Roberta Mantenuto is the CEO of Aria Vent – a company that revolutionized the first-ever modular air vent. With a mission to reinvent mundane, unloved building products, Roberta is shaping a new approach to the antiquated, male-dominated building material industry. From obtaining over 10 patents and achieving record growth averaging 137% YoY – all within six years, Roberta is one of the driving forces behind Aria Vent’s success to date.
Alongside her father, Roberta navigated through many hardships, doubts, and challenges with a shift in perspective combined with insane perseverance, leading to the hyper-growth company Aria Vent is today. See below for challenges, how she overcame them, and lessons learned along the way:
Challenge: Rejection
Early on in her career, Roberta and her dad visited an HVAC convention and had an industry professional tell them to stop investing time and money in the company because it simply wasn’t going to work and would put their family at risk of great loss. Roberta felt terrified and gutted at the moment.
Lesson Learned:
Roberta learned not to stop because one person said no with the help of her fathers guidance. With a shift in perspective and a great amount of perseverance, Roberta overcame the fear of rejection and now persists as an industry disruptor, being the first in the industry to do things differently.
Challenge: Facing Imposter Syndrome
As a young, first-time, female CEO in a male-dominated industry – imposter syndrome was at first inevitable for Roberta. With an “I don’t know what I’m doing” mindset, Roberta had a hard time believing that her success was achieved as a result of her own skills and effort.
Lesson Learned:
Roberta quickly learned that repositioning to a growth mindset helped shift her approach entirely. Instead of worrying about not knowing what she was doing, she was determined to figure it out along the way.
Challenge: Making difficult decisions
The hardest decision Roberta made was saying no to a big opportunity. During a time when every dollar counted for the small start-up and being profitable was important, ultimately she chose to equally prioritize meaningful and long-term partnerships over quick profit. There have been instances where Roberta and her father’s values didn’t match with potential opportunities and had to walk away from some hugely profitable deals.
Lesson learned:
Focusing on the long term, even when it can feel counterintuitive, can lead to greater success and relationships that will propel your business and values forward.

Advice she wishes she knew before she became a CEO:
- It’s hard work. Being a CEO is like trying a math question in school 15 times, not understanding it, and giving up. But as a CEO, you don’t get to give up. You keep trying and when you think you finally have the right answer, you actually can’t even verify it because there isn’t an answer sheet or teacher.
- Create Boundaries. The time spent away from work recharging is just as important as the time spent being productive. Having the discipline to shut down is not easy, and so critical. Lead by example – if you create disciplined boundaries, your team will follow and your customers will adjust their expectations.
- It’s lonely. (See #1), But it doesn’t have to be. One thing Roberta wishes she did sooner found a community of other CEOs & entrepreneurs. She learns at an exponential rate when around other CEOs. It’s also a humbling place to compare answers (see #1). You will be surprised at things that may have come super easy to your business that are impossible mountains for others’.
- Don’t ride the highs, or the lows. Roberta has found success in not getting too caught up in excitement about the wins, or getting too down about the lows. It’s a marathon. Acknowledge the milestones and key learnings and then keep it moving.
- Make a job description. Your job is to not have a job. She will revise her own job description every six months with the things she is actually doing. This gives clarity on areas where she needs to get out of the weeds – either delegate, hire for, or create a system to optimize. The business must be able to run without her.
If you would like to get in touch with Roberta Mantenuto or her company, you can do it through her – Linkedin Page