The strength and resilience to lead

By Anna Lockhart. 

Krista Gnatt shares her success story in becoming an industry leader and how others can do the same.  

In a recent episode of Roofing Road Trips®, host Heidi J. Ellsworth sat down with Krista Gnatt, the first and youngest female president of Tremco. In this conversation, she shared the challenges and successes she has faced on her journey into this role. The two discussed the resilience, determination and excellence it took to get to where she is today and how other aspiring industry leaders can follow her example.  

Krista began her career in engineering, eventually steering her direction to contracting and, later, manufacturing. She shared, “I have about 25 years in the industry. I have worked predominantly for some of the largest roofing and waterproofing contractors in the United States. My start with Tremco was actually with our commercial sealants and waterproofing group a little over 20 years ago, right when I came out of engineering school.” 

When asked about the driving factors behind her success, Krista attributed her success to three core factors: her blue collar upbringing, her personality and her love for analytical thinking. “For those of you out there who understand any type of engineering... it's a way of thinking. It's an analytical way of thinking to problem solve and think outside of the box. So that has really attributed to my success, because you have to be able to do that and pivot and think to promote growth,” she added.  

In climbing the ladder to her current position as president at Tremco, Krista believes her unique work experiences and different background contributed to her appointment to the role. She explained, “We've never had a president of Tremco Roofing that had that contracting background, that service background. We've always had sales or product folks that have led the organization. I've obviously worked with a lot of different manufacturers in my contracting days before coming here to Tremco. So, I bring a different lens to all of that.” 

From building upon her existing skills and interests in analytics and engineering principles, to applying those experiences to new fields like maintenance and contracting, Krista set a prime example of the power diversifying your skill set and expanding your knowledge of the trade can greatly expand your career horizons.  

Read the transcript or Listen to the episode to learn more about Krista’s story and how to find similar success in your own career.