2026 Next Gen All-Star: Taylor Bray
Growing San Diego’s next generation of plumbers
Taylor Bray's path into the PHC industry started with something fairly ordinary: an Indeed job ad. During the pandemic, Bray took a chance on an unfamiliar industry. Nearly six years later, she now serves as executive director of the Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors Association (PHCC) of San Diego.
“While my start wasn’t intentional, as the industry accepted me with open arms, it truly was the people, the purpose and the possibility that made me stick around,” Bray said.
That purpose is especially apparent when Bray watches apprentices complete PHCC of San Diego's four-year program.
“Seeing them receiving their PHCCSD stoles, their grad gifts and being celebrated by their family, friends and peers is a feeling of pride that can’t be replicated,” she said.
Bray is equally motivated by the people surrounding those apprentices: from her staff and board members to local contractors and fellow PHCC executives.
“I want to represent the San Diego PHC industry in big ways,” she said. “At 5+ years in, I am only getting started.”
Perhaps the clearest example is PHCCSD's pre-apprenticeship program, which Bray considers her proudest professional accomplishment.
After repeatedly hearing from members struggling to find skilled technicians, Bray recognized that simply trying to recruit already-trained workers wasn't enough. Instead, PHCCSD developed a nine-week program that introduces people with no plumbing experience to the fundamentals before connecting them with member companies.
Since launching in April 2024, the initiative has helped place more than 25 new plumbers with local employers. Demand has grown to a waitlist of more than 300 people, and grant funding is allowing PHCCSD to expand the program while helping subsidize tuition for participants who need financial assistance.
For Bray, it's a tangible way to “grow the trades” rather than simply talk about the workforce shortage.
Outside the industry, Bray stays busy as a mother of two children under 5, and as an aspiring “rockhound!”
She placed third in the Del Mar Fairgrounds Gem and Mineral Show and has an even bigger goal ahead: mining her own best-in-show mineral someday.
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