Women in Construction: Meet Our Own Tiffany Taylor

Our Window Shop Manager, Tiffany Taylor, has always been a star to us, but recently she’s hit the big time! Tiffany joined Kronenberger & Sons 20 years ago, fresh out of Job Corps, eager to take her new skills and build a career. She’s gone from laborer, through our strenuous apprentice program to Journeyman carpenter, and now is a member of our management team. Tiffany’s earned her spot every step of the way, facing the additional challenges of being a woman in a traditionally male-dominated industry. Tiffany says she never gave it a lot of thought, just adapted as necessary, but her accomplishments deserve both recognition and praise. While Tiffany remains humble, the outside world has been paying attention to her story.

The Road to Recognition

In January, Tiffany was featured in photographer, Keith Claytor’s, “Hart at Work”, an exhibit celebrating tradespeople throughout the Greater Hartford area through compelling visual stories. The prints, some also included in this article, captured Tiffany in the Window Shop. They reflected how seriously she takes her work, showing focus and strength. Keith also interviewed Tiffany, which can be watched and listened to on Instagram (link can be found at the end of this article).

That art exhibit caught the eye of High Profile magazine Publisher, Anastasia Barnes, who was looking for a cover image for their annual Women in Construction issue. Claytor had the perfect photograph of Tiffany at work, and so the next thing she knew, she was on the cover of a national magazine!

This special issue can be found at the end of this article.

Shortly thereafter, High Profile was hosting their inaugural She Builds event in March. Anastasia approached Tiffany to speak to the gathering. Tiffany says of her first speaking engagement, “I just told my story.” She spoke about how she got started at KSR and has worked her way to manager, but mainly she talked about the challenges of getting started as a woman working in a male dominated field and on an all-male crew. She also shared what her career means to her and her family, and advice she would give to women interested in the construction industry (more on that later).

Next up, in April Tiffany will be attending the Construction Institute’s Women Who Build Summit – a national event, where she has been asked to informally share her story with conference attendees.

Tiffany’s Story

Tiffany grew up in New Haven, CT. She was a star athlete in high school, and knew she wanted to pursue additional study, but she wanted to stay close to her family. She decided to become a CNA, but after five years she knew that wasn’t for her. At 24, it was the last year she could get into Job Corps to learn a trade. She studied building and maintenance in their program. From there she found Equal Opportunity who connected her with KSR.

She started out as a laborer, and after a year began Kronenberger’s apprentice program that is conducted in partnership with ABC (Associated Builders and Contractors) Connecticut. It’s a long, intense and challenging program requiring evening classes two nights a week, then hundreds of on-the-job training hours. At one point, nearly three-quarters of the way through her apprenticeship, KSR had a large project in Providence, so she was unable to make the evening classes and be at her job. Luckily, her supervisor at KSR was willing and qualified to take over as her evening instructor as well so she wasn’t penalized.

Persevering through Challenges

Her path through her apprenticeship wasn’t totally smooth, however. It’s typically a four year program, but it took her five years to finish due to a mix up in tracking her work hours. But that didn’t deter Tiffany. A testament to her grit and perseverance, she stuck with it, working a whole extra year to complete her apprenticeship requirements.

As a Journeyman carpenter, Tiffany continued to work in the field with KSR. Projects in the field mean everyone has to do everything on certain jobsites. After 15 years, the work began to take its toll on her body, and the travel on her home life.

Tiffany mixing up epoxy for some window repairs; working at her station in the Window Shop

She expressed her concerns to her supervisor, and asked if she could work in the window shop where she knew her work, whereabouts, and schedule would be consistent. Not long after she transferred to the window shop, the supervisor left.

KSR leadership came to Tiffany and asked her to take the Shop Manager position in 2023. She says she never wanted to be in charge, or “manage anything”, but she appreciated the confidence KSR had in her and didn’t want to let them down. So, after only one year of working in the shop, she became the manager.

Shop Manager, Tiffany Taylor

When asked how she thinks it’s going, Tiffany is her usual humble self, “It’s going good. They respect me, being a woman and telling them what to do. A lot of the crew are men, mostly older than me, so it’s tricky. I really have to listen, juggle all the personalities, and put people where they need to be skill-wise.”

She clearly cares very much for her team. “I’ve been in their shoes. We’re all a team, so if you’re going through something today, I try to work with that. But if there’s a job that needs to get done, then that’s where you need to be. It’s a balance.”

How she feels about working at Kronenberger is apparent in her response when asked, “They will have to shut and lock the doors to get me out of here. I wouldn’t be anywhere else but here. They’ve been really good to me.”

As Window Shop Manager, Tiffany is still busy everyday on the floor, doing the work she loves.

Being a Woman in Construction – For Real

Always her authentic self, Tiffany talks about being a woman in construction with honesty:

“Your mind and body have to be dedicated. Construction is no place for lazy people. And being a woman makes it that much tougher to prove yourself. I used to have to say, you know, I can do more than sweep floors or pick up trash. You have to prove yourself a lot.”

Happy to Be an Inspiration

Tiffany is happy to be an inspiration to other women if she can.

“I’m excited to be recognized for my hard work. I’m nervous to speak, very nervous, but I’m willing to do it. I’ve come a long way. Everything is very challenging, but if I don’t tell people, no one will ever know what it’s like. I think it’s important to talk about.”