The Verbally Disastrous Podcast With Leslie M. Jasper (Guest Co-Host Melissa Polito)

For this podcast episode, I am sharing with you the release of Leslie M. Jasper's first children's book entitled, "Not All Girls Play With Dolls".  This children's book is about a little girl named Kenna was born into a family where anything is possible. Kenna developed an instant paternal bond with her father, named Sam, at birth. Kenna’s mother, named Marie, watched lovingly as the dynamic duo became even more and more attached to each other over time. Sam spent many years teaching Kenna how to work on cars and trucks in the family garage and at Sam’s truck shop where he worked as a diesel mechanic. Kenna’s little sister, named Susan, stayed back with her mother since she wasn’t interested in working with her hands. Ever since Kenna was a toddler, Sam always told her repeatedly that, since she is smart and strong, she can do anything that she sets her mind to do. As Kenna grew up following her father’s guidance, she realized that she really liked working with tools. Go with Kenna on this life path as she grows up and follows the career path of where her talents lie. Kenna joined the military and made a non-traditional career choice with her father’s love and encouragement the entire time. The goal of this book is to inspire boys and girls to allow their natural talents to guide them into their career paths and life goals. Gather the courage to chase those dreams even in the face of doubts from others around them in society. After all, it is your life to live and choices to make. You can do it because you are talented, smart, and strong!  This book can be found on iTunes, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble in paperback and e-book.  For more information, head over to the website at: www.ConstructionTales.com.

For this episode, Leslie discusses the era where she juggled raised her two sons, Tom and Johnny, along with her career path as a union journeywoman electrician in New York.  Leslie speaks about her biggest challenges as well as many lessons learned and developed talents she picked up as a single mother.  As a very young widow, Leslie was forced into working 120/hours a week, via multiple jobs.  This was in addition to finishing her college business degree and 5-years of electrical theory training that were a part of her apprenticeship.  This topic was suggested by a young, working professional mother.  The objective of this podcast episode is to inform as to what is involved and offer encouragement to men and women who are currently in the single parent era.  For more information and to suggest topics, head over to the website at www.ConstructionTales.com.  This is Part B of the two-part discussion and the last half of the chat.  Look for Part A, in the podcast platform of your choice, to start the discussion in case you missed it.

For this episode, Leslie discusses the era where she juggled raised her two sons, Tom and Johnny, along with her career path as a union journeywoman electrician in New York. Leslie speaks about her biggest challenges as well as many lessons learned and developed talents she picked up as a single mother. As a very young widow, Leslie was forced into working 120/hours a week, via multiple jobs. This was in addition to finishing her college business degree and 5-years of electrical theory training that were a part of her apprenticeship. This topic was suggested by a young, working professional mother. The objective of this podcast episode is to inform as to what is involved and offer encouragement to men and women who are currently in the single parent era. For more information and to suggest topics, head over to the website at www.ConstructionTales.com.

Leslie is kicking off Season #2 with this podcast episode about early lessons learned while she was an apprentice electrician back in the 1990’s. Additionally, she shares descriptions of a few unusual characters along the way. Leslie also shares her experience with facing gender discrimination as well as witnessing prejudice against her minority brothers and sisters in the trade. Leslie shares that sexual harassment was just an accepted behavior on the job if she wanted to be there. Leslie learned to develop thick skin and a wicked sense of humor to combat any form of harassment. Apologies if you detect a rough voice since Leslie has been ill with congestion and speaking has been a challenge. Leslie also warns about freely sharing personal information since it can become the source of jobsite rumors on the job site.  Check out my website at: www.ConstructionTales.com for more information.

This is Part C of a 3-part discussion with my friend and fellow journeyman electrician, Brian Reyes.  Brian works on photography, in his spare time, under his website that is entitled, “Photacular Imagery”.  For the past few years, Brian has been signing the visitor book as a traveling Local #3 IBEW NYC journeyman out in unions throughout vast parts of California.  The union traveling term for a visiting electrician has been known as a “tramp”.  Therefore, Brian shares with me about the vast cultural differences between New York and California and his traveling stories and his struggles to find simple home comforts such as New York style pizza.  In this podcast episode, I also discussed with Brian about his work adventures with fellow traveling journeyman; many were also from the Bronx, Texas, Chicago, and many locations throughout the Midwest and even Californians.  Additionally, I asked him to share some of his funniest and scariest stories during his +20-year career as an electrician.  We even got into a brief discussion on the evolution of thick skin, a survival technique, that was used to navigate racist old-timers.  This is the third part of a discussion that I had with Brian.  If you missed the first or second third of the discussion, look for either Part A and/or Part B in the podcast platform of your choice to start the discussion.  This is Part C that is intended to finish the final third of the discussion.  Check out my website at: www.ConstructionTales.com for more information.

This is Part B of a 3-part discussion with my friend and fellow journeyman electrician, Brian Reyes. Brian works on photography, in his spare time, under his website that is entitled, “Photacular Imagery”. For the past few years, Brian has been signing the visitor book as a traveling Local #3 IBEW NYC journeyman out in unions throughout vast parts of California. The union traveling term for a visiting electrician has been known as a “tramp”. Therefore, Brian shares with me about the vast cultural differences between New York and California and his traveling stories and his struggles to find simple home comforts such as New York style pizza. In this podcast episode, I also discussed with Brian about his work adventures with fellow traveling journeyman; many were also from the Bronx, Texas, Chicago, and many locations throughout the Midwest and even Californians. Additionally, I asked him to share some of his funniest and scariest stories during his +20-year career as an electrician. This is the second part of a discussion that I had with Brian. If you missed the first part of the discussion, look for Part A in the podcast platform of your choice to start the discussion. Look for Part C to finish the final third of the discussion. Check out my website at: www.ConstructionTales.com for more information.

This is Part A of a 3-part discussion with my friend and fellow journeyman electrician Brian Reyes. Brian works on photography, in his spare time, under his website that is entitled, “Photacular Imagery”. For the past few years, Brian has been signing the visitor book as a traveling Local #3 IBEW NYC journeyman out in California. The union traveling term for a visiting electrician has been known as a “tramp”. Therefore, Brian shares with me about the vast cultural differences between New York and California and his traveling stories. In this podcast episode, I also discussed with Brian how he first broke into the trade as a kid who went to school in the South Bronx. Additionally, I asked him to share some of his funniest and scariest stories during his +20-year career as an electrician. This is the first third of a discussion that I have with Brian. Look for Parts B & C in the podcast platform of your choice to finish the discussion. Check out my website at: www.ConstructionTales.com for more information.

For this podcast episode, Leslie decided to share with you on how she shifted, as an apprentice, to begin working on railroad projects for most of her career. Prior to working on brand-new deck jobs, commercial renovation projects, and railroad platform phase projects, Leslie was being groomed for low voltage projects.  During the first few years of her apprenticeship, Leslie was becoming a "data fairy" and needed to switch it up.  As a female in a male-dominated field, Leslie knew that she needed to both push herself and leadership to allow her to step out and work on the hardest projects as an electrician in order to become more well-rounded.  The worst thing for Leslie was the fear of not obtaining the necessary skills during her 5-1/2 year apprenticeship.  Without the necessary skills, a worker ends up always becoming the first person on a layoff when a job winds down and requires less manpower.  Always being on the first layoff translates into not having enough financial means to feed your family.  Leslie shares some job stories that are either/both funny and scary in nature from working on the railroad and outside.  For more information, check out the website at: www.ConstructionTales.com

This is Part B and the last half of the discussion.  If you missed Part A, head back into the podcast platform of your choice and start the first half of the discussion.

For this podcast episode, Leslie decided to share with you on how she shifted, as an apprentice, to begin working on railroad projects for most of her career. Prior to working on brand-new deck jobs, commercial renovation projects, and railroad platform phase projects, Leslie was being groomed for low voltage projects.  During the first few years of her apprenticeship, Leslie was becoming a "data fairy" and needed to switch it up.  As a female in a male-dominated field, Leslie knew that she needed to both push herself and leadership to allow her to step out and work on the hardest projects as an electrician in order to become more well-rounded.  The worst thing for Leslie was the fear of not obtaining the necessary skills during her 5-1/2-year apprenticeship.  Without the necessary skills, a worker ends up always becoming the first person on a layoff when a job winds down and requires less manpower.  Always being on the first layoff translates into not having enough financial means to feed your family.  Leslie shares some job stories that are either/both funny and scary in nature from working on the railroad and outside.  For more information, check out the website at: www.ConstructionTales.com

This is Part A and the first half of the discussion.  Once finished with Part A, head back into the podcast platform of your choice and look for Part B and finish the last half of the discussion.

For this episode, Melissa and I had a discussion on a risque topic.  This podcast episode is Part B and the last half of the discussion that is intended for adults only.  Melissa and I decided to chat vaguely about our one-night stands that we managed to get in on during our lifetime.  Our random encounters, over the past 30-years, appear to very spicy, unexpected, and humorous in nature!  As older women, it is interesting to discuss a topic I would have shied away from when I was younger.  We also spoke about other situations that we either witnessed or experienced as well as various current events.  If you are looking for the first part of the discussion, look for Part A in the podcast platform of your choice.  For more information, head over to the website at: www.ConstructionTales.com.