Blazing a trail in some male-dominated fields
When Clara Leahy realized beef farming wasn’t going to pan out as planned, she didn’t give up — she altered her plan.
Growing up on a beef farm in Douro, Leahy thought she’d take over the farm one day.
But as she got older, the physical challenges became too much.
Instead of abandoning farming all together, Leahy reformed her route.
“That’s when the idea of sheep came up and I thought, I can physically deal with that a bit better,” said Leahy.
The 23-year-old was one of five female speakers on a panel deemed trailblazers in maledominated fields.
Peterborough-Kawartha MP Maryam Monsef hosted the discussion Friday at Fleming College’s Fulford Restaurant.
The event landed on Canada’s inaugural Gender Equality Week, which ends Saturday.
Other speakers included Sofie Andreou, digital marketing entrepreneur and educator, Kirsten Scott, project lead at Fleming’s centre of the advance of water and wastewater technologies, Valerie Yeo, a welder at Steelworks Design, and Maureen Adamson, Fleming College’s new and first female president.
Leahy doesn’t see herself as a trailblazer, though.
“I think, historically, there have been women in agriculture, not at the forefront, but who’ve done amazing work to get me at where I am now today, and I really look to them as trailblazers,” said Leahy.
For women who’re thinking of entering the farming world, but aren’t quite sure, Leahy offered words of encouragement.
“You can do it. You may need to do things a little different than what you’ve seen but it is possible and it’s so rewarding,” she said.
Fellow panellist Yeo also doesn’t see herself as a trailblazer either, though she could see why the term would fit.
She’s a welder at Steelworks Design and a millwright apprentice. “There aren’t many of us around, but we are slowly on the rise,” said Yeo, 23.