The 47th Annual Convention and Trade Show was held in Charlotte/Concord, North Carolina. McCabe is a licensed contractor and industry ambassador. Her work focuses on tightening the skills gap, encouraging women to enter a male-dominated field and showing alternative paths to the traditional college route. During her presentation, “Trades in the 21st Century,” she shared her story and discussed the need to restore dignity to crafts as a profession.
“I starting taking the SAT, ACT in 7th grade — on level with super nerd,” McCabe said. “All through high school it was AP classes and college prep. But it wasn’t anything that made me happy. As I was about to graduate, the counselor asked me what I was going to do. I said I wanted to be a welder. There is something magical about being under a hood.”
McCabe dropped out of college and took a rambling career path that ultimately led her to a successful career in do-it-yourself television.
“The fallacy of do-it-yourself TV shows is that it gives the impression that someone with no skill or training can remodel a kitchen in the time it takes to have a three-course meal,” McCabe said. “I’m a smart person, but I didn’t get the Pythagorean Theorem until I was on a job site for the first time.”
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“I want people to know that there are lifelong opportunities and careers that blossom into other things in commercial and industrial construction,” she said. “Yes, it takes training on par with a bachelor’s degree, but the benefits are that the money is great and the work is rewarding.”
In addition to the keynote presentation by McCabe, there were other sessions for managers or field level personnel, exhibitors with live equipment demos and networking activities. Attendees could also go to the George R. Pocock Memorial Golf Tournament, fishing on Lake Norman, the Gala Dinner and Awards Banquet at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Club or the NHRA drag racing event at the conclusion of the convention.
