![\"\"](\"https:\/\/loopnewslive.blob.core.windows.net\/liveimage\/sites\/default\/files\/9e6b8fe71ccf46564fa2ac5472b83c48judaline_1.jpg\" "\\"Judaline")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nJudaline Cassidy<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cassidy didn\u2019t plan to be a plumber. A student of Diego Martin Secondary School, she wanted to be a lawyer and although she had the subjects she couldn\u2019t afford the fees to study law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead, she enrolled at the then John Donaldson Technical Institute and applied to do plumbing thinking that it would be easier to get into the programme as a woman rather than apply for a course like Culinary Studies and not get selected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was always determined to succeed and I wasn\u2019t gonna grow up, be somebody girlfriend and wait for them to give me money to go the market. I was always driven to succeed. I would walk to John D from Diego Martin when I had no money,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cassidy got married and migrated to the US at 19 just before she finished the course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the US, she joined a Union and studied plumbing for five years at night school, learning the science behind the application.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, she said, she makes over US$100,000 a year without a degree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cassidy said as a woman she still has to deal with harassment and condescension from men who express surprise when she shows up to jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t take offence, I use humour and I know just by being there, I am making sure other women can be there. Those same guys end up being my biggest fans,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cassidy has been resolute in making her mark in the field and inspiring other women to follow suit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the first women to be accepted into Plumbers Local 371 Staten Island, NY, she was also the first woman elected to the Examining Board of Plumbers Local No. 1. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She helped ushered in the first Women’s Committee within her Union and became the Committee\u2019s first President and inspired several platforms to develop programs for women. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prior to Tools and Tiaras, Cassidy founded \u201cLean In Women In Trades\u201d to help tradeswomen share information and learn from each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cassidy said her job is not for the faint of heart especially when battling the elements, however, she said she is very passionate about what she does. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The freedom the salary brings is amazing, it still lights me up, I go to work on a high. I get to improve people\u2019s lives through plumbing, I am a superhero,\u201d she declared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Turning her attention back to T&T, Cassidy, who visited every year before the pandemic, said it is important for the Government to train young people in the construction trades as will help the economy and create employment instead of spending money to outsource talent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n