Amy Hart of Continental Plumbing Services got into plumbing after her husband needed help with his business. She's passionate about apprenticeship programs and believes that representation is important to attract more women to the field. Her advice for women is to be confident and get involved in the industry.

Meet Alayna Chavez, plumber at Parker & Sons. She took advantage of free trade school opportunities and took the chance at plumbing. That was seven years ago and she hasn't turned back since.

Tracy Gawecki is the regional sales manager at Oatey. Discovering the plumbing industry at a college career fair, she was intrigued by its essential role in everyday life. Recognizing its stability and complexity, Tracy chose plumbing as her career, finding satisfaction in its continual learning opportunities.

The future for young women in this industry is now as bright as anyone wants it to be. If a young woman wants to work her way all the way up to the C-suite, the opportunities are there, and that is so exciting to see.

Meet Katie Byrd, CEO of Clarksburg Plumbing. Formerly a pharmacy technician, she decided to stay home to raise her twin boys and help out with her family business.  The rest is history.

The event aimed to help the Girl Scouts complete a The House That She Built Girl Scouts patch, encouraging their interest in construction and raising awareness of opportunities in the trades.

As a Premier Sponsor, Oatey associates volunteered at Northeast Ohio Let’s Build Construction Camp for Girls, imparting life skills and encouraging young girls to explore the many career opportunities in a traditionally male-dominated industry.

More than 70 employees participated in the kickoff event, held in Fort Wayne on Feb. 22. 

Jobs don’t have genders.
That’s the message Judaline Cassidy wants to get across. Cassidy, founder and chief vision officer of Tools & Tiaras and self-proclaimed feminist plumber, has more than 20 years’ of experience in the trades.

When I first started working for Plumbing & Mechanical’s sister publication, The ACHR NEWS in 2014, I was often the only woman in the room at industry events. Those first few conferences were just a bit intimidating. In fact, it wasn’t until a HARDI annual conference that I first met other women in the industry — shout out to Colleen Keyworth, director of sales and marketing for Online-Access and immediate past president of Women in HVACR, for her immediate friendship then and for all the years since!