In September of 1973 I started a job at ADT Security as the first woman in the field and I happened to be not the first woman but the first black woman in the field. There were men who thought that I should have stayed at home raising children. My children, though, were already teenagers.
I first worked as a commercial installer with one month of on the job training. I worked commercial for about a year and then worked as a residential installer for four years during which time I met several important and wealthy people such as Senator Chew, Senator Carroll, Muhammad Ali, Lola Falana, and Eugene Record of the Chi-Lites. I worked in other musicians’ homes also.
I worked at ADT for 30 years and I retired in 2003. I enjoyed working there. It was a very rewarding job. I learned to do electrical, carpentry, and a lot of other jobs while working there. That’s how I became the jack of all trades and the master of none.