Your Local Build Together Rep
Email: buildtogether@bta.ca

Being a member of Build Together has definitely had a positive impact on my career. I am a part of a support system of women who help each other learn and grow.

I take advantage of additional training when it is offered. Ive completed the CWB welding supervisor course, the American OSHA 30, numerous saftey qualification tickets as well as being a yearly attendee of the Trades Women Build Nations Conference.

When I show up to work, most of the time it doesn’t even feel like “work”, because its truly something I enjoy doing. If you are new to the industry or maybe wanting to peruse a career in the trades, the best advice I can give you is to choose a career that you are passionate about. We all need to work and earn a living and its going to make your life a whole lot better if you enjoy what you are doing.

Empowerment, encouragement and motivation for people in not one just one industry, but across the building trades. The more we can learn to support each other the stronger we become as a whole.

Every time a woman accomplishes her goals, is promoted or advances her career/education, I think that is success for all women in the trades and Build Together. We need to encourage and support each other.

I had been working in the food and beverage industry for 7-8 years and was looking for a change – a career. Mechanics was an interest of mine, carpentry was too. When I talked to my parents about it, my Mom suggested that I try my hand at welding with my Dad. The following weekend, my Dad and I got to work on the back of his welding rig, and I was hooked. As a fourth generation welder, I’d say it was in my blood. I started my apprenticeship and before I knew it, I was a Journeyman. I pushed on further to get my B-pressure certification soon after.

During my career, I have worked in commercial, industrial, and production facilities. I’ve built many things from garbage containers and trucks, to large pressure vessels. I’ve worked in fabrication shops, water treatment facilities, gas plants, fertilizer plants, from new construction to repairs, replacement, and maintenance. I started my own ornamental ironwork business, which led me to becoming an instructor at the local college to teach it. That experience was helpful when I was offered a position as an instructor at my union hall. From there, I was invited to fill in as a National Manager with my union’s head office, while a colleague went on maternity leave. This goes to show that you never know what doors will open when you join the trades.

If I had any advice to give women looking for a career, I would say: “Find a trade you love, give it all you’ve got, join your local union, and get on the Build Together committee! You have no idea how proud of yourself you will be!! DO IT!!”

I have always been interested in the trades; my dad was an auto mechanic and worked as a labourer for a couple of years alongside other millwrights and wanted to join the union.

I was incredibly interested in this role when I realized the opportunity that it can bring to minorities in the trade. Any little step towards making a positive impact in the industry is a step in the right direction.

Programs like Build Together create a support team, and give women the opportunity to have their voices heard from a different level within the industry. Build Together has the ability to influence and notify our leadership of some of the common and reoccurring issues that many women face on the jobsite. Without the insight of Build Together, and other women in the industry, a lot of these issues go completely un-noticed, which ultimately leads to the fact that we have such a difficult time retaining women in the workforce. Through Build Together, we are opening new doors and helping to find solutions that can retain the women in our industry who are skilled, have worked hard throughout their career and deserve a place in the industry.

Always be prepared.