Meet the Women Behind Charlotte's Landscape
The following is an excerpt from a recently published article on charlottenc.gov. To read the full article, click the button below.
When Natasha Warren began her journey into this line of work, there was a clear and obvious lack of diversity. âWhen I looked around the room, there were usually very few women,â she explained, in reference to her education at NC State University in the 1990s. âAnd I canât remember a single other Black person that was there, in any of my classes that were specifically related to the green industry.â
Warren first joined the City of Charlotteâs Landscape Management team in 1998. At the time, there were only two other women in the entire building, and both held administrative rolesâ"one handled budget and one handled human resources.â She recalled having to share space with the rowdy tree trimmers, all of whom were male. Fast forward to present day, and she can hardly believe the situation in which she now finds herself.
âIâm just in awe,â said Warren. âI look around, and I look at who I have next to me, and I look at what these women are doing, and Iâm just so incredibly impressed. I just see the vision that they have and the drive, and itâs just a very, very different vibe.â
As Warren shared her story, nearly every woman in the room nodded in agreement. Their experiences, while unique to them as individuals, frequently mirrored one anotherâŚ
Kourtnie Vincent was one of two women in her college program. All of her internship supervisors and teammates were men.
Laurie Reid was the only female undergraduate student in Clemsonâs entomology program. Sheâs now the City of Charlotteâs first-ever female City Arborist.
Erin Oliverioâs role as Division Manager had been occupied exclusively by men for the last 30+ years.
âIâve had some experiences, too, of people not wanting to hire women, because âthey wonât fit,ââ Victoria Aguilar added. âItâs hard for women just to even get their foot in the door a lot of times in a male-dominated industry like this.â
Aguilar has dealt with several instances where the men around her automatically assumed she didnât know what she was doing. It had nothing to do with her credentials or her experience; it was simply a result of her gender. âJust, like, assuming that you donât know how to use the equipment or donât know how to back the trailer up,â she explained.
On the contrary, Aguilar can maneuver equipment and perform the necessary manual labor better than most, regardless of gender. Oliverio shared, âI remember one time, on a Saturday, [Aguilar] volunteered for TreesCharlotte, and we had to pull out this massive trailerâlike tons of weight on the truckâand she maneuvered it through Uptown Charlotte. I was just blown away. I never questioned that [she] could or couldnât do it, but I was just like, âthatâs why sheâs here.â Sheâs skilled at what she does. Itâs impressive.â
In fact, all five of these women are incredibly skilled at what they do. Theyâve earned advanced degrees, theyâve gained years of valuable work experience, and theyâve proven themselves capable in the face of every new challenge or opportunity. Even so, they deal with incorrect assumptions frequently. Reid was once mistaken for a high school intern when meeting with a male landowner, despite having a masterâs degree and being the project lead. âThey donât expect a woman to come up and talk to them about these things,â she added.
Expectation. Thatâs what it always seems to come back toâassumptions formed out of expectations. Oliverio recalled her supervisor not expecting her to pass her arborist certification in her first year on the job, despite having been hired for her qualifications. Low expectations of women are a truth of the landscaping industry, and theyâre equally true in construction.
âIt takes us longer to earn respect in the construction field,â Vincent offered. As a certified Landscape Architect and manager of the CIP team, she often works with construction contractors to bring functional, aesthetically pleasing landscape areas to life. However, that task is made more difficult by the assumptions placed solely on her gender. âI always feel like you have to prove yourself, you have to educate, and you have to be very on your game. You have to walk up with confidence. You have to know the material better than them, so that theyâre not looking at you like, âoh, are you just here to take minutes?ââ
Upon hearing this, Aguilar chimed in: âYes, thereâve been many times that they thought I was the secretary and asked me if I was the secretary.â
âItâs difficult to go into that situation and be the enforcement person,â Reid added. âIâve literally had someone, after I had to enforce something, call someone else in the city and say, âsheâs mean.â And, you know, would he have said that if I was a man telling him to do this?â
As each woman told story after story, commiserating in their shared experiences within a male-dominated field, everyone smiled and laughed. It wasnât funnyânot at all, reallyâbut what else can you do? How else can you share stories of unfair assumptions and offensively low expectations? Laughter is how we cope, how we connect, how we release our pent-up frustrations in a way thatâs healthy and comfortable. Itâs normal to laugh, but the laughter eventually faded and the emotions behind it emerged.
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