The Real Me
I’m just a good old Canadian boy with a great family, two supporting parents, three rambunctious boys and a beautiful wife, taking up residence in a small town just north of Toronto, Ontario. I immigrated from Scotland with my parents when I was two years old. Aye, I’m a gid ole Scottish lad! And no, I’ve never eaten haggis or played the bagpipes haha! I had no idea what to do with my life after high school, my father recommended HVAC…So I enrolled into a refrigeration course at Humber College in Toronto, Ontario. I had no previous experience handling tools what so ever, this was gonna be tough…I stuck with it and began to enjoy what I was learning, my grades were a reflection of this, I’m not trying to brag at all, just laying out the facts. During the summers I would ride along with residential companies to gain some field experience. After completing the course at Humber I handed out resumes to many different companies and it wasn’t long before I received a phone call. I was hired after two interviews, 17.5 years later, I’m a senior tech with the same company that gave me my first real start. Thank you!
Introducing the HVAC Know It All
I have been involved in such a variety of work over years in a commercial and industrial setting and I was taught by some great techs and even some not so great techs along the way. I began to read comments within HVAC groups on social media over the last year and a half, I wasn’t impressed by most of it, not what so ever. There was a lot of hatred, negativity and bashing and there was a complete lack of respect and shoulders to lean on. I decided to put my experience and positive outlook to good use, so I began HVAC Know It All on Facebook. It started out small, I would write about my day, my jobs, and my HVAC life. I would relay this info to a very small audience. It began to grow over time and the feedback was incredible. I stood up against those with negative view points in an attempt to turn them towards a positive culture. Some were just too far gone, some did see the bigger picture, apologized and until this day remain relatively positive. The HVAC Know It All brand now takes up residence on Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube and Facebook (two groups) with approximately 28,000 followers. I share the work of others in a positive light and encourage those who comment to do so constructively, it has been a challenge at times, but always trending in the right direction. I am also very proud that My HVAC Hub powered by HVAC Know It All (private Facebook group) is such a multi cultural HVAC hot spot, I grew up within multi cultural settings and this is the norm for me. What I didn’t realize, was the amount of work it would take to constantly engage with followers. I have done my absolute best to keep up and I enjoy the back and forth banter with all of you. You see, I’m not an HVAC Know It All, I have never claimed to be. Within the name I chose, you will find sarcasm with a little bit of twisted humour, the name was chosen to reflect a large portion of individuals that claim to Know It All, but in reality fail to advance their thinking. But in the realm of positivity, with the sharing of information and helpful advice, maybe one day we can all become closer to Know It All status!
I have respect for all people with a good heart and good intentions no matter which part of the globe they are from. Check out this video by Classified, featuring Mr Lahey, RIP. Some entertainment value that reflects from which part of the globe I have put pen to paper.
