WOMEN IN CONSTRUCTION
Carmen Koo Inspiring inside and outside the sheet metal industry By / Natalie Bruckner Photos courtesy of Carmen Koo
© Can Stock Photo / MSPhotographics
“Don’t be afraid, face your fears, and if an opportunity arises, even if it scares you, do it!” This philosophy has been at the heart of every decision for Carmen Koo, owner of Applied Air Conditioning and member of SMACNA of Southern California (SoCal), since she was a little girl... and this is why she is such an inspiration both inside and out of the sheet metal industry.
Born and raised in Holland, Koo emigrated to California with her parents, brother, and sister at the age of nine. Little did she know back then that her impact on the sheet metal industry would be so profound. “I always knew I had an entrepreneurial spirit,” Koo says. “I take after my father who owned restaurants in Holland—but never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I would be running an HVAC company this many years later. It’s amazing, and I feel blessed.” Her path into sheet metal was rather unusual. In fact, up until 1996 she had never heard of the industry. However, as is life, an unusual circumstance led her to what would soon become her life’s passion. “I was volunteering with my family at church and a fellow parishioner, Norm Lussier, was starting a new HVAC company and needed someone to help him in the office,” Koo says. “At the time, I was at college and a young mum to a beautiful child [the second child, Emma, would come along nine years later] and I thought, why not? I completely fell in love with the industry from day one.”
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SMACNA-SOCAL INDUSTRY REPORTER
