While driving into Gulfport, Mississippi, 8 days after Hurricane Katrina, I witnessed a landscape rewritten. The wind had been so violent it physically stripped the leaves off the trees for miles, leaving us in 99-degree heat surrounded by a skeletal forest. While everyone else was trying to get out, our eighty-person team was heading straight into the wreckage.
I’ve been through Hurricane Irene, Wilma, and Super Storm Sandy, every storm is its own battle, but nothing compared to this. People were living under billboard vinyl covered roofs and relying on the radio as their only lifeline. When we hit the ground, it was “game time.” In those first eight hours, we transferred twenty-five poles, working through a graveyard of snapped timber. It wasn’t about the pay, it was about restoring hope and helping people regain a sense of normalcy in the mist of chaos. In moments of crisis, our shared passion, specialized skills, and camaraderie become an unstoppable force.
Throughout my career, from the military to climbing for cable companies, I’ve learned that safety is the only thing that is “no compromise.” In the mud and the heat, your voice is your protection. I made sure my team knew they had the right to speak up and stop a job if it wasn’t right. That voice saves lives.
Now, my career has come full circle. I’ve moved from the groundwork to the rooms where safety standards are architected and programs are built to help others access these jobs. I even watched my own son go through lineman school. I feel blessed to have gone from being the first on the scene to being the voice for the underserved, making sure thousands of people can do this work safely and with a sense of purpose.