Gavin Milligan may seem like a typical teenager. Sophomore at Fleetwood Area High School, he loves his phone, the NFL, and even helps coach youth football during the summer. However, instead of watching Netflix or playing video games in his free time, Milligan is focused on learning everything he can about business management, entrepreneurship, and digital media advertising.
Milligan’s inspiration comes from his father, President of Advanced Comfort Specialists. Being young and ambitious must run in the family, because his father also began his career as a teenager gaining experience as a helper for a local plumbing and heating contractor. With Advanced Comfort Specialists being founded in 2004, Milligan has lived in the heating and cooling realm all his life. All of the knowledge he has picked up over the years, Milligan knows a lot about the HVAC industry, but he also wants to forge a path of his own.
Interested in helping his father promote the business, Milligan has taken what he has learned at Berks Career and Technology Center and applied it to the business. “My most recent class in business management has helped me become more organized. The things that I’ve learn there are things I never thought I’d use, until I started to connect everything to my fathers business” said Milligan.
While not at school, Milligan is always learning, watching tutorials on YouTube, TED Talks and using educational platforms like Khan Academy. Building his knowledge of digital advertising has allowed him to take over as his fathers go to marketing manager for the business.
“We’ve always been focused on word of mouth. Seeing the need to change, my father asked me to step in to help with advertising. I learn a lot in my role, most of all is that not many of our competitors are using digital marketing like they should” said Milligan.
Balancing school and work, Milligan does what he can to answers customer questions on the company’s social media pages. He also posts motivational quotes, project photos, and HVAC related content. “If someone has a question, I respond to it as fast as I can. If they need service, I put them in touch with someone as quickly as I can.”
Milligan isn’t only interested in helping in his father’s business, he also wants to branch out and freelance for others with social media and digital advertising. To do this, Milligan started his own media company, Milligan Media Group. “I always go into every meeting saying I’m new, but working with other business has helped me hone my skills.”
With two years left in high school, Milligan is looking forward to continuing his education in business and marketing to help his father’s business. “Something that really caught my attention is the lack of tradesmen going into this new generation. People today think success is going to college and work for a large company. This isn’t always true, being an apprentice tradesmen is worth considering.”