One of only a few women in the carpentry industry, journeyman Carolyn DeNess has been a carpenter for 15 years. The many projects she has worked on include the Olivenhain Dam, the South Bay sewer pipeline, the Grossmont Summit (the bridges that connect I-8 and I-94), Pala Casino and the sewer treatment plants in Oceanside and South County.

DeNess carries a 30-pound nail bag as well as a full body harness as she builds frames for walls, which are then poured full of concrete. She is a single mother and says it’s difficult to juggle her career and family. “You’re beat when you come home,” she says. “Your kid wants to play, but you just want to crash and burn.”

She has been a union member since she was an apprentice. Currently she is with the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America. For women, the major benefit of unions is equal pay with men. “I don’t have to depend on a man because I make good money,” she says. She makes about $30 per hour and enjoys working outdoors.

“In any male-dominated workplace, there’s going to be discrimination,” says DeNess. And a construction site is certainly no different. “Some companies are more woman-friendly than others.”

The environment was better at the start of her career, she says, because affirmative action was in place and companies needed women. Now companies can hire whomever they want. “Back then there were more women, now there’s just a handful. I see another woman every once in a while, but not very often.”

DeNess is currently unemployed. Her last job was working on the waste treatment center in Hemet, where she lives. She is from Lemon Grove, but lived in Oceanside before the cheaper real estate tempted her to relocate to Hemet. Sometimes she can spend more than an hour commuting to jobs in the city.

She likes to snow ski, but because of the irregular job schedules, where she can be out of work for months at a time, she says, “it’s hard to have a hobby because we don’t have regular vacation time. I haven’t been on a vacation in 10 years.”

In spite of the scheduling problems, DeNess plans to stay in the industry. In the future, she would like to become the first woman business agent for her carpenter union. “I love working construction,” she says.