(This article was written by Abigail Muniz-Garcia and was featured in the October 2024 issue of Explore Harlingen Magazine.)
Stephanie Hajducek’s small idea has turned into a movement. Her 2-1/2-year-old nonprofit organization, This One’s for the Gals, started as an idea that has now taken off.
“It has exploded into something I never thought it could,” she said.
The organization works to help girls learn about career pathways in construction, energy, manufacturing, and maritime. Their website reads, “We like to say that we talk to girls about careers that not very many people talk to girls about from Skilled Trades to STEM and everything in between!”
This One’s for the Gals, which operates out of South Texas, specifically the Coastal Bend area near Corpus Christi, will be hosting an event in Harlingen on October 3. The 2024 RGV Women in Industry Career & Education Expo, which will happen at the Harlingen Convention Center, will feature eight panel presenters including City of Harlingen Mayor Norma Sepulveda, who will be part of the leadership panel.
“The women on the panels range from wearing hard hats and steel toes to business suits and stilettos,” Hajducek said. “It’s an awareness event and a day for girls to come see… girls cannot be what they cannot see. I want girls to know there are resources out there.”
The mission of This One’s for the Gals is made possible by collaborations with educational institutions, industry partners, and workforce development programs. They want to reach as many girls as they can. It is their first time doing an expo in the Rio Grande Valley.
“I don’t want to just talk about jobs but a career,” Hajducek said.
She adds that this organization started because as an adult, she realized there was a need to educate females about career opportunities outside of what everyone traditionally knows as career paths for women.
“I’m very passionate about it because I have built my program on what would have helped me… we like to talk to girls about careers that not others talk to them about,” she said.
Hajducek, who wears many hats, is not only a mother with a full-time job, but she also dedicates much of her time to this nonprofit when she isn’t at her daytime job.
“I do this in my spare time, but it literally is a full-time job,” Hajducek said.
The organization has even published children’s books such as “A Day in the Life of Lilly the Lab Technician: Un Dia en la Vida de Lilly la Tecnica de Laboratoria,” a dual language book that is the first in a series. These books are written to bring awareness to career pathways available to women in places that may not have been considered before or perhaps that they didn’t know existed.
Hajducek isn’t slowing down anytime soon though. She sees the nonprofit organization continuing along with events like the Harlingen expo, workshops, and more children’s books. She’s hopeful about the future of the organization and what it can do for girls in South Texas.
“It’s about getting our girls to get more out of life… experience and see things they’ve never done before. I want to just continue to inspire girls to reach for the stars in their careers. We’ve got to get girls to take that chance because it can change their life,” Hajducek said.
For more information, please visit: thisonesforthegals.com.
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