I have a whole new perspective on the HVAC industry after meeting Homer. I was at a friend’s house a few months ago, watching the big championship college basketball game. I can’t even tell you who was playing that night, or who won, but I guess in the long run I was the winner because I met Homer. He is a bit of an odd duck, as the saying goes, but he was really funny and insightful. Homer had never had enough money to go to college, and had been working his blue collar HVAC job for the last seven or eight years. Here is the part that I found fascinating, because Homer told me he got into the heating and cooling industry because there wasn’t a “paywall” to exclude people like him. Homer explained how most professions require a substantial outlay of money to get started. Consider the professions of a doctor, an engineer, or a lawyer, that need hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of education. An HVAC tech does not have to invest that much money in their education, and they can wind up making a comfortable living. When Homer told me how much he was making when he first started as an HVAC tech I was blown away! HVAC workers have certified skills, which makes them very valuable to general contractors. Even without a steady employer an HVAC tech can make amazing money just doing freelance jobs for other companies. Home has made me reevaluate everything I thought I knew about the HVAC industry as a career path.