We recently connected with Loretta Jones and have shared our conversation below.

Loretta, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Was there a moment in your career that meaningfully altered your trajectory? If so, we’d love to hear the backstory.

I went back to school at the young age of 50. I was a teacher and decided to do an about face and do something totally different. It was a scary, difficult process but I am so happy now that I made the decision to refresh my education.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

I work for the Public Utilities Department for the city of San Diego as Laboratory Technician. I randomly went to a Women in Water Symposium at Cuyamaca College and was blown away that there was this world of water. Although I was a full time teacher at the time, I was intrigued and decided to take some classes. After the first few, I was hooked! I decided I would change careers and do what it took to work in this sector. I worked very hard and received a scholarship and entered an Internship with SDCWA. I learned as much as I could about water systems, infrastructure, water and wastewater distribution and water testing for safe drinking water. The city of San Diego goes through great lengths to treat and distribute water for human consumption and to irrigate our landscape. Think about that the next time you flush the toilet, do your laundry, cook or drink a cool glass of water!
As a lab tech in the Environmental Monitoring and Technical Services, I do many chemical and microbiological analyses and water sampling. I test the water to make sure it is safe for you to use and drink.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I think the Pandemic made us all quite resilient but I took the quarantine time to delve even deeper into learning and studying. I was able to take online classes and learn even more aspects of our tremendous water system.

Also in terms of resiliency, to work full time, raise 3 children, take care of a home, be married and take full time classes, it is amazing what women can do!

Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?

Other than training, knowledge and classes, I think one of the most helpful and important things for succeeding in my field is to network. I received so much feedback from talking with other professionals. I also joined professional organizations like Women in Water, AWWA, CWEA, WEF and Phi Theta Kappa. It is amazing the insight and perspective I have gotten from these groups!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: www.instagram.com/loretta_lab/
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/Lorettamork
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/lori-jones-6ba30a74

Image Credits
Lori Jones