If you’re a woman (and maybe even if you’re a man), sometimes you want female company and perspective. And this can apply to contractors who carry out renovations at your home.
Marissa McTasney, of Moxie Trades, a company that supplies women in the trades with clothing especially designed for them, is well aware of this. She says there’s been a demand for quite some time for female renovators, such as carpenters, electricians, plumbers, painters and drywallers. Trouble is, there aren’t a lot of female renovators.
But this is changing, she says. Her website, moxietrades.com, is in the process of listing women in the trades both in Canada and other countries who register to be on her site.
For customers doing renovations, there can be benefits to hiring female contractors. “Women contractors tend to have strong attention to detail, and are likely to be accurate in their work,” she says.
In addition, the male-dominated culture of the construction business can produce intimidation and barriers to effective communication between female clients and male contractors. This can be especially significant when numerous male contractors are together and apparently feel compelled to play the stereotypical construction worker role to the hilt (and I’ve personally witnessed this bizarre transformation from men who interact with women quite normally on a day-to-day basis).
In contrast, female contractors understand a woman’s point of view, and are not part of the “macho” mindset that can produce awkwardness and can easily squelch productive conversations between a female client and male contractors.
McTasney’s website is also useful for women in the trades trying to find their places in a culture that is not yet completely friendly to women. But McTasney has faith that things are changing. With more women employed in this area, women entering the trades will no longer feel as exposed or isolated.
