Kathy Candelaria

About Kathy Candelaria

Drill bits have always been a part of my life. As a child growing up in Texas, I\'d walk the dirt road to my dad\'s bit shop and watch him retip tooth bits. He would often take breaks and tell me everything he knew about drill bits and retipping. I learned that only a skilled retipper could heat the metal to just the right temperature to make it flow the way he wanted it.It wasn\'t until the age of 19 that I became interested in drill bits. I would stand for hours and watch the men working at my dad\'s shop as they retipped and ground blade bits. Confident I could do the job, I begged my father to show me how, but he refused. He always said,\"Girls can\'t do this kind of job.\"Little did he know that I had a plan.One day when the guys left for lunch, I hung around. I had watched them grinding blade bits long enough that I felt sure I could do it. So, I fired up the grinding wheel and began to practice on a junk blade. As it turned out, it was a bit more complicated than it looked, but I vowed to keep up my private practice while the guys were gone.To my dismay, my father pulled into the yard and caught me grinding on the bit. I wasn\'t sure if I would be in trouble or not, but he stood by and told me to continue so he could watch. Shortly, he said,\"You\'re not doing bad but let me show you a better way.\" He spent the next hour or so with me, showing me everything I needed to know.I spent the rest of the day practicing on old bits, and by week\'s end, I was the new hire!That day determined my life\'s path as my dad taught me everything he knew about bits, business, and selling. And I listened. That day began my journey from retipper to Halliburton sales rep to owner of KC Bit & Supply. And in the end, he changed his mind about what I could do as he realized that girls CAN do this kind of job!

Experience

1. Owner

   Kc Bit & Supply, Llc

   Jan 2006 — Present

   Sales of drill bits to oil, gas, and water well drillers.

Education

• Fort Lewis College

  Bachelor's degree, Accounting

Skills

• Construction
• Gas
• Small Business
• Business Strategy
• New Business Development
• Sales Management
• Oil & Gas
• Petroleum
• Strategic Planning
• Project Planning
• Microsoft Office
• Project Management
• Marketing Strategy
• Energy
• Customer Service
• Engineering
• Start-Ups
• Operations Management
• Business Development
• Entrepreneurship