At ORORO Heated Apparel, we often sell to the women working in extremely cold offices year-round and we recommend Heated Vests and other heated clothing to help them in their daily lives. But in this post, we want to highlight women who work outside of the office in the cold every day. Construction work, contracting, civil engineering, hunting, police work, firefighting, window cleaning, etc, are all fields mostly dominated by men. But we’re not here to talk about those men, we’re here to talk about the unnamed women working thanklessly in the freezing cold every single day.

Did you know that women only made up about 1.3% of the entire US construction industry, as of 2015? According to the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC),  approximately 939,000 women were employed in various occupation sectors of the construction industry, with only about 200,000 working in the field outside in maintenance, transportation, production, etc.

Because of this, we sought out an ORORO customer who has tackled this field, broke through the glass ceiling and succeeded! Tracy Wellen is a competitive bodybuilder, which is cool enough, but she ALSO runs a residential contracting business building beautiful, high-end custom homes with her husband. "We do most of the work ourselves, including setting basement forms,  concrete work, framing, trim work, siding and roofing,” Tracy told us. "We work year-round, so when it gets to pretty extreme temperatures here in the winter, I find it very hard to keep warm enough to stay productive. This year, I stumbled upon your ORORO heated coat! It was a game changer. The weather was hitting between 0 -18 degrees Fahrenheit and I outlasted all the men with my heated jacket under my coveralls.”

Did you know that it's a scientific fact that women get colder than men? Women have higher core temperatures and lower metabolic rates than men so women get colder faster. Add working outside in the freezing winter on top of that and it’s a wonder there are any women in the field at all! Tracy knows and was smart enough to buy an extra battery with her Heated Jacket. With two working batteries, she could stay warm nearly all day long outside and stay productive. Her coldest day working? "It was 18 degrees the day we poured in walls and footings, which we don’t normally do in those temps, which is why we had to add chemicals to the concrete so it would set and apply concrete blankets to insulate it. That was one of the toughest days on the job to date because you have to keep it moving as concrete waits for no man or woman!”

Speaking of man or woman, Tracy also gave some sage advice to any woman who may be intimidated by joining a predominantly-male field. After years of dealing with challenges in her line of work from sales reps checking with her husband first, to men physically taking concrete off her hands believing she couldn’t handle it herself, eventually her experience and work ethic won out.  "Being a woman in the construction field has had its challenges. I am one of the only women on the job site in our small town, but they’re all accustomed to me being there now and know I can handle myself. To any woman who wants to get into the trade, I say go for it! Just stay strong and be prepared for some unfortunate types of behavior."

Tracy’s Women’s Heated Jacket is one of our best-selling products online. Why? Because it's wind and water-resistant, lined on the inside with fleece which helps keep all that battery-generated heat inside. The hood is detachable which is great for a sunny day and the heated elements keep your entire core and back covered. It’s no wonder women love this jacket when it’s freezing out! Here’s some more great advice from Tracy: “Don’t attempt to work in the cold outside without an ORORO Heated Jacket!”

We agree! Happy Women’s History Month!