A Career Path For Women In Trades: How Deisy Gonzalez Is Paving The Way

For as long as Deisy Gonzalez can remember, she has enjoyed working with her hands. It’s a rewarding feeling to look at a famous structure and say, “I built that.”

When she started thinking about her career, the trades became a perfect fit. Her father was a plumber, and that career instantly appealed to her. Hoping to find a few women to emulate or shadow, Deisy asked him if he knew any from his jobsites. He didn’t. She kept looking, but struggled to find a female connection to the trades.

Historically, construction has been a mostly male industry – currently, less than 10 percent of the industry is female. That percentage is shifting thanks to women like Deisy. Through her hard work, Deisy found her way into the plumbing industry and has risen to become a foreman at TDIndustries’ Arizona branch.

“It was really hard to get in to TDIndustries,” she said. “It was one of my biggest achievements to work for TD. It’s one of the best companies in Arizona.”

She entered TD as an installer, but it wasn’t long before her first advancement. Deisy’s quality of work and her passion for excellence paid off.  Her supervisors took notice, and offered her more and more responsibility. Her organizational skills and her work ethic were highly impressive, and two years later she was promoted to plumbing foreman.

Deisy wants to share her success with others and has made it her mission to provide assistance and education to women looking to enter the trades. She visits schools and stays visible on jobsites and in the community. Hopefully, a young girl will notice her hardhat, or a woman in another field will see Deisy’s confidence and think, “If she can do it, I can, too.”

She always seeks out the women who arrive to work on the jobsite and offers encouragement. In her mind, these women provide valuable resources that TD and the construction industry need to continue improving and diversifying the workforce.

“Anyone can do this job – girls too,” she said. “When I visit schools, there are a lot of girls that see me working and their eyes light up. They get so excited seeing a woman in this line of work.”

TD and our industry needs and hopes it can find more Deisys. Have you been looking for a new career, but are wondering about how to start? Click this link for more information on how we support women on their journey with a career in the trades.