We can’t wait until girls are 18 to convince them they belong in STEM or the trades. By then, many have already decided they don’t. Confidence has to be built long before self-doubt ever arrives.

Building Confidence Before Self-Doubt Shows Up

After more than 30 years working in telecommunications and construction, I’ve spent a lot of time asking why there still aren’t more women in STEM and the skilled trades.

People often assume the answer starts in high school or college.

I don’t think it does.

I think it starts much much earlier, as it did for me.

Somewhere along the way, little girls stop raising their hands. They stop climbing trees. They stop taking things apart just to see how they work. They begin worrying more about getting it right than trying something new. Confidence slowly gives way to comparison, and curiosity gets replaced with self-doubt.

By the time many young women are introduced to careers in engineering, construction, utilities, telecommunications, manufacturing, or other technical fields, they’ve already spent years believing those careers belong to someone else.

That’s a problem we can fix.

I grew up around steel fabrication and eventually built a career in one of the more male-dominated industries in America. I didn’t become successful because someone lowered the bar for me. I became successful because people saw something in me and gave me opportunities, expected excellence, and allowed me to figure out that I was capable of more than I ever imagined.

Confidence isn’t something we’re born with.

It’s something we build.

We build it every time a girl learns to safely use a tool, solve a problem, repair something that’s broken, ask a question without fear of looking foolish, lead a team, or discover that failure isn’t something to avoid—it’s simply part of learning.

That’s exactly why I created the Power Tools & Ponytails™ series and why workforce development has become such an important part of my mission. We shouldn’t be waiting until career fairs to introduce girls to the trades. We should be planting those seeds in elementary school, long before someone tells them they “can’t.”

Imagine what our workforce could look like if every young girl grew up believing she could build it, fix it, design it, engineer it, inspect it, or lead it.

The future of our industries doesn’t begin when someone fills out a job application.

It begins when a little girl believes she can.

Where STEM, Leadership, and the Skilled Trades Meet

People often talk about STEM and the skilled trades as though they’re separate worlds.

They aren’t.

Every modern trade is powered by STEM.

Whether you’re building wireless infrastructure, welding structural steel, programming automated equipment, operating heavy machinery, inspecting bridges, managing construction projects, or designing the next generation of technology, you’re solving problems every single day using science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

But technical knowledge alone isn’t enough.

The best professionals I’ve worked with over the past three decades all shared another trait: leadership.

Leadership isn’t defined by your title.

It’s taking ownership of your work.

It’s making safety a priority even when no one is watching.

It’s mentoring the apprentice standing beside you.

It’s asking better questions, solving problems, communicating clearly, and leaving every jobsite better than you found it.

Throughout my career, I’ve had the privilege of helping build national safety programs, managing thousands of telecommunications infrastructure assets, serving alongside industry organizations committed to workforce development, and mentoring women entering careers where they were often the only female in the room. One lesson has remained constant: our industries don’t just need more workers—they need confident leaders.

That leadership pipeline starts long before someone’s first day on the job.

When we introduce girls to STEM, expose them to the skilled trades, and allow them to discover they can build, create, innovate, and lead, we’re investing in the future of every industry that depends on skilled professionals.

The workforce challenges we face won’t be solved by recruiting alone.

They’ll be solved by inspiring.

If young people can see themselves in these careers, they’ll begin preparing for them. If they see women leading projects, running crews, teaching apprentices, and shaping the future of our industries, they’ll understand something powerful:

There is a place for them here.

And perhaps that’s the greatest leadership lesson of all.

People can’t become what they never see.