Brooke Laing is a steam fitter and welder apprentice in her third year with UA Local 46 in Toronto. She's also the Chief of Strategy for the Sisterhood of Trades and just started her own podcast. So she's got something to say about what it's really like for women coming into the trades right now.

The barriers are real. Women have to prove themselves in ways men don't. There's harassment that supervisors aren't taking seriously. And trying to find PPE that actually fits? Good luck. But the industry is starting to shift some employers are finally getting it.

The flip side is that women are crushing it in the trades. Better attention to detail, willing to do the work right instead of just fast. And young women are discovering this through social media where tradeswomen are showing the real side of the job.

Getting women into the trades isn't that complicated. Union apprenticeships are structured and solid. Networking opens doors. And having a community like the Sisterhood means you're not figuring it out alone.

Highlights:

• Women entering trades face barriers like have to prove themselves constantly and dealing with harassment that goes nowhere.
• PPE that actually fits women is harder to find than it should be.
• Social media is how young people are actually learning about what trades look like.
• Union apprenticeships provide structure and community that matters.
• Employers who take complaints seriously and create safer environments are seeing the shift happening.

Make sure to subscribe to Blue Collar BS where we talk about the things most don't want to talk about so we can help move the trades forward. Share this episode with someone who needs to hear real conversations from people actually working in the trades today.

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Steve Doyle (: 00:00

Welcome back everyone to this episode of Blue Collar BS. How you doing today, Brad?

Brad Herda (: 00:04

I'd be better if you weren't an asshole to start the day, Steve.

Steve Doyle (: 00:06

Well, you know, tis the season. Tis the season.

Brad Herda (: 00:11

Yeah, that's true. And you know what? The elf is watching and no Christmas for you.

Steve Doyle (: 00:16

yeah. Yep. Well, that's normal. So doesn't matter. Doesn't matter. So what's going on? What's happening with you today?

Brad Herda (: 00:22

No, It is. It has been a day. We've been taking care of some stuff for a foundation, the accounting and treasury work for a foundation I'm part of. We like I haven't really been up to date on my duties, so had to go back to June of this year and catch up and so I can run financials for your end and get the taxes and stuff ready. And so it's been a great day doing numbers. It has been. It has been. That's why I'm excited to be here today.

Steve Doyle (: 00:40

Cool.

Steve Doyle (: 00:45

That sounds really boring. Man, I, nope. Exactly, exactly. So who do we got on the show then?

Brooke (: 00:50

excited to be here today.

Brad Herda (: 00:54

Today we have a guest that came through us through the sisterhood of the trades Brooke Lang a steam fitter and a welder apprentice at UA local 46 up in Toronto Passionate about showing what life in the trades is really like the hard work the humor the community She also moderates and writes for the sisterhood of trades Loves to network supporting women in the trade and has also just recently as of this week became her own world-renowned

Brooke (: 00:55

Today we have a guest that came...

Brooke (: 01:12

Also.

Brooke (: 01:18

great.

Brad Herda (: 01:24

podcaster herself. Brooke, thank you so much for being here today.

Steve Doyle (: 01:26

Wow.

Brooke (: 01:27

Thank you for having me guys I really appreciate it.

Steve Doyle (: 01:31

So Brooke, before I forget, because I almost did, which generation do you fit in with?

Brooke (: 01:34

Okay.

Brooke (: 01:37

Well, technically by birthday I'm Gen Z, but I grew up with Gen X parents. So we were very close in age, so I feel like I kind of fit both.

Steve Doyle (: 01:45

Aw yeah!

Steve Doyle (: 01:50

Alright, alright, we'll take that. We'll take that. We'll take that.

Brooke (: 01:51

Yeah.

Brad Herda (: 01:53

So how did you find your way into the blue collar world? What was your path?

Brooke (: 02:00

So I originally went to college. I was going to study health science with intentions of being a diabetes nurse because I'm type 1 diabetic. I think I lasted a whole three weeks in college before I was like, wow, this fucking sucks. And I dropped out. So I took. Yeah, no, exactly. So I dropped out. I took about.

Steve Doyle (: 02:15

You

Brad Herda (: 02:17

This is really boring shit. Why are we doing this?

Steve Doyle (: 02:18

Thanks.

Brooke (: 02:23

three-ish months off and my mom was like, you know, you've always liked working with dad on projects in the garage and stuff like that. Like, why don't you look into the trades? So that's what I did. And I found welding and I was like, huh, I could make two pieces of metal into one piece of metal. So I went to a private trade school and then I think about a year, year and a half later, I was initiated into the hall as a steam fitting welding apprentice. So I'm in my third year now.

Steve Doyle (: 02:48

Nice.

Brad Herda (: 02:49

And how has it so two things as a young female in a particularly male dominant industry coming into do things. How has it been as you gone to kick their asses in quality and speed? How has that been received? Because I'm going to assume that is some of the things that you have brought to to the trade is some attention and speed that maybe others are not happy with.

Steve Doyle (: 03:07

You

Brooke (: 03:16

Yeah, at first, like, I started out in High Rise. And for those of you watching who have worked High Rise, you know that it's kind of rough.

Brad Herda (: 03:22

Thanks

Steve Doyle (: 03:26

out.

Brooke (: 03:28

Yeah, it's kind of rough. But it wasn't that bad. It took me probably three-ish months to gain the respect and to gain like my colleagues knowing that I was actually there to work. I'm not there to like, you know, hang out and chit chat. So I kind of got a good name for myself early on and then that continued into me transitioning into ICI. So a lot of the guys that I work with now are pretty good. Like actually yesterday I dealt with

I am subcontracted to a hospital and somebody who works at the hospital saw me and was like, this is a man's job. Like you should be working in IT. You shouldn't be here. And I was like, you are saying that to the wrong person actually, because here's exactly why I should be here. Just saying like.

Brad Herda (: 04:19

Wow.

Brooke (: 04:20

Yeah.

Steve Doyle (: 04:21

All right. Okay. So.

Brad Herda (: 04:23

And was it a, what was the, who was the, what was the person saying it? Was it another guy or was it another woman?

Brooke (: 04:30

It was an older man,

Steve Doyle (: 04:32

Did you put him in his place? That's all I want to know. Or did you just politely nod and walk away?

Brad Herda (: 04:34

Okay.

Brooke (: 04:40

I put him in his place as politely as possible because obviously I do have a reputation. Literally. But yeah, I can't be a bitch to everybody. Obviously I have a reputation to uphold, so...

Brad Herda (: 04:43

Where would you like this electrode, sir?

Steve Doyle (: 04:45

Wow. Okay. So what was it that drew you into welding itself?

Brooke (: 05:04

I've always been, like to work on my own, also in like kind of a team setting. So I felt like with welding, there is a lot of independent work there, but there is also the aspect of like, if I'm in a really tight spot welding something, I do need somebody there to kind of help me out. So kind of like both aspects of that. And I feel like it's a bad ass trade. Like every welder I've ever met has been ridiculously cool. So I just hope I could be like that.

Steve Doyle (: 05:20

Mm-hmm.

Okay.

Steve Doyle (: 05:31

Mm-hmm.

Brad Herda (: 05:31

You already are so don't don't hope about it because you already are and you're already setting examples of things and how So we got introduced through Nush who was on the show as well and we had we were blessed to be able to interview her and and talking a little bit about the sisterhood of trades How did you get involved or how did you find the community to begin with and then take on the commitment to truly be one of its leaders?

Brooke (: 05:33

Thanks.

Steve Doyle (: 05:34

Yep.

Brooke (: 06:00

Yeah, so I have a decent following on TikTok. Most of my videos do get over. You should. I do have a decent following. It's true. TikTok's a great resource. Nushan and I actually talked about that on a podcast that she's going to be releasing, I think, next week with me. But yeah, I have a pretty decent following on TikTok. Most of my videos get...

Brad Herda (: 06:05

I don't follow you on TikTok because I don't have a TikTok.

Steve Doyle (: 06:07

What's tick tock? What's tick tock? I'm out. We're old.

Brad Herda (: 06:14

Just being honest.

Steve Doyle (: 06:25

Okay.

Brooke (: 06:29

100k plus views. So I started getting some traction on TikTok and then I made a TikTok I was like, oh, why is there like no community for apprentices or especially women in the trades to kind of connect. And a girl from my union hall at the EMS commented and just tagged the sisterhood. And I was like, oh, what's this? So DM them got to talking to them. And then I realized that this is a network I think when I got in had around 850 members back in July.

Steve Doyle (: 06:32

Nice.

Brooke (: 06:56

And now we are 10 members away from a thousand. So just in the time that I've been in. no. But yeah, so I got really heavily involved pretty early because I was like, these women are all really cool. And like, this is a great community. was talking to people from all over the place. Like a lot of our admin team, we're all really spread out. Like myself being in Toronto, we have a few girls in Indiana. We have one girl in Alaska.

Steve Doyle (: 06:56

Mm-hmm.

Brad Herda (: 07:00

shit, we're gonna be short. We're gonna be short on stickers. We only got you like a thousand.

Brooke (: 07:26

so we're all kind of all over the place. And then I think it was just the way that I've always been one to help with like conflict resolution. So there was an issue that happened and I wasn't even a part of the admin team yet, but I was kind of diffusing the situation because nobody else was really active in the chat at that time. It was like a really weird time. was like two in the morning, I think. But, I was off work, so I was like, I'll like get in and help out with this. And then yeah, I got started talking to Noosh Moore.

Steve Doyle (: 07:46

Thank

Brooke (: 07:53

I already talked to Carly a fair bit, but Nusha and started talking more and then she was like, hey, do you want to be a part of the team? And then recently we actually changed my title. So I am the Chief of Strategy for the Sisterhood now.

Brad Herda (: 08:07

Okay, so as the chief of strategy, what are some of your, as we have this platform to talk to our tens of listeners here, what is your, what would be one strategy for organizations to attract more younger females?

Brooke (: 08:08

Yes.

Brad Herda (: 08:29

into their world, whether it's construction, manufacturing trades, whatever it is, what are some of the what are some of the strategies or things you would offer that advice to say these are the things you need to do if you want to women who want to work for you.

Brooke (: 08:43

I've definitely been playing heavy on the social media aspect, especially right now. Tradeswomen on social media are blowing up. Like so many members in our Discord have just posted like a video that probably took them 30 seconds to make in total on their TikTok and they're getting hundreds of thousands of views, right? I also recently posted a TikTok where I was just like, like this is your sign if you're a woman who if you're a woman who's been considering getting into the trades, like this is your sign.

Steve Doyle (: 09:04

Mm-hmm.

Brooke (: 09:13

And I think the video has like 400 likes, but it has like hundreds of comments and women messaging me being like, how can I get into the trades? How did you get in all of that? So I've been heavy playing on the social media side of it.

Brad Herda (: 09:28

Okay, then how does how do the business owners? Right, because because it's also how do you get you? That's cool that you found this community to be part of it and you've got that. But yet I still have to go work someplace and do something in order to make money at it. What would you advice? What would be your advice to those owners to to either change, modify or add to their business to to make it attractive?

Steve Doyle (: 09:28

that's me.

Brooke (: 09:36

that you found this community to part of it.

Brooke (: 09:54

Really good question. just say one issue that I find that we're facing with a lot of employers right now is HR departments, but I say that term very loosely because like there's no HR in the trades. Not taking complaints seriously. Well, it's true. But they're not taking, yeah, yeah, they're just not taking complaints seriously. Like one of the big topics we're talking about in the sisterhood right now is the amount of women who have come forward.

Steve Doyle (: 10:09

You're not wrong there.

Brad Herda (: 10:10

You're not wrong.

Brooke (: 10:23

with coworkers harassing them or, you know, moves, the best way to put it, and then going to supervisors or this or that to complain and there's kind of nothing getting done about it. So we are seeing a really big shift though. There are a lot of employers who are starting to kind of make that culture shift, which has been a really encouraging thing to see, but it's really just fostering that like safer environment for women.

Brad Herda (: 10:34

Right.

Steve Doyle (: 10:59

For the younger women that are already in the trades, what would you say outside of their harassment? What would you say are some of the challenges that they're seeing in addition that employers need to be aware of? I'm not. not. want to know. It is a huge deal. I want to know what else there is.

Brad Herda (: 11:13

Don't downplay the harassment thing though. Okay, just want to make sure outside of it's a pretty big deal. That's a pretty big fucking deal Steve.

Brooke (: 11:15

No.

Brooke (: 11:19

What?

Steve Doyle (: 11:23

Because we could talk about the harassment side for multiple shows.

Brooke (: 11:26

true. Yeah, the other

Steve Doyle (: 11:29

So I want to know kind of like, go ahead.

Brooke (: 11:32

Yeah, the other issues that I find I face honestly is just feeling like because I'm a girl, I have to go like above and beyond to prove myself all the time. Like it's not even on the note of like harassment or anything like that. It's just the fact that when I walk onto a job site, like if I were to walk into a job site and my fiance who also works in the trade, if we were to walk onto the same job site, he would get the respect like that, right? I would have to prove myself.

Steve Doyle (: 11:44

Mm-hmm.

Steve Doyle (: 12:00

Mm-hmm.

Brooke (: 12:01

and go kind of above and beyond to show like, I do belong here. So that's the biggest issue that I find a lot of our women are facing. Also proper fitting, proper fitting, yeah, proper fitting PPE. That is a huge issue too.

Steve Doyle (: 12:05

Mm-hmm.

Steve Doyle (: 12:10

That's a lot of gender bias.

Brad Herda (: 12:16

who the hell there's somebody that was doing that here in Wisconsin. They were putting out a whole clothing brand for for women that shit. I'm to find it. I'll put the link in the show notes because I got introduced to her at a networking event somewhere. And I'm like, wow, this is really cool stuff, particularly on the shoes, the shoes and the pants side of things.

Steve Doyle (: 12:24

Mm-hmm.

Steve Doyle (: 12:33

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Brooke (: 12:40

Pants are the worst. Like, the worst. I found a few brands that are good and I've partnered with them because I'm like, hey, your stuff's actually really good. I wanna make sure more people kinda know about this, but aside from that, I know there's quite a few companies down in the States where they issue uniforms and PPE to people and it just doesn't fit.

Steve Doyle (: 13:01

Correct.

Steve Doyle (: 13:05

Yeah, they're very, they're very male cut.

Brooke (: 13:08

Yes. And dangerous when you're like, yeah, exactly.

Brad Herda (: 13:10

Right, which can also then create safety issues.

Steve Doyle (: 13:10

You can say it, it's okay. Yeah.

Brad Herda (: 13:16

So what made you decide to start your podcast?

Brooke (: 13:21

Well, I'm very active on LinkedIn, as you know. Yeah, so I have a growing network on LinkedIn and I was putting out articles and all that stuff and I was getting a lot of messages from people being like, hey, like, if you were to start a podcast, like I'd actually listen to it. And I was like, I don't know, like, I don't know if I have time for that, in all honesty. And then I was talking to my fiance, because he's my co-host. And I was like, what if he started a podcast? And he was like, are you fucked?

Brad Herda (: 13:25

You are.

Steve Doyle (: 13:26

Mm-hmm.

Brooke (: 13:51

Like, no. And I was like, no, hear me out. People actually care about what we have to say. Like, I know it kind of sounds ridiculous because we're both apprentices, but like, it gives us kind of, I feel like that different perspective of like, there's a lot of podcasts by people who work in the trades that are like older gentlemen or like women who work on the admin side or things like that, right? It's not very often that you hear from two apprentices who are engaged, who are in their early twenties, who both work on site.

Steve Doyle (: 13:52

Yeah.

Brad Herda (: 13:54

you

Steve Doyle (: 14:15

Mm-hmm.

Brooke (: 14:20

So was like, that could be a very different perspective that we could bring kind of to the table.

Steve Doyle (: 14:21

Convince.

Brad Herda (: 14:24

It's a huge perspective that you're bringing that is a different set of voices and a different set of opinions. And it's important to hear, right? Because what I find for my clients, things they're complaining all the time, well, we can't find people who want to be apprentices or be the mechanics or be the, you know, come in and do the things in our region. And it's like,

Steve Doyle (: 14:28

Mm-hmm.

Brad Herda (: 14:49

maybe it's your messaging, maybe it's how you're presenting yourself, maybe it's how you treat them when they walk in the door to the front window when they get selected here and they get looked at as less than because they're here for this job or is, oh, it's just a mechanics role. No, it's not just. It is important. It's just as important as every other role inside the organization.

Steve Doyle (: 15:08

Mm-hmm.

Brad Herda (: 15:15

And all those little things matter and all those little pieces of onboarding, all that little stuff. It makes a difference to create that sense of worth and value from somebody walking into your place of employment. Like you said, if you can't walk on a job site and feel that you're right and you're being judged all the time you walk on a job site, that's not that's not right.

Brooke (: 15:28

Absolutely.

Brooke (: 15:37

Yeah, and I find that it's not just women that face that stuff too, like my fiance is Filipino. So there's still heavily that kind of race aspect to it, I find as well.

Steve Doyle (: 15:51

Interesting.

Brad Herda (: 15:51

There's a lot of stuff. There's a lot of ways this could. Yes. I have a client that just I was at his place yesterday and he has three high school women from this local high school working in his building and also they come in and I'm like as we're having a meal. OK, great. Cool. This is cool. This is awesome. Like and right and and.

Steve Doyle (: 15:54

There is.

Brooke (: 15:55

There's a lot of bias.

Brad Herda (: 16:18

All of the women are kicking all of the guys asses because Ana may not be from the same speed, but everything is correct every time all the time.

Brooke (: 16:28

Yes. Attention to detail as well. They always say that women end up being better welders because they have a higher attention to detail.

Steve Doyle (: 16:30

Mm-hmm.

Steve Doyle (: 16:36

Mm-hmm.

Brad Herda (: 16:37

You are not wrong. You are 100 % accurate and that's why I don't understand it. Like why are we so worried about? Let's get it right instead of how fast we can get it done.

Steve Doyle (: 16:39

you

Steve Doyle (: 16:46

Mm hmm. Well, I don't like rework, so it needs to be done right the first time. So question I do have, and you brought it up briefly, is you have a lot of women contacting you on your feed about how do I get into the trades? So would you mind taking a couple minutes and actually talking about how can women get into the trades?

Brooke (: 16:46

I agree.

Brooke (: 16:52

I agree.

Brooke (: 17:13

Yeah, for sure. I feel like kind of the route that I took did provide me with some prerequisite experience and all of that as well. And I feel like being a woman, do most of the time need some sort of prerequisite experience to be able to go to an employer and be like, hey, look, like, I've actually done this before. Like, you're not going to have to pay as many hours or attention to my training as you would somebody who's never stepped on a job site before. My number one tip because I'm union.

Steve Doyle (: 17:40

Mm

Brooke (: 17:43

is always to find your closest union and ask them when their next intake is. I know not everybody wants to be union, but up here in Canada, unions are kind of the best option, right? So depending if they're from Canada, the States, whatever it might be, the first thing I always tell them is to get into the Discord because if there's not something that I can help with, there's a thousand other women who probably live close to you who could definitely help you out.

Steve Doyle (: 17:49

Mm-hmm.

Brooke (: 18:10

I also tell them that networking is so, so, so important because like, think if I didn't network, if I didn't know people, I wouldn't be on this podcast right now. Right. So it opens a lot of opportunities for you. Like there's a lot of doors that can be opened through networking. And I think that is one of the most important parts of it. But always reach out to your local union is kind of like the biggest one because even if they're like here in Toronto, we have the local 46, which is kind of the Toronto union. And then a little bit East, have the 401.

Steve Doyle (: 18:17

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Brooke (: 18:41

My union has like close to 13,000 members, if not more, it is the highest member base in the entire UA. My union, I sat on a wait list for like two years to get in. And that's kind of how it goes for everybody. I don't think they've done an intake since I got in in December, 2023. Yeah, so there have been quite a few girls who actually end up living in my area just outside of Toronto. And they've been like, oh, I actually like want to be a pipe fitter.

Steve Doyle (: 18:49

Wow.

Brad Herda (: 19:01

Wow.

Steve Doyle (: 19:01

Wow.

Brooke (: 19:10

I'm like, okay, like I can put you in contact with some people, but I would suggest, you know, going to the smaller union because at least that way you get a foot in the door and then you can transfer out later to somewhere else. So yeah, definitely.

Steve Doyle (: 19:21

Mm-hmm.

Brad Herda (: 19:23

Right. there's, and it's a structured, it's also a very structured training program as well, typically, versus going to try to find somebody that's willing to hire you off the street to give you the shot that now it's just unstructured on the job training, all this stuff, and it becomes very confusing. And as you said, the attention to deep, right. And that's, I guess, for those owners, just your onboarding process is really freaking important.

Brooke (: 19:48

Yes, very.

Steve Doyle (: 19:51

So one of the questions that I always wonder about is why you obviously kind of had that feeling going into the trades. You went down the welding side. Why not a plumber? Why not an electrician? Why? Like what kind of helps separate those out for you?

Brooke (: 20:10

there was really no rhyme or reason as to why I picked welding. was just like, this looks cool. I'm going to try it. Like what's the worst that happens? I don't like it. I find something else, but I feel like I wasn't exposed to the trades a lot growing up. Like my grandfather was a drywall foreman, but he had already left the field and started working in real estate by the time I was born. So I didn't really get to see that side of it. And then my dad worked at General Motors. So I saw like the automotive side of it and I saw the

Steve Doyle (: 20:20

Mm-hmm.

Steve Doyle (: 20:31

Mm-hmm.

Brooke (: 20:40

carpal tunnel surgeries that he needed to have. I was like, yeah, so that's not for me at all. But I...

Steve Doyle (: 20:45

Yeah.

Brad Herda (: 20:46

and welding is going to help that by not having carpal tunnel surgery?

Brooke (: 20:49

I'm not strictly a welder. My hands do vibrate in the middle of the night sometimes from the power tools, but I feel like I'll get over that eventually. I feel like there isn't really anything that necessarily differentiated any of the trades from me. I was just like, I'm going to try this one and work so happens is I don't like it and then I try something else.

Steve Doyle (: 20:52

Yeah.

Yeah.

Steve Doyle (: 21:11

And for people that are listening or you know, if you catch Brook on social media, how is there anything that any advice that you would have to give them on how to help them kind of like figure out kind of like, hey, this is where you could start. Like these are kind of characteristics of different trades that we that I personally have seen. Do you have anything like that?

Brooke (: 21:40

not necessarily. I find that the best way like.

Brad Herda (: 21:43

If you don't like dark places, welding is probably not the best thing for you.

Brooke (: 21:47

Yeah, that's definitely true. Or like, if you're really scared of being electrocuted, maybe don't be an electrician. You know? But I feel like there's just different aspects to all of the trades. Like, with welding, you can be in a lot of really tight spots. And in position welds really suck, to be so honest. Like, it's so shitty when you're like up in a ceiling, yeah, and you're like, and you have like six inches between like the wall and the pipe and you're like trying to bend your rod around the, like the stinger, but...

Steve Doyle (: 21:53

Mm-hmm.

Steve Doyle (: 22:12

Mm-hmm.

Brooke (: 22:16

I feel like other than that, you have to be prepared for heavy lifting in any trade that you do. So if you don't want to lift heavy, don't go into the trades at all, I would say. But there's lots of different avenues that you can go down and I feel like the best way to kind of inform yourself isn't Google, it's definitely social media because there are a lot of creators on social media who are showing the real side of their trade. Like every other video for me I'm scrolling, it's like, Day in the Life has a...

Steve Doyle (: 22:17

Mm-hmm.

Steve Doyle (: 22:28

Hmm.

Brooke (: 22:45

union drywall or like day in the life as a non-union electrician. So I feel like those are really the best option with the day and age that we live in if you're looking to kind of educate yourself.

Steve Doyle (: 22:54

Mm-hmm.

Brad Herda (: 22:56

She called us old Steve.

Steve Doyle (: 22:58

She did, she did. She just called us a couple of unks. It's okay.

Brooke (: 23:01

I've never I've never used the word unk in my life, okay? I swear

Brad Herda (: 23:01

She just called us home.

Steve Doyle (: 23:07

I have a teenage, two teenage daughters, so I hear it all the time.

Brooke (: 23:13

Okay, that makes sense. It's probably how my mom felt like six years ago. I feel bad for her. Yeah.

Steve Doyle (: 23:20

Right.

Brad Herda (: 23:27

All right, this is the part of the show where we go through some rapid fire questions, Brooke, real quick. Favorite blue collar skill you wish more people had?

Brooke (: 23:32

Okay, I'm ready.

Brooke (: 23:37

reading a tape measure.

Steve Doyle (: 23:39

Ooh.

Brad Herda (: 23:40

Okay, you've got a time machine. Where are you gonna go back to and why?

Brooke (: 23:46

I'm gonna go back to probably the 90s. I was born in 2003, okay? I wanna go back to the 90s. I wanna see what my parents were like when they were like teenagers in my age, you know? Because I think they're the coolest people now. So I can only imagine when they were my age, how cool they were.

Steve Doyle (: 23:51

So far.

Brad Herda (: 23:52

So far back, way back.

Brad Herda (: 24:04

That's awesome. What's your go to excuse when running late?

Steve Doyle (: 24:05

That's pretty cool.

Brooke (: 24:10

Flat tire?

Brad Herda (: 24:12

Beer bourbon or a more of a kabucha person

Steve Doyle (: 24:15

you

Brooke (: 24:20

I would pick bourbon out of all of those.

Brad Herda (: 24:23

Okay. Biggest BS, workplace BS you wish you could call out more often.

Brooke (: 24:30

toxic management.

Steve Doyle (: 24:33

Mmm.

Brad Herda (: 24:33

Okay, coffee or energy drink.

Brooke (: 24:36

Both? Is that an option? Amazing. Fuck.

Brad Herda (: 24:39

It's always an option. Go to curse word.

Steve Doyle (: 24:39

Yes.

Steve Doyle (: 24:43

You

Brad Herda (: 24:45

leader in the clubhouse favorite candy

Brooke (: 24:46

you

I'm gonna get real Canadian here, I like coffee crisp.

chocolate bar.

Steve Doyle (: 24:53

What? Okay.

Brad Herda (: 24:56

Interesting. Okay. Are you a texter or a caller?

Brooke (: 25:01

depends on the person.

Brad Herda (: 25:03

Fair early burger night owl.

Steve Doyle (: 25:04

Mmm, fair.

Brooke (: 25:06

Early bird.

Brad Herda (: 25:08

What was in your lunchbox today?

Brooke (: 25:10

nothing because I don't work on Fridays.

Steve Doyle (: 25:13

Solid.

Brad Herda (: 25:16

All right, dream job as a kid.

Brooke (: 25:19

I wanted to be a forensic scientist.

Steve Doyle (: 25:22

Hmm

Brad Herda (: 25:23

And you kind of are a little bit ish from a welding perspective, right? It's somewhat could make a path there somehow. Yeah, best pizza topping.

Brooke (: 25:23

Mm-hmm.

Brooke (: 25:33

Where is metallurgy?

Brooke (: 25:37

Pineapple. Yep. Yep. Everybody's gonna hate on me for that.

Brad Herda (: 25:39

Come on.

I'll give you all the respect walking in a job site until you just said pineapple on your pizza.

Steve Doyle (: 25:54

You

Brad Herda (: 25:57

Favorite TV show to binge.

Brooke (: 26:00

Supernatural.

Brad Herda (: 26:02

Okay, nickname on the job site.

Brooke (: 26:08

My first job site, I was white girl with attitude.

Steve Doyle (: 26:15

That's a long nickname.

Brooke (: 26:15

Yeah, it was great.

Steve Doyle (: 26:23

This is good. This is good stuff.

Brad Herda (: 26:24

wow. Favorite music.

Brooke (: 26:31

country or R &B?

Brad Herda (: 26:33

Favorite sport.

Brooke (: 26:35

Bollywood.

Brad Herda (: 26:37

Bucket list vacation location.

Brooke (: 26:40

Maui.

Brad Herda (: 26:42

Okay, living or dead, who would you want to have a conversation with?

Brooke (: 26:50

That is tough. I would say I gotta know what's up with Michael Jackson actually. I gotta investigate that more.

Brooke (: 27:02

It's true.

Steve Doyle (: 27:02

Okay!

Brad Herda (: 27:03

Okay. Fair enough. Fair enough. I Wow, that's awesome. So how do people find you on social? It's a unique name spelling. So how do people find you? Where do get ahold of you? How do they find the sisterhood? All those things your podcast podcast name is what it's to flange short of a what to not short of a flan what

Steve Doyle (: 27:06

Yup.

Brooke (: 27:27

You almost there. Two bolts short of a flange.

Brad Herda (: 27:31

two bolts right off, gotcha.

Brooke (: 27:32

Yep, two volts short per short, but yeah. Most of my social media is Langer, pretty easy, take my last name, put an ER at the end of it. LinkedIn, Brook Lang, podcast, said the name, Sisterhood of Trades mostly is just at Sisterhood of Trades.

Brad Herda (: 27:35

Okay.

Brad Herda (: 27:55

Okay. And how do people get involved with the Sisterhood? Do they just go out, find it, and say, hey, I want to become a member? is there like a blood oath initiation process? mean, what do you guys got to do here?

Steve Doyle (: 28:05

you

Brooke (: 28:06

There is a verification process. So we basically just ask for a photo of your ID with sensitive information crossed out, a picture of yourself to make sure it matches, and then also your trade. But we do also have two new kind of sections of it. We have one for recruiters who are looking to come in and hire some more women. So if you're a recruiter looking to hire anybody in Canada or the US, we can get you in the Discord. You can post some God postings. And then we also have a new one for members who are curious about the trades.

all these women who are asking us, hey, like, how do I get in? It's a different verification process, but then you'll be able to talk to all of our members, kind of ask some questions, fill it out, get advice, all that stuff.

Steve Doyle (: 28:49

Fantastic.

Brad Herda (: 28:51

is fantastic. I really want to name the show White Girl with Attitude, but I know we can't do that for an episode title. I really want to be the episode title so bad, but that's probably not going to go over well.

Brooke (: 28:56

It's your podcast

Steve Doyle (: 28:56

Why not? We can do that.

Brooke (: 29:07

That was very true.

Brad Herda (: 29:09

As much as I want to, I don't know that we're going to do that.

Brooke (: 29:13

I think it would be really funny, for your sake of not getting cancelled, I would say maybe don't do that. That's very true.

Brad Herda (: 29:17

We're explicit. We're an explicit show, so it's okay. Right? It's in the name. Blue Collar's in the name. mean, it's like, you can't have... Yes, exactly. So, I mean, there's, we've had some. Yeah, we got, when DT comes out, his episode's called Who's Sucking Now? Because he's a... That's his episode title and because he does all Greasetraps.

Steve Doyle (: 29:19

we're not worried about that.

Brooke (: 29:28

straights asking for it.

Steve Doyle (: 29:30

Mm-hmm.

Steve Doyle (: 29:39

That's...

Brooke (: 29:39

Brooke (29:48.237)

okay, got it. I was really hoping for some kind of explanation on that one, so...

Steve Doyle (: 29:48

Mm-hmm.

Brad Herda (: 29:50

Something.

Steve Doyle (: 29:54

You

Brad Herda (: 29:57

Yeah, so, I'm pregnant. Right. This was awesome. Thank you so much. And thank you for what you do for all of the Blue Collar World to bring young women into the opportunity and have the support network that you guys are creating with the Sisterhood is absolutely amazing and...

Steve Doyle (: 29:57

Yeah, they vacuum out grease traps. All right. Yeah.

Brad Herda (: 30:20

The next step is for industry and for the owners of businesses and communities to start embracing the things that you guys are talking about to make change. So please keep up the good work that you guys are doing. We're here to support that. That's why you guys are getting all these little dealies right here. Your little stickers are on the way. Should be a delivered nush tomorrow, I think. So you can start distributing those to your, to your members and.

Brooke (: 30:39

So excited.

Brad Herda (: 30:47

However we can support you from our show standpoint, please let us know how we can do that.

Brooke (: 30:52

Of course, thank you guys so much for letting me come and kind of talk about my passion. I really appreciate it.

Steve Doyle (: 30:57

Yeah, no problem.

Brad Herda (: 30:58

We appreciate you very much and have a great day.

Brooke (: 31:01

You too.