Andrea and Kristin Coron are sisters-in-law, best friends and business partners who are dedicated to the pest management industry.
Andrea and Kristin Coron have served the pest management industry for 24 years. PHOTO: Andrea and Kristin Coron
As the executive director (Andrea) and associate director (Kristin) of Cooper Coron & Associates, they provide association management services for the Virginia Pest Management Association, Virginia Wildlife Damage Management Association, National Wildlife Control Operators Association and Pi Chi Omega, the pest control industry fraternity.
Over the course of their 24 years in the pest management industry, they’ve seen their share of changes and advancements.
Research conducted in the late 1990’s indicated that women in most households were the decision makers when it came to hiring pest control services, Andrea says. The industry ran with this information by hiring more women in administrative capacities, but also in technical and service roles.
“Women feel comfortable working with other women,” Andrea says. “We have a unique way of communicating and earning each other’s trust, which is important when hiring someone to come into your home.”
Additionally, many pest control businesses are family-owned ventures. And with more and more women entering the workforce, female family members began assuming more responsibility within their own companies by stepping into management, sales and service roles.
“Solving customers’ pest issues is a real ‘thinking game,’ and women have a special brand of intelligence along with nurturing talents that help them to be highly successful in this business,” Kristin says. “The trend of women working in the pest control industry will definitely continue. Women are like a non-native pest species: Introduce them into an environment, and they are hard to eliminate!”
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