1 / 6
2 / 6
“The original Sears Tower antenna job in the '70s still stands out as one of the toughest jobs … I was on the roof of the world's tallest building looking out over countless small antennas that were already installed and couldn't be moved … The helicopter brought in all the iron piece by piece as me and my crew found the best footing in high winds and extreme cold.”
3 / 6
"I've been a tree man for 43 years ... Emergency storm cleanup is some of the hardest work I've done. One time I did a 19-hour shift clearing lines after a tornado cut off power to a hospital. The younger guys now use ropes to get into the canopy, but I'm old school and still climb the trunk like I was taught. This takes a good set of spurs and the toughest boots you can find."
4 / 6
"I'm proudest of the eight months I spent with cleanup efforts at the World Trade Center site after 9/11 ... I'm lucky I bought that first pair of 2292s because a few days later, I walked over a metal grate lit with 4,000 volts of electricity before a nearby transformer exploded and blew me across the street. I wasn't injured, allowing me to get up and rescue a first responder who passed out from smoke inhalation."
5 / 6
"By the time I was 5, I knew I would be a lineman, too, just like Dad … One of the toughest jobs these boots got me through was the ice storm of 1976. I drove 14 hours to Saginaw, Michigan. The ice was so thick on the poles I had to chip it off with my hook every step I took. Saginaw was counting on us.”
6 / 6
"I've spent the last dozen years working outside, specializing in copper telephone repair and fiber optic installation and maintenance. More women like me are now doing this kind of work. I'm up on ladders, down in manholes, digging, walking. When you're taking care of others, you need boots that take care of you."