Grant Searle decided to become a plumber after talking to people already
in the trade.
"I just heard good things about it," he says. "I knew I didn't want to
go to university -- I wasn't really that type. I knew people that were in
[plumbing], and they were making decent money. I heard it's basically one
of the highest paid trades out there."
There's no question you can make a good living as a plumber, especially
if you have your own plumbing business eventually.
"I know some people think they're not going to make as much money doing
plumbing as they would, say, doing engineering or something, but I know a
guy and he makes $130,000 a month doing plumbing," says plumbing apprentice
Michael Bouchat. "He's got six vans.
"They've obviously got a good clientele base, and they took a long time
to build it up," Bouchat adds. "It's not something you could
do overnight, but they're making $130,000 a month, that one person and his
wife."
Bill Evans originally wanted to be an accountant. It didn't take long for
him to change his mind.
"I tried and finished level one [of the accounting training] and decided
it really wasn't for me," he says. "So I went into the [plumbing] field, and
when I finished my apprenticeship I started a company."
Evans worked as a plumber for about 15 years. He had a plumbing company
in a ski resort town. The last job he worked on was at a new convention center
there. Now he is a plumbing instructor. He's been teaching plumbing for more
than 20 years.
"Like a lot of our students, I always wanted to be in business," says Evans.
"I sort of wanted to work outside, and I liked working with my hands."
Plumbing gave him what he wanted. With plumbing, he says he was able to
go out and build things and... work in a very technical field where he could
pick up different specialties. "It was great to be able to work outside and
work on something technical and be respected as a proud tradesperson," he
says.
Karen Freidenberger is also a respected tradesperson. But as one of few
women in the plumbing trade, she often has to work harder to get the trust
and respect she deserves.
"I notice that I have to prove myself over and over and over again, as
opposed to a man," she says. "There's skepticism with the new bosses I get,
until I win them over. It takes a good couple years, usually, for them to
be able to trust me and call me up and ask me some real plumbing questions.
"There's very, very few of us (women)," Freidenberger adds. "My dad was
a plumber and a plumbing contractor, and I just wasn't the secretary type.
I'm more the athletic type. I couldn't stand being locked up in an office...
all day long."
Freidenberger has been a plumber at NBC Studios in California for more
than 20 years. She also teaches plumbing at a technical college.
As you can imagine, a television studio is a pretty interesting place to
be a plumber.
"It's a wonderful place to work," says Freidenberger. "I see interesting
people -- not only stars but [also] news people. Also, the plumbing is nicer
here than most places. It's a 'Class A' type job."
One of Freidenberger's on-the-job highlights was seeing Arnold Schwarzenegger
announce that he would be a candidate in the California governor's race (a
race he ended up winning).
"It was kind of exciting because all of the photographers were here and
stuff," she says. "He hadn't said he was running yet, and then he announced
it on the Jay Leno show, and I happened to be working that night, so that
was interesting."