roofing, but she has embraced that challenge.
Jamie enjoys the variety and the occasional chaos that comes with roofing projects, as well as being outside (when it is nice!). At times, Jamie has to work a little harder to establish credibility with her clients than a man likely would, but fortunately, she has the patience to gain clients’ trust one project at a time.