From Secretary to Nuclear Power Entrepreneur

you look better in a skirt behind the desk.

We're not going to allow you to go out into that nuclear power plant and put those jeans on and hard-head on because you look better in a dress. So as all you do, you keep knocking on that door. And you keep showing to them, you know, get the rest of it.

Diana Hamilton is an entrepreneur, industry educator, and the founder of NW Technical Training and National Metering and Technical Services. She helps utilities and technical professionals develop the skills, confidence, and leadership needed to succeed

while empowering more women to thrive in the skilled trades.

“What would you say is like the value of mentorship?”

If you can share your knowledge, the reward that you get inside and also outside. I see what comes of that is just huge. What would you say to the business owner out there who's like struggling to get to that next-wrong on the ladder?

It's okay to show a weakness, it's okay to say. I don't know this, I need help. I'm looking around you because I'm a total believer. [music playing] It spans the globe.

Like a super high school. Into their elders. Ready? [music playing] Today, Apple is going to reinvent the phone.

It's not over. I'll tell how we're-- The living-your-legacy podcast for those who live to leave a legacy. [music playing]

[music playing] [music playing] [music playing] [music playing] Welcome back everybody to the living-your-legacy podcast.

I'm your host for today, Jason Hamilton. And I'm joined by my cousin, Dan Hamilton, in the building. Dan, welcome to the show. Thank you very much. Now, we just found out that we shared the same last name.

I saw your name on the studio schedule.

“And I was like, hey, you need to get my Christmas card last year?”

I did not. Oh, my goodness. You know what? When we wrap up this podcast, I'm going to say, I actually have a Christmas card from the family that I'm going to show you.

Is it photograph or you can tell where it is? I took it. It's a photograph of our family dog, which I love her to death. But Dan, it talked to me a little bit about-- you're about to go into recording your episode.

First of all, how do you feel?

Extremely nervous, extremely excited. Yeah, wonderful. You're getting those pre-film jitters. You've got a little work out in there. Yeah, you've dropped the shoulders.

Is that right? So we're going to do some box breathing. There we go. But, you know, as we go into filming your episode, I want to know what's like the number one thing you want people to be able to learn

from your story. Specifically, this is a woman in power session. So in this regard, women did know that they can be in power in a male dominated field and that they can be successful. But not at the expense of themselves or the expense of the guy.

So it's about not giving into the pressures and to just keep moving forward and to be compassionate and to listen to others. There's just a really huge thing about making-- making it in a world where it's a little bit tougher sometimes, but don't give up on yourself.

Big, big proponent of that, huge proponent of that. I want to talk a little bit about just kind of who is Diana? How do we get to the Diana that's sitting across for me today? Tell me a little bit of your story and how you ended up in the field that you're in now.

“If you want to go way back, and I think it very brief is strict parents who had some really high”

morals, a southern Baptist mother who was super kind and generous and a father that was very adamant that doesn't matter whether you're a male or a female. There's a job to be done. You better get it done. And so now get an into a world where I felt I needed to provide for me my three children.

It was a male dominated world that made the money. And so I needed to care for them. So I knew I could do the job. So here we go. And so like, this is an experience that I talk about with a lot of our ladies from women in

power as you're kind of getting into the working world, there's kind of a, there's always kind

of this gap right between where you know your skill set is and where the people above you think your skill set is how do you how do you navigate that, especially like early on in your career? Like how do you, hey, this person, I'm coming into this workplace and because I'm a woman, they think I'm only going to be at this skill level. But in reality, actually, I'm Michael Jordan and I need you all to know it.

Exactly, it's called persistence. Persistence and just not giving up. I mean, I've had a gentleman tell me when I was a secretary, you look better in a skirt behind the desk and we're not going to allow you to go out into that nuclear power plant and put those jeans on and hard hat on because, you know, you look better in a dress.

So as all you do, you keep knocking on that door and you keep showing to them, you know, get the respect.

So what was that moment for you where the door opened and you got to really showcase, hey, I'm dying and I'm here to work. It was after a couple of years and at that time, nuclear power was in a different situation

than it is today, who's actually on the forefront and finally, some of it's actually a

tradition to be told the honest and then some headhunters came across and said they're nine women across the nation that are qualified to be in the nuclear power.

“Are you interested in interviewing with Texas utilities?”

And so here we go and that was what happened was someone finally, you know, open that door. Open that door and you walked right off through it, now you're mentioning nuclear power a lot and like, I hear that and immediately my brain goes to, oh my god, where are the bombs? But obviously for the, for the, for the me, I'm in my own little world with film, but for the viewer out there who has no frame of reference for your line of work, giving, giving me the spark

notes version. Okay, it's power generation, that's all it is. Whether it's hydro, whether it's coal,

whether it's gas, nuclear power is just another way to do it. And with not as much waste, from what I hear. It's not as much waste, but now the problem was what you do with that waste. And so that was where the fear from the public getting into it was, you know, I think that's where my brain was gone. Yeah, it's totally get it. What was the off shoot of it? Because we have one here in Florida, I don't ever really hear much about it, but it does kind of, you know, as a, you hear about

“like the Chernobyl incident, things like that, and you're like, what could go wrong here?”

I'm scared. So these someone, an expert, please, and who I'm sitting in the room with now guys, an expert, please let me know that this is a safe thing for us to be doing. Yes, and there's so many safety backups on those plants. It's, it's really ridiculous. It's a good thing. And when you go in there, I did, you know, my mentor, one of my male mentors, we did scram the plant one time, which is a lot of money per day to get it back up again. And innercy flew in, I mean, there's another

long story in that one. But anyway, so from nuclear power, we went into like a hydro, you know, power's power, right? Whether we're right, whatever it assources at, wherever we're getting it from. Yeah, so why that industry? What kind of jumped out at you about getting into that field? So it wasn't necessarily my dream when I was young. It was pretty much at the time. I was married, and there was a nuclear power plant being built in the town that I lived in. It was one of the best

pain jobs because I came from the bank. And it was a better pain job. And then like I said, when I saw, when I saw the operators being paid to come to work, to be educated, just like a huge college education, and to be able to go out there and to do a job where you've seen a difference, it was like, oh, I want that one. Yeah. I want that job, you know? So then you just could keep knocking on the door. And it's going after not just like the financial compensation

of it, but also that it's like fulfilling a part like there's purpose behind it. You know what? I mean, like you're providing a service as affecting lives far outside your own. Absolutely. I think the best people in business are the ones that are able to get into business, not because of the financial opportunity, but because they're able to say, hey, I'm really good at the thing. I want to go and help people with this thing that I'm good at. Would you say the same?

I would. In fact, an off-skirt of this later on in my career was doing, I was a trainer and instructor, and then started my own company or I started my own school. And when you say that, the biggest thing I think of is all of the students are, are adult students that go through my class. They're punished. It's a apprenticeship program. And then there's another off-skirt of that, too. But the apprenticeship program is, you got three years with this person. And we do the academic portion

of it, not necessarily the hands-on. The academic portion for three years, adults, students, who have families. And like I almost all of them were male until, there was a few women that went through. Now, ladies, there's some more going through. But you affect their livelihood. If they don't pass that class, they may lose their job. That means that the kids, the wife, and everything else, like that, you know, he's got a scrum will do something else. But you could to know them.

First level. First level. I mean, you know, when their soccer games are, because, you know,

they need to be scheduled to classes or, you know, whether it may be, you know, that your wife is having another baby. You know, in three years, you might see two babies coming out of that family, new ones and stuff like that, because the husband's confident in, you know, when he's got that job and he's completing it. And it's a very, very nice paying job. And you see results in the field

“that we're in. So that's as I make a difference. Yep. That's what it's all about. Now, you mentioned”

a little bit earlier. You had your own mentor. You are now, you know, people are coming into an apprenticeship underneath you. What would you say is like the value of mentorship? It is huge. If you

comes of that is, is just huge. I see too many people covet it because they're insecure,

“because they, because they feel like somebody else knows where I know they're going to have my job.”

And for me, it's like, it comes back tenfold. I mean, whenever you show somebody or you share

your knowledge, I always tell my students, I want you to be smarter than me. I want to be able

to tag into you because I was still in the industry. Still working in the field as well as having these companies. I want to tag into you because I know you're going to take it on. I mean, I'm older and all that stuff. And you guys are like fresh off the go here. And, you know, Gary, about twenty two. It's fine. Don't put you about twenty two. Don't put you down. Well, I love you now. You're getting a bigger Christmas present now. Yes. Yes. That new camera lens is on the way, guys.

There you go. One of the things that I, I love talking to, you know, business owners about is the importance of like, and this is, this is, this is big for you in mentorship as well as like being able to take your knowledge and systematize it. What would you say to the business owner out there,

you know, our audience is super entrepreneur, they're super business minded. What would you say to the

business owner out there who's like struggling to get to that next rug on the ladder and really the systems is what's going to get them there, but they're struggling with that. Look up, look around you, look around you because I'm, I'm a total believer that most people are good and that they do if they were approached that they would help. I've had many mentors, not just one. I've had many mentors, men and women. And so, um, if you're going to be wanting to, you're struggling,

stuff like that tag into your resources, know that one, you know, being a female and a female, there are females that will help other females like, that's my job now is to support and to be

“out there and just kind of be aware of what's happening out there. But look around you, people I think”

really do want to help each other. And so, and then do your own homework too, you know, and don't give up. And you've had to kind of be obsessed. You do. And it's okay to be vulnerable. It's okay to show a weakness. It's okay to say, I don't know this. I need help. And if you can do that, I think you're going to find all kinds of help. I'd 100% agree with that. And like, I've been, I've been on both sides at point where I've been the one with information and kind of coveted it

and like, oh my god, no, my competition will steal my secrets. Yes. And then I've also been the one to say, actually, no, let me reach out to my left and right because I'm in positions of leadership and I have guys coming to me on set and asking questions about, hey, how do we do, how do we set up this kind of lighting scenario or how do we do audio for this? And like, I've been the teacher and I've also been the one coveting the information. And it's so much more rewarding to be able to

look to your left and right and know that people both respect the information that you have but that they're humble enough to come to you and ask for help. Like, that to me is the ultimate ultimate expression of like the human experience. I agree. And if you may, it's because some, you know, if someone's thinking, well, I wouldn't do that. But when a man, he just did it. He came to me. That means now you can relate to them. Now you've got a communication that, you know, a lot of

people hide that. And again, being in the meltdown, I feel a lot of them do hide that. And they don't want to be involved. One of the stories that I was talking earlier was I was acquiring some stuff in a big old padmout transformer. And here's the lime and next to me who is doing a higher voltage than I am. But he's kind of like, um, why are you doing that? You know,

“what's that Scott to do with that CT? What's you know, Dota, Dota? Why are you wearing this way?”

And then I started to tell him, but he would never say that in a pack. He would never say that

because, you know, ego gets in the way. But if you start showing, you know, that you're vulnerable to your communication, you have something in common. Now, as far as being a woman in a male dominated field, are you what's the trend that you're seeing as time goes on? Like, are we seeing a lot more women come into these positions of power? Women being empowered and empowering others? What's the trend line that we're seeing? It is becoming think goodness, um, more and more women,

you know, how to glue ya in the industry. And like, not take in a way from the male. And that is one of the things I think I wanted to say is, um, is being a woman in power or being in a male dominated field. Don't take away from the male, you know, be the woman. And that's where the title is is, for mine is, you know, you can be successful and you can, you can try and in the a male dominated field without losing a femininity and without taking away with they have because

we're coming into the world that has been that has been theirs. And the minute you start taking

So, um, that's one of the things, but the trend, come to the back to that question. The trend itself

“is gotten better. You know, you had to, the E.O. and all this other, you know, fair work practices”

and all that stuff. And it, it did help. You know, like I said, the reason why I first started

in the industry was because they were looking for women in the field. That was a, that was a lot, you know, they had to have a quota. And that's not necessarily nowadays. So, it's, it's not like it was. So now it's, um, I'm happy to see that there, it's, it's gotten better. Um, I still a little bit of work left to do. We sure has had to do a little bit of work left to do. I, you know, I had a, hopefully it doesn't beep that one out. Oh, yeah. I had, uh, I had an interesting conversation

with another guest on the show a few episodes back. And he was talking to me about how he and his wife built their business together. And, you know, a big part of it for him was that he understood that, like, I, as, as the guy in the business, I know that my strength is to, I'm going to kind of, like, almost brute force my way through problems, like build the plane as I fly at kind of a thing. But my wife is very much like, she's a planner. She's structured. She's got discipline.

She's going to make sure that we plan ahead for the future instead of just trying to break through the wall, because it's made of drywall. And then you find out on the other side is concrete.

Um, because that's just how guys do things. That's it. We, we break through wall first and find out

about the concrete later. Uh-huh. Um, but I think that that that plays into what we've been talking about so well in that, like, you don't need to take away, I think, as men, like, we enjoy kind of getting hit by the concrete every once in a while. Fellas don't, don't run through wall, please. Yeah. Um, but we enjoy that kind of that sort of problem solving on the fly energy that we have. Yeah. And then it's so beneficial for then to have women come into these male-dominated fields

and say, hey, actually, we're good at this stuff. Let's add this to what you already have going on. Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah. I think that's, that's, that's huge. One of the, you know, we're here. We're at inside success. Yes. And so, what are my favorite questions to ask of all of my guests on the show?

“So everybody does this question, but what are Diana's, or what is Diana's number one key tip for success?”

I don't even keep saying it again. Perseverance, kindness, looking at others, put yourself in their shoes. Mm-hmm. And then if you can see it from that side, it's not easier to understand what's going on. Absolutely. Absolutely. And the Perseverance part is key because we had to touch on that twice now. You got to be able to, life has hands. You got to be able to take a punch every once in a while because life is going to knock you down and you're going to

have to get back up over and over until eventually you figure out how to get knocked down in the first place. Huge, huge believer in that. Guys, first and foremost, if you're still tuned in at this point in the pot, I want to make sure that you check out Diana's episode of Women in Power, which will be coming out shortly after this podcast airs. So you're going to get a full deep dive on her story going to learn everything that makes Diana, Diana, and also my cousin, child.

There it is. I'm going to, I'm going to see her. I'm going to see her for Thanksgiving. You're looking? Yep. Well, I love cooking. I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. Good chef now. But guys, make sure you check out her episode. It's coming out real soon after this podcast episode airs. Diana, for the people out there, where can they find you on social media, your website, where can an aspiring, someone who wants to get into your field, come to take your

become an apprentice. Northwest. In w technical training.com, and also in wtt.net. All right. We'll make sure we put that somewhere on the screen. My editors know that when I start pointing around in random directions, we're going to put something on the screen somewhere. So shout

out the editors. But guys, this has been an incredible episode. Diana, it has been such a pleasure

having you on the show. Thank you so much. Do we get a little bit of the jitters out? Are we ready for a

“little bit? My heart's not pounded as bad as it was. There we go. I think we're ready. You're ready”

to go record your episode. Let's do it. All right guys, this has been another episode. We'll catch you guys in the next one.