- Grew up in a small, rural town in Preston City, Connecticut, and has an older brother and sister.
- Is the first lineman in her family. She comes from a family who worked in education. Her mom worked as an occupational therapist, her dad was a school administrator and a math teacher, her brother works as a professor in Boston, and her sister is a civil engineer in Seattle.
- • Married to a journeyman lineman who she works with every day and on storms. They recently bought land, and they are planning to build a new home and start a family. She has an extensive collection of animals, including three mini pigs, and hopes to start an animal sanctuary on the land.
- Enjoys traveling, hunting, fishing and being home with her animals.
- Likes wearing Heatwaves safety glasses, working with battery-powered crimpers and using the large rattle guns so hydraulic hoses don’t hang in her bucket.
Early Years
My parents really encouraged me to take the college route, so I graduated from the University of Maine in four years with my bachelor’s degree in science. I majored in aquaculture and minored in fisheries science. After college, I worked on commercial fishing boats on the East Coast. After my father retired, he taught a math course at a community college to keep himself busy. He suggested the linework program. I needed a better life path and a more stable income, so I went for it. At the time, I didn’t know anything about line work or anyone who was a lineman. When I graduated from my program, I had good grades but the local places in Maine weren’t interested in hiring a woman. While I was waiting to hear back from the union, I started working on cell towers on the weekends. I was then offered a spot in a boot camp, but I had to turn it down because of my new job. I regretted that choice, and after a year, I worked to reapply.
Day in the Life
For my first job in my apprenticeship, I worked for a company specializing in traffic lights and streetlights. They encouraged me to be an electrician and not a lineman, but in less than two months, I was sent to a high-line job. I’m now a proud journeyman lineman for IBEW Local 104. I’m not the first, but I believe I’m the only female lineman currently working in my Local. This summer, I painted towers for the first time. When I’m not on storms, I go back and forth between transmission and distribution jobs. Now I’m shifting my focus to chasing storms. I really enjoy storm work, and lately, I have been obsessed with checking the Hurricane Center for storms. The part of turning people’s power back on after a storm was what initially drew me into line work. The small town I grew up in would lose power during most storms, and they would be out for a week. I wanted to help and make a difference.
