Adrienne’s path into ironwork may have started with a billboard, but steel had been part of her life long before that. She grew up in a Pennsylvania steel town shaped by the legacy of Bethlehem Steel. Her grandfather and all seven of his brothers worked there, as did her father and later her younger brother. Surrounded by generations of steelworkers, she didn’t realize it at the time, but the industry that built her hometown would eventually lead her to a career building and repairing some of New York City’s most iconic infrastructure.
After graduating from college and earning her degrees, Adrienne began working in a traditional office environment. It didn’t take long for her to realize that the work simply wasn’t for her. The daily routine of sitting at a desk left her feeling unfulfilled and restless.
In 2004, she moved to New York City and continued working jobs that didn’t quite feel right. Then one day she noticed a billboard that would change the trajectory of her life. The sign was for new – non-traditional employment for women, a program based in New York City that trains women for careers in the skilled trades.
Curious, she made the call.
While continuing to work her regular job, Adrienne began taking evening courses through the program. It opened the door to an entirely different world, one that involved building things, working with her hands, and being part of something tangible.
In early 2008 she learned that Iron Workers Local 40 was testing for their apprenticeship program. She took the exam and passed, although her score placed her in a group expected to wait about a year before beginning the apprenticeship.
Adrienne started working at Iron Workers Local 40 in December 2008, stepping onto a path that would become a defining part of her life.
At the time, she was also skating with Gotham Girls Roller Derby, traveling as part of their All-Star team. The combination of roller derby and ironwork made for a physically demanding lifestyle, but it suited her perfectly. She was energetic, athletic, and excited to be doing something that challenged her.
Throughout her career, Adrienne has worked on a variety of projects, including the Brooklyn Bridge rehabilitation with Skanska Koch. During that time, she worked through two pregnancies, continuing to work for most of each term. With her first child, she worked until the week of Thanksgiving and welcomed her daughter on December 8. With her second, she worked until a little over eight months pregnant.
At the time, there was no maternity policy in place for ironworkers. But now Iron Workers have in place a groundbreaking maternity policy that provides up to 6 months of paid leave for pregnant members unable to work and 6–8 weeks of paid post-partum leave. Adrienne joined many other women in writing letters advocating for policies that would better support women entering the trade, particularly as unions were actively recruiting more female members.
Adrienne believes strongly that people are responsible for their own happiness and direction in life. If you don’t enjoy what you’re doing, she says, it’s better to change your path than to stay somewhere that makes you miserable.
“You only get one life and its’ short,” says Adrienne. So, enjoy the crap out of it.”
When it comes to work, Adrienne enjoys the problem-solving aspects of ironwork the most. She has a natural engineering mindset and gravitates toward tasks like rigging, demolition and burning, and troubleshooting challenges in the field. But her favorite moments are often the simplest ones: being handed a set of blueprints and given the space to work independently for the day.
“I’ve been around guys my whole life,” she says with a laugh. “They don’t make me uncomfortable… even when they try to.”
Early in her career, ironwork was her entire focus. Today, while she remains proud of her work and experience in the industry, her greatest priority is raising her children, spending time with them, and setting a strong example.
Over the past 17 years, Adrienne has worked on many major New York City infrastructure projects, including the Brooklyn Bridge, Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, RFK Bridge, Alexander Hamilton Bridge, West Side Highway, and the Gowanus Expressway. Bridge and infrastructure work remains her favorite because it often requires creative thinking and real-time problem solving in the field.
In addition to her work in construction, Adrienne now shares content online to help other women learn about the trades. She explains how to enter union apprenticeships, how to find the right trade, and what the day-to-day work looks like.
Mindset is also a central theme of her work. Adrienne is a certified hypnotherapist and confidence coach who has spent more than a decade studying the human brain.
Through her content, she encourages women to build confidence and overcome the mental barriers that often arise when entering male-dominated industries.
For Adrienne, ironwork has been more than a job. It has been an adventure, a challenge, and a platform to show other women that there are many different paths to building a fulfilling life.