Need a Plumber? Meet the Valley Woman Shattering Stereotypes in a Man’s World

Charity’s Plumbing Solutions is a female-owned and operated business.

PHOENIX — A Valley woman is making a name for herself in a male-dominated industry.

Charity Tovar is a wife, a mother, and a plumber.

“Before I started my business, the experience that I had as a plumber was being a homeowner,” Tovar said.

As a homeowner, Tovar saw a need for more women in trades.

Less than four percent of plumbers are female, according to Women in Plumbing and Piping.

“I needed to be a face for women and women minorities, because we are turning into the majority of the homeownership out there without enough representation,” Tovar said.

Tovar built her own business, Charity’s Plumbing Solutions, from scratch in 2023.

“I really had to get schooled on plumbing and I had to learn everything about water treatment, and slope, and angle, and gravity, and siphonage, and how that all works together,” Tovar said.

Being a minority business owner doesn’t come easy.

“The challenge to that is, ‘It’s interesting. It’s different. You don’t see this. Can we trust her?” Tovar said.

While focusing on growing her business, Tovar said she’s also interested in growing the industry.

“Plumbing is not going anywhere,” Tovar said.

Tovar works with students in the Phoenix Union High School District and encourages any woman considering a career in trades to take the leap.

“We as women who are in the trade, need to talk to the younger generation about how they can get involved and be more active in it,” Tovar said. “I think we can create a bigger presence of women in trade, but we as the tradeswomen need to promote our own trade.

Tovar is expected to speak at the Better Business Bureau’s (BBB) Industrious Women’s Summit about running a business in a male-dominated field.