ACR Journal

ACR industry Mel Summers is the UK marketing manager of refrigerant specialist Climalife. able to share my experience with them, helping them on their own career journeys - something I find hugely satisfying. Fast forward to September 2013. Working long hours, commuting 2-3 hours every day and mum to a seven-year-old, I decided it was time to put the brakes on, get life’s priorities back on track and focus on spending more time with my family. I was so lucky to discover Climalife (IDS Refrigeration) who offered me a marketing role with the flexibility I was looking for and with opportunities to develop new skills, complimenting my experience to date. What does your current role involve? Nine years on and I haven’t looked back. I am now the marketing manager for Climalife in the UK, working closely with customers, the UK team, as well as colleagues from around the world. Our activity spans anything from advertising to articles; from webinars to face-to-face events and from social media to training. No two days are ever the same and every day I strive to learn and be the very best that I can be. Climalife really does support its staff with great training and development opportunities. What attracted you to the industry? I had never considered how cooling touched so many of our daily lives until I joined this industry and it enthuses me to see the awareness growing with initiatives such as World Refrigeration Day, as well as the acknowledgement we as an industry gained at the height of the pandemic. I find one of the most satisfying parts of working within our industry is the simple understanding that cooling supports the food we eat, the health we strive for and the digital expectations we take for granted. When I told my colleagues in the financial world that I was going to work in the air conditioning and refrigeration industry they looked at me with horror. “Isn’t that linked to all those horrible gases that are damaging the ozone layer?” they said. At the time, I didn’t know a lot but I was aware that the industry was already on a journey towards using better products and technologies and so I knew there was a perception challenge that had to be addressed. What excites/interests you about the industry? I love to see how the industry is evolving both in terms of the number of women and the recognition being given to the vast expertise held. I have also been lucky enough to get involved in projects that support our new generation of engineers coming into the industry, through the RACHPskills competition as well as Climalife’s own college speaker programme. Training is such an important aspect supporting the future of our industry and Climalife is well placed with its vast technical knowledge in supporting this going forward. How would you like to see your career developing? Every day is a growth opportunity for me. Whether it is speaking to a customer to What was your first job? As with perhaps many of us within the cooling industry, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do when I left school back in the 90s. In those days, school did not spend a lot of time career planning and so I naturally gravitated towards similar careers to my parents. I stayed on to do my A-levels but knew that university wasn’t for me, so I left school and took an accounts job working for a life insurance company in Bristol. It was whilst working that I advanced my studies and secured a role as PA to the managing director of a large marketing company and where I went on to discover my love of marketing. I quickly moved into a Campaign Manager role and achieved my marketing degree. Through the years that followed, my marketing career accelerated, working both client and agency side, picking up new skills and experience. As the teams that I managed grew, I was also August 2022 | September 2022 32 WOMEN IN ACR Volume 8 No.5