Greg Russell owns Russell’s Heating & Air Conditioning by himself. The Lexington, Oklahoma, company has no partners, and he has no interest in turning it into something much larger.
“I don’t want the headache of trying to keep ten guys busy every day,” he says.
He knows what the work looks like up close because he was raised around it. His father was an HVAC contractor, and Greg says he “kind of grew up in the business.”
Most of the jobs now are in people’s houses. “We do a lot more residential than we do commercial,” he says. The company’s own project photos show both sides of the work: ductwork snaking through attics, a pair of condensers, a mini-split cassette on a wall, and on the commercial end, rooftop units and a crane lift. The shop offers Ruud equipment, and the Better Business Bureau has listed it as accredited since 2022.
On a crew this size, customers learn names. Reviews going back several years keep mentioning the same two people, Greg and a crew member named Cody, often in the same sentence.
Asked what he wants the business to be known for, Greg skips past speed and size. “Honestly, integrity I would like to be known for,” he says. “We try to do things right, and we don’t try to sell things to people that they don’t need.”
One household saw what that meant when its old system quit. Greg walked them through which unit and what size made sense for the house. They went with a larger, more efficient system and had the ductwork redone, and the rooms that used to run hot or cold evened out. Afterward, the homeowner noted, Greg phoned a few times to ask how the new unit was running and whether they had questions.
He has already settled what happens to the company after him.
“I’m going to hand it down,” he says. It will go to a family member.