When Renee Helmer’s husband Richard was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2016 — the same year a business deal collapsed and their international contracts dried up — she made a decision that changed both their lives. A former stay-at-home mom and schoolteacher with zero oilfield background, Renee walked into Helmer Directional Drilling (founded by her father-in-law in 1965, once the largest directional drilling company in the Gulf of Mexico) and became its VP within days. Two weeks of crash-course training later, she was driving herself into the Permian Basin to sell directional drilling to a room full of insiders.
In this episode, Renee talks candidly about Richard’s 11-year journey with Parkinson’s — the symptoms most people don’t know about (cognitive decline, “locking up,” loss of voice and confidence), the treatments they’ve tried (levodopa, deep brain stimulation, light therapy, hyperbaric chambers), and why the Permian Basin’s elevated Parkinson’s rates have her paying closer attention to emissions and flare-to-fuel technology. She also shares how Helmer Directional closed during COVID, how she rebuilt as Helmer Oilfield Products and Services (Helmer Ops) doing business development for oil and gas startups, and the moment she realized “common sense” isn’t as common as the industry assumes — a lesson that’s shaped how she thinks about safety ever since.
It’s a conversation about resilience, caregiving, and the unglamorous work of learning an industry from scratch — with a little Cajun cooking and a lot of heart along the way.
In this episode:
The rise and 2020 closure of Helmer Directional Drilling
Living with Parkinson’s disease: symptoms, treatment options, and caregiving
Why the Permian Basin sees elevated Parkinson’s rates
Flare-to-fuel technology and Permian Basin infrastructure gaps
Breaking into the Permian as the only woman selling directional drilling
Miss Helmer’s Whiskey Wednesdays
What “common sense” safety training really requires
Renee’s own podcast, What Will Renee Say Today?
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