“There’s nowhere in television or a movie or a commercial where the plumber is a woman. How could a little girl or a young boy envision that the most awesomely skilled plumber is a woman? She hasn’t seen it.”
Inwood, Manhattan — Judaline Cassidy is a spirited plumber from Trinidad and Tobago.
As a female immigrant working in a traditionally male-dominated industry, Judaline says that she faced some challenges in the workplace.
She has often been the only woman on construction sites. Sometimes, she was even asked to leave.
Still, she turned her challenges into opportunities.
Today, Judaline brings home a six-figure salary working as a New York City plumber. “There’s no way an immigrant woman without a college degree can make over $100,000 a year. And that’s what keeps me motivated and keeps me from quitting the times when it did get difficult,” she said.
On top of that, she started a non-profit, Tools & Tiaras, to educate and empower young girls interested in learning the trades.
“You should give a girl a tool and a tiara, which has given her confidence, independence and most of all: power.”
This is her story.
