Sales pioneer in fuel business in fuel business

When Norma Havens started selling fuel 23 years ago, there were no women in the business to mentor her.

And not a few of her male customers laughed at her when she showed up to make calls.

Honored a few days ago as Saleswoman of the Year by the Professional Saleswomen of Nevada, Havens took the opportunity to remind women and men, for that matter of the importance of serving as mentors to younger workers.

"I wouldn't be here today if I hadn't had mentors," said Havens, the sales manager for Sparks-based Western Energetix and Nella Oil Co. "I can pinpoint exact moments in time when mentors have strategically crossed my path and given me great insight and encouragement."

Havens' mentoring reaches far. Not long ago, for instance, she hurried to a bookstore to buy a volume she thought might prove inspiring to a woman she'd met just minutes before.

"I have had great satisfaction from my job and am rewarded even more by people whom I have mentored, helped and watched grow in their strengths," Havens said after she was nominated for the annual award.

While she was a pioneer in the cardlock industry two decades ago, the industry today employs more women than men in sales, Havens says.

And despite long months in which male customers laughed at her initial approach, she says, "Those who laughed hardest have become some of my best customers."

Other finalists for the Saleswoman of the Year award included:

* Kristy Hawke of Destinations West LLC, the producer of the Nevada Women's Expo.

* Marilyn Lim-Carreon of Wells Fargo Private Mortgage Banking.

* Lorraine Onesian, co-owner of ClearChoice Merchant Services LLC.

* Cindy Welch, an Allstate Insurance agent with Welch and Associates.