When Marianne walks onto a job site, she brings more than her toolbox, she brings skill, confidence, and a perspective that’s rare in the electrical trade. In an industry where only about 2% of electricians are women, Marianne often finds herself as the only female face on site. In fact, she’s never personally met another female electrician.
But that hasn’t slowed her down. From installing complex wiring in homes to troubleshooting challenging electrical systems, Marianne handles every project with professionalism and precision. She’s now a master electrician, a title she achieved through years of dedication, curiosity, and determination.
“I never really intended to stay for 10 years, to be honest. I kind of thought I would get in it and not really like it, and I guess it started that way,” Marianne recalls. “But the longer I was in it, the more people told me I couldn’t do it, and then I was like, ‘Okay, watch this,’ and then I did it. And then they told me I couldn’t get my master’s, and I was like, ‘Okay, watch this,’ and then I did it. So I’m kind of a little bit spiteful, I guess, maybe not in a bad way, but in an I’ll-prove-you-wrong kind of way.”
Marianne also encourages other women to explore careers in the trades. “If you’re kind of iffy about it, you’re a little nervous, really, the best thing I can say is just do it,” she says. “You’ll either do it and you’ll like it, or you’ll do it and you’ll hate it, and then just do something else… You don’t have to have in your mind that you’re gonna do it forever. You can just try it, and if you don’t like it, cool, move on to the next thing. If you do like it, hey, you got a career.”
What keeps Marianne passionate about her work is the constant learning and collaboration that the electrical trade offers. “It really rarely gets boring. There’s always something new. There’s always something to learn. You can always learn different ways to do something because nobody does one task the same way,” she explains. “I’m certainly not too prideful to learn from other people, even if they’re helpers, because in my mind, those helpers help other leads, and then those leads have taught them something. I always love to gain knowledge from people and to share knowledge with people. And sometimes it’s just really simple — a way to use leverage to make things better. Something like, ‘Hey, I can’t believe I didn’t think of that, but that’s really smart.’ And then you just kind of put it away in your belt of knowledge, and you can use it later when you need it.”
At Laswell Electric, we’re proud to have Marianne on our team. She’s not just an exceptional electrician, she’s a trailblazer, demonstrating that the trades are for anyone ready to learn, grow, and make an impact.
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