O’Brien flies high from Air Force nurse to plumbing biz
For O’Brien, going into the plumbing business was “one of those crazy life plans that you do not see coming.”
She co-owns the home-based Bio Plumbing, LLC., with partner and master plumber Jonathan Jackson, at the border of Farragut town limits and Loudon County.
The company, which predominantly serves Knox, Blount and Loudon counties, provides “a little bit of everything. We do both residential and commercial service and new construction,”
O’Brien said.
While she takes care of the administrative side of the business —utilizing what she learned in her MBA classes to do the finance, marketing, branding and the day-to-day operations — Jackson, who is a state-licensed master plumber, takes care of the hands-on plumbing side.
Running a company involves “a lot of different hats with a ton of different challenges, but it’s been fun,” O’Brien said.
However, “I still keep up my nursing license,” she added. “I volunteer for Remote Area Medical whenever I can, which I really enjoy. … I still like nursing and volunteering to do it, but I certainly like the business side of running the company.”
Still, “it’s a whole bucket of different challenges I’ve not dealt with before,” O’Brien said. “Running a fairly new company comes with a lot of growing pains … so just (handling) all of those is stressful but super exciting.
“We keep trying to steadily grow,” she added. “One of my favorite things to do is the branding side. I actually drew the logo that we have myself.”
Bio Plumbing’s hours are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. However, O’Brien noted, “Of course, we are 24/7 if someone has a major plumbing emergency, and we’ll get somebody out as soon as possible.”
To book an appointment, call 865-770-5511 or e-mail to info@bioplumbing.com It also is available on Facebook, Instagram and online at its website www.bioplumbing.com
While O’Brien has been in the plumbing business for six years, prior to that she served in the U.S. Air Force as a nurse for seven years, stationed in Texas and Colorado with a stint in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom.
“It was an honor to serve my country in Operation Enduring Freedom. … The military definitely taught me a lot about leadership,” she said. “It taught me passion for whatever I’m doing.
“... My dad was in the Air Force, so I was an Air Force brat since I was 8,” O’Brien added about retired U.S. Army Col. Jim O’Brien of Farragut.
A Webb School of Knoxville graduate, she lived in Farragut and Lenoir City “for about 10 years before I moved to Louisville, Kentucky, for college (Bellarmine University). I got my Bachelor of Science (degree) in nursing then commissioned into the Air Force.”
