March 5, 2025 • 30 mins
A multifaceted professional with a background in welding, construction, and advocacy for women in trades, Demi Knight Clark discusses her career path, the influence of her trailblazing grandmother (one of the first female Marines and Rosie the Riveter during World War Two), and the challenges and innovations in the construction industry. From founding 'She Built This City' to promoting workforce development and engaging young girls in STEM, Demi's story is one of resilience, innovation, and empowerment. Tune in as she shares valuable insights on fostering diversity in male-dominated fields and the importance of sponsors over mentors for women aiming to break into these industries.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey everyone, i'mlu Perez, your host of The Builder Upper Show,
a podcast where we talk about everything in construction and trades.
We have a special co host today, Jennifer Hires, who
will be interviewing women in Construction for Women in Construction Week.
Hey Jen, how are you doing?
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Hi? Lud Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Who is your special guest today?
Speaker 2 (00:27):
All right, I want to welcome everybody to the Builder
Upper Show. I am pleased to have a special guest.
We have Demi night Clark. And before I go through
and ask questions with Demi, We're gonna first start off
by just I'll give an introduction of her. So, she
is a multifaceted professional with a rich background in welding, construction,
(00:53):
and most certainly advocacy for women in trades. Her journey
encompasses roles such as welder, Yale alumna, nonprofit founder, ted X, speaker,
Guinness World record holder, and an iron Man competitor. She
is the founder of She Built the City, an organization
(01:13):
that is dedicated to empowering women and girls in construction
and maker trades. And then I'll go ahead and just
welcome her to the show, and Demmy, any gaps you
want to fill in with that introduction that I just
gave you.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Sure, no, it was great. But just on the she
built the city. I rolled off the board about three
years ago, and just because they didn't need my founder's disease,
you know, a face being everywhere. And there's an amazing
executive director as well as staff there that is continued
on with really terrific work to what we've started, so
(01:50):
exactly what I couldn't have dreamed any better, so that
I could move more into this welding space and advocacy
space and doing all the crazy stuff I do around
the world.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Yeah. Yeah, you have definitely an extensive background. So let's
just dig right into kind of first your early influences
and your career path. So your grandmother was one of
the first female Marines and Rosie the riveter during.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
World War Two.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
How did her child blazing spirit influence your decision to
pursue a career in welding and construction.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
You know, I think it was innate confidence. We hear
that so much in women's sports right now, and I
believe it is. I did not know that as a
Title nine sports player in the eighties, you know, fear
oal Gen xer that I am. That sounds ancient, but
to have that kind of a role model around me
and my father who was an army ranger that threw
(02:47):
me in the workshop alongside my brother and you know,
Solder Pinewood Derby cars for boy scouts to all my
brothers in there. I'm like five six years old. But
really just she was so confident and it just oohs
out of her and to be around that, it's very
see it be it. But then also to have that
in your own family again, I think now I definitely
(03:08):
respect it. Maybe back then I didn't as much as
I should have, but it's so important to me in
my own daughters. I have eighteen and twenty year old
daughters myself both are in college. And also any kind
of women and even really any kids right now that
are in gen z Jan Alpha. They just need tremendous
amounts of confidence. But I think we're showing, especially in STEM,
that girls needed ten x the boys because they'll get
(03:30):
out of sports at age fourteen, or they'll get out
of stam at age thirteen for a variety of reasons.
But really it starts with the lack of confidence or
reassurance that they can do this and then they can
keep going.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, So then you know, let's talk about
like that journey, right, So from working in residential home
building to founding she built the city, right, Like, what
motivated this transition for you?
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Well, I'm forty eight self identifying, cannot wait till I'm
fifty and doing the Molly Shannon. You know, I'm fifty
years old. But the older I get, the more I
realize and the more people I talk to, nobody has
a linear journey. So I was actually when I really
look back on it and I started tracking the timeline.
I loved vocational tech and industrial technology in high school.
(04:18):
I was talked out of going into anything further with that. Again,
being in the nineties, back then it was very I
mean it still is. It's college prep, college prep, college prep.
My own daughters went through it, and that's fine to
have as an option, but it really, to me should
be fifty to fifty these days. But back then, it was, hey,
you're a really good writer, you should be a journalist.
You could be Katie Kuric at the time, who's an
(04:39):
amazing journalist. But so I went broadcast journalism and went
college route and thought that was just what I was
best at from what everyone else was telling me, which
now at forty eight, I know that was one of
the things I was good at, But you should go
through this journey of a patchwork quilt and put that
all together. So honestly, I got out in ninety nine.
It was the dot com boom that busted. I got
(05:00):
a tech job and it busted in Washington, DC. And
I said, what's the most stable job I could get?
And I went back to what I learned from my grandmother,
my father, you know, of just kind of hard work,
and I said, home building. Let's go. There was a
position open, and I just kept raising my hand once
I got it to say, like, I want to run
the place. I want to run the place. And again
I think it goes back to that confidence that lasted
(05:22):
through twenty seventeen when I reached a necessary ceiling. At
the time, I was a regional vice president, one of
the youngest in the company that was a female, and
I sat with my regional president at my employer review.
He said, what's next, and I said, well, clearly your job.
I'm meaning I just want to keep going up that ladder.
And it was the joke that hey, I mean that
(05:43):
somebody's going to have to not be here anymore, meaning
like possibly pass away, because it's a stable job for
those four and I'm happy to say they're all still alive.
But yeah, it would have been you know, twenty years
for me to get that job. And it was just
a handshake at that point to say, like it's time
to be So that's when I went to Yale. I
had been raising my kids and sitting in the seat,
(06:04):
so I said, you know, I can't I can't foresee it.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Be it.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
Reasons before we were calling it, see it be it.
Get out of this and go to business school or
do all the things. So I had a lot of
really amazing worldwide global male classmates. Really it was predominantly male.
There was six of us. We called ourselves the Yale Team,
six women in the class out of forty six. But
it was very supportive to where they were all like,
(06:28):
so what now, what you keep talking about this nonprofit?
Just start it, Just start it, like rather than coming
up with the excuses. So it was a great ecosystem
for that, and they were some of the first ones
that wrote the check. I did a pitch in the
middle of one of our last classes thanks to one
of our professors, and started she built the city, And
that was twenty nineteen. We went into COVID, didn't know
what I was doing. Again, found the right people around
(06:51):
me that were supposed to be in my life, and
we took that journey and then again rolled off the
board so they could be less less about me and
more about the mission. Because I get up on stages
and people are like, wow, she's energetic and she does
this thing, and again that's founder's disease. So I always
knew that at some point I was going to need
(07:11):
to move on from that so they could keep doing
very mission critical work. So that put me into workforce
development and let me also really dedicate some time into
welding and wanting to take from the business school piece
of it, you're always solving for something, and so the
minute I started welding, I kept hearing like, oh, we
need one hundred to four hundred thousand trade workers, and
everyone's aging out and the trades are dead and all this.
(07:32):
And I had heard some of that when I was
in the home building side, but it really is true
in the manufacturing side. And then I just said Okay,
who's solving for this? You keep talking about it, but
nobody's doing anything about it. So onboard ramps for welding
that are workforce development programs that are concentrated one week
and four week programs straight into the seats. And then
also Reimagined Rosies, which is a stem maker camp that
(07:54):
our pilot has been funded and will be in June
and Hennet, California where graduate. It's that basically welding and
the future tents of welding and many of these trade jobs.
We got to get you the hand skills of welding,
which is so necessary in gen Z they actually thrive
on using their hands and not these crazy phones all
the time. But then also what does that job look
(08:15):
like in twenty thirty when you get it, you'll be
welding for space. We're doing it right now. So our
field trip is to NASA. They're going to be working
on cobots and robots, and we're not taking away from
the hand skills, but we are putting it into their
frame set of what does a trade job look like
in twenty thirty to twenty forty to twenty fifty, and
they could be on Mars. So that's kind of a
(08:36):
quick journey. But sorry, that was a long journey.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
No, no, no, we love the journey. No no. It's
great to have that background in that context for the
questions leading up. And you know, we're recording this a
week prior to Women in Construction Week, and so that
is what this recording is ultimately for. And so you know,
let's talk about like women in this construction industry, right,
(09:02):
So what are some of the significant challenges you face,
if at all any, and then how did you navigate them?
Speaker 3 (09:10):
The challenges that I faced were my generation was the onlies.
You know, we were and sometimes it's still the case
at welding, but I always gravitate towards those spaces. So
I'm probably the weirdo in the room that when I
found out it was three percent women in welding, I
was like, let's go there. Or you know, when I
was in home building, it literally was what It wasn't
(09:30):
a conscious choice to say what are women not doing?
It was more of saying, like, what's the toughest thing
I can do? I mean, that's the Ironman triathlete in me,
that's the marathon runner, and that's the summit climber. It's
just you know, raising the bar on yourself, right, and
they call it leveling up. Now it's just constantly leveling
myself up and saying like, what's the pinnacle. Well, I
want to run this place. I want to get into operations.
(09:51):
And maybe it was because I was so agnostic as
a kid and had an older brother, I did not
have sisters. I never really saw that until we were
really heavily placed into management in our careers in the thousands,
to say, oh, there's a separation here. I wasn't realizing
I was the only until people started saying that to me,
and then I started saying like, okay, now I need
to be cleaner, faster, stronger, better in management. I think
(10:13):
it's a little bit less now, still a lot of
the same challenges, still a lot of the same. You know,
here we are in a very interesting climate of like, oh,
is it back to being merit based or are we equitable? Well,
I'm not against merit based. I think any woman will
tell you, of course, it should be the best person
for the job. And I'm it, by the way, because
(10:34):
I'm gonna work the hardest to get it. But if
you couldn't get in the room to begin with. That's
the struggle. And so that's what I'm consistently telling to
men in most industries. I talk to men more than
more often than not right now, and that's why I
try to see all all lenses. You know. Maybe that's
the mature me, whereas I used to be a fighter
in my twenties to be like, Noah, we're gonna go
get this. Now it's just like, Okay, let's unpack that.
Tell me more about what you think the challenges If
(10:56):
you're the majority and if there's ninety seven percent men
in the season suite in an industry like welding, I
want to unpack it and say like, what do you
see here? Do you see any inequity or what's the challenge?
And so that's why I with Reimagined Rosies. What I
was hearing more of was I'm not trying to not
hire women, demy. I just you know, where do I
find these unicorns? And it's hey, you need a robust
(11:18):
recruiting pipeline. Any way you're slicing it. I mean, we're
losing people, but you also just happen to have less
women and there's so many out there that do better
on recruiting everyone. But oh, by the way, by nature
of doing great cultures and doing great recruiting in the
places that you're not right now, you will have women
come with them in a hospitable work environment. But really
(11:39):
it was more unpacking, and I do more unpacking with
men right now who're in the C suite, who are
in those leadership positions of saying where are you hiring
and if it's in a construction management program that has
one woman in it twenty nine out of thirty students
or male, then you're hiring what you're seeing. So just
get out and you know, sponsor women's sports, get involved
(11:59):
into high schools sports that women are in. I mean,
we couldn't be in a better era to get into
women's sports at an affordable level. Go where the women are,
so you know, and that's in a less defensive stance,
right because I think most men are in the space
to say, uh, you know, I'm an ally, I'm an ally,
or it's women in construction week and they support it.
(12:19):
But it's like, I don't want to do anything wrong,
Like you have to have saved spaces for these guys
to be able to say, like, can you unpack this
with me, because I'm supposed to be in this position
where everybody thinks I know what I'm doing. I'm paid
to CEO level salaries or C suite salaries. I can't
sit here and raise my hand and say we're I
don't know what to do right. So you just have
to see it from different lenses. And that's kind of
(12:41):
where my space is is to see for on these
women's behalf, you know less about what are the challenges
and really see it of like how can we communicate
better with the people who can make change happen?
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Sure, and when you unpack this with than the men
and what you're hearing of what they're saying, you know, well,
what advice and would you give to women into girls
who are really hesitant to enter the male dominated fields
like welding in construction.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
Yeah, it's a really great question and it's not easy.
It's not a like one step answer. I would say
it's super multi layered. There's subsets in every piece of
the industry, from manufacturing to construction to engineering and architecture.
You know, everything's got its own kind of unique ecosystems.
I'd say welding specifically, Well, what I say to the men.
They start like this right because it's just uncomfortable, you know,
(13:31):
it's really tough to talk about. And then their shoulders
go away from their ears. And if I can get
that to happen, that means they're malleable and interested of like, oh,
this isn't so hard, you know, maybe we should do this.
And the second thing I tell them if they are
open to hearing it, which most of the time they are.
I really haven't had anybody be like, yeah, okay, we're good.
Is just get more people around you? Because I did
(13:52):
have that in an interview where a guy that's in
manufacturing that is a CEO has a mid range shop
in the Midwest. He was like, Hey, I'm going out
there and I'm trying to convince these women to come
work for me. So I'm doing my best, But how
do I just grab them and get them in? And
it's like, well, the women don't get convinced, Like you're
not going to get a woman to come into a
(14:13):
welding shop just because it's like, hey, I need more
women in here. It's more of what is the culture, like,
like what we were talking about, is it a hospitable
work environment? You know or is it uh? Is it
going to be tough for her? Isue the only you know?
Is there more? But then also, why don't rather than
just like trying to throw a job at her, why
don't you think about saying just come visit, come visit
(14:34):
and tell me what you see and what would make
you not work here? Right, So that's kind of from
the male perspective, is saying like rather than saying, I
gotta go fix this, like most guys my husband included, Yeah,
just try to unpack it, right, or get women in
a room and just be the whiteboard person. You take
notes and let them talk and you be quiet in
the corner. I struggle to do that with my own children,
(14:55):
but like, just be quiet, shut up, and listen. And
then for the women, that's a little to because again,
they are navigating ecosystems that are already challenging. It's hard
to speak up. You want to be the one that's
the good little toaster that's doing the work, and you're
doing merit based work. It should be recognized. But we've
already seen that men are typically promoted on their potential,
(15:19):
whereas women are promoted on their proof. You know what,
they've done in the past. So I say to women
is find those sponsors. It's not a mentor, it's a sponsor.
It is someone who not sponsor in the advertising sense.
I found them in welding and deliberately found them. And
that's a lot of what you know, kind of my
Yale experience taught me was you go find the people
(15:39):
that can get you in the room. I don't care
what you have to do to do it. That might
actually mean not being in your company anymore. I don't
wantnybody to quit, but really, if that means going outside
to another company or go on LinkedIn, and find those people.
Someone who's going to advocate for you to be speaking
on your behalf. They know you, they believe in you.
And a mentor is on the job training, But a
sponsor makes difference. And I really say, find male sponsors.
(16:02):
Women are always going to support each other. Otherwise they're
just like, come on, like, what's wrong with you. There's
only a few of us in the business, Like, don't
be that way. We usually are going to be the
ones like, yeah you got I got your back. If
I'm going to get you in a room, it's happening.
But it's super important to get those men that are
more and more and I'm trying to get the light
bulbs to turn on and guys that like the easiest
(16:23):
thing you could do is be a sponsor. But for
the women, that's the best way you can take control
is to go find some men and say, hey, can
I ask you to do this? But this is what
it requires of you. Are you good with this? And
if they need checklists or anything like that or how
to navigate that or find me on LinkedIn. I'm happy
to talk to women because the more we can have
doing that, the more we will have being represented in
(16:44):
these C suites.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
Right, Yeah, yeah, absolutely, And I see it in the company.
And I'm with Lumber. You know, our co front Sirisha,
and he's just building up women. She builds nation of
what Lumber has. So yeah, exactly.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
And I don't even think they realize it necessarily until
it's I mean, it's not like it's immediate, but you
see the culture shift over the course of about twelve
to eighteen months and then it's just like everyone else
sees it and says, what are you doing? It's just
And it's the cool part is if it's organic like
that there's nothing. You don't have to go stand on
(17:19):
a panel and talk about it as a case study.
People just get it right. So that's what we want,
is that organic sponsorship to where men don't have to
kind of take a class on it. It just is innate.
And they're doing it as girl dads or boy dads
or not being a dad, you know, whatever it is,
you're just it's in their personality moving forward, because I
don't think that's innate. I think it is for people
(17:39):
that are in a marginalized population or women especially because
we've always had to think about it, whereas men. And
this is just a statement of fact. It's not emotional
way to it. It's just saying, if you haven't had
to think about it, it's kind of a wake up
call when someone's telling you about it, you know. So
I try to, again in a neutral way, see it
from that perspective. It's like, well, you know, let me
(17:59):
await you, like, enlighten you to this and feel like
you've got control over the situation too.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
Yeah. Yeah, And I love how you said, you know,
not just the mentor piece of but get yourself a sponsor,
because that is a difference that could be.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
A differences thing you can do. I'm telling you it's free.
I mean it's time value of money, right of Like
someone's time is precious. So that's how I say, be intentional.
Don't try to go get ten, you know, don't try
to go like get an organization of people. Be very
mindful and intentional of who you want. Do your research,
and then go do the ask and if if they
are a great guy, you know, and understanding what the
(18:38):
need is here, they're going to see Yes, they're going to.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
See yeah, yeah, No, that's great. Let's shift and talk
about innovations and future outlook of our of our industry. Okay,
so you know, with the integration of technology and trades, really,
how do you see the future landscape of like welding
and construction evolving.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
If there is not instruction and automation in CTE schools
And really I'm looking hyper focused on the twelve to
sixteen year olds right now. I know some like navy
and submarines. I just posted that on Instagram. It was
on the CBS Evening News. They are going into elementary
schools and teaching them about automation and how that will
be in shipbuilding by the time they are hiring in
(19:22):
twenty thirty five, those fifth graders. The younger we can
get to them, the better. We have forgotten that population
because we got so with chipsacked and everything else, We
got so so focused on butts and seats. Get the jobs,
immedia jobs, you know, again like very dramatic numbers, four
hundred thousand workers needed by blank blank blank, And it
was like, wait, how are you dividing that by industry?
(19:44):
And is that real or is that more of a
it could happen depending on when people retire, or do
we need to again focus on building a robust recruiting pipeline,
just like every other industry of saying, well, what are
our fifteen year olds doing right now? There's after school
STEM programs going to tech. There's a robust pipeline of
STEM pipelining into tech post college which they are pushing
(20:06):
college readiness, whereas CTE they're starting to do it in
a lot of the spots, but it's not anywhere near
what it could be in terms of making really welding
and manufacturing trades and HVAC, plumbing, electrical ones you could say,
or STEM. It's a big part of my movement too,
is to say, I don't know welding specifically. The chasm
(20:26):
was created in ninety nine when we ad the dot
com boom. It really turned into a Google society of
Python coding and that was what's stem works and away
from industrial technology. So now the pendulum is swinging back
of skilled trades are necessary. There's a lot of layoffs.
I mean, it's EBB and flow tech is going to
be here forever. So now it's hey, if you want
to make it cool to the sixteen year old who
(20:46):
has the phone and has lived in a digitally native world,
what are you going to do for them to say
what is technology going to be for them? And oh,
by the way, their career trajectory is so accelerated, there
is no advanced school they need. I know somebody it's
at steel fab and Charlotte working on a Finook robot
that's I think a ten million dollar piece of equipment
that came out of their welding school at twenty three.
(21:08):
It's a woman. She didn't have to become a welding
engineer and go through six years of training and become
a stamped engineer. She could. So I don't want to
take away from the engineering population. But those kind of
trajectories are real, and we just don't advertise them, and
we're not exposing number one, the true trades to these kids.
And then number two is telling them the technology base
(21:29):
of what those true trades are rather than saying you're
a plumber, Well, a plumber is going to be using
AI to do a lot of their work come two
three years from now, if they're not already with project
managers right and welding, there'll be laser hand out laser
welding using cobots and robots, and that's to supplement the work.
So it's just I think it goes hand in hand
and then I'll be quiet with in welding especially, they
(21:52):
are very fearful in technology in many regards of saying
that's going to take the job. When I've been on
the other side of this to see like, hey, there's
always going to be the need for X, but why
is going to supplement it to make everybody more efficient?
So it's not being afraid of the technology that's coming.
A four year old could handheld laser world. We don't
want that for safety reasons, but imagine that with twelve
(22:13):
to sixteen year olds when we can expose them to
it and then they're going to be working in NASA.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
Right right, exactly exactly. And we talked about you know,
women getting into being in the you know, construction industry.
Let's talk about, you know, how are we appealing to
diverse populations as well? Are you seeing that out there?
Speaker 3 (22:36):
I think folks are doing better. I mean again, we're
in a climate where it's going to be remains to
be seen on the federal level what that looks like.
But in terms of corporations, they always have the power,
and I think I see more and more it's they're
focusing on the hospitable work environment. And then also if
it's the recruiting population, it's a focus on saying, hey,
(22:56):
we need everyone, and so that includes how to lift
up women, how do we lift up the last next
generation that is to come, whether that's any of the genders,
people of color, whatever. You're not seeing on our population.
The ones that are doing it well are seeing the
business ramifications when they do. So if you really need
to see the business case study, great it's being shown.
(23:19):
So it's not like it's a is this a good idea?
You know, with a head scratch, it's a yes, there
are absolute case studies behind it. So the smart companies
that are winning are absolutely doing it. And the thing
that I think that is the safest to say is
in our industry, rather than having to make it about
one population, we just have so much opportunity that you
have to do better about getting it further out there
(23:40):
to the populations that weren't seeing it before and telling
them the opportunity and the shortened career trajectory to management
or to technology advancement, or getting you to the moon
or Mars or you know, the things that could be
very sexy comparative to other industries that say, hey, it's
going to be a desk job for thirty years. That's
what we need to do better on. And I think
(24:00):
that will catch more populations if you have a broader
net and a broader reach and a better message.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
Yeah, yep, absolutely, I agree with you. I want to
talk about some of those personal achievements you and I
quickly did before we started recording this podcast. But you've
achieved remarkable feats, completing Iron Man's climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, holding
a Guinness World Record. How have these experiences really shaped
(24:29):
your approach to challenges in your professional life.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
I think it's the same my speaker bureau. They're so
funny when they first start with me, They're like, how
do we write your bio? It's like, I don't really know.
I'm up for suggestions on that, you know, just like LinkedIn,
people are like, what are you doing now? And I
think that's a placing thing for a lot of people,
And so again I try to take that neutrallly, if
you know, it's nothing personal that I should take from that.
It's more of saying I'm doing things that in many
(24:55):
cases they scare me. I'm always choosing something that it's like, what,
I'm not going to be here at some point, So
I don't get into the whole bucket listing. It's more
about saying, like, am I doing everything that I have?
Had a whisper in my ear that hits my vision
board to do and it takes me to some really
crazy places. But I wrote the Chillie One about ten
years ago and I didn't know why, and most of
(25:16):
the time I don't know why. I just write it down.
It's like I had a whisper, whether that's divine intervention
or universe talking or however you want to kind of
read those tea leaves. Those are most of the things,
and I just I'm somebody that's type A and I
get it rightly from an Army ranger dad of just
saying like you're constantly bar raising not to burnout, but
it's more of saying, how can I challenge myself because
(25:37):
that keeps me engaged when tough stuff happens, when you
get step back. So it's like, hey, you know what,
that grant isn't received for that camp. It's like, well,
maybe it's not this time for it. I'm not going
to lose the fire for that if I have conviction
for it. But I'm going to go do this thing
and that's going to keep my fire lit. So yeah,
(25:58):
I think that's where it comes from. Is it's not
to have a list of accomplishments. It's kind of fun
to read them back, but I feel like I haven't
even done, you know, a quarter of the things that
I want to do. Somebody said to me the other day,
they're like, you know, your grandmother was one of the
first rosies. What if you were one of the first
rosies in space? And I was like, I'm forty eight
years old, Like how would I go to space? And
they're like, do you see how many flights are starting
and going? Like just put it on your vision board,
(26:20):
and you know, they said that was so told, which
I thought was the coolest thing I've ever heard, Like,
if your soul is telling you to do something, and
who knows, maybe that's maybe that's next is first rosy
in space. So it has never been a well during space.
So there you go.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
Yeah, yeah, it's like put that right on there. Absolutely
I will see I know, I know exactly, and then
I will want a second interview with you as soon
as you come back. Yeah, I love it. So let's
just wrap it up with one last question. You know,
I talked earlier on your journey of you know, how
you got to where you are today. So then let's
(26:57):
now like reflect on that. What do you most probably
of What are your aspirations also for future of women
in trades?
Speaker 3 (27:07):
I think the most well, there's a couple of things
that I'm most proud of at this point right now.
One is having two daughters that at this point they're college.
So it's this interesting shift from being a true parent.
You know, high school, you're running around, you're doing all
this stuff like who's forgetting stuff and a dentist appointment
and all the things. Even though they're teenagers, they still
(27:28):
you know, you're still kind of hovering now that they're
both here. I'm a coach now and you have to
watch them fail, you know, and say like you didn't
do that, but hey, that's on you. I mean, financial
ramifications are to me for paying for college and things
like that. They're never going to be off that hook, really,
but yeah, so that's been an interesting transition. But my
oldest daughter came to me at Christmas and she was like, Mom,
(27:48):
thanks for raising two really stable, well adjusted adults. And
I was like, amazing. That is the oddest yet best
compliment as a parent I think I've ever received, especially
with this generation where you know, it's just all over
the place with them in terms of how they're being judged.
And I tried to do that as a parent is
listen well, but always be judging myself like if am
(28:09):
I around enough, I travel a lot, you know, am
I a good mom? Especially which the mom Guild is real.
So I'd say that is one of the proudest today
being a parent. And then the other is is with
Rosie's reimagined. I really have tried to honor my grandmother
and that generation of women. I mean, the fifteen million
women that literally took up lunch pale and overalls and
walked out of their houses for several years during the
(28:31):
war for very dangerous jobs and then just whatever the
job was, they took it. So, I mean, I think
that's the true American spirit. So to be able to
kind of circle back when I thought about it for
years of like how do I go into this? Like
do I become a welder? Do? What do I do?
I think it's all in twenty twenty five, slicing up
with our camps and making that be future tense of
(28:51):
STEM and then also engaging with the space agencies that
I am and saying like this can make it even
cooler to this next generation. She would just be I mean,
part the pun, but she'd be over the moon. So
I think that would be the other thing is being
able to honor her the right way rather than just
saying like she was pretty cool, right, you know, it's
really taking that legacy forward and a thread through into
this generation of all kids, not just girls.
Speaker 2 (29:14):
Yeah. Absolutely, it has been an absolute pleasure to have
you on where can where can someone find you find
out more information about you?
Speaker 3 (29:23):
Yeah, thanks for asking a couple of places. I'm huge
on LinkedIn, meaning like I'm a high user, So find
me on LinkedIn at Demi Night Clerk, I'm always happy
to start a chat there. You can find me on
my website and even book time with me if you're curious.
I have a little fifteen minute sessions that I love
having conversations with people that start like this and sometimes
end up in business and end up in me going
(29:45):
to a high school and talking to them about welding
or other things. So I think community is important right now.
So it's Demi night Clark dot com. And if you're
for a good time, I always say I'm great on
Instagram at Girl Friday's Garage.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
I love that awesome. Thank you so much. And then
also for our listeners, we do have a survey. You
can find it in the link. Just ask you fill
out that survey and it just helps us moving forward.
So with that, again, thank you so much for joining
the Builder Upper Show. And again we're doing this for
women in Construction Week, which is the first week of March,
(30:22):
so coming right up. So all right, Demi. Any last words.
Speaker 3 (30:26):
No, I'd say happy women in Construction Week. Let's make
it all year, and thanks for listening, and thanks for
having a great podcast and doing what you're doing awesome.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
Thank you, Demi.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
If you're a construction contractor and would like to appear
as a guest on our podcast, write us an email.
It's Lou at lumberfi dot com.
Hey everyone, i'mlu Perez, your host of The Builder Upper Show,
a podcast where we talk about everything in construction and trades.
We have a special co host today, Jennifer Hires, who
will be interviewing women in Construction for Women in Construction Week.
Hey Jen, how are you doing?
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Hi? Lud Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Who is your special guest today?
Speaker 2 (00:27):
All right, I want to welcome everybody to the Builder
Upper Show. I am pleased to have a special guest.
We have Demi night Clark. And before I go through
and ask questions with Demi, We're gonna first start off
by just I'll give an introduction of her. So, she
is a multifaceted professional with a rich background in welding, construction,
(00:53):
and most certainly advocacy for women in trades. Her journey
encompasses roles such as welder, Yale alumna, nonprofit founder, ted X, speaker,
Guinness World record holder, and an iron Man competitor. She
is the founder of She Built the City, an organization
(01:13):
that is dedicated to empowering women and girls in construction
and maker trades. And then I'll go ahead and just
welcome her to the show, and Demmy, any gaps you
want to fill in with that introduction that I just
gave you.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Sure, no, it was great. But just on the she
built the city. I rolled off the board about three
years ago, and just because they didn't need my founder's disease,
you know, a face being everywhere. And there's an amazing
executive director as well as staff there that is continued
on with really terrific work to what we've started, so
(01:50):
exactly what I couldn't have dreamed any better, so that
I could move more into this welding space and advocacy
space and doing all the crazy stuff I do around
the world.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Yeah. Yeah, you have definitely an extensive background. So let's
just dig right into kind of first your early influences
and your career path. So your grandmother was one of
the first female Marines and Rosie the riveter during.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
World War Two.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
How did her child blazing spirit influence your decision to
pursue a career in welding and construction.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
You know, I think it was innate confidence. We hear
that so much in women's sports right now, and I
believe it is. I did not know that as a
Title nine sports player in the eighties, you know, fear
oal Gen xer that I am. That sounds ancient, but
to have that kind of a role model around me
and my father who was an army ranger that threw
(02:47):
me in the workshop alongside my brother and you know,
Solder Pinewood Derby cars for boy scouts to all my
brothers in there. I'm like five six years old. But
really just she was so confident and it just oohs
out of her and to be around that, it's very
see it be it. But then also to have that
in your own family again, I think now I definitely
(03:08):
respect it. Maybe back then I didn't as much as
I should have, but it's so important to me in
my own daughters. I have eighteen and twenty year old
daughters myself both are in college. And also any kind
of women and even really any kids right now that
are in gen z Jan Alpha. They just need tremendous
amounts of confidence. But I think we're showing, especially in STEM,
that girls needed ten x the boys because they'll get
(03:30):
out of sports at age fourteen, or they'll get out
of stam at age thirteen for a variety of reasons.
But really it starts with the lack of confidence or
reassurance that they can do this and then they can
keep going.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, So then you know, let's talk about
like that journey, right, So from working in residential home
building to founding she built the city, right, Like, what
motivated this transition for you?
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Well, I'm forty eight self identifying, cannot wait till I'm
fifty and doing the Molly Shannon. You know, I'm fifty
years old. But the older I get, the more I
realize and the more people I talk to, nobody has
a linear journey. So I was actually when I really
look back on it and I started tracking the timeline.
I loved vocational tech and industrial technology in high school.
(04:18):
I was talked out of going into anything further with that. Again,
being in the nineties, back then it was very I
mean it still is. It's college prep, college prep, college prep.
My own daughters went through it, and that's fine to
have as an option, but it really, to me should
be fifty to fifty these days. But back then, it was, hey,
you're a really good writer, you should be a journalist.
You could be Katie Kuric at the time, who's an
(04:39):
amazing journalist. But so I went broadcast journalism and went
college route and thought that was just what I was
best at from what everyone else was telling me, which
now at forty eight, I know that was one of
the things I was good at, But you should go
through this journey of a patchwork quilt and put that
all together. So honestly, I got out in ninety nine.
It was the dot com boom that busted. I got
(05:00):
a tech job and it busted in Washington, DC. And
I said, what's the most stable job I could get?
And I went back to what I learned from my grandmother,
my father, you know, of just kind of hard work,
and I said, home building. Let's go. There was a
position open, and I just kept raising my hand once
I got it to say, like, I want to run
the place. I want to run the place. And again
I think it goes back to that confidence that lasted
(05:22):
through twenty seventeen when I reached a necessary ceiling. At
the time, I was a regional vice president, one of
the youngest in the company that was a female, and
I sat with my regional president at my employer review.
He said, what's next, and I said, well, clearly your job.
I'm meaning I just want to keep going up that ladder.
And it was the joke that hey, I mean that
(05:43):
somebody's going to have to not be here anymore, meaning
like possibly pass away, because it's a stable job for
those four and I'm happy to say they're all still alive.
But yeah, it would have been you know, twenty years
for me to get that job. And it was just
a handshake at that point to say, like it's time
to be So that's when I went to Yale. I
had been raising my kids and sitting in the seat,
(06:04):
so I said, you know, I can't I can't foresee it.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Be it.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
Reasons before we were calling it, see it be it.
Get out of this and go to business school or
do all the things. So I had a lot of
really amazing worldwide global male classmates. Really it was predominantly male.
There was six of us. We called ourselves the Yale Team,
six women in the class out of forty six. But
it was very supportive to where they were all like,
(06:28):
so what now, what you keep talking about this nonprofit?
Just start it, Just start it, like rather than coming
up with the excuses. So it was a great ecosystem
for that, and they were some of the first ones
that wrote the check. I did a pitch in the
middle of one of our last classes thanks to one
of our professors, and started she built the city, And
that was twenty nineteen. We went into COVID, didn't know
what I was doing. Again, found the right people around
(06:51):
me that were supposed to be in my life, and
we took that journey and then again rolled off the
board so they could be less less about me and
more about the mission. Because I get up on stages
and people are like, wow, she's energetic and she does
this thing, and again that's founder's disease. So I always
knew that at some point I was going to need
(07:11):
to move on from that so they could keep doing
very mission critical work. So that put me into workforce
development and let me also really dedicate some time into
welding and wanting to take from the business school piece
of it, you're always solving for something, and so the
minute I started welding, I kept hearing like, oh, we
need one hundred to four hundred thousand trade workers, and
everyone's aging out and the trades are dead and all this.
(07:32):
And I had heard some of that when I was
in the home building side, but it really is true
in the manufacturing side. And then I just said Okay,
who's solving for this? You keep talking about it, but
nobody's doing anything about it. So onboard ramps for welding
that are workforce development programs that are concentrated one week
and four week programs straight into the seats. And then
also Reimagined Rosies, which is a stem maker camp that
(07:54):
our pilot has been funded and will be in June
and Hennet, California where graduate. It's that basically welding and
the future tents of welding and many of these trade jobs.
We got to get you the hand skills of welding,
which is so necessary in gen Z they actually thrive
on using their hands and not these crazy phones all
the time. But then also what does that job look
(08:15):
like in twenty thirty when you get it, you'll be
welding for space. We're doing it right now. So our
field trip is to NASA. They're going to be working
on cobots and robots, and we're not taking away from
the hand skills, but we are putting it into their
frame set of what does a trade job look like
in twenty thirty to twenty forty to twenty fifty, and
they could be on Mars. So that's kind of a
(08:36):
quick journey. But sorry, that was a long journey.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
No, no, no, we love the journey. No no. It's
great to have that background in that context for the
questions leading up. And you know, we're recording this a
week prior to Women in Construction Week, and so that
is what this recording is ultimately for. And so you know,
let's talk about like women in this construction industry, right,
(09:02):
So what are some of the significant challenges you face,
if at all any, and then how did you navigate them?
Speaker 3 (09:10):
The challenges that I faced were my generation was the onlies.
You know, we were and sometimes it's still the case
at welding, but I always gravitate towards those spaces. So
I'm probably the weirdo in the room that when I
found out it was three percent women in welding, I
was like, let's go there. Or you know, when I
was in home building, it literally was what It wasn't
(09:30):
a conscious choice to say what are women not doing?
It was more of saying, like, what's the toughest thing
I can do? I mean, that's the Ironman triathlete in me,
that's the marathon runner, and that's the summit climber. It's
just you know, raising the bar on yourself, right, and
they call it leveling up. Now it's just constantly leveling
myself up and saying like, what's the pinnacle. Well, I
want to run this place. I want to get into operations.
(09:51):
And maybe it was because I was so agnostic as
a kid and had an older brother, I did not
have sisters. I never really saw that until we were
really heavily placed into management in our careers in the thousands,
to say, oh, there's a separation here. I wasn't realizing
I was the only until people started saying that to me,
and then I started saying like, okay, now I need
to be cleaner, faster, stronger, better in management. I think
(10:13):
it's a little bit less now, still a lot of
the same challenges, still a lot of the same. You know,
here we are in a very interesting climate of like, oh,
is it back to being merit based or are we equitable? Well,
I'm not against merit based. I think any woman will
tell you, of course, it should be the best person
for the job. And I'm it, by the way, because
(10:34):
I'm gonna work the hardest to get it. But if
you couldn't get in the room to begin with. That's
the struggle. And so that's what I'm consistently telling to
men in most industries. I talk to men more than
more often than not right now, and that's why I
try to see all all lenses. You know. Maybe that's
the mature me, whereas I used to be a fighter
in my twenties to be like, Noah, we're gonna go
get this. Now it's just like, Okay, let's unpack that.
Tell me more about what you think the challenges If
(10:56):
you're the majority and if there's ninety seven percent men
in the season suite in an industry like welding, I
want to unpack it and say like, what do you
see here? Do you see any inequity or what's the challenge?
And so that's why I with Reimagined Rosies. What I
was hearing more of was I'm not trying to not
hire women, demy. I just you know, where do I
find these unicorns? And it's hey, you need a robust
(11:18):
recruiting pipeline. Any way you're slicing it. I mean, we're
losing people, but you also just happen to have less
women and there's so many out there that do better
on recruiting everyone. But oh, by the way, by nature
of doing great cultures and doing great recruiting in the
places that you're not right now, you will have women
come with them in a hospitable work environment. But really
(11:39):
it was more unpacking, and I do more unpacking with
men right now who're in the C suite, who are
in those leadership positions of saying where are you hiring
and if it's in a construction management program that has
one woman in it twenty nine out of thirty students
or male, then you're hiring what you're seeing. So just
get out and you know, sponsor women's sports, get involved
(11:59):
into high schools sports that women are in. I mean,
we couldn't be in a better era to get into
women's sports at an affordable level. Go where the women are,
so you know, and that's in a less defensive stance,
right because I think most men are in the space
to say, uh, you know, I'm an ally, I'm an ally,
or it's women in construction week and they support it.
(12:19):
But it's like, I don't want to do anything wrong,
Like you have to have saved spaces for these guys
to be able to say, like, can you unpack this
with me, because I'm supposed to be in this position
where everybody thinks I know what I'm doing. I'm paid
to CEO level salaries or C suite salaries. I can't
sit here and raise my hand and say we're I
don't know what to do right. So you just have
to see it from different lenses. And that's kind of
(12:41):
where my space is is to see for on these
women's behalf, you know less about what are the challenges
and really see it of like how can we communicate
better with the people who can make change happen?
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Sure, and when you unpack this with than the men
and what you're hearing of what they're saying, you know, well,
what advice and would you give to women into girls
who are really hesitant to enter the male dominated fields
like welding in construction.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
Yeah, it's a really great question and it's not easy.
It's not a like one step answer. I would say
it's super multi layered. There's subsets in every piece of
the industry, from manufacturing to construction to engineering and architecture.
You know, everything's got its own kind of unique ecosystems.
I'd say welding specifically, Well, what I say to the men.
They start like this right because it's just uncomfortable, you know,
(13:31):
it's really tough to talk about. And then their shoulders
go away from their ears. And if I can get
that to happen, that means they're malleable and interested of like, oh,
this isn't so hard, you know, maybe we should do this.
And the second thing I tell them if they are
open to hearing it, which most of the time they are.
I really haven't had anybody be like, yeah, okay, we're good.
Is just get more people around you? Because I did
(13:52):
have that in an interview where a guy that's in
manufacturing that is a CEO has a mid range shop
in the Midwest. He was like, Hey, I'm going out
there and I'm trying to convince these women to come
work for me. So I'm doing my best, But how
do I just grab them and get them in? And
it's like, well, the women don't get convinced, Like you're
not going to get a woman to come into a
(14:13):
welding shop just because it's like, hey, I need more
women in here. It's more of what is the culture, like,
like what we were talking about, is it a hospitable
work environment? You know or is it uh? Is it
going to be tough for her? Isue the only you know?
Is there more? But then also, why don't rather than
just like trying to throw a job at her, why
don't you think about saying just come visit, come visit
(14:34):
and tell me what you see and what would make
you not work here? Right, So that's kind of from
the male perspective, is saying like rather than saying, I
gotta go fix this, like most guys my husband included, Yeah,
just try to unpack it, right, or get women in
a room and just be the whiteboard person. You take
notes and let them talk and you be quiet in
the corner. I struggle to do that with my own children,
(14:55):
but like, just be quiet, shut up, and listen. And
then for the women, that's a little to because again,
they are navigating ecosystems that are already challenging. It's hard
to speak up. You want to be the one that's
the good little toaster that's doing the work, and you're
doing merit based work. It should be recognized. But we've
already seen that men are typically promoted on their potential,
(15:19):
whereas women are promoted on their proof. You know what,
they've done in the past. So I say to women
is find those sponsors. It's not a mentor, it's a sponsor.
It is someone who not sponsor in the advertising sense.
I found them in welding and deliberately found them. And
that's a lot of what you know, kind of my
Yale experience taught me was you go find the people
(15:39):
that can get you in the room. I don't care
what you have to do to do it. That might
actually mean not being in your company anymore. I don't
wantnybody to quit, but really, if that means going outside
to another company or go on LinkedIn, and find those people.
Someone who's going to advocate for you to be speaking
on your behalf. They know you, they believe in you.
And a mentor is on the job training, But a
sponsor makes difference. And I really say, find male sponsors.
(16:02):
Women are always going to support each other. Otherwise they're
just like, come on, like, what's wrong with you. There's
only a few of us in the business, Like, don't
be that way. We usually are going to be the
ones like, yeah you got I got your back. If
I'm going to get you in a room, it's happening.
But it's super important to get those men that are
more and more and I'm trying to get the light
bulbs to turn on and guys that like the easiest
(16:23):
thing you could do is be a sponsor. But for
the women, that's the best way you can take control
is to go find some men and say, hey, can
I ask you to do this? But this is what
it requires of you. Are you good with this? And
if they need checklists or anything like that or how
to navigate that or find me on LinkedIn. I'm happy
to talk to women because the more we can have
doing that, the more we will have being represented in
(16:44):
these C suites.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
Right, Yeah, yeah, absolutely, And I see it in the company.
And I'm with Lumber. You know, our co front Sirisha,
and he's just building up women. She builds nation of
what Lumber has. So yeah, exactly.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
And I don't even think they realize it necessarily until
it's I mean, it's not like it's immediate, but you
see the culture shift over the course of about twelve
to eighteen months and then it's just like everyone else
sees it and says, what are you doing? It's just
And it's the cool part is if it's organic like
that there's nothing. You don't have to go stand on
(17:19):
a panel and talk about it as a case study.
People just get it right. So that's what we want,
is that organic sponsorship to where men don't have to
kind of take a class on it. It just is innate.
And they're doing it as girl dads or boy dads
or not being a dad, you know, whatever it is,
you're just it's in their personality moving forward, because I
don't think that's innate. I think it is for people
(17:39):
that are in a marginalized population or women especially because
we've always had to think about it, whereas men. And
this is just a statement of fact. It's not emotional
way to it. It's just saying, if you haven't had
to think about it, it's kind of a wake up
call when someone's telling you about it, you know. So
I try to, again in a neutral way, see it
from that perspective. It's like, well, you know, let me
(17:59):
await you, like, enlighten you to this and feel like
you've got control over the situation too.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
Yeah. Yeah, And I love how you said, you know,
not just the mentor piece of but get yourself a sponsor,
because that is a difference that could be.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
A differences thing you can do. I'm telling you it's free.
I mean it's time value of money, right of Like
someone's time is precious. So that's how I say, be intentional.
Don't try to go get ten, you know, don't try
to go like get an organization of people. Be very
mindful and intentional of who you want. Do your research,
and then go do the ask and if if they
are a great guy, you know, and understanding what the
(18:38):
need is here, they're going to see Yes, they're going to.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
See yeah, yeah, No, that's great. Let's shift and talk
about innovations and future outlook of our of our industry. Okay,
so you know, with the integration of technology and trades, really,
how do you see the future landscape of like welding
and construction evolving.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
If there is not instruction and automation in CTE schools
And really I'm looking hyper focused on the twelve to
sixteen year olds right now. I know some like navy
and submarines. I just posted that on Instagram. It was
on the CBS Evening News. They are going into elementary
schools and teaching them about automation and how that will
be in shipbuilding by the time they are hiring in
(19:22):
twenty thirty five, those fifth graders. The younger we can
get to them, the better. We have forgotten that population
because we got so with chipsacked and everything else, We
got so so focused on butts and seats. Get the jobs,
immedia jobs, you know, again like very dramatic numbers, four
hundred thousand workers needed by blank blank blank, And it
was like, wait, how are you dividing that by industry?
(19:44):
And is that real or is that more of a
it could happen depending on when people retire, or do
we need to again focus on building a robust recruiting pipeline,
just like every other industry of saying, well, what are
our fifteen year olds doing right now? There's after school
STEM programs going to tech. There's a robust pipeline of
STEM pipelining into tech post college which they are pushing
(20:06):
college readiness, whereas CTE they're starting to do it in
a lot of the spots, but it's not anywhere near
what it could be in terms of making really welding
and manufacturing trades and HVAC, plumbing, electrical ones you could say,
or STEM. It's a big part of my movement too,
is to say, I don't know welding specifically. The chasm
(20:26):
was created in ninety nine when we ad the dot
com boom. It really turned into a Google society of
Python coding and that was what's stem works and away
from industrial technology. So now the pendulum is swinging back
of skilled trades are necessary. There's a lot of layoffs.
I mean, it's EBB and flow tech is going to
be here forever. So now it's hey, if you want
to make it cool to the sixteen year old who
(20:46):
has the phone and has lived in a digitally native world,
what are you going to do for them to say
what is technology going to be for them? And oh,
by the way, their career trajectory is so accelerated, there
is no advanced school they need. I know somebody it's
at steel fab and Charlotte working on a Finook robot
that's I think a ten million dollar piece of equipment
that came out of their welding school at twenty three.
(21:08):
It's a woman. She didn't have to become a welding
engineer and go through six years of training and become
a stamped engineer. She could. So I don't want to
take away from the engineering population. But those kind of
trajectories are real, and we just don't advertise them, and
we're not exposing number one, the true trades to these kids.
And then number two is telling them the technology base
(21:29):
of what those true trades are rather than saying you're
a plumber, Well, a plumber is going to be using
AI to do a lot of their work come two
three years from now, if they're not already with project
managers right and welding, there'll be laser hand out laser
welding using cobots and robots, and that's to supplement the work.
So it's just I think it goes hand in hand
and then I'll be quiet with in welding especially, they
(21:52):
are very fearful in technology in many regards of saying
that's going to take the job. When I've been on
the other side of this to see like, hey, there's
always going to be the need for X, but why
is going to supplement it to make everybody more efficient?
So it's not being afraid of the technology that's coming.
A four year old could handheld laser world. We don't
want that for safety reasons, but imagine that with twelve
(22:13):
to sixteen year olds when we can expose them to
it and then they're going to be working in NASA.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
Right right, exactly exactly. And we talked about you know,
women getting into being in the you know, construction industry.
Let's talk about, you know, how are we appealing to
diverse populations as well? Are you seeing that out there?
Speaker 3 (22:36):
I think folks are doing better. I mean again, we're
in a climate where it's going to be remains to
be seen on the federal level what that looks like.
But in terms of corporations, they always have the power,
and I think I see more and more it's they're
focusing on the hospitable work environment. And then also if
it's the recruiting population, it's a focus on saying, hey,
(22:56):
we need everyone, and so that includes how to lift
up women, how do we lift up the last next
generation that is to come, whether that's any of the genders,
people of color, whatever. You're not seeing on our population.
The ones that are doing it well are seeing the
business ramifications when they do. So if you really need
to see the business case study, great it's being shown.
(23:19):
So it's not like it's a is this a good idea?
You know, with a head scratch, it's a yes, there
are absolute case studies behind it. So the smart companies
that are winning are absolutely doing it. And the thing
that I think that is the safest to say is
in our industry, rather than having to make it about
one population, we just have so much opportunity that you
have to do better about getting it further out there
(23:40):
to the populations that weren't seeing it before and telling
them the opportunity and the shortened career trajectory to management
or to technology advancement, or getting you to the moon
or Mars or you know, the things that could be
very sexy comparative to other industries that say, hey, it's
going to be a desk job for thirty years. That's
what we need to do better on. And I think
(24:00):
that will catch more populations if you have a broader
net and a broader reach and a better message.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
Yeah, yep, absolutely, I agree with you. I want to
talk about some of those personal achievements you and I
quickly did before we started recording this podcast. But you've
achieved remarkable feats, completing Iron Man's climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, holding
a Guinness World Record. How have these experiences really shaped
(24:29):
your approach to challenges in your professional life.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
I think it's the same my speaker bureau. They're so
funny when they first start with me, They're like, how
do we write your bio? It's like, I don't really know.
I'm up for suggestions on that, you know, just like LinkedIn,
people are like, what are you doing now? And I
think that's a placing thing for a lot of people,
And so again I try to take that neutrallly, if
you know, it's nothing personal that I should take from that.
It's more of saying I'm doing things that in many
(24:55):
cases they scare me. I'm always choosing something that it's like, what,
I'm not going to be here at some point, So
I don't get into the whole bucket listing. It's more
about saying, like, am I doing everything that I have?
Had a whisper in my ear that hits my vision
board to do and it takes me to some really
crazy places. But I wrote the Chillie One about ten
years ago and I didn't know why, and most of
(25:16):
the time I don't know why. I just write it down.
It's like I had a whisper, whether that's divine intervention
or universe talking or however you want to kind of
read those tea leaves. Those are most of the things,
and I just I'm somebody that's type A and I
get it rightly from an Army ranger dad of just
saying like you're constantly bar raising not to burnout, but
it's more of saying, how can I challenge myself because
(25:37):
that keeps me engaged when tough stuff happens, when you
get step back. So it's like, hey, you know what,
that grant isn't received for that camp. It's like, well,
maybe it's not this time for it. I'm not going
to lose the fire for that if I have conviction
for it. But I'm going to go do this thing
and that's going to keep my fire lit. So yeah,
(25:58):
I think that's where it comes from. Is it's not
to have a list of accomplishments. It's kind of fun
to read them back, but I feel like I haven't
even done, you know, a quarter of the things that
I want to do. Somebody said to me the other day,
they're like, you know, your grandmother was one of the
first rosies. What if you were one of the first
rosies in space? And I was like, I'm forty eight
years old, Like how would I go to space? And
they're like, do you see how many flights are starting
and going? Like just put it on your vision board,
(26:20):
and you know, they said that was so told, which
I thought was the coolest thing I've ever heard, Like,
if your soul is telling you to do something, and
who knows, maybe that's maybe that's next is first rosy
in space. So it has never been a well during space.
So there you go.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
Yeah, yeah, it's like put that right on there. Absolutely
I will see I know, I know exactly, and then
I will want a second interview with you as soon
as you come back. Yeah, I love it. So let's
just wrap it up with one last question. You know,
I talked earlier on your journey of you know, how
you got to where you are today. So then let's
(26:57):
now like reflect on that. What do you most probably
of What are your aspirations also for future of women
in trades?
Speaker 3 (27:07):
I think the most well, there's a couple of things
that I'm most proud of at this point right now.
One is having two daughters that at this point they're college.
So it's this interesting shift from being a true parent.
You know, high school, you're running around, you're doing all
this stuff like who's forgetting stuff and a dentist appointment
and all the things. Even though they're teenagers, they still
(27:28):
you know, you're still kind of hovering now that they're
both here. I'm a coach now and you have to
watch them fail, you know, and say like you didn't
do that, but hey, that's on you. I mean, financial
ramifications are to me for paying for college and things
like that. They're never going to be off that hook, really,
but yeah, so that's been an interesting transition. But my
oldest daughter came to me at Christmas and she was like, Mom,
(27:48):
thanks for raising two really stable, well adjusted adults. And
I was like, amazing. That is the oddest yet best
compliment as a parent I think I've ever received, especially
with this generation where you know, it's just all over
the place with them in terms of how they're being judged.
And I tried to do that as a parent is
listen well, but always be judging myself like if am
(28:09):
I around enough, I travel a lot, you know, am
I a good mom? Especially which the mom Guild is real.
So I'd say that is one of the proudest today
being a parent. And then the other is is with
Rosie's reimagined. I really have tried to honor my grandmother
and that generation of women. I mean, the fifteen million
women that literally took up lunch pale and overalls and
walked out of their houses for several years during the
(28:31):
war for very dangerous jobs and then just whatever the
job was, they took it. So, I mean, I think
that's the true American spirit. So to be able to
kind of circle back when I thought about it for
years of like how do I go into this? Like
do I become a welder? Do? What do I do?
I think it's all in twenty twenty five, slicing up
with our camps and making that be future tense of
(28:51):
STEM and then also engaging with the space agencies that
I am and saying like this can make it even
cooler to this next generation. She would just be I mean,
part the pun, but she'd be over the moon. So
I think that would be the other thing is being
able to honor her the right way rather than just
saying like she was pretty cool, right, you know, it's
really taking that legacy forward and a thread through into
this generation of all kids, not just girls.
Speaker 2 (29:14):
Yeah. Absolutely, it has been an absolute pleasure to have
you on where can where can someone find you find
out more information about you?
Speaker 3 (29:23):
Yeah, thanks for asking a couple of places. I'm huge
on LinkedIn, meaning like I'm a high user, So find
me on LinkedIn at Demi Night Clerk, I'm always happy
to start a chat there. You can find me on
my website and even book time with me if you're curious.
I have a little fifteen minute sessions that I love
having conversations with people that start like this and sometimes
end up in business and end up in me going
(29:45):
to a high school and talking to them about welding
or other things. So I think community is important right now.
So it's Demi night Clark dot com. And if you're
for a good time, I always say I'm great on
Instagram at Girl Friday's Garage.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
I love that awesome. Thank you so much. And then
also for our listeners, we do have a survey. You
can find it in the link. Just ask you fill
out that survey and it just helps us moving forward.
So with that, again, thank you so much for joining
the Builder Upper Show. And again we're doing this for
women in Construction Week, which is the first week of March,
(30:22):
so coming right up. So all right, Demi. Any last words.
Speaker 3 (30:26):
No, I'd say happy women in Construction Week. Let's make
it all year, and thanks for listening, and thanks for
having a great podcast and doing what you're doing awesome.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
Thank you, Demi.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
If you're a construction contractor and would like to appear
as a guest on our podcast, write us an email.
It's Lou at lumberfi dot com.
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