Just by skimming Jessica Landsverk's resume, you can see hints of her tenacity. She went from working as a customer service representative for a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) company—a field in which she had no experience—to becoming the director of sales and service at Robert Gibb & Sons, Inc.

Her story is so much more than the career she's so passionate about, though. Jessica she shaped her own future after being abandoned by the people who were supposed to care for her the most: her parents.

Searching for a provider

Jessica grew up in a dysfunctional home full of toxic relationships and drinking habits. Her mother had her young and struggled with insecurities and addiction. Her father wasn't her biological parent, which was fine, except she found out at age 5 when her mom paused mid-fight with him to snap, "I don't know why you're crying; he's not your real dad anyway." By the time Jessica reached sixth grade, she was sent solo across the country to stay with her grandmother as she recovered from back surgery. No one ever came to bring her home.

This was a trauma on its own, but it at least removed her from a negligent home and gave her a loving maternal figure. Still, the shadows of her past caught up with her; conflict was her model of adulthood.

At first Jessica simply felt the pressure to marry right out of high school, creating an expectation of dependence that followed her throughout young adulthood and when she adopted her niece. Eventually, she found herself in a 10-year abusive relationship filled with cheating, alcoholism, and manipulation. Amid the birth of Jessica's first biological child, her relationship continued to spiral. She told herself that she could fix it and she could fix him, but things only got worse.

 "I said, 'Grandma, I think I need to leave,'" Jessica recalls. "'I remember seeing [physical abuse] when I was little, and I have memories of that when I was 4 and 5, and I don't want that for my kids.'"

“I remember seeing [physical abuse] when I was little, and I have memories of that when I was 4 and 5, and I don’t want that for my kids.”
— Jessica Landsverk

 Her grandma responded, "Well, he provides for you." To her, a relationship wasn't about how one person treated another or what kind of example was set for their children. It was about income and food on the table.

 "And that was my defining moment," Jessica says. "That was, 'Well then, I need to provide for myself.'"

Pride in a phone call

After Jessica left her abuser, she needed to find a job somewhere, anywhere, to start anew, and she wound up answering phone calls at an HVAC company. While the job description hadn't sparked any inspiration in her, the trainer she was with, Sharon, did. "She was older, and she was just so thorough and so proud of what she was doing because she knew she was getting these technicians to where they needed to be, so I listened and I learned," Jessica says.

On Jessica's first day as the main dispatcher, her skills weren't quite up to par (a technician gave her some frank feedback—now he's her husband of 10 years). However, she began to see the disconnect between the field and office staff, and she nurtured relationships with each technician. The corresponding (and record-breaking) success wasn't because of deliberate networking or corporate analysis, she says. It was because of mutual respect.

The years passed, and Jessica became the service, dispatch, and marketing manager at another HVAC firm, and from there, she joined Robert Gibbs & Sons and worked her way up from customer service supervisor to the director of sales and service. More than half a year later, she still tears up over the moment she caught her husband showing her children her company's organizational chart and telling them, "This is why your mom is amazing. This is who she is. She has never given up, and she loves you and believes in you guys, and this is where it got her."

She caught her husband showing her children her company's organizational chart and telling them, “This is why your mom is amazing.”

Empowering others

One lesson that Jessica is beginning to understand is the power of her story. As she has begun sharing her experiences, she has found that not only has the act made her feel empowered, but it has helped others feel seen. It's still a work in progress—she's still trying to figure out how best to talk about her life, especially when she's acutely aware others have it worse. More than any trepidation, though, she wants people to know that if she can turn her life around, anyone can.

“[I’m passionate about] living in the present, in the future, and not in the past, and just succeeding by doing what you say you’re going to do.”
— Jessica Landsverk

Looking toward the future, Jessica wants to reach out to people like troubled youth, young women in abusive relationships, or those who are incarcerated to tell them that they don't have to follow the same path society has set before them. Much of her testimony will focus on her personal life, but while she left her abuser through her own will, she says she would be remiss not to mention the opportunities available in the industry that kept her going.

 "In the past [HVAC has] been a male-dominated industry, so it seems to be the women who find themselves in this industry have so much support. Everyone in the industry so supportive in people's careers but also personal lives," she says. "I don't think it was about me being so brave or anything. I think it was because I found myself in an industry of very strong women, and it inspired me to take control of my life."

 While this is only the start of Jessica's journey as an advocate for self-empowerment, the way her passions align with this mission bodes well for the outcomes.

 "[I'm passionate about] living in the present, in the future, and not in the past, and just succeeding by doing what you say you're going to do," Jessica says. "I'm passionate about my job and just helping other people. Even if I'm not the one fixing the furnace, I'm the one who can organize the right people to get there. I like to see other people living their best life."