May 14, 2025 • 54 mins
The CWB Association brings you a weekly podcast that connects to welding professionals around the world to share their passion and give you the right tips to stay on top of what’s happening in the welding industry.
The path to finding your place in the welding industry isn't always straight or smooth—sometimes it winds across provinces, through unexpected doors, and even away from the trade entirely before bringing you home. Today's guest is Rainah Lee, a Welder from Mossbank, Saskatchewan. For young women considering welding or already in the field, Rainah offers straightforward advice on establishing firm boundaries, recognizing subtle discrimination, and standing your ground when necessary.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
All right, I can check.
Check, I'm good.
So I'm Max Duran.
Max Duran, cwb AssociationWelding Podcast.
Pod pod podcast.
Today we have a really coolguest welding podcast.
The show is about to begin.
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Happy welding.
Hello and welcome to anotheredition of the CWB Association
podcast.
My name is Max Suran and, asalways, I'm looking for the best
(01:08):
stories I can find to bring toyour ears on these magical
airwaves.
Today I didn't have to go fargeographically, although her
soul may live in other parts ofthe country.
Today I have Raina Lee, who isan accomplished welder, and
she's working here inSaskatchewan, in the town of
Moss Bank, which you'll have toGoogle because I'm not even sure
where that is.
But, raina, how are you doing?
Speaker 2 (01:32):
I'm good, max, how are you?
Speaker 1 (01:34):
I'm good.
I'm loving that the leaves arecoming out.
We're hitting springtime herein the prairies.
It's kind of a beautiful timeof year.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Oh I know it's gorgeous.
We got flowers sprouting upeverywhere.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Yeah, yeah, I just actually got the flowers going
in my garden and I spent thewhole day the last couple of
days.
It was like 30 degrees thisweekend, so it was perfect.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
I know it's insanely hot and work pants and work
coats.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
So talk to me first about where you're working right
now.
You said you're in Mossbank.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
What are talk to me?
First about where you'reworking right now.
You said you're in moss bank.
Uh, what are you doing in mossbank working?
What are you doing there?
So yeah, I'm just outside ofmoss bank actually a smaller
shop like corrals and gates andheavy panels are mig welding but
you kind of get to dofabrication to that.
It's kind of cool to see thedifferent kind of stuff that
goes into like agriculture andyou know the side of stuff that
(02:33):
I haven't seen.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
But you know, I worked in manufacturing for a
long time in Saskatchewan and agis something that's just a part
of the culture out here.
There's never enough people tosustain the ag work.
It's like literally always ajob in ag.
But when I got into it I alsowent through that whole thing
where you think you know thethings you're going to build,
(02:57):
but there's so much more.
Um like, for a while I wasbuilding Buffalo squeezes, like
things for farming Buffalo anduh, and that was really fun
because, as you can imagine,buffaloes are incredibly strong
and they can shred like quarterinch steel, like like just blow
through it, so like you'd haveto build like gates and stuff
out of half inch plate in orderto keep buffaloes in and that
(03:20):
blew me away, that they're sostrong.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
That's insane.
Yeah, that's pretty cool.
We use some pretty big stufftoo, but like it's all a lot of
oil field piping that we use, soit's I don't even know what
that would be.
It's about a half inch wall onthat kind of stuff too.
Like it is pretty thick, heavypipe.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
So it's interesting.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Yeah, sked 40s, 3.8s sked 80s 3.8, sked 80s, usually
about 5.8, so it's probablyaround there.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Yeah, yeah, it's it's pretty heavy stuff.
But so let's talk about whereyou came from.
Where do you call home?
Because you're you're a bit aways from your hometown yeah,
I'm a little ways out.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
so I grew up for the most part on vancouver, comox,
so a small little Air Force town.
I grew up there until I wasabout 14.
And then we moved to theKootenays.
We lived in Creston for alittle while.
So, I'd say it's a good 50-50between Creston and Comox, and
those two alone are very farapart from each other.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
And then when you moved into, you know the
Kootenays, you're a teenager,you know, I guess how did you
start getting the thoughts oftrades or welding in your head?
You know what were the firstseeds that were planted in young
Raina?
Speaker 2 (04:42):
So when we stayed so there's a bit of a halfway point
between, uh, comox and crestonwe had stopped in cam loops for
a little while um, and there'ssome people that we met there
that knew people in creston.
So when we were telling themwhere we were headed, they're
like, oh, you have to like getin contact with these people.
So I did um, and then we endedup moving there and then meeting
(05:06):
them and, uh, the one guy ownsa shop there.
So he does welding, mechanical,just kind of everything, but
it's like a private shop, right.
So it's nothing, nothing formal, but very word of mouth, um.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
So he took me on and he kind of started teaching me
all this stuff and that's kindof where that went now, did your
family have any of that in it,like he, your parents in the
trades, or your or your you know, or your aunts and uncles or
something you know, or was thiskind of your first uh,
experience with it?
Speaker 2 (05:40):
no, my mom's actually was a baker.
She's an LPO now, lossprevention officer, but she was
a baker for a really long timeand my dad was a commercial
driver.
So this is not even close.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
I think baking is kind of like welding really, if
you think about it.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
ingredients and mixes .
Why am I so bad at it At baking, not welding At the baking?
Speaker 1 (06:04):
That's funny, because I'm not a great baker either,
but I'm a really good cook.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
But baking and cooking are two different things
oh, very different, verydifferent, but I see what you
mean.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
Like they are very similar in ways like there's
yeah well, and baking is one ofthe og trades, right like, uh,
chef and cooking and baking.
Those are trades that go backthousands of years.
Um so now, when you gotintroduced to this shop, you
know in Kamloops, did you comeout of that thinking like, I
(06:35):
mean, you're pretty young?
Were you thinking like, hey,this could be a job someday?
Or were you like, man, I wasfun, whatever, you know um, so
the shop was actually in creston.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
It's just the people we met knew the people in
creston where we were heading um.
So I was there and working withrandy his name was randy uh for
a few years um now I haddropped out of school at this
point so I was just working inhis shop full-time but, um, he
kind of pushed me to go back toschool.
So when I went back to school Istarted taking like the, the
(07:06):
automotive um program there and,uh, eventually went on to do
youth train and trades.
But those thoughts were kind ofthere when I, when it all made
sense, like the stuff that youwere doing made sense like
mechanical welding, like thatstuff really appealed to me and
it actually made sense more thana lot of the other stuff that I
tried did.
(07:26):
Um so, yeah, I was definitelylooking and contemplating what
kind of field I wanted to gointo, which ended up originally
being heavy duty mechanics.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
Okay, cool.
Well, that's a great trade.
Lots of work for it too.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Oh, of course, Um, but here we are now.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
So.
So why did you drop out ofschool?
You know like, what was it thatyou hated about school so much?
Um, that made you just be likeyou know what.
Forget it, I just like I can,I'll just work.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Um, so my mom couldn't work.
Uh, we actually struggled quitea bit, especially after the
move, um, but she was ondisability and couldn't work.
So I ended up being the onegoing to work from the time that
I was about 11, 12, uh, rightup until I turned 15.
And then I moved out when I was15.
So I got my own place and Istarted going back to high
(08:20):
school.
Um, and then that's when theyouth train and trades program
kind of came up and set me upfor college.
So what, when the youth trainand trades program kind of came
up and set me up for college?
Speaker 1 (08:27):
so what is the youth train and trades program?
What, what was it?
What was the plan of it?
Speaker 2 (08:33):
uh, they used to call it ace it, but now it's called
youth train and trades.
So what it basically is is thatif you go to, say, high school,
and instead of doing your grade12 year, you can go to college
to get those credits, you canpick some sort of college course
to go and instead of doing yourgrade 12 year, you can go to
college to get those credits.
You can pick some sort ofcollege course to go and instead
of doing your grade 12 year,they put you through the program
.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
So you get both your whatever you decided to go for
and your grade 12 so it's reallycool, and then they pay your
way and did you do that as awelder or as an industrial
mechanic?
Speaker 2 (09:04):
As an industrial mechanic.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
And then, why did you not pursue industrial mechanics
or millwright?
Speaker 2 (09:11):
I did.
For a few years I did.
I worked in some truck andtrailer shops.
I did enjoy it, but that camewith its own set of struggles as
well with its own set ofstruggles as well.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
We're getting real here.
We're getting real yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
I did not have some great experiences in some of the
shops that I worked in.
So we ended up or I ended upkind of just like dropping that
and then, when everything kindof went sideways, I went on to,
uh, go back to Creston.
I lived in Creston again forprobably two, three months, just
(09:59):
kind of figuring out what I wasgoing to do after that.
And, um, I was working.
I was working at the shop I hadjust bought this truck actually
the one.
I'm sorry, Spotify listeners youcan't see this but, um, I
bought this truck and I neededsome exhaust work, so I was
welding up the exhaust andthat's kind of when I was like
(10:19):
maybe I should go into welding,because this, just this feels
right, like this feels natural.
I'm actually like in my zone.
I enjoying this, like thefabrication part of it I really
enjoyed, so I kind of it waslike an overnight decision to go
from that to welding and nowthe issues you had at the shop
that soured you from from thattrade?
Speaker 1 (10:42):
were they because you're a woman you know like?
Is that you know?
That's something that I hear alot, especially when I was a
teacher, about how discouragingit could be for a female to go
into certain industries, certainshops, certain places.
I mean, I as a teacher one timeactually had to go to a shop
and say I'm never sendingstudents here again because you
(11:04):
guys are disgusting, you?
Um?
For the stories that I get backfrom my students, was that a
situation that you had dealtwith like as a young woman
getting in the trades?
You know?
Speaker 2 (11:15):
very much so and not so much here, like not at all
here in Saskatchewan, but rightup until just before I moved
here, like it was something Idealt with, even in welding.
I don't think it matters whattrade you get into, whether it's
carpentry or welding, orindustrial mechanics or
millwrights.
You're like it's unfortunate,but you're gonna find those
(11:35):
shops.
You're gonna have that issueand, um, unfortunately a lot of
places.
They might not be as outrightabout it, but they will almost
hide the disrespect a little bitbetter yeah and, yeah, kind of
cover it up a lot more, but I'vedefinitely struggled with that.
that is what soured me from thattrade and it's what almost like
(11:57):
turned me off from welding.
I took a little bit of a breakand went into bartending because
in left bridge, right after Igot out of school, I had nothing
but experiences with thosekinds of shops.
It was brutal.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
It's almost like I've thought about it before, like
you know how, when I was likethere's like rate my professor,
so like if you're a collegeteacher, if you treat people bad
, they'll slam you on rate myprofessor and the world will
know that you're a bad teacher,right?
And then you have like Googlereview for restaurants and
people will say this restaurantis junk, don't go there.
(12:32):
I almost feel like we needsomething for shops.
You know, know, to be like thisshop is racist, or this shop is
sexist, or you know thereshould almost be like a star
rating for how they deal withtheir staff, because I'm I'm
always amazed and I've had tonsof negative experiences myself
(12:53):
and I'm a guy, but I'm brown andand brown guys have their own
battles that they gotta dealwith, and especially western
canada is quite racist.
But you know, if you were awoman, times 10 now imagine
being a brown woman, right times100.
So like, when's this gonna stopright?
Like it just seems to be, likeit seems so silly that we still
(13:15):
have these issues, but they'rethey're not like, oh, 10 years
ago, it's like today.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
Today, you can find a really crappy place oh yeah,
and I I will admit, like I don'tknow if you've seen the, the
movie north north country.
Uh, it's about kind of how thisall started, with the first
women coming into the workplacein the mines and stuff.
It's a hard movie to watch, butit's definitely a good one to
watch.
Um, so there are still shopsout there like that.
(13:42):
Yes, it's probably not ascommon as it was back then, for
sure, but like it's still.
You don't have to go very farto find that kind of thing, and
it's unfortunate.
And, like I said earlier, thereare places that are getting
better at hiding it and gettingbetter at, you know, almost
gaslighting you, or?
(14:05):
yeah, making it seem like it'snot as bad yeah but but, like
you said, there are still shopsthat are outright like that,
like it's.
It's a tough.
It's a tough place to be ifyou're any sort of minority, for
sure well, I just had a friendof mine move out here from
ontario.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
He's a red seal welder, um got all his pipe
endorsements.
Came out west to make moneyright, he's a good friend of
mine and uh and and the money isgood out west.
I mean, we're not gonna lie.
The money out here is betterthan out east um in some cases
almost twice as much, which canbe pretty crazy.
But he's really struggled withhow rough it is out here out
(14:44):
west.
He can't so like he's fromontario, um, half his friends
are either people of color orblack and gay and whatever else,
because he's from a biggercenter, um, and he has almost
quit two jobs already insaskatchewan because people are
saying like the n-word in theshop and you know just brutal,
(15:07):
brutal things that I.
I hate hearing that because onmy on my end.
It's like I'm trying to get morewelders into the industry.
The shops are dying.
Shops are calling me every dayMax, we need welders, max, we
need welders.
And I feel like being like,yeah, well, what are you doing
to make it better?
You know like, I feel likesaying, you know like if we all
(15:27):
need so many more welders and weall need to get more people,
that means we need women, weneed gay, we need trans, we need
people of color, we need onearm, we need one eye we need
everybody right, and how am Isupposed to sell that trade if
there's still bad actors outthere that are making it right?
Speaker 2 (15:49):
oh, of course like I yeah, it's a hard one and like,
and I, where I'm at right now,what I've noticed in the little
bit of time I've been inSaskatchewan so far but maybe
it's just like where I'm at it'sbeen considerably less than
Alberta.
But again, like I'm not in thisbig center, I'm in like a
smaller, very small like farmcommunity where everybody kind
(16:10):
of looks at everybody the samebut I did not have that.
I had the very similarexperience in alberta, where
it's, you know, dropping then-word in the shop and it's,
it's a rough place to be forsure.
So I'm pretty lucky where I'mat right now.
(16:32):
Like it's just me and one otherwoman in the shop right now,
which is crazy to me because I'mso used to it being c.
But I know what you mean.
Like it's just me and one otherwoman in the shop right now,
which is crazy to me because I'mso used to it being c.
But I know what you mean.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Like it's, it's hard so when you said you were
getting ready to drop welding,like you walked away from
industrial mechanic too many badexperiences and then you said
you finished welding school andyou were like you know what?
I'm not doing this either.
I want to be a bartender.
Just just forget about it.
And I've.
You know, one of my favoritestudents of all time, a girl, um
(17:01):
, is now a bartender because shecouldn't deal with the and
welding, and then I've seen thatstory play out.
So what is it that pushed youout of welding or made you
question even being in thewelding trades?
Same thing, or was it like?
Was it ever an inability tofind work or or stuff like that,
which sometimes new people,like new to the trades, have
trouble?
Speaker 2 (17:21):
there was a lot of work.
So that's where I was.
When I stepped back fromwelding I was like, okay, after
what just happened?
Um, there was a journeyman whowas getting very physical with
me and when I brought it up theyjust tried to tell me that I
was causing issues with thejourneyman and that I was no
longer a good fit for the teamand that I need to just keep my
mouth shut.
(17:41):
And I was like no.
So after a couple of experienceswith that and the psychological
warfare and the wholegaslighting part of it in the
different shops that I tried inand around Lethbridge Don't get
me wrong, I did work with somereally great people there too,
(18:01):
but it wasn't enough to outweighthe stuff that was going on.
So I don't want to discreditthe fact that there are still
good men out there in that fieldand good women Just want to put
that out there.
But after that last one waspretty bad.
Uh, me and the partner I waswith at the time.
He had just lost his job, so hewas going to work for his
(18:24):
family in Strathmore, so wemoved up there.
I kind of took the summer off.
Um, I wasn't quite bartendingyet but, I kind of took the
summer off trying to figure outwhat we were going to do.
Um, and then we ended up movingto the Crow's nest pass, which
is where I went into bartendingright now, where in this journey
(18:45):
did I meet you?
Speaker 1 (18:47):
because I saw you at canwell in toronto.
I believe that was the firsttime I met you.
Was that is that right?
Yeah, in person anyway, yeahyeah, yeah, now you know you
came out there to be a part ofthe.
You know the chapters and thecan weld and the whole thing.
What?
How did that happen?
How did you first of all evenhear about it?
(19:08):
How did you get involved andhow did you end up sitting at
the table with me out in themiddle of Ontario?
Speaker 2 (19:15):
so I've been listening to the podcast for
about two years now.
So when I was in welding school, that's when I started
listening to it.
That would have been about thetime that I was really
struggling and I think I talkedto you a little bit about that.
That would have been.
(19:35):
That was June, right, that wasJune last year.
Yep, yeah, okay.
So, yeah, that would have beenabout the same time that I was
getting ready to take the summeroff and to just kind of step
back and figure out what it is Iwas gonna do.
Um, I ended up going out therebecause I originally heard about
fabtech and then I got theemail about Canweld, so it kind
(19:57):
of all just meshed together.
I was like I'm gonna do both ofit, uh, both of them, and uh,
yeah, I just kind of bought myticket and went out there and
just, and I love.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
Like you literally just rolled up one morning by
yourself and we're like hi, likeyou literally just rolled up
one morning by yourself andwe're like hi, I'm reina.
Yeah, like, uh, I want to be apart of stuff.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
And I was like, okay, well, come on in yeah, that was
a little nerve-wracking for mefor sure, but I I was definitely
worth it, like I had a lot offun there.
I got to see a lot of coolstuff and meet some really cool
people.
For sure I would do it again ina heartbeat.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
So well, what was your experience with it?
You know, like a lot of peoplethat haven't gone to a can weld
or right, and like this yearwe're doing well, the industry
days and red deer same thing,though.
You know these big conferences,conferences, the, these
networking opportunities.
What were your biggesttakeaways?
Because I feel like you reallygot your juice out of it.
You pretty much attended everysingle thing you could, because
(21:03):
there's basically stuffhappening all day and all night,
every night, right oh, I know,it was nuts so what were your
biggest takeaways from that week?
Speaker 2 (21:13):
I don't know everybody that I met from that
week, I don't know everybodythat I met there, gave me some
really good pointers and somegood tips and being able to
bring some stuff back into thisshop and being able to tell even
my my boss now about this newstuff.
And he's like, oh, how'd youhear about that?
I was like, oh well, I went tofabtech last year and they had a
(21:35):
booth set up, um, and oh, how'dyou, how do you know this
person?
Oh well, I met them here.
Uh, so it's kind of cool andespecially now being closer to
regina and being closer to thiskind of stuff, um, it's kind of
cool being able to have thatkind of full circle moment and
actually use that, thatinformation and, uh, you know,
(21:56):
let him know about the productsand the stuff that I, you know,
saw in the booths and thenhaving him bring it into the
shop like it's.
It's super cool awesome.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
Well, I know that it was like.
I love just seeing young peopleget involved.
I remember trying to convinceyou to not leave the trades
because because I know they canbe taunting and I've tried to
leave the trades a few timeswith myself, um, but you know
you, you stick it out and thereis a a payoff in the end.
(22:26):
You know for you.
Now you're still welding, solet's go back to that timeline.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
You took some time off to bartend what happened so
I found out that the bar that Iwas working at was closing down.
Um, the owners just kind ofwanted to spend some more time
with their family and they hadbeen in the restaurant industry
for 15 years.
So they were, they're ready tostep back, they're ready to
spend some time with family.
(22:52):
And, uh, they kind of just letus know, like, hey, you guys got
like two months to find a newjob.
Like we're, we're getting readyto close this place down.
Um, so I wasn't sure what I wasgonna do, whether I wanted to
stay in the crossness pass or,if I wanted to, you know, go
back home or go to creston.
I wasn't sure what was gonnahappen.
But, um, so we had a big partythe day after valentine's day.
(23:15):
Uh, just a busy rush, but thatwas about the time that there
was a lot of slutters in townthere for snowmobiling, a lot
from Saskatchewan.
So I met a couple of them andthey kind of, let me know we
were just talking, and after I'dalready closed the bar down,
you know kind of sat down andyou know, shoot the for a little
(23:38):
bit.
Um, I kind of let them know thesituation, what was going on,
and, like the bar's closing down, like I'm not a journeyman, but
like I have tickets and welding, I've experienced like I've
gone to school and they're like,okay, well, we know somebody,
let's make a call.
So then the following so thatwould have been Friday.
So then the following Sundaythey would have been friday.
So then the following sundaythey're like call this person.
(23:58):
And I did, and then it was justa matter of okay, pack your
stuff and move to saskatchewan.
I was like, okay, and that wasin itself was nerve-wracking,
like I hadn't been past medicinehat before that other than to
like ontario and PEI, but, likeI had, I've never been to
(24:19):
Saskatchewan, I've been toManitoba.
So to move somewhere that Ididn't know anybody, didn't have
any friends or family out there, didn't really know exactly
what I was getting into.
I was like, ah, you know, Idon't have a lot to lose right
now.
What could go wrong?
Speaker 1 (24:36):
yeah, yeah, so did you come out here completely
alone, like just pack up yourtruck and drive out to
saskatchewan for the job, um, oror do you have, like you know,
any type of like did you?
Did the dogs come with you?
At least are you all alone outhere, what you doing?
Speaker 2 (24:56):
I got a cat.
Speaker 1 (24:58):
Cats are awesome.
Cats are awesome.
Cats are way easier to travelwith.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
Yeah, well, she did not appreciate the car ride.
She had some words about that,but she's alive.
So I think it's fine.
Speaker 1 (25:13):
And this job, the job that you got out here, kind of
work is it like?
I mean, is it uh, is it?
You're on the road every day.
Are you in a shop every day?
Speaker 2 (25:23):
no, I'm in a shop every day and I've actually
grown to really appreciate that.
I always thought that I wantedto be, you know, on the road,
especially being like a subpreviously in lethbridge being a
subcontract worker like Ialways thought that, oh yeah, I
want to be on the road, I wantto have my own truck, I want to
be you know on and off job sites.
But now I just reallyappreciate being in a shop all
(25:45):
day working eight to five, youknow, doing my thing like I.
I've really grown to appreciatethat I totally get that I also.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
I mean, I never wanted to have a truck.
I never wanted to have thatworld of chasing money like that
.
I did chase shutdowns and stufffor a while for for you know
work, but even that it was onlyfor the money.
I never wanted to do it likefull-time, like that would be my
gig forever.
I always, uh, appreciated shopwork.
I like the finesse of shop work, the ability to be a little you
(26:20):
know you can be a littlepickier, you can be a little
more spoiled in the shops.
The nicer tools, the nicerequipment, the nicer stuff.
When you're in the field it'salways just like slam it
together.
Oh, it's madness it's always adisaster you know, and it's like
, okay, well, chill out.
You know, let's think aboutthings a little bit right so
(26:41):
well.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
And then on the job site too, like and they can
probably get like this in a lotof like bigger shops, but like
there's so many people trying tobe involved in one thing.
So, like you said, likeeverybody's got an input, like
you're the apprentice just heretrying to learn and you got two
journeymen like screaming ateach other just trying to figure
out one problem and you're likeI have an idea but nobody wants
(27:04):
to hear it because there's justso much going on.
It's, it's, it's, it is chaos.
Um, I didn't didn't learn asmuch as I would have liked to in
the field, solely because ofthat.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
Well, you got to have the right mentor.
So, I definitely appreciatebeing in the field.
Well, let's take a.
Speaker 2 (27:23):
Oh yeah, and I did not.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
No, no, it's tough.
It's tough without a goodmentor.
Yeah, all right.
Well, let's take a break nowfor our commercials and our
advertisers that love to sponsorus because we love them, and
we'll be right back after thesemessages here with Raina Leak,
who's calling in from Mossbanks,saskatchewan, but is from all
over Western Canada.
So we'll be right back.
(27:47):
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And we are back here on the cwbassociation podcast.
My name is max saran and I'mhere with rain ali, all right.
So before the break, we'retalking about.
You know your travels that gotyou from the west into less west
central canada and working insaskatchewan.
(29:35):
So is there like, prior tocoming to work in saskatchewan,
had you heard anything about thework out here?
Did you have any like conceptsof what it would be like?
You know, like when someonesaid, hey, I got a friend out in
saskatchewan that can give yousome work, were you like, oh,
I'm not gonna like that, or youknow, did you have any any
(29:56):
thoughts about what it might belike?
Speaker 2 (29:59):
um, not really.
No, I didn't know what toexpect.
Like I I'd heard from previouspeople you've talked to on the
podcast.
Um, like the work in the biggerplaces like Regina and
Saskatoon and places like that,uh, like more in the centrals, I
had no idea anything about whatwas gonna be the kind of work
in a little farm shop in themiddle of nowhere with five
(30:20):
houses and a co-op.
Um, so, yeah, I didn't reallyhave anything to go off of.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
Uh, maybe if I was moving to regina I'd have a
little bit more idea, but no, Ididn't know what I was getting
into now, considering yourbackground with small towns and
growing up, you must feel prettycomfortable in small town
Saskatchewan, Because I meanit's easy living in Saskatchewan
.
It really is.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
Mm-hmm, I don't.
Well, yes, it definitely is.
This is smaller than I'm usedto, for sure.
Um, so it's this weird feelingof being so at home.
It's strange, even though thisis the furthest thing from
(31:08):
Vancouver Island that you couldeven picture but I just feel so
like, so naturally at peace here, and it's a weird feeling
because I haven't felt that in avery long time.
So, yeah, I haven't felt thatin a very long time.
So, yeah, I really like it.
It is smaller than I'm used toand vastly flatter.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
Well, you got a lake right by you.
Speaker 2 (31:35):
You got a couple of really big, nice lakes right by
us.
Oh yeah, Thompson, it'sgorgeous.
I was just out there the otherday.
We went for a ride on the bikes.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
It is beautiful.
So you're still not quite likethe ocean.
No, no, it's not.
But I was just googling mossbank because I feel like I've
driven through it a thousandtimes and I just realized
something.
I just realized that it's closeto willow bunchunch.
That's where I go camping everyMay long for like 30 years.
There's a part of the provincecalled the Big Muddy in southern
Saskatchewan.
The Big Muddy is around theAssiniboia Bangoff Willow Bunch
(32:13):
area and it's one of my favoriteparts in the whole world.
Like not even just Canada likein the whole world.
The valleys are beautiful, thepeople are wonderful, the
history there is amazing.
Amazing.
It's where the natives, firstthe indigenous people of canada
first like really revoltedagainst colonialism and I love
that that happened here.
Like that it was like that'senough.
(32:34):
This is the big war.
This is like where louis rielcame from, where all the big
armies of indigenous peoplefought and uh, and you're not
far from all that history.
Speaker 2 (32:44):
Like where you are in moss bank, it's like not even
45 minutes south of you is whereall that stuff happened that's
really interesting because, likeI've been, like every weekend I
I skip town, I go, you know, Igo check out somewhere else
whether it's a cinnaboya, but Ihaven't got out to willow bunch
in that area yet.
So that's interesting, thatmight be in next weekend,
(33:08):
weekend thing to go, check, go.
But there is so much historyaround here like this used to be
like a flight training base.
It's so cool.
Like I got to watch they wereprobably coming from, uh, moose
jaw.
But I got to watch they wereprobably coming from Moose Jaw,
but I got to watch some stuntpilots flying around today at
(33:29):
work.
It was super cool to see therewas so much history around here.
It's crazy.
Speaker 1 (33:38):
Well, we got Canada's largest Air Force base in Moose
Jaw, so you see a lot of jetsflying around here all the time.
People are like, wow, a jet.
It's like you get pretty usedto that in Saskatchewan.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
Pretty used to that, being from an Air Force town.
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (33:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
It's so cool because I haven't seen it in such a long
time.
It's bringing out that likelittle girl in me.
It is so cool.
Speaker 1 (34:04):
Well, do you like to golf, Reina?
Speaker 2 (34:10):
I can't say I've ever been golfing.
Speaker 1 (34:14):
I was going to say because in two weeks yeah, in
two weeks I'm going to be inWillow Bunch for the whole
weekend for May long, and we'llbe golfing and drinking and
partying and having fun.
So you have an open invite ifyou want to come down, and we
book a bunch of sites.
So, and there's a little inn intown there too, if you want to
come hang for the night or two.
So if you're, if you're notworking the weekend of May long,
(34:37):
hey, you got somewhere to go.
And there's a whole group of us, there's lots of us.
Speaker 2 (34:40):
it's really fun oh, we might just have to do that
that sounds like a lot of funactually and I haven't been out
that way yet.
Speaker 1 (34:47):
So good, good, right on so this, um, you know, like
the work that you're doing, doesit give you more inspiration to
stay within the trades?
You know, like, I feel likeyou've had a lot of negative
experiences and I mean I'mhoping that you can build a
whole bunch of positiveexperiences now, you know, going
(35:07):
forward.
Do you feel like you're on theright track?
Speaker 2 (35:14):
I do and I've thought about this a lot, especially
because I work with a youngergirl and she asked me a lot of
questions about, like myprevious experiences in the
trades.
So it's nice being able to, youknow, talk to her about this
and tell her like, like this iswhat you have to look out for
and like give her a little bitof pointers if she's going to go
(35:37):
elsewhere with it.
Um, and like, my boss is great,he's, he's great.
He doesn't look at me anydifferently, whether I'm male,
female, whatever have you, likehe, he trusts us.
He kind of lets us do what hewants or what, not what we want,
but like he, he trusts us.
Um, so it is really nice.
I find myself kind of likestepping back and looking at it
(35:58):
like this is how it should havebeen the whole time, like this
is this is kind of what I waslooking for was somebody to
actually mentor me but alsotrust me at the same time and
give me the freedom to makethese choices, but also not feel
bad if I have questions or feellike I'm in trouble if I have
(36:21):
to come and ask this.
He's pretty great that way, andthen I can also teach her the
things I've learned because shehasn't been to school.
So it's kind of cool being ableto share that stuff with her
that I learned, and then he'sbeing able to share this stuff
with me that he learned, and weall kind of have this little
circle and it is actually reallya good, positive experience.
(36:43):
Um, and I I just find myselflooking back every day.
I'm like, huh, this is how itshould have been the whole time
well, and I think that that'sreally important.
Speaker 1 (36:54):
Um, you know, for people to hear is that there
needs to be a break, right, Imean there needs to be a break
in in in the bad action, becauseyour story coming out, know, I
get a lot of people on here thatare like, oh, everything's been
great, my career is so awesome,everything's so wonderful.
But there's also stories ofpeople that are like no, it
sucked, man, like I wanted toquit, I hated it, it was
terrible, but, you know, theywere able to find a way through
(37:17):
it, and usually it's becausethey change shops, they change
shops, they change locations,they find a mentor, they find
the right people.
Um, and people need to hearthose stories too, right, people
need to hear the stories oflike, hey, yeah, there's some
places that are really bad, sothat we can actually do
something about it, because ifwe don't talk about the bad
places there, there's nevergoing to be any change, right?
Speaker 2 (37:42):
oh, and especially like the younger guys who start
in these small shops.
If they want to go offsomewhere else and do it, say I
was working with somebody hereand they wanted to go to regina.
What if they get into?
You know one?
Of those maybe not so greatshops and they're like wow, this
isn't what I was expecting atall.
If I like, this isn't what Iheard from reina, this isn't
what I heard from you know, bossman, like there's taken aback
(38:05):
entirely.
Speaker 1 (38:06):
So just to be prepared.
Speaker 2 (38:08):
It is definitely, yeah, it is definitely important
to know like, hey, this is whatyou kind of need to look out
for and this is a real thing,like I know you hear people talk
about it, but it's, it'sactually still out there, like
there's some bad shops, there'ssome bad shops, there's some
great shops, but Now your yourexperience, you know, with the
(38:31):
chapters.
Speaker 1 (38:31):
You know, like when you came up to Canwell Fabtech,
canada, you know you got to seethe chapters at work, all the
chapters from Canada gettingtogether to talk and support
each other and figure out what'sgoing on.
I, you know, I introduced youto some of the Alberta chapters
that were going on with theirprojects and stuff.
And here in Saskatchewan we'vegot a couple really, really
strong chapters.
I introduced you to them, youknow, earlier this week.
(38:53):
So, you know, do you plan onhoping to get involved, um, you
know, with your local chapter?
You know, because having strongyoung women be involved is
exactly the type of things youneed for the next generation to
see and be able to trust.
Right?
Speaker 2 (39:14):
Oh, absolutely, and it is so much nicer, you know,
not being well, I am in themiddle of nowhere, but I'm also
kind of not in the middle ofnowhere because I'm in the
middle of nowhere but I'm prettyclose to Regina, I'm pretty
close to Moose Jaw, I'm close tothese centers and close to
these chapters.
So I definitely hope to be ableto, you know, get in and attend
these things and be there morewell, and that's great because
(39:36):
we do stuff in small towns.
Speaker 1 (39:37):
I'm in Moose Jaw next week, wednesday, working in
Moose Jaw for a trades fair, andI think the Regina boys are
going to be in Assiniboia at theend of May for an event there.
And I mean, part of being inSaskatchewan is that we are very
small town focused and so, tobe a chapter, we can't just do
stuff in Regina, we have to dostuff in small town Saskatchewan
(39:59):
because they have programs,they have kids and a lot of
small town Saskatchewan becausethey have programs, they have
kids and a lot of small townSaskatchewan is actually scared
of the city.
They're like we don't want tocome to Regina.
It's like, well, that means wegot to come to you, right, and
it's funny because Regina to meis a small town, but to people
from a really small town, reginais like the big city, right oh,
I know, I was just there theother day and I was like losing
(40:22):
my mind trying to navigate itbigger than I used to so what do
you see for yourself now, inyour future?
do you see yourself getting yourjourney persons?
Do you see yourself you knownow that you're kind of finding
the love for shop are youlooking at maybe you know, like
(40:42):
staying there for a whilecutting your teeth and then
seeing where it goes?
What's the future look like forRayna?
Speaker 2 (40:50):
The goal for a while has been to have my own shop.
That'll be a few years down theroad, like, I do want to get my
journey person ticket.
I want to go and get some moretickets, update my structural
tickets as well soon, um, butthat is the end goal is to get
my own shop and run things.
I'm not entirely sure what Iwant to do out here yet.
(41:14):
Um, back when I was in alberta,like I was thinking more like
custom fabrication stuff likethat, which will probably still
be the same thing here.
Uh, but who knows where I'mgonna be in a couple years from
now, what the demand and whatthe supply and demand is gonna
be where I'm at, whether it'shere, moose jaw, um, but that is
(41:35):
the end goal is to have my ownshop how do you feel about
saskatchewan so far?
Speaker 1 (41:41):
do you feel like there's a saying in saskatchewan
you better be careful, don'tvisit saskatchewan because
you'll never leave.
It happens a lot.
Everyone makes fun of thisplace until they come live here
and then they can't leave.
You know how do you feel aboutit so far?
Speaker 2 (41:56):
I I see why they say that, because I did not think I
was gonna like it this much.
I'm not gonna lie, like I havebeen all over Canada except for,
like you know, the middlesection, all over, you know,
western Canada, and then, likePEI in Ontario, and I was never
nervous, I never had a secondthought, like I just kind of
(42:17):
went and traveled, did my thing,worked, whatever, happy.
But I was actually nervousmoving out here.
But now that I'm here, like Iwas saying earlier, like it's
that comfort, that even thoughit's so far from what I'm used
to, what I grew up with, what Icall home, it feels like home.
(42:39):
I see why people say that.
Speaker 1 (42:45):
I've seen it happen to many of my friends visiting.
I mean it's also like the, theit's the standard of living is
easy, right.
Speaker 2 (42:52):
It's like you don't really stress about much, right,
if you got a job, you're kindof doing good yeah, I did notice
that there's more drivinginvolved than what I'm used to,
and I I drive a lot like evenbefore I got here, like I drive
(43:13):
a lot.
But even just to you know, goget groceries it's.
It's still more driving thanI'm used to.
So that's the one thing.
That's a little, uh, a littlebit of an adjustment.
Speaker 1 (43:25):
But well, it's funny you say that, because some
people are like, well, don't youjust take the bus or you know
transit, like that's not reallya saskatchewan thing, like I
mean, out here it's like it's,it's kind of weird, but you kind
of have to have a car.
Yeah, I can't imagine gettingby without a vehicle in small
town, satchewan Cause, yeah,everything's pretty spread out.
Like I go to Saskatoon all thetime, I'm always going to Moose
(43:46):
John.
People are like, oh, that's twohours away or an hour away,
like that's nothing, that's likejust normal, like that's normal
.
My wife's parents are two and ahalf hours away, like it's just
normal.
Speaker 2 (43:55):
Well, exactly like the gas stations, like I'm maybe
I feel like a spoiled city girl, even though I'm not, but I
feel like a spoiled city girlnot having a 24-hour gas station
or something.
Speaker 1 (44:10):
that's an adjustment in itself yeah, everything shuts
down pretty early.
Speaker 2 (44:14):
Yeah, like I am 10 hours away from any of my
friends or anything.
So yeah, but like I'm, I'm, I'ma 10-hour drive from any of my
friends or anything.
So yeah, but like I'm, I'm, I'ma 10 hour drive from any of my
friends and family.
So when people say, oh, it's atwo hour drive, I'm like that
was like a day trip.
We used to go do that, to dogroceries so yeah, I don't know
Speaker 1 (44:40):
well, I hope that we can get you, uh, more involved
with some of the stuff that'sgoing on in Regina and in the
small towns in this area becauseyou know we love having small
town represented in our chapterbut also to let people know that
there is a life in rural Canada.
Everyone feels that they haveto move to the city to get a job
(45:01):
, they have to move to the bigcenters to get a job, and if
there's anything that I'velearned in my career is that
there's work everywhere.
You just got to figure outwhere you want to live.
Speaker 2 (45:10):
Like I did not know that I was going to end up in
Moss bank, of all the placesI've been, so does anybody at
your shop.
No, I agree, it's reallyimportant.
Speaker 1 (45:22):
Yeah, does anybody at your shop, does anybody in your
shop know about the CWB or thechapters or the association?
Speaker 2 (45:33):
no, not really, but they do now and they will good,
good.
Speaker 1 (45:39):
I was wondering about that because, like I mean, um,
the cwb sometimes doesn't have agreat reputation in some parts
of canada and it's like try toget the word back out into small
towns, being like, no, we'reactually like good, we're good
people, we're not bad yeah sowhat are the next tickets you
want to get?
what are some of the certs thatyou feel that you need to move
(46:02):
forward in your life?
You know you said you want toget what are some of the certs
that you feel that you need tomove forward in your life?
You know you said you want toget your journey persons update
your structurals, but you knowwhat other kind of work you said
that you know like you wouldn'tmind getting into the piping
industry.
Are you looking to like elevateyour welding status as well?
Speaker 2 (46:19):
oh, of course.
Um, I was looking at getting mybeat pressure in alberta.
I don't know what theequivalent is to that in
saskatchewan, like I've.
I have just got here, so I Ihaven't really looked into it
too much, I don't.
I don't know what theequivalent here of that would be
, but like anything to do with,like pipe, um, I think that
(46:40):
would be really cool yeah, andthere's lots of work for it.
Speaker 1 (46:43):
I keep seeing postings for it all the time
online.
So there's definitely a lot ofwork.
But you know what Milk this job?
It sounds like you're havinglots of fun in this shop and
like I mean I want to come visityour shop.
You got to send me the addressand maybe I can swing by.
Speaker 2 (46:59):
You know, maybe even when we go down south for
camping I can see if we canmaybe swing by and take a look
oh, you should, you definitelyshould, like, it's some cool
stuff to see, um, and it'sinteresting the way that things
are done, and um, yeah, Idefinitely think you should come
check it out.
I think that would be reallycool.
And then, um, yeah, I forgotwhat I was just going to say
(47:23):
there.
But yeah, definitely, whenyou're down here, come check it
out, and I think I'll stickaround the shop for a little
while and see how things go fromthere.
Speaker 1 (47:32):
Awesome.
Well, you know, before we wrapup the interview, I'm going to
ask you a question that you'veprobably heard me ask a few
times, but for your specificsituation, I think that there's
some, probably some goodinformation I can get here and
that would be for, you know,young women that you know maybe
might be in the same situation.
They got into welding, got intoa skilled trades, because they
(47:53):
hear about the money, they hearabout the opportunity, but they
don't realize, maybe, how roughit can be and how ugly some
parts of the industry can be.
You know what, what advicewould you give a young woman
that is starting to realize kindof these, these ugly sides of
the industry?
Speaker 2 (48:13):
this is gonna sound terrible, but you gotta be
meaner, like you have to keep anopen eye and really be cautious
about how people are disguisingthis and be meaner, like, don't
be afraid to be like, no, thisis wrong, and stand up for
yourself, because that'ssomething that I still struggle
with.
I still struggle with that, um,I mean, I haven't had to where
(48:35):
I'm at now, but I I stillstruggle with not being able to,
you know, step up and be like,hey, no, this is wrong.
And, like you know, step up andbe like, hey, no, this is wrong
.
And, like you know, be mean.
You kind of have to be a littlebit meaner when it comes to
things, because if not you'regoing to kind of get walked all
over.
And in the bigger cities,especially like Lethbridge, you
really have to be alert andrealize kind of what people are
(48:59):
saying and what they're doing.
But it might not be soblatantly obvious as it would be
in some shops like.
Speaker 1 (49:06):
So just keep your eyes open, don't be afraid to
you know, be loud yeah, and youknow, I think, I think a big
part of it is, you know,establishing your boundaries.
You know, you, you haveboundaries as a human being and
when someone crosses thoseboundaries, that's just not
allowed, it's not negotiable,right no, absolutely, and you
(49:34):
have to put your foot down orsomebody's gonna put their foot
down on you like and what about,for you know the welders out
there looking for work.
You know like you were able toto.
You know network.
I love your story because youbasically were just talking to
people in a bar and you found ajob, but networking is such an
important part of finding workand staying working.
(49:57):
What would you say to youngpeople about networking?
You know, know, in terms of youknow the Canwells, the chapters
, or even, like in your story,just talking to people about the
industry.
Speaker 2 (50:07):
Don't be afraid to talk to people.
You know, any chance you get togo and do something whether
it's career day or you know, goto the skilled trade shows or
just trade shows in general,just trade shows in general get
out there, go do them.
You know, take any opportunitythat you can to go to some sort
of event or something.
Talk to people, becauseeverybody's got a story and it's
(50:31):
funny, when we went to fabtechI can't, I can't remember the
guy's name, but he had a reallygood speech on that whole
networking and then like the,the degrees of separation on who
knows who is.
So it definitely comes intoplay when you're looking at
getting into something.
(50:51):
He had a really, really goodspeech on it.
I I'd have to go back and look,but it was a really good speech
on that.
And just go talk to people,yeah.
Go places even if you're scared,just clear yourself out there,
(51:16):
talk to people, do the thing.
Speaker 1 (51:27):
Kind of step out of your comfort zone when you can.
Yeah, sure, and I mean it's,it's, it is so true, my job
wouldn't I wouldn't even be inthis job if it wasn't for the
networking in the chapters.
So and it's, I think, a lot ofus the longer you're in the
trades, the more people you meet, old people, young people
coming up.
It all becomes like a bigfamily.
It's a big circle of life,right and uh, and people that
you meet today can be the peoplethat help you 20 years down the
(51:49):
road.
You have no idea.
So you know, don't burn bridges, be friendly.
You know, go out of your way toto support each other and and
it all comes down, it all comesaround in the end.
Speaker 2 (52:10):
I'm still good friends with the owners of the
restaurant I was working at, andif I wasn't working at the
restaurant there, I wouldn'thave met these people.
I wouldn't have met my currentboyfriend and also my current
boss.
They're not the same person,but like it's just the way that
that all kind of works out likeall the way from crow's nest
past to where I'm at now it'syou never know who you're gonna
(52:33):
walk into, who you're gonna meetand where you're gonna go from
that.
So awesome.
Speaker 1 (52:37):
Well, thanks so much, reena, for coming on the show
today.
I very much appreciate youtaking time to be on the podcast
.
Speaker 2 (52:47):
Yeah, thank you.
I was super nervous, so I hopeI didn't butcher that.
Speaker 1 (52:51):
You did amazing, as amazing as everyone else does,
because everyone's alwaysnervous.
It's all good, All right.
And for all the people thathave been downloading, sharing
and being a part of the podcast,thank you so much for being
with us on this fantastic tripthrough Raina's life.
You know, if you get a chance,make sure you get out to Weld
Industry Day in Red Deer, june11th and 12th.
(53:11):
On the 11th is the WeldIndustry Day Conference and on
the 12th we have a wonderfulchapter day set up with tours of
a local facility.
We have a VIP parties and wegot a number of college tours
set up at Red Deer Polytechnic.
So it's going to be a couplefull days that it's going to be
absolutely amazing.
Registration is free and it'sin Red Deer, alberta, so I hope
(53:33):
to see you all there and untilthen, you catch the next episode
here and on all streamingplatforms anytime.
Catch you at the next episode.
We hope you enjoy the show.
Speaker 3 (53:54):
Do you own a company in the welding industry or want
to share a targeted message withour listeners?
Then this 45 second audio adspace could be yours.
We have the coolest listenersfrom all over the world, with
over 60,000 downloads, and 88%are from North America.
This podcast serves to educateand connect the welding
(54:15):
community together and isavailable on all major platforms
, including the CWB GroupNetwork.
If you are interested, reachout to info at cwbassociationorg
.
Look at that.
I just gave you all of thatinformation in only 45 seconds.
You've been listening to theCWB Association Welding Podcast
(54:36):
and if you enjoyed what youheard today or want to send us
some questions to answer, youcan text the show using the link
in the episode descriptionbelow.
We can't wait to hear from you.
Please subscribe or visit us atcwbassociationorg to learn more
.
All right, I can check.
Check, I'm good.
So I'm Max Duran.
Max Duran, cwb AssociationWelding Podcast.
Pod pod podcast.
Today we have a really coolguest welding podcast.
The show is about to begin.
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Happy welding.
Hello and welcome to anotheredition of the CWB Association
podcast.
My name is Max Suran and, asalways, I'm looking for the best
(01:08):
stories I can find to bring toyour ears on these magical
airwaves.
Today I didn't have to go fargeographically, although her
soul may live in other parts ofthe country.
Today I have Raina Lee, who isan accomplished welder, and
she's working here inSaskatchewan, in the town of
Moss Bank, which you'll have toGoogle because I'm not even sure
where that is.
But, raina, how are you doing?
Speaker 2 (01:32):
I'm good, max, how are you?
Speaker 1 (01:34):
I'm good.
I'm loving that the leaves arecoming out.
We're hitting springtime herein the prairies.
It's kind of a beautiful timeof year.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Oh I know it's gorgeous.
We got flowers sprouting upeverywhere.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Yeah, yeah, I just actually got the flowers going
in my garden and I spent thewhole day the last couple of
days.
It was like 30 degrees thisweekend, so it was perfect.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
I know it's insanely hot and work pants and work
coats.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
So talk to me first about where you're working right
now.
You said you're in Mossbank.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
What are talk to me?
First about where you'reworking right now.
You said you're in moss bank.
Uh, what are you doing in mossbank working?
What are you doing there?
So yeah, I'm just outside ofmoss bank actually a smaller
shop like corrals and gates andheavy panels are mig welding but
you kind of get to dofabrication to that.
It's kind of cool to see thedifferent kind of stuff that
goes into like agriculture andyou know the side of stuff that
(02:33):
I haven't seen.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
But you know, I worked in manufacturing for a
long time in Saskatchewan and agis something that's just a part
of the culture out here.
There's never enough people tosustain the ag work.
It's like literally always ajob in ag.
But when I got into it I alsowent through that whole thing
where you think you know thethings you're going to build,
(02:57):
but there's so much more.
Um like, for a while I wasbuilding Buffalo squeezes, like
things for farming Buffalo anduh, and that was really fun
because, as you can imagine,buffaloes are incredibly strong
and they can shred like quarterinch steel, like like just blow
through it, so like you'd haveto build like gates and stuff
out of half inch plate in orderto keep buffaloes in and that
(03:20):
blew me away, that they're sostrong.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
That's insane.
Yeah, that's pretty cool.
We use some pretty big stufftoo, but like it's all a lot of
oil field piping that we use, soit's I don't even know what
that would be.
It's about a half inch wall onthat kind of stuff too.
Like it is pretty thick, heavypipe.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
So it's interesting.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Yeah, sked 40s, 3.8s sked 80s 3.8, sked 80s, usually
about 5.8, so it's probablyaround there.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Yeah, yeah, it's it's pretty heavy stuff.
But so let's talk about whereyou came from.
Where do you call home?
Because you're you're a bit aways from your hometown yeah,
I'm a little ways out.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
so I grew up for the most part on vancouver, comox,
so a small little Air Force town.
I grew up there until I wasabout 14.
And then we moved to theKootenays.
We lived in Creston for alittle while.
So, I'd say it's a good 50-50between Creston and Comox, and
those two alone are very farapart from each other.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
And then when you moved into, you know the
Kootenays, you're a teenager,you know, I guess how did you
start getting the thoughts oftrades or welding in your head?
You know what were the firstseeds that were planted in young
Raina?
Speaker 2 (04:42):
So when we stayed so there's a bit of a halfway point
between, uh, comox and crestonwe had stopped in cam loops for
a little while um, and there'ssome people that we met there
that knew people in creston.
So when we were telling themwhere we were headed, they're
like, oh, you have to like getin contact with these people.
So I did um, and then we endedup moving there and then meeting
(05:06):
them and, uh, the one guy ownsa shop there.
So he does welding, mechanical,just kind of everything, but
it's like a private shop, right.
So it's nothing, nothing formal, but very word of mouth, um.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
So he took me on and he kind of started teaching me
all this stuff and that's kindof where that went now, did your
family have any of that in it,like he, your parents in the
trades, or your or your you know, or your aunts and uncles or
something you know, or was thiskind of your first uh,
experience with it?
Speaker 2 (05:40):
no, my mom's actually was a baker.
She's an LPO now, lossprevention officer, but she was
a baker for a really long timeand my dad was a commercial
driver.
So this is not even close.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
I think baking is kind of like welding really, if
you think about it.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
ingredients and mixes .
Why am I so bad at it At baking, not welding At the baking?
Speaker 1 (06:04):
That's funny, because I'm not a great baker either,
but I'm a really good cook.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
But baking and cooking are two different things
oh, very different, verydifferent, but I see what you
mean.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
Like they are very similar in ways like there's
yeah well, and baking is one ofthe og trades, right like, uh,
chef and cooking and baking.
Those are trades that go backthousands of years.
Um so now, when you gotintroduced to this shop, you
know in Kamloops, did you comeout of that thinking like, I
(06:35):
mean, you're pretty young?
Were you thinking like, hey,this could be a job someday?
Or were you like, man, I wasfun, whatever, you know um, so
the shop was actually in creston.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
It's just the people we met knew the people in
creston where we were heading um.
So I was there and working withrandy his name was randy uh for
a few years um now I haddropped out of school at this
point so I was just working inhis shop full-time but, um, he
kind of pushed me to go back toschool.
So when I went back to school Istarted taking like the, the
(07:06):
automotive um program there and,uh, eventually went on to do
youth train and trades.
But those thoughts were kind ofthere when I, when it all made
sense, like the stuff that youwere doing made sense like
mechanical welding, like thatstuff really appealed to me and
it actually made sense more thana lot of the other stuff that I
tried did.
(07:26):
Um so, yeah, I was definitelylooking and contemplating what
kind of field I wanted to gointo, which ended up originally
being heavy duty mechanics.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
Okay, cool.
Well, that's a great trade.
Lots of work for it too.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Oh, of course, Um, but here we are now.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
So.
So why did you drop out ofschool?
You know like, what was it thatyou hated about school so much?
Um, that made you just be likeyou know what.
Forget it, I just like I can,I'll just work.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Um, so my mom couldn't work.
Uh, we actually struggled quitea bit, especially after the
move, um, but she was ondisability and couldn't work.
So I ended up being the onegoing to work from the time that
I was about 11, 12, uh, rightup until I turned 15.
And then I moved out when I was15.
So I got my own place and Istarted going back to high
(08:20):
school.
Um, and then that's when theyouth train and trades program
kind of came up and set me upfor college.
So what, when the youth trainand trades program kind of came
up and set me up for college?
Speaker 1 (08:27):
so what is the youth train and trades program?
What, what was it?
What was the plan of it?
Speaker 2 (08:33):
uh, they used to call it ace it, but now it's called
youth train and trades.
So what it basically is is thatif you go to, say, high school,
and instead of doing your grade12 year, you can go to college
to get those credits, you canpick some sort of college course
to go and instead of doing yourgrade 12 year, you can go to
college to get those credits.
You can pick some sort ofcollege course to go and instead
of doing your grade 12 year,they put you through the program
.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
So you get both your whatever you decided to go for
and your grade 12 so it's reallycool, and then they pay your
way and did you do that as awelder or as an industrial
mechanic?
Speaker 2 (09:04):
As an industrial mechanic.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
And then, why did you not pursue industrial mechanics
or millwright?
Speaker 2 (09:11):
I did.
For a few years I did.
I worked in some truck andtrailer shops.
I did enjoy it, but that camewith its own set of struggles as
well with its own set ofstruggles as well.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
We're getting real here.
We're getting real yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
I did not have some great experiences in some of the
shops that I worked in.
So we ended up or I ended upkind of just like dropping that
and then, when everything kindof went sideways, I went on to,
uh, go back to Creston.
I lived in Creston again forprobably two, three months, just
(09:59):
kind of figuring out what I wasgoing to do after that.
And, um, I was working.
I was working at the shop I hadjust bought this truck actually
the one.
I'm sorry, Spotify listeners youcan't see this but, um, I
bought this truck and I neededsome exhaust work, so I was
welding up the exhaust andthat's kind of when I was like
(10:19):
maybe I should go into welding,because this, just this feels
right, like this feels natural.
I'm actually like in my zone.
I enjoying this, like thefabrication part of it I really
enjoyed, so I kind of it waslike an overnight decision to go
from that to welding and nowthe issues you had at the shop
that soured you from from thattrade?
Speaker 1 (10:42):
were they because you're a woman you know like?
Is that you know?
That's something that I hear alot, especially when I was a
teacher, about how discouragingit could be for a female to go
into certain industries, certainshops, certain places.
I mean, I as a teacher one timeactually had to go to a shop
and say I'm never sendingstudents here again because you
(11:04):
guys are disgusting, you?
Um?
For the stories that I get backfrom my students, was that a
situation that you had dealtwith like as a young woman
getting in the trades?
You know?
Speaker 2 (11:15):
very much so and not so much here, like not at all
here in Saskatchewan, but rightup until just before I moved
here, like it was something Idealt with, even in welding.
I don't think it matters whattrade you get into, whether it's
carpentry or welding, orindustrial mechanics or
millwrights.
You're like it's unfortunate,but you're gonna find those
(11:35):
shops.
You're gonna have that issueand, um, unfortunately a lot of
places.
They might not be as outrightabout it, but they will almost
hide the disrespect a little bitbetter yeah and, yeah, kind of
cover it up a lot more, but I'vedefinitely struggled with that.
that is what soured me from thattrade and it's what almost like
(11:57):
turned me off from welding.
I took a little bit of a breakand went into bartending because
in left bridge, right after Igot out of school, I had nothing
but experiences with thosekinds of shops.
It was brutal.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
It's almost like I've thought about it before, like
you know how, when I was likethere's like rate my professor,
so like if you're a collegeteacher, if you treat people bad
, they'll slam you on rate myprofessor and the world will
know that you're a bad teacher,right?
And then you have like Googlereview for restaurants and
people will say this restaurantis junk, don't go there.
(12:32):
I almost feel like we needsomething for shops.
You know, know, to be like thisshop is racist, or this shop is
sexist, or you know thereshould almost be like a star
rating for how they deal withtheir staff, because I'm I'm
always amazed and I've had tonsof negative experiences myself
(12:53):
and I'm a guy, but I'm brown andand brown guys have their own
battles that they gotta dealwith, and especially western
canada is quite racist.
But you know, if you were awoman, times 10 now imagine
being a brown woman, right times100.
So like, when's this gonna stopright?
Like it just seems to be, likeit seems so silly that we still
(13:15):
have these issues, but they'rethey're not like, oh, 10 years
ago, it's like today.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
Today, you can find a really crappy place oh yeah,
and I I will admit, like I don'tknow if you've seen the, the
movie north north country.
Uh, it's about kind of how thisall started, with the first
women coming into the workplacein the mines and stuff.
It's a hard movie to watch, butit's definitely a good one to
watch.
Um, so there are still shopsout there like that.
(13:42):
Yes, it's probably not ascommon as it was back then, for
sure, but like it's still.
You don't have to go very farto find that kind of thing, and
it's unfortunate.
And, like I said earlier, thereare places that are getting
better at hiding it and gettingbetter at, you know, almost
gaslighting you, or?
(14:05):
yeah, making it seem like it'snot as bad yeah but but, like
you said, there are still shopsthat are outright like that,
like it's.
It's a tough.
It's a tough place to be ifyou're any sort of minority, for
sure well, I just had a friendof mine move out here from
ontario.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
He's a red seal welder, um got all his pipe
endorsements.
Came out west to make moneyright, he's a good friend of
mine and uh and and the money isgood out west.
I mean, we're not gonna lie.
The money out here is betterthan out east um in some cases
almost twice as much, which canbe pretty crazy.
But he's really struggled withhow rough it is out here out
(14:44):
west.
He can't so like he's fromontario, um, half his friends
are either people of color orblack and gay and whatever else,
because he's from a biggercenter, um, and he has almost
quit two jobs already insaskatchewan because people are
saying like the n-word in theshop and you know just brutal,
(15:07):
brutal things that I.
I hate hearing that because onmy on my end.
It's like I'm trying to get morewelders into the industry.
The shops are dying.
Shops are calling me every dayMax, we need welders, max, we
need welders.
And I feel like being like,yeah, well, what are you doing
to make it better?
You know like, I feel likesaying, you know like if we all
(15:27):
need so many more welders and weall need to get more people,
that means we need women, weneed gay, we need trans, we need
people of color, we need onearm, we need one eye we need
everybody right, and how am Isupposed to sell that trade if
there's still bad actors outthere that are making it right?
Speaker 2 (15:49):
oh, of course like I yeah, it's a hard one and like,
and I, where I'm at right now,what I've noticed in the little
bit of time I've been inSaskatchewan so far but maybe
it's just like where I'm at it'sbeen considerably less than
Alberta.
But again, like I'm not in thisbig center, I'm in like a
smaller, very small like farmcommunity where everybody kind
(16:10):
of looks at everybody the samebut I did not have that.
I had the very similarexperience in alberta, where
it's, you know, dropping then-word in the shop and it's,
it's a rough place to be forsure.
So I'm pretty lucky where I'mat right now.
(16:32):
Like it's just me and one otherwoman in the shop right now,
which is crazy to me because I'mso used to it being c.
But I know what you mean.
Like it's just me and one otherwoman in the shop right now,
which is crazy to me because I'mso used to it being c.
But I know what you mean.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Like it's, it's hard so when you said you were
getting ready to drop welding,like you walked away from
industrial mechanic too many badexperiences and then you said
you finished welding school andyou were like you know what?
I'm not doing this either.
I want to be a bartender.
Just just forget about it.
And I've.
You know, one of my favoritestudents of all time, a girl, um
(17:01):
, is now a bartender because shecouldn't deal with the and
welding, and then I've seen thatstory play out.
So what is it that pushed youout of welding or made you
question even being in thewelding trades?
Same thing, or was it like?
Was it ever an inability tofind work or or stuff like that,
which sometimes new people,like new to the trades, have
trouble?
Speaker 2 (17:21):
there was a lot of work.
So that's where I was.
When I stepped back fromwelding I was like, okay, after
what just happened?
Um, there was a journeyman whowas getting very physical with
me and when I brought it up theyjust tried to tell me that I
was causing issues with thejourneyman and that I was no
longer a good fit for the teamand that I need to just keep my
mouth shut.
(17:41):
And I was like no.
So after a couple of experienceswith that and the psychological
warfare and the wholegaslighting part of it in the
different shops that I tried inand around Lethbridge Don't get
me wrong, I did work with somereally great people there too,
(18:01):
but it wasn't enough to outweighthe stuff that was going on.
So I don't want to discreditthe fact that there are still
good men out there in that fieldand good women Just want to put
that out there.
But after that last one waspretty bad.
Uh, me and the partner I waswith at the time.
He had just lost his job, so hewas going to work for his
(18:24):
family in Strathmore, so wemoved up there.
I kind of took the summer off.
Um, I wasn't quite bartendingyet but, I kind of took the
summer off trying to figure outwhat we were going to do.
Um, and then we ended up movingto the Crow's nest pass, which
is where I went into bartendingright now, where in this journey
(18:45):
did I meet you?
Speaker 1 (18:47):
because I saw you at canwell in toronto.
I believe that was the firsttime I met you.
Was that is that right?
Yeah, in person anyway, yeahyeah, yeah, now you know you
came out there to be a part ofthe.
You know the chapters and thecan weld and the whole thing.
What?
How did that happen?
How did you first of all evenhear about it?
(19:08):
How did you get involved andhow did you end up sitting at
the table with me out in themiddle of Ontario?
Speaker 2 (19:15):
so I've been listening to the podcast for
about two years now.
So when I was in welding school, that's when I started
listening to it.
That would have been about thetime that I was really
struggling and I think I talkedto you a little bit about that.
That would have been.
(19:35):
That was June, right, that wasJune last year.
Yep, yeah, okay.
So, yeah, that would have beenabout the same time that I was
getting ready to take the summeroff and to just kind of step
back and figure out what it is Iwas gonna do.
Um, I ended up going out therebecause I originally heard about
fabtech and then I got theemail about Canweld, so it kind
(19:57):
of all just meshed together.
I was like I'm gonna do both ofit, uh, both of them, and uh,
yeah, I just kind of bought myticket and went out there and
just, and I love.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
Like you literally just rolled up one morning by
yourself and we're like hi, likeyou literally just rolled up
one morning by yourself andwe're like hi, I'm reina.
Yeah, like, uh, I want to be apart of stuff.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
And I was like, okay, well, come on in yeah, that was
a little nerve-wracking for mefor sure, but I I was definitely
worth it, like I had a lot offun there.
I got to see a lot of coolstuff and meet some really cool
people.
For sure I would do it again ina heartbeat.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
So well, what was your experience with it?
You know, like a lot of peoplethat haven't gone to a can weld
or right, and like this yearwe're doing well, the industry
days and red deer same thing,though.
You know these big conferences,conferences, the, these
networking opportunities.
What were your biggesttakeaways?
Because I feel like you reallygot your juice out of it.
You pretty much attended everysingle thing you could, because
(21:03):
there's basically stuffhappening all day and all night,
every night, right oh, I know,it was nuts so what were your
biggest takeaways from that week?
Speaker 2 (21:13):
I don't know everybody that I met from that
week, I don't know everybodythat I met there, gave me some
really good pointers and somegood tips and being able to
bring some stuff back into thisshop and being able to tell even
my my boss now about this newstuff.
And he's like, oh, how'd youhear about that?
I was like, oh well, I went tofabtech last year and they had a
(21:35):
booth set up, um, and oh, how'dyou, how do you know this
person?
Oh well, I met them here.
Uh, so it's kind of cool andespecially now being closer to
regina and being closer to thiskind of stuff, um, it's kind of
cool being able to have thatkind of full circle moment and
actually use that, thatinformation and, uh, you know,
(21:56):
let him know about the productsand the stuff that I, you know,
saw in the booths and thenhaving him bring it into the
shop like it's.
It's super cool awesome.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
Well, I know that it was like.
I love just seeing young peopleget involved.
I remember trying to convinceyou to not leave the trades
because because I know they canbe taunting and I've tried to
leave the trades a few timeswith myself, um, but you know
you, you stick it out and thereis a a payoff in the end.
(22:26):
You know for you.
Now you're still welding, solet's go back to that timeline.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
You took some time off to bartend what happened so
I found out that the bar that Iwas working at was closing down.
Um, the owners just kind ofwanted to spend some more time
with their family and they hadbeen in the restaurant industry
for 15 years.
So they were, they're ready tostep back, they're ready to
spend some time with family.
(22:52):
And, uh, they kind of just letus know, like, hey, you guys got
like two months to find a newjob.
Like we're, we're getting readyto close this place down.
Um, so I wasn't sure what I wasgonna do, whether I wanted to
stay in the crossness pass or,if I wanted to, you know, go
back home or go to creston.
I wasn't sure what was gonnahappen.
But, um, so we had a big partythe day after valentine's day.
(23:15):
Uh, just a busy rush, but thatwas about the time that there
was a lot of slutters in townthere for snowmobiling, a lot
from Saskatchewan.
So I met a couple of them andthey kind of, let me know we
were just talking, and after I'dalready closed the bar down,
you know kind of sat down andyou know, shoot the for a little
(23:38):
bit.
Um, I kind of let them know thesituation, what was going on,
and, like the bar's closing down, like I'm not a journeyman, but
like I have tickets and welding, I've experienced like I've
gone to school and they're like,okay, well, we know somebody,
let's make a call.
So then the following so thatwould have been Friday.
So then the following Sundaythey would have been friday.
So then the following sundaythey're like call this person.
(23:58):
And I did, and then it was justa matter of okay, pack your
stuff and move to saskatchewan.
I was like, okay, and that wasin itself was nerve-wracking,
like I hadn't been past medicinehat before that other than to
like ontario and PEI, but, likeI had, I've never been to
(24:19):
Saskatchewan, I've been toManitoba.
So to move somewhere that Ididn't know anybody, didn't have
any friends or family out there, didn't really know exactly
what I was getting into.
I was like, ah, you know, Idon't have a lot to lose right
now.
What could go wrong?
Speaker 1 (24:36):
yeah, yeah, so did you come out here completely
alone, like just pack up yourtruck and drive out to
saskatchewan for the job, um, oror do you have, like you know,
any type of like did you?
Did the dogs come with you?
At least are you all alone outhere, what you doing?
Speaker 2 (24:56):
I got a cat.
Speaker 1 (24:58):
Cats are awesome.
Cats are awesome.
Cats are way easier to travelwith.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
Yeah, well, she did not appreciate the car ride.
She had some words about that,but she's alive.
So I think it's fine.
Speaker 1 (25:13):
And this job, the job that you got out here, kind of
work is it like?
I mean, is it uh, is it?
You're on the road every day.
Are you in a shop every day?
Speaker 2 (25:23):
no, I'm in a shop every day and I've actually
grown to really appreciate that.
I always thought that I wantedto be, you know, on the road,
especially being like a subpreviously in lethbridge being a
subcontract worker like Ialways thought that, oh yeah, I
want to be on the road, I wantto have my own truck, I want to
be you know on and off job sites.
But now I just reallyappreciate being in a shop all
(25:45):
day working eight to five, youknow, doing my thing like I.
I've really grown to appreciatethat I totally get that I also.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
I mean, I never wanted to have a truck.
I never wanted to have thatworld of chasing money like that
.
I did chase shutdowns and stufffor a while for for you know
work, but even that it was onlyfor the money.
I never wanted to do it likefull-time, like that would be my
gig forever.
I always, uh, appreciated shopwork.
I like the finesse of shop work, the ability to be a little you
(26:20):
know you can be a littlepickier, you can be a little
more spoiled in the shops.
The nicer tools, the nicerequipment, the nicer stuff.
When you're in the field it'salways just like slam it
together.
Oh, it's madness it's always adisaster you know, and it's like
, okay, well, chill out.
You know, let's think aboutthings a little bit right so
(26:41):
well.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
And then on the job site too, like and they can
probably get like this in a lotof like bigger shops, but like
there's so many people trying tobe involved in one thing.
So, like you said, likeeverybody's got an input, like
you're the apprentice just heretrying to learn and you got two
journeymen like screaming ateach other just trying to figure
out one problem and you're likeI have an idea but nobody wants
(27:04):
to hear it because there's justso much going on.
It's, it's, it's, it is chaos.
Um, I didn't didn't learn asmuch as I would have liked to in
the field, solely because ofthat.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
Well, you got to have the right mentor.
So, I definitely appreciatebeing in the field.
Well, let's take a.
Speaker 2 (27:23):
Oh yeah, and I did not.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
No, no, it's tough.
It's tough without a goodmentor.
Yeah, all right.
Well, let's take a break nowfor our commercials and our
advertisers that love to sponsorus because we love them, and
we'll be right back after thesemessages here with Raina Leak,
who's calling in from Mossbanks,saskatchewan, but is from all
over Western Canada.
So we'll be right back.
(27:47):
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And we are back here on the cwbassociation podcast.
My name is max saran and I'mhere with rain ali, all right.
So before the break, we'retalking about.
You know your travels that gotyou from the west into less west
central canada and working insaskatchewan.
(29:35):
So is there like, prior tocoming to work in saskatchewan,
had you heard anything about thework out here?
Did you have any like conceptsof what it would be like?
You know, like when someonesaid, hey, I got a friend out in
saskatchewan that can give yousome work, were you like, oh,
I'm not gonna like that, or youknow, did you have any any
(29:56):
thoughts about what it might belike?
Speaker 2 (29:59):
um, not really.
No, I didn't know what toexpect.
Like I I'd heard from previouspeople you've talked to on the
podcast.
Um, like the work in the biggerplaces like Regina and
Saskatoon and places like that,uh, like more in the centrals, I
had no idea anything about whatwas gonna be the kind of work
in a little farm shop in themiddle of nowhere with five
(30:20):
houses and a co-op.
Um, so, yeah, I didn't reallyhave anything to go off of.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
Uh, maybe if I was moving to regina I'd have a
little bit more idea, but no, Ididn't know what I was getting
into now, considering yourbackground with small towns and
growing up, you must feel prettycomfortable in small town
Saskatchewan, Because I meanit's easy living in Saskatchewan
.
It really is.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
Mm-hmm, I don't.
Well, yes, it definitely is.
This is smaller than I'm usedto, for sure.
Um, so it's this weird feelingof being so at home.
It's strange, even though thisis the furthest thing from
(31:08):
Vancouver Island that you couldeven picture but I just feel so
like, so naturally at peace here, and it's a weird feeling
because I haven't felt that in avery long time.
So, yeah, I haven't felt thatin a very long time.
So, yeah, I really like it.
It is smaller than I'm used toand vastly flatter.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
Well, you got a lake right by you.
Speaker 2 (31:35):
You got a couple of really big, nice lakes right by
us.
Oh yeah, Thompson, it'sgorgeous.
I was just out there the otherday.
We went for a ride on the bikes.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
It is beautiful.
So you're still not quite likethe ocean.
No, no, it's not.
But I was just googling mossbank because I feel like I've
driven through it a thousandtimes and I just realized
something.
I just realized that it's closeto willow bunchunch.
That's where I go camping everyMay long for like 30 years.
There's a part of the provincecalled the Big Muddy in southern
Saskatchewan.
The Big Muddy is around theAssiniboia Bangoff Willow Bunch
(32:13):
area and it's one of my favoriteparts in the whole world.
Like not even just Canada likein the whole world.
The valleys are beautiful, thepeople are wonderful, the
history there is amazing.
Amazing.
It's where the natives, firstthe indigenous people of canada
first like really revoltedagainst colonialism and I love
that that happened here.
Like that it was like that'senough.
(32:34):
This is the big war.
This is like where louis rielcame from, where all the big
armies of indigenous peoplefought and uh, and you're not
far from all that history.
Speaker 2 (32:44):
Like where you are in moss bank, it's like not even
45 minutes south of you is whereall that stuff happened that's
really interesting because, likeI've been, like every weekend I
I skip town, I go, you know, Igo check out somewhere else
whether it's a cinnaboya, but Ihaven't got out to willow bunch
in that area yet.
So that's interesting, thatmight be in next weekend,
(33:08):
weekend thing to go, check, go.
But there is so much historyaround here like this used to be
like a flight training base.
It's so cool.
Like I got to watch they wereprobably coming from, uh, moose
jaw.
But I got to watch they wereprobably coming from Moose Jaw,
but I got to watch some stuntpilots flying around today at
(33:29):
work.
It was super cool to see therewas so much history around here.
It's crazy.
Speaker 1 (33:38):
Well, we got Canada's largest Air Force base in Moose
Jaw, so you see a lot of jetsflying around here all the time.
People are like, wow, a jet.
It's like you get pretty usedto that in Saskatchewan.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
Pretty used to that, being from an Air Force town.
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (33:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
It's so cool because I haven't seen it in such a long
time.
It's bringing out that likelittle girl in me.
It is so cool.
Speaker 1 (34:04):
Well, do you like to golf, Reina?
Speaker 2 (34:10):
I can't say I've ever been golfing.
Speaker 1 (34:14):
I was going to say because in two weeks yeah, in
two weeks I'm going to be inWillow Bunch for the whole
weekend for May long, and we'llbe golfing and drinking and
partying and having fun.
So you have an open invite ifyou want to come down, and we
book a bunch of sites.
So, and there's a little inn intown there too, if you want to
come hang for the night or two.
So if you're, if you're notworking the weekend of May long,
(34:37):
hey, you got somewhere to go.
And there's a whole group of us, there's lots of us.
Speaker 2 (34:40):
it's really fun oh, we might just have to do that
that sounds like a lot of funactually and I haven't been out
that way yet.
Speaker 1 (34:47):
So good, good, right on so this, um, you know, like
the work that you're doing, doesit give you more inspiration to
stay within the trades?
You know, like, I feel likeyou've had a lot of negative
experiences and I mean I'mhoping that you can build a
whole bunch of positiveexperiences now, you know, going
(35:07):
forward.
Do you feel like you're on theright track?
Speaker 2 (35:14):
I do and I've thought about this a lot, especially
because I work with a youngergirl and she asked me a lot of
questions about, like myprevious experiences in the
trades.
So it's nice being able to, youknow, talk to her about this
and tell her like, like this iswhat you have to look out for
and like give her a little bitof pointers if she's going to go
(35:37):
elsewhere with it.
Um, and like, my boss is great,he's, he's great.
He doesn't look at me anydifferently, whether I'm male,
female, whatever have you, likehe, he trusts us.
He kind of lets us do what hewants or what, not what we want,
but like he, he trusts us.
Um, so it is really nice.
I find myself kind of likestepping back and looking at it
(35:58):
like this is how it should havebeen the whole time, like this
is this is kind of what I waslooking for was somebody to
actually mentor me but alsotrust me at the same time and
give me the freedom to makethese choices, but also not feel
bad if I have questions or feellike I'm in trouble if I have
(36:21):
to come and ask this.
He's pretty great that way, andthen I can also teach her the
things I've learned because shehasn't been to school.
So it's kind of cool being ableto share that stuff with her
that I learned, and then he'sbeing able to share this stuff
with me that he learned, and weall kind of have this little
circle and it is actually reallya good, positive experience.
(36:43):
Um, and I I just find myselflooking back every day.
I'm like, huh, this is how itshould have been the whole time
well, and I think that that'sreally important.
Speaker 1 (36:54):
Um, you know, for people to hear is that there
needs to be a break, right, Imean there needs to be a break
in in in the bad action, becauseyour story coming out, know, I
get a lot of people on here thatare like, oh, everything's been
great, my career is so awesome,everything's so wonderful.
But there's also stories ofpeople that are like no, it
sucked, man, like I wanted toquit, I hated it, it was
terrible, but, you know, theywere able to find a way through
(37:17):
it, and usually it's becausethey change shops, they change
shops, they change locations,they find a mentor, they find
the right people.
Um, and people need to hearthose stories too, right, people
need to hear the stories oflike, hey, yeah, there's some
places that are really bad, sothat we can actually do
something about it, because ifwe don't talk about the bad
places there, there's nevergoing to be any change, right?
Speaker 2 (37:42):
oh, and especially like the younger guys who start
in these small shops.
If they want to go offsomewhere else and do it, say I
was working with somebody hereand they wanted to go to regina.
What if they get into?
You know one?
Of those maybe not so greatshops and they're like wow, this
isn't what I was expecting atall.
If I like, this isn't what Iheard from reina, this isn't
what I heard from you know, bossman, like there's taken aback
(38:05):
entirely.
Speaker 1 (38:06):
So just to be prepared.
Speaker 2 (38:08):
It is definitely, yeah, it is definitely important
to know like, hey, this is whatyou kind of need to look out
for and this is a real thing,like I know you hear people talk
about it, but it's, it'sactually still out there, like
there's some bad shops, there'ssome bad shops, there's some
great shops, but Now your yourexperience, you know, with the
(38:31):
chapters.
Speaker 1 (38:31):
You know, like when you came up to Canwell Fabtech,
canada, you know you got to seethe chapters at work, all the
chapters from Canada gettingtogether to talk and support
each other and figure out what'sgoing on.
I, you know, I introduced youto some of the Alberta chapters
that were going on with theirprojects and stuff.
And here in Saskatchewan we'vegot a couple really, really
strong chapters.
I introduced you to them, youknow, earlier this week.
(38:53):
So, you know, do you plan onhoping to get involved, um, you
know, with your local chapter?
You know, because having strongyoung women be involved is
exactly the type of things youneed for the next generation to
see and be able to trust.
Right?
Speaker 2 (39:14):
Oh, absolutely, and it is so much nicer, you know,
not being well, I am in themiddle of nowhere, but I'm also
kind of not in the middle ofnowhere because I'm in the
middle of nowhere but I'm prettyclose to Regina, I'm pretty
close to Moose Jaw, I'm close tothese centers and close to
these chapters.
So I definitely hope to be ableto, you know, get in and attend
these things and be there morewell, and that's great because
(39:36):
we do stuff in small towns.
Speaker 1 (39:37):
I'm in Moose Jaw next week, wednesday, working in
Moose Jaw for a trades fair, andI think the Regina boys are
going to be in Assiniboia at theend of May for an event there.
And I mean, part of being inSaskatchewan is that we are very
small town focused and so, tobe a chapter, we can't just do
stuff in Regina, we have to dostuff in small town Saskatchewan
(39:59):
because they have programs,they have kids and a lot of
small town Saskatchewan becausethey have programs, they have
kids and a lot of small townSaskatchewan is actually scared
of the city.
They're like we don't want tocome to Regina.
It's like, well, that means wegot to come to you, right, and
it's funny because Regina to meis a small town, but to people
from a really small town, reginais like the big city, right oh,
I know, I was just there theother day and I was like losing
(40:22):
my mind trying to navigate itbigger than I used to so what do
you see for yourself now, inyour future?
do you see yourself getting yourjourney persons?
Do you see yourself you knownow that you're kind of finding
the love for shop are youlooking at maybe you know, like
(40:42):
staying there for a whilecutting your teeth and then
seeing where it goes?
What's the future look like forRayna?
Speaker 2 (40:50):
The goal for a while has been to have my own shop.
That'll be a few years down theroad, like, I do want to get my
journey person ticket.
I want to go and get some moretickets, update my structural
tickets as well soon, um, butthat is the end goal is to get
my own shop and run things.
I'm not entirely sure what Iwant to do out here yet.
(41:14):
Um, back when I was in alberta,like I was thinking more like
custom fabrication stuff likethat, which will probably still
be the same thing here.
Uh, but who knows where I'mgonna be in a couple years from
now, what the demand and whatthe supply and demand is gonna
be where I'm at, whether it'shere, moose jaw, um, but that is
(41:35):
the end goal is to have my ownshop how do you feel about
saskatchewan so far?
Speaker 1 (41:41):
do you feel like there's a saying in saskatchewan
you better be careful, don'tvisit saskatchewan because
you'll never leave.
It happens a lot.
Everyone makes fun of thisplace until they come live here
and then they can't leave.
You know how do you feel aboutit so far?
Speaker 2 (41:56):
I I see why they say that, because I did not think I
was gonna like it this much.
I'm not gonna lie, like I havebeen all over Canada except for,
like you know, the middlesection, all over, you know,
western Canada, and then, likePEI in Ontario, and I was never
nervous, I never had a secondthought, like I just kind of
(42:17):
went and traveled, did my thing,worked, whatever, happy.
But I was actually nervousmoving out here.
But now that I'm here, like Iwas saying earlier, like it's
that comfort, that even thoughit's so far from what I'm used
to, what I grew up with, what Icall home, it feels like home.
(42:39):
I see why people say that.
Speaker 1 (42:45):
I've seen it happen to many of my friends visiting.
I mean it's also like the, theit's the standard of living is
easy, right.
Speaker 2 (42:52):
It's like you don't really stress about much, right,
if you got a job, you're kindof doing good yeah, I did notice
that there's more drivinginvolved than what I'm used to,
and I I drive a lot like evenbefore I got here, like I drive
(43:13):
a lot.
But even just to you know, goget groceries it's.
It's still more driving thanI'm used to.
So that's the one thing.
That's a little, uh, a littlebit of an adjustment.
Speaker 1 (43:25):
But well, it's funny you say that, because some
people are like, well, don't youjust take the bus or you know
transit, like that's not reallya saskatchewan thing, like I
mean, out here it's like it's,it's kind of weird, but you kind
of have to have a car.
Yeah, I can't imagine gettingby without a vehicle in small
town, satchewan Cause, yeah,everything's pretty spread out.
Like I go to Saskatoon all thetime, I'm always going to Moose
(43:46):
John.
People are like, oh, that's twohours away or an hour away,
like that's nothing, that's likejust normal, like that's normal
.
My wife's parents are two and ahalf hours away, like it's just
normal.
Speaker 2 (43:55):
Well, exactly like the gas stations, like I'm maybe
I feel like a spoiled city girl, even though I'm not, but I
feel like a spoiled city girlnot having a 24-hour gas station
or something.
Speaker 1 (44:10):
that's an adjustment in itself yeah, everything shuts
down pretty early.
Speaker 2 (44:14):
Yeah, like I am 10 hours away from any of my
friends or anything.
So yeah, but like I'm, I'm, I'ma 10-hour drive from any of my
friends or anything.
So yeah, but like I'm, I'm, I'ma 10 hour drive from any of my
friends and family.
So when people say, oh, it's atwo hour drive, I'm like that
was like a day trip.
We used to go do that, to dogroceries so yeah, I don't know
Speaker 1 (44:40):
well, I hope that we can get you, uh, more involved
with some of the stuff that'sgoing on in Regina and in the
small towns in this area becauseyou know we love having small
town represented in our chapterbut also to let people know that
there is a life in rural Canada.
Everyone feels that they haveto move to the city to get a job
(45:01):
, they have to move to the bigcenters to get a job, and if
there's anything that I'velearned in my career is that
there's work everywhere.
You just got to figure outwhere you want to live.
Speaker 2 (45:10):
Like I did not know that I was going to end up in
Moss bank, of all the placesI've been, so does anybody at
your shop.
No, I agree, it's reallyimportant.
Speaker 1 (45:22):
Yeah, does anybody at your shop, does anybody in your
shop know about the CWB or thechapters or the association?
Speaker 2 (45:33):
no, not really, but they do now and they will good,
good.
Speaker 1 (45:39):
I was wondering about that because, like I mean, um,
the cwb sometimes doesn't have agreat reputation in some parts
of canada and it's like try toget the word back out into small
towns, being like, no, we'reactually like good, we're good
people, we're not bad yeah sowhat are the next tickets you
want to get?
what are some of the certs thatyou feel that you need to move
(46:02):
forward in your life?
You know you said you want toget what are some of the certs
that you feel that you need tomove forward in your life?
You know you said you want toget your journey persons update
your structurals, but you knowwhat other kind of work you said
that you know like you wouldn'tmind getting into the piping
industry.
Are you looking to like elevateyour welding status as well?
Speaker 2 (46:19):
oh, of course.
Um, I was looking at getting mybeat pressure in alberta.
I don't know what theequivalent is to that in
saskatchewan, like I've.
I have just got here, so I Ihaven't really looked into it
too much, I don't.
I don't know what theequivalent here of that would be
, but like anything to do with,like pipe, um, I think that
(46:40):
would be really cool yeah, andthere's lots of work for it.
Speaker 1 (46:43):
I keep seeing postings for it all the time
online.
So there's definitely a lot ofwork.
But you know what Milk this job?
It sounds like you're havinglots of fun in this shop and
like I mean I want to come visityour shop.
You got to send me the addressand maybe I can swing by.
Speaker 2 (46:59):
You know, maybe even when we go down south for
camping I can see if we canmaybe swing by and take a look
oh, you should, you definitelyshould, like, it's some cool
stuff to see, um, and it'sinteresting the way that things
are done, and um, yeah, Idefinitely think you should come
check it out.
I think that would be reallycool.
And then, um, yeah, I forgotwhat I was just going to say
(47:23):
there.
But yeah, definitely, whenyou're down here, come check it
out, and I think I'll stickaround the shop for a little
while and see how things go fromthere.
Speaker 1 (47:32):
Awesome.
Well, you know, before we wrapup the interview, I'm going to
ask you a question that you'veprobably heard me ask a few
times, but for your specificsituation, I think that there's
some, probably some goodinformation I can get here and
that would be for, you know,young women that you know maybe
might be in the same situation.
They got into welding, got intoa skilled trades, because they
(47:53):
hear about the money, they hearabout the opportunity, but they
don't realize, maybe, how roughit can be and how ugly some
parts of the industry can be.
You know what, what advicewould you give a young woman
that is starting to realize kindof these, these ugly sides of
the industry?
Speaker 2 (48:13):
this is gonna sound terrible, but you gotta be
meaner, like you have to keep anopen eye and really be cautious
about how people are disguisingthis and be meaner, like, don't
be afraid to be like, no, thisis wrong, and stand up for
yourself, because that'ssomething that I still struggle
with.
I still struggle with that, um,I mean, I haven't had to where
(48:35):
I'm at now, but I I stillstruggle with not being able to,
you know, step up and be like,hey, no, this is wrong.
And, like you know, step up andbe like, hey, no, this is wrong
.
And, like you know, be mean.
You kind of have to be a littlebit meaner when it comes to
things, because if not you'regoing to kind of get walked all
over.
And in the bigger cities,especially like Lethbridge, you
really have to be alert andrealize kind of what people are
(48:59):
saying and what they're doing.
But it might not be soblatantly obvious as it would be
in some shops like.
Speaker 1 (49:06):
So just keep your eyes open, don't be afraid to
you know, be loud yeah, and youknow, I think, I think a big
part of it is, you know,establishing your boundaries.
You know, you, you haveboundaries as a human being and
when someone crosses thoseboundaries, that's just not
allowed, it's not negotiable,right no, absolutely, and you
(49:34):
have to put your foot down orsomebody's gonna put their foot
down on you like and what about,for you know the welders out
there looking for work.
You know like you were able toto.
You know network.
I love your story because youbasically were just talking to
people in a bar and you found ajob, but networking is such an
important part of finding workand staying working.
(49:57):
What would you say to youngpeople about networking?
You know, know, in terms of youknow the Canwells, the chapters
, or even, like in your story,just talking to people about the
industry.
Speaker 2 (50:07):
Don't be afraid to talk to people.
You know, any chance you get togo and do something whether
it's career day or you know, goto the skilled trade shows or
just trade shows in general,just trade shows in general get
out there, go do them.
You know, take any opportunitythat you can to go to some sort
of event or something.
Talk to people, becauseeverybody's got a story and it's
(50:31):
funny, when we went to fabtechI can't, I can't remember the
guy's name, but he had a reallygood speech on that whole
networking and then like the,the degrees of separation on who
knows who is.
So it definitely comes intoplay when you're looking at
getting into something.
(50:51):
He had a really, really goodspeech on it.
I I'd have to go back and look,but it was a really good speech
on that.
And just go talk to people,yeah.
Go places even if you're scared,just clear yourself out there,
(51:16):
talk to people, do the thing.
Speaker 1 (51:27):
Kind of step out of your comfort zone when you can.
Yeah, sure, and I mean it's,it's, it is so true, my job
wouldn't I wouldn't even be inthis job if it wasn't for the
networking in the chapters.
So and it's, I think, a lot ofus the longer you're in the
trades, the more people you meet, old people, young people
coming up.
It all becomes like a bigfamily.
It's a big circle of life,right and uh, and people that
you meet today can be the peoplethat help you 20 years down the
(51:49):
road.
You have no idea.
So you know, don't burn bridges, be friendly.
You know, go out of your way toto support each other and and
it all comes down, it all comesaround in the end.
Speaker 2 (52:10):
I'm still good friends with the owners of the
restaurant I was working at, andif I wasn't working at the
restaurant there, I wouldn'thave met these people.
I wouldn't have met my currentboyfriend and also my current
boss.
They're not the same person,but like it's just the way that
that all kind of works out likeall the way from crow's nest
past to where I'm at now it'syou never know who you're gonna
(52:33):
walk into, who you're gonna meetand where you're gonna go from
that.
So awesome.
Speaker 1 (52:37):
Well, thanks so much, reena, for coming on the show
today.
I very much appreciate youtaking time to be on the podcast
.
Speaker 2 (52:47):
Yeah, thank you.
I was super nervous, so I hopeI didn't butcher that.
Speaker 1 (52:51):
You did amazing, as amazing as everyone else does,
because everyone's alwaysnervous.
It's all good, All right.
And for all the people thathave been downloading, sharing
and being a part of the podcast,thank you so much for being
with us on this fantastic tripthrough Raina's life.
You know, if you get a chance,make sure you get out to Weld
Industry Day in Red Deer, june11th and 12th.
(53:11):
On the 11th is the WeldIndustry Day Conference and on
the 12th we have a wonderfulchapter day set up with tours of
a local facility.
We have a VIP parties and wegot a number of college tours
set up at Red Deer Polytechnic.
So it's going to be a couplefull days that it's going to be
absolutely amazing.
Registration is free and it'sin Red Deer, alberta, so I hope
(53:33):
to see you all there and untilthen, you catch the next episode
here and on all streamingplatforms anytime.
Catch you at the next episode.
We hope you enjoy the show.
Speaker 3 (53:54):
Do you own a company in the welding industry or want
to share a targeted message withour listeners?
Then this 45 second audio adspace could be yours.
We have the coolest listenersfrom all over the world, with
over 60,000 downloads, and 88%are from North America.
This podcast serves to educateand connect the welding
(54:15):
community together and isavailable on all major platforms
, including the CWB GroupNetwork.
If you are interested, reachout to info at cwbassociationorg
.
Look at that.
I just gave you all of thatinformation in only 45 seconds.
You've been listening to theCWB Association Welding Podcast
(54:36):
and if you enjoyed what youheard today or want to send us
some questions to answer, youcan text the show using the link
in the episode descriptionbelow.
We can't wait to hear from you.
Please subscribe or visit us atcwbassociationorg to learn more
.
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