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The Edmond Sun, Wednesday, December
9, 1998
Woman puts plumbing success under her belt
By Sandi Craig
While most 14-year-old girls were
shopping or hanging out with friends, Jean Prockish was underneath a
1957 Chevy, helping her brother replace a broken transmission.
Prockish, now 40, is the only woman plumber in Edmond and is owner of
Jean's Plumbing.
Growing up, she learned about plumbing, welding and carpentry.
"When I was like 12, I helped my dad build steel storage buildings," she
said.
She has always loved taking things apart, seeing how they worked and
then putting them back together. And she can do it without instructions.
"My father was like that too. My dad was good about letting me learn
whatever I wanted to learn. So, between my dad and my older brother, I
learned quite a bit about many things, plumbing, welding, just about any
power tool there is."
My dad was one of these guys who could do anything. He worked at Cessna
Aircraft for 25 years in Wichita," she said.
Even though she entered the field later in life, she has many awards
under her "plumbing belt." Her most recent honor was as a finalist last
year for the Journal Record Woman of the Year.
After she stared training five years ago at Moore-Norman Vo Tech Center,
she won two consecutive awards in the Vocational Industrial Clubs of
America Skill contest. She's placed first statewide in the plumbing
competitions, being the only woman among her all male counterparts. She
also placed second in a 1995 national competition as the only woman
entrant.
That was accomplished while battling cancer, no less.
While in plumbing school she discovered she had cancer that required a
mastectomy and follow up chemotherapy. A recurrence the next year led to
a lumpectomy, more chemotherapy, radiation and a bone marrow transplant.
Despite the diagnosis and intensive treatment she refused to let this
interfere with her goal.
She started on the road toward that goal following graduation from East
High School in Wichita, Kan., in 1977. She attended Rose State College
and then went to work as an engineering technician.
After 18 years in that field, she was "burned out" and decided to change
careers.
"I just got to where I couldn't get out of bed in the morning, knowing
it was time for a career change," she said.
It was at this point in her life that she said she thought of everything
she knew how to do and considered what she would most like to do.
"I thought 'Well, I have plumbing knowledge, and I knew quite a bit
about plumbing.' So that was what I chose. However, when I went to
school, I found out how much I didn't know."
After graduation from the vo tech, she turned a wrench for other
plumbing businesses for about two and a half years before deciding to
start her Edmond based business known as Jean's Plumbing.
Prockish estimates that she has between 400 and 500 repeat customers.
She strives for fairness in her business and gives senior citizens a
discount. " I have a soft spot in my heart of elderly people, because I
feel like they get ripped off the most."
Customers are charged by the job rather than the hour. "This way the
person knows exactly what it's going to cost before we even start," she
said.
Prockish is on call 24 hours a day, but anything that can wait until the
next morning would save the customer $50, the charge for an emergency.
"Most people think that if their water closet (toilet) is backed up,
they need a plumber right away, but they could save $50 if they just
waited until morning and didn't flush," she said. "My philosophy is that
if you can save a dollar, do so and call us in the morning.
"Now if water is running, and something is flooding, then call and we
will get to you."
Her employees work in teams to prevent any injuries. "Even if a customer
doesn't need two people, it costs the same."
She attributes the high cost of plumbing to the high cost of liability
insurance, equipment, manpower and operating costs.
And she said being the only female plumber in town has its advantages,
"because some customers feel safer when a woman plumber shows up to do
the job."
"I have got customers that will not let my guys come." She said she has
convinced some of her customers that it's OK if her guys go out on those
particular jobs. "But, I have some customers that do not want anybody
else but me."
Her advertisements show a caricature of a blonde woman in bib overalls
with a wrench in hand. The artwork was inspired by Rosie the Riveter,
who was a 1940's character depicted riveting an airplane during wartime,
wearing coveralls and a bandana, flexing her arm muscle.
Prockish's artwork was the design of a retired art teacher friend.
The name "Jean's Plumbing" and the caricature of the female plumber is
emblazoned on the sides of her two company vans.
Her team is made up of five men and two women apprentices.
She uses the latest in technology, such as electronic equipment and
sensing devices that detect leaks, eliminating the guesswork previously
used by plumbers.
"What we have done is use electronic leak detection equipment that works
off sound waves. The machines can detect within a foot of where the
water leak is under the concrete slab," she said.
They also use video equipment that can be placed down the drain pipe or
sewer line and locate the problems and find out why things are happening
in the sewer line. |
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