- 18 hours ago
Building Back America's Trades Season 1 Episode 2
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00:01The moment they said, you're not going to be able to do it, it was like, let me prove you
00:05wrong.
00:06I don't know any women in the trades. It's just like something that I would never have seen before.
00:11She Built the City is a non-profit. We consider ourselves a pipeline into the skilled trades.
00:16What if I just pick up this tool? What if I just get out of my comfort zone?
00:20Not only are they sitting amongst their peers, they're also sitting amongst their cheerleaders, their future co-workers.
00:47I've been practicing law for nearly 20 years now.
00:50My dad was a lawyer, I had a grandfather who was a lawyer, so I just did what was expected
00:56of me without really being very critical about it.
01:00It has provided me with a stable and comfortable life, but I don't really have a passion for it, I
01:08never really have.
01:10People who built things were always something that I was drawn to.
01:15Yeah, that six-inch rule is a good one for these boxes, so I typically go finger to thumb.
01:21It just gives you more to work with.
01:25It's a little nerve-wracking at first, coming back to school in your mid-40s and thinking about making a
01:32career change.
01:34But I'll regret it my whole life if I just keep doing what I'm doing.
01:41Being an electrician is where I wanted to go.
01:44I would be at work right now, but, you know, I'm here learning my trade.
02:09I look at it both ways, crisis and an opportunity.
02:12It's both.
02:13It's a crisis that we're seeing now, but it's an opportunity to grow the next generation.
02:18High five!
02:19I believe that I can actually have a career in this field.
02:22I love, like, people, like, being skeptical of me and then just me just going in and just crushing it.
02:30It was expected, you know, sort of, okay, you go to high school, you go to college.
02:34It just seemed like a path, in a way, of least resistance.
02:50Making this move to change professions, it's a really big deal for me.
02:55I'm someone who tends to make a decision and just sort of sticks with it.
03:00You know, I live a comfortable life.
03:02Look, I'm sitting at a desk, you know, in my little sweater.
03:07I can leave work at the drop of a hat.
03:10Those things are going to change for me.
03:14I do civil litigation, primarily personal injury.
03:18I don't really enjoy it.
03:22I'm interested in electrical work as a career.
03:26I think it provides some intellectual stimulation, as well as I get to be out working with my hands.
03:32And the kind of thing I think I could do for, you know, another 10, 15 years.
03:39I have two boys and my wife, and they have all been really supportive of me.
03:46The big thing is just going to be figuring out the money.
03:50There's going to be this three- or four-year period, working as an apprentice,
03:54where we're going to lose this really significant portion of income.
03:58And then it sort of sky's the limit.
04:02People who are running their own outfits can do quite well for themselves financially.
04:06You've got to give the speech.
04:09You know, I just don't want to end up doing something that I'm not happy doing.
04:18Having my kids see a father who's struggling with us, you know, in middle age, and that that's okay.
04:27That you don't necessarily know what you're going to want to be when you're 18, 20, 25, whatever.
04:35And that you can make changes if you're unhappy.
04:47I think there's a lot of pressure to be successful in families.
04:51Hanging on to all that need to have high status, like being a lawyer,
04:55just was just not serving him anymore.
04:58He just seemed really overwhelmed and just kind of checked out.
05:01I don't know, it sounds so refreshing, honestly.
05:03It sounds fun, like a fun adventure to do with you.
05:06I'm excited.
05:07I know.
05:19All my life, I've been working jobs.
05:21Job after job after job.
05:24I don't really want to go to work.
05:27I don't.
05:29It's just the same thing every day.
05:32It's very repetitive.
05:34It's draining.
05:36There's no room for growth.
05:38And I prefer to have a job where I know that I can grow within the company.
05:44No one likes to be stuck anywhere.
05:48Being in the trades, I believe that I can actually have a career.
05:57When I was younger, I would always be outside with my dad.
06:01He just taught me how to do a lot of things with my hands.
06:04So I think that's where it all started.
06:08I did see the trades as an opportunity in high school, I definitely wanted to take the class, but there
06:15were not a lot of women in the class.
06:18And it's like when you don't see yourself represented in something, you're not going to want to do it.
06:22I know I love working with my hands.
06:25I was like, I know I can't get into construction because I'm a woman.
06:27I was like, women can't do this.
06:29No one tells women that going into the trades is an option.
06:34It is an option.
06:35The biggest misconception that people have about women in the construction or DIY space is that we're not strong enough.
06:41Good morning.
06:42My name is Nora and I'm checking in as a blue collar bestie.
06:45I'm a commercial industrial electrician.
06:47One day, I just picked up my phone and I, you know, pulled out TikTok.
06:52I was looking up women electricians and I seen so many.
06:57It's more than I even thought.
06:59I seen women being plumbers.
07:02I seen women actually being in the construction field.
07:06And then I seen women electricians.
07:08I just fell in love with the fact that I can really do something like this.
07:12If they can do it, I know I can do it because it just motivates you to do something even
07:16more
07:17when you see a lot of women in the trades.
07:22So imagine if you have a carpenter and you have an electrician and then y'all just get it together
07:27and y'all make the Harris sisters.
07:29Y'all can make the business.
07:30Look at y'all.
07:31I am very family oriented.
07:34If I can have all of them around, oh, they're going to be around.
07:37Okay.
07:38Do you have, like, a job lined up or do you have to, like, wait?
07:43No job's lined up, but, like, they do host a career fair for everyone in the program
07:48at the end of the nine weeks.
07:50I'm just looking forward to seeing everything and experiencing it all.
07:57Can't wait.
07:58I'm just really excited.
07:59I don't know if y'all can tell, but I'm really excited.
08:15The hospital I was born in is the little one over there with the black windows.
08:19I did a lot of the roof structure on the top of the hospital,
08:22the copper roofing that's on there, and then a lot of the stuff on the inside of that building.
08:28This is the first job I did when I was 19 years old.
08:32This is when my kids were born.
08:33Now, you used to stare at the ceilings and look at the ceilings I built,
08:36and then I noticed when my grandkids were born, the same ceilings and stuff are still there.
08:40So I guess I did an okay job.
08:42It's still there.
08:45Building the hospital rooms that your kids are born in, that's kind of neat.
08:49One of those monument things that you're thinking about.
08:54What I thought was cool about construction when I started doing it is,
08:58I can drive by and see that that building's there and how long it lasted,
09:01and I can show my daughters when they were little.
09:04Now I can show my great grandkids.
09:08That's a prideful thing for folks that are in the industry.
09:12It's been neat to be able to live in my town, work in my town, raise my kids in my
09:17town,
09:17and give back to my town.
09:24Folks come to Flagstaff and they do think Arizona is deserts and things like that,
09:29road runners all over.
09:30And when they come and see elk and deer and the big mountain and the beautiful trees,
09:34they go, wow, this is a great place, I want to live here.
09:37That drives the cost of housing up.
09:41It's poverty with a view.
09:50The rent went from $1,200, now it's up to $2,200 for a single bedroom apartment.
09:59That's astronomical.
10:01I have students that are actually driving two and a half hours from Page, Arizona to come and take
10:07classes in our construction program.
10:11I have students sleeping in my parking lot in their car to be able to make sure that they're
10:16at class the next day because the trip is so far.
10:20So we do see a lot of that.
10:25Pretty extraordinary young people.
10:32If it wasn't for the students, I probably still wouldn't be here.
10:35Building the skilled trades is a big motivation,
10:37of building character and students that have a value when they come out of my door.
10:42They can get a job, be productive in society, and build homes.
10:47It's a way of building our community.
10:49It's a way of getting somebody that wants to be here to be able to afford to live here.
10:53That's kind of my motivation.
10:59So the first thing you're going to want to do,
11:00in the classroom, just give it a little haircut and then measure your 35 and a quarter.
11:08I've been teaching for 14 years here at Coconino Community College.
11:14About 12 and a half years, I was the only faculty member at this campus.
11:20Okay, and so you've got this class you can do in fall.
11:24so it looks like you've got just about all your construction stuff done a lot
11:29of the curriculum is designed to develop by myself I taught every single class
11:34and sometimes I was teaching 11 classes a semester pretty exciting but it was a
11:40lot of work that puts you to grant a total of 16 credits and every one of
11:45these credits transfers to your degree 14 years ago I had 45 students in my
11:51program helpful now my student count is up to 80
12:02it got to the point where I just couldn't do it by myself no more but to find a
12:07shop class teacher in my neck of the woods has been tough find somebody that's
12:14working in the industry that could be making a hundred and twenty thousand
12:18dollars a year being a construction worker has been difficult my last hire
12:25Tiffany was almost a year and a half find the right person to fit the job hey do
12:33you need help okay let's do it I got a wonderful team hired on now and and now
12:41kind of just step back and let them take the ball and I just help get them in the
12:45right directions you're all in the back row my goodness
12:51I've got about 33 34 years in the construction field you're gonna learn
12:56about safety you're gonna learn about tools so we're gonna do is lots of
12:59hands-on the last year and a half it has gotten so big so quickly that we now we
13:07have a full-time person dedicated to mechanical plumbing and electrical systems
13:11that's all Steve does is those three things sweet there you go
13:18Vance is now just doing carpentry he has five classes a semester just on
13:24carpentry alone just like that we are always going to need construction workers
13:29there's over 50,000 jobs in Arizona alone unfilled there's probably room for a
13:34hundred and fifty thousand trades workers in Arizona right now and then we
13:40brought in Tiffany she's our code specialist she does everything with
13:43building code blueprint reading so who's excited about taking this class he's lying
13:51in your life I wanted to join the trades just because I like working with my hands
13:57and I like helping people maybe like one of these days be like you and I teach
14:00like the younger younger generation whatever because I know like being are
14:03you saying I'm old is that what you're saying that's that's what he just said to me
14:10I was designated with developing two drafting classes and I have to have them submitted by the
14:16end of the day which generally takes six months and I have six hours this is my first year being
14:25a
14:25director I can impact the city I can impact our community I can impact northern
14:31Arizona far more reaching than I could before
14:36this is lunch I'm hopefully not dinner if I can take the same student that's in my
14:44doors in my classrooms with Vance Tiffany and Steve and get every one of my
14:48students a job then it's all worth it and I will be better at Delgado it's time for
14:55me give the keys to Canada so just kind of what I've been hoping for all these
14:59years that I could pass it down just don't crash my car I think we have an
15:09opportunity to do something this town is needed for 20 to 25 years this is
15:17hopefully just a start of something bigger this program has a lot to teach the
15:32community as a whole about collaboration we all know that we need more houses I
15:38think this is the place where we can bring all those pieces together that's how
15:41we're trying to bridge the gap we're gonna work a little bit more on tools so we're
15:45gonna learn how to use nail guns okay if you don't know him that's Ken man um and
15:50he runs this place so you guys most of you know me you guys are gonna be
15:53building Habitat for Humanity starter homes so I'm pretty excited to have you
15:57guys participate in that and we have brought Eric Worthington here from Habitat for Humanity so
16:04Eric go ahead hey guys how's it going this is a full room I kind of like this so my
16:11name's Eric I'm the
16:12Eric brought me the idea a while back how can we partner together and have you guys
16:17build our homes he sees the need as well for housing but he also sees that need
16:22for the workforce part of it without the workforce houses aren't going anywhere he
16:26brought me this idea of Habitat for Humanity starter homes we could penalize them
16:31you could build them in your shop we could build our community this way it's
16:35really exciting to me and I hope this is exciting for the students but that's
16:39what they've been tasked this year to do is build two Habitat houses and when I
16:44found myself working for Habitat and my city told me that we had a housing
16:50emergency that we had to address and we only were building one maybe two homes a
16:55year because you guys are helping me this year we're building 20 homes next year
17:00we're building 20 more homes and hopefully after that we're building 20
17:04homes every year or more for flight staff thank you I appreciate you coming in
17:08time thank you okay well now we've got you guys all fired up yeah you guys are
17:14building monuments and we want to build chain you in the right way you guys have a
17:18good night all right any questions on anything we've heard so far and then we'll
17:22take a break I'm just very very nervously excited we are too they we had the blitz build
17:29leaders come today and as my white boy they put a big seven five you know like
17:34they've got 75 days left it's a great partnership with Habitat for Humanity he
17:43pays for all the materials I provide the work we're building sustainable houses
17:48our students are learning somebody in our community is benefiting they're able to
17:52stay here work here afford to live here kind of a everything in one you couldn't
17:57ask for anything better okay so there's something to learn about everything right
18:04once you cut this the ends of that are going to be razor sharp so when you cut it get
18:10your
18:10face out of the way I came out of high school not really knowing what I wanted to do but
18:18I was
18:18always good at working with my hands always good at working with wood love it real-world Flagstaff
18:25framing condition icy wood I went to college basically because that was what was expected of
18:34me so I became a pre-med major but yeah in the end I kind of came back to this
18:42first love into
18:43construction I really like to solve problems and I really like making people happy and there's a
18:49a really profound sense of satisfaction there
19:00when I came to work here I really was excited to pass on my knowledge I felt like that was
19:05where I was at in my career I felt that was my value the mentorship aspect of it has really
19:10grown with
19:15me when I got into construction I didn't know anything but I got paired up with various employees
19:20so I could push up a room and I could carry boards and I was mentored until I knew how
19:25to build a house
19:27now we're in a position where no one has time to mentor that to me defines that the trade gap
19:32is an
19:33increase in demand in a decrease in supply you're booked out two years where do you find the time
19:40to take on someone with no experience and get them where you need to be when they're actually going to
19:45slow you down in the beginning don't let your hand be any closer to the snout of this thing than
19:51the
19:51length of that nail we're trying to be the ones to provide the mentorship but in technical schools you
19:58can only take a student so far the industry does need to step up and provide some of this mentorship
20:05the gap that we're trying to fill and the reason why we are so hands-on is that that little
20:10difference
20:10right there makes all the difference in the world in hiring sometimes we're going to turn you loose with
20:16a saw and a nail gun and you're gonna actually start building things in CTM 124 you're gonna build a
20:25house
20:29my carpenters actually get to build a real-world structure they get to pound the nails they get
20:34to make the mistakes in this safe environment see that lip right there this right there these all got
20:41to flush out that means over the course of a 30-year career you're gonna make a lot less mistakes
20:51we're building like some type of rafter or something I'm not 100 sure but I'm building
20:56it right so that's all it really matters to me I got a big family and when I was like
21:0010 my dad would
21:02bring us to a job site and I just grew up in it so it's really fun and I like
21:05the work and yeah
21:06tell them guys what to do it's a blast so yeah they good all right double checking
21:13double checking everything this is my first year working on this habitat project and I think it's
21:20really helped me out it's not just the students all right how are we gonna do this we're accomplishing
21:25something here we are really trying to change the construction industry that's kind of what motivates
21:31me I'm not really motivated to teach people how to put walls together I'm motivated to teach people to
21:36go out and change the world I mean that's literally what we're trying to do here I am working on
21:54a demand
21:55package it's sort of summarizing my clients claim and I'm going through the medical records and
22:01synthesizing it into a package for the for the insurance company sort of the dread involved like
22:11coming here and sitting down at this laptop and like you know summarizing medical records and over
22:17and over and over again it's given me more confidence to continue to proceed down this path
22:26walking away from something that's a safe career into something that's quite a bit more unknown
22:33makes me very anxious but when I'm actually in there doing the work the best part of my day
22:39is actually when I get to go to to class I go and I work with my hands and I
22:45see the work I did and I
22:47have some sense of pride in that the change is going to be good for me a lawyerly answer for
22:53you
23:02learn the tray become a good electrician that's what I want to do in the short term that's my focus
23:11I think in the long term I I think I don't know I'm trying to be okay with that but
23:20I think in the
23:20short term learn the tray as best I can you know explored the world a little more
23:36so when you think about a person who's making a change there's a lot that goes into making that
23:41decision give me two claps all right everybody's good this is our last session raise your hand if
23:49you have a dream oh I didn't see every hand go up I guess one of my dreams I guess
23:56would be to
23:56like have my own business okay so you also use the word I guess or the term I guess because
24:02so
24:02you're not sure I'm not I'm sure but I'm not sure like I do want my own business but like
24:09do I
24:12want I don't I don't know like I don't know tell me like I want to be an electrician that's
24:18that is my
24:18goal you want to be an electrician that's something that is solid yes that's what I want to do okay
24:23okay seems are kind of not always feasible yes that's really what it is like yes I I want this
24:31I have a dream this is what I want to do but it's like sometimes you just have those like
24:35you know
24:37barriers like you know blockages like so what do we do with barriers I mean you gotta knock them down
24:41you gotta like you know what I'm saying you can't just like let it like define you you can't let
24:44it
24:45control your life you gotta overcome it right but it's just I don't know I think it's just like
24:50sometimes like a mental thing so we got to get that out of here at some point in her life
24:55or someone's
24:56life you had a really cool idea to you like it was a great idea and someone blew that candle
25:04up
25:04right and so that's an emotion that you have to learn to get over everyone should have a dream
25:09because on the other side of every goal it's something it should be something bigger that
25:15bigger thing is a dream that's all it is but I can't help you with what your dream what your
25:23dreams
25:23are if you can't identify them so with your dream you don't need everyone to believe in your dream
25:30it's yours and so that's the only person you really need to consult the reason we're here and the reason
25:36she built this city exists is to knock down the barrier society already places there so now we
25:42can't ourselves add additional barriers right dreams are big go for it because if you just strive to get
25:50to that you'll get to some amazing places all right give it up all right I was just wondering if
25:56you know
25:57I do want you yeah you had the you understand to go about mentoring yes but um I do I
26:03would like you
26:04know if you did actually mentor me okay or like you know have connections you know okay I see if
26:09you can
26:10essentially give me contact with someone that you know would help me get into the let's just let's
26:15fulfill okay so when she came up later and asked for me to mentor her that showed me that she
26:21there's a
26:23dream there she's afraid to expose it because she's just not sure just yet or she has the ability to
26:30dream she just needs guidance right and so that's all I need you take the first step I'll help you
26:35take the rest and so I'll get you in so that we can get you get you with someone that
26:40it's going to be
26:40cool to see what she ends up doing but it just showed me that she's determined and yeah she's she's
26:46great at
26:47picking mentors
26:49that's what she's great at
27:00this is uh the northern Arizona habitat for humanity starter home project the schedule is
27:07getting tight like we had about a month buffer and I'd say by now we've lost three weeks of that
27:14we had
27:15two big snowstorms come in over the last two weeks and it shuts everything down the main deadline
27:23we're hitting is that blitz build group who comes June 1st we'll have about 170 volunteers they're
27:31going to be doing a lot and if we can't get the houses to where they need them then we'll
27:38miss that
27:39opportunity just the overall success is dependent on that this is the foundation so it's 24 feet by 16 feet
27:50and it's lofted so there's stairs that go up and then you got a bedroom sleeping area on top small
27:57space but good for someone starting out the habitat for humanity starter home concept is a very small
28:05small design it's meant for a starting family a single parent they deposited $1,000 down payment
28:13every one of their mortgage payments from there on out goes into a savings account they can earn up
28:19to $10,000 a year in equity it's hard to save that kind of money that's what makes this program
28:27awesome
28:27they can save it they can turn it back into a down payment for another home we built the very
28:35first one
28:36in the nation here in Flagstaff if we could start it here how will the domino effect work across the
28:42nation
28:4410 units by June 1st that's that's looking out here it seems like an impossible endeavor
29:02so we've got these RF4 panels we have all of those for two houses it's a lot like being a
29:09contractor
29:10right so what's my work plan we're building these habitat houses right we're gonna be doing panels
29:16and it's kind of time is of the essence because we need to do two by June so we're kind
29:21of on a clock
29:21it's like tick tick tick right it's been a journey from construction to teaching
29:31these aren't my employees these aren't people that I'm paying but the fact is we do have a project to
29:37complete it's got a due date there are people that are already assigned to these houses they are
29:44expecting to have something to live in there is a conflict there taking people to know nothing and
29:49saying hey I have to teach you but at the same time you have to deliver a product I think
29:56it was hard
29:57for them to understand in the beginning because it was nothing to look at it was just a set of
30:00plans
30:01now we have all these panels all over the place they're like oh hey this is the floor for a
30:06house
30:07then I'm gonna drive by this thing sometimes and look and say I did that and I think it really
30:12motivates them I think it's kind of going as expected more or less but it doesn't mean we don't
30:22feel pressure absolutely no pressure but I think that's probably because we're that invested in it you
30:27know I think they're doing pretty good for for a bunch of fresh people and just learning it is
30:33sometimes it's you want to jump in and but that probably comes from working in industry you know
30:37it's like you're used to that it's like man we just got to get this done hey that's not my
30:40life anymore
30:41now I'm watching it's it's a tough transition that's that's the only way to learn they got to make
30:47the mistakes to be able to be better spend a few nails bend a few more make 17 cuts wrong
30:54Vance and I were having this conversation about the habitat start home project we're taking these
30:59fresh students that's never done anything we get them for 48 hours a semester deadlines coming and we
31:06were getting a little nervous about are we gonna make our deadline with these new students we're feeling
31:12the pressure a little bit but one of the plans to take that pressure off is to have a volunteer
31:19day
31:19where I open up our shop and we have our students teach community members on how to build their house
31:36well in theory I've got all these stud and plate wings all measured out nobody will have to do a
31:42whole
31:42lot of thinking all I gotta do is read the paper and cut like I say we gotta move the
31:49tables we gotta
31:50break apart our lumber and by the way this is my first time doing one of one of these events
31:55so bear
31:56with me I'm nervous if we've done a good enough job here at CCC that student can teach somebody else
32:04how to frame something then we've done our job I seriously was sick to my stomach this morning just
32:17because I don't want you know habitat or the college to you know basically get a black eye off having
32:23a
32:24poorly run away we have the classic situation we've double checked all our measurements and we
32:33either have a long board or a short board or boards out of border or something like that we can
32:38use this
32:38one cut this down 14 one and a half 14 one and a half unless that thing's wrong most people
32:48so you
32:48got an extra inch and a half somewhere little under five-eighths 168 and five-eighths square to short
32:59well that's a problem because like I say our overall measurement is way off so which
33:06number is wrong the overall or the stud the stud is correct according to this template that's it
33:18right there that is the problem it's the temp the template is incorrect it's my fault so the
33:27template's wrong and I'll apologize profusely to everybody and I'll figure out what we're going to do
33:31about it so my apologies I screwed up the template and so it's making all these stud legs wrong and
33:41we've
33:41been fighting that all day without knowing the cause now we know the cause and it's because I I've
33:47transposed a couple numbers when I was laying out the template my feeling is let's see and then
33:52actually let's clean up we'll just get the walls into the buildings and at least seeing what it's
33:58like to be in the real world of construction some of my students because it does happen in the field
34:02we get one wrong measurement and it messes up the whole thing so it's how we react to that that
34:08makes
34:08a difference when we're out there in the real world if so I tell my students all the time you
34:15know be a
34:15lifelong learner and you're always going to have a job if we look at it the purpose of the day
34:20was
34:20for the students to kind of spread their wings and fly a little bit I'm happy felt like everybody
34:26demonstrated that they learned something you know which is all I can ask we're not making journeyman
34:31carpenters here we're just trying to get them a leg up in the employment you know you have to be
34:36able to
34:36pass your skills on it's not enough to be good you have to be able to mentor that's just all
34:41there is to
34:42do it at the end of the day I mean my allegiance is to these students making habitat houses just
34:49happens to be a happy byproduct of it you make a mistake you got to own up to it and
34:56it's not
34:57comfortable but I think it was a very valuable lesson these guys are teaching me just as much
35:04as I'm teaching them my time at she built the city has been life-changing the doors they open
35:18for us in just nine weeks I mean they're priceless what I love about she built this city is that
35:24we
35:24started them in a pre-apprenticeship program but we don't let them go and let's continue to not only
35:28build structures but the world around us this community is something you can lean on long term
35:43from a very young age my dad would take me out to the job sites I would be sitting on
35:48top of these
35:48speaking records and um with my little notebook and just kind of like in my telling people what to do
35:56even if it was very wrong my mother used to sell food in those neighborhoods where my dad was working
36:04she would be like Diana like you should be in here like this is easier for you but I would
36:08rather be
36:08out with my dad grabbing the hammers once I hit my teenage years I kind of became his secretary um
36:17due to
36:17the English so I had to learn how to do invoices and I had to learn how to bid on
36:22projects and I had to
36:23learn how to answer calls for him and he's not tech savvy so I was doing all his emails for
36:28him
36:29I think I've always been my father's son but I was never my mother's daughter
36:39this is my mom she has butterflies because that's the only thing she asked me to have on her tombstone
36:45butterflies my mother passed away from metastasized breast cancer in 2013 it was I think very rough
36:56on me at that age I was taking care of my siblings and at the age of 16 I met
37:01Hector and at 17 I became
37:04pregnant and they were okay with it and she was happy she passed away two weeks before I turned 18
37:20it molded me in a very different way all my friends were going to college doing their thing and
37:29I was home taking care of a 15 11 year old and a infant while also navigating through my father's
37:36feelings and dealing with their businesses at the same time I was only 18 um becoming this cultural
37:46housewife that I never envisioned myself doing I tell Kevin and Brian all the time like my mom had
37:54me in a very different way all but you're you're mine so in uh July of 2022 I was diagnosed
38:04with
38:04granuloma lotus mastitis basically you'll develop all these wounds around your breast this entire
38:13situation is triggering because of my mother it was hard because all my symptoms pointed to cancer
38:25I really needed she built the city in that moment in life I had hit that big rock bottom where
38:30I just
38:31didn't know what I was doing with my life anymore you know I was doing things for everybody else for
38:37so
38:37many years I had never done anything for me now I'm doing things for me and um now I have
38:44boundaries
38:44and now I get to get paid for my work my five-year goal is I want to become a
38:53general contractor I want to
38:55get as many licenses I can out there I'm missing the door handle here and that's part of the checklist
39:02in my community we're not seeing past administrative rules as a GC you're not just on the admin side of
39:11things you're also out there making sure that everything is done correctly I want to start a
39:22business that will be left on for my children but I can't do that you know continuing to do
39:29everything for everybody around me not today so I am studying for my GC exam the GC exam is the
39:50general
39:50contractors exam so this is just the residential aspect of everything I haven't even started to
39:56study for a commercial yes women it's very hard to take care of ourselves because we're expected
40:01to take care of everybody else around us go clean your room oh they like I boy how it does
40:17I go
40:27I see the difference you know because never thinking and and ladies can do the same job for men you
40:34know
40:48so now that I went through the program it made him change his mind yeah right now I'm work together
40:55and I'm learning something different between me and her you know so my dad's sense of change is exciting
41:04because it just means a new direction for us for the company it means that you know eventually we can
41:10have more women on our crews the change came from us being close the way we are and I think
41:16that when
41:17someone cares and loves you you evolve and you know you're open and more susceptible for changes
41:24um so yeah it's been it's been nice
41:38I'm very good at making invoices and things like that but that's not where my passion really lies my
41:46passion is more going out bidding and doing the work I think before it was more of a it's our
41:53business and this is why you should be doing it but now I'm doing it because I want to not
41:58because
41:58I'm expected to and I think that's the huge difference
42:13some of these units upstairs units are ready to go too
42:25I think you have to be competitive to be successful there's always somebody better
42:30so if you're better then get out the way because I'm coming that's why you got to look at it
42:35we have
42:35employers out there they are prepared to hire they're not promising us a job but it's an opportunity
42:44we can't keep doing it the same way that we've always done it we've got to think outside the box
42:50and make it better
42:53you
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