From selling power tools to leading a power company.

SHE once sold power tools, drills and saws. Now, Lynda Ziegler is senior vice president at a power company: She's in charge of Southern California Edison's customer service unit.

In her new post, Ziegler will manage SCE services to nearly 13 million customers in Southern, central and coastal California.

She has been with the company for about 25 years and said sales and customer service has always been her focus.

"I've had that interest since high school so I went straight for it with both my bachelor's and master's degrees," she said.

Ziegler started selling power tools when she was 18, just after she graduated from high school to become the company's first female salesperson in the country when she was 21.

She went to school at night to get a bachelor's degree from California State University, Long Beach and an M.B.A. from California State University at Fullerton. Her studies at both colleges emphasized marketing.

Since joining SCE in 1981, Ziegler has worked in all areas of customer service, including credit and account management and the energy efficiency program.

Now she intends to focus on certain key areas of business, such as helping customers identify ways to conserve energy in the wake of the rising cost of fuel and the soon-to-come summer months. She is also keen on pursuing the use of advanced metering, which allows the company to put meters on customers' homes that allow residents to monitor electricity usage.

Ziegler expects to stay at SCE because of her history with the company and also because she's proud of the work she does there.

Ziegler lives with her husband, Marty, a retired law enforcement officer, in Foothill Ranch. She has two Newfoundland dogs and plans to train at least one of them in water rescue techniques.