Episode 223 with Minah Wheatley & Eric Davis and Max Ceron

The CWB Association is committed to creating a safe space for growth and education to strengthen our membership by encouraging awareness. The LGBTQ2S+ community is a vibrant and essential part of the welding industry across Canada. June is Pride Month, and we encourage you to actively promote and engage in equality, inclusion, and diversity as a priority all year long. 

In today's episode, we discover how authenticity transforms careers and companies alike through the remarkable journeys of two industry experts. Minah Wheatley, celebrating 25 years at Hypertherm Associates, shares her powerful transition story while maintaining her leadership role. Meanwhile, Eric Davis approaches his 10-year mark leading a team of field service technicians, describing his evolution from cautiously navigating previous workplaces to finding a company where he is fully accepted.

Their experiences highlight a crucial industry insight: when companies create cultures where diverse employees can flourish, everyone benefits. As Hypertherm demonstrates through its associate-owned structure and comprehensive support programs, putting people first isn't just socially progressive—it's a solid business strategy in an industry facing critical skills shortages. During this Pride Month, their message resonates powerfully: "Everyone can bring something unique and valuable to an organization and strengthen it." By embracing diverse talent pools, the welding and manufacturing sectors can secure their future while creating workplaces where skills—not identity—determine success.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Hypertherm
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Hypertherm/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Hypertherminc/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hypertherm-inc-/mycompany/verification/

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Episode Transcript

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 Ceron and, asalways, I'm tackling the talks

(01:08):
and walking the walks andclimbing the hills that we need
to get over.
This month, we have a specialguest who has been here before
and has done this before for usfor Pride Month, which we love
doing.
The Pride Month shows everyyear.
I've already been to two dragraces this year since the month
started, so and we're only onthe fifth, so this is uh.
It's gonna be a great month foreveryone in the community and

(01:30):
out and about.
Uh, today we have mina wheatleyand eric davis coming to us um
on the show.
So let's start with you, eric,because you're new.
This is your first time on theshow.
How are you doing?

Speaker 2 (01:43):
I'm doing all right.
Uh, thanks for having me.
It's going to be an adventureto be on one of my first
podcasts.

Speaker 1 (01:51):
Oh, good, good, I'll throw all the hard balls at you
and then see if I can get you tostutter on air.
Okay, sounds good.
So tell me a little bit aboutyourself, eric.
Where are you calling in from?

Speaker 2 (02:04):
Yeah, yeah.
So right now I'm at my home inPort Orchard.
Washington, which is people whoare familiar with the Seattle
area is just on the other side,west of the Puget Sound.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (02:20):
Is that your home?
Is that where you were born andraised?

Speaker 2 (02:26):
is that your home?
Is that where you were born andraised?
No, no, so I've I've kind ofhad a little bit of a journey in
in uh since I've been here athypertherm, but I was originally
born in minneapolis, minnesotathe twin cities yeah, twin
cities represent.
And then uh uh grew up there.
Uh moved to indiana for aperiod of time, called Fort
Wayne, the northeast side of thestate, home for a couple years

(02:49):
and then started college atPurdue University down in West
Lafayette.
So, ever since then it's kind ofbeen a little bit of a ride.

Speaker 1 (02:59):
And what did you go to school for?

Speaker 2 (03:02):
I went to school what's technically called
organizational leadership andsupervision, but in just passing
I call it business management.
And then I can't forget mylittle minor in Japanese which,
unfortunately, I haven't used atall.

Speaker 1 (03:23):
But you're probably not scared of a sushi menu.

Speaker 2 (03:26):
No, no, I tell people that I could easily survive
over in Japan, but that's aboutit.

Speaker 1 (03:32):
It's a very trendy destination place right now
Japan.
In the last three years I havehad so many of my friends.
Even just last month some gotback.
They're all saying it's theplace to go right now.
It's fun.

Speaker 2 (03:47):
Yeah, months.
Some got back.
Um, they're all saying it's,it's the place to go right now,
it's fun, yeah, uh.
So, like I said, I've neverbeen, but me and my partner are
really big into uh snow sports.
He he's a snowboarder and I skiuh.
As you can probably tell theperson behind me, uh, japan is
going to be one of our uh winterdestinations coming up next
season, so we're really excitedabout that well, and I'm sure
you got canada on the listsomewhere, like I mean, you're

(04:07):
talking snow, you gotta talkcanada like absolutely um, we
actually uh.
So we've got a camper van thatwe uh uh tour around in, and in
february we took a two-week umbritish col uh van trip and I
think we hit eight separate skiresorts um 12 days of skiing

(04:31):
altogether.
So we were really busy Wow.

Speaker 1 (04:34):
You'd be wiped.
You'd be wiped by the end ofthat.

Speaker 2 (04:37):
Uh, we, we absolutely were, we absolutely were, but
it was a good time.

Speaker 1 (04:42):
All right.
So we got Eric coming, comingto us from from seattle, just
outside seattle, and uh, mina,where are you right now?

Speaker 4 (04:49):
right now um.
I live in minneapolis, minnesotaoh, you took over for eric,
maybe yeah, I think last time wedone this I was living in new
hampshire but working here.
Now it's kind of the other wayaround I live here and work in
new hampshire.
I'll get it right one day.
Um, from the united kingdom,originally hyperthird, moved um,

(05:12):
moved me over here.
When was that?
In 2010?
So it's coming on 15 and a half16 years.
Um, we all moved over.
That's my wife and threechildren.
Three children are still basedover in.
We all moved over.
That's my wife and threechildren.
Three children are still basedover in new hampshire.
Um, but, yeah, we've beenliving here a couple of years
now, so enjoying that and one ofthe other big changes um, I was

(05:34):
on the water jet team when welast spoke.
I'm now um marketing manager onthe laser team oh, so Is that a
lateral move?

Speaker 1 (05:45):
Is that a vertical move?

Speaker 4 (05:50):
I'd say it's kind of a lateral move a little bit.
When I was in MortarJar I wasthe inside sales leader.
I'm now the marketing manager,so it's a little bit different
sort of kind of role, still inleadership, but a different
technology.
Now, yeah, I'm dealing withlaser side, laser consumables
within the business, so it'sgood it's interested a whole

(06:11):
nother learning curve.

Speaker 1 (06:12):
I was gonna say you're gonna have to learn a
whole new pile of consumablelingo and terms and oh yeah, it,
it's, uh, it's been, it's beenfast track, that's for sure, but
fun so, eric, you know, youknow I know mina as pedigree.
You know all these 15 years, 20years in the industry worked.
You know her way up through thelike I mean there's nothing

(06:35):
about hypertherm she doesn'tknow.
Now, for yourself, you'recoming in.
You know how did you get intothis industry?
Because you're a leader, andgenerally in the steel
industries we don't really wantsmart leaders.
We got all sorts of people ofour own that we'd like to keep.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (06:53):
Which I think.
So to your point that you justsaid, I think that's what has
kind of made it reallyinteresting, because I came into
Hypertherm and I came into theindustry not really having a
technical background or notreally having a mechanical
background.
I like to tinker with cars onthe weekends and stuff like that
, but other than that I was kindof fresh.

(07:14):
So after I graduated fromPurdue I moved back to my home
state of Minnesota, minneapolis,and started at this company
called LSG Sky Chefs as asupervisor.
So each of the airplanes havekind of a bomb structure for how

(07:35):
they build their galleyequipment.
So each piece of trolley has aliquor drawer, a food drawer,
right.
So that's where I started, Iguess you could say in my first
assembly role, and then took alittle break from what I went to
school for and worked as atrain conductor for six months.

Speaker 1 (07:56):
Wow yeah, did you get to wear the hat.

Speaker 2 (08:00):
Didn't get to wear the hat, no, but got to wear
plenty of ppe and safety yeahespecially yeah yeah, being up
there in the frozen tundra ofminnesota, but um, uh, and then
I started with hypertherm in2016.
Actually, uh, working in theiraftermarket consumables business

(08:21):
, so accustream okay uh.
so we built all of theaftermarket uh components for
the water jet systems for KMTflow, omax, uh, and then moved
over to intense firemanufacturing.
Um, and I was there, uh, upuntil 2021.
Uh, then I moved to Denver,colorado, and took a field

(08:42):
service technician role withOMAX, was in that position for
two years and then stepped intothe technical service leader
role.
So now I lead a team of 12field service technicians,
primarily on the break fix sideof the water jet house.
So, we've got about roughly18,000 water jet units out in

(09:05):
the field all over the world andafter 90 days, uh um, of being
installed, then if there's anyissues that pop up, they come.

Speaker 1 (09:16):
Uh, do you mean by team's responsibility I'm
curious um have you ever come upinto canada for your work?

Speaker 2 (09:24):
yeah, uh, twice, or no, three times.
Um, twice in calgary.
Um, we did a couple installs uh, there, or, I think, as some
people call it, calgary true,and then?

Speaker 1 (09:39):
uh, once in vancouver we were doing a break fix on a
machine there okay, I was askingbecause the college I used to
teach at here in Regina,saskatchewan, they got a brand
new, beautiful OMAX, the biggestone, five axes they could buy
like two years ago.
And I remember they said theysaid OMAX sent people up for the
install and the training andeverything.
And I was like, oh, I wonder ifthat was you.

Speaker 2 (10:02):
That was absolutely my team, yeah awesome.

Speaker 1 (10:05):
That's awesome.
Yeah, they've been running thatjet hard and it's well.
Schools are rough on equipment.
Schools are rough on equipment.
So, and not necessarily becauseof use, but misuse.

Speaker 2 (10:17):
Yeah, yeah, schools it's pretty interesting.
Like all of our other customersare pretty year-round, but
schools of course fall into thatuh semester trimester schedule,
so the summertime seems to beour busiest time of year, for
schools, for sure all right,mina.

Speaker 1 (10:34):
And for you in the last year you said you moved
into the laser world.
Now, now, how's?
How has that been, thattransition, this new challenge
and new equipment?
You're learning.

Speaker 4 (10:45):
It's been pretty good .
I know the team, my leader I'veknown pretty much since I
started with Hypertherm 25 yearsago, so we've got a great
relationship.
The position came up and I wentfor it.
I do have a little laserexperience from years ago with
the consumables side of it, backwhen I lived in the UK working

(11:06):
for Hypertherm but now we're asort of smaller team within
Hypertherm but very busy.
We do a lot of development onconsumables and manufacturing
for, like the, the OEMs, thetier one OEMs out there,
developing new technologies, youknow, and cooling the nozzles,

(11:26):
saving gas, increasing cutspeeds and, um, you know, kind
of offering that out to oems.
So a lot of our work is workingdirectly with um the tier one
oems, visiting them, find, youknow, finding out, you know um
how we, how we can work together, improve the technology, like I

(11:48):
said, improve consumable life,gas savings, because a lot of
nitrogen is involved in lasercutting these days it's a little
bit more expensive.
So if we can find ways to savenitrogen without affecting cut
speed or quality, people areoften interested in that and
obviously, with the increase inpowers you know where laser is

(12:10):
operating at these days and thethicker materials that are being
cut, um, obviously heat's beingbecoming an issue.
So, um, we're finding ways wecan keep things cool and you
know kind of how we can workthat.
So you know it's um, it's avery busy time.
Technology is moving fast,things are happening quick.

(12:30):
The whole laser business, Imean, it just keeps moving
faster and faster.

Speaker 1 (12:35):
So, um five years ago , yeah, five years ago I
remember being a fab tech and itwas like the littlest booth in
the corner, a couple guys fromipg font photonics there with
their little handheld laser.
That kind of worked sometimesand it would only do like a
one-eighth bead sometimes.
And now here we are five yearslater and you can buy them

(12:56):
everywhere.

Speaker 3 (12:57):
They're all over the market they're all over the
place.

Speaker 1 (12:59):
I don't know how safe some of those weird systems are
that are out there, um, andyou're shooting lasers around
the room, but but I mean theyare.

Speaker 4 (13:06):
They are a very fast moving technology right now it
is, it's very, it's very fastmoving and, um, kind of staying
ahead of it or staying up withit.
You know has its challenges.
But you know we're fighting ourcorner and we're coming out
with a lot of good technologieswhich people are interested in
and I like to think we'redefinitely moving the needle and

(13:28):
making an impact well and Iknow safety is always a big part
of any technology that's new,because you tend to outpace
safety, sometimes in theexcitement of developing you
know something, um, and I'm andI'm sure that that's going to be
foremost in this spectrum aswell.
Yeah, yeah, safeties, I meaneverything's moving.

(13:50):
I mean back in time it was CO2laser and now it's moving over
to fiber more and those machinesare fairly well, you know, kind
of encased.
You know kind of the operate tome seems quite, you know,
divorced from the activityhappening inside the machine.
You know, back in the day, withplasma gas cutting and even the

(14:14):
older CO2 machines, I meanyou're right up on it.
You can get right up onto it,because nowadays, you know, it's
all sort of kind ofencapsulated.
So I think safety is well takencare of.

Speaker 1 (14:26):
Good, good.
So how long have you been withthe company now, Mina?

Speaker 4 (14:31):
in total, I've been with Hypertherm.
I had my 25th anniversary inMarch.

Speaker 1 (14:37):
Oh, what did you get?
Did you get a watch or a beltbuckle or I don't know what do
they do anymore?

Speaker 4 (14:42):
There was a few choice of gifts, but yeah, were
on there.
So yeah, we got got wellrecognized.
It's a.
It's a good milestone.
I mean, 25 years ago, if you'dasked me, would I still been
here?
I don't know, but the time'sgone really quick.

Speaker 1 (14:56):
I'm still having a lot of fun and enjoying myself,
which is important that'samazing, like I've never stayed
at a job, born in like six orseven years, and now I'm with
the CWB.
I'm going into my fifth year.
For me to make another 20, I'dhave to work until I'm 79.

Speaker 3 (15:11):
I don't know man.

Speaker 1 (15:12):
I don't know if it's going to make it.

Speaker 4 (15:17):
It's been fun.
As you know, I've worked in alot of areas Plasma, water jet,
now laser.
You know I started withhypotherm in the uk.
I moved to um, america forum, Ihad a spell over in holland, um
forum and then came back.
So it it's.

(15:40):
It's been very active and, youknow, it's very fulfilling and I
you know, every day there's achallenge, something new to do,
and it keeps it fresh.

Speaker 1 (15:51):
All right, and Eric, how long have you been with
Hypertherm now?

Speaker 2 (15:55):
Yeah, um, I started in 2016.
So coming up on 10 years herenext year.

Speaker 1 (16:04):
Something about that company.
Everyone I run into athypertherm stays there.

Speaker 2 (16:09):
They must be doing something right yeah, you know
what it's so funny because Italked to all my friends and
they say the same thing, likethey have the same reaction,
like oh, you must be a companyman, how are you staying there
so long?
Because I'm only at my job fortwo or three years and, um, kind
of like what mina said, it's uh, hypertherm's got everything

(16:31):
I'm looking for, so, uh,especially the growth and
development, um, I think I I'mkind of a walking testament to
that and it's I I don't see itending anytime soon.

Speaker 1 (16:43):
That's good.
That's good.
Well, and one of the thingsthat brought the both of you to
this show today is, you know, uscelebrating Pride Month and you
know, when I met Mina and thenwe talked about how Hypertherm
had been such a great, you know,supporter of her transition and
just the whole process, whichcan be very convoluted.

(17:06):
It can be very ugly, and I'veseen it.
I think at this point, everyonein the trades has seen a bad
example of how themale-dominated cis workplace,
you know, sometimes has theseissues with the queer community,
the LGBTQ community.
Whether it's blatant orrhetorical or whatever it is, we

(17:29):
all acknowledge that there isimprovement that needs to happen
in this space.
Now for you two working atHypertherm and maybe I'll start
with Eric, because you're theyounger, fresher meat, I guess
there, as an openly gay man, youknow was that ever something
that you felt was a disadvantageto you in any way or that you

(17:51):
felt worried about in terms ofyour workplace?

Speaker 2 (17:55):
For sure, for sure.
Um, and I mean starting at mylast few companies, lsg and BNSF
, right, completely different,completely different
environments, right, but thatwas absolutely like, not a
subject that I I really everwanted to broach and that I felt
was gonna be beneficial, um,but uh, it wasn't too long.

(18:16):
After working at hypertherm, um, uh, getting to know my team,
uh, getting to know theleadership where I was, like I,
I don't see an issue with uhbeing who myself, I and like,
especially, everyone asks oh, doyou have any kids?

(18:37):
You have a spouse, what's yourfamily situation look like.
So you enter into thoseconversations and yeah, and
they're organic yeah yeah, yeah.
And it got to a point.
It's like, uh, no, I'm gonna bemyself and I'm gonna show up
with who I am.

Speaker 1 (18:51):
And the response just from day one was nothing but
supportive, like oh yeah, no,that's great, you know yeah,
yeah, and that's really awonderful experience, because it
should be just a standardexperience for anybody, in any
position.
That's what you would hopeanyone from culture, race, creed
, orientation, whatever.

(19:12):
You would hope that it's justlike oh, you know, do you have a
partner?
Oh, do you have kids?
No, you know just normalconversations to learn about the
other person without judgment.
Right Now for you, mina, you'rekind of the leader in this.
You know you're the predecessor.
You may have broken ground withthe company to say, hey, it's

(19:33):
okay.
Like you know, you're stillcrushing your job.
You're still making the sales.
You're still being a leader,because you can't just be a
leader on paper.
You also got to be a leader.
You're like you gotta, yougotta put up when it's time to
put up right.
And you've been there with thecompany so you've shown that
there doesn't need to be likethis part of your life does not

(19:54):
affect this part of your work.
They can be separate things.
Do you feel like a leader inthis company on that level?

Speaker 4 (20:07):
I think I do.
I mean, you know I try to be agood person.
You know I try to be a goodadvocate for our community, you
know, and for Hypertherm andwhat it's done.
I mean, you know, last time wediscussed, I mean it was a huge,
huge step for me coming out,when I was in New Hampshire

(20:31):
working for Hypertherm there, Iwas unaware of the queer, the
LGBTQ community that existedwithin Hypertherm.
I think I told Eric this alittle while ago.
It was when I moved tominneapolis and started working
out of that office.
over there, you know, there wasa couple of people who are, you

(20:52):
know, kind of out and proud,eric being one of them a bigger
community yeah, which kind ofgave me the strength and like,
hang on, maybe I can do this,because you know I was, I was
going through my transitionthere.
I mean, eric may have had hissuspicions about stuff.
I mean I remember the first dayI mentioned anything to him

(21:14):
about my weekend life and I wasgoing to a drag show and the
poor guy, you know, nearlychoked.
I was like how is this?

Speaker 2 (21:21):
the first time I'm hearing about this.

Speaker 1 (21:22):
Yeah, I already have my tickets too.

Speaker 4 (21:26):
Yeah, Because that stayed hidden for so long and it
was, you know, something likethat was so out of character.
So, you know, it was a really,really big step for me and at
that time I don't think therewas any other trans people
within the company.
So it was like, wow, we'rereally going to stress test our

(21:51):
inclusion and diversity programhere and that was a big worry.

Speaker 1 (21:54):
Which it's good.
I mean, it's good to do that,but it's hard to be the person
that's doing that right it was.

Speaker 4 (22:03):
There was lots of tears and angst and everything,
but you know the the support Ireceived from everyone was
absolutely amazing.
You know, and from that youknow, we've developed programs.
You know, um, to help supportpeople coming out, to make it
easier.
You know we've done a lot ofthings within the organization,

(22:28):
you know, to ensure support notjust for people you know in the
LGBTQ community but for everyone.
You know to make sure they'resupported, you know, and can
come to work and be their bestselves.
Yeah, whatever you know,whoever they are, whatever
background from they're from.
However and I think that'sreally one of the strong things

(22:53):
about Hypertherm and possibly areason why people stay there so
long is it is accepting ofeveryone, of everyone's
backgrounds, beliefs, know, andeveryone has the opportunity.
And you know, I think also,being an associate owns company

(23:15):
as well.
We all come to work for thesame things every day.
You know, everyone wants to besuccessful and see the company
be successful and grow.
You know, and we all play apart in that.

Speaker 1 (23:28):
That's amazing.
Now, your path, mina, wasliving sort of like a double
life for a while, where you hadto find the strength and courage
and support to kind of chooseto break out of the mold and go
down this other path where youfelt was your true self.

(23:48):
You know that that is thequintessential hero story of
breaking out of a shell and the.
You know the, the chrysalis ofthe butterfly emerging from the
cocoon.
You know that whole concept.
Now, eric, you're meeting Minaat this point.
She's not transitioning.
You know you're openly gay.
Now what was your journey likeat Hypertherm, coming in from

(24:11):
another angle, like, were youopenly gay already as a young
man and something that you werealready strong within yourself?
Get hired at Hypertherm andyou're just going to roll with
it.
Or I there, or or is it still alevel of hesitancy, even when
you see allies?

Speaker 2 (24:30):
yeah, no, um, I was.
I.
I was pretty out already, uh,in my personal life before I
came to hypertherm um, it, it.
It was the whole concept ofbeing out and myself at work.
I think that is is a littlestruggle that I had.
But um it, it.

(24:50):
It wasn't too off too soonafter that and I got to give a
shout out to my leader at thetime.
His name is, is is Curtis.
Um, he was definitely one ofthe people who got him, you know
, like no you.
You one of the people whoguided me to like no you.
You have to be yourself,because when you're in a
leadership position, right Halfof it is is based on

(25:11):
authenticity and trust, and ifyou can't be yourself, then how
can you get others to bethemselves and and and follow
you?

Speaker 1 (25:17):
So yeah, now did you hear?
Or about the story of Minabefore you met, the legend of
Mina, or?

Speaker 2 (25:29):
Yeah, no, that's a no .
So I knew Mina simply, I thinkshe was at the time, I mean you
might have to remind me, but youwere the water jet consumables
sales manager, I believe, and sothat's all.
I knew her as right and like wetalked here and there we kind
of bantered like the hallwayconversations, um, but it wasn't

(25:52):
until she had mentioned, uh,the drag show I've got tickets
to this drag show.
What are you doing this weekend?
I'm like oh my gosh, tell memore, um help me pick up my
shoes.
I got I got problems, yeah, yeahand then like that, that's,
that's, that's kind of where itstarted, and um, and then I've,

(26:16):
I've, I've just watched minabecome this, this beautiful
person.
So and get get even closer toher today.

Speaker 1 (26:24):
Yeah, well and, and you know, when you said you're
from minneapolis, like I live insaskatchewan, canada, I'm five
hours north of minneapolis.
Pretty much I mean winnipeg'scloser, but, but this is kind of
not the parts of the northamerica that are historically
known to be extremely supportiveof the LGBTQ communities.

(26:46):
My brother-in-law is a gay manand grew up in a small town of
500 people and was a very, verydifficult time for him to come
out.
He basically had to move to abigger city in order to feel
comfortable, to be able to comeout, because it was going to be
such a shock to the town.
Right, this is your brother.

Speaker 2 (27:07):
My brother-in-law, so my, my my wife's husband or my
wife's brother.

Speaker 1 (27:10):
sorry, Um, so you know, I always talk to him about
that journey.
Being from a small town, I'm,I'm uh, I'm from, I'm, I'm an
immigrant from another country.
So I have my experience ofbeing the outsider in terms of
race, right and for forlistening to my brother-in-law's
story of being an outsider inyour own town because of your
sexuality.

(27:30):
It's so hurtful because that'slike your community right and
you got to be so scared of yourown community turning on you.
Whether it happens or not.
It's a very real fear.
Right Now you're coming up inin Minneapolis, eric was, was
this something that was toughfor you or did at an early age?
Were you fairly comfortable orfelt safe enough to be able to,

(27:53):
to find yourself?

Speaker 2 (27:55):
oh yeah, um.
So minneapolis I, I have to say, is uh, um, a super accepting
place, um, but growing up, uh,it certainly didn't feel that
way.
Well, I mean to to say itwasn't a safe space growing up
like I can't really say that,but I'm sure a lot of young

(28:18):
people share this but, um, itwas a really long time before I
was comfortable with who I wasand um, and it wasn't until I
went to college, uh, in indiana,purdue, where I was able to
share with, uh friends, um, andand student peers, uh, that I
was gay, um, but the collegeexperience was wonderful and and

(28:41):
and that, uh, in in the middleof indiana the cornfields, west
lafayette.
Yeah, I mean like collegecampuses tend to be pretty
liberal, yeah, yeah yeah, butsuper great experience.
Um, and when I did move back tominneapolis, all of a sudden I
found this, this place that Ididn't really know before uh,

(29:04):
because all the shutters wereoff.
Now, yeah, yeah, I'm like, wow,it's so gay here.

Speaker 1 (29:09):
I love it.
Now.
Now, mina, you're listening toEric's story of you know his
coming out.
You know from youth to college.
Now you, you missed out on allthat.
Right, you are already in anestablished, what people would
consider traditional lifestyleand you had to find your whole

(29:31):
journey out of that.
So when you're listening toEric talk about his journey, you
know in a nutshell, obviouslyit's much more to that story,
but you know in a nutshell, howdo you feel you relate to his
story versus how you foundyourself?
In a nutshell, how do you feelyou relate to his story versus
how you found yourself in your,in your situation.

Speaker 4 (29:48):
I don't think it's a million miles apart because, um,
I don't know, I, you know, Iknew about myself and you know,
Marie, my wife knew, but livingin New Hampshire is pretty
remote and rural.
You, know, and it wasn't until Icome to Minneapolis and started

(30:08):
working over here that you knowthat I kind of found, you know
all this life, you know, and allthese these you know kind of
other people from you know thegay community, um, trans
communities I started, you know,kind of meeting other people
and you know, hang on, this is.
You know what is going on, thisis acceptable.

(30:29):
You know people can live life,yeah you're not alone.
You're not the only one dealingwith this yeah, exactly, you
know, and even outside you know,I kind of made some friends
outside work, um, you know who,who had been through you know
similar things, you know thateither had transitioned or were
transitioning, you know.

(30:50):
So I got a lot of them in.
You know kind of informationyou know and kind of support
from them, um, you know, know,and it was while when I was in
Minneapolis I actually startedmy transition, you know, which
you know kind of then carried onto where we are today.
But, yeah, I mean, it's findingyour community is, I think,

(31:13):
such a big big thing, you know,and it's really important, I
think such a big big thing, youknow, and it's really important.
And you know the support I'vehad, you know, from that
community as well, you know, aswell as in other places where
I've included, has beentremendous, you know, because I
mean you talk about, you know,finding yourself, I think, in

(31:39):
some ways, you know, I feel Istill am finding myself in some
ways never stops really, youknow it, never it doesn't stop,
no, but you know kind of beingbeing in places, you know where
it, where you kind of are moreaccepted is.
It's an, it's a really greatfeeling and that will take a
kind of a lot of a take a lot ofstress and weight off the

(32:00):
shoulders.

Speaker 1 (32:01):
Well, it always seems to be some defining moment in
any person's life period wherethey start to accept themselves
for who they are, because Ithink every human goes through
this in some way or another.
And when you come across peoplethat are angry, or always upset
, or always grumpy, I'm alwayslike this person doesn't know

(32:23):
who they are because they're madat themselves for something.
They're not mad at me, they'renot mad at other people.
They're holding that angerinside.
You know, and and I've evenheard that from people in the
queer community saying, you know, like before I came out, I was
a really angry, depressed, I waslashing out at people until I
could start being more, you know, just authentic with myself.
And I get that Now, when youknow for Eric, you said, you

(32:45):
know like when you went tocollege is when you start to be
like all right, you know I got acommunity, I got people.
You know, mina, when you wentto Minneapolis, bliss.
Now, mina, for yourself, do youthink and this is completely
just rhetorical but if you wouldhave stayed in New Hampshire,
if you would have been stayingin the rural, you know lifestyle
that was there do you think youwould have been able to find

(33:10):
the, the strength or courage totransition, if you didn't find
that community that was sosupportive.

Speaker 4 (33:18):
I think it would have been a lot harder for me
because, like I said, I didn'tknow.
There kind of really was acommunity and I think you know
the nearest place was, like youknow, nearly a two hour drive
away where I could go, and youknow which is a long way Two
hour drive there there, two hourdrive back just to hang out

(33:40):
with some like-minded peoplelike yeah, that's a lot.
I think I still would have done,you know, I still would have
started transitioning, becauseit kind of got to a stage where
I couldn't not yeah, but itwould, but it would have been a
lot.
It would have been a much, muchtougher journey, I feel.

Speaker 1 (34:02):
Well, I'm glad you found that community in
Minneapolis and I actually usedto go party in Minneapolis quite
a bit when I was a young man.

Speaker 3 (34:09):
So I know Minneapolis , yeah, I did.

Speaker 1 (34:10):
Because, like I said, it's only a five-hour drive
from my house and some of thebig concerts never come up to
Canada but they always play inMinneapolis.
They big, some of the bigconcerts never come up to Canada
, but they always play inMinneapolis.
They all do all the big names.
So we would just rip down toMinneapolis to go check out
concerts and I went to a bunchof fun, lots of good places to
party this is a good time.

Speaker 2 (34:25):
Yeah, it's a good time Drive through.

Speaker 1 (34:27):
Uh, off sales got me.
I mean, wait a second, I canjust drive through and buy booze
.

Speaker 2 (34:34):
What the heck is going on.

Speaker 1 (34:36):
So let's take a quick break here.
We're at the half hour, theconversation's great.
We'll take a quick break forour sponsors and our supporters,
especially during this PrideMonth, we very much value our
industry supporters that supportthese shows and we'll be right
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(36:24):
And we are back on the CWBAssociation podcast.
Today we are having a greatshow discussing all sorts of
topics about industry, butfocusing on Hypertherm and how
great they are at supportingtheir staff during this Pride
month and all year around.
Not just this month, obviously,but the whole year also counts.

(36:45):
Now, when we were talking aboutyou know you guys coming up in
the industry Mina, 25 years.
You're coming up on 10 years,eric.
Now you're directly involved inleadership.
Eric, this is what you gothired to do is to bring in
leadership, mina, for yourself.
You have established yourselfas a leader.

(37:05):
You know your ability to staywithin the company Hypertherm
and how you can be effectiveleaders for perhaps the next,
you know community that's comingup within you, the next

(37:27):
generations.
So let's start with you, eric.
How do you feel that youcontribute to this hopefully,
the new era of, of, ofHypertherm?

Speaker 2 (37:37):
Yeah, um.
So I mean beyond just the uh,the owners with pride group and
the participation that we havein that um, whenever we have a
new hire come on board.
Um, I think the concept of anassociate ownedowned company is

(37:58):
just slightly foreign, alongwith the just overwhelming
values of we want to makeeveryone feel like they're a
part here and they've gotsomething to bring to the table.
But usually when it's someonenew that starts on the team,
it's it's me showing them thatfirsthand, it's, it's it's just

(38:21):
just really making sure thatfirst impression uh, for a new

(38:41):
associate is there and it's astrong one, I'd say that's.
That's probably the mostimpactful thing that I do.
Um, so, but I mean beyond that,the owners with pride group.
Um, uh, mina has has definitelybeen the one who's who's, who's

(39:02):
who's our guiding light here inthe company, in the group, um,
but, uh, I have taken a positionof of kind of stepping up and
being an active um.
I I don't know if I want tocall myself a role model, but I
know the position that I have Anally yeah.
And I want to show people that acompletely open gay male within

(39:26):
the organization can thrive andbe themselves and be outgoing
and not be all serious all thetime.
So, yeah, all serious all thetime right.

Speaker 1 (39:36):
So, yeah, well, and there's a this concept, uh, well
, and it's a very true, if youcan't be what you can't see, or
it's at least very difficult tobe what you can't see um, yeah,
because it's kind of reservedfor that one percent.
That are the groundbreakers,like I would argue.
Mina is a groundbreaker in thisindustry, but seeing amina
gives people confidence even inthemselves.

(39:58):
You're seeing you, exactlyright, coming, seeing you, eric,
coming in, and you're perhaps ashy lesbian lady from somewhere
, and they come in first day atthe job and they meet you and,
oh, this is my boss or this isthe person, oh, oh.
And then the lights startclicking on.
It's like, oh, that's okay here.
Oh, I can be me, I don't haveto hide that, I don't have to
worry about that, and thestresses start coming off.

(40:19):
You know what I mean Because,like you said, you can't be a
good employee when you got amonkey on your back following
you around.
It's just, you're not going togive your 100% ever, you know

(40:52):
no-transcript.

Speaker 4 (40:54):
Big question, I mean you keep going on about.
You know, maybe a one on onepercent and guiding light.
You know it's um.
I struggle with that a littlebit.
It's um.
I want to be a good advocateyou know for our community for
sure.
You know, and in some way Idon't know where you know, how
true this is, but you know yousee so few trans people, not

(41:21):
only in our industry but in, youknow, in a lot of other areas.
You know who are.
You know who are successful inwhat they do.
You know the same as anyone, ifyou're prepared to work hard,
develop your skills andabilities, you know and you know

(41:42):
show what you're capable ofdoing.
You know that that's open foranyone, whether you're you know
you're you're gay, queer,lesbian, trans, anything you
know.
Certainly sort of.
For me, coming out allowed, Ithink, a lot more of me to

(42:03):
concentrate on my, on my job andeverything else going on in
life without having to have thishuge lump of me I was trying to
disguise and hide.
So, um, I think that's kind ofcoming out has helped me a lot.
You know, sort of being able tofocus on what I do, but you
know I'd be lying if I say youknow sort of being able to focus
on what I do, but you know I'dbe lying if I say you know, when
some people I meet for thefirst time, they're not shocked.

(42:23):
You know that they'repotentially not not expecting to
meet a person like me, but Ithink you know it's.
It doesn't take long for themto realize.
You know I.
I do know what I'm talkingabout.
I do have skills, I do haveabilities.
I have gained a lot ofknowledge and experience over

(42:44):
the years.

Speaker 1 (42:45):
You've earned your spot yeah.

Speaker 4 (42:47):
Yeah, and I think overall, whether that's people
coming into hypothermia as anorganization or if it's me going
out, me and our partners andcustomers, I think people soon
forget, you know kind of what,who I am to look at and become
more interested in what I haveto say as a person.

(43:08):
So you know kind of the imagesis gone.
You know, and like eric, youknow he's very skilled,
professional, knowledgeable inhis role and I think that's what
shows through at the end of theday.
It's not so much how you look.
There's more than skin deep.

Speaker 1 (43:31):
Absolutely.
I was at a conference two weeksago, a wonderful conference
that happens every year inCanada called the Supporting
Equities and Trades through theCanadian Apprenticeship Forum.
If you ever want to spend $800on a conference because I know
some of them are expensive andyou don't feel like you, get
your money out of it this is anexpensive one that you would
100% come out invigorated andenergized.

(43:52):
It's a fantastic conference andthey were talking about biases
and you know theintersectionality of biases.
You know the the lgbtqcommunity, the bipoc community,
the I'm too tall, I'm too short,I'm too fat, my name sounds
like immigrant name.
There's just so many thingsthat people could choose to be
biased about if they want to,and one of the things they said

(44:15):
is like going forward, hr shouldnot ever ask for certain things
and resumes should just come innumbered with skills period.
You don't know their name, youdon't know their gender, you
don't know where they live.
All you get is a number one,one, one, two and this is the
skills and abilities and CV.
If's, if that's the job, why doyou need to know any of the

(44:41):
other stuff until after they'vemade it past the first round of
of cuts?
And I was like that is huge,because it's true.
You look at a, at a resume, andyou're already putting yourself
into boxes.
You're already saying okay,like for myself, I have a long
latino name that I've had toshorten, so I don't get, you
know, treated weird because noone's going to be able to say my

(45:04):
name properly, so it's alwaysjust max, but my full name is
sebastian maximiliano.
It's a big, long spanish name.
So you know, you start being.
So if I was to put sebastianmaximiliano on a resume right
away, okay, check mark,immigrant here, immigrant here,
we go.
And then you know, you knowwhat I mean.
And you start putting thesethings and you start putting
yourself into box after box andat the end of the day you get to

(45:24):
the CV, the rest of the resume.
People may have already made uptheir mind, right, I was talking
to a female there and her namewas Pradwa it was like a rather
rare Indian name and she's likeI am sure I don't get hired
sometimes because I just can'tpronounce my name.
And they're like I'm not goingto bother hiring this person
because their name is too hardto say.

(45:44):
And I thought about that afterthe conference for a couple days
because I was like, if we canbe so biased on such a simple
thing as just reading a document, how deep can the biases run
within companies, withinestablished businesses, social

(46:05):
norms and you know, for thingsthat go so deep and then
intersectional, which I think iswhy the trans community always
finds that extra level ofhurdles that they got to go
through because it's, it's, it'salso, it's like more than one
thing happening at once which istoo hard for some people to

(46:26):
just grasp, right?
Yeah, do you think that I don'teven know how to ask that
question?
Let me see if I can work it onmy head.
Would it be better to not knowwhen you're meeting someone, or
is it better to know it all?
And I guess that depends on howready society is on the other
end, right?

Speaker 4 (46:50):
I don't know.
I mean, I've walked into, youknow, some people are, you know,
really good and they don't seemto bat an eyelid yeah other
people you can't walk.
You know.
I've walked in, I've met themand you see that initial startle
on their face.

Speaker 1 (47:04):
I mean they try and correct themselves very quickly,
but yeah, I know I've seen that, look yeah it's kind of, you
know, it's too late, you knowbut well, and you're like,
you're like two meters tall too,yeah, so I've got nice long
legs yeah, no, absolutely, butyou know it's.

Speaker 4 (47:23):
I mean that's something I have to deal with.
I mean I have to deal with that, um, you know, on a daily basis
in some ways.
So you've got to get past thatand then like I say it's, I need
to get past that with them.
You know, and again, I think,once we sort of you know, we
sort of sit down, they they're.
You know, they've had theirinitial shock, you know, or it

(47:45):
lasts for a few minutes oncethey realize you know my
knowledge, experience, skillsand abilities, you know, and I'm
also there to potentially showthem how you know.

Speaker 1 (47:58):
To save money and run their business better.

Speaker 4 (48:00):
Something we're doing is going to improve, you know,
an operation, their operation, aperformance of a machine,
everything else seems to justdrift away, and that's what
becomes important.

Speaker 1 (48:14):
Which is what should have been important from the
beginning, right, yeah, you know, I just thought you know the
beginning, right?

Speaker 4 (48:17):
yeah, you know.
Well, I just thought you know,I kind of you know we should
maybe make a pin out of it.
You know they stop looking andstart listening you know, eyes
are up here.

Speaker 1 (48:25):
No, yeah, it is.

Speaker 4 (48:28):
You know they.
You know, like I said, you knowthe appearance just fades away
and the fact you know that youknow I'm a trans female just
goes and I just become a personwho knows what they're talking
about.
Fact, you know that you knowI'm a trans female just goes and
I just become a person whoknows what they're talking about
and you know, trying to showthem something, trying to show
them a better way of how to dosomething, showing them other
options or whatever thesituation may be, and I think

(48:51):
that's ultimately what comesthrough stronger yeah, have you
had a?

Speaker 1 (48:55):
had a similar experience, eric, with like,
perhaps, like she said, the, theshock value, the initial shock
value, um for yourself um, I,I'm gonna be honest I, I, I
haven't, I haven't becauseyou're such a good looking
fellow like.
I mean what's?

Speaker 2 (49:15):
not to like yeah, I mean, like, maybe in my own head
have I showed up and be like,oh, like maybe they're really
picking them, picking up on thislisp or something you know, um,
which I, I don't even know, butum to to to me in this point
and just double down on thislike my safe space at work,

(49:37):
which of course, I pretend, aswe've talked about a big safe
spade but getting down tobusiness and really talking,
about the machines broken, um,it's not cutting to how you
expect it, it's doing xyz, thegarnets not flowing.
Let's, let's, root cause this,let's troubleshoot this and then
, as soon as you're talking, thetechnology, the product how to

(50:01):
get that back up and running it.
It like nothing else matters.
Um, no matter.

Speaker 1 (50:09):
I like what political beliefs or religious beliefs
that people have, likeeverything else melts away
because we're on the same page,we're linked, we're connected
right and it should be at alltimes about the work, because
really that's why you're gettingpaid, that's why me is getting
paid, that's why people arespending.

(50:29):
Money is for the work, not forthe person's backstory of who's
doing the work's not a thing.
It's not like you.
It's not like straight manwalks in and you're like, hmm,
let's find out all we can aboutthis straight man like that's
that doesn't happen.

Speaker 2 (50:46):
You know, like yeah yeah, I mean like of course
there's.
There's customers where I'mlike, oh, like this, this person
sounds really interesting, Iwant to get to know them, and
you can go back and forth andbullshit a little bit, but it's
like at the end of the day, it'sgetting their equipment back up
and running and making themmoney.

(51:08):
You know that's right.

Speaker 1 (51:10):
Well, I do want to take a quick couple minutes here
to discuss um something I thinkis really important.
And how great, mina, you looklike your eyebrows are on point,
they're microblading, I like.
I mean, I haven't seen you in acouple years and uh, there's
been a lot of changes yeah, andyou I can like.
It's very like.

(51:31):
You look great, like your skintone is fantastic, like what?
What's going on?
What's happened in the lastcouple years since I've seen you
?

Speaker 2 (51:38):
mina looks better every time I see her, yeah, and
younger.

Speaker 4 (51:43):
Like I swear you're 10 years younger than the last
time I saw you for crying outloud well, yeah, I'd love to say
it's all natural, but there's,there's, there's been, there's
been, there's been quite a fewsurgeries along the along the
way, yeah, so, um, yeah, that,yeah, I know, spent quite, quite
, quite a lot of time on thetable.
You know having having tweaksand adjustments, you know, um,

(52:06):
to kind of, you know, get moreof a feminine look, you know.
But I think it's all you know.
That aside is just being veryhappy with life becoming more
confident.
You know, in who, in who I am,how I look, I sense it.

Speaker 1 (52:20):
I sense it in you, the confidence.

Speaker 4 (52:23):
Yeah, how I dress and everything you know, and it's
again, it's you know it's havingmy confidence in that, but also
the support of others around meas well, which is really great,
you know it's.
You know, I kind of considermyself really fortunate.
I know people who've had a lotmore struggles than me.

(52:44):
Absolutely.

Speaker 1 (52:47):
And let's not forget, the suicide rates among the
LGBTQ communities are some ofthe highest of all.
You know, I hate to use theword marginalized or
differentiated communities,right, and that's terrible, it's
a terrible burden for some, youknow.
Uh, I hate to use the wordmarginalizer, differentiated
communities, right, and, andthat's terrible, it's terrible
burden for some, you know butyou know it's.

Speaker 4 (53:04):
You know my goal is to, you know, look as good as I
can.
You know, which again helps theacceptance.
You know I.
You know I.
Yeah, it'd be great if I couldwalk down the street and all
anyone sees is a beautiful woman.
But you know, it's as long asall you see is a beautiful woman
.

Speaker 1 (53:17):
But you know, it's as long as all you see is a
beautiful woman.

Speaker 4 (53:20):
you got it.

Speaker 1 (53:20):
You got it.

Speaker 4 (53:21):
Yeah, so you know that's the goal, that's the plan
, but thank you, thank you forthose compliments.
It really means a lot.
No, it's great.
I'm going to try on screen.

Speaker 1 (53:30):
And that's what you want, that's what we, at the end
of the day, right is forsomeone to notice the work
you're putting into yourself,because we're all working
projects, we're all.
We're all broken somewhere andwe got things that we got to fix
and work on and and, um, and,like I said when I like, when I
said that you, you exude moreconfidence than the last

(53:52):
interview, um, that's somethingI pick up on, people right um
right away.
It's what.
It's what makes me a goodpodcaster.
You can sense when people arestrong and then you can sense
the things that they're a littlebit more afraid of and try to
find that that balance is key tobeing happy really, because it

(54:12):
never ends right.

Speaker 4 (54:14):
Yeah, sure, I look a lot different to the last
podcast we did, so I'm sureyou're going back and comparing,
if you haven't already I, I waslooking, I was, I was like I
wonder how how it's going.

Speaker 1 (54:28):
You know, plus they pay you pretty good at the, at
the hypertherm.
So you know, that's good it'sgood um, you know?
No, I'm really pleased with howeverything's going and you know
that's good it's good.

Speaker 4 (54:37):
Um, you know, no, I'm really pleased with how
everything's going, and you knowit's um, I sort of feel,
personally, I've come a long wayyou know in in, in, in, since
we, since we spoke last time.

Speaker 3 (54:50):
Good.

Speaker 4 (54:50):
And you know kind of everything else around it as
well and you know the thingswe've spoken about as well.
You know, in this podcast Ithink you know kind of the
acceptance is great, you know,and the support from hypertherm
has been fantastic and that'sthat's not just for me.
You know that's what hyperthermgives.

(55:11):
Every single associate athypertherm you know they want
everyone to be their true,authentic selves, because you
never know what's going on inthe lives of the person standing
next to you and that's right,you know kind of what's
happening in their lives, what,what troubles they're having or
anything, and you know umempathy is, in short, the order

(55:35):
these last few years on thisplanet.

Speaker 1 (55:38):
You see empathy kind of fading out of popularity and
it's like we got to correct that.
Because you lose empathy, youstart losing perspective on
everything.
Things that aren't importantbecome important and things that
should be important areforgotten, right?
I?

Speaker 4 (55:56):
think over my journey .
That's you know.
Again, I think over my journey.
That's one of the big changesthat's happened within me.
You know is that empathy andyou know realizing, you know I
don't know what's, you knowwhat's going on in that person's
life next to me you know, andthat was part of my journey as
well.
So I tried to be a lot morekind of acknowledging of that,

(56:20):
you know, and you knowsupporting off people from you
know, whatever that's awesome.

Speaker 1 (56:26):
So let's talk about this month.
You know, pride month, northamerica, and you guys are in
minneapolis.
What do you guys got planned?
Let's start with you, eric.
What's your big plans for themonth?

Speaker 2 (56:35):
anything fun, anything interesting, going
somewhere yeah, um, so I'm gonnastay here in washington, um,
for pride month.
Uh, um, so I'm actually takingmore days off than I ever have
before specifically for pride.
Yeah, um, but I've got a couplefriends that are flying in from

(56:56):
um Denver, colorado, joining us.
Uh, so, uh, the weekend of the19th through the 23rd is
basically going to be a five day, uh, pride extravaganza.

Speaker 1 (57:10):
Oh, that sounds fun.
You got to check out some shows, or any.
Is there any drag shows goingon or any?
Any big book like party?
Bubble parties or anything funlike that.

Speaker 2 (57:21):
Um, we've got a couple uh drag brunches that are
scheduled um, because thosesell out so fast.

Speaker 1 (57:28):
They're expensive.

Speaker 2 (57:30):
They are kind of expensive, right, um, but it's
kind of cool because, uh, I livejust on the other side of the
water, like I said, from seattle, and so I'm within walking
distance to the ferry.
So, uh, my house, um, in portorchard, is kind of going to be
home base, and then, everysingle morning, I'm going to

(57:50):
take the ferry party at eric's.
I got it, I got it yeah, yeah,pride party over in port orchard
, but um no, so drag brunches.
We got a couple of concertsscheduled and we're gonna attend
the parade, of course.
Uh, a couple years ago I wasactually in the parade, which
was pretty wild, pretty wildexperience.

Speaker 1 (58:11):
But um, not gonna do that.
Did you get your hands shakedown, did you?

Speaker 2 (58:14):
yeah, the queen's way shake down, you know, yeah, met
, met met a couple thousandglances yeah awesome, awesome,
love it and you mean out.

Speaker 4 (58:24):
You got anything fun planned for this month, anything
you're going to or attendingyeah, well, this this saturday
we got the um minnesota um thetwins baseball pride game.
We're going to to that that'shappening this Saturday.

Speaker 1 (58:37):
Oh fun, fun.

Speaker 4 (58:38):
Obviously the pride parade and the big event that
happens on Loring Park.

Speaker 1 (58:47):
Oh.

Speaker 4 (58:48):
Which is very close to where I live.
We'll be going to.
We're also a couple of us aresigning up.
There's a bottomless mimosa popcrawl happening.
It does sound very dangerous,so I feel I have to, kind of,
you know, step up to that onewell as a senior leader.

Speaker 1 (59:11):
I mean, as a senior leader, we expect a lot from you
yeah, it's, it's, uh, yeah.

Speaker 4 (59:16):
So we gotta get tickets for that because there's
a number of bars and kind ofrestaurants participating in
that and you can go around.
You just buy one ticket andbottomless mimosas in all of
them and nibbles and everything.
So, yeah, might need achaperone you know a chaperone
for that one.
We'll have to see.

(59:38):
There's going to be a lot ofthings happening in the city.

Speaker 1 (59:41):
Good, good.
And what about the company?
What's Hypertherm doing forPride Month?
No-transcript.

Speaker 4 (59:54):
Well, we kind of.
It's one of the events aroundthe years that Hypertherm does
support and puts out anannouncement about how it
supports.
You know, not just the LGBTQcommunity but you know everyone
within the organization.
We're doing as a owners withpride group is um.

(01:00:22):
Hypertherm gives everyassociate um 40 hours a year to
do community service time.
That's where we can allassociates can go into the
community, support ourcommunities.
You know, with various projects, you know food kitchens,
cleaning up streets, cleaning upparks um, that's amazing
incentive yeah, loads and loadsof things.
So, um, the group has organizeda few like little events which

(01:00:46):
is not just um lgbq, uh lgbtqfocused.
Um, it's just focused that wego out into the community and
anyone in the organization canjoin.
Over here in minneapolis we'redoing um a park cleanup at one
of the local parks and I thinkin new hampshire they're they're

(01:01:06):
going to attend a food kitchen.
Um woke a lot of people in fromhypotherm to go into a food
kitchen and to provide supportthere.
And I think we're still workingwith our Washington.
We've put a lot ofopportunities and we're just
trying to get some uh narrow itdown which um event we want to
hand we want to deal with in uhWashington to support as well,

(01:01:28):
you know, and so it it's notstrictly an LGBTQ event, you
know, it's organized by the yeahyeah, just to go out into the
community and anyone's welcometo join us from the organization
.
So, they're good things we'rehoping to organize and again, it
raises awareness for everyone,not just about the LGBTQ plus

(01:01:51):
community, but about everythingwhich is going on in our
communities and how we cansupport it.

Speaker 1 (01:01:58):
That's awesome.
And now, what aboutprofessionally?
You know Hypertherm.
They're always growing.
They always seem to be dippinginto new areas of the industry
and finding new ways to just berelevant and leaders.
You know what's coming up inHypertherm's window in the next
you know year Anything, anyexciting things.

(01:02:19):
You can spill the tea on alittle bit.

Speaker 4 (01:02:21):
Any cool stuff coming up I think there's lots of cool
stuff coming up you know, Ithink, I think it's watch this
space yeah yeah, we got, we got.
You know there's, there's umquite a few things bubbling
under which I think are going tobe exciting for the industry.

Speaker 1 (01:02:38):
Um, I'm not sure I can spill the tea oh, come on,
eric, you're younger, you canspill it, come on I was gonna
say there's, there's, there's somuch that I would love to to
spill the tea on, but um, it's,it's, it's gonna be, it's gonna
be some big stuff and reallyexciting are you guys gonna be
down in fabtech in chicago?

(01:03:00):
I'd imagine hypertherm will bethere yes but will you?
Will either of you be there?

Speaker 2 (01:03:06):
um, I will not be there.
I just got back from uh fabtech, mexico actually how was?
It.
Uh, it was great.
Um it.
It was actually my first timedown in Mexico.
This was Monterey this yearyeah, and I thought the language
barrier was going to be more ofa thing.

Speaker 1 (01:03:24):
Everyone speaks English there?
Yeah, everyone speaks.

Speaker 2 (01:03:27):
English.
Yeah, yeah, and it was prettyawesome.
During the show.
You have to have a very kind ofstrict setup on what you're
cutting and what you'redemonstrating, because you can't
just cut anything for anyone,but towards the end of the show
we always flip it over to uhwater, jetting out custom name

(01:03:47):
tags and um just fun stuff.
Yeah, so it's, so, it's so muchfun.
And then you meet so manypeople in the industry, shake
hands of, of partners andcustomers and future customers,
so it's, it's good stuff.
But, um, from the technicalleadership group, we like to
rotate uh between the tradeshows, so it's actually going to

(01:04:07):
be a couple of my peers who areparticipating in uh fabtech
chicago here well, you'reluckier than I.

Speaker 1 (01:04:13):
I've been trying to get down to fabtech mexico for
three years now and I'm spanishspeaking.
My kids are half Mexican forcrying out loud and they won't
let me go.
They're like no, no, we'll sendsomeone else.
I'm like, they don't even speakSpanish.
You should be sending me Likeit's my language.
Next year, next year, I'll tryto get down there.
And what about you, mina?
Are you going to be in Chicago?

Speaker 4 (01:04:36):
coming up.
I'm very hopeful I'll be therethis year For one reason or
another.
I think I've missed the lastfew.
I've been traveling, I've beenout of the country for something
you know, so I'm really hopefulI'll be down there this year.
You know, working on the laserside of things and visiting some
of our partners.
You know it's always such agreat place where new things are

(01:04:58):
launched.

Speaker 1 (01:05:01):
I'm excited to see what toys you guys bring down.
I do need a new plasma for mygarage.
If one of them happens to falloff the truck, just a 45 is good
.
If it's got a little bit of adented cover, I don't mind,
that's all right.

Speaker 4 (01:05:18):
They're always a great show and, um, like I said,
I'm yeah hopeful to be therethis year.
I'd like to go down this year,you know, but I have to see
what's going on as it gets alittle bit closer yeah, we got a
couple booths already bookedfor for fabtech and I'll be down
there with the podcast doingthe road show.

Speaker 1 (01:05:35):
So you know that would be something that I would
be very interested in.
Perhaps figuring out how to dowith hypertherm at some point is
getting, uh, getting you guysin front of us live.
I mean, we do interview rayevery year as a part of our
yearly so ray ripple every yearinterviews with us.
Um, it used to be throughhypertherm then kind of on her

(01:05:56):
own.
I'm not sure who she's gettingrepresented by this year, but I
know that she lives, she ridesor dies with her hypertherm than
kind of on her own.
I'm not sure who she's gettingrepresented by this year, but I
know that she rides or dies withher Hypertherm.

Speaker 2 (01:06:05):
Ray Ripple will be with us again this year at
Fabtech.

Speaker 1 (01:06:08):
Yeah, I think she just signed a new contract.
Actually, I think I sawsomething like that.
That's good.

Speaker 4 (01:06:14):
Great, I'll hopefully see you down there, max.

Speaker 1 (01:06:16):
Yeah, I'll be there all week.
All week.
We just actually had a Fabtechmeeting this morning, so
everything's rolling and, yeah,I'm excited to be down there.
I'm excited to see the new tech, I'm excited to see the
Hypertherm booth and the newtoys and hopefully get to see
the things you aren't telling meabout right now that I would
love to know about.
But let's wrap up the interview.

(01:06:37):
I got about, but, uh, you know,let's wrap up the interview.
I got one more question foreach of you and that would be
about the importance of whathypertherm is doing in industry
with, you know, in, insupporting you.
So how can hypertherm be anexample to other companies out
there in terms of their supportfor people in the lgbtq

(01:06:59):
community?
So I'll start with you, mina.
How would you either duplicate,replicate or advise other
companies in terms of howhypertherm has done it?

Speaker 4 (01:07:12):
uh, I, I think they have.
You know it, it's, it's a bigstep.
I mean, it's been a very we'vebeen talking about it.
You know, like you know umhypertherm's journey with you
know it, it's, it's a big step.
I mean, it's been a very we'vebeen talking about it you know,
like you know um hyperthermsjourney with you know um
inclusion and diversitydiversity, equity and inclusion,
whatever we call it and it'sbeen a very long road.
I mean, this wasn't somethingthat happened overnight.

(01:07:33):
You know it kind of it startedin one area, you know.
I think originally it come fromum looking at people's.
You know the kind of financialhardship some people in the in
um the areas were having um, soit kind of looked at it started
there.
It then went on to like youknow kind of um recovery stuff

(01:07:57):
and you know people that weretaking drugs, you know, and all
the other supports needed.
Yeah, yeah yeah, you know andand looking at you, know those
areas of where we can improveand we can support those people
and it's just grown on fromthere you know, to all these
different areas and differentthings.
So you know it takes time, butI think people also need to be

(01:08:20):
open that just because someonemay look a little bit different,
act a little bit different, bedifferent, they're still very
valuable and being and beingopen to that with people.
You know you can attract a wholewealth of talent to your
organization by just being, youknow, open to those facts.
You know you can attract awhole wealth of talent to your
organization by just being, youknow, open to those facts.

(01:08:42):
You know you haven't got to be,you know, cisgendered.
You haven't got to be.
You know you know a certainrace or gender or anything.
You know everyone is capable ofbringing great things to an
organization and people need tobe open and aware for that.
You know and not worry so muchabout.

(01:09:02):
You know that they might be adifferent gender, different sex.
You know they might be trans,they might be gay, they might be
blacks, like latino, whateverit is yeah or whatever.
You know, everyone can bringsomething unique and valuable to
an organization and strengthenit.

Speaker 1 (01:09:20):
Yeah, and I'll even add to that, mina is that
there's such a shortage, like wetalk about this shortage of
labor force that we have Iwouldn't even say impending, I'm
saying happening right now,whilst we're alive, whilst we're

(01:09:43):
alive.
And why would we excludeourselves from amazing talent
when it has?
Nothing to do with the jobinvolved.
You know like it's.
It just seems like at thispoint we need all hands on deck,
all hands, I don't care whatthat hand's connected to.
All hands on deck.
You know what I mean it is.

Speaker 4 (01:09:58):
I mean you.
You can, you know, wipe out thetalents of a a lot of people if
you say, oh, we're not gonna,we're not gonna employ from this
group we're not gonna look atpeople from that group you know
you're, you're really reducingthe pool of people and talent
that you can choose from.
So I, you know, I, I think youknow, for me, companies need to,

(01:10:22):
you know, need to look at how,how they're doing things.
What they're doing, you know,and if they haven't started
their journey, start soon.

Speaker 1 (01:10:30):
You know because it is a long time.
Yeah, and you, eric, how couldyou see what's being done at
hypertherm as a template or as aprescription for another
company in order to sort offollow the same path of
inclusion?

Speaker 2 (01:10:47):
Yeah, you go onto the Hypertherm Associates website
and the first thing that weshowcase is the people, the
people who work here and the,the assets that they bring to
the company.
Um, and I think that's that's.
That's gotta be the biggesttheme is the people come first,
um, some other places that I'veuh, um, uh been at or worked at.

(01:11:13):
It's, it's it.
It doesn't feel that way, butHypertherm does it, uh, pretty
genuinely.
And, to piggyback off what Minasaid, everyone's got something
going on.
Everyone's got somethingthey're fighting or struggling
with, whether it's substanceabuse, whether it's mental
disorders, whether it's findingtheir identity in the

(01:11:35):
communities that they live in orthe places that they work.
Right, and Hypertherm um showsup in all of the different ways,
um, through our support groups,uh, the, the the veterans group
that we have, um the the ownerswith pride group, right Uh to
to meet people where they are,in their own lives.

(01:11:56):
Um, because, again, like Minasaid, everyone has something to
bring and uh, Hypertherm does itin a way where they show up to
make sure that that's somethingthat they have to bring is what
is out and on display Um, sothey can be successful.
And uh, that's that's what Iwould love, uh, other companies

(01:12:17):
to see, and I think right in thename Hypertherm Associates,
which we kind of rebrandedourselves a couple of years ago
to displays that front andcenter.

Speaker 1 (01:12:28):
Well, that's amazing and, you know, you hope that
leaders are being noticed rightand you hope that people realize
that maybe sometimes the issueswithin their own company is
their lack of diversity andinclusion, and perhaps they are
putting themselves in aunfavorable position by simply
being stubborn or old school.

(01:12:50):
You know, that was one of thethings that we were kind of
hoping to talk about today, butthe conversation didn't go that
way because we're just havingsuch a great conversation, but
it was about, you know, in termsof how do we teach the outgoing
generation, um, you know, likethe older generation, about
these changes happening inindustry.
I actually don't know if I carethat much, to be honest,

(01:13:10):
because it's like they're ontheir way out.
I'd rather focus on the nextgeneration and doing it right.
You know so that 30 years fromnow, this is a non-issue.
This is not a thing we're nothaving to worry about.
You know, excluding people.
It's just natural like, oh,skills-based, talent-based, good
enough, right, yep.

Speaker 3 (01:13:31):
Absolutely.

Speaker 1 (01:13:32):
Yeah Well, thanks so much to the two of you for being
on the show.
Any last shout-outs for anybodythat you'd like to send out,
eric, is there anybody you'dlike to say hi to or send a
shout-out to, personal ororganizational, whatever it is?

Speaker 2 (01:13:47):
Oh, my goodness.
I guess I just want to give ashout-out to some of my
co-workers who've definitelybrought me to where I am today
Mark Knoxova, curtis Boettcher,takeshi Yamamoto, john Petras,
who've definitely brought me towhere I am today, mark Knox over
Curtis Betcher, takeshiYamamoto, john Petrus all people
that I've I've been workingreally closely with since the

(01:14:07):
start here, and, of course, thelovely Mina Wheatley, who has
been a guiding light in in mycareer as well, and she's the
reason, to be frank, that I'm onthe podcast today.

Speaker 1 (01:14:19):
That's great.
And I don't know if you'regoing to be able to shake
guiding light anymore.
I mean, it's been used a coupletimes today.
You might have that stuck onyour business card the next time
I see you.

Speaker 4 (01:14:30):
I know it's a little scary.
You know I don't ever start outto sort of like try and have an
impact on people.
You know it's.
I just try and do the rightthings and support and help
people and, you know, do do theright things with people.
But, like Eric, there's a lotof people I um, I can't even if,

(01:14:53):
if I start listing names, I'mgoing to upset people by not
listing there, but I think allthe people out there know who
they are.
Eric's been a great person inmy life and a great, you know,
mark.
You know he he's been great.
But there's also, you know, kindof senior people within
Hypertherm you know, who havebeen like, so supportive you

(01:15:14):
know, and where we're trying togo with hypertherm, I think is a
fantastic thing, um, and youknow, I think that companies
should really have a good lookat you know how we operate, what
we do, um, what we offer us.
You know associates.
You know and, as eric said, youknow it really is.

(01:15:34):
You know a people first thing,um, and if people can be their
best selves and bring their bestauthentic selves, then they're
going to do their best work andthat's very important, I think,
in our organization and others.

Speaker 1 (01:15:51):
That's amazing.
Love it, love it.
I love having you guys on theshow.
Thank you so much, reallyappreciate the time that you
took to talk to me today.
Absolute pleasure, max.
Thank you so much, reallyappreciate the time that you
took to talk to me today.

Speaker 4 (01:16:01):
Absolute pleasure, Max, Thank you.
Thank you, Max.
Thanks for having me back.
It's been wonderful and I'mreally looking forward to this
going out.
Yeah, we might have to make thisa recurring thing here every
year so I'm not against thatyeah but it seems you know it's
nice hearing you know there wasgood feedback from the last one
and people you know kind of youshould have pushed here.

(01:16:23):
You should have asked this, Imean you know I'm always open
and happy to talk about myexperiences.
You know, and how I see things,and you know I'm very open to
us.
You know answering questionsand giving support when
necessary.

Speaker 1 (01:16:41):
So well, and I think, on the other end of it, I'm
always learning, and I thinkpeople need to be cognizant that
you're always learning as anally as well, because being an
ally doesn't mean just sayingyou're an ally and, oh, I just
love everybody.
It's about knowing about what'sexpected saying you're an ally
and oh, I just love everybody.
It's about knowing about what'sexpected to be of an ally.

(01:17:02):
You know there's there's timesto help and there's also times
to shut up and get out of theway.
You know what I mean.
Like there, there is, uh, aright way to be an ally, and
it's also something I've.
I'm learning, and even with you.
You, like I said, before thepodcast, from last podcast to
this podcast, I learned thingsabout how to do a Pride podcast.

(01:17:24):
You know, because I also amlearning and some of these
things are not just obvious.
You have to make mistakes tolearn right.
So well, thanks so much youboth.
Like I said, and for all thepeople that have been listening
along, check out all the otherpodcasts we're going to be
having coming out this monthduring Pride Month.
Get out there, support yourlocal Pride community.

(01:17:46):
There's so much you can doacross North America, different
organizations.
Just Google it.
There's something cool in yourlocal neighborhood.
If there's a show, go check itout.
If there's a DJ, go dancing.
I've seen like pride themedcook parties and barbecues and
there's something for everyone.
There's something for everyoneand just be visible, be strong,

(01:18:09):
be a leader.
We need it and it's good forthe industry.
We need more people in theindustry and we need them from
everywhere.
So you know, make sure that youdo the best you can to help the
people around you and makeeveryone feel safe and
comfortable.
Until the next time, we'llcatch you here on the CWB
Association podcast.
Take care.
We hope you enjoy the show.

Speaker 3 (01:18:40):
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Then this 45 second audio adspace could be yours.
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(01:19:00):
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