‘Move Over Bob’: Construction zine makes space for women

Construction has a reputation for being a boys club. That perception exists for a reason.

About one in ten workers in construction were women in 2024, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That percentage is even smaller in the trades.

In Arizona, Kate Glantz is seeking to get more women into the construction workforce through an unusual method: a glossy magazine. The co-founder of the media and lifestyle brand Move Over Bob has sought to educate more women about their opportunities to pursue a career in the trades.

Here, Glantz talks with Construction Dive about the mission behind the magazine, its goals for recruiting and education and the response to its cheeky name.

CONSTRUCTION DIVE: How did this magazine come about? What’s the idea behind it?

KATE GLANTZ: A print magazine in 2025 was obviously not the very first thing we thought of, but I’ll say this time and again: Girls aren’t Googling how to be a construction worker. So we had to find ways to meet them where they are. And at the same time, we are facing a massive skilled labor shortage in the U.S. and I just don’t believe it’s an issue of interest. I really believe this is an awareness issue and it’s a narrative issue and it’s a marketing challenge. So we knew we needed to get these stories to girls where they couldn’t just click away.

We realized schools are where our customers are. I now have partnerships with about 350 schools — of which 80% are high schools and 20% middle schools — across Arizona, so the magazine is not only going into kids’ backpacks and home to their families, but teachers are using it in class and guidance counselors are using it in their sessions. It’s not curriculum, it is a glossy magazine. This first issue just came out in August. There are 20,000 copies, 18,000 of which have been distributed to schools, women’s prisons, nonprofits and some public libraries. 

But what’s really exciting, is that we’re a teen magazine in classrooms, right? And so we hired a career and technical education teacher to develop both a middle school classroom guide and then a high school classroom guide, one for CTE students, one for non-CTE, and then we have an English and Spanish family guide.

Is it only in Arizona for now?

The partnerships are in Arizona. We now have subscribers all over the country. But really the storytelling is focused on Arizona. And the reason that we are starting there — we absolutely plan to be national — is that construction is quite local. Certifications and next steps and scholarships and training opportunities, they vary so much by region. And so before we went really wide with this aspirational, narrative-changing endeavor, we wanted to make sure the backend was as shored up as possible. 

It’s not just cool pictures and stories and sound bites. Every page of the magazine has a QR code where you can actually then scan it and get into where the apprenticeship is. You can see, what are the opportunities in my area for plumbing, for example. 

What’s the relationship been like with partners, contractors and apprenticeship programs?

Incredibly supportive. They love it. Everyone knows that we have a workforce shortage. And tradeswomen only make up a small share of the workforce, though it varies by region. But we know diverse perspectives make better businesses. 

I think that no matter where you fall personally, politically, there is this sort of unique expressway for what we’re doing, which is bringing more talent into the labor market. Everything that I communicate through the magazine and everything we talk about in any of our materials, frankly, is as applicable to men. It’s just the messengers are the women, and that’s just never been seen before.

Let’s talk about the name. Have you received any pushback for the title “Move Over Bob?”

I mean, in construction, you’ve got to have an edge. You’ve got to have a sense of humor. And if you don’t have thick skin, you’re going to be in trouble. So the choice between a more edgy and provocative name that you’re not going to forget and will perk your ears up, I feel like that’s a lot more powerful. 

This is an anthem. It’s a movement. It’s something that requires strength to say. “Move over Bob.” 

But we will always say, this is not at all about pushing men out. When I ask women, “How’d you get into construction?” the number one answer, far and away is: “My dad.” Not one part of our ethos is anti-man. It’s the reality that everything is being built predominantly by one point of view. We pose no threat to men by bringing more women into construction.