As reported in the Times Colonist, Mary-Anne Bowcott is not what you’re expecting, and she’s used to that.

The 33-year-old owner of Westcom Plumbing and Gas in Sooke still registers the surprise, sometimes shock, in people’s eyes when she walks in the door with her tools.

But over the past 10 years, the journeyman plumber and certified gas fitter has gotten used to the odd raised eyebrow, and never let it get in the way of establishing her small company as a force to be reckoned with on the Island.

Bowcott’s determination to succeed — the overachieving tendency she’s had since she was a kid — has driven her small company’s growth and lifted her into the spotlight.

Bowcott was just named the Canadian Construction Association person of the year, hard on the heels of receiving back-to-back excellence awards from the Sooke Region Chamber of Commerce, along with the 2018 B.C. Construction Industry Leader Award.

Bowcott admits she’s still “blown away” by the success of the firm and the awards, but she also understands when people are taken aback when she shows up to work. “I get it,” she said, noting few expect the person both running the company and “on the tools” to be a young, petite woman with seemingly boundless energy.

It’s the same kind of reaction she got when, as an 18-year-old, she tried to get hired in construction. Looking back, she understands why she didn’t get so much as a second glance when she sent out more than 100 resumés.

“I had zero construction experience, I am not even 100 pounds, and I’m an 18-year-old female. I can see why people didn’t call me,” she said with a laugh.

Her energy and sense of humour are two tools she’s needed over the last 15 years in the trades, the first five working as a roofer.

Keep reading in the Times Colonist

 

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