Building a career in roofing

By Emma Peterson.  

Learn how a strong work ethic and a willingness to keep learning has built a multi-decade long career for Paige Harvill. 

In this episode of the Stories from the Roof podcast, sponsored by Johns Manville, Megan Ellsworth hosted Paige Harvill to hear her stories and perspective on the industry. Sponsored by Johns Manville, Megan Ellsworth hosted Paige Harvill to hear her stories and perspective on the industry.  

Paige has been in the industry for 28 years overall and is currently a corporate projects manager for Nations Roof. Her journey began with her father, who got into the roofing industry as a way to pay his way through college. In his post-grad life, her father worked for GAF and then started his own company, the one that Paige was raised around. Roofing was always a part of her life, but Paige didn’t really get interested in it as a career until after she finished her own college degree. She explained, “I went with my parents out for the NRCA Convention, which is now the IRE, and I was in awe. I was like, this is so much more than just this small company in Mobile, Alabama. So, from there, I quit my job and started working for my dad.” 

But her journey didn’t stop there, her dad turned around and sent her to get experience beyond his direct supervision. Paige explained, “He sent me out to work for three other individuals in the industry that he knew through the association. I was with Harold. J. Becker and Company in Dayton, Ohio for a month. And then Colorado with Conrad Kowalik and V&M Roofing, was my second stint. My third and last before going home was with Bennett Hutchinson with Tip Top Roofing in Atlanta, Georgia.”  

Her dad wanted to ensure that she wasn’t going to come in without the experience needed just because she was the boss’s daughter and Paige explained how grateful she was for this and what she learned during her time at other companies. She recalled a manager when she was in Ohio, “The girl that they put me with was in the service and I was so grateful and thankful that it was a woman because I was 23 years old. She tells the story, like 'I just figured you were going to come with these long, painted nails, and you're just going to be so prissy.’” It was when Paige put her head down and got straight to work that she gained a mentor and the encouragement she needed to succeed as she built her career. 

Read the transcript or Listen to the whole interview to hear more of Paige’s roofing industry journey.