The Road to Recovery: My Story

05/26/2026

📖 THE ROAD TO RECOVERY❤️‍🩹📖

Part 22⬇️

The "Woman Tax" & Knowing My Worth

By the end of 2025, we had finished the "Ocean Vista" building on Gottingen Street with Elite. It was a proud moment, but Elite didn't have a new project ready for us just yet. To keep us working, they set us up with another contractor while we waited for the next Elite job to start.

That was when the reality of being a woman in the trades really hit home.

When I started with this new crew, I was offered $22.00 an hour. I figured that was just the starting rate—until I started talking to the other laborers on site. Every single one of them was making $25.00.

The real kicker? When Mark started working for the same guy shortly after, he was started at $25.00 an hour immediately.

I was more experienced, I had worked the big rigs in Labrador, and I was grinding just as hard as anyone else, yet I was being paid less for the exact same labor. It was a "woman tax," plain and simple. It’s a frustrating stigma that still exists, where people assume a woman can’t handle the weight—even when she’s already proven she can.

I didn’t stay quiet for long. I knew my value, and I knew my history. I wasn't going to settle for being undervalued.

I made the jump to Lancor and joined the Laborers' Union (LiUNA). The Union didn't care about gender; they cared about experience. They looked at my track record and started me as a Journeyman Laborer. When Mark joined the Union shortly after me, he was classified as a second-year apprentice.

The math doesn't lie. I went from being underpaid on a non-union site to making $30.00 an hour as a Journeyman.

I stood my ground, I found my worth, and I opened the door for my family to have a real future. In the trades, they might try to tell you what you’re worth, but you’re the only one who gets to decide when it’s time to move up.

[STAY TUNED FOR PART 23]

Have you ever found out you were being paid less than someone with less experience? It’s a tough pill to swallow, but it’s also the fuel you need to find where you truly belong. Let’s talk about it.



The Road to Recovery: My Story
Sarah AP

05/26/2026

05/25/2026

THE ROAD TO ❤️‍🩹 📖

Part 21⬇️

The 420-Ton Secret & The $30 Jump

When I started with Frontline Traffic Services, I was just happy to have a paycheck. But I had a secret: I wasn’t just a "newbie" to construction. Back in Labrador, between 2014 and 2018, I was an apprentice mobile crane operator on a massive mega-project at Muskrat Falls.

I learned the ropes on everything from a 25-ton carry deck to a 16000 Manitowoc crawler crane—a 420-ton beast with 222 feet of main boom and 222 feet of luffing jib. My biggest pick was 80,000 lbs, and from what I remember she could pick roughly 32,000 lbs at 230 feet, somewhere around there.

I have to chuckle sometimes at work here in Nova Scotia when people think I don’t have a clue about cranes or rigging. These "sky-rise" sites use chains, which are banned on major industrial sites for safety. I’ve seen what real rigging looks like, but I bite my tongue, keep my head down, and do my job. Who wants to take advice from a woman? Believe it or not, a lot of stigma and discrimination against women in the trades still exists.

I was working for Frontline for a few months. When, the universe stepped in.I seen a job posting for a tower crane rigger. I applied for a rigging position with Elite Formwork Ltd. Less than two hours later, Paul—the "big cheese" at Elite—called me and offered me the job on the spot. I went from $17.50 an hour to $30.00 an hour overnight.

But the real shock came when I walked onto the site the next day. Standing there was Tim, the site Superintendent. I hadn’t seen Tim in years, not since our days at Muskrat Falls where we’d have awesome chats in the mornings in the smoke pit while waiting for the shift to start. I had no idea he was even with Elite until that moment. It turns out, when my application came through, Tim saw my name and remembered exactly who I was. He gave Paul the reference I needed because he knew my character from Muskrat Falls.

I was "green as grass" when it came to the labor and formwork side—being in the seat is a lot different than being on the ground—but I’m a fast learner. Tim and Paul gave me a chance a lot of people wouldn't because of my gap in work history. I want to give a massive shout-out to both of them for believing in me and giving me that shot when I needed it most.

Today, I’m a Journeyman Laborer with the Union. Even Mark is working with them now as a second-year thanks to the door I opened. It goes to show: it’s not just about what you know, it’s about who remembers you when you were at your best. As the saying goes, "It's not about what you know, it's about who you know.

[STAY TUNED FOR PART 22]

Your reputation follows you everywhere. To my ladies in the trades—how do you handle it when you know more than the guys giving the orders? Let’s talk about the stigma in the comments.



The Road to Recovery: My Sarah AP

05/25/2026

📖THE ROAD TO RECOVERY❤️‍🩹📖

Part 21⬇️

The 420-Ton Secret & The $30 Jump

When I started with Frontline Traffic Services, I was just happy to have a paycheck. But I had a secret: I wasn’t just a "newbie" to construction. Back in Labrador, between 2014 and 2018, I was an apprentice mobile crane operator on a massive mega-project at Muskrat Falls.

I learned the ropes on everything from a 25-ton carry deck to a 16000 Manitowoc crawler crane—a 420-ton beast with 222 feet of main boom and 222 feet of luffing jib. My biggest pick was 80,000 lbs, and from what I remember she could pick roughly 32,000 lbs at 230 feet, somewhere around there.

I have to chuckle sometimes at work here in Nova Scotia when people think I don’t have a clue about cranes or rigging. These "sky-rise" sites use chains, which are banned on major industrial sites for safety. I’ve seen what real rigging looks like, but I bite my tongue, keep my head down, and do my job. Who wants to take advice from a woman? Believe it or not, a lot of stigma and discrimination against women in the trades still exists.

I was working for Frontline for a few months. When, the universe stepped in.I seen a job posting for a tower crane rigger. I applied for a rigging position with Elite Formwork Ltd. Less than two hours later, Paul—the "big cheese" at Elite—called me and offered me the job on the spot. I went from $17.50 an hour to $30.00 an hour overnight.

But the real shock came when I walked onto the site the next day. Standing there was Tim, the site Superintendent. I hadn’t seen Tim in years, not since our days at Muskrat Falls where we’d have awesome chats in the mornings in the smoke pit while waiting for the shift to start. I had no idea he was even with Elite until that moment. It turns out, when my application came through, Tim saw my name and remembered exactly who I was. He gave Paul the reference I needed because he knew my character from Muskrat Falls.

I was "green as grass" when it came to the labor and formwork side—being in the seat is a lot different than being on the ground—but I’m a fast learner. Tim and Paul gave me a chance a lot of people wouldn't because of my gap in work history. I want to give a massive shout-out to both of them for believing in me and giving me that shot when I needed it most.

Today, I’m a Journeyman Laborer with the Union. Even Mark is working with them now as a second-year thanks to the door I opened. It goes to show: it’s not just about what you know, it’s about who remembers you when you were at your best. As the saying goes, "It's not about what you know, it's about who you know."

[STAY TUNED FOR PART 22]

Your reputation follows you everywhere. To my ladies in the trades—how do you handle it when you know more than the guys giving the orders? Let’s talk about the stigma in the comments.👍



The Road to Recovery: My Story
Sarah AP

05/24/2026

A little blast from the past! 🦺💨

If you’ve been following my Road to Recovery series, you know Part 20 is all about getting on with Front Line. I found this old footage of my time working as a TCP and just had to share.

My day-to-day looks a lot different now, but every job I've had has built the person I am today. Who else has worked a job that completely changed their perspective or helped them transition to the next level? 🙋‍♀️

Go check out the new post and let’s talk about the journey in the comments!


Sarah AP The Road to Recovery: My Story

05/24/2026

📖 THE ROAD TO RECOVERY❤️‍🩹📖

Part 20⬇️

The April 2025 Comeback

By early 2025, I knew I was ready. I had been away from the "street life" for almost a year, but there was still a hole where my career used to be. I hadn’t held a steady job in five or six years. When you’ve been out of the game that long, your resume feels like a list of secrets you’re trying to hide.

In February 2025, I enrolled in the Career Connect program at the Solutions Learning Center. It was exactly what I needed—resume building, skills training, and a chance to remember who I was before the addiction took over. One day, they brought in a speaker from the Laborers' Union (LiUNA). Little did I know, that was a seed being planted for my future.

Then came the job fair.

I’m not going to lie—it was nerve-wracking. I stood there with my new resume in my hand, my heart racing, wondering if these companies would see a hard worker or if they’d see my past written all over my face. I had to suck it up. I walked from booth to booth, introduced myself, and told them exactly what my skills were. I didn't hide.

I went home and didn’t hear anything for weeks. I figured that was it. But then, the phone rang.

It was Frontline Traffic Services offering me a job. I had had my certificate in the past, for Traffic Control Person but I had never actually used them. They were expired so I had to recertify, I would do that through Frontline. I was excited, but terrified. It had been so long since I had a schedule, a boss, and a crew. I had promised myself I’d have a job by the time we’d been in Nova Scotia for exactly a year. We landed in June 2024. By April 2025, I was putting on my steel toes and high-vis gear. The street life was behind me. The work life was officially back.

[STAY TUNED FOR PART 21]

Have you ever had to "start over" after a long gap? That first day back is the scariest—and the proudest—moment of the whole journey. Let's hear your 'first day' stories in the comments!

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05/18/2026

📖THE ROAD TO RECOVERY: A New Beginning 📖
PART 19

The Battle for My Sanctuary

By December 2024, the house in Eastern Passage was finally starting to feel like a home. Our landlord’s brother had moved out, and it was down to just me, Mark, and a couple of other guys. When they eventually moved on, our landlord gave us a choice: take over the whole house or she was going to sell it.

It was a no-brainer. We chose the house. We’ve been here almost two years now, but the road to keeping this place peaceful hasn't been easy.

We decided to rent out the two extra rooms. One room to someone I thought I could trust. She told me she was working and doing well; I truly believed she was a responsible, mature person who would respect our space. But the moment she moved her boyfriend in, everything shifted.

The "peace" we worked so hard for was gone.
Things started disappearing. I’d go to the kitchen for my groceries only to find them gone. I eventually realized she was buying the exact same brands as me just so she could claim my food was hers. But it wasn't just the food—it was the disrespect. I even went as far as getting her a job with me at Frontline, but she couldn't even make that work.

The hardest truth hit when I realized she was smoking crack right under my roof.

I had to find a strength I didn't know I had. I served the eviction notice, but they wouldn't listen. I finally had to change the locks and pack their bags myself because I didn’t trust them in my house for another second. Finding the things they had hidden while I was packing was a massive wake-up call.

I learned a stressful, expensive lesson: people aren't always who they say they are, and "clean" doesn't always mean "honest." My home is my sanctuary, and I’ll never let anyone threaten the foundation Mark and I built again.

[STAY TUNED FOR PART 20: The April 2025 Comeback… back to work]

Have you ever opened your home to someone only to have them turn it into a battlefield? How do you protect your peace when people try to steal it?

05/16/2026

📖 THE ROAD TO RECOVERY: Part 18

From the Streets to the Driver’s Seat

There is a specific kind of freedom that comes with holding a car key in your hand when, just months ago, you didn't even have a key to a front door.

Dropping $10,000 on that SUV was the most nervous and proud I’ve ever felt. In the old life, that kind of money would have been a death sentence. It would have bought enough dope to make sure we never woke up. But in this new life, it bought us a bridge to the rest of the world.

I remember the first time I sat in the passenger seat, Mark behind the wheel. I pulled down the sun visor opened the mirror, looked at myself, and realized the struggle was officially over. I wasn't walking until my feet bled anymore. I wasn't waiting for a bus that might never come or asking for a ride from a stranger. If we wanted to go to the ocean, we could drive there. If we needed to get to the clinic, We could get there.

Driving in that SUV back past Windmill Road was a surreal feeling. I looked at that old church—the place that held us when we had nothing—and I felt a deep sense of gratitude. But I also felt a surge of power. We were no longer "the couple from the shelter." We were people with a destination.

We had traded the sidewalk for the highway. The engine starting up was the sound of our second chance. We weren't just surviving the night anymore; we were driving toward our future, one kilometre at a time.

[STAY TUNED FOR PART 19]

That SUV was more than just metal and tires; it was our 'armor.' Passing that shelter on Windmill Road in our own vehicle felt like crossing a finish line. I looked in that visor mirror and didn't see a 'user' or a 'survivor'—I just saw Sarah. A woman with a place to go and a way to get there.

We went from having our whole lives in two bags to having a trunk, a backseat and keys to a house . It’s funny how the things most people find stressful—traffic, gas prices, car maintenance—felt like absolute blessings to us.

What’s one 'normal' thing you used to take for granted that you now see as a total luxury? For me, it was definitely having a set of car keys.

05/13/2026

Only forward from here..