Kathleen Edwards

I attribute my success to hard work and perseverance. The guidance of all the plumbers I worked with over the years taught me very well. I would have to say I'm in the top 5% of plumbers as far as quality, workmanship, and knowledge. It's been a great journey for me. I've heard a lot of horror stories from girls in other trades, but I've never met another female plumber in all my years. I also never gave up. When I took my master's test, it took me one try for my journeyman's to get it, but it took me four tries for my master's. I took that test for a whole year, basically every 3 months. By the time I took the fourth test, I was done and home in Metamora from Lansing when everybody was still working on their test. I got 98% on everything, and it was awesome, but it's only because I didn't give up. People sat down in their test, and they looked at it, and they got up and left because it was overwhelming. You just have to have the self-confidence and the self-esteem, and don't let anybody knock you down.

The best career advice I've ever received is don't sweat the small stuff. Laugh in the face of anger. It's always been advice to calm yourself and have patience, because that's what plumbing has taught me - patience. If I don't have something, I can make it. Plumbing teaches you patience and knowledge, and the ability to be resourceful and creative in solving problems.

First of all, because you're going to be in a man's field, you need to have thick skin and be able to deal with the fact that they're going to talk to you like another tradesperson, and you've got to let it slide. They can tell each other to F off and pat each other on the butt in a couple minutes because they're just talking to each other, and they talk rudely. You've got to have thick skin to be able to deal with that. Don't be shy when you're asking for parts. Don't wear makeup on the job because it's going to melt off your face. Wear long shorts because they'll look up your shorts if you're on a ladder. Have confidence, self-esteem, and push through the things that are hard. The challenges are what build your knowledge. You can run into the walls, or you can look at the walls as steps to keep going up. You just have to have the self-confidence and the self-esteem, and don't let anybody knock you down.

The biggest challenge is just the toll it takes on the female body. Turns out we're not built like men. It takes a toll on the back. We're not built like pillars. We have the hourglass shape, which hurts hips, knees, back. I want to encourage women to go in the trades, but I almost want to warn them about that, but that would scare them away, so I don't say anything. Another challenge is that when you deal with Middle Eastern people, they don't want to talk to you because you're a woman. There are little things like that where because you're a woman, they won't deal with you at all. Sometimes people don't take you seriously because you're a woman. They think you're the salesperson, not the person doing the work. That's kind of why I gave the company to my brother, so he could deal with everybody, fighting with everybody about everything, because he was a man and they would listen to him.

The values most important to me are respect and trust. Those are the major things. Morals and ethics are also critical to me. In my work, I value quality, accuracy, and efficiency. But when it comes to personal values, it's morals, ethics, trust, and respect that matter most.