Isis Harris, owner of 3v3ryday Grind LLC
Isis Harris is a Portland-native, Licensed Journeyman Electrician, and the owner of 3v3ryday Grind LLC, a branded, high visibility workwear apparel company. High visibility is crucial for fast-paced activities like construction, flagging, biking, jogging, or warehouse work, to name a few. But this company isn’t just about merchandise. “Another part of the company is just bringing awareness to the construction industry, bringing awareness to the opportunity of apprenticeship and sharing my story with others so that they know that regardless of whatever obstacles you come across, you can still make whatever you need to make of your life,” Isis explains. “You don’t have to fit into the status quo. It’s ok to blend out boldly and just be yourself”
Isis chose this type of high visibility apparel for a very specific reason. “Because going through my apprenticeship there was not the opportunity to not be highly visible. There was not the opportunity to not be seen on a daily basis regardless of whatever I wore,” she recalls.Isis embraces the fact that as a Black woman, she is a unique person on a work site. “I am going to own it and embrace it and wear it, versus kind of trying to hide from it and blend into, I guess, the majority. It’s ok. It’s ok to be an individual, it’s ok to stand out, to blend out and to be yourself.”
3v3ryday Grind LLC, the creator and organizer of the 3-part Community Pulse Series, aimed to create a family friendly community engagement experience specifically crafted to expose and educate the Black and Brown communities to specific pathways into construction-based careers. This is accomplished through hands-on workshops, speed mentoring, virtual simulation exercises, and direct access to construction industry stakeholders. The intention is to encourage intentional recruitment from these communities and offset the potential for gun violence by offering prosocial activities to at-risk youth and communities. Isis garnered support from many sponsors as well as funds from the Safer Summer PDX initiative allocated by the Mayor's Office. The next event is to be held October 15th, 2022 from 11am-5pm at The Portland Covenant Church located at 4046 NE MLK Jr Blvd, near Shaver St. To get involved, visit ShopEveryDayGrind.com.
“We can work on actually keeping people in the trades that come from diverse backgrounds and changing the construction culture to one that is more welcoming,” Isis states.“Community is a big part of it. And with that, you have to be a little more visible, you have to kind of put yourself out there in uncomfortable situations which is some of what I’m doing right now. And just embracing the fact that I cannot continue to go to work everyday and not see faces that look like me and know that I’m not doing anything about it.” It is without a doubt that Isis is doing something about it. And then some.