Women’s History Month
Highlighting women in the groundwater industry
Judy Herndon
President
Rock-Tech International
NGWA Member
How did you enter the groundwater industry?
I started in the drilling industry from birth…my father actually owned an oil drilling company in West Texas…so you can say that drilling was in my blood.
What has been your proudest career achievement so far?
I actually started working for a manufacturer of down-the-hole (DTH) drilling equipment in March of 1981 as an administrative assistant. I worked under the sales manager until he decided to leave the company and I was just kind of thrown into sales and
I have been in it since. I became president of this manufacturer and worked there for 16 years before moving to the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and went to work with a much larger manufacturer in DTH drilling equipment as their sales manager.
I worked for this manufacturer for 11 years and decided to start my own business. In 2008, a coworker and I started our own company, Rock-Tech International, doing the same that I had been doing since 1981 except for myself. We are currently still operating
this company.
I believe my greatest achievement was starting my own business in an industry that ran in my blood. I believe I owe my success to my father because he is the one that gave me the love of the industry and his work ethic.
What advice would you give to the next generation of female groundwater professionals?
I encourage women to get more involved in the drilling industry; teach your children that water is the greatest resources there is in this world and we need to protect it and to definitely conserve it. I was the first female in the DTH drilling equipment
industry. Many men would not even speak with me because I was a female…it took many years and a lot of proving myself before I was ever accepted in this industry. Today, there are more and more women in the industry and I encourage more women
to join this great industry.
To read more profiles of women in the groundwater industry, click here.