Episode 222: Flat at $2M for Years to $1.5M Growth in 2024 w/ Rachel Sylvain

Whether you’re a smaller home services company or you’re a larger one getting back to the basics, this episode is great one for everyone! We’re excited to introduce Rachel Sylvain, CEO & Co-Owner of AGS HVAC Services, to To The Point!

Operating out of Westport, MA, AGS HVAC Services is a smaller, still privately-owned business in the Tri-State area. After becoming CEO in the family business, Rachel has helped almost DOUBLE the company’s revenue in just one year.

From CNA to Home Services CEO

When AGS started in 2012, it was just two guys who worked for an HVAC company they didn’t like – one of them being Rachel’s father. The pair set out to start their own business, and worked out of a bedroom to get things off the ground. After a few years, things picked up speed. In 2014, Rachel was working as a CNA ready to start nursing school. Hearing how overworked her dad was with the business, she offered some help in the summer before starting classes. She immediately fell in love the industry.

AGS kept growing, and Rachel kept wearing more and more hats. By 2017, Rachel saw her fingerprints all over the company. She also went to a Bryant Women in HVAC Conference and saw other female leaders like Charlene Ierna in the male-dominated industry around her, and that gave her a lot of confidence. Over the next several years, she helped push AGS forward. In 2022, she bought on as co-owner and in 2023, her first year as CEO, the company went from 2MM to 3.5MM in revenue.

• Making the career switch to HVAC and falling in love with the industry
• The advantages and challenges of a family business
• Gaining confidence as a female leader in a male-dominated industry
• How she became CEO and the changes she made in her first year at the helm
• What propelled the company’s massive growth in 2023
• The fear of raising prices to position for growth (hint: it turned out great!)
• What AGS is doing really well and where they have room to grow
• The challenges of conflict resolution in business
• How to improve communication and where it breaks down from leadership to the front line
• And more!

Positioned for Growth

In 2023, Rachel led AGS HVAC Services to a record-breaking revenue in her first full year as CEO. How? She focused on the right things. It was about networking, educating herself by listening to the right podcasts and reading the right books. It was learning about measuring, data, knowing the numbers, and all of those business fundamentals — and then implementing them.

After setting goals for 2024 and beyond, Rachel and AGS are poised to do great things!