Lia: Welcome to the Sparky Life. I'm your host, Lia Lamela. Here we discuss universal themes of self discovery, survival, self competence, compassion, and a complex family dynamic wrapped up in a construction career journey. Let's talk about women in the trades, construction careers and how to construct your career. Join me on today's episode.
I greet my next guest, adorned with a kickass eyepatch. Yours truly managed to mangle herself. I am so sorry. Not all of you will have the opportunity to take a gander. But
any of my subscribers out there will be able to get the privilege of viewing me in Pirates attire.
Today's guest is quite fantastic. She is an inspiration. And not only a welder and plumber, but an entrepreneur as well. And a mother of three. I am so pleased to speak with Brooke Nichols today. It's going to be a riveting conversation.
Lia: Don't mind the “way fashionable” eyepatch thing that's happening. It's my new pirate look.
Brooke: No I was gonna say, I like the pirate look.
Lia: I managed to get, like a horrible eye infection.
Brooke: Oh geez.
Lia: It's healing. I'm on all the fun antibiotics and jazz, but looks pretty gnarly. So to spare you…
Brooke: No, it looks awesome.
Lia: I thought I'd rock this way, way cooler pirate look.
Brooke: I dig it, I dig It. I’m jealous, anyway.
Lia: Now I need a cool pirate name. What do you think would rock as an awesome pirate name?
Brooke: I don't know.
Lia: My mind immediately goes to Blackbeard. Even though that does not work.
Brooke: No!
Lia: I know there's some pretty badass female pirates out there.
Brooke: Yeah.
Lia: Thank you, thank you so much for being on the Sparky Life. We have the amazing Brooke with us. She is a plumber and she is going to inform us all about her journey in becoming a plumber. Because originally you actually started off in welding. Isn't that correct?
Brooke: Yes, that's correct.
Lia: Okay, so help us out. Give us a little background.
Brooke: All right. So it's kind of like a long winded story. But first of all, thank you for having me on the show. I'm excited. I listened to your other episodes. So it was really cool. And it's nice to be on. I'm looking forward to all the things that you do in the future. But uh, pretty much how it happened was, and I'm very transparent, so I'm gonna be a little TMI when I share my story, but…
Lia: please do.
Brooke: I got into welding when I was diagnosed, when I was in public school with obsessive compulsive disorder and Tourette syndrome when I was around 11 years old, so I couldn't be in like, a normal classroom setting. So I had been, I guess, transitioned to like, like a special education school, which was a BOCES. Here in New York, it's probably called something different, in other cities. Well, I was a year homeschooling, so I'd say I went there, I was around 13 and a half. So when I was around 14, 14 and a half, I joined a program, a trade program, because they had half day education, half day, you could do like a vocational school. So it was like a career center of sorts. And they pretty much only gave me two options. Like, “Listen, everything's booked. You can do cosmetology or you can do welding.” And I was like, I'm not really like, into the cosmetology side. I've also fought like half the girls there. So I was like, let me try welding, I’m being honest. And we were all like, gut friendly. You know, we're friendly afterwards. But it was kind of like, I didn't need the drama. So I'm like, you know, let me try welding. Something was pulling me in that direction. It's funny. I found out my grandfather who had passed away when I was only six. He was a welder. I didn't even know that.
Lia: Oh, wow. It was in your blood. It was really in your blood.
Brooke: It was in my blood. Yeah, he was a welder in Italy and moved to America and then was a welder here. Yeah. So it was in my blood. So I got into welding. I did that for years. I competed in Skills USA BOCES, was part of that. I guess. It's like this whole thing.
Lia: So cool. That is so badass.
Brooke: I placed third. So yes, I was proud of myself. And I did that for a few years until I, my boyfriend, I actually got well, I got pregnant when I was 19. And then I was welding, and then I stopped. And then I went to a totally different field completely unrelated to the trades. And that's a whole different thing.
Lia: Let me stop you there for a hot minute. So I want people to understand because I dabbled in welding. I was very interested in following that path. Welding is no joke. There are serious risks with welding. I know welders who’ve been in the industry for 40 years; your eyes, despite all of the safety requirements that they have, are affected by this. Can you help everyone kind of get a better understanding of what risks you take when you weld and what's involved in welding?
Brooke: There's a lot, it's one of those fields that you really have to rely on PPE to protect yourself. And I, actually, I can't weld for long stretches of time. I started to develop really bad headaches and I have light eyes. So a lot of times they say that like, attract more light or you are just more sensitive. So like, when I go outside, I wear glasses, things like that, but you have to be very, very careful because you're exposed to really high radiation, you're exposed to high exposure of just light. And I was a TIG welder specifically, I love TIG welding.
Lia: That's badass.
Brooke: Yeah, I love it. And welding is, it's such a cool tool to have on your tool belt, but you do have to protect your eyes. And even beyond that, even with wearing like, the mask or any type of ventilation, like, you have to be careful, you're breathing that stuff in and, and right on the box it says how it causes all types of issues, reproductive health, lung cancer, I mean, there's so many different things in the trades already you have to worry about. But when you're burning rod, and you're exposed to such high light, and you're working in tight conditions, it's really not for the faint of heart. And I think it's amazing that more women are getting into the field, but it's just really important to really, like, make sure that you're protecting yourself. I was welding something and it wasn't even that long. And I had the button down on my, on my shirt and I have, I wear a gator, but it was like, oh, it was like a little space. And I got burned so bad. It looked like I had cancer there. It was really crazy. And I'm like, “Damn”, I've gotten sunburned from where I was welding and somebody's welding behind me and it's hitting the side of my helmet and it's sunburned in my face. So it's just, be careful, but it is definitely a badass trade to know. But it is a lot of risks involved with welding.
Lia: 100% So when you got pregnant, you took a pause on the welding, and then you opened your own business.
Brooke: Yeah.
Lia: Fuck yeah. Pregnant! Like, what?
Brooke: So I have my oldest daughter, and then I wasn't working for a little bit, and then when I was pregnant with my second is where I started using cloth diapers. I'm like a hardcore environmentalist. And…
Lia: Aw, I love it.
Brooke: Yeah, I like, was using that, talking to other moms, I was going on these mom playdates, trying to do that thing, which is just another thing in itself, right? I try to really like meet different moms. And I was so judged because I was already a young mom, but I looked like a teen. You know? I was really young. So like, there was women that didn't, you know, that were in like the crunchy field that were older that were already judging me. So I'm like, whatever, get in line, right? Because…
Lia: I love it.
Brooke: You're not, you know, you're not going against the grain there. So I started talking to more women and I developed something called a diaper service. And I was, I became a laundry service for cloth diapers. And it was like a whole thing for 10 years. It was part of my identity. I did all sorts of things. I really, I started a podcast, I interviewed people from around the world, I tried to really bring, like, awareness, and preach the gospel of cloth diapers. And then after like year 10, I was like, it just got too big. I couldn't run it. It wasn't really what I wanted to do. I was losing the passion for it too. And I'm like, “You know, what I can, I can root for the environment on the sidelines and take myself out of this.” But my heart was always in the trade, always moving around, always building, always doing something. And I really was getting a calling to go back to it.
Lia: Well, I can tell you as a fisherman and a fishing background, I'm very passionate about the environment. So I strongly appreciate what you did there. I can't tell you, our trash system and how it affects the ocean. And that's a big part of my soul. So I think that is absolutely wonderful and amazing. I can also relate how you love it. You enjoyed doing it. But you were being called back to the trades.
Brooke: Yeah, yeah. 100% It was cool. It was something that I did. I was really happy that I did that, I kept 1000s. And we, I even tried to start something called a compostable diaper service, which, for where I live Long Island, New York, it was such an uphill battle. And that's when you actually use regular disposable diapers and you compost them. So we just don't have the technology. It's only been like two places in the world, New Zealand and somewhere else. And that would really help with our garbage issue and things like that. And like I said, I mean, I'm a huge activist. So I'm glad I did what I did, but it was just yeah, you have to know when to step away from things, and I did it. It was, it was a scene in my life. And I enjoyed it. And I'm like, All right.
Lia: 100%, 100%. I think that's a big key, knowing when to step up and when to step back.
Brooke: Yeah. 100%.
Lia: So you got pulled back into the trades, but you didn't necessarily go back into welding.
Brooke: I did. I was, I went back to welding when I was already pulling away from my diaper service. At that point, I had other people running it and things like that. So, but I went back into welding, I was a welder for about two years, until I was like, I really think I need to do something else, because to your point earlier, I was, I was starting to feel the effects. It's just, it had been so long, I've been out of the field and with my eyes, I feel like I started to need glasses. You know, I was really starting to develop, issues and show me a welder that's over the age of 70 or even 60 that doesn't have glasses.
Lia: Oh no. There's always eye issues, even with the protective gear, always, always.
Brooke: And I had a magnifying glass, my shield was on 12. Like it was it was giving me a hard time, and I'm like, “you know what? I don't see this being something that's gonna have a lot of longevity”, if I did this path and I wanted to do something more with my hands. I also was really big on doing side work, great working for someone, whatever, but the person I was working for wasn't giving me benefits. It was a fun shop in the sense that it was just like real chaotic, real wild. You're getting things thrown at you that were so different that maybe a lot of other shops hadn't seen. But I knew that I wanted, like an actual career. I was like, “Listen, I want insurance, I want to have all these things.” And I really wanted to get into the Union trades. And that's when an older gentleman that I was working with who was doing side work at this job, because they pay cash to their side union employees, which whatever, that's like frowned upon for certain things. But that's what they were doing. My boss, he’s in his 80s. So he's an old school guy.
He was talking to me, he's like, “You should become a plumber.” And I was like, “I can't be a plumber. Really? Gonna be a plumber. Let me be a plumber.” And then I became a plumber.
Lia: Yeah!
Brooke: It was like six months of him just being like, “you could do it. You did a diaper service. You did plumbing.” And I did. I did work on my machines I dealt, I was already dealing with the real dirty side of the job people think about plumbing anyway. And it's like, “Alright, let me try it out.” And then, that’s when I could tell.
Lia: I really want to bust this myth open. Because with plumbing, immediately all people think of is, “Oh, you're gonna work with toilets all day.” That is such a small part of plumbing. And some plumbers, never touch sewage lines. Never do anything with toilets. So expand the minds.
Brooke: So I actually have never worked on a toilet.
Lia: There we go!
Brooke: In all the years, I've never worked. And going into it, I was like, “Alright, I got this.” I'm done trying to remember all the shit like, you know, for lack of a better word, like the poop stories, whatever that I had. I'm really trying to like gear myself up. And the first day, they were like, “Oh, we're gonna be doing…” what did I do? I did something that was ventilation for like this, the slidles? And I was like, “what's that?” They're like, “Oh, we're doing evac systems.” Oh, it's not a toilet, you know what I mean? Like, and honestly, plumbing itself. It's the sanitary health of our nation. So there's so much that's involved. I mean, you have, from the hospitals, you have the medical gas, you have all different pipes that are installed there. There's some people that never leave the hospital, they only work the OR rooms and things of that nature. And then you have like, finish work where after all the roughing is done, you're literally just putting brand new shiny appliances in and then faucets and things of that nature. And you know, and then you do have the sewage, you have the regular plumbing, but when you're roughing in for commercial plumbing, which is what I do, we don't really work with the sewage lines being used unless we're putting like, temporary bathrooms. And so there's so much that's involved with plumbing in itself. And I think a lot of people, when they look into it as a viable trade for their own career, they're like, “Oh, it's too dirty.” But it's really like, you're really working more with water or just the elements. That's like, really the dirty part. And of course, when you're in service, that's a different beast. You're going to people's houses, you're working directly with that ecosystem, so to speak. A lot of people don't realize that plumbing is so much, it's our water systems, sewage systems, of course. But it's also ventilation systems. There's a lot that goes into it. There are some people that work 30 years and don't work with bathrooms. So it's wild.
Lia: It's very cool. And I think you hit the nail on the head when you talk about it being our foundation. It’s a society, backbone, really. It's kind of what elevated our civilization. Hello.
Brooke: I'm learning about it in class now. I had no idea back in the day, like hundreds of years ago, when they had no idea how to handle plumbing. They didn't know, they knew that people every day, they were, they were emptying their facilities, so to speak. And they were putting buckets and throwing them outside in the cities, it was just spreading disease, they smelled, so they were hanging perfume sheets up in the streets. People don't realize like, the invention of plumbing and the creation of plumbing systems. That's what separates us from the third world countries. They don’t understand, and I've spoken with people that do like Habitat for Humanity, and they go to different countries. And like, It's shocking. I mean, they're, they're living, dying and literally defecate in there, in the same water. I mean, they don't realize that there's a lot that goes into plumbing systems and sanitation and just health. And we saw it with COVID. You know, like how important health was, clean water, washing your hands. These are things that I think a lot of people don't realize that they take advantage of when it comes to like, how grateful we should be for having electric systems, plumbing systems and being in this type of generation, so to speak.
Lia: Yes. 100%. Absolutely. Now, are you the only female in your crew?
Brooke: I'm the only female on my crew. And there's only five women out of like 1200 in my union. So…
Lia: Holy shit.
Brooke: We're grossly underrepresented.
Lia: No!
Brooke: Grossly underrepresented. Especially for our area.
Lia: So now, I've been speaking to a lot of women in the trades. And it's not that the doors aren't open. The doors are open for, for women. We're totally capable. There's lots of programs, we’re wanted. I have companies seeking out females in the trades to hire and participate within their company. So that's not it. What are some of your thoughts on this? Why do you think there aren't more women entering trade careers?
Brooke: So in my union, me and another woman were creating something called a women's committee, and we were motivated from that, from Las Vegas, from the Women Build Nations Conference. That was friggin amazing, and very inspiring. I gotta be honest with you, to your point. I think the doors are wide open. They're eager to have women join the trades. I mean, you're tapping into a market that, or a demographic, that people weren't really taking seriously up until a few years ago. They're like, damn, no, these women kick ass, they can do it. Yeah, I really think it's the visibility aspect. And I think that it's not being pitched to women, as it would be pitched to men and even young men, like, “Oh, this is great. You can get pension, you can get insurance, things like that.” I speak to women every day and I think a lot of them don't realize plumbing and the trades is a very viable option. It's a lucrative career option, you have tons of opportunity, especially being a woman joining the field. I think it's just the visibility aspect. And a lot of people don't realize you make good money and you get great benefits. And now, in 2023, we're seeing everything happening with the economy and civility aspect, and even AI take over, you don't realize like, skills are going to be more needed now than ever. So I think it's really more or less women aren't seeing it as much as I guess they should be, maybe now so, I think we're doing more advocacy and outreach. But I think it just has to do with visibility and women not really connecting the two that it would be a great career.
Lia: Yes, yes. I had no idea how much you could make in the trades until I started looking into it myself. And I was pleasantly surprised. I have a girlfriend who I interviewed that's a pipe fitter. And at 21, she owns her own home. I mean, badass.
Brooke: It's no joke, and working in private sector, too. I see a lot of our trade sisters online and like, you know, there's some of them, they are private, some of them are union, hardcore union, because I see what they want, a good union does for their people. And when you see like, income difference, it's wild. I was making nothing working welding for private sector. And I had, like I said, I had fun, love the guys, things like that. But I was greatly shortchanging myself because I was like, “Well, I'm a woman, who's gonna want to work with me,” get the hell out of here. Once I went to a union, I'm like, “There's no way I would ever work for a dime less, because I know what I'm worth.” I have skills that I'm learning. It's like just the benefits, the insurance, things like that. It's so important. So yeah, you make bank and people that want to, they can laugh all they want. And we're just like, ever seen the meme, when people just crying with their, their money. It's like you're making money on it. You know what I mean? Like, that's how it goes?
Lia: Yes, absolutely. Okay, so let's clarify. So depending on the trade, and depending on the state, more often than not, not always, more often than not, you will have a higher income when it comes to being a part of a union. I would personally like to see everyone in the construction field come together and elevate the salaries all together. First off, there's a huge deficit for skilled craftsmen and craftswomen. We are worth it. We are the foundation of the culture of society. Okay, we're what makes it work. I love saying “we are the matrix.: Okay. How are your tech shot? Okay, it's, it's good. It's gravy. It's got its place. But guess what, how you function within the world, that's trades baby. That’s the trades. I would really love to see us come together and start to demand, better work environments and higher salaries. It's well deserved. And if the private sector and the unions would kind of join forces in this, work together with this, I would definitely see more people not necessarily just go into the unions, but also go into private sector, because there's pros and cons to everything.
Brooke: Right.
Lia: And I see great value in private sector as much as I see great value in union. So if both could elevate the structure, it would benefit everyone all around.
Brooke: It was, I think that would only happen, because what separates the unions from the privates is the collective bargaining you're joining. But not all unions are created equally. So that's another thing too, when people join us like, well, it's great. Sometimes it's not, sometimes it's very corrupt. And I think that's why it's important to more women, get your asses in these fields. And sit on those and knock these guys down, sit in there, because you have guys that will be there, will be dinosaurs, they're 30, 40 years, and they're all self-serving. They're all for themselves. They're not giving you the raises you need but they're getting the raises they need. I totally understand what you're saying. But I think what happens when you have good unions, and you're providing good benefits, now you got the private sector, at least here in New York. Now they're starting to compete. “Hey, listen, we also offer this, we also offer that”, but then in essence, that's also like you said, it's elevating the field and it's just making it better for everybody. And I think competition is good, because then it forces people to be like, “Damn, goddammit. Now I gotta give these guys dental”, you know. That's how it feels. And I think and that's what we need. But when I see these women, they're not making a lot of money and I'm like, get out of there or get elevated, get a promotion, do something, fight to get heard in your union, like for us like um, we're gonna get so many waves for doing this women's committee but that's the only way you can serve, so I'm ready for it. Like, “Bring it on.” You know, you can say whatever you want about us, but we're making, we're getting visibility for women in this union and we're giving maternity, I think we're going to offer things that I feel like, that's where the private sector would be like alright, look, model after this because we need to scalp some women too, as well. I think it's good, I think it's important and, and to your point, I think it does elevate the whole playing field because it's crazy, with inflation things are really not good, then they're not getting better for a long time.
Lia: No, it's going to be a very long time. So this is the perfect opportunity to step into the trades because definitely, trades are only increasing in salary and increasing in need. So it's basic economics, right there. So speaking about maternity. So in Australia, all the tradies get a year off for the women who want to have a family and then they're able to spend time with their child and nurse their child and come back. Why don't we have this here? What?
Brooke: Because it's, it's so crazy too, people won't get political. But honestly, when push comes to shove, we need a People's Party. You know, we need some both sides. Screw em both, we need something else because this is not this is not doing it for us. And yeah, we compare it a lot to other countries and people want to say what they want to say, I'll just, “the best country” and and “I'm proud to be an American,” you know, like my mom's first generation. But well, like after my grandfather passed away, but she, yeah, she always say she's like, you know that you know, the country. They offer different things for families, they're more family friendly. They're more people. They're more about paying it forward. And I think that we need to adopt that. But we don't we just…
Lia: I agree with you. I think we do need to adopt it. Because I hear all this concern about how the generation after me is not getting married, they're not procreating, you will have…
Brooke: They can’t afford to.
Lia: You will have the destruction of your civilization if you do not procreate. That's just…
Brooke: It’s a fact.
Lia: Yeah, common basic knowledge, right. So if you're not creating a situation where people want to have families and have children and are able to successfully provide for themselves, in their homes, their households, obviously, they're not gonna do it.
Brooke: Yeah.
Lia: You've got to create a situation where they're capable of this.
Brooke: No, it's true. 100% I see that now, I hear, I hear guys say like, “oh, I wanted to have kids after I became a journeyman, but now I'm gonna have to wait a couple more years.” It's just so aggravating, and so nerve racking. And I feel very blessed that I took a situation of being a, being a teen mom, essentially. And I turned that around. And I was like, for me, and I came from very poor family. So it wasn't like I had a backing. I wasn't married, you know, when I had my daughter, so I had to use all my resources. But not everybody gets that. And they come from an even worse situation. They're, and they're always stuck in the poverty cycle. And I think it's a it's disheartening to see, but I think when you really take advantage of, to our conversation, about being in the skilled trade, right, now, you're not only making more money, but you're increasing your own self worth and what you're capable of doing and what you can go out and do what by yourself, because essentially, you make great money when you start doing side gigs, working for yourself. And I think it's important that people kind of think outside the box.
Lia: The psychology of how we operate is extremely interesting. And, I've spoke to Dr. Kelly, who's a psychologist regarding Dr. Kelly Lambert's research about how our brains are structured in receiving dopamine. And these feel good chemicals when we see progress, when we have to work for our reward. So the idea was, we were making a correlation between tradesmen and tradeswomen, who get to see the actual progress of what they're doing. They get to create with their hands, they get to create with their minds. A common theme I hear from all tradesmen and tradeswomen is, as they drive by a structure: “I built that. I was part of creating that.” And that's pretty incredible.
Brooke: Yeah, I definitely agree with you. I think when people use their hands, when they're moving, when they're, when they're creating, it's like, that's what we're meant to do. You know what I mean? Like, we were hunters and gatherers, we were meant to move. We were meant to do things, we were meant to provide for our families.
Lia: Oh, what would you say to women who are interested in getting into the plumbing career?
Brooke: So I've gotten advice when I was originally interested in, in the plumbing, and I talked to other people, they're like, “Oh, you gotta man up, you gotta man up, you got to do this. You got to be thick skinned,” and my advice wouldn't be thick skinned, my advice would be to, to come in and, there's certain things that the construction trade can be very toxic. It just again, depending on who you're working with, that's just something that I think people need to know coming in. Unfortunately, that's the culture right now. But that is, I think changing, there is a wave of they are working on changing it, because we're not dealing with it, people being racist, ableist, you just talking smack on the friggin jet. Like we're not going to deal with that. I think that's starting to change their perspective that's been so toxic for so long. But my advice would be find a trade that you can do, that you're comfortable doing, that you are interested in doing find, really, really look into it and find what you think that you can do for 30 years, you know, and find out if you're gonna join a union find out about that union. And if it's not as good, then go private. There's nothing wrong with doing your research in that regard. But yeah, that would be like my best advice is just to find something that you love that you know, you can do, learn about the hazards of the job, but I think I learned a lot about that with doing like an OSHA class and that's something you can also do online as well. I think that hazards have to be talked about because us, as women, we're just built differently. You know, and I think a lot of guys who will push through carrying a 20 foot piece of friggin forage, a woman can do, I've hurt myself many times on the job, I've almost really hurt myself lifting up service weight and things like that. So just be realistic on what you can do, what you can handle and then just move forward. But when it comes to like, trying to curb your femininity and things like that, don't, screw these people, I go to work and I’ll were like mascara, sometimes I won't, but that's that's me.
Lia: So side note on that. So when, when I was entering the trades, I was wondering, “Okay, do I wear makeup? Don't I wear makeup? How do I navigate this?” And actually, Vanessa Van Edwards, I believe in her book, did a study, her book is called Captivate and she has another one called Cues. Fantastic. Highly, highly recommend you read it, highly recommend. She's unbelievable. She did a study that implies men prefer when women wear makeup, they are more trusting of women who wear makeup. Is that not incredible? It blew my mind. It totally blew my mind. So I wear makeup. I wear makeup that is very natural looking. So I'm not, you know, going on out, night on the town, wearing red lips, but I accentuate my natural features, like…
Brooke: Captivate, you said?
Lia: Captivate, by Vanessa Van Edwards. She's literally I mean, incredible woman if I ever get to speak with her, I think all faint. She's really, I admire her so much. She's really incredible.
Brooke: That's awesome. I just wrote that down. Ya know, I'm always looking for a good book to read. That's funny, I see that. And so it's not even for like, the male gaze. It's and I like, Oh, I feel like they do talk to you differently, for sure they do.
Lia: And I forget in the stats, what the theory was of why this is. But allegedly, when women wear makeup, men are more trusting of them. And when you're working in an environment where there are hazards, sometimes our lives are dependent on one another, I know as an electrician very much so when we're working together, our lives are dependent on one another, we need to be very careful, especially if we're in live gear. So you want to trust your coworker, you want to know that they're doing everything that they can to be safe, just like you are.
Brooke: Yeah, definitely.
Lia: You're an entrepreneur, you've owned your own business, you have this amazing career in plumbing, beautiful family, of all of your life experience with everything that you've learned on this life's journey: what's in your tool belt, what's something that you bring with you every day that helps you achieve your goals, something that you keep with you in the back of your mind?
Brooke: I want to say confidence that I can do it, the difficulties in my life have just created a staircase that I've been able to climb and get stronger and stronger and more confident. I'm far more confident than I was 10 years ago, even when I was, had tons of customers and things like that to do and all sorts of stuff, my confidence and my determination that I'm never gonna give up. It's the motivation and the drive that I want to live my fullest life. Because we all know we're not coming out of this alive. At the end of the day, you know, we live a long life and you just want to do the most that you can so want to be the best version of myself and always possible. And that's an uphill battle. But I guess it's just like my determination, my drive, my confidence to believe that I can do everything I set myself out to do.
Lia: I love that, the determination, that never giving up, that is very important. And it means a lot. To me in particular, I struggled with depression for many years. And the day that I decided to never give up on myself again, was a life changing day. And so that resonates with me on a very personal level, being so determined and not giving up especially on yourself.
Brooke: Yeah, 100%. I dealt with the same thing. I've been bullied relentlessly for years, you know, as a kid, and that changes how you grow up, there’s studies that say you'll carry that the rest of your life, no matter how confident you are, whatever you always think about that. And there's just certain things that I can't change about myself that I'm just, I just lean into it and I accept it. And I really do believe that makes you stronger. I do.
Lia: Yes. I think you're right. I think it definitely does. The determination, the always wanting to improve yourself. That's a beautiful, beautiful thing. Too many people become complacent.
Brooke: Yeah, absolutely. Because it's easy. So it's the easiest road you know?
Lia: That's a, that's a crazy thing. Right? I think they think it's easy in the moment. But as you move through, and there's no growth…
Brooke: Yeah, it becomes expensive. And it's like “God damn, I wish you can go back,” and you can't go back.
Lia: You can't go back.
Brooke: It’s not forgiving.
Lia: No, it's never forgiving. Thank you so much for being with us today. Brooke, it was wonderful having you. You are an inspiration.
Brooke: Thank you so much.
Lia: If any of our listeners are interested in plumbing or would like to get in contact with you, is there a Facebook, Instagram, how best for our listeners to reach you?
Brooke: So I have an instagram account @meetbrookee, cause someone stole the other one, the regular version, so I’m on Instagram, I just post a bunch of random stuff about being in the trades, my most recent one was trying to take good action shots, but I screwed up, so I just posted them anyway.
Lia: I love it.
Brooke: And then I also have a Youtube channel, it’s at @meetbrookee as well, and I post all different types of videos about being in the trades, weight loss videos, just trying to like improve my life and improve myself, and I’ll also have a blog launching soon that I’ll be posting on my Instagram account.
Lia: Very excited for your blog, and I highly recommend our listeners check you out. And they will get a better picture of what it’s like to live a day in the life of a plumber, I think that’s really important, I appreciate you extending yourself and sharing yourself and serving others in this way.
Brooke: I try to just be as transparent as possible and share my journey, pretty much, so that will motivate others to be like, “Hey, I could do that, I could really do that”, and I share my struggles and all that cause I think it’s important to be transparent in a world that is so filtered, ya know?
Lia: Yes, yes.
Speaking with Brooke really inspires me. I love her outlook, that women don’t need to curb their femininity in order to work in construction careers. And I think that many women are under the impression that if you’re going to step into a construction career, that you need to man up, toughen up, and thicken your skin in order to survive. Brooke dares us to boldly bring our differences to the table, and show up, as our full selves, so that means wearing makeup to the jobsite, or bringing in pink tools to work. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a female lead in her femininity. A “woman’s woman”. I am currently trying to discover what it would be like to lead in my femininity, instead of leaning on my masculinity. So challenge the norm, because that’s the most impactful way of discovering your authentic self. How will you challenge yourself?
Thank you for joining us. If you felt a spark in today’s episode, I invite you to write a review. I would love to hear what lit you up. Take what resonates with you, and if you’d like to hear more of the Sparky Life, please subscribe, like, follow and share. Until next time, create the sparks in your life.