From classroom to roofline

By Jesse Sanchez. 

How this former teacher  has climbed their way from an entry level support role to executive leadership at Envy Roofing. 

Carolina Santos , director of operations for NV Roofing, did not grow up dreaming of a career in roofing. In fact, when she joined the Washington, D.C., based roofing company, the move was driven more by necessity than a master plan. “I've yet to hear somebody that’s said, ‘my gosh, one day I woke up and I wanted to be in roofing,’” Carolina shared on this People Make Roofing podcast, with guest Luke McCormack, CEO of Roofing Talent America.  

Carolina studied education and started her job as a teacher before deciding the classroom was not the right fit for her as a long-term career. After moving from the Boston area to the D.C. region, she landed at NV Roofing, a residential and commercial roofing company in the DMV that handles capital improvement and service projects. 

“I just wanted a job where I could just be an adult and pay my own bills,” she said. “I applied for any jobs, you know, you name it, like just entry level jobs anywhere. Somewhere that was close to where I wanted to live at the time. And I applied for NV Roofing.” 

The company’s people were the difference, setting NV wRoofing apart from everywhere else she looked. 

“You know, it's funny that the podcast's names is, you know, ‘People Make Roofing,’ because it was really the people when I had my first interview there,” she said. “Just everybody that I met in just that first day was just like, ‘wow, this is like a place that I want to be at.’” 

Carolina started with the company in a sales support role, overseeing contracts and helping send agreements to residential clients. Her advancement into higher positions came as a result of her relentless curiosity about how the business worked. “I was just really curious. I just asked a lot of questions,” she said. “I was really intrigued by the industry and how things work, how one piece goes into the other.” 

That curiosity helped her climb the career ladder at a rather impressive pace. Within about five years she was invited to join the NV Roofing leadership in an official capacity. “I remember when they invited me to sit at our executive leadership table and I thought, ‘gosh, why do they want me here?’” Carolina said. “Some of the people were twice as old as I am. They have twice as much as knowledge, just not roofing knowledge, but just business knowledge in general.” 

Despite being only a few years out of college and in her first true career role, Carolina leaned into learning, management and the responsibility of leading teams. She treated every project as a chance to grow and every challenge as a skill she had not learned yet. The more she stepped into leadership, the more she realized how much she enjoyed guiding people, solving problems and delivering work that protects homes and communities. That mindset helped her settle into the role with confidence and shape the next stage of her career. 

Listen to the podcast to learn more about NV Roofing and the career paths available in roofing!