March 6, 2025 • 36 mins
This episode of CO Pod features an inspiring conversation with Juanita Douglas, a trailblazer in the construction industry with over 40 years of experience. Juanita shares her incredible journey from being a single mother struggling to make ends meet to becoming a pioneering figure in the trades, breaking barriers for women in construction. She discusses her early days as a carpenter, her transition to land surveying, and her current role as the Executive Director of Tradeswomen Incorporated, where she continues to advocate for underrepresented groups in the trades. Juanita’s story is one of resilience, determination, and the power of speaking up. Whether you're interested in construction careers, diversity in the trades, or personal growth, this episode is packed with valuable insights and inspiration.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of Coepod. I'm
your host Caroline, and today i'm John. I'm joined by
Juanita Douglas. Juanita, how are you.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
I I'm doing.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Good, doing good. I'm excited it's Friday.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Yes i am. Also, yeah, it's been a long week.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
I feel like always coming back after the holiday breaks
is just it's so hard.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Yes, yes, for sure. And we took almost two weeks off, so.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Yeah, oh wow, Yeah, that's that's definitely a long break,
much needed but long.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Yes, awesome.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
So, for anyone that doesn't know, Juanita was actually one
of our keynote speakers at our CEO Summit Santa Clara
event back in November. So, Juanita, how was that experience
for you, being you know, a keynote speaker at this,
you know, a new event.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
I really enjoyed it. I wasn't really sure what to expect,
but I really enjoyed it. Very amorable being there.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Good And I'm glad you had a good time. I
was all over the place, running around like crazy, but
I had a good time too, you know. And then
in your keynote, your keynote was called the Beginning and
you focused a lot on the beginning of your career
journey and how you got into the industry. So I
would love if you could tell our audience here a
(01:34):
little bit about that, and you know, kind of summarize
what that time was like for you.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
Okay, I'll just start in nineteen eighty four, I had
a seven year old son, and my child care for
taking care of my son was more than my rent.
At that time was working for a company called Emporium
(02:03):
cap Wells, which is equivalent of Macy's now, and I
was a department manager. So at that time it was
decent money, but I still couldn't pay my childcare and
my rent. So I started looking around for a better job.
And I walked into the Pedaloma, California an employment office,
(02:28):
and there was a flyer on the wall that said
I could become a carpenter in the Union, and it
said I would earn thirteen dollars and fifty cents an.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Hour, which at that time was a large ullage.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
Yeah, it was a lot of money, because I think
minimum wage was three dollars and ninety cents or something. Yeah,
And so I literally took the flyer off the wall,
left the unemployment office and direct went directly for the
address on the fly, which happened to be the carpenter's
haul in downtown Pedaloma. And I told the guy at
(03:01):
the desk I want to do this, and he looked
at me and he said, well why, And I just
wanted to the thirteen dollars.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
It's an hour, he said, that's why.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Yeah, totally, I had no idea even what a carpenter
did or anything. Yeah, And so what he did was,
at that time, they had what they call hunting papers,
so he put my name at the top and at
the bottom. I needed to go to the construction sites
(03:33):
and get a superintendent and a foreman are a foreman
to fill out these papers and bring him back to him,
and then they could indenture me in the carpenter's union.
Is what his terms were. So I said, okay, that
sounds like it's easy.
Speaker 4 (03:51):
Sounds like it, yes, And so I took the paper
and I went I knew what construction looked like.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
So I went to the first construction site, asked for
the foreman. He came out and he looked at me.
He says, I'm not He says, I'm not hiring. I
don't hire any women. It wasn't that nice, though, So
I'm not sure I can say those words that he
basically told me, and being who I am and having
the mother that that raised us. There was eight of
(04:21):
us in a two bedroom house in one bathroom, along
with my mother and father. Wow, there was no such thing.
Her whole match was there's no such thing as no.
That word doesn't exist. So it was something wrong with
him and not me. So I just went to the
next construction site and I did that off and on
(04:44):
for about two weeks and still got the same answer.
So I went back to the hall and by then
I knew his name. His first name was Lou, And
I said, LOUI, you didn't tell me that they were
going to curse me out and tell me to get
the hell off of their site. And they're not hiring
any women. I said, so you're telling me you know
(05:06):
there's no women in construction. And he said you're still here?
I said, yes, thirteen dollars and fifty cents an hour.
So he opened a drawer and his glore drawer in
his desk, and he handed me a sheet with about
six addresses on it, and he said, here go to
(05:27):
these these are federally funded sites. They have to hire you.
And so I asked them, well, why did you make
me do that other stuff exactly? And he basically said, well,
I wanted to see if you were really serious. So
(05:47):
there was literally one block from where I lived, a
general mail facility was getting ready to start. They had
just broke round and I drove to there and there
was a guy there. His first name was Jay. It
was robul And Construction out of Sacramento, and he talked
to me. He didn't talk to me crazy, but he
(06:09):
just talked to me. And so every few days I
would go and I would take him lunch. And that
went on. I don't remember if it went on for
a week or two weeks, but it went on for
just a bit and he finally looked at me, and
I had the paper every day in my hand. He said,
give it to me. You're not leaving. Nope, not leaving.
(06:31):
And so he hired me. And that day he hired me.
Me and his superintendent was the last one leaving that job.
It was eighteen months long and I was the last
person with the superintendent to leave that job. I worked
thirty years and drew unemployment only when I wanted.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
To Wow, that's incredible, and I think that shows you
know a lot to your drive and your persistence, you know,
and especially with you know, when we were talking last time,
you were telling me you were retired, and then you
ended up just getting a new position in December.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
Yes, I retired officially May two thousand and fourteen, because
I worked thirty years as the carpenter, as the commercial carpenter,
and then in the field I worked another fifteen years.
I'm sorry, let me back up with fifteen years as
a commercial carpenter and another fifteen years in the field
(07:31):
as a lance revere. So officially, as of August thirty first,
twenty twenty four, I have twenty five years in as
a lance revere. So I have forty years in the trades.
But I got bored almost immediately, so I got an
offer to help with some hands on training. They were
(07:58):
getting ready to build the Case Center in San Francisco,
and a friend of mine that I had worked called
and said they had got this huge granted and they
needed someone to help train some students to work at
the Chase Center because the Warriors promised they would local
(08:18):
hire San Francisco residents, but they couldn't find any. And
this was in two thousand. We see twenty fourteen, so
this is twenty sixteen. So I've been retired two years
and by now I was just bored, stupid. I had
nothing to do.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
There's not enough board games and wanting to drink to
be able to keep yourself entertaining.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
No, I was just totally totally bored. And so me
and Ralph and quite a few other people. So me
and Ralph worked with all the soft skills on training
these young people in the city of San Francisco what
it took to work on a construction site. And the
(09:01):
first class, I think was fifty four students. I can't
remember the exact number, but I know we graduated forty
something and most of those students and participants got hired
on the Chase Center. We did it three more times
and the Chase Center, who was Clark and Mortenson, who
(09:22):
was a joint venture, hired most of those students and
quite a few of them ended up working till the
very end. Yeah, And we did that through it's a
hands on pre apprentice training program, and we did that
through City Bill in San Francisco. In the Bay Area.
(09:44):
There's four others that does that work. And so now
I'm done with that, and it's like, well, now it's
in my blood to see and give the opportunity to
the underrepresent and it people to get into the construction
(10:04):
trade because I know how much money can be made.
I know how it changes your life, and now especially females,
I understand how much it changes everyone's life. So in
twenty eighteen, because the Chase Center had just that position,
it just ended, I had the opportunity to go and
(10:27):
teach a summer cohort for a company called Rising Sun
Center for Opportunity. I was going to teach that one
twelve week program up until November twenty ninth, twenty twenty four,
I was still there. So I basically that with Rising Sun,
(10:54):
we graduated over two hundred and eighty nine women. Out
of those two hundred and eighty nine women, and this
is just the females and the reason I'm doing this.
It will explain my next statement. Eleven percent of those
women are still working today. From twenty eighteen to now, well,
(11:14):
in November, I had the opportunity and was offered the
opportunity to become the ed for Trades Women Incorporated, which
is an organization of that Tradeswomen created in nineteen seventy
nine that helps females get into the construction trades and
(11:35):
it's a mentoring program. We work with females almost exclusively,
but the idea is to help understand the opportunities it's
in the trades, specifically for women. I'm going to back
up just a little bit, but at Rising Sun we
were able. I did six and a half years there,
(12:00):
and we were able in those six and a half
years as started working with the union reps of the
twenty eight union trades in the state of California with
the general contractors, going to places and meeting and interacting
(12:21):
and creating partnerships. When I left, we had a ninety
eight percent placement the first three months of every graduation
for the last two years that we did, and all
of it was not in the union trades, but it
was in trades, our jobs that made these underrepresented people
(12:45):
youth re entry be able to change their lives.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
That's incredible. I mean, that is such a high number.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
I don't think I've heard a number like ninety eight
percent in a while. That is incredible, you.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
Know, and we work with them. The biggest part was
doing the retention. So we're learning now how to stay
in contact us. What happens is you get an underrepresent
I mean I had young people come in that it
never ever had had a job. They're twenty seven, twenty
eight years old. Now they walk off out of our class,
(13:23):
they walk into one of the training programs. They're making
thirty dollars and twenty five cents an hour day one.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
Well, that's a great low.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
And four years they're making seventy five dollars an hour. Well,
now I'm calling going hey, I need your check stup.
It's like whatever, miss Fanny. You know. So we had
to learn how to figure out how to keep the
retention up to show that we were actually doing this
work to keep funding up. But there's four programs and
(13:54):
it's ongoing, and it's really really working, and there really
is a shortage.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
There really is.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
And I know we always throw that around all the time,
we talk about it all the time, you know, seeing
it firsthand is like, oh, shoot, this really is something
that's going on in our age.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
It really is, Yes, And what we've got to do
is is changed the culture and it's changing. I mean,
just speaking, we're doing the keynote. One of your contractors
actually hired one of my students. We wanted to work
on Monday.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
That's amazing. This all level, these connections.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
And that's that's the way it works. So with this
new position, I'm hoping I can influence a lot more
of that and we can do a lot more of
what happened.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Yeah, and we're seeing you know, the industry and you
know the world being a little bit more accepting of women,
and you know all of these other you know, groups
of people that were once not considered for the construction industry.
You know, if you weren't a white male, right, we
(15:10):
wouldn't look your way, right?
Speaker 2 (15:13):
What is one of those things?
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Or I know there's probably a million different reasons for this,
but you know, why are we now becoming more accepting?
Why was it that way back then?
Speaker 3 (15:24):
I think it was just ignorance. I mean I really
really do, and and and I think that the more
that we present and the more that we expose, the
exposure is not there. Because changing and passing the laws
(15:46):
really helps, but the exposure is still not there. You
pass a law and it's just something on the piece
of paper. Or you pass a policy and it's just something.
But if you can build up relationships and partnerships and
you can get the contractors and the union reps in
(16:08):
the room with the actual bodies, then it works. I
know it works because it's worked for me. Works when
we do our networking events and we invite them in
to meet the actual bodies and the training works. It
(16:28):
prepares them for what they're walking into, and that way
the retention rate will go up.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
Yeah, And I feel like, especially you know, when you're
you're just starting out in this career, and you know,
especially being a woman in the industry or you know,
know anything, it's hard to get in front of people. Yes,
in these days, everything is online, you apply online, you
do all of this. And I remember thinking back to
when I first started. I was like, just get me
(16:55):
in front of a person. Yes, I will rocket if
you get me in front of a person, a real human.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
And I'm finding that that really works if you give
them the opportunity to sit down in front of that
person and sell themselves. And that has went away or
it never was available enough because when I went out,
(17:25):
I had to go job site to job site to
job site. But if you get a room with fifteen
twenty union reps and contractors and fifteen or twenty people
and set it up where they can sit down and
interact and talk with each other. Then magic happens. It
(17:46):
really happens.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
You have no choice other than to listen when you
have someone in front of you, right, you know, if
they're not in front of you, it's easily to look
over it.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
It's easy to ignore.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
It's easy to go with what's comfortable, and what's comfortable
is what needs to be changed exactly.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
And they can tell you or you can tell them,
and you guys can interact and understand each other and understand.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
Why yes, the why, the why yes, the why? Why
do you want to be here? Why are you doing this?
Understanding that there is a human behind that position is
so important.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
And a lot of it is that the funding's not
available to do all the basic training or do all
the material. But the sit down and talk part doesn't
cost as much. You can tell you doesn't for refreshments,
something for the knowledge that are working. You already have
(18:49):
all the organizations help create the resumes and be available
to sit down and talk. The funding is getting tied
and tighter and tighter. So we've got to find another
way to make this work. And I really believe that's
the way to do it.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Yeah. Yeah, And you know, thinking back to those early
days when you were on the job site, what was
that environment like, because I'm sure it probably wasn't the
most enjoyable experience thinking back on the difficult days, how
did you get through that and keep going and keep
staying in an industry that at the time didn't fully
(19:31):
accept you.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
I talked to myself a lot because I'm a very
outspoken person and always happen, so I would have to
talk to myself to figure out how I was going
to speak up and not stupid and not lose my job.
(19:55):
But the number one priority and the advantage of construction
is that you can and speak up, and being female,
women doesn't understand that. So it was right. So if
there was something going on that I just literally did
not like, I didn't wait. I spoke up immediately. If
(20:18):
someone sits something. The first thing was number one rule
with me was on the job site, do not touch
or put your hands on me. Unles. I've told you
it's okay. I can deal with all the words, but
(20:39):
don't touch me.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
No, it's the boundaries that.
Speaker 3 (20:42):
Right, and my boundaries are not touching me. Is the
hand might not be there when it comes back, you might.
That's that's my boundary.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
I mean, it makes sense. That is your you know,
it's almost like your physical bubble, and when that gets
coached on, it's a very intrusive feeling.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Yeah, I felt that way as well. I know what
that it's good.
Speaker 3 (21:07):
And everybody on the job site literally believe their hands
wouldn't be there if they touched it. That was one
thing that was immediately understood. And I had heard horror
stories where the women were being touched and it was like,
that will not happen to me on any job site.
(21:30):
I guarantee you that the rest of it. If something
was said that I did not like, I immediately stopped it.
And what I try to do, especially with women but
also men, there are certain rights of passage. Unfortunately, and
(21:50):
I don't know what the other term is that you're
going to have to deal with. You don't have to
accept it, but you're going to have to deal with it.
Just need to know when to speak up and stop it.
And you cannot wait. And there are certain times when
words and harassment needs to be reported, but eight percent
(22:18):
of the time, you as that person can stop it
because unfortunately they don't realize that there are that they're
harassing you. They have no idea. And if you say, yeah, hey, John, chill,
I don't.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
Like that, Chill John, Yeah, hands off, chill, and.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
Ninety nine point nine percent of the time John is
going to chill. But you have to do it immediately
because if you keep letting John do that, he thinks
it's okay.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
Yeah, m sorry, I've got my eye totally water. Yeah,
I swear I'm not crying. I did.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
I did cry last night when I watched Mufasa the
new line.
Speaker 3 (23:04):
Oh yeah, the one.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
Yeah, I was a hot mester. Yeah, I'm not crying
right now.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
But yeah, that is the way I managed. I just
spoke up immediately.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
Yeah, I feel like, you know, for a lot of people,
women in particular. I know I'm thinking about myself here,
speaking up is hard sometimes, you know, you don't want
to be viewed a certain way or something. So what
advice do you have for those people who are maybe
having a little bit more of a difficult time speaking
up or gaining that confidence to speak up.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
The they' that's they have got to they if they
go in the bathroom and practice practice them, they have
got to speak up.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
Yeah, and just in the mirror to yourself.
Speaker 3 (23:55):
Right, and what we do, what we did it Rising
Son and Cindyville. We practice scenarios. When we did the classes,
we would have the guys and the girls practice and
just literally, hey, look, I don't appreciate that statement. You
(24:17):
just said, I don't like it. Yeah, and they back up. Now,
if that doesn't go away, then you go to that
person supervisor. Now, if it's the supervisor doing it, then
you're doing your union rep.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
Yeah. Thank goodness for those union.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
Reps, right, and back in the day, the union reps,
sometime you would get ignored. Not anymore, not at all.
I don't think there's a union rep on the face
(24:56):
of the earth now that we'll ignore you.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
Yeah, thank god.
Speaker 3 (25:00):
Right, But take care of it as much as you
can yourself first, because they expect you to. What I
did was just sit back and watch how they interact
with each other, the way they trash talk to each other.
And ninety percent of the time that's all it is.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
Yeah, sometimes it feels like more though.
Speaker 5 (25:26):
Yeah, that's because you're you're you're a stranger, you're new
at this, you have no idea what they're talking about,
so you're taking it personal.
Speaker 3 (25:44):
And the first thing you got to learn is nothing
on that job site is personal.
Speaker 1 (25:48):
No, And that maybe stems from, you know, personal insecurities
as well, you know, thinking, am I imposter syndrome?
Speaker 2 (25:56):
Almost?
Speaker 1 (25:56):
And I really meant.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
Yea, where am I supposed to be here?
Speaker 1 (26:00):
You know, I don't act, I don't look like all
these people around me.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
What am doing?
Speaker 3 (26:05):
And I still have I still have to talk to
myself with the impost syndrome, And especially when I accepted
this new position, it's like, you know, the definition of
what an ad is, right, Yeah? Am I qualified to
do this position? So that and especially with females, we're
(26:28):
more prone to that.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
How do you deal with those thoughts of imposter syndrome?
Because I know that's something I struggle with too. I'm
sure we have a lot of viewers out there that
also struggle with that.
Speaker 3 (26:40):
I I when I'm in a position where I can't
do anything about it and I'm freaking out and I'm
having panic attacks and I'm right in the middle of
a meeting. I've learned to just shed it off and
pretend I know what I'm doing.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
I get in my truck, make it yeah until you
mean it.
Speaker 3 (27:05):
And then I have to talk to myself. And my
favorite person that keeps me going is Maya Angelo. Now
I rise, yes, yes, So she keeps me centered because
I know my worth. I know what I've accomplished. I
(27:30):
know forty years in the construction trade. Being a black female.
There's not a lot of us out there. Yeah No,
I know what I know, and I have to keep
convincing Onananita one Eita knows what she knows and what
I've accomplished, I can give an offer to other people.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
Yeah yeah, And I think that's one of the most
beautiful things in life is when you go through all
of these experience and says and all this, you know
your whole career, and you can finally give that knowledge
and pass that knowledge on so that the next generation
might not have to go through those things that you.
Speaker 3 (28:11):
Went right right and make it just a little bit
easier than they. I can reach down and show them
how to walk around that wall, how to remove those barriers,
how to remove those roadblocks that's there in front of them,
and they don't have to deal with it. And like
I said, I did not have a lot of issues
(28:31):
on the job site because I was very outspoken. And
I have the young women and the young men calling, going, look,
this is happening out here. What should I do? Speak up?
Speaker 2 (28:46):
Speak up?
Speaker 3 (28:48):
That's all it takes. Hey, look I don't like that.
That's wrong. Yeah, you know, I'm not your girlfriend. I'm
not your wife, I'm not your mother, you understand.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
Not even your friend.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
Half the time, I.
Speaker 3 (29:03):
Don't even like you.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
I just work with you.
Speaker 3 (29:07):
Yeah, you have to speak up, and they get it.
And what happened with me more than anything is they
became my big advocate. I didn't have to speak up
no more. The guys I was working with start speaking
up for me.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
That's amazing.
Speaker 3 (29:25):
When you change job sites, they are going to not
allow anyone to mess with you.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
Yeah, and you know, speaking up they probably you know,
especially at that time, not a lot of women were
speaking up like that, and they were probably just like, damn,
who is this girl?
Speaker 3 (29:43):
And they will. But you have to do your job.
You cannot expect them to do your job, and you
have to stop them from doing your job. God helping
you also. Yeah, and the man's plaining is just unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
I can't. That's it's my pet peeve.
Speaker 3 (30:04):
I can't, And I think it's like no, no, no, no.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
No, You're like I I know that I knew that
way back when, Thank you very much.
Speaker 3 (30:15):
But once you once you they realize that you're not
going to expect them to help you. Are they think
that they're supposed to help you, and you have to
literally have them back up. I got this right. But
you also have to learn how to ask for help
(30:36):
when you need it.
Speaker 2 (30:38):
Yeah, definitely. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:42):
You know, kind of reflecting back on your entire career,
what are some of the achievements that you're most proud of?
Speaker 2 (30:52):
That's a loaded question, Wow, totally loaded.
Speaker 1 (30:55):
I know.
Speaker 3 (30:56):
Most thing that I really I really liked the brag
about is that I did ninety eight percent of all
the infrastructure in Mission Bay in San Francisco.
Speaker 4 (31:07):
Yes, girl Bird Street, light rail at and T Park,
which is I'm not sure what the Giant Stadium is.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
Now or a park. I think I still call it
apnt SO.
Speaker 3 (31:19):
The Chase Center, trans Bay Terminal, Salesforce, Fourth, four Seasons Hotels,
Regency Hotel in La I did the La X Control Tower,
the Santa of the Anaheim Pond, the ducks, I did
the north Ridge Mall. I did the filtration plan in
(31:41):
San Fernando Valley sel Mar There's those are the big jobs.
Speaker 2 (31:46):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (31:48):
Yeah, so I mean literally, I was the surveyor on
ninety eight percent of all the infrastructure in Mission Bank.
Speaker 1 (31:55):
Yeah. And none of that would have happened if you
didn't speak up. And going back to that importance of
advocating for yourself as you know, not just a woman,
but as a human. Yes, advocating for what you deserve,
you know, how you want to be treated.
Speaker 3 (32:15):
And believing you could do it. When the contractor came
to me Mitchell Engineering for the third street light rail,
he knew I had switched over from carpentry to surveying. Yeah,
and he says, I want you to become I've only
been doing this for years. I'm new and I'm not
(32:38):
sure I know how to d says, I don't care.
You're going to sink or swim.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
Get your floaties on.
Speaker 2 (32:44):
We're seeing.
Speaker 3 (32:45):
But this is a billion he says, I don't care,
you're going to sink or swim. And I jumped off
of that cliff and I have a tendency to jump
off the cliff and somewhere down there before I get
passed a point in a return, someone's gonna hand me
a parachute.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
Yeah. Yeah, And it's it's all about teamwork, you know.
Coming into this, I was like, I don't know how
I'm going to do any of this. I don't know
what I'm doing. And then you know the outpouring of
support when you surround yourself with those people, right, it's
just overwhelming, almost, right, it's amazing.
Speaker 3 (33:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:25):
So for any of our viewers that you know, want
to get in contact with you want to learn more
about Tradeswomen Incorporated, Rising Sun Center, any of that, how
can we reach out to you? How can we get
to those wonderful organizations?
Speaker 3 (33:40):
Okay, So if you need to get in touch with
me at my email is j Douglas at Tradeswomen dot
Org RGIE, and that will get you directly to me,
and I can with an email, I'll get you to
(34:00):
any one of those training facilities that I named.
Speaker 1 (34:04):
Yeah, I think that would be really really helpful for
a lot of our audience. And I'll definitely make sure
to link everything below for everyone so that we can
all start speaking up and really making this industry better.
Speaker 3 (34:18):
Yeah, and I really really believe now is the time
to give an unrepresented youth and adults the ability. And
now in my new role, I'm going to do everything
I can to get more women in because they keep
(34:40):
saying six seven eight not but that's not true. There's
only at the most two percent in the field.
Speaker 2 (34:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:51):
Yeah, we have a lot going on behind the scenes,
but what about the people that are actually out there,
actually doing the boots on the ground building hard way work.
Speaker 3 (35:00):
And that's what we need. I spent thirty years in
the field. I worked a couple of jobs as general
foremans and foremans, but all of my time was spent
in the field. Yeah, and that's what we need because
there are opportunities once you get past that their first
(35:24):
four years to go into the upper management part. But
we need, especially women in the field.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
Yeah, yeah, we do. And I you know, can't wait
to see the change in the upcoming years and see
where our industry is heading with us, because it's it's
really exciting, you know, we're finally starting to see that
these changes that we always talk about, we're finally starting
to see them in reality. Yeah, that's very, very exciting,
(35:52):
and I'm just so honored to have you here on
this podcast talking about all of this, and as one
of our previous keynote speakers, really just wanted to thank
you for sharing your experiences and sharing your journey.
Speaker 3 (36:05):
Thank you for having me. I really enjoyed this. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (36:09):
Yes, I can't wait to see you around town hopefully soon.
We're both in the same area, so I'm sure we'll
be attending some events together.
Speaker 3 (36:17):
But yes, yeah, so thank you, of course.
Speaker 1 (36:22):
Thank you guys all so much for listening today. This
has been another episode of Coeopod. We will see you
all next time.
Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of Coepod. I'm
your host Caroline, and today i'm John. I'm joined by
Juanita Douglas. Juanita, how are you.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
I I'm doing.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Good, doing good. I'm excited it's Friday.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Yes i am. Also, yeah, it's been a long week.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
I feel like always coming back after the holiday breaks
is just it's so hard.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Yes, yes, for sure. And we took almost two weeks off, so.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Yeah, oh wow, Yeah, that's that's definitely a long break,
much needed but long.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Yes, awesome.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
So, for anyone that doesn't know, Juanita was actually one
of our keynote speakers at our CEO Summit Santa Clara
event back in November. So, Juanita, how was that experience
for you, being you know, a keynote speaker at this,
you know, a new event.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
I really enjoyed it. I wasn't really sure what to expect,
but I really enjoyed it. Very amorable being there.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Good And I'm glad you had a good time. I
was all over the place, running around like crazy, but
I had a good time too, you know. And then
in your keynote, your keynote was called the Beginning and
you focused a lot on the beginning of your career
journey and how you got into the industry. So I
would love if you could tell our audience here a
(01:34):
little bit about that, and you know, kind of summarize
what that time was like for you.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
Okay, I'll just start in nineteen eighty four, I had
a seven year old son, and my child care for
taking care of my son was more than my rent.
At that time was working for a company called Emporium
(02:03):
cap Wells, which is equivalent of Macy's now, and I
was a department manager. So at that time it was
decent money, but I still couldn't pay my childcare and
my rent. So I started looking around for a better job.
And I walked into the Pedaloma, California an employment office,
(02:28):
and there was a flyer on the wall that said
I could become a carpenter in the Union, and it
said I would earn thirteen dollars and fifty cents an.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Hour, which at that time was a large ullage.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
Yeah, it was a lot of money, because I think
minimum wage was three dollars and ninety cents or something. Yeah,
And so I literally took the flyer off the wall,
left the unemployment office and direct went directly for the
address on the fly, which happened to be the carpenter's
haul in downtown Pedaloma. And I told the guy at
(03:01):
the desk I want to do this, and he looked
at me and he said, well why, And I just
wanted to the thirteen dollars.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
It's an hour, he said, that's why.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Yeah, totally, I had no idea even what a carpenter
did or anything. Yeah, And so what he did was,
at that time, they had what they call hunting papers,
so he put my name at the top and at
the bottom. I needed to go to the construction sites
(03:33):
and get a superintendent and a foreman are a foreman
to fill out these papers and bring him back to him,
and then they could indenture me in the carpenter's union.
Is what his terms were. So I said, okay, that
sounds like it's easy.
Speaker 4 (03:51):
Sounds like it, yes, And so I took the paper
and I went I knew what construction looked like.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
So I went to the first construction site, asked for
the foreman. He came out and he looked at me.
He says, I'm not He says, I'm not hiring. I
don't hire any women. It wasn't that nice, though, So
I'm not sure I can say those words that he
basically told me, and being who I am and having
the mother that that raised us. There was eight of
(04:21):
us in a two bedroom house in one bathroom, along
with my mother and father. Wow, there was no such thing.
Her whole match was there's no such thing as no.
That word doesn't exist. So it was something wrong with
him and not me. So I just went to the
next construction site and I did that off and on
(04:44):
for about two weeks and still got the same answer.
So I went back to the hall and by then
I knew his name. His first name was Lou, And
I said, LOUI, you didn't tell me that they were
going to curse me out and tell me to get
the hell off of their site. And they're not hiring
any women. I said, so you're telling me you know
(05:06):
there's no women in construction. And he said you're still here?
I said, yes, thirteen dollars and fifty cents an hour.
So he opened a drawer and his glore drawer in
his desk, and he handed me a sheet with about
six addresses on it, and he said, here go to
(05:27):
these these are federally funded sites. They have to hire you.
And so I asked them, well, why did you make
me do that other stuff exactly? And he basically said, well,
I wanted to see if you were really serious. So
(05:47):
there was literally one block from where I lived, a
general mail facility was getting ready to start. They had
just broke round and I drove to there and there
was a guy there. His first name was Jay. It
was robul And Construction out of Sacramento, and he talked
to me. He didn't talk to me crazy, but he
(06:09):
just talked to me. And so every few days I
would go and I would take him lunch. And that
went on. I don't remember if it went on for
a week or two weeks, but it went on for
just a bit and he finally looked at me, and
I had the paper every day in my hand. He said,
give it to me. You're not leaving. Nope, not leaving.
(06:31):
And so he hired me. And that day he hired me.
Me and his superintendent was the last one leaving that job.
It was eighteen months long and I was the last
person with the superintendent to leave that job. I worked
thirty years and drew unemployment only when I wanted.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
To Wow, that's incredible, and I think that shows you
know a lot to your drive and your persistence, you know,
and especially with you know, when we were talking last time,
you were telling me you were retired, and then you
ended up just getting a new position in December.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
Yes, I retired officially May two thousand and fourteen, because
I worked thirty years as the carpenter, as the commercial carpenter,
and then in the field I worked another fifteen years.
I'm sorry, let me back up with fifteen years as
a commercial carpenter and another fifteen years in the field
(07:31):
as a lance revere. So officially, as of August thirty first,
twenty twenty four, I have twenty five years in as
a lance revere. So I have forty years in the trades.
But I got bored almost immediately, so I got an
offer to help with some hands on training. They were
(07:58):
getting ready to build the Case Center in San Francisco,
and a friend of mine that I had worked called
and said they had got this huge granted and they
needed someone to help train some students to work at
the Chase Center because the Warriors promised they would local
(08:18):
hire San Francisco residents, but they couldn't find any. And
this was in two thousand. We see twenty fourteen, so
this is twenty sixteen. So I've been retired two years
and by now I was just bored, stupid. I had
nothing to do.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
There's not enough board games and wanting to drink to
be able to keep yourself entertaining.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
No, I was just totally totally bored. And so me
and Ralph and quite a few other people. So me
and Ralph worked with all the soft skills on training
these young people in the city of San Francisco what
it took to work on a construction site. And the
(09:01):
first class, I think was fifty four students. I can't
remember the exact number, but I know we graduated forty
something and most of those students and participants got hired
on the Chase Center. We did it three more times
and the Chase Center, who was Clark and Mortenson, who
(09:22):
was a joint venture, hired most of those students and
quite a few of them ended up working till the
very end. Yeah, And we did that through it's a
hands on pre apprentice training program, and we did that
through City Bill in San Francisco. In the Bay Area.
(09:44):
There's four others that does that work. And so now
I'm done with that, and it's like, well, now it's
in my blood to see and give the opportunity to
the underrepresent and it people to get into the construction
(10:04):
trade because I know how much money can be made.
I know how it changes your life, and now especially females,
I understand how much it changes everyone's life. So in
twenty eighteen, because the Chase Center had just that position,
it just ended, I had the opportunity to go and
(10:27):
teach a summer cohort for a company called Rising Sun
Center for Opportunity. I was going to teach that one
twelve week program up until November twenty ninth, twenty twenty four,
I was still there. So I basically that with Rising Sun,
(10:54):
we graduated over two hundred and eighty nine women. Out
of those two hundred and eighty nine women, and this
is just the females and the reason I'm doing this.
It will explain my next statement. Eleven percent of those
women are still working today. From twenty eighteen to now, well,
(11:14):
in November, I had the opportunity and was offered the
opportunity to become the ed for Trades Women Incorporated, which
is an organization of that Tradeswomen created in nineteen seventy
nine that helps females get into the construction trades and
(11:35):
it's a mentoring program. We work with females almost exclusively,
but the idea is to help understand the opportunities it's
in the trades, specifically for women. I'm going to back
up just a little bit, but at Rising Sun we
were able. I did six and a half years there,
(12:00):
and we were able in those six and a half
years as started working with the union reps of the
twenty eight union trades in the state of California with
the general contractors, going to places and meeting and interacting
(12:21):
and creating partnerships. When I left, we had a ninety
eight percent placement the first three months of every graduation
for the last two years that we did, and all
of it was not in the union trades, but it
was in trades, our jobs that made these underrepresented people
(12:45):
youth re entry be able to change their lives.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
That's incredible. I mean, that is such a high number.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
I don't think I've heard a number like ninety eight
percent in a while. That is incredible, you.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
Know, and we work with them. The biggest part was
doing the retention. So we're learning now how to stay
in contact us. What happens is you get an underrepresent
I mean I had young people come in that it
never ever had had a job. They're twenty seven, twenty
eight years old. Now they walk off out of our class,
(13:23):
they walk into one of the training programs. They're making
thirty dollars and twenty five cents an hour day one.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
Well, that's a great low.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
And four years they're making seventy five dollars an hour. Well,
now I'm calling going hey, I need your check stup.
It's like whatever, miss Fanny. You know. So we had
to learn how to figure out how to keep the
retention up to show that we were actually doing this
work to keep funding up. But there's four programs and
(13:54):
it's ongoing, and it's really really working, and there really
is a shortage.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
There really is.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
And I know we always throw that around all the time,
we talk about it all the time, you know, seeing
it firsthand is like, oh, shoot, this really is something
that's going on in our age.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
It really is, Yes, And what we've got to do
is is changed the culture and it's changing. I mean,
just speaking, we're doing the keynote. One of your contractors
actually hired one of my students. We wanted to work
on Monday.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
That's amazing. This all level, these connections.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
And that's that's the way it works. So with this
new position, I'm hoping I can influence a lot more
of that and we can do a lot more of
what happened.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Yeah, and we're seeing you know, the industry and you
know the world being a little bit more accepting of women,
and you know all of these other you know, groups
of people that were once not considered for the construction industry.
You know, if you weren't a white male, right, we
(15:10):
wouldn't look your way, right?
Speaker 2 (15:13):
What is one of those things?
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Or I know there's probably a million different reasons for this,
but you know, why are we now becoming more accepting?
Why was it that way back then?
Speaker 3 (15:24):
I think it was just ignorance. I mean I really
really do, and and and I think that the more
that we present and the more that we expose, the
exposure is not there. Because changing and passing the laws
(15:46):
really helps, but the exposure is still not there. You
pass a law and it's just something on the piece
of paper. Or you pass a policy and it's just something.
But if you can build up relationships and partnerships and
you can get the contractors and the union reps in
(16:08):
the room with the actual bodies, then it works. I
know it works because it's worked for me. Works when
we do our networking events and we invite them in
to meet the actual bodies and the training works. It
(16:28):
prepares them for what they're walking into, and that way
the retention rate will go up.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
Yeah, And I feel like, especially you know, when you're
you're just starting out in this career, and you know,
especially being a woman in the industry or you know,
know anything, it's hard to get in front of people. Yes,
in these days, everything is online, you apply online, you
do all of this. And I remember thinking back to
when I first started. I was like, just get me
(16:55):
in front of a person. Yes, I will rocket if
you get me in front of a person, a real human.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
And I'm finding that that really works if you give
them the opportunity to sit down in front of that
person and sell themselves. And that has went away or
it never was available enough because when I went out,
(17:25):
I had to go job site to job site to
job site. But if you get a room with fifteen
twenty union reps and contractors and fifteen or twenty people
and set it up where they can sit down and
interact and talk with each other. Then magic happens. It
(17:46):
really happens.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
You have no choice other than to listen when you
have someone in front of you, right, you know, if
they're not in front of you, it's easily to look
over it.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
It's easy to ignore.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
It's easy to go with what's comfortable, and what's comfortable
is what needs to be changed exactly.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
And they can tell you or you can tell them,
and you guys can interact and understand each other and understand.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
Why yes, the why, the why yes, the why? Why
do you want to be here? Why are you doing this?
Understanding that there is a human behind that position is
so important.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
And a lot of it is that the funding's not
available to do all the basic training or do all
the material. But the sit down and talk part doesn't
cost as much. You can tell you doesn't for refreshments,
something for the knowledge that are working. You already have
(18:49):
all the organizations help create the resumes and be available
to sit down and talk. The funding is getting tied
and tighter and tighter. So we've got to find another
way to make this work. And I really believe that's
the way to do it.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Yeah. Yeah, And you know, thinking back to those early
days when you were on the job site, what was
that environment like, because I'm sure it probably wasn't the
most enjoyable experience thinking back on the difficult days, how
did you get through that and keep going and keep
staying in an industry that at the time didn't fully
(19:31):
accept you.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
I talked to myself a lot because I'm a very
outspoken person and always happen, so I would have to
talk to myself to figure out how I was going
to speak up and not stupid and not lose my job.
(19:55):
But the number one priority and the advantage of construction
is that you can and speak up, and being female,
women doesn't understand that. So it was right. So if
there was something going on that I just literally did
not like, I didn't wait. I spoke up immediately. If
(20:18):
someone sits something. The first thing was number one rule
with me was on the job site, do not touch
or put your hands on me. Unles. I've told you
it's okay. I can deal with all the words, but
(20:39):
don't touch me.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
No, it's the boundaries that.
Speaker 3 (20:42):
Right, and my boundaries are not touching me. Is the
hand might not be there when it comes back, you might.
That's that's my boundary.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
I mean, it makes sense. That is your you know,
it's almost like your physical bubble, and when that gets
coached on, it's a very intrusive feeling.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Yeah, I felt that way as well. I know what
that it's good.
Speaker 3 (21:07):
And everybody on the job site literally believe their hands
wouldn't be there if they touched it. That was one
thing that was immediately understood. And I had heard horror
stories where the women were being touched and it was like,
that will not happen to me on any job site.
(21:30):
I guarantee you that the rest of it. If something
was said that I did not like, I immediately stopped it.
And what I try to do, especially with women but
also men, there are certain rights of passage. Unfortunately, and
(21:50):
I don't know what the other term is that you're
going to have to deal with. You don't have to
accept it, but you're going to have to deal with it.
Just need to know when to speak up and stop it.
And you cannot wait. And there are certain times when
words and harassment needs to be reported, but eight percent
(22:18):
of the time, you as that person can stop it
because unfortunately they don't realize that there are that they're
harassing you. They have no idea. And if you say, yeah, hey, John, chill,
I don't.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
Like that, Chill John, Yeah, hands off, chill, and.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
Ninety nine point nine percent of the time John is
going to chill. But you have to do it immediately
because if you keep letting John do that, he thinks
it's okay.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
Yeah, m sorry, I've got my eye totally water. Yeah,
I swear I'm not crying. I did.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
I did cry last night when I watched Mufasa the
new line.
Speaker 3 (23:04):
Oh yeah, the one.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
Yeah, I was a hot mester. Yeah, I'm not crying
right now.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
But yeah, that is the way I managed. I just
spoke up immediately.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
Yeah, I feel like, you know, for a lot of people,
women in particular. I know I'm thinking about myself here,
speaking up is hard sometimes, you know, you don't want
to be viewed a certain way or something. So what
advice do you have for those people who are maybe
having a little bit more of a difficult time speaking
up or gaining that confidence to speak up.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
The they' that's they have got to they if they
go in the bathroom and practice practice them, they have
got to speak up.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
Yeah, and just in the mirror to yourself.
Speaker 3 (23:55):
Right, and what we do, what we did it Rising
Son and Cindyville. We practice scenarios. When we did the classes,
we would have the guys and the girls practice and
just literally, hey, look, I don't appreciate that statement. You
(24:17):
just said, I don't like it. Yeah, and they back up. Now,
if that doesn't go away, then you go to that
person supervisor. Now, if it's the supervisor doing it, then
you're doing your union rep.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
Yeah. Thank goodness for those union.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
Reps, right, and back in the day, the union reps,
sometime you would get ignored. Not anymore, not at all.
I don't think there's a union rep on the face
(24:56):
of the earth now that we'll ignore you.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
Yeah, thank god.
Speaker 3 (25:00):
Right, But take care of it as much as you
can yourself first, because they expect you to. What I
did was just sit back and watch how they interact
with each other, the way they trash talk to each other.
And ninety percent of the time that's all it is.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
Yeah, sometimes it feels like more though.
Speaker 5 (25:26):
Yeah, that's because you're you're you're a stranger, you're new
at this, you have no idea what they're talking about,
so you're taking it personal.
Speaker 3 (25:44):
And the first thing you got to learn is nothing
on that job site is personal.
Speaker 1 (25:48):
No, And that maybe stems from, you know, personal insecurities
as well, you know, thinking, am I imposter syndrome?
Speaker 2 (25:56):
Almost?
Speaker 1 (25:56):
And I really meant.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
Yea, where am I supposed to be here?
Speaker 1 (26:00):
You know, I don't act, I don't look like all
these people around me.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
What am doing?
Speaker 3 (26:05):
And I still have I still have to talk to
myself with the impost syndrome, And especially when I accepted
this new position, it's like, you know, the definition of
what an ad is, right, Yeah? Am I qualified to
do this position? So that and especially with females, we're
(26:28):
more prone to that.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
How do you deal with those thoughts of imposter syndrome?
Because I know that's something I struggle with too. I'm
sure we have a lot of viewers out there that
also struggle with that.
Speaker 3 (26:40):
I I when I'm in a position where I can't
do anything about it and I'm freaking out and I'm
having panic attacks and I'm right in the middle of
a meeting. I've learned to just shed it off and
pretend I know what I'm doing.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
I get in my truck, make it yeah until you
mean it.
Speaker 3 (27:05):
And then I have to talk to myself. And my
favorite person that keeps me going is Maya Angelo. Now
I rise, yes, yes, So she keeps me centered because
I know my worth. I know what I've accomplished. I
(27:30):
know forty years in the construction trade. Being a black female.
There's not a lot of us out there. Yeah No,
I know what I know, and I have to keep
convincing Onananita one Eita knows what she knows and what
I've accomplished, I can give an offer to other people.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
Yeah yeah, And I think that's one of the most
beautiful things in life is when you go through all
of these experience and says and all this, you know
your whole career, and you can finally give that knowledge
and pass that knowledge on so that the next generation
might not have to go through those things that you.
Speaker 3 (28:11):
Went right right and make it just a little bit
easier than they. I can reach down and show them
how to walk around that wall, how to remove those barriers,
how to remove those roadblocks that's there in front of them,
and they don't have to deal with it. And like
I said, I did not have a lot of issues
(28:31):
on the job site because I was very outspoken. And
I have the young women and the young men calling, going, look,
this is happening out here. What should I do? Speak up?
Speaker 2 (28:46):
Speak up?
Speaker 3 (28:48):
That's all it takes. Hey, look I don't like that.
That's wrong. Yeah, you know, I'm not your girlfriend. I'm
not your wife, I'm not your mother, you understand.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
Not even your friend.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
Half the time, I.
Speaker 3 (29:03):
Don't even like you.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
I just work with you.
Speaker 3 (29:07):
Yeah, you have to speak up, and they get it.
And what happened with me more than anything is they
became my big advocate. I didn't have to speak up
no more. The guys I was working with start speaking
up for me.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
That's amazing.
Speaker 3 (29:25):
When you change job sites, they are going to not
allow anyone to mess with you.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
Yeah, and you know, speaking up they probably you know,
especially at that time, not a lot of women were
speaking up like that, and they were probably just like, damn,
who is this girl?
Speaker 3 (29:43):
And they will. But you have to do your job.
You cannot expect them to do your job, and you
have to stop them from doing your job. God helping
you also. Yeah, and the man's plaining is just unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
I can't. That's it's my pet peeve.
Speaker 3 (30:04):
I can't, And I think it's like no, no, no, no.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
No, You're like I I know that I knew that
way back when, Thank you very much.
Speaker 3 (30:15):
But once you once you they realize that you're not
going to expect them to help you. Are they think
that they're supposed to help you, and you have to
literally have them back up. I got this right. But
you also have to learn how to ask for help
(30:36):
when you need it.
Speaker 2 (30:38):
Yeah, definitely. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:42):
You know, kind of reflecting back on your entire career,
what are some of the achievements that you're most proud of?
Speaker 2 (30:52):
That's a loaded question, Wow, totally loaded.
Speaker 1 (30:55):
I know.
Speaker 3 (30:56):
Most thing that I really I really liked the brag
about is that I did ninety eight percent of all
the infrastructure in Mission Bay in San Francisco.
Speaker 4 (31:07):
Yes, girl Bird Street, light rail at and T Park,
which is I'm not sure what the Giant Stadium is.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
Now or a park. I think I still call it
apnt SO.
Speaker 3 (31:19):
The Chase Center, trans Bay Terminal, Salesforce, Fourth, four Seasons Hotels,
Regency Hotel in La I did the La X Control Tower,
the Santa of the Anaheim Pond, the ducks, I did
the north Ridge Mall. I did the filtration plan in
(31:41):
San Fernando Valley sel Mar There's those are the big jobs.
Speaker 2 (31:46):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (31:48):
Yeah, so I mean literally, I was the surveyor on
ninety eight percent of all the infrastructure in Mission Bank.
Speaker 1 (31:55):
Yeah. And none of that would have happened if you
didn't speak up. And going back to that importance of
advocating for yourself as you know, not just a woman,
but as a human. Yes, advocating for what you deserve,
you know, how you want to be treated.
Speaker 3 (32:15):
And believing you could do it. When the contractor came
to me Mitchell Engineering for the third street light rail,
he knew I had switched over from carpentry to surveying. Yeah,
and he says, I want you to become I've only
been doing this for years. I'm new and I'm not
(32:38):
sure I know how to d says, I don't care.
You're going to sink or swim.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
Get your floaties on.
Speaker 2 (32:44):
We're seeing.
Speaker 3 (32:45):
But this is a billion he says, I don't care,
you're going to sink or swim. And I jumped off
of that cliff and I have a tendency to jump
off the cliff and somewhere down there before I get
passed a point in a return, someone's gonna hand me
a parachute.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
Yeah. Yeah, And it's it's all about teamwork, you know.
Coming into this, I was like, I don't know how
I'm going to do any of this. I don't know
what I'm doing. And then you know the outpouring of
support when you surround yourself with those people, right, it's
just overwhelming, almost, right, it's amazing.
Speaker 3 (33:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:25):
So for any of our viewers that you know, want
to get in contact with you want to learn more
about Tradeswomen Incorporated, Rising Sun Center, any of that, how
can we reach out to you? How can we get
to those wonderful organizations?
Speaker 3 (33:40):
Okay, So if you need to get in touch with
me at my email is j Douglas at Tradeswomen dot
Org RGIE, and that will get you directly to me,
and I can with an email, I'll get you to
(34:00):
any one of those training facilities that I named.
Speaker 1 (34:04):
Yeah, I think that would be really really helpful for
a lot of our audience. And I'll definitely make sure
to link everything below for everyone so that we can
all start speaking up and really making this industry better.
Speaker 3 (34:18):
Yeah, and I really really believe now is the time
to give an unrepresented youth and adults the ability. And
now in my new role, I'm going to do everything
I can to get more women in because they keep
(34:40):
saying six seven eight not but that's not true. There's
only at the most two percent in the field.
Speaker 2 (34:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:51):
Yeah, we have a lot going on behind the scenes,
but what about the people that are actually out there,
actually doing the boots on the ground building hard way work.
Speaker 3 (35:00):
And that's what we need. I spent thirty years in
the field. I worked a couple of jobs as general
foremans and foremans, but all of my time was spent
in the field. Yeah, and that's what we need because
there are opportunities once you get past that their first
(35:24):
four years to go into the upper management part. But
we need, especially women in the field.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
Yeah, yeah, we do. And I you know, can't wait
to see the change in the upcoming years and see
where our industry is heading with us, because it's it's
really exciting, you know, we're finally starting to see that
these changes that we always talk about, we're finally starting
to see them in reality. Yeah, that's very, very exciting,
(35:52):
and I'm just so honored to have you here on
this podcast talking about all of this, and as one
of our previous keynote speakers, really just wanted to thank
you for sharing your experiences and sharing your journey.
Speaker 3 (36:05):
Thank you for having me. I really enjoyed this. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (36:09):
Yes, I can't wait to see you around town hopefully soon.
We're both in the same area, so I'm sure we'll
be attending some events together.
Speaker 3 (36:17):
But yes, yeah, so thank you, of course.
Speaker 1 (36:22):
Thank you guys all so much for listening today. This
has been another episode of Coeopod. We will see you
all next time.
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