Our people belong to a leading team connected by a bold purpose--they challenge what’s possible and believe in a better future. They dare to do things differently, pushing boundaries and innovating.

Elena Holder leads a team of 11 inside sales specialists and administrators in the Southeast region of Trane Technologies’ Residential HVAC and Supply business. Before she started with our company in 2010—first as a product management intern and then a member of our Accelerated Development Program—the HVAC industry wasn’t even on her radar.

“I hadn’t yet considered working for a manufacturing company, much less a career in the HVAC industry,” Elena said. “I was double majoring in marketing and advertising and had my sights set on what I thought would be a glamorous career in consumer and brand marketing.”

Instead, Elena chased the roles that scared her. Like the time she convinced the plant manager in our Residential HVAC facility in Tyler, Texas, to let her supervise an entire production line. She was a recent college graduate and had never worked in operations before—nor had she ever supervised a team of 76 people on the manufacturing floor. So, why’d she do it?

“I chase experiences that scare me because I know they will help me grow the most,” Elena said. “Supervising a production line was extremely intimidating, but I learned so much from that role—it was an incredible experience. I don’t think I was very good at it, but that role prepared me to lead people. It really toughened me up.”

Uprooting for career growth

Toward the end of her Accelerated Development Program experience, Elena decided that, in order to enhance her HVAC career, she needed experience in sales. But that meant uprooting her life—again—and moving nearly 500 miles away for an account management role in Nashville, Tennessee. It would have been so much easier and more comfortable to stay where she was, working in marketing in our Davidson, North Carolina, headquarters.

“I had put down roots in nearby Charlotte—I belonged to a CrossFit gym and I had friends—I loved it there,” she said. “I’d only driven through Nashville once, so I really didn’t know what it would be like to live there. It was another scary situation for me, but I remembered other times in my career when things felt scary and they really paid off. So I went for it.

Elena enjoyed solving problems for her HVAC dealer customers in our Nashville, Tennessee, sales office. Her initial plan was to get some sales experience and then go back to her career in marketing, but she quickly realized that was no longer her path.

Rising up the sales ranks

“I really liked sales,” Elena said, “and I wanted to stay. Working in sales was intimidating at first—customers tried to test me and throw me off with technical jargon. But I gained their respect by being transparent and unafraid to admit what I had yet to learn. It was fun to analyze my territory and uncover new opportunities to achieve or surpass my sales targets.”

So she forged a different path, adeptly uncovering opportunities with homebuilders in the Nashville area – “I felt like a detective, putting puzzle pieces together,” – and rising up the ranks to become a sales leader, and ultimately, customer support leader.

With each new role came uncertainties, unfamiliar challenges and scary moments. And growth.

“I’ve enjoyed each new role, but it was hard at first to lead the people I’d once worked alongside as an account manager,” Elena said. “They were all older than me, most were men—and I was just 28 when I became their leader. I worked hard to earn my team’s trust and break down barriers so we could be successful together.”

How’d she do it? ‘Do What Scares You’

Elena says her success is rooted in her desire to grow and willingness to learn from the people who report to her. She says her career has been a journey of getting to know herself.

“I know myself a lot better now than I did 10 years ago,” she said. “When you’re very intentional about development and honest with yourself about where you shine and where you don’t, that’s where the growth happens. You can’t be afraid to fail—failure is inevitable. So don’t turn away from those scary moments—instead, try turning toward them.”

Ready to thrive in your career? At Trane Technologies, we boldly go. Explore our opportunities and open jobs.