Her Story
About Ashley
Ashley Babcock serves as Service Manager for SF Hitchcock, a home service company based in Southington, Connecticut. In this role, she oversees the plumbing and HVAC department, working closely with dispatchers to assign the right technicians to calls, ensuring technicians offer multiple options to customers, handling pricing and complaints, managing payroll and commissions, and monitoring key performance indicators for profitability. With 17 years in the HVAC plumbing industry, Ashley started as a dispatcher and advanced through hands-on experience and specialized trainings from Nexstar, including service system and operations programs, after not completing college. She credits her professional growth to supportive owners and management, particularly an early employer who served as a mentor and instilled core values. Ashley values creating positive work environments that support work-life balance for technicians and their families, allowing her to excel as a wife and mother while encouraging her team to do the same. As a woman in a male-dominated field, she advises speaking up to drive improvements and encourages young women to enter the industry, start at the bottom if needed, and climb the ladder through hard work.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Ashley
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to awesome owners and management. My first company I worked for, I was there for 7 years, and the owner of that company kind of became, like, a father figure to me, and he kind of gave me so many values and core things that I need to live by, but also manage by, that I kind of just took with me.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I ever received is to not be afraid to speak up when needed. As a woman in the industry, I think a lot of us are kind of scared because it's not necessarily a woman's industry. So we kind of sit back and take our place, and I think that the biggest... the best advice that I ever got is to speak up, explain how things can change, or we could do things better. Most people will listen.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would tell them to absolutely do it, and to stay strong within it. You might start at the bottom, I did, but there's always a ladder that you can climb, so keep pushing and doing the best that you possibly can, and your hard work will be seen.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I think that there's tons of competition within other companies, and you have to show your value, why they should choose your company.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I think that if someone is happy and treated well, they will always do what's best, right? So, personally and professionally, if you are happy and treated well, you do everything for someone else. So I always try to make sure that families for different technicians, that they have a good work-life balance, as well as myself, so that I can be the best wife and mom, and they can be the best for their families.
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