We were lucky to catch up with D’Vode Reed recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi D’Vode, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
Growing up I watched my father run a business. I watched the challenges, the hard work and dedication he put into his business but also watch the success and accomplishments he achieved. I knew then I wanted to follow in his foot steps to become an entrepreneur. I knew I wanted to do something that would help people and also something I could continue to learn about and something I could take pride in. I started looking at career paths in my early 20’s and enrolled in school and fell in love with HVAC. I took the basic course and also continued to educate myself by taking any courses related to HVAC that could expand my knowledge and ability to help others. I moved back to my hometown of Jackson MS to start my HVAC business. I wanted to give back to my community, help others and build success.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I currently run a HVAC company in Jackson MS, Reed’s Reasonable Heating and Cooling. In the 3 years we have been open we have became a local house hold name. We have built our brand off of trust, transparency and great customer service,. along with reasonable pricing.
Being able to service customers in my hometown allows me to take pride in my dream and all of my successes. I take pride in making sure that when my tech leaves a customer they have fixed all issues with their a/c or heating system.
We have a membership plan we offer to all of our customers to help with cost, this plan offers discounts on repairs and service call fees. It also includes 2 free tune-ups a year. We want to give back to our customer and help in any way we can with our membership plan.
I take pride in what I have created with my business and the standard I have created with my clients.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Presentation- always dress your best. Your uniform represents the company, even though the job can sometimes get messy, always be presentable to talk to the customer. Keeping your appearance clean and together is important. You have to take pride in what you look like to others. I believe in you dress for the job or goal that you want to accomplish. Take pride in yourself and what others see. You can develop this by working on time management. Getting up a few minutes earlier in the morning to prepare your day or laying out your clothes the night before. Keeping an extra change of clothes with you at all times. Making sure you take pride in your uniform like you would your own clothes.
knowledge – Continue to learn, you will never know it all when it comes to HVAC so continue to take classes and get certifications. Listen to others in what they have to teach you. No matter your age there is always something to learn. Make sure to teach others also, if you know something that will help someone, teach them.
transparency- honesty is key with the customer, let them know all the issues not just the basic. Bring them outside or to the furnace and show them what is wrong. Showing the customer lets the know you are on their side with fixing the issues. They are spending their hard earned money and should be able to see where it is going.
What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?
In the last 12 months my biggest growth/improvement has been in leadership and ownership. I have taken classes on how to improve marketing for my business. HVAC comes naturally at this point after 11 years, even though I am always learning I feel confident in my ability. However, trying to grow my market area was a challenge. Making sure I am attracting the right client and the right area. Checking to make sure that our pricing was correct. I want to be affordable for the customer but also profitable to make sure the business stays open and we can continue to service our customers and take care of our techs.
Leadership is something I have also had to grow in this year. Being able to direct my staff in the right direction and also learn to trust the tech to do the right job and delegate task. Not weighing myself down feeling like I had to do all of the work. Building a success team is important for a business to strive.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://reedsreasonablehvac.com
- Instagram: Reeds Reasonable Heating and Cooling
- Facebook: Reed’s Reasonable Heating and Cooling
- Yelp: Reed’s Reasonable Heating and Cooling
- Other: google: Reed’s Reasonable Heating and Cooling
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
