By several measures, Jessie Cannizzaro is an outlier in the plumbing world. For starters, she’s a woman in a heavily male-dominated trade. In addition, she’s technically a businesswoman first and a plumber second, having earned an undergraduate degree in business and a Master of Business Administration degree before she ever wielded a monkey wrench professionally.
Moreover, the co-owner of Milestone Plumbing in suburban Milwaukee, is also an instructor in a plumbing-apprenticeship program offered at a local community college, where she’s quietly spreading a message to young would-be plumbers: Four-year college degrees aren’t the only ticket to successful careers.
Ironically enough, Cannizzaro
