Kathleen's Blog

This morning began with one of those rare travel events that feels suspiciously like winning a small lottery: an upgrade on American Airlines. Seat 4F.

For those who don’t spend their time studying airline seating charts like fantasy football, Seat 4F translates roughly to: “Someone important must have cancelled at the last minute, and the algorithm finally took pity on you.”

It comes with several perks:

∙ A seat wide enough that your shoulders are no longer in a hostile custody battle with strangers.

∙ A beverage served in something that resembles real glassware, which makes you 40% more sophisticated whether you deserve it or not.

∙ And the mysterious snack basket — the one people in the back of the plane whisper about like it’s Narnia.

Even better though, I am now sitting next to a pilot. Not the pilot of our plane — which would be deeply alarming if he were just vibing in Seat 4E like a man with no responsibilities — but a pilot nonetheless. So if things get weird mid-flight, I feel reasonably confident I could elbow him and say, “Sir, this feels like a you problem.”

He seems relaxed so far. I’m choosing to interpret this as excellent news for everyone onboard. If he starts gripping the armrest, I will not be choosing to interpret anything. I will be choosing tequila.

Destination today: DFW, where a handful of us from the Legacy Group are headed for a week of Johnstone meetings, learning sessions, and general HVAC brain expansion. For four days we’ll be deep in the thrilling world of distribution strategy, vendor programs, inventory planning, and technology improvements

But the real highlight of the week will be watching two members of our team collect their store awards at the annual banquet — a huge accomplishment and something the entire team should feel proud of. We’ll be cheering loudly, possibly embarrassingly, like the proudest and most unruly fan section at an event that definitely expected more indoor voices.

Now. The banquet also means yours truly gets to put on a cocktail dress, which honestly might be the plot twist of the whole trip. Monday through Thursday it’s all business casual and lanyard energy. Then suddenly it’s “surprise, you’re fancy now” and everyone cleans up so well you barely recognize the same people you’ve been sitting in breakout sessions with all week. It’s like a Johnstone Supply glow-up montage. I’m not mad about it. Any excuse to get dressed up when your normal wardrobe revolves around “supply house casual” is a welcome change of pace. Though I will say — the heels have a 45-minute window before they quietly disappear under the table. That’s just science.

For now, though, I’m settling into Seat 4F, appreciating the legroom, and mentally preparing for a week of HVAC knowledge, team celebrations, and the kind of networking that only happens when you trap a bunch of distribution/supply house people in a convention center together.

Also carefully guarding my spot in the snack basket rotation.

Because career growth is great… but those warm cookies don’t hand themselves out, and I didn’t get upgraded to 4F just to play it humble.