April 30, 2025 • 74 mins
The CWB Association brings you a weekly podcast that connects to welding professionals around the world and unrepresented communities as we continue to strive for a more diverse workforce. Join us as we celebrate National Volunteer Month to showcase the incredible contributions of our Chapter Executives from across Canada and globally.
Please note this episode is a replay, bringing you a blast from the past.
When Allison Zerr swapped her accounting books for a welder's mask, little did she know she'd be igniting a trail for women in the trades. This episode brings you the remarkable journey of Allison, from her small-town roots to leading the Women in Trades program, where she unwraps the challenges she faced, the stereotypes she shattered, and the ceilings she broke – not just glass, but steel too. Her story isn't just about defying odds; it's a beacon for anyone who's ever felt the tug to take the road less traveled in their career.
Follow Allison:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allison-zerr-a5637b278/?originalSubdomain=ca
WITT Program : https://saskpolytech.ca/programs-and-courses/resources/women-in-trades-and-technology/
https://www.facebook.com/SKPolytechWITT
Find your Local CWBA Chapter Here: https://www.cwbgroup.org/advocacy/membership
Thank you to our Podcast Advertisers:
Canada Welding Supply: https://canadaweldingsupply.ca/
Canaweld: https://canaweld.com/
Josef Gases: https://josefgases.com/
There is no better time to be a member! The CWB Association membership is new, improved and focused on you. We offer a FREE membership with a full suite of benefits to build your career, stay informed, and support the Canadian welding industry. https://www.cwbgroup.org/association/become-a-member
What did you think about this episode? Send a text message to the show!
Mark as Played
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.
Attention welders in CanadaLooking for top quality welding
(00:27):
supplies, look no further thanCanada Welding Supply.
With a vast selection ofpremium equipment, safety gear
and consumables, cws has got youcovered.
They offer fast and reliableshipping across the country.
And here's the best part, allpodcast listeners get 10% off
any pair of welding gloves.
Can you believe that?
(00:47):
Use code cwb10 at checkout whenplacing your next order.
Visit canada welding supplycanow canada welding supply, your
trusted welding supplier.
Happy welding welding.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
I'm very well, max.
Thank you.
How are you?
A little frosty, but I wasfiguring I had the chance to
chat with you this morning.
So I woke up with a positiveattitude and I'm looking forward
(01:56):
to this.
Nobody wants to hear that fromme, max.
(02:22):
So actually I was born inMedicine Hat.
I was born in Alberta, but Iwas raised in a very small town,
richmount, saskatchewan, soabout 10 minutes from the
Alberta border.
I did grow up in town, acommunity of about 200 people,
so very small farming community.
But yeah, I grew up with theboys.
There was a majority ofchildren my age were all boys.
(02:46):
So I grew up, you know,building forts and playing in
the dirt and with trucks andwhatnot.
We grew up.
We had to take shop class, wehad to take home ec.
Basically, school wanted toprepare us for everything.
So grew up doing all that andthen decided after I graduated I
moved up to Saskatoon.
(03:07):
I was going to be an accountantand I was.
I was going to be an accountant, max.
I, I love, I loved math.
I did very well in math.
Um, the only problem with thatwas I never learned how to study
in math.
It came super easy.
So by the time university cameand I had to take calculus and
(03:27):
all that.
It was a hard lesson to and myfirst like real big failure.
I did fail out of my universityclasses, which to me was a real
hard shot in the gut, but itallowed me to take the time to
really evaluate what I wanted todo.
I didn't overly enjoy theclasses.
I didn't like sitting in biglecture theaters and just having
(03:52):
information thrown at me.
I very much like to be movingand working with my hands, and
so it took some time to reallythink about what I wanted to do.
And then I flipped open.
It used to be the sciencecatalog.
It was, I'm sure you'refamiliar the paper copy.
Yeah, oh yeah.
So I started flipping throughand I just started thinking you
(04:16):
know, what have I done that Ithink I might enjoy as a career?
What kind of skills do I have?
And basically narrowed myauctions down.
I was, I was down to eithernursing, carpentry and welding,
and from there I decided youknow what I?
I did welding in high schooland at the time I hated it.
Honestly.
(04:36):
I I didn't get along with theteacher.
It was dirty, we had very oldequipment.
I mean, our practice couponswere cultivator shovels, so we
literally never welded more thanlike two inches at a time.
So I didn't have a good pictureof what welding was, but I did
(04:59):
really well at it.
I learned the theory very welland my two-inch weld was always
looking good.
So, but I really wanted to getinto interior decorating and
decor and metal art and so Ithought, well, if I want to do
that, I better learn how to joinsome metals.
So I applied for the weldingprogram and I guess the rest is
(05:25):
history.
That was the start.
Yeah you, thank you, uh, yeah,for for a number of years
(06:28):
definitely, my earlier years wasvery much whatever the boys did
I wanted to be doing.
And I mean, don't get me wrong,I certainly had my time where I
was really into doing hair andnails and makeup.
Um, those started to come likeas I got into my teenage years.
The boys kind of separated awayand once the boys started, you
(06:51):
know, finding interest in thegirls and starting to date the
girls, that's really when Ifound that separation.
It was like, well, I don't wantto hear what these guys are
saying about my friends, or, youknow, I don't.
I don't want to be the middleperson either.
Right, lot of my girlfriends.
Oh well, you know the guys, andso I found I was that middle
person.
So for me it was okay.
You know what, I'm just gonnaseparate and I'll hang out with
(07:12):
the girls now.
Um, you know what I, my bestfriend growing up, he, he was my
go-to for that, absolutely yeah, uh.
(07:58):
So, actually, my godfather, myone uncle, um, I knew he did a
lot.
I wasn't certain of his roleper se, but I knew he did a lot
with finances and I don't wantto say I was sheltered growing
up, but at the same time I waskind of sheltered Growing up in
that small town.
We didn't have as much exposureto different careers, right,
(08:20):
exactly, it was verystereotypical.
The women would become teachersor nurses or secretaries, and
you know, you know how it isright, yeah, well, exactly right
.
So, oh, absolutely, yeah, yeah,uh, well, honestly, my, I never
(09:26):
told my parents the reason whyI stopped going to university.
I never told them then that likethat, no, no, I've told them
since.
I've told them since, um, butat the time I, right, don't
listen, mom and dad, no, um, Idid get a letter from the
university asking me to take ayear off.
And so I mean, I kind of brokeit to my mom how I know how,
(09:49):
with a bit of humor, I told heryou know, I've got good news and
bad news.
And the bad news is I'mpregnant, mom, and she's what?
And I said, oh no, that's thegood news, that's just a joke.
The bad news is I'm not goingback to university because I
hate it, which which was thetruth.
(10:09):
I mean, I, I, it wasn't mything, um, I was, you know, 19
years.
At the time, I spent more timewanting to socialize and meet
people, um, than I did with mystudies, and so, rather than
continue to spend the money togo to, you know, take something
I don't love I told my parentsyou know what, I'm gonna work
for a few years and I'm going tothink about what I want to do.
And so it was about two yearsthat I was just working random
(10:30):
jobs.
I think I was, you know, two orthree part-time jobs at a time.
And then, yeah, they were bothreally shocked when I said I was
going to go into welding.
Dad had questions.
I mean, at the time it was I hadvery short hair and I was
playing on women's softballteams and he made assumptions
(10:54):
about my sexuality and kind ofjoked about it and but at the
end, like I don't know if he wasmaybe leery when I first got
into it, but by the time Ifinished my certificate program
in welding, my class had votedme as kind of the leader of the
group.
And so just even telling himabout that, that you know what,
(11:16):
like I'm really loving this, Ican't wait.
I'm doing well, my classappreciates me, like, like I I'm
still kind of taking on theseleader roles and my parents are
both teachers, by the way, sothey love somebody who steps up.
But it was it was then, and asI started to progress in my
career, that dad really startedto see that, oh, I actually was
(11:38):
good at it.
Um, so Thanks for watching.
Speaker 4 (12:22):
Wait.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Yeah, yeah, I did.
Yeah, and actually I finishedour program a little early.
Um, I did manage to get myassignments done ahead of a
(13:04):
number of classmates and I wasso excited I thought, well, I
did amazing at school and I wasso excited to start working.
And then it took me.
So I finished school.
I believe it was end of April,beginning of May, kind of thing.
I didn't start working untilabout September or October and
that was really frustrating.
(13:26):
Um, looking back, it was aslower time in industry.
Um, but I was really convincedit was because I was a woman.
Um, there was, yeah, there wasa lot of my classmates that the
male counterparts that they gotjobs right away.
Um, and I do remember there wasone shop in particular that I
went and applied and, of course,walked in with my resume and
(13:49):
kind of got a bit of a sneerfrom the admin and you know, she
gave me that we're not lookingto hire and I said, well, I saw
your ad online.
You are looking for welders,that's what I'm here applying as
.
And at that moment, one of thesupervisors came out and he
looked at me and said we don'thire women.
And I like eyes wide, I mean, Idon't I don't hide my emotions
(14:11):
very well, so he certainly it is.
And, like to this day still, Iwas so proud of myself.
I looked at him and I said youknow what, I don't even want to
work here.
And I turned and walked away.
And of course I got to my carand I was very emotional but I
thought, why would I want towork at a place that is that
closed minded, you know, andabsolutely?
(14:34):
And so I kind of did my ownlittle experiment.
I, when I started applying atplaces, half the places I would
apply as Allison, places, halfthe places I would apply as
Alison, and the other half Istarted applying as Al.
And imagine that I got morephone calls back to the
applicants where I applied as Aland there were still a few that
(14:55):
, oh, when they found out that Iwas a woman, oh yeah, well,
we'll see if we can get you infor an interview or whatever.
Whatever the excuse was, but Idid end up.
I found a amazing job.
My first job was great.
We were, I was night shift,which wasn't quite that's
exactly, and but it was such asmall crew like there were five
(15:17):
of us on the crew.
Um, my supervisor was a female.
I worked with one of the girlsI had taken school with, so
there was three females and twoguys on our crew and, oh, it was
amazing, it was so great.
Um it, it was hard because Ilearned that I was not as strong
as welder as what I thought Iwas.
(15:39):
Um right, yeah, but again that.
Um right, yeah, but again thatyou know, you hear from your
co-workers, oh, who did this?
Be well, but then look down andknow that I was the one who did
it.
Um, so that was hard too, butthen it, it really opened the
door for me because I was one ofthe less skilled workers on our
(16:00):
welders, on our crew.
They knew that.
Okay, well, we need morefitters on our welders, on our
crew.
They knew that.
Okay, well, we need morefitters.
So that's where the supervisortook me right under her wing and
she trained me one-on-one onhow to be a better fitter, and
that's really where I found Iexcelled.
Absolutely, yeah, absolutely.
(16:34):
Thank you, absolutely.
Speaker 4 (17:09):
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
Absolutely.
Yep, yep, yep so actually I Idid request to go back and
(18:03):
retake my second level um, andthe reason for that?
Because it was about it wasabout two years after I was in
school that I got to go back myfirst company.
They were not eager toindenture me and so I was only
there about eight months.
So I started at the second shopthat I worked at and then,
(18:24):
after I had spent a bit of timethere, I asked them if I would
be able to go back to school,and I did want to go back
because so much of my workexperience was in fabrication.
I did want to finish with mywelding, because that's what I
started with and I didn't wantto just leave that.
So, yeah, I requested to retakemy second year to give me that
additional practice, and for meI'm so glad I did and that I was
(18:47):
able to.
So I did.
I completed my welding.
Actually, I got my red seal inthat in 2014.
Actually, I got my red seal inthat in 2014 and it was like six
months later I was signed up asa metal fabricator and got to
take my first year of school.
(19:12):
So it was like back-to-backtrades.
I don't believe that for aminute yeah well, certainly for
(20:25):
the welding um, especially thefirst two years, learning the
processes um I did for me wasvery challenging because
industry all we did was I mean,my first shop it was gmaw and my
second shop was all metal core,flux core, so it was all the
wire fed processes were the onlypractical experience I had.
So learning the theory behindevery, every process, um, I did
(20:48):
find really challenging in thewelding.
I didn't find as manychallenges in the metal fab, but
I had already been in industryfor a number of years, so so
much of the fabrication, um, thedrawings, like that was what I
did day to day and the exactlythe company I was working for.
(21:09):
They were amazing at moving mearound.
So I had experience with thestructural, the plate work, the
piping, even the pressurevessels.
So I was very rounded in myknowledge just from the company
I worked at and I think that wasreally my saving grace because
I mean, for somebody who wouldbe green, I would say probably
the metal fab I would say as oneof the harder courses, just
(21:32):
because there's that much morethat you need to learn.
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (21:53):
Yeah, right.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah right, yeah,yeah, and I mean, when I work
(22:36):
with prospective students, andespecially females, which is, as
you know, my area of uh,expertise or whatever, um, I I
like to kind of give them theidea that, okay, are you more of
a problem solver and you liketo, um, like, think things
through and come up withsolutions?
And again, like that, math,right, if that's kind of more
(22:59):
your skill level or yourinterest, metal fab might be a
better suit for you, whereas thewelding is more the application
.
Physically, can you produce anice weld?
Right, yeah, you have to knowsomewhat of what goes into a
weld, but a lot of times whenyou're in industry, especially
welding to a procedure, have toknow somewhat of what goes into
a weld.
But a lot of times when you'rein industry, especially welding
to a procedure, like, you can goto a book that tells you
exactly everything you need todo, how to set your machine and
(23:22):
it's a matter of, okay, can youwork with this exactly, right?
So kind of a different are youthe doer or the thinker is, and
I mean, I know that's a verysimplified way to explain it,
right, but, yes, and I mean Iknow that's a very simplified
way to explain it, right, butyes, exactly, absolutely.
(24:23):
You know I am such a believerof to keep your options open.
Right, I was.
I was very happy with what withthe shop that I was working at,
and throughout my entireschooling I stayed at the same
shop, like I was there.
It was almost a full decade Iwas at that shop.
But I wanted to have in my backpocket a more desirable resume,
right, if people could see okay, well, I've completed a red
seal in welding and then I'vecompleted a red seal in
(24:45):
fabrication, it would allow me.
You know, it could open thedoor to allow more travel or
getting out of province.
Absolutely, with the samecredentials, right?
The other thing, too, like.
So, right after I got my welding, I got married that year and
then the plan was to get marriedand have a kid.
(25:06):
So I took my first year fablike two weeks after I got back
from my honeymoon, I think itwas and then found out while I
was in school that I was alsoexpecting.
So then it was okay, well, youknow, try to balance school May
as well.
Yeah, but I wanted that,knowing that.
(25:31):
Okay, then I was going tobecome a mom.
You know, I wanted to show that, okay, I've taken schooling,
this is what I've accomplished.
But now, having the secondtrade, I was hoping that, okay,
this would allow me moreflexibility to have the time at
home to be a mother but also tomake a great wage, absolutely,
(26:08):
yeah.
Well, you know, dad is verymuch like okay, so if I get all
these metal projects, you canjust help me out with them, so
it's cheap labor for him.
Honestly, I never saw that formyself.
(26:56):
No, I I had always wanted to bea teacher, though, and that was
since I was a kid and seeing myparents as teachers, um, and
like, growing up, you know, Itaught piano and helped out, and
so I had that little bit ofteaching experience and I
actually, when I was in my thirdyear welding, my instructor at
the time was the one femaleinstructor we had on staff and
(27:19):
she started talking to me aboutthis WIT program.
That was Tammy.
Yeah, oh, I absolutely loveTammy.
She is one of the reasons,honestly, why I got to where I'm
at.
I love Tabby, she, she is oneof the reasons, honestly, why I
got to where I'm at is shestarted telling me about this
(27:39):
WIT program that, even as astudent, I mean, yeah, I've got
emails from WIT, but I neverpaid attention to them.
But then she started talking tome and she's like well, why
don't you come teach for us?
And at the time I was like I'mnot even a journeyman, like I
can't be a teacher, and's likewell, no, you'd just be.
You know, you'd be teachingwomen that are interested in
getting into traits, like she'slike you don't have to share all
(28:01):
your theory, you just have toshow them how to weld.
So I was like okay, well, I'mnot even a good welder.
And she's like well, you'rebetter than them.
She is.
Yeah, why am I blanking on hisname?
(28:26):
Right now, too, I can picturehis face in my mind.
Um, I'm nice.
(29:02):
Um, my quick speech for the WITprogram is basically we work in
two ways.
We work to help raise awarenessand to help with recruitment,
to get women into themale-dominated skill trades and
(29:26):
technology programs.
So we do.
We offer exploration courseswhere we invite women onto
campus, and actually we'restarting to do outreach too,
which is exciting.
But basically we bring them in,we get a journeyed woman who's
a part of that trade, whether itbe welding, carpentry, whatever
and give them a day of hands onon the tools, talk to them
(29:49):
about the trade you know what'sgreat, what can be challenging
and just create a safe space forthem to try things out, where
they don't feel uncomfortableasking questions.
Right, we like to keep ourgroups small, like a small group
of 12 kind of thing, where theyhave that opportunity almost a
one-on-one to ask any questionsthat are on their mind.
(30:11):
The other part of what we do iswe're a support service for our
female students on campus.
So if students are, we remindthem you know when the different
award cycles are open and hey,remember to apply for all these
scholarships.
We do networking lunch andlearns with them, so we'll feed
(30:31):
them pizza and bring in anindustry speaker and just give
them the opportunity to networkwith different women.
We have an open door policy soif there's a challenge or a
struggle that they're goingthrough, they can feel safe to
come into our office and chatabout it.
And we've been there, right,like.
We understand that sometimesyou might be the only female in
(30:55):
your group of 12.
Or, if you're lucky, you mighthave another female classmate.
But sometimes it isuncomfortable to go to your male
instructor or male program headto talk about some of these
issues, right.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
So we're just that safe space that they can feel
comfortable and just come andchat with us Absolutely premium
welding machines right here inCanada.
Our products are CSA certifiedand Ontario made approved,
reflecting our unwaveringcommitment to excellence.
Count on us for superiorservice that's faster and more
(32:04):
efficient than marketcompetitors.
Whether you're in aerospace,education or any other precision
welding industry, cannaweld hasthe perfect welding solution
for you.
Visit CannaWeldcom today todiscover why professionals rely
on CannaWeld for their weldingneeds.
Cannaweld where precision meetsreliability in welding.
Enjoy peace of mind with ourfour-year warranty on most
machines.
(32:25):
Conditions do apply.
Josephgassesca, your one-stopwelder's superstore.
Whether you run a welding shopor are just starting your
welding journey, joseph Gass,the welder's superstorestore is
the best place for everythingrelated to welding.
Come to the site or browse ourtop picks of welders, helmets
and welding supplies specific toyour industry.
(32:45):
Even filter out the itemseligible for manufacturer cash
rebates.
Our intuitive search tool putseverything at your fingertips
and checkout is always a breeze.
Pay securely with your creditcard at any time.
If you are ready to streamlineyour welding supply shopping
experience, visit josephgassesca.
That's Joseph with an F as infamily.
(33:07):
Start filling your cart withwelder confidence evidence Thank
(34:33):
you.
Speaker 2 (34:33):
You, I think, really like we work to give them a lot
of resources, um, and reallyjust education, the awareness,
right?
Um, we do.
Obviously, we always like totalk about why the trades are
amazing, but we also like toshare with these women what can
happen, right, and it's not thatwe're, you know, ranting and
(34:55):
raving about all these awfulexperiences we may have had.
It's the truth, right, and wejust want whoever is going into
the trades to be aware of thesetruths that unfortunately, they
still do exist.
And don't get me wrong,industry's on the right track
and you know there are so manyinitiatives to diversify and
everything.
(35:16):
But it is not a perfect world,and we know that, right, and
it's not always the perfectenvironment for every
personality either.
Speaker 4 (35:25):
Hmm, thank you.
Speaker 2 (36:17):
One of the biggest barriers we hear time and again
is child care, right?
Um, and that goes for anyindustry you're in, um, I know
from my experience in welding,child care was a challenge, um,
when I became a single mom, um,when I was in industry, it
wasn't always easy to get my kidto daycare.
(36:38):
For me to start work at six,right, the nice thing for women
is because everyone's pushing toget more women involved, we
have a lot more options aboutplaces we can work, and that was
honestly part of what led me tothe role that I'm in now is
having that flexibility tobetter balance my career with my
(37:00):
family life.
But, yeah, finding childcare isa big barrier.
But also finances, right, ifyou have no exposure, if you
have no idea what a trade reallyentails other than you know hey
, I know welders join metals.
Well, you know, you might thinkyou're interested in something,
(37:21):
but when you actually get todoing it, it's.
It's not the right fit for you,right, and so that's where our
programming we have theexploratories to give them that
overview, because it is reallydifficult to make a big
financial commitment to committo going to school for a year.
Right, there's.
I mean, obviously your billswill continue.
You're likely not working whenyou're focused on school, and
(37:45):
then if you've got a family ordependents that you're caring
for, I mean it just adds andadds and adds, right.
So, absolutely, the financialbarrier is one of the hardest
ones, and so that's what the WITprogram, the WIT Powered by
Toronto program, is working tohelp reduce.
So, if there's you know, fundedprograms that come up, we have
(38:09):
a huge list of contacts that arealways interested in more
information.
So let's get the word out,let's share these opportunities
with them.
Um, we're starting to have, youknow, sponsored seats, or we
have external partners that wework with to reduce this cost
for these women to get in and tostart trying out and getting a
(38:30):
better idea of the opportunitiesthat are out there.
Yeah, yeah, yeah well, yeah, youtotally are.
(39:46):
Um, I know a lot of thosesupports like and I'm just
thinking in regards to newcomers.
So we have started reaching outto some of our larger newcomer
organizations in the variouscities here in the province and
so we know that, yes, like thelanguage barrier, the cultural
(40:06):
differences, right, those are,those are huge.
The nice I mean Saskola isamazing.
There are supports throughoutcampus, right.
So if you need support withlanguage or with your studies,
like we've got tutors, we've gotsupports for that and like WIT
doesn't work directly one-on-onewith those students, that's
(40:28):
more our job to just again bringthat information, connect them
right.
Hey, come to our office, let usknow how we can help and we're
going to find you the answersthat you're looking for, right,
because that's one of the mostintimidating parts is, you know
where you're struggling but youdon't know where to start to
find the information right orwho to reach out to.
(40:48):
Well, we've got those resourcesto help put you in the right
paths to get you settled.
Yep, well, I think it's great,especially getting out to
(41:53):
industry right, because that'swhere I mean in school, we can
support you, we can makeaccommodations, we have that
capacity.
Not every industry is willingor able to make those
modifications right, and so,like, with our WIP program,
we've got a very extensive listof employers that have gotten
(42:15):
great reviews from our femalestudents, right.
We also have lists where we'vehad students that have really
struggled with employers, and sowhen we're working with these
students that may have adifferent ability, we want to
make sure that we're workingwith industry and also with the
program to make sure that we'rehelping set this student up for
(42:37):
success, right, we want to makesure that they we are getting
them sent out to an employerthat has these accommodations in
place or is willing to makechanges, right, we don't want to
just okay, well, you're doneschool here, you go head out to
industry, right, and so we do.
We do work closely with theoffice to advance women
apprentices, um, and we'restarting to do more work.
(42:58):
They did, I'm so excited, yes,yeah.
So we do work really close withvanessa, um, because basically
she's kind of that, she's thatindustry support, we're that
school support, right.
So we like the students to beaware We've also started working
(43:20):
, too, with Women BuildingFutures, because they have a lot
of those industry supports aswell and they know a lot of the
employers, right.
So that's where those resourcesand just keeping the students
informed and telling them how itis right, being real with them,
being truthful with them sothat they know what they're
(43:41):
fully getting into, thank you.
(44:32):
Throughout the year, yet so weI'm trying to get my ladies all
on board we've had huge shiftswithin wit too.
So we're.
I mean, two years ago I steppedinto the rule list program head
and my entire team was new.
That was the year tommy retiredum, so now so I went from
(44:55):
having four halftimecoordinators to right now, I
have two full-time and fourhalftime coordinators, so now
there's six women that areworking on my team.
So we are thankfully able toexpand.
But so each of the differentcities where we do have a campus
works within their city to findresources that are available to
(45:19):
stay up to date.
But each month we do like tohave a networking, a pizza lunch
for our students, and so duringthe year we'll, you know, ask
the students who do you want tohear from?
You know, is there a specificindustry?
Are you looking to hear aboutsupports?
We'll bring in our internalstudent services that help with.
I know we call it like softskill or essential skill
(45:42):
training, um, resume writing,like those things that, as a
student, get into the workforce.
You're going to have to knowthese things, right so, right,
right, these are additionalsupports that I mean as a
certificate student.
You hear about these on yourfirst day or second day of
(46:04):
school, but it's such aninformation overload, right,
they go through.
Okay, these are your.
You know 25 supports that areavailable to you and then
they're not really talked aboutthroughout the year.
So you know, day one whenyou're hearing all this
information, you don't remembermost of it.
So, throughout the year, maybethree or four months later,
we'll bring in one of thosesupports and help them out.
Or we regularly bring inVanessa from the office to
(46:27):
advance women, especially nearthe end of the year when
students are almost getting out.
Exactly, hey, reach out toVanessa, she's going to be
supporting you in industry,right?
So, and those, those lunch andlearns we do.
We invite all of the femalesthat are in.
Well, now our faculty.
We transition schools tofaculty now.
(46:49):
So any female student that's in, you know, construction,
transportation, mining,manufacturing, engineering come
on in, you're more than welcome.
We've even had a number of malestudents start to attend our
pizza lunches and I know thefirst pizza lunch I went to,
there was a gentleman there andhe looked at me and he said I'm
(47:11):
a guy.
And I said, well, you know,like you know, it's 2023, I make
no assumptions and I just, hey,welcome to our pizza lunch.
And then he said, well, is itokay if I stay here?
I know it's for women and I waslike well, I have one question
for you, do you support women intrades?
And he absolutely got mysisters Actually his sister's in
(47:33):
welding.
That's why I like him so much.
But he's Awesome, awesome,right, who doesn't?
(48:12):
Um, so so far, these last twoyears, we have, with having more
(48:37):
staff available, we have beenable to offer more exploratory
courses.
Um, so, I know the year Istepped in, I think we had, you
know, one program in the fall,one in the spring that was
running in saskatoon and Regina,and now we have each semester
so kind of fall and wintersemesters.
We have all four campusesoffering at least one program.
(49:01):
That's going on, with Lorrainebeing our Indigenous coordinator
.
She is getting out to thesmaller communities that are a
bit more remote, so she's goingout there to do presentations
and take a bunch of swag andshare what wit offers with these
students, and I mean majorityof communities she goes into.
(49:21):
They've never even heard of usand it's it's crazy to me
because I know the wit programhas been around for over 30
years and we still have there'sso many people in the province
that have no idea we exist andno idea that we're there to
support our students.
So my vision is really justmaking us a known name, right,
(49:44):
like so that everyone knows whowe are.
We have a Young Women'sConference that is actually
tomorrow down in Regina, but wedo host that regularly, and now
this year we're doing a Jill ofAll Trades event.
(50:08):
Okay, for ours here inSaskatchewan.
(50:32):
So, like perfect, um, it is thefirst time that they're coming
out to Saskatchewan, um, so,like perfect, okay, I'm.
I am writing it down right now.
Okay, perfect, I'll add you toour, our email distribution list
, um, but yeah, so my, my goalis that every year we're going
(50:56):
to have be able to offer Jill ofall trades, and so, yeah, we
are starting to do moreconferences, just basically
provide more information tothese younger ladies.
So our young women's conferencebeing for grade eight girls,
and then that Jill of all tradesfor grade nine to 12 young
ladies.
So while they're still inelementary, getting into high
(51:17):
school, or while they're stillin high school, they still have
the opportunity to try out andexplore these different career
options available to them, sothat when they graduate, they're
not overwhelmed with well now,what do I do?
Right?
They've started building thoseideas.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4 (52:14):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.
Speaker 2 (53:11):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I don't know.
I don't know that's, that'sthat, right.
Well, and that's really part ofwhat I'm still learning, right,
um, because I am so new to therole it's, I'm at the point
where I'm, for myself, gettingout there and making connections
, um, and reaching out to peopleand starting that communication
(53:33):
, right, I mean, we have ourfiles of people we've reached
out to.
The trouble is, well, I guessone of the challenges, certainly
when working with womenexclusively, is all of the
documentation, all of the datawe have can get altered, right,
(53:54):
like you think about, when weused to keep track of people for
contact information, it was afirst name, last name basis.
Well, as a woman, especially formyself, I know that when I got
married, I changed my last name,so I'm no longer Alison Coral,
right, where, if the only way toget a hold of me you have is
(54:14):
through Alison Coral, well, nowyou can't contact me anymore,
right?
Or for myself, again, like whenI had my son, well, I took a
major step back from myinvolvement and my volunteer for
that first year, year and ahalf, two years, whatever it was
.
Well then, I'm off the radar,right, they've already found
(54:35):
somebody to replace meabsolutely, and these I mean
(55:01):
these are still the barriersthat a lot of women face, right,
and it's it's still a lot ofour society too, like it's, I
don't know.
I mean, for a lot of the womenthat I work with, they still
feel expected that as the mom,they're the caregivers or you
know, they kind of fall intothat role.
And.
I know that's certainly Right,well, and that's certainly not
(55:25):
the case for everyone, right,but a very high number of people
that I talk to, that that isthe case and that's their
reality, right.
So of people that I talk to,that that is the case and that's
(55:53):
their reality, right, um, so we, we don't um a lot of it is, I
mean, because we keep that openlines of communication, yeah,
like I.
For example, I have one ladyand right now she's in her
second year welding.
She was in my I taught anapplied certificate and she was
in my course.
So she's back and first thingshe came back to campus and she
had to stop up and say hi andkind of catch up with me.
(56:16):
So it's, it's that relationshipwe built um that now she feels,
you know, we keep in contact andshe likes to keep me in the
loop, and that's.
That's not the case foreveryone, right, like some
people, when they're, whenthey're done school, they're out
of here and they don't reallycare um, but it's certainly when
there are either those reallygood experiences or the very
(56:37):
negative ones, those are theones that seem to be shared.
We don't have a lot of theneutral like oh yeah, it was OK,
right, it's either this wasgreat and this is why, or I had
an awful time because of thisRight.
Speaker 4 (56:52):
Right.
(57:42):
Thank you For sure, I hateRight Right yeah.
Speaker 2 (58:24):
Yeah, no kidding.
Speaker 4 (58:57):
Okay, yeah, yeah Right, absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (59:51):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, and there there is
such a huge range of confidencelevels and, like I mean, I just
I was putting together apowerpoint so I very briefly
touched on the tip of theiceberg on those confidence
levels.
But I know Cornell and like abunch of universities in the
states, have extensive studiesabout the different levels of
confidence in women versus men,as young as in for every decade
basically 20s, 30s, 30s, 40s,50s, 60s and their study that
(01:00:14):
they took women's confidencelevels didn't start exceeding
men until most women were intheir 50s or 60s.
So you think of these youngwomen getting into the trades
that are in their 20s or 30s orheaven forbid if they're still
in their teens how low theirconfidence level is in
comparison to their malecounterparts and so much of it.
(01:00:37):
That's why we, as women, put upwith so much of this.
We don't have the confidence tobe bold and to speak up right,
and so that's where ournetworking events and when we do
our like our summer camps foryoung girls, we're constantly
reminding them like be confident, you might not be the best in
(01:00:57):
this trade, but you are the bestyou and you have these skills,
and if you're not appreciated,then you need to choose a place
that does appreciate you Right,and we really reiterate that
like know your worth and findthe best fit for you.
It.
It is hard to leave a companythat's treating you awful right,
(01:01:18):
but it's harder to stay thereand be treated like trash.
Then absolutely right, and so,yeah, definitely the confidence
is, it's a big part.
Speaker 4 (01:01:57):
Yep, yeah, yeah, yeah , yep, mm-hmm, yep, yeah, yeah
(01:03:03):
uh, so actually on our websitewe do have.
Speaker 2 (01:03:06):
We have a little mentorship section on there
where women can, um, sign up soif they're looking to become a
mentor or if they're looking tobecome a mentor or if they're
looking to find a mentor, sothat mentor, mentee relationship
, they can sign up.
So we do have extensivedocuments about you know, people
we've matched together, or if astudent even like if they email
(01:03:29):
or whatever from a program thatI'm not familiar with and hey,
I have some questions about this, we do kind of have our list of
go-to ladies that will tap onthe shoulder and hey, this you
know so-and-so has questionsabout this.
I know you have a similarexperience.
Would you mind having aconversation?
And I mean I haven't reachedout to anyone that's been like,
(01:03:51):
no thanks, take me off your list.
Right, like these women are,they're wanting to volunteer,
right, don't contact me.
No-transcript.
(01:04:36):
The majority of our programmingwill be wrapping up at the end
of April for this academic year.
So definitely I would say, ifyou've got younger kids, that
you're looking to get into somesummer camps.
We have our Girls ExploringTrades and Technology, our GET
camps that we're hoping to hoston each campus.
(01:04:56):
So we'll be posting some adsfor that right away and then
getting back into the fallprogramming.
So, again, we'll be doing atleast one program, if not more,
on each of our four campuses,and those are for ladies 15 plus
, so there is no maximum age.
We've had women in their 50sand 60s come take our
(01:05:16):
programming.
It's super beneficial if you'relooking for a change of career,
but also if you just want toadd some extra skills to your
toolkit.
(01:05:52):
So, urano Canada they are auranium mining company.
Um, their head office in france, but they're uh, they do have a
headquarters here in saskatoon.
Um, they very generously giftedour program a million dollars
over the next decade.
So, um, they are making afinancial contribution to us to
(01:06:15):
help us to get more women intothe trades, to raise the
awareness and to reduce thebarriers that are involved with
getting into the trades.
So, um, through their gift,through their giving, um, last
year we certainly spent a lot oftime on, or a lot of money on,
advertising to really get thename out there and rebranding.
(01:06:37):
We do want people to know thatmajority of what we do now is
thanks to Orano and the giftthat they've given us, but now
it's allowing us to expand ourstaff, which will expand our
programming, and to offer at amore reasonable price to the
(01:06:57):
students looking to participate.
But I would, I would send themout, absolutely.
(01:07:25):
I would send them up in aheartbeat.
Um, a huge amount of the workthat we are doing, um, because
of their funding, is getting outinto the communities, so
reaching out to a lot smallerIndigenous and First Nation
communities, but also expandinginto the North, because I mean,
(01:07:48):
historically, the WIT programshave operated on Prince Albert,
moose, jaw, saskatoon and Reginacampus and on campus alone.
So now we've got our littlemini training trailer that we're
able to take out intocommunities.
So, if you know, thesecommunities, get a group of
women together rather than themhaving to drive four or five
(01:08:10):
hours to come to our campus totake programming.
Hey, you know what?
We're going to come to you.
We're going to come to you andyour community, where you're
right at home, give you a bit ofadditional knowledge.
Obviously, yes, we're trying toget some of these students and
especially young ladies up northworking in the mines, right,
(01:08:31):
but definitely, yeah, justreaching out and just spreading
the wit word, just sharing theinformation that we're around.
And how can we support ourfemale students.
(01:09:14):
I do think about heading back toindustry every once in a while.
Um, I do also have my level oneweld inspection which is coming
up for renewal this year.
So I've been looking at CWBcourses that I can take to keep
that relevant um.
But with my role here, havingthe summers off, I have often
thought about, well, maybe Icould head out into industry and
(01:09:37):
maybe do some weld inspectionum over the summertime, right,
um, yeah, yeah.
So it's for me just a matter offinding that balance, um,
between the child care and beingout in industry.
(01:09:58):
Um, I do like to tinker.
That's still my thing.
I have no drive to get back toindustry on the tools, um, I
don't think my poor body couldhandle it these days, to be
honest.
I've been in the office for toolong.
But I do like to tinker and doa lot of decorative um and like
(01:10:19):
decor work and some of it'spersonal, some of it is, you
know, if friends are gettingmarried or whatever kind of more
of a gift um.
But yeah, I do see myselfhopefully continuing in this
program head role for a whileand, who knows, maybe one day
I'll be moving up to academicchair or dean or whatever.
(01:10:41):
I mean the keep my option.
I got to keep my options open,right, absolutely well, and
that's the other thing too, likea lot of the senior management
is looking closer at thatretirement, right, um, and I
(01:11:01):
know I've still got a number ofyears left on them, so why not?
Great, um.
So if they want to check out, uh, we are on facebook, um, sask
(01:11:21):
polytech, I believe it'ssaskatchewan polytechnic, women
in trades and technology, or, ifyou, usually, if you just
shorten it to wit, w-i-t-t.
Um.
And then we do also have ourWomen in Trades homepage, which
is at saskpolytechca slashW-I-T-T.
Our homepage is going to tellyou about all of our courses and
(01:11:43):
events that are coming up, andit also supplies people with
lists of external resources.
You can join our mailing list,our mentorship, and then it has
all of our contact informationthere as well to reach out to
any campus coordinator.
Yeah, thank you so much, max.
(01:12:14):
Women building futures yeahyeah, yeah, hmm, we hope you
(01:14:08):
enjoy the show.
Speaker 3 (01:14:09):
Cwb Association Welding Podcast with Max Serrano
.
If you enjoyed what you heardtoday, rate our podcast and
visit us at cwbassociationorg tolearn more.
Feel free to contact us if youhave any questions or
suggestions on what you'd liketo learn about in the future.
Produced by the CWB Group andpresented by Max Serrano, this
podcast serves to educate andconnect the welding community.
(01:14:30):
Please subscribe and thank youfor listening.
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.
Attention welders in CanadaLooking for top quality welding
(00:27):
supplies, look no further thanCanada Welding Supply.
With a vast selection ofpremium equipment, safety gear
and consumables, cws has got youcovered.
They offer fast and reliableshipping across the country.
And here's the best part, allpodcast listeners get 10% off
any pair of welding gloves.
Can you believe that?
(00:47):
Use code cwb10 at checkout whenplacing your next order.
Visit canada welding supplycanow canada welding supply, your
trusted welding supplier.
Happy welding welding.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
I'm very well, max.
Thank you.
How are you?
A little frosty, but I wasfiguring I had the chance to
chat with you this morning.
So I woke up with a positiveattitude and I'm looking forward
(01:56):
to this.
Nobody wants to hear that fromme, max.
(02:22):
So actually I was born inMedicine Hat.
I was born in Alberta, but Iwas raised in a very small town,
richmount, saskatchewan, soabout 10 minutes from the
Alberta border.
I did grow up in town, acommunity of about 200 people,
so very small farming community.
But yeah, I grew up with theboys.
There was a majority ofchildren my age were all boys.
(02:46):
So I grew up, you know,building forts and playing in
the dirt and with trucks andwhatnot.
We grew up.
We had to take shop class, wehad to take home ec.
Basically, school wanted toprepare us for everything.
So grew up doing all that andthen decided after I graduated I
moved up to Saskatoon.
(03:07):
I was going to be an accountantand I was.
I was going to be an accountant, max.
I, I love, I loved math.
I did very well in math.
Um, the only problem with thatwas I never learned how to study
in math.
It came super easy.
So by the time university cameand I had to take calculus and
(03:27):
all that.
It was a hard lesson to and myfirst like real big failure.
I did fail out of my universityclasses, which to me was a real
hard shot in the gut, but itallowed me to take the time to
really evaluate what I wanted todo.
I didn't overly enjoy theclasses.
I didn't like sitting in biglecture theaters and just having
(03:52):
information thrown at me.
I very much like to be movingand working with my hands, and
so it took some time to reallythink about what I wanted to do.
And then I flipped open.
It used to be the sciencecatalog.
It was, I'm sure you'refamiliar the paper copy.
Yeah, oh yeah.
So I started flipping throughand I just started thinking you
(04:16):
know, what have I done that Ithink I might enjoy as a career?
What kind of skills do I have?
And basically narrowed myauctions down.
I was, I was down to eithernursing, carpentry and welding,
and from there I decided youknow what I?
I did welding in high schooland at the time I hated it.
Honestly.
(04:36):
I I didn't get along with theteacher.
It was dirty, we had very oldequipment.
I mean, our practice couponswere cultivator shovels, so we
literally never welded more thanlike two inches at a time.
So I didn't have a good pictureof what welding was, but I did
(04:59):
really well at it.
I learned the theory very welland my two-inch weld was always
looking good.
So, but I really wanted to getinto interior decorating and
decor and metal art and so Ithought, well, if I want to do
that, I better learn how to joinsome metals.
So I applied for the weldingprogram and I guess the rest is
(05:25):
history.
That was the start.
Yeah you, thank you, uh, yeah,for for a number of years
(06:28):
definitely, my earlier years wasvery much whatever the boys did
I wanted to be doing.
And I mean, don't get me wrong,I certainly had my time where I
was really into doing hair andnails and makeup.
Um, those started to come likeas I got into my teenage years.
The boys kind of separated awayand once the boys started, you
(06:51):
know, finding interest in thegirls and starting to date the
girls, that's really when Ifound that separation.
It was like, well, I don't wantto hear what these guys are
saying about my friends, or, youknow, I don't.
I don't want to be the middleperson either.
Right, lot of my girlfriends.
Oh well, you know the guys, andso I found I was that middle
person.
So for me it was okay.
You know what, I'm just gonnaseparate and I'll hang out with
(07:12):
the girls now.
Um, you know what I, my bestfriend growing up, he, he was my
go-to for that, absolutely yeah, uh.
(07:58):
So, actually, my godfather, myone uncle, um, I knew he did a
lot.
I wasn't certain of his roleper se, but I knew he did a lot
with finances and I don't wantto say I was sheltered growing
up, but at the same time I waskind of sheltered Growing up in
that small town.
We didn't have as much exposureto different careers, right,
(08:20):
exactly, it was verystereotypical.
The women would become teachersor nurses or secretaries, and
you know, you know how it isright, yeah, well, exactly right
.
So, oh, absolutely, yeah, yeah,uh, well, honestly, my, I never
(09:26):
told my parents the reason whyI stopped going to university.
I never told them then that likethat, no, no, I've told them
since.
I've told them since, um, butat the time I, right, don't
listen, mom and dad, no, um, Idid get a letter from the
university asking me to take ayear off.
And so I mean, I kind of brokeit to my mom how I know how,
(09:49):
with a bit of humor, I told heryou know, I've got good news and
bad news.
And the bad news is I'mpregnant, mom, and she's what?
And I said, oh no, that's thegood news, that's just a joke.
The bad news is I'm not goingback to university because I
hate it, which which was thetruth.
(10:09):
I mean, I, I, it wasn't mything, um, I was, you know, 19
years.
At the time, I spent more timewanting to socialize and meet
people, um, than I did with mystudies, and so, rather than
continue to spend the money togo to, you know, take something
I don't love I told my parentsyou know what, I'm gonna work
for a few years and I'm going tothink about what I want to do.
And so it was about two yearsthat I was just working random
(10:30):
jobs.
I think I was, you know, two orthree part-time jobs at a time.
And then, yeah, they were bothreally shocked when I said I was
going to go into welding.
Dad had questions.
I mean, at the time it was I hadvery short hair and I was
playing on women's softballteams and he made assumptions
(10:54):
about my sexuality and kind ofjoked about it and but at the
end, like I don't know if he wasmaybe leery when I first got
into it, but by the time Ifinished my certificate program
in welding, my class had votedme as kind of the leader of the
group.
And so just even telling himabout that, that you know what,
(11:16):
like I'm really loving this, Ican't wait.
I'm doing well, my classappreciates me, like, like I I'm
still kind of taking on theseleader roles and my parents are
both teachers, by the way, sothey love somebody who steps up.
But it was it was then, and asI started to progress in my
career, that dad really startedto see that, oh, I actually was
(11:38):
good at it.
Um, so Thanks for watching.
Speaker 4 (12:22):
Wait.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Yeah, yeah, I did.
Yeah, and actually I finishedour program a little early.
Um, I did manage to get myassignments done ahead of a
(13:04):
number of classmates and I wasso excited I thought, well, I
did amazing at school and I wasso excited to start working.
And then it took me.
So I finished school.
I believe it was end of April,beginning of May, kind of thing.
I didn't start working untilabout September or October and
that was really frustrating.
(13:26):
Um, looking back, it was aslower time in industry.
Um, but I was really convincedit was because I was a woman.
Um, there was, yeah, there wasa lot of my classmates that the
male counterparts that they gotjobs right away.
Um, and I do remember there wasone shop in particular that I
went and applied and, of course,walked in with my resume and
(13:49):
kind of got a bit of a sneerfrom the admin and you know, she
gave me that we're not lookingto hire and I said, well, I saw
your ad online.
You are looking for welders,that's what I'm here applying as
.
And at that moment, one of thesupervisors came out and he
looked at me and said we don'thire women.
And I like eyes wide, I mean, Idon't I don't hide my emotions
(14:11):
very well, so he certainly it is.
And, like to this day still, Iwas so proud of myself.
I looked at him and I said youknow what, I don't even want to
work here.
And I turned and walked away.
And of course I got to my carand I was very emotional but I
thought, why would I want towork at a place that is that
closed minded, you know, andabsolutely?
(14:34):
And so I kind of did my ownlittle experiment.
I, when I started applying atplaces, half the places I would
apply as Allison, places, halfthe places I would apply as
Alison, and the other half Istarted applying as Al.
And imagine that I got morephone calls back to the
applicants where I applied as Aland there were still a few that
(14:55):
, oh, when they found out that Iwas a woman, oh yeah, well,
we'll see if we can get you infor an interview or whatever.
Whatever the excuse was, but Idid end up.
I found a amazing job.
My first job was great.
We were, I was night shift,which wasn't quite that's
exactly, and but it was such asmall crew like there were five
(15:17):
of us on the crew.
Um, my supervisor was a female.
I worked with one of the girlsI had taken school with, so
there was three females and twoguys on our crew and, oh, it was
amazing, it was so great.
Um it, it was hard because Ilearned that I was not as strong
as welder as what I thought Iwas.
(15:39):
Um right, yeah, but again that.
Um right, yeah, but again thatyou know, you hear from your
co-workers, oh, who did this?
Be well, but then look down andknow that I was the one who did
it.
Um, so that was hard too, butthen it, it really opened the
door for me because I was one ofthe less skilled workers on our
(16:00):
welders, on our crew.
They knew that.
Okay, well, we need morefitters on our welders, on our
crew.
They knew that.
Okay, well, we need morefitters.
So that's where the supervisortook me right under her wing and
she trained me one-on-one onhow to be a better fitter, and
that's really where I found Iexcelled.
Absolutely, yeah, absolutely.
(16:34):
Thank you, absolutely.
Speaker 4 (17:09):
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
Absolutely.
Yep, yep, yep so actually I Idid request to go back and
(18:03):
retake my second level um, andthe reason for that?
Because it was about it wasabout two years after I was in
school that I got to go back myfirst company.
They were not eager toindenture me and so I was only
there about eight months.
So I started at the second shopthat I worked at and then,
(18:24):
after I had spent a bit of timethere, I asked them if I would
be able to go back to school,and I did want to go back
because so much of my workexperience was in fabrication.
I did want to finish with mywelding, because that's what I
started with and I didn't wantto just leave that.
So, yeah, I requested to retakemy second year to give me that
additional practice, and for meI'm so glad I did and that I was
(18:47):
able to.
So I did.
I completed my welding.
Actually, I got my red seal inthat in 2014.
Actually, I got my red seal inthat in 2014 and it was like six
months later I was signed up asa metal fabricator and got to
take my first year of school.
(19:12):
So it was like back-to-backtrades.
I don't believe that for aminute yeah well, certainly for
(20:25):
the welding um, especially thefirst two years, learning the
processes um I did for me wasvery challenging because
industry all we did was I mean,my first shop it was gmaw and my
second shop was all metal core,flux core, so it was all the
wire fed processes were the onlypractical experience I had.
So learning the theory behindevery, every process, um, I did
(20:48):
find really challenging in thewelding.
I didn't find as manychallenges in the metal fab, but
I had already been in industryfor a number of years, so so
much of the fabrication, um, thedrawings, like that was what I
did day to day and the exactlythe company I was working for.
(21:09):
They were amazing at moving mearound.
So I had experience with thestructural, the plate work, the
piping, even the pressurevessels.
So I was very rounded in myknowledge just from the company
I worked at and I think that wasreally my saving grace because
I mean, for somebody who wouldbe green, I would say probably
the metal fab I would say as oneof the harder courses, just
(21:32):
because there's that much morethat you need to learn.
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (21:53):
Yeah, right.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah right, yeah,yeah, and I mean, when I work
(22:36):
with prospective students, andespecially females, which is, as
you know, my area of uh,expertise or whatever, um, I I
like to kind of give them theidea that, okay, are you more of
a problem solver and you liketo, um, like, think things
through and come up withsolutions?
And again, like that, math,right, if that's kind of more
(22:59):
your skill level or yourinterest, metal fab might be a
better suit for you, whereas thewelding is more the application
.
Physically, can you produce anice weld?
Right, yeah, you have to knowsomewhat of what goes into a
weld, but a lot of times whenyou're in industry, especially
welding to a procedure, have toknow somewhat of what goes into
a weld.
But a lot of times when you'rein industry, especially welding
to a procedure, like, you can goto a book that tells you
exactly everything you need todo, how to set your machine and
(23:22):
it's a matter of, okay, can youwork with this exactly, right?
So kind of a different are youthe doer or the thinker is, and
I mean, I know that's a verysimplified way to explain it,
right, but, yes, and I mean Iknow that's a very simplified
way to explain it, right, butyes, exactly, absolutely.
(24:23):
You know I am such a believerof to keep your options open.
Right, I was.
I was very happy with what withthe shop that I was working at,
and throughout my entireschooling I stayed at the same
shop, like I was there.
It was almost a full decade Iwas at that shop.
But I wanted to have in my backpocket a more desirable resume,
right, if people could see okay, well, I've completed a red
seal in welding and then I'vecompleted a red seal in
(24:45):
fabrication, it would allow me.
You know, it could open thedoor to allow more travel or
getting out of province.
Absolutely, with the samecredentials, right?
The other thing, too, like.
So, right after I got my welding, I got married that year and
then the plan was to get marriedand have a kid.
(25:06):
So I took my first year fablike two weeks after I got back
from my honeymoon, I think itwas and then found out while I
was in school that I was alsoexpecting.
So then it was okay, well, youknow, try to balance school May
as well.
Yeah, but I wanted that,knowing that.
(25:31):
Okay, then I was going tobecome a mom.
You know, I wanted to show that, okay, I've taken schooling,
this is what I've accomplished.
But now, having the secondtrade, I was hoping that, okay,
this would allow me moreflexibility to have the time at
home to be a mother but also tomake a great wage, absolutely,
(26:08):
yeah.
Well, you know, dad is verymuch like okay, so if I get all
these metal projects, you canjust help me out with them, so
it's cheap labor for him.
Honestly, I never saw that formyself.
(26:56):
No, I I had always wanted to bea teacher, though, and that was
since I was a kid and seeing myparents as teachers, um, and
like, growing up, you know, Itaught piano and helped out, and
so I had that little bit ofteaching experience and I
actually, when I was in my thirdyear welding, my instructor at
the time was the one femaleinstructor we had on staff and
(27:19):
she started talking to me aboutthis WIT program.
That was Tammy.
Yeah, oh, I absolutely loveTammy.
She is one of the reasons,honestly, why I got to where I'm
at.
I love Tabby, she, she is oneof the reasons, honestly, why I
got to where I'm at is shestarted telling me about this
(27:39):
WIT program that, even as astudent, I mean, yeah, I've got
emails from WIT, but I neverpaid attention to them.
But then she started talking tome and she's like well, why
don't you come teach for us?
And at the time I was like I'mnot even a journeyman, like I
can't be a teacher, and's likewell, no, you'd just be.
You know, you'd be teachingwomen that are interested in
getting into traits, like she'slike you don't have to share all
(28:01):
your theory, you just have toshow them how to weld.
So I was like okay, well, I'mnot even a good welder.
And she's like well, you'rebetter than them.
She is.
Yeah, why am I blanking on hisname?
(28:26):
Right now, too, I can picturehis face in my mind.
Um, I'm nice.
(29:02):
Um, my quick speech for the WITprogram is basically we work in
two ways.
We work to help raise awarenessand to help with recruitment,
to get women into themale-dominated skill trades and
(29:26):
technology programs.
So we do.
We offer exploration courseswhere we invite women onto
campus, and actually we'restarting to do outreach too,
which is exciting.
But basically we bring them in,we get a journeyed woman who's
a part of that trade, whether itbe welding, carpentry, whatever
and give them a day of hands onon the tools, talk to them
(29:49):
about the trade you know what'sgreat, what can be challenging
and just create a safe space forthem to try things out, where
they don't feel uncomfortableasking questions.
Right, we like to keep ourgroups small, like a small group
of 12 kind of thing, where theyhave that opportunity almost a
one-on-one to ask any questionsthat are on their mind.
(30:11):
The other part of what we do iswe're a support service for our
female students on campus.
So if students are, we remindthem you know when the different
award cycles are open and hey,remember to apply for all these
scholarships.
We do networking lunch andlearns with them, so we'll feed
(30:31):
them pizza and bring in anindustry speaker and just give
them the opportunity to networkwith different women.
We have an open door policy soif there's a challenge or a
struggle that they're goingthrough, they can feel safe to
come into our office and chatabout it.
And we've been there, right,like.
We understand that sometimesyou might be the only female in
(30:55):
your group of 12.
Or, if you're lucky, you mighthave another female classmate.
But sometimes it isuncomfortable to go to your male
instructor or male program headto talk about some of these
issues, right.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
So we're just that safe space that they can feel
comfortable and just come andchat with us Absolutely premium
welding machines right here inCanada.
Our products are CSA certifiedand Ontario made approved,
reflecting our unwaveringcommitment to excellence.
Count on us for superiorservice that's faster and more
(32:04):
efficient than marketcompetitors.
Whether you're in aerospace,education or any other precision
welding industry, cannaweld hasthe perfect welding solution
for you.
Visit CannaWeldcom today todiscover why professionals rely
on CannaWeld for their weldingneeds.
Cannaweld where precision meetsreliability in welding.
Enjoy peace of mind with ourfour-year warranty on most
machines.
(32:25):
Conditions do apply.
Josephgassesca, your one-stopwelder's superstore.
Whether you run a welding shopor are just starting your
welding journey, joseph Gass,the welder's superstorestore is
the best place for everythingrelated to welding.
Come to the site or browse ourtop picks of welders, helmets
and welding supplies specific toyour industry.
(32:45):
Even filter out the itemseligible for manufacturer cash
rebates.
Our intuitive search tool putseverything at your fingertips
and checkout is always a breeze.
Pay securely with your creditcard at any time.
If you are ready to streamlineyour welding supply shopping
experience, visit josephgassesca.
That's Joseph with an F as infamily.
(33:07):
Start filling your cart withwelder confidence evidence Thank
(34:33):
you.
Speaker 2 (34:33):
You, I think, really like we work to give them a lot
of resources, um, and reallyjust education, the awareness,
right?
Um, we do.
Obviously, we always like totalk about why the trades are
amazing, but we also like toshare with these women what can
happen, right, and it's not thatwe're, you know, ranting and
(34:55):
raving about all these awfulexperiences we may have had.
It's the truth, right, and wejust want whoever is going into
the trades to be aware of thesetruths that unfortunately, they
still do exist.
And don't get me wrong,industry's on the right track
and you know there are so manyinitiatives to diversify and
everything.
(35:16):
But it is not a perfect world,and we know that, right, and
it's not always the perfectenvironment for every
personality either.
Speaker 4 (35:25):
Hmm, thank you.
Speaker 2 (36:17):
One of the biggest barriers we hear time and again
is child care, right?
Um, and that goes for anyindustry you're in, um, I know
from my experience in welding,child care was a challenge, um,
when I became a single mom, um,when I was in industry, it
wasn't always easy to get my kidto daycare.
(36:38):
For me to start work at six,right, the nice thing for women
is because everyone's pushing toget more women involved, we
have a lot more options aboutplaces we can work, and that was
honestly part of what led me tothe role that I'm in now is
having that flexibility tobetter balance my career with my
(37:00):
family life.
But, yeah, finding childcare isa big barrier.
But also finances, right, ifyou have no exposure, if you
have no idea what a trade reallyentails other than you know hey
, I know welders join metals.
Well, you know, you might thinkyou're interested in something,
(37:21):
but when you actually get todoing it, it's.
It's not the right fit for you,right, and so that's where our
programming we have theexploratories to give them that
overview, because it is reallydifficult to make a big
financial commitment to committo going to school for a year.
Right, there's.
I mean, obviously your billswill continue.
You're likely not working whenyou're focused on school, and
(37:45):
then if you've got a family ordependents that you're caring
for, I mean it just adds andadds and adds, right.
So, absolutely, the financialbarrier is one of the hardest
ones, and so that's what the WITprogram, the WIT Powered by
Toronto program, is working tohelp reduce.
So, if there's you know, fundedprograms that come up, we have
(38:09):
a huge list of contacts that arealways interested in more
information.
So let's get the word out,let's share these opportunities
with them.
Um, we're starting to have, youknow, sponsored seats, or we
have external partners that wework with to reduce this cost
for these women to get in and tostart trying out and getting a
(38:30):
better idea of the opportunitiesthat are out there.
Yeah, yeah, yeah well, yeah, youtotally are.
(39:46):
Um, I know a lot of thosesupports like and I'm just
thinking in regards to newcomers.
So we have started reaching outto some of our larger newcomer
organizations in the variouscities here in the province and
so we know that, yes, like thelanguage barrier, the cultural
(40:06):
differences, right, those are,those are huge.
The nice I mean Saskola isamazing.
There are supports throughoutcampus, right.
So if you need support withlanguage or with your studies,
like we've got tutors, we've gotsupports for that and like WIT
doesn't work directly one-on-onewith those students, that's
(40:28):
more our job to just again bringthat information, connect them
right.
Hey, come to our office, let usknow how we can help and we're
going to find you the answersthat you're looking for, right,
because that's one of the mostintimidating parts is, you know
where you're struggling but youdon't know where to start to
find the information right orwho to reach out to.
(40:48):
Well, we've got those resourcesto help put you in the right
paths to get you settled.
Yep, well, I think it's great,especially getting out to
(41:53):
industry right, because that'swhere I mean in school, we can
support you, we can makeaccommodations, we have that
capacity.
Not every industry is willingor able to make those
modifications right, and so,like, with our WIP program,
we've got a very extensive listof employers that have gotten
(42:15):
great reviews from our femalestudents, right.
We also have lists where we'vehad students that have really
struggled with employers, and sowhen we're working with these
students that may have adifferent ability, we want to
make sure that we're workingwith industry and also with the
program to make sure that we'rehelping set this student up for
(42:37):
success, right, we want to makesure that they we are getting
them sent out to an employerthat has these accommodations in
place or is willing to makechanges, right, we don't want to
just okay, well, you're doneschool here, you go head out to
industry, right, and so we do.
We do work closely with theoffice to advance women
apprentices, um, and we'restarting to do more work.
(42:58):
They did, I'm so excited, yes,yeah.
So we do work really close withvanessa, um, because basically
she's kind of that, she's thatindustry support, we're that
school support, right.
So we like the students to beaware We've also started working
(43:20):
, too, with Women BuildingFutures, because they have a lot
of those industry supports aswell and they know a lot of the
employers, right.
So that's where those resourcesand just keeping the students
informed and telling them how itis right, being real with them,
being truthful with them sothat they know what they're
(43:41):
fully getting into, thank you.
(44:32):
Throughout the year, yet so weI'm trying to get my ladies all
on board we've had huge shiftswithin wit too.
So we're.
I mean, two years ago I steppedinto the rule list program head
and my entire team was new.
That was the year tommy retiredum, so now so I went from
(44:55):
having four halftimecoordinators to right now, I
have two full-time and fourhalftime coordinators, so now
there's six women that areworking on my team.
So we are thankfully able toexpand.
But so each of the differentcities where we do have a campus
works within their city to findresources that are available to
(45:19):
stay up to date.
But each month we do like tohave a networking, a pizza lunch
for our students, and so duringthe year we'll, you know, ask
the students who do you want tohear from?
You know, is there a specificindustry?
Are you looking to hear aboutsupports?
We'll bring in our internalstudent services that help with.
I know we call it like softskill or essential skill
(45:42):
training, um, resume writing,like those things that, as a
student, get into the workforce.
You're going to have to knowthese things, right so, right,
right, these are additionalsupports that I mean as a
certificate student.
You hear about these on yourfirst day or second day of
(46:04):
school, but it's such aninformation overload, right,
they go through.
Okay, these are your.
You know 25 supports that areavailable to you and then
they're not really talked aboutthroughout the year.
So you know, day one whenyou're hearing all this
information, you don't remembermost of it.
So, throughout the year, maybethree or four months later,
we'll bring in one of thosesupports and help them out.
Or we regularly bring inVanessa from the office to
(46:27):
advance women, especially nearthe end of the year when
students are almost getting out.
Exactly, hey, reach out toVanessa, she's going to be
supporting you in industry,right?
So, and those, those lunch andlearns we do.
We invite all of the femalesthat are in.
Well, now our faculty.
We transition schools tofaculty now.
(46:49):
So any female student that's in, you know, construction,
transportation, mining,manufacturing, engineering come
on in, you're more than welcome.
We've even had a number of malestudents start to attend our
pizza lunches and I know thefirst pizza lunch I went to,
there was a gentleman there andhe looked at me and he said I'm
(47:11):
a guy.
And I said, well, you know,like you know, it's 2023, I make
no assumptions and I just, hey,welcome to our pizza lunch.
And then he said, well, is itokay if I stay here?
I know it's for women and I waslike well, I have one question
for you, do you support women intrades?
And he absolutely got mysisters Actually his sister's in
(47:33):
welding.
That's why I like him so much.
But he's Awesome, awesome,right, who doesn't?
(48:12):
Um, so so far, these last twoyears, we have, with having more
(48:37):
staff available, we have beenable to offer more exploratory
courses.
Um, so, I know the year Istepped in, I think we had, you
know, one program in the fall,one in the spring that was
running in saskatoon and Regina,and now we have each semester
so kind of fall and wintersemesters.
We have all four campusesoffering at least one program.
(49:01):
That's going on, with Lorrainebeing our Indigenous coordinator
.
She is getting out to thesmaller communities that are a
bit more remote, so she's goingout there to do presentations
and take a bunch of swag andshare what wit offers with these
students, and I mean majorityof communities she goes into.
(49:21):
They've never even heard of usand it's it's crazy to me
because I know the wit programhas been around for over 30
years and we still have there'sso many people in the province
that have no idea we exist andno idea that we're there to
support our students.
So my vision is really justmaking us a known name, right,
(49:44):
like so that everyone knows whowe are.
We have a Young Women'sConference that is actually
tomorrow down in Regina, but wedo host that regularly, and now
this year we're doing a Jill ofAll Trades event.
(50:08):
Okay, for ours here inSaskatchewan.
(50:32):
So, like perfect, um, it is thefirst time that they're coming
out to Saskatchewan, um, so,like perfect, okay, I'm.
I am writing it down right now.
Okay, perfect, I'll add you toour, our email distribution list
, um, but yeah, so my, my goalis that every year we're going
(50:56):
to have be able to offer Jill ofall trades, and so, yeah, we
are starting to do moreconferences, just basically
provide more information tothese younger ladies.
So our young women's conferencebeing for grade eight girls,
and then that Jill of all tradesfor grade nine to 12 young
ladies.
So while they're still inelementary, getting into high
(51:17):
school, or while they're stillin high school, they still have
the opportunity to try out andexplore these different career
options available to them, sothat when they graduate, they're
not overwhelmed with well now,what do I do?
Right?
They've started building thoseideas.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4 (52:14):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.
Speaker 2 (53:11):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I don't know.
I don't know that's, that'sthat, right.
Well, and that's really part ofwhat I'm still learning, right,
um, because I am so new to therole it's, I'm at the point
where I'm, for myself, gettingout there and making connections
, um, and reaching out to peopleand starting that communication
(53:33):
, right, I mean, we have ourfiles of people we've reached
out to.
The trouble is, well, I guessone of the challenges, certainly
when working with womenexclusively, is all of the
documentation, all of the datawe have can get altered, right,
(53:54):
like you think about, when weused to keep track of people for
contact information, it was afirst name, last name basis.
Well, as a woman, especially formyself, I know that when I got
married, I changed my last name,so I'm no longer Alison Coral,
right, where, if the only way toget a hold of me you have is
(54:14):
through Alison Coral, well, nowyou can't contact me anymore,
right?
Or for myself, again, like whenI had my son, well, I took a
major step back from myinvolvement and my volunteer for
that first year, year and ahalf, two years, whatever it was
.
Well then, I'm off the radar,right, they've already found
(54:35):
somebody to replace meabsolutely, and these I mean
(55:01):
these are still the barriersthat a lot of women face, right,
and it's it's still a lot ofour society too, like it's, I
don't know.
I mean, for a lot of the womenthat I work with, they still
feel expected that as the mom,they're the caregivers or you
know, they kind of fall intothat role.
And.
I know that's certainly Right,well, and that's certainly not
(55:25):
the case for everyone, right,but a very high number of people
that I talk to, that that isthe case and that's their
reality, right.
So of people that I talk to,that that is the case and that's
(55:53):
their reality, right, um, so we, we don't um a lot of it is, I
mean, because we keep that openlines of communication, yeah,
like I.
For example, I have one ladyand right now she's in her
second year welding.
She was in my I taught anapplied certificate and she was
in my course.
So she's back and first thingshe came back to campus and she
had to stop up and say hi andkind of catch up with me.
(56:16):
So it's, it's that relationshipwe built um that now she feels,
you know, we keep in contact andshe likes to keep me in the
loop, and that's.
That's not the case foreveryone, right, like some
people, when they're, whenthey're done school, they're out
of here and they don't reallycare um, but it's certainly when
there are either those reallygood experiences or the very
(56:37):
negative ones, those are theones that seem to be shared.
We don't have a lot of theneutral like oh yeah, it was OK,
right, it's either this wasgreat and this is why, or I had
an awful time because of thisRight.
Speaker 4 (56:52):
Right.
(57:42):
Thank you For sure, I hateRight Right yeah.
Speaker 2 (58:24):
Yeah, no kidding.
Speaker 4 (58:57):
Okay, yeah, yeah Right, absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (59:51):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, and there there is
such a huge range of confidencelevels and, like I mean, I just
I was putting together apowerpoint so I very briefly
touched on the tip of theiceberg on those confidence
levels.
But I know Cornell and like abunch of universities in the
states, have extensive studiesabout the different levels of
confidence in women versus men,as young as in for every decade
basically 20s, 30s, 30s, 40s,50s, 60s and their study that
(01:00:14):
they took women's confidencelevels didn't start exceeding
men until most women were intheir 50s or 60s.
So you think of these youngwomen getting into the trades
that are in their 20s or 30s orheaven forbid if they're still
in their teens how low theirconfidence level is in
comparison to their malecounterparts and so much of it.
(01:00:37):
That's why we, as women, put upwith so much of this.
We don't have the confidence tobe bold and to speak up right,
and so that's where ournetworking events and when we do
our like our summer camps foryoung girls, we're constantly
reminding them like be confident, you might not be the best in
(01:00:57):
this trade, but you are the bestyou and you have these skills,
and if you're not appreciated,then you need to choose a place
that does appreciate you Right,and we really reiterate that
like know your worth and findthe best fit for you.
It.
It is hard to leave a companythat's treating you awful right,
(01:01:18):
but it's harder to stay thereand be treated like trash.
Then absolutely right, and so,yeah, definitely the confidence
is, it's a big part.
Speaker 4 (01:01:57):
Yep, yeah, yeah, yeah , yep, mm-hmm, yep, yeah, yeah
(01:03:03):
uh, so actually on our websitewe do have.
Speaker 2 (01:03:06):
We have a little mentorship section on there
where women can, um, sign up soif they're looking to become a
mentor or if they're looking tobecome a mentor or if they're
looking to find a mentor, sothat mentor, mentee relationship
, they can sign up.
So we do have extensivedocuments about you know, people
we've matched together, or if astudent even like if they email
(01:03:29):
or whatever from a program thatI'm not familiar with and hey,
I have some questions about this, we do kind of have our list of
go-to ladies that will tap onthe shoulder and hey, this you
know so-and-so has questionsabout this.
I know you have a similarexperience.
Would you mind having aconversation?
And I mean I haven't reachedout to anyone that's been like,
(01:03:51):
no thanks, take me off your list.
Right, like these women are,they're wanting to volunteer,
right, don't contact me.
No-transcript.
(01:04:36):
The majority of our programmingwill be wrapping up at the end
of April for this academic year.
So definitely I would say, ifyou've got younger kids, that
you're looking to get into somesummer camps.
We have our Girls ExploringTrades and Technology, our GET
camps that we're hoping to hoston each campus.
(01:04:56):
So we'll be posting some adsfor that right away and then
getting back into the fallprogramming.
So, again, we'll be doing atleast one program, if not more,
on each of our four campuses,and those are for ladies 15 plus
, so there is no maximum age.
We've had women in their 50sand 60s come take our
(01:05:16):
programming.
It's super beneficial if you'relooking for a change of career,
but also if you just want toadd some extra skills to your
toolkit.
(01:05:52):
So, urano Canada they are auranium mining company.
Um, their head office in france, but they're uh, they do have a
headquarters here in saskatoon.
Um, they very generously giftedour program a million dollars
over the next decade.
So, um, they are making afinancial contribution to us to
(01:06:15):
help us to get more women intothe trades, to raise the
awareness and to reduce thebarriers that are involved with
getting into the trades.
So, um, through their gift,through their giving, um, last
year we certainly spent a lot oftime on, or a lot of money on,
advertising to really get thename out there and rebranding.
(01:06:37):
We do want people to know thatmajority of what we do now is
thanks to Orano and the giftthat they've given us, but now
it's allowing us to expand ourstaff, which will expand our
programming, and to offer at amore reasonable price to the
(01:06:57):
students looking to participate.
But I would, I would send themout, absolutely.
(01:07:25):
I would send them up in aheartbeat.
Um, a huge amount of the workthat we are doing, um, because
of their funding, is getting outinto the communities, so
reaching out to a lot smallerIndigenous and First Nation
communities, but also expandinginto the North, because I mean,
(01:07:48):
historically, the WIT programshave operated on Prince Albert,
moose, jaw, saskatoon and Reginacampus and on campus alone.
So now we've got our littlemini training trailer that we're
able to take out intocommunities.
So, if you know, thesecommunities, get a group of
women together rather than themhaving to drive four or five
(01:08:10):
hours to come to our campus totake programming.
Hey, you know what?
We're going to come to you.
We're going to come to you andyour community, where you're
right at home, give you a bit ofadditional knowledge.
Obviously, yes, we're trying toget some of these students and
especially young ladies up northworking in the mines, right,
(01:08:31):
but definitely, yeah, justreaching out and just spreading
the wit word, just sharing theinformation that we're around.
And how can we support ourfemale students.
(01:09:14):
I do think about heading back toindustry every once in a while.
Um, I do also have my level oneweld inspection which is coming
up for renewal this year.
So I've been looking at CWBcourses that I can take to keep
that relevant um.
But with my role here, havingthe summers off, I have often
thought about, well, maybe Icould head out into industry and
(01:09:37):
maybe do some weld inspectionum over the summertime, right,
um, yeah, yeah.
So it's for me just a matter offinding that balance, um,
between the child care and beingout in industry.
(01:09:58):
Um, I do like to tinker.
That's still my thing.
I have no drive to get back toindustry on the tools, um, I
don't think my poor body couldhandle it these days, to be
honest.
I've been in the office for toolong.
But I do like to tinker and doa lot of decorative um and like
(01:10:19):
decor work and some of it'spersonal, some of it is, you
know, if friends are gettingmarried or whatever kind of more
of a gift um.
But yeah, I do see myselfhopefully continuing in this
program head role for a whileand, who knows, maybe one day
I'll be moving up to academicchair or dean or whatever.
(01:10:41):
I mean the keep my option.
I got to keep my options open,right, absolutely well, and
that's the other thing too, likea lot of the senior management
is looking closer at thatretirement, right, um, and I
(01:11:01):
know I've still got a number ofyears left on them, so why not?
Great, um.
So if they want to check out, uh, we are on facebook, um, sask
(01:11:21):
polytech, I believe it'ssaskatchewan polytechnic, women
in trades and technology, or, ifyou, usually, if you just
shorten it to wit, w-i-t-t.
Um.
And then we do also have ourWomen in Trades homepage, which
is at saskpolytechca slashW-I-T-T.
Our homepage is going to tellyou about all of our courses and
(01:11:43):
events that are coming up, andit also supplies people with
lists of external resources.
You can join our mailing list,our mentorship, and then it has
all of our contact informationthere as well to reach out to
any campus coordinator.
Yeah, thank you so much, max.
(01:12:14):
Women building futures yeahyeah, yeah, hmm, we hope you
(01:14:08):
enjoy the show.
Speaker 3 (01:14:09):
Cwb Association Welding Podcast with Max Serrano
.
If you enjoyed what you heardtoday, rate our podcast and
visit us at cwbassociationorg tolearn more.
Feel free to contact us if youhave any questions or
suggestions on what you'd liketo learn about in the future.
Produced by the CWB Group andpresented by Max Serrano, this
podcast serves to educate andconnect the welding community.
(01:14:30):
Please subscribe and thank youfor listening.
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.