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In this episode: Christi Powell and Angela Gardner welcome back Perlla DeLuca of Southeast Constructors and the Pink Hard Hat Foundation to discuss her recent work and advocacy for women in construction. Perlla shares insights from an international safety symposium in Miami and explains that her foundation was sparked by worsening treatment of women, even in federal contracting, and by seeing female students denied training opportunities. She identifies key safety gaps: jobsite harassment and abuse incidents aren’t being tracked, so they’re not addressed, and she’s working on an AI-driven code of conduct to help protect women. Perla describes how the Iowa School of Construction builds skills and confidence through hands-on, critical-thinking training, plus added self-defense for women and harassment education. She advises women to lead with knowledge, prepare thoroughly, and find supportive male allies, and she discusses her self-care through fitness, cooking, entertaining, and short trips.

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In this episode: Christi Powell and Angela Gardner welcome returning guest Nancy Novak, a 30+ year construction executive who has semi-retired into an ambassador role at Compass Data Centers while serving on adjacent boards and continuing mentorship to advance women in the industry. Nancy explains planning her transition nearly two years in advance, overlapping a year with successor Amy Marks, and valuing a “soft landing” while prioritizing health and family time. She identifies AI as the most disruptive recent jobsite technology, building on earlier database advances, and stresses keeping critical thinking and improving industry communication to become more relational than transactional. Nancy shares Google’s “potential vs. credential” promotion data to highlight systemic gender patterns and urges women to self-advocate earlier and lead differently. She discusses a “perfect storm” of demand, demographics, infrastructure, and technology creating opportunity, outlines ways to check and counter implicit bias through diverse decision-making rooms, and says her husband and continuous learning keep her grounded.

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In this episode: Angela Gardner and Christi Powell interview Vinny, Vice President of Job Site Solutions at Milwaukee Tool, celebrating his 25-year career with the company. Vinny recounts Milwaukee’s cultural shift after its 2005 acquisition by Techtronic Industries, when leadership refocused from trying to serve everyone back to core plumbing and electrical trades and recommitted to in-field user research to drive safer, lighter, more productive tools. He describes Milwaukee’s major disruption in 2005 with the first lithium-ion cordless platform (V28), later evolving into the M18 and M12 platforms. Vinny explains why Milwaukee consistently supports ABC chapters to help train apprentices and strengthen future infrastructure. He names the M12 screwdriver (2401-22) as a sentimental favorite and closes with Milwaukee’s “disruptive innovation” elevator pitch.

Supported by: NPK

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