Her Story
About Diana
I've been working in the elevator and escalator industry since 2014, all with Kone. I'm a Navy veteran, and I think that when you go all-in, you just go all in in every job. I started out in the elevator trade, building elevators and traveling to different destinations every Sunday to build them. To get into this trade, I had to take a test in Des Moines, go through an intense interview process where six union reps from different companies interviewed me all at once like a firing squad, and then wait on a list for almost two years. I got called just two weeks before my time was up, and I had to be in Des Moines at 4am the next day, three hours from where I live. The training was incredibly demanding - every Saturday I got up at 8 o'clock and went to school all day long until 5 o'clock, for five years straight. We'd study all week, study after class on Saturday, and then travel on Sunday to build elevators. After I had knee surgery that didn't go quite as planned, I had to step back from elevators and transition to escalators. I was a team lead in the fixture portion, but I decided to step back from that position to do something a little less stressful while I pursue my master's degree. Now I work as an assembler at Kone Escalators in Coal Valley, where I'm a lead in small assembly. I train new employees and build components like newels, which is where the handrail goes around the top and bottom of the escalator, and rollers that go on the outsides for the handrails. I also work on lower mod, building the lower end of the escalator. I love what I do - I kind of became an elevator nerd and didn't realize it. I love the adrenaline, the rush of being busy all the time. I'm a bit of an adrenaline junkie and I like to be busy all the time. At work, I do not like to sit down. They say at this plant that 'Di works like a buzzsaw, so good luck.' I definitely would like to go back to building elevators if I can get my knees back to where they can get me up a set of stairs, because I love elevators more than escalators. I think it's the danger, the adrenaline, the high stakes - you're always in a hurry, you always have to wear a harness and watch each other's backs. You're on top of these elevators with one going up beside you, and you stick out your arm and it's gone. But I'm all for safety - what I really mean is I love being busy all the time.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Diana
01What do you attribute your success to?
I probably attribute my success to my military background, specifically the discipline it gave me. That discipline has carried through everything I do - from getting through that intense five-year apprenticeship program where I had to be in class every Saturday and work on Sundays, to the way I approach my work now. I'm very big on respect, honor, courage, and commitment - values that came from my Navy service. I think that when you go all-in, you just go all in in every job, and that's something the military taught me.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Do it. Do anything you want. Go into the trades. Work hard. Be yourself. It's very difficult for women, especially in the area I am in. I'm in the Midwest, in the Moline Rock Island area, the Quad Cities, and in that area there is a lack of women going into the trades. It's very much still male-dominated here. But don't let that stop you - just go for it.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge right now is layoffs and the way the economy is affecting our industry. It's always difficult because the contracts come and go - there's slow times and good times. The thing is, if you work too fast, then you work yourself out of a job, which is a real double-edged sword. When contracts are coming to an end and layoffs are coming up, they want you to slow down, but I have a problem with slowing down. As for opportunities, I'd say it's being able to learn how to use power tools and learn mathematics - if you don't have the concept of them yet, you'll get the concept. You learn to read a tape measure, both American and metric. You just learn things that you thought you would never need in school, but everything you thought you didn't need in school, you needed it. I needed it in the Navy as well.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I'm very big on respect - that's probably the most important value to me. Another one is honor, and then courage and commitment. These values guide everything I do, both in my work and in my personal life. They're values I learned in the Navy, and they've stayed with me throughout my career in the trades.
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