CORPUS CHRIST, Texas — KRIS 6 News has previously reported on the high demand in HVACR workers. These are the people who work in heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigerator industry.
But some women are really changing the game for this industry.
"These girls kind of grew up into it 'cause they were stuck with dad all the time," Alfredo Franco the owner of Airtech said.
He was a single dad raising two little girls — those girls are now helping him take his air conditioning business to the next level.
From the time that Franco could remember he said his daughters Emma and Julia would go with him everywhere.
"I would pick them up from school and they would get stuck in the service truck doing their homework and when they were done I would still be working and they’d be like ‘'dad you want me to help you,’" he said.
Franco never expected both of his girls to follow in his footsteps. His father left him and his mother the company when he died and now it has become a family operating business.
Emma, his oldest, is teaching at Del Mar College everything she has learned from her dad and grandfather. She said she enjoys every minute of working with her family.
Emma added that they never really fight and that their job makes for good stories to tell at family functions.
“It’s exciting honestly. You don’t get a lot of people that show up to your house and say 'yeah, that’s my sister, or that’s my dad, or simply just calling him dad' because I don’t call him anything else,” Emma said.
She has caught many people off guard when she shows up to make repairs — people usually expect her dad or a guy to get the job done.
But she said proving doubters wrong has only helped grow her love for the business.
“For me to teach men or to simply go to somebody’s house that is not expecting a woman, I like to prove them wrong and show them like I fixed your AC. You know I did that, and it makes me happy because I did something that people thought could never be done," she added.
Although teaching was something she didn't expect she said it is something she always wanted to do.
"I look forward to my students' success, and I just love to see them shine," she said.
Although sometimes it could be nerve-wracking in a predominantly male industry, it still doesn't stop her.
For Julia, Emma’s little sister, getting into the industry wasn't something she thought she would do.
Julia said she wanted to give something else a try, but as she got older and started to see her dad get older, she felt like she had to be a part of the family business.
“ I love it. I love that I get to spend every day with my dad, every day with my sister, every day with, you know, my brother. I get to talk you him, you know, most families talk to their dads or families or parents once a week, and I get to talk to my dad every morning, you know, every day," Julia said.
She is set to graduate in December from Del Mar and said she can’t see herself not helping the family business.
She added that her sister Emma has opened up the doors for her.
"If it wasn't for her, I don't think I would be doing this," she said.
Mr. Franco is very proud of his two girls.
“ I didn’t expect it from them, you know, but they did good. They are doing good. I am very proud of them," he said, trying to hold his tears.
Fanco hopes the girls will continue to expand and grow the Business.
