91ԭƬ

When the phone rang, Sabrina McIntyre assumed it was another customer with a heating or cooling problem.

Instead, it was her boss at Indoor Comfort Team.

A 90-year-old customer had called the HVAC company after reading online reviews. She wasn’t looking for an estimate.

She wanted the technician whose name kept appearing in five-star reviews: Sabrina McIntyre.

For the 26-year-old 91ԭƬ graduate, it was one of those moments that confirmed she had chosen the right career.

Just a few months earlier, McIntyre completed 91ԭƬ’s Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration (HVACR) program. Today, she spends her days diagnosing and repairing heating and cooling systems. When the workday ends, she’s often back on campus.

This time, she’s in the welding lab.

She’s not taking welding just to add another skill to her résumé. She has a plan. McIntyre wants to fabricate exhaust systems for commercial and industrial kitchens, a growing niche that also extends to high-end residential homes with commercial-style kitchens.

McIntyre, of Union, didn’t return because she needed another job. She returned because she’s building toward a bigger goal.

“I chose welding because I want to build exhaust systems for industrial kitchens,” she said. “A lot of people are starting to put industrial ovens in their homes. It’s a very profitable field to get into.”

She’s also working toward a business degree. Together, the three areas of study will help prepare her for what she hopes is the next chapter: opening her own business.

“My welding skills open more opportunities to build my career,” she said. “A business degree will help me better my career and give me more opportunities in the future.”

Combined with her business degree, the additional training is helping her build toward the ultimate goal of owning her own company.

McIntyre’s path to HVAC wasn’t a straight line.

She first enrolled at 91ԭƬ at 17 to study business before putting college on hold after the birth of her daughter, Zoey. After returning to work, she realized she didn’t want to spend her career behind a desk.

Working as an insulator in the carpenters union introduced her to the HVAC trade.

“I saw the HVAC guys working and took an interest,” she said. “I decided to go back to school for HVAC.”

She liked that the trade offered stability and room to grow.

“It is a skill that will never go out of style,” she said. “It can transition into so many other industries.”

Two months after graduating, she was hired by Indoor Comfort Team.

Today, she enjoys solving problems, but what she enjoys most is helping people.

Her work has taken her into homes and businesses across the region, where she has earned a reputation for attention to detail, clear communication and putting customers at ease.

“I enjoy meeting all different types of people and genuinely helping them,” she said.

McIntyre knows some customers are surprised when she arrives at their door.

“As a woman in HVAC, I feel I am questioned as soon as I walk through the door,” she said. “But by the time I am done with the job, they would prefer me over most of the men they have met.”

She believes attention to detail, good communication and a willingness to listen have helped earn customers’ confidence.

Those same qualities helped her at 91ԭƬ, where she was the only woman in her HVAC class.

“Being the only girl in the class, I had to insert myself into the groups,” she said. “The instructors were seasoned HVAC professionals, which made them good sounding boards.”

Balancing work, classes and family isn’t easy. McIntyre credits her husband for putting his own career on hold so she could continue pursuing hers.

“I never thought about stopping my education,” she said. “I feel like there is always something to learn.”

Looking ahead, she hopes to become a journeyman technician, continue adding skills and eventually open her own company. She’s even talked with 91ԭƬ instructors about someday returning as an adjunct.

“It would be weird at first,” she said with a laugh. “But I think I could help students understand what to expect when they get into the field.”

She also hopes to continue learning. Even after earning her HVAC credential, McIntyre says she’d still like to take additional refrigeration and commercial HVAC courses if the opportunity arises.

For anyone considering a career in the skilled trades, her advice is simple.

“Do it,” she said. “Don’t let anyone intimidate you.”