Working from home can be a dream for some, but for Allison Matthews, it was more of a confinement than a perk. "I didn't like being cooped up," she told us when we visited her and her crew in rural Florida. Today, she works as an in-house foreman, and — bug bites aside — enjoys the variety of her day-to-day job outside much more than sitting at a computer.
Working as a foreman in broadband, she oversees crews installing internet lines to homes and businesses, keeping jobs on track and up to code. That means supporting the teams with equipment, guidance and hands-on support as well as being the bridge between the boots on the ground and upper-level management.
Like most in the industry, Matthews didn't imagine herself working on internet infrastructure, and she can empathize with someone daunted by the physical and somewhat technical, male-dominated sector. She herself came into the industry at only around 100 pounds.
But from her perspective, it really is an area for anyone willing to put in the sweat equity — both physically and in technical training. While many of the jobs are skilled trades, they don't require a four-year degree. Within a year of getting started in the industry, Matthews was working as a lineman and making better money than she could in an hourly job, she explained.
"You can move up fast," said Matthews. "You have the opportunity, as a woman, to make more [money] and make that of which men make in those trades. You just have to put the work in and stick with it."
Listen to her story:
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