Like Mother, Like Daughter: New Jersey Transit is All in the Family for Rashonda Brown & Shakyia Ward  

Rashonda Brown and Shakyia Ward are both conductors for New Jersey Transit.  
 
They’re not just co-workers. They’re also mother and daughter.  
 
But even though the two women are related and work for the same agency, they’ve made it a priority to forge their own professional paths. 
 
“[My mom’s] the chairman of the North Division,” Sister Ward explained. “The first thing I did was go to the Hoboken division and qualified there. That was kind of a shocker because everybody assumed I would just go to the Northside and be under my mom. But it was kind of a thing where it was like I wanted to create my own identity. I didn’t want to just be Rashonda Brown’s daughter, and I wanted people to see that.” 
 
“Not only am I Rashonda Brown’s daughter, but I’m actually good at the job, too.”

Shoe Store Encounter Leads to a Job Offer

Back in 2000, Sister Brown was a single mom working as a hairdresser at a beauty parlor.  
 
Her sister (who is also a conductor for New Jersey Transit), encouraged her to fill out an application to join her, but she was convinced that she had no interest in being a train conductor. 
 
Several years later, Sister Brown was managing a shoe store at the mall. 
 
One day, her sister was there but so was the person who had just become the General Chairman for the conductors at New Jersey Transit at the time.  
 
The previous administration left him to figure things out on his own, and he was looking for an assistant to help him out.   
 
After telling her sister that she still wasn’t sure if the position would be a good fit for her, Sister Brown had a meeting with the General Chairperson and decided to give the role a shot, ultimately beginning her union journey. 
 
Three years later and with an election on the horizon for the General Chairman, he asked Sister Brown if she had ever thought about working in transit. 
 
Once again, she wasn’t sure, but he wanted to guarantee that she’d still have a job if he lost the election.  
 
Realizing that her personable nature would likely be an asset on the job, she made the switch and began working as a conductor.  
 
Her daughter’s story isn’t that much different. 
 
She was in nursing school, but went to work at a bank after realizing it wasn’t the career path she thought it would be.  
 
Then, her mom suggested that she come and work for the railroad. 
 
“I kept saying to her, “You know, we didn’t pay for college for you to be making $17 an hour,’” Sister Brown said. “I know you don’t want to work [on the railroad], but let’s just try it out and see what happens and when you find something better than the railroad, then you can leave. It’s been six years now.”  

Changing Times

Throughout both of their careers, the two women have seen lots of changes.  
 
“We have more women than we’ve ever had on this property,” Sister Brown pointed out. “I remember I was in a class of 18, and there were only about four women in that class. The boys’ club is kind of just dispersing a little because now you have more women. I’m trying to still make it better and leave it better for the people that still have to be here when I’m gone.” 
 
“I had a child while I was working on the railroad, and I feel like I was taken care of as far as maternity leave,” Sister Ward said. “I was able to actually spend time with my child, but it’s just small things that men don’t think about.” 
 
Not all the changes have been positive, though.  
 
“The other thing that has changed and this is just the world we live in now is that it’s real dangerous for us,” Sister Brown emphasized. “Our members are being attacked on a daily basis. I’ve never seen it the way it is, you know?” 
 
“There’s a little thought in the back of our head, like ‘Are we gonna make it home today?’” Sister Ward said. “A constant thought of being in public, not really knowing what everyone’s going through and how they may take what you may say or ask them.”

The Family Business

It’s not just the mother-daughter duo who work for New Jersey Transit.  
 
Several extended family members are also employed there, but that doesn’t mean that any of them were guaranteed hires. 
 
“I think the difference between people working for transit and other jobs is you don’t just get grandfathered into it, because of someone you know that works there,” Sister Brown explained. “You actually have to put in to work for yourself, because your mom can’t pass the test for you, right?” 
 
Even with her mom working for New Jersey Transit before she did, Sister Ward was still unsure about joining her on the rails.  

“I was a little apprehensive with my mom working here and coming home and telling me crazy stories,” she said. “I’m like ‘This can’t be real life. She has to be making this stuff up.’ But I actually enjoy working with my mom. I enjoy what she does. I enjoy seeing her grow in a company.”  
 
Sister Brown agrees. 
 
“That’s enough for me…just to have been a role model for her,” she said. “As a parent, you just want to also make sure your kids if, God forbid, anything happens to me today, I know that she has something that will be able to support her and my granddaughter. It’s not an easy job, but it’s a career that I have not regretted since I started.”