Recognizing women in the industry

By Emma Peterson.

Learn about how QXO is helping uplift women in the roofing industry.

In a new Coffee Conversations, Megan Ellsworth got the chance to chat with Michelle Ly from Hall Roofing and Construction, Brooke Laizure of Whirlwind Roofing and Construction and Birte Von Schwarzenfeld who works at QXO (formerly Beacon) about the QXO Female Professional of the Year award. Birte, who is QXO’s SVP commercial solutions, shared a bit about how this award came to be, saying, "It goes back a couple of years, 2021 was the first year where we awarded someone with this great recognition. Back then National Women in Roofing was probably five years old and Beacon was involved in the initial founding process as well. And we realized, ‘Hey, there are some really strong women out there who are doing fantastic things in the roofing industry, and they really deserve to have an award to be recognized for everything that they do.’”

A few years later, in 2023 and 2024 respectively, Michelle and Brooke were awarded as some of those strong women. Michelle’s story in the roofing industry actually started as a catastrophe adjuster. She elaborated, “My husband and I would travel around the U.S. and inspect homes for damages after major storms or weather events. When we were hitting our 30s we decided we were ready to get off the road and maybe settle down, so we started the roofing company.” Since then, she has kept busy, starting three restaurants, caring for her family and serving on the Round Rock City Council. For her, winning Female Professional of the Year award was an inspiring surprise. She shared, “I just thought it was a really neat opportunity for me to be able to read about other women from other parts and their work... When I won, all I could think was, ‘How in the world? Of all the women everywhere, there's no way that they want to recognize me, little Michelle, in Little Round Rock, Texas.’”

Brooke shared similar sentiments about her win in 2024. She explained, “It was a really big surprise to me. I was nominated by several people, an adjuster and someone in our office, which was really nice. And it's just nice to be recognized in the industry for all the stuff we do through our local councils, our community.” And Brooke has done a lot for her local community in Oklahoma. It's been over nine years since she and her father started their Whirlwind Roofing and Construction. In that time Brooke has worked to support her community in a variety of ways through Whirlwind, from a grant program to chairing the local National Women in Roofing council.  

Overall, Michelle and Brooke are just two examples of the incredible women who make up this industry. And QXO hopes that sharing their stories through the award will help more women find confidence in a field that is typically male-populated. Birte elaborated, “I've heard a million stories where someone in a company assumed that a woman wasn't interested in taking a job because of the stereotype that women don’t want to be on a roof... And a lot of women, they might feel insecure and not sure whether they should apply because of that.” The goal of this award, of highlighting the women who are already in the field is to challenge that. To show women that they can and should apply.

Read the transcript, Listen to the conversation or Watch the episode for more about QXO’s Female Professional of the Year award! Voting for the 2025 award is also open until June 10, 2025.