Come January 2024, I will begin my 34^th year writing this column. Striving to generate an interesting column for the past 396 months has been a rewarding experience. In January 1992, the magazine was simply that: a paper publication with distribution primarily in North America. Over the years, Engineered Systems has shifted from a print publication to a digital one while expanding its readership across the globe.

Tomorrow’s Environment column is the publisher’s way of briefly covering a broad range of categories that include HVAC design engineering, construction management, project delivery, facility management, professional development, latest thinking, latest technology, etc. To cover such a wide range of topics, I’ve had to do some research — but, for the most part, I write about and share my own experience.

I never left a company to earn more money. Instead, I changed jobs every seven years or so to learn more about the building industry. Starting in a relatively new HVAC consulting firm focused on health care and academia, I left to learn about HVAC industrial engineering. Returning to the first company I worked for, I came back to continue with health care plus museum HVAC engineering and international building sites, along with becoming manager of engineering. Next, I was employed at an HVAC mechanical contractor’s office and ended up as vice president of engineering and estimating with a focus on design-build while being part of the firm’s quality control steering committee for contracting and outsourcing operation and maintenance, From there, I moved to construction management and developed a facility support profit center before starting up a regional office to provide all my past experience along with third-party commissioning and testing, adjusting, and balancing (TAB). Now, I am a semi-retired consultant, a columnist for Engineered Systems magazine, and an author of four books.

My journey has been simultaneously rewarding and successful. To fulfill the opportunities I’ve had, I owe a lot of thanks to the mentors along the way who provided me with the knowledge I needed to succeed.

I’ve had mostly good mentors and a few bad mentors. It’s been easy for me to recognize good mentors because they are the ones who have taken an interest in my professional development and committed their own time to providing me with good advice.

Back in September 2014, I used this column to write about, “Leaving A Legacy.”

“No one sets out to be a philanthropist, nor does someone in our business set out to leave a legacy,” I wrote. “The simple act of giving back without expecting anything in return is the cornerstone to building one’s legacy, and I believe this is so important to the continued success of our industry.”

Closing out that 2014 column, I finished up with this:

“I would be very interested in receiving an email listing your top five people in the HVAC industry that are and/or have left their legacy with you.”

With Thanksgiving approaching, I’m going to take a few minutes to write down the names of individuals I hope I’ve thanked in the past for the knowledge they contributed to my professional development.

I encourage you to do the same. It’s always good to reflect back on your own professional success. I believe the phrase is, “Stop and smell the roses.”

In recent years, I have received thank you notes from people who felt I had influenced them in this business.

I can say with confidence that no one succeeds in this HVAC business without mentors, educators — some of these individuals may have only provided you with good advice on one or two occasions, others may have far exceeded your expectations. We should all be grateful for the academic opportunities that exist in the HVAC industry.

I mentioned earlier that I had a few bad mentors, and, believe it or not, I still recognize and appreciate them. Bad mentoring can be good too.

Bad mentors have taught me how not to act in a professional environment, how not to manage a project, that their “spin” is not good when confronted with a problem on a job, and a few more things.

But enough about my mentors. Who were yours?

Happy Thanksgiving!