"It doesn’t matter what gender you are, you just have to put in the effort," says plumbing and gas business owner and industry influencer, Mary-Anne Bowcott, when asked about being taken seriously as a female technician in a male-dominated field. "It’s pretty easy to stand out — especially in this day and age when it’s nearly impossible to find good help."

Based on Vancouver Island, Canada, the owner and operator of Westcom Plumbing and Gas Ltd. with more than 20 years of construction industry experience, Bowcott is no stranger to overcoming adversity. From early on in life through adulthood, she beat the odds and is now a role model and mentor for aspiring and active tradespeople.

"When I was an apprentice and later building my business, I didn’t have a mentor; I had to figure it all out as I went," she says. "Today, I get to be that for many female (and male) plumbers, so it’s a true full-circle moment and I am so thankful."

Now known in the industry as "The Lady Plumber," Bowcott travels the world sharing her love for the trade, being an ambassador for the plumbing industry; living a life that young Mary-Anne Bowcott wouldn’t believe was possible.

Rock bottom

Bowcott’s trade career was born after she truly climbed up from rock bottom. After dropping out of high school due to facing ongoing bullying, she found herself mixed up with the “cool” crowd in town, which soon led to partying that became out of control.

“After getting my first job as a labourer, I met my partner at the time, a cousin of the friend I started working with. This relationship ended up being extremely psychologically abusive and then became physical.”

After enduring unthinkable abuse that landed her in the hospital, Bowcott left that relationship, quit drinking and doing drugs, and completely turned her life around.

“After some incidences, I told him the next time he puts his hands on me, I will leave him,” she says. “He did it again, so I left him.”

Now needing a fresh start, a mutual friend connected Bowcott with a commercial roofing company, and Bowcott asked the owner if he would hire her, and he said yes. Without hesitation, she started on a roofing crew the following Monday. On this crew is where Bowcott met her now husband Dale Stevens.

After five years working in commercial roofing, Bowcott knew she loved tools, problem-solving and working with her hands, but she didn’t love commercial construction. Stevens connected her with a friend of his — a residential plumber. Dean Gilmour, owner of Gilmour Plumbing, says Bowcott’s confidence and positive attitude stood out to him from the interview, and she soon began her plumbing apprenticeship — The Lady Plumber was born.

Bowcott’s story was featured on Season Five of Pfister Faucet’s American Plumber Stories.

Standing out

Being the first to arrive and last to leave is great advice for any employee, though many today don’t follow through with that mantra. Bowcott, on the other hand, was known for making people around her work harder.

"Mary-Anne was always the first on the jobsite and last to leave; she made people on her crew work harder because of that," Gilmour says.

As Gilmour Plumbing’ first-ever female plumbing apprentice, Bowcott says while she didn’t have any hesitations about learning plumbing trade, she knew the greatest challenge would be acceptance.

"Being accepted and taken seriously as a female isn’t going to come easily," she says. "It depends on who you’re working with and for. A lot of companies out there will recognize that you work hard and value you for it, but others won’t. The good news is that it’s pretty easy to tell from early on if you’re going to be accepted or not."

Bowcott has built a social media presence as The Lady Plumber where she shares plumbing content, tool content, workout content and more. With approximately 230,000 follows across Instagram and TikTok combined, people reach out daily asking for advice and tips.

"When a woman reaches out asking for advice on handling a negative workplace, harassment, etc., my advice is to try another company," she says. "Unfortunately, you won’t change people’s minds who think that way, so you’re better off finding a place that will accept you and give you a chance."

Bowcott knew her presence made people work harder; "No one wants to be out-performed by the girl on the crew," she says.

While acceptance can be a challenge for women in the trades, according to Bowcott, it’s still easy to stand out in a positive way. "Of course I stand out because I’m a woman doing plumbing," she says. "But I very quickly stood out because of my work ethic and talent with tools. In today’s age, it isn’t hard to stand out — you just have to show up consistently and work harder."

Since starting her own plumbing company, Westcom Plumbing & Gas Ltd., Bowcott has experienced both the pros and cons of being a female trade business owner. She says while there are likely people who decided not to hire her because she is female, she doesn’t feel the effects of that because she’s so busy with the clients who do trust and hire her.

"I built a reputation off of being easy to work with, fairly priced and trustworthy," she says. "So thankfully, if people don’t hire me because I am female, I don’t notice."

Bowcott adds that being a female-owned company — with female plumbers on staff — filled a need in the market for women who have been in a similar situation to what she overcame.

"Women who have been abused by men often don’t feel comfortable with men they don’t know coming into their home," she says. "So in some cases, I was hired because I am a woman, and I’m happy to make those women feel safe."

Can-do attitude

Part of what has made Bowcott stand out is her "I can do that," attitude, which her dad, Lloyd Bowcott, says she’s had her whole life. "Mary-Anne tries to excel at everything she does, and I’m so proud of her for that."

Bowcott says she has always focused her time and energy on perfecting the things she is good at. "If I am good at something, I want to be the best," she says. "If I’m not good at it, I have zero interest — I focus my energy on things I know I can excel at and working my absolute hardest to be the best I can be at them."

This attitude served her well when she branched off to start her own company — something she had absolutely no experience with prior. Bowcott was a tools and plumbing pro by that point, but had no idea how to build and run a business.

"I had to figure everything out on my own as I went along," she says. "I made plenty of mistakes and there are definitely things I would do differently when it comes to the business side, but I would never change my decision to get into the trades or take on the challenge of building my own company."

While entrepreneurship has been a rewarding road for Bowcott, her future plans include getting back to what she loves most – the trade work.

"I am so thankful for Westcom, but over the past 10 years it has shown me that I want to focus on my strengths," she says. "My heart is in the day-to-day work of plumbing and gas, and what I really enjoy is working with my tools and my hands. My goal moving forward is to get back to that, and I’m thankful my business and social media platforms have made it possible to do so."

Some advice Bowcott has for young people and women coming into the trades — make yourself valuable. "When things get tough these companies rely on and protect their most valuable workers," she says. "From the beginning I made myself valuable so that when push came to shove, I always got my 40-plus hours."

Bowcott says the bullying and struggle to fit in during her childhood definitely has an impact on who she is today. "I’m more appreciative of the industry and people in my life who do accept me because of the long time I spent facing hatefulness and seclusion."

Having beat the odds when it comes to breaking away from a both a dangerous lifestyle and a nearly fatal abusive relationship, Bowcott says the most rewarding aspect of her career thus far is being a mentor and a voice for women in the trades, especially since she didn’t have one herself.

"The community I have on social media is rewarding because I get to help people solve problems — both technical and personal," she says. "Never in a million years did I think I would make it to where I am today. I hope my story shows that you can come out of that dark place — rock bottom. Don’t give up because there are always other options."