Details

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What is your position within your company?
I am president and chief executive officer of Pearland, Texas-based Magnum Roofing.

What is the most unusual roofing project you've performed?
My company performed an asbestos shingle tear-off on the steep-slope portion of a roof on a downtown Houston church built in 1908. We installed a radiant barrier deck with shingles for the steep-slope portion. On the low-slope portion, we removed three tar and gravel roof systems and installed a TPO roof with tapered insulation. The church is a historical landmark, and we had to keep the historical attributes.

Why did you become a part of the roofing industry?
I married into the industry. I started by helping my husband with outside sales for other companies. Shortly after marrying, we formed Magnum Roofing. I began to learn the roofing trade and really enjoyed it. To this day, I still am learning. However, I wouldn't change my job for the world. I love being a part of this industry.

What was your first roofing experience?
When I was engaged to my husband, he needed help with a roof repair, and I offered. The job was to fix a chimney leak. The leak was ongoing, and other contractors had tried to fix it many times. We tore out all the shingles and flashings around the chimney to find a 1-inch-thick layer of tar from where other contractors had tried to repair the leak. After tearing everything out, we installed new flashings, underlayment and shingles. The chimney never leaked again.

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be in politics. I had planned to start out as a lawyer and work my way into a seat as a congresswoman or senator.

What qualities do you most like in a person?
People who are honest, caring, hardworking and do not expect the world to owe them a living

What is the most high-tech thing in your house?
A Playstation® 3. We are not high-tech people. Most of our free time is spent socializing with friends or clients.

List three words that best describe you.
Caring, conscientious, driven

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
London

What three items always are in your fridge?
Ketchup, mayo, butter

What is your biggest pet peeve?
Installers' excuses—when something goes wrong, they tend to downplay what has happened to make it sound as though everything is OK when, in reality, it is not OK at all.

If you could invite any three people (dead or alive) to dinner, whom would you invite? Why?
George Washington—I would love to meet him and discuss his thoughts on how this country has turned out. My grandmother—she died when I was in third grade. I was close to her and miss her. I would love to get life advice from her and find out how she feels about how my life has turned out. And Wynn Chilson, my husband's grandfather—he started my husband's family in the roofing industry. I only met Wynn once before he died, but I would love to find out how he feels about his granddaughter-in-law and grandson taking his advice and forming the successful roofing company we have today.

What is your roofing industry involvement?
I am a member of NRCA's Government Relations Committee.

People would be surprised to know …
My name, Piper, comes from the Piper Cub J-3 airplane. The airplane, owned by my father, is a 1946 two-seat, propeller plane.