Spraying Success

SPRAY FOAM MAGAZINE – Jennifer Hristovski is the Marketing Director and partner at SprayWorks Equipment in Brimsfield Ohio, and the author of the children’s book My Dad is a Foamer, published in October 2023.* To write the book, she drew inspiration from her own childhood as the daughter of a spray foam professional.

“Growing up, my dad was constantly working on projects, and he always had us kids around,” Jennifer reminisces. “He taught me about the chemical structure of spray foam when I was probably four or five years old.” 

Her father, Jim Davidson, has enjoyed a lengthy 55-year career in the spray foam industry. He founded SprayWorks, which specializes in supplying SPF equipment and training. Of its 40 employees, 10 are family members, including Jennifer and her two brothers, John and Jeremy, who all became part-owners in 2020. Jennifer holds a business degree and had 10 years of marketing and entrepreneurial experience before taking on the Marketing Director role at SprayWorks. Contributing her skillset to her family’s business was a no-brainer, and working alongside her dad, brothers, and other family members proved a huge perk.

“We all have a lot of different skills we bring to the table. Everyone just takes what's in their own wheelhouse and runs with it and it works for all of us,” says Jennifer. “The office is such a fun, relaxed atmosphere where it’s clear the people love what they do.”

My Dad is a Foamer pays homage to parents who work in spray foam, but it’s a valuable resource even for parents who don’t work in the industry.

“I wanted to write something to help kids better connect to their parents and learn what they do all day when they’re at work.” she explains. “Not everyone’s a doctor, and not everyone’s a lawyer. In the future, I’d like to write additional books about other common jobs that aren’t normally represented in children's books.”

As a mother of two, Jennifer understands the type of language needed to convey the rather technical world of SPF in a fun story that a child can understand and appreciate. Bright and charming illustrations capture realistic details about the job and supplement her easy-to-follow descriptions of spray foam procedures. What’s more, the illustrations are based on real people from Jennifer’s life.

“I worked with an artist and sent them photos of me and my dad when I was younger. I also took pictures of actual equipment, like the rigs and PPE, to make sure we got it right and really represented how cool spray foam is.”

Jennifer credits her husband Tom for his ongoing creative support. Tom works in finance, and the two are considering co-writing another book from the perspective of his career. She dedicated My Dad is a Foamer to her father, Jim, and to her two young sons, Josif and Mateo.

“My three-year-old son just loves it. When he sees it, he runs over and grabs it like, ‘that’s mine!’” A genuine stamp of approval straight from the target audience.  

A little bit about “Dad” – Jennifer’s father, Jim Davidson

Jim Davidson, has been in the SPF, coatings, and equipment industry for a remarkable 55 years. From a young age he worked alongside industry pioneers, and over time has become an innovator and veteran in his own right. With a wealth of knowledge, he’s eager to share this insight with the next generation and has become a mentor to many. It’s therefore no surprise that someone would want to write a book about Jim, and that someone just happens to be one of his biggest fans, his daughter Jennifer.

Jennifer’s grandfather, Wayland, also referred to as “Dave,” was one of the first people to start using spray foam on commercial roofing projects. When Jennifer’s father, Jim, was 12 years old, he would enjoy going on rooftops with his father, and that’s where his fascination with foam began. Since then, Jim has crafted a diverse background in SPF and coatings applications, such as roofs, roads, bridges, and building envelopes, to name just a few.

One of Jennifer’s earliest memories of her father was visiting him at work. It was back in the 80s when Jim owned a company called Fradco. Jennifer’s mom was the secretary there so before Jennifer had even started school, she used to visit the shop and have fun playing with the office supplies, checking out all the equipment, and watching people spray foam.

Jim has Invented a great deal of industry equipment over the years and sold the patents to other companies. When he designed the SprayBot in the early 2000s, he decided not to sell the patent and instead, he kept it and launched his company SprayWorks Equipment. This company has grown into a very successful family-run business. Jim’s wife joined the company in 2015, followed by Jennifer and her brothers becoming part owners in 2020.

Jim is never one to sit still, and if he’s not in the office, or with his family, in his spare time Jim loves to hunt. “When I was younger, I remember my dad would love to make spray foam targets for practice. I have a very vivid memory of my father working on these targets to get them just right. He’s always the perfectionist,” chuckles Jennifer.

Jim’s spray foam career has had many highs with minimal lows, one of which involved falling off a roof and being airlifted to hospital. His fierce desire for independence along with an intuitive and creative mind, has rubbed off on Jennifer who is proud to follow in her father’s energetic footsteps. In fact, she is so proud, she not only joined the family business, but she also wrote a book about her father. All to show respect, to him, the industry, and to educate young people about a different career they may never have heard of before!

For use by SprayFoamMagazine.com & Spray Foam Magazine