As a founding sponsor of National Women in Roofing, TAMKO Building Products LLC saw the immense potential of the organization from the beginning. But, in 2019, TAMKO acknowledged NWiR’s value in a new way by growing its employee membership in the organization by more than 500 percent.
These new members include women in the field selling product, scientists working in labs, marketing professionals and women working in supply chain logistics.
Sharenda Campbell, TAMKO Industrial Product Manager & Sales Coordinator, said the intersection of values makes it easy to choose to join and support NWiR.
“We have heard many times, people are what drives TAMKO, that we want to employ the best people,” Sharenda said. “At NWiR, we are educating and making ourselves better. Fortunately for us, with the backing of TAMKO as a founder and a Diamond Sponsor, it is easy to get on board when you have the support of your company behind you.”
A new member of NWiR, Lorena Garcia Cucalon, a TAMKO Research Scientist, loves TAMKO’s support of women in the industry, both historically and today.
“We’re a company that was heavily driven by women during a time when that was not the norm – we are pioneers in letting women drive manufacturing and roofing from the beginning,” Lorena said. “In many companies you will feel like there is a breaking point of things women can’t do, but I haven’t felt that at TAMKO, even on a technical team that is mostly men.”
A new push in 2019 was for women working in TAMKO field sales to get involved with NWiR. Sales Territory Manager Crystal Stone joined NWiR in 2019 and attended the recent National Women in Roofing Day event in her home sales territory of Dallas, Texas. She had the added benefit of participating in the activities that day with some of her customers, women on the roof and in the offices of roofing companies. The networking opportunities and the education was invaluable to Crystal at this year’s event.
“I love being able to attend educational and inspirational opportunities with like-minded professionals as we continue to grow the awareness and presence of women in the roofing industry,” she said.
As an engineer, TAMKO Research Scientist Lorena is no stranger to having been the only woman in the room for most of her professional career. So, the experience of being in a gathering of hundreds of women in the roofing industry was incredibly inspiring, strengthening and valuable to her.
“It’s unique being able to interact with women across the industry at different levels between leadership, construction and manufacturing,” Lorena said. “It provides me the opportunity to learn and see a different side of the industry that otherwise I wouldn’t. I’m in an R&D lab – it opens your mind to the big picture. NWiR Day was eye opening to new challenges and opportunities that can help advance my career, TAMKO and the industry as a whole.”