July 28, 2025 • 26 mins
The CWB Association is thrilled to collaborate with Skills/Compétences Canada on a special podcast series. This year, we are excited to interview the Skills Canada Executive Directors from across Canada. Tune in as we explore their skills journey and commitment to promoting skilled trades in their provinces and territories!
The narrative of having to leave the Maritimes to pursue a viable career in the trades is rapidly becoming a relic of the past. Robin Lorway, Executive Director of Skills Canada Nova Scotia, brings 18 years of perspective to this transformation, painting a picture of a province where opportunity now thrives and skilled tradespeople are returning home rather than departing. Robin's journey with Skills began when a friend rescued her from an unfulfilling public relations position, introducing her to an organization where she felt seen, heard, and valued. That environment of respect and innovation has fueled Skills Nova Scotia's expansion, creating initiatives that have become so popular with schools approaching them instead of the other way around.
Website: https://www.skillsns.ca/
Follow Skills/Compétences Canada:
Website: https://www.skillscompetencescanada.com/en/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/SkillsCanadaOfficial
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skillscompetencescanada/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/skills_canada
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/skillscanada
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
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
All right, I check, check.
Good, so I'm Max Duran.
Max Duran, cwb AssociationWelding Podcast podcast podcast.
Today, we have a really coolguest welding podcast.
The show is about to begin.
Hello and welcome to anotheredition of the CWB Association
(00:27):
Podcast.
My name is Max Duran and I amhere in beautiful Regina,
saskatchewan, for this year's2025 Skills Competition.
I got distracted by a passerbythere.
Sorry, but this week what we'redoing is we're going to be
recording all the executivedirectors of all the provinces
and territories and we're goingto be finding out all the
amazing stuff happening withintheir teams.
Right now we have robin lorwayfrom nova scotia.
(00:50):
Robin, how are you doing?
Speaker 2 (00:51):
I'm doing well.
Thank you for having meabsolutely.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
You know we all love nova scotia.
It's like everyone who's everbeen to the maritimes loves the
maritime.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
You love being out there I love being out there, so
I was born in Cape Breton andnow live in Halifax and, yeah,
it's such a beautiful part ofthe country to be in.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Now for the Nova Scotia team.
I was going to say Norway Forthe Nova Scotia team.
Have any of them ever been outto the prairies before?
Or Saskatchewan I?
Speaker 2 (01:20):
mean a couple have.
But we even had first timeflyers with us.
Oh wow, Some of our coacheshave never been on a plane
before.
On a plane before, so that's anincredible experience to offer
them for the first time, whichis really neat.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
What's the size of your team?
Who's all here?
Speaker 2 (01:34):
We've got 41 competitors and our team
altogether is 72, includingcoaches and skills staff.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
That's a big team.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
It's a big team yeah, like I have seen the skills
blow up in the Maritimes overthe last decade.
We were just at Skills Atlanticin New Brunswick and it was
huge.
It was huge, you know, andwe're seeing a big investment
into the skilled trades in NovaScotia.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Yeah, definitely.
I mean, the Department ofEducation is fully behind us.
The Apprenticeship Agency seesus as a great way to promote
what they do, and I just feel asif people are starting to
really realize that these areviable and excellent career
options, and teachers know thatthey need to expose students to
(02:24):
these careers.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
Yeah, and we need them.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Oh 100%.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
yeah, one of the narratives that the Maritimes
has always suffered from is theidea that you have to leave the
Maritimes, go west, for example,to make money, to have great
careers.
And out in the west myself herewe would have the influx of
people from the Maritimes everyspring for shutdown season.
Now I feel like that narrativeis changing.
(02:49):
Now A hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
So I started at Skills 18 years ago and I have a
vivid memory of a conversationwith one of my coworkers, out on
her back deck, saying are wedoing the right thing?
I mean, we know so many peoplewho go into trades but then they
have to go out West to work.
And that's what it was like 18years ago.
Now it seems to be just theopposite.
People are able to find jobs athome, nova Scotia, the
(03:14):
population is booming.
There are cranes all overHalifax, Every direction you
look you see cranes.
So obviously we are.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Destruction is there yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
And you would hear about it when I started 18 years
ago oh, there's going to be atrade shortage, it's going to
happen, and now it's here.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
The reality is there, yeah yeah, and you know, I love
that growth, I love that seeingthat, that idea of not only
reshoring your own employee baseright and saying you know, you
can grow up in Nova Scotia andstudy here, you have great
programs, nscc is an amazingcollege, you've got lots of
smaller training providers andthen you get to stay in your
(03:53):
area to work, whether it's onthe shipbuilding or construction
or manufacturing.
I say I would even take thatone step further.
Is that now people outside ofthe Maritimes are looking at you
know Nova Scotia and sayingmaybe I'll leave where I'm at to
go there because it is stillreasonable living expenses, the
(04:14):
wages are good and it'sbeautiful.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Exactly, and I think, during COVID especially, a lot
of people decided to come backhome.
They wanted to be closer totheir families.
They saw that that wassomething that was missing in
their lives.
And so so many people movedback home and I think that
really helped with thepopulation growth.
My neighbor across the streetis a contractor and he was
(04:37):
living in Ontario and it wasalways his idea, when he could,
he was going to move back home.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
He took his wife from ontario, planted her in nova
scotia and now they're livinglike the ideal life that he
always dreamed of yeah, that'swonderful, I love to hear that
well, and it creates a bar forthese young trades people to be
like something to aim for, ofthat of that idyllic life where
you work hard, you invest inyour community and then you get
to reap the rewards of youinvest in your community and
(05:04):
then you get to reap the rewardsof your investment in your
community.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Exactly, and I think that in my perspective, like in
Nova Scotia, families are soimportant to us, so to be able
to have that proximity tograndparents, to cousins, aunts,
uncles, it's really, it's agood benefit to living in Nova
Scotia.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Awesome.
Well, let's talk about yourjourney into skills.
You know 18 years.
You said how did you get intoskills?
Or how did skills nab you?
How did they nab me?
Speaker 2 (05:32):
I was working somewhere and I was absolutely
miserable.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Yeah, what were you doing, like?
What type of work?
Speaker 2 (05:38):
I was doing public relations.
I'd graduated from the publicrelations program at NSCC and I
was working in a place where Ijust felt unseen.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
I was that's the worst.
I was just.
It was awful and a friend ofmine knew this.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
And he said you know, he worked in the same office.
He worked for theapprenticeship agency which we
were based in at the time and hesaid I know this organization
and they're hiring.
It's a great group of people.
You should put in anapplication and I did and I got
the job.
And ever since I think when youwork somewhere that's just not
(06:14):
your vibe.
When you finally find a placewhere you are seen, where you
are heard, where you are welcome, where your opinion actually
matters then I'm a skills forlife pretty much yeah, you can
come out of your cocoon and youcan.
You can grow yourself yeah, myideas actually matter like I I
feel like I can come up with alot of creative things, and to
(06:36):
have someone actually hear themand welcome them made me feel
and and grow on them yeah and beable to do something about them
.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Now, 18 years ago, you've seen the rise and crest
of many different I guess.
Uh, trades waves, right, thingsgo up and down in the trades
worlds, they ebb and flow.
Skills like that also ebbs andflows.
You know what changes or whatevolutions have you seen in your
18 years within skills at NovaScotia?
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Our organization has grown substantially in 18 years.
I think, when you have, as Iwas saying before, when you have
a team that feels like they canshare their ideas.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
We welcome innovation .
Speaker 2 (07:22):
I think that's it, and they love their job, and so
they come up with all thesegreat things that we could be
doing with youth, and from thatwe pitch new programs to
partners to the provincialgovernment and then people say,
oh my gosh, this is theorganization that's doing it.
Well, they understand youth.
(07:43):
We are really respected withinthe school system and they open
their doors to us and let uscome in and speak about careers.
They know that we are fun.
They know that we areinteractive.
They know that we're engaging,so they want us in their schools
.
They know that we are theorganization that works well
with youth, promoting skilledtrades.
(08:04):
So, yeah, we just have peoplecoming to us saying do you think
you would be interested inmaybe doing this program?
Or we're doing summer campsthis year for the second time,
which is really quite fun.
And we're doing that inpartnership with the Nova Scotia
Apprenticeship Agency and NovaScotia Community College.
And yeah, they came to usbecause they knew yes, they
offer the training that isneeded in the summer camps, but
(08:27):
we're the ones that make it fun.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Yeah, and all the supports and the wraparounds are
cool with it too.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
But you know everyone's safe and happy and
enjoying their time right.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Yeah, Now.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
Nova Scotia has grown in their programming tons.
I know the Canadian WeldingBureau.
We've invested into a number ofprograms in Nova Scotia.
We helped build the trailer,the welding trailer, with NSCC
and you know there's a lot offunding going on.
But I think the narrative haschanged where before skills was
kind of beaten on the doors ofthe teachers to say let us in,
and now it's the other wayaround, where the teachers are
(08:57):
coming to skills and saying comeon in.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
So we have an in-class presentation initiative
that we do, where we havesomeone who travels across the
schools of Nova Scotia, and thedemand for it became so high
that we had to say wait a second, we can't reach everyone.
We don't have enough people, sonow we're just doing grade tens
and we have another programthat's just for grade nines, and
the amount of people that wantto come to the come to see our
(09:23):
provincial skills competition.
We had like a thousand peoplecome to each of our events this
year, which was that's amazing.
And we didn't have to push forit.
We had to say at the endactually we don't have any more
room.
We're maxed out, so that's anice problem to have.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
That is, that's amazing.
Do you feel like it's a tradesforward province?
Do you think that they'vegotten the?
I feel like like I don't thinksaskatchewan's there right now.
I mean, we are such a tradesreliant province but it's still.
The narrative is university.
The narrative is the academicor academia.
Um, do you feel like thenarrative is kind of more
(09:58):
reasonably now spread out?
Speaker 2 (10:01):
I think that we have some really good champions in
the schools right now.
We have a wonderful options andopportunities program in the
schools where students get totry out different careers, and
it's almost like a co-op programtoo.
They get to actually like goand experience what it's like
working in different careers,and I think that that's really
opened a lot of eyes.
Yeah, I do think I mean we do.
(10:23):
We are very university heavyprovince we've got dalhousie,
saint mary's mount, saintvincent, acadia so yeah, there's
still I mean, university isstill often what is promoted in
schools, but I think that Ithink it is changing for the
better.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
Yeah, that's good.
Yeah, now for yourself cominginto skills as an ed from non, a
non-skills or a non-tradesbackground.
What was it like to get intothis role and have to learn this
part of the, the industry, likethe, the terminology, the
language, the acronyms, all the?
Speaker 2 (11:01):
I'm still learning it's been a while I'm still
learning.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
There's a lot.
The learning curve must havebeen heavy.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Yeah, so I started out as the competition
coordinator, the provincialcompetition coordinator, and
I've had various rolesthroughout but, honestly, the
volunteers that we work with areso amazing and understanding
and just offer to help in anyway they can, so I've definitely
had an education over the last18 years.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
I just had a memory of the rain.
What year was that?
Speaker 2 (11:29):
That was just two years ago.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
When everything was flooding in Halifax.
That was two years ago.
Was that just two years ago?
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (11:36):
because we had the forest fires in Hammonds Plains
first and then we had theflooding.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
The flooding, I remember the excavators were
trying to pile sand to stopwater from coming in.
I mean, you can't predict theweather, but I still had a
fantastic time.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
Oh yeah, Good, good yeah.
My house is at the top of avery tall hill and our gravel
driveway was completely ruinedand we were stuck at the top of
the hill for a couple of days.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Yeah, but I mean that's the fun of skills, right?
Like you do these events acrossthe country, you pick different
locations to try to showcasedifferent areas.
I absolutely love goinganywhere.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
Oh, you're talking about the flooding during the
Skills Canada NationalConvention.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
That's what I'm talking about.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
We also had really bad floods in Nova Scotia two
years ago.
But yes, when the NationalConvention.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
It was during the National Convention.
Yeah, okay, that's what it was.
I felt like it was longer ago.
Yeah, that was madness Longerago.
Yeah, that was madness.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
Yeah, if everyone's running around, I was off on
maternity leave so I escaped itall.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
So it wasn't your fault.
No, you didn't have anything todo with the rain.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Nothing at all.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
I remember we still talk about that because you know
what.
It was like a great example ofthe community getting together
to make it happen.
Because it was like I rememberthe excavator students all ran
out and got dirt from thelandscaper students to try to
block the water and I was likeyou know what, if you're gonna
have a disaster, we're in thebest group of people exactly.
(13:00):
You've got all the expertsright there like we'll have
power, we'll have water, we'llhave food.
We're good for months here,guys.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Yeah, and I will say it doesn't only happen in nova
scotia, because I went to acompetition in france a couple
years ago and the same thinghappened.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
Let it right out, yeah, yeah well, here in regina
in the summer you'd be hardpressed to find a rain cloud
yeah, I don't know if you'venoticed, we don't really get
clouds yeah, I've noticed that.
Yeah, it's a thing, yeah I knowthat a lot of people are like
oh yeah, does it rain?
It's like, maybe in may for abit.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
Yeah, coming from the east coast, the dryness here is
quite noticeable yeah, yeah, isyour eyes burning?
Much.
Yeah, all the time.
Yeah.
It's funny because when I go,out east.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
My hair is this big, exactly right yeah, but my
sinuses are fantastic yeah,that's salt water air.
Now you know, in terms of your18 years as well.
You know what kind of newprogramming and what kind of new
stuff have you brought into theskills group.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Well, not me necessarily, but as an
organization, one of the thingsthat we're most proud of is our
App Olympics competition.
So App Olympics is aninternational movement, Olympics
of Abilities that's kind ofwhere the word comes from and
it's a skills competitionspecifically for persons with
disabilities.
Um, so we are the only provinceright now to host ab olympics
(14:19):
competitions.
We've taken several teams torepresent canada to the
international ab olympics, so Itook a team to k, oh awesome.
I've taken two separate teams toFrance to compete and we also
participated in the Finnishnational competition.
We had a cooking team competethere, so we're the only
(14:41):
province that really offers that.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
So why is it not involved in like a
cross-provincen we're?
Speaker 2 (14:46):
trying to spread it out.
It's a new initiative.
It's quite costly to bring inand I think you know as much
like this skills.
Canada has done really well atbecoming a bit more accessible
the national competition itselfover the years, but wrapping
your head around doing acompetition specifically for
(15:08):
people with disabilities andeverything that that entails.
It's a huge endeavor and thenext International Olympics is
in 2027 in Finland, and we'rereally hoping that we get more
participation from across thecountry.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
Reach out, let us know, because that sounds like
something right in ourwheelhouse.
Because when we look at thetrades of the Canadian Welding
Bureau and we look at the tradesof the Canadian Welding Bureau
and we look at the steel, youknow, industries, and we realize
that the numbers just they justaren't there.
I mean, and you know I was atthe CAF conference last week and
, uh, you know there was apresenter talking about you know
, we've been discussing thisimpending retirement.
(15:45):
You know, runoff, that's goingto be happening right away.
And they said, well, accordingto stats, canada it started.
There's not like, oh, theretirements are coming.
Apparently the tradesretirements doubled from 2024 to
2025, so it's coming.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Like it's now.
Well, several volunteers in ourteam are telling me two years,
two more years and we're done.
Yeah, so here we go, like it'sit's, it's go time now.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
meanwhile, on the other hand, you have industries
that are like I got 300 jobopenings, yeah, 200 job openings
, and it's like, okay, if we'regonna, if we're being honest
with ourselves and we want tofill all these jobs, we need to
be open, we need to get women,we need to get, uh, people of
color, we need to get indigenous, we need to get neurodivergent,
we need to get indigenous, weneed to get neurodivergent.
We need to get differentlyabled.
(16:31):
We need them all.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
We need everybody we had a competitor in France with
us a couple of years two yearsago now, I believe and she
female welder neurodiverse.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
So that's exactly who you're talking about right
there, that's what we need right, and those are the people that
are going to open the doors forothers too, because, at the end
of the day, you can't be whatyou don't see right.
And even for myself, you know,I've been in the steel trades
over 30 years.
I've never had a boss who's awoman ever.
I've never had a boss who'sIndigenous ever, and I've never
(17:11):
had a boss who's a person ofcolor at all.
So it's like, okay, well, howdo you start pushing this out?
You need to not only find andsupport the people that
represent these groups, but alsoelevate them.
They need to get into thoseforeman jobs, those supervisor
jobs, right?
Speaker 2 (17:24):
or come compete in a skills competition so that
people can see.
The young people can see whenthey're touring through exactly
what's people reflected I'veseen or I talked to someone I
forget what contest area orskill area it was, but saying
you know, oh, it was bricklaying.
Actually one of the ntc is afemale, so our competitor was
like it was so cool to see afemale bricklayer at this level,
(17:48):
at this level, yeah, andapparently she's got.
The NTC member has like severalRed Seals.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
Oh, awesome.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
So she's like multi-talented and maybe even a
master's, like this is a rolemodel.
Yeah, and so that's the type ofperson that we need to be
showing everyone, everyone, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
And like I mean, how do we, how can we do that better
?
You know, my organization, yourorganization, all our
organizations.
How can we take those gems andjust put them up on a on a
pedestal, I guess, or I don'tknow like glamorize that somehow
?
Speaker 2 (18:20):
I think you could do it, have them on your podcast.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
I do send me their names this is part of why we
started the podcast is trying tofind as many social media
channels to promote, and we onlydo lifestyles here.
I'm not pitching product yeahthat's not our game.
I have a whole nother part ofthe company that that's their
job.
Yeah, my job here is just uh,people just want to hear, like
if someone's listening and saysI want to be an ed, yeah, this
(18:45):
is, they can see you and be like.
This is an opportunity, right?
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (18:48):
yeah, and I think, like, like social media is so
crowded with different, so muchinformation right now, so
figuring out, I think I thinkthis skills competition is a
great way to do that, becausewhen people are walking around
and seeing people like themrepresented especially, I mean,
it's a lot of young people thatare touring through here to see
people their own age that areout there excelling and I mean
(19:12):
it's incredible what they do atthe competition.
These competitors.
It's really impressive to seeand I think that they really are
inspiring to people their ownage and everyone that's here is
getting those top jobs.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Like everyone here, is going to be able to fulfill
what they wish, they want.
You know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
That's such a freedom what I find really interesting
is I was talking to someone fromthe community college the other
day and I kind of reflected onhow many of our team nova scotia
alumni are now teaching at thecollege and I said.
You know why they're doing that?
It's because the ourcompetitors are the ones that
don't want to stop learning.
(19:52):
They always want to be gettingbetter and they want to share,
they want to be those mentors.
So I think like really theteams and the, the competitors
that are competing at thiscompetition are really like the
stars of our future, yeah and itcame up earlier with another
interview about the cyclicalnature of the trades and how
(20:12):
skills fits within that.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
Because you can find these kids, support them, get
them competing you know what winor lose whatever they compete
and then elevates them.
Then they wish to give backbecause then they're given into
and then they end up inmentorship positions, teachers,
back in skills, and then youknow, then they're the NTC 10
years later exactly, and it justbecomes this, this cycle of
(20:36):
support from like cradle tograve.
Not just get you in, but we'regoing to be around until you
retire exactly so.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
The coaches that we brought with us, who are now
becoming NTC, who were mycompetitors when I started 18
years ago.
It's really great to see thathappen.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
I was hoping to see Tony Rose out here, but he's
retired now.
Yeah, I mean, that makes me mad.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
Yeah, one of my best buddies.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
Every skills we hang out.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
Okay, every skills.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
When it was in Winninipeg, we ran out to go to
see metallica together.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
Tony, if you listen to this, I'm spilling the beans,
but you're retired, you can'tget in trouble you know it was,
it's, it's fantastic.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
Now let's take another lens at this.
Okay, you're a spectator.
Now you're at skills.
Regina, you did yourwalkthrough, you've seen it all.
Which are your top three tradesthat you like to spectate?
Speaker 2 (21:34):
I love cooking because I love food I love to
eat.
I love um, the presentation ofthe food, although I must say
yesterday I was watching our,our high school competitor.
Just she had five minutes topresent a plate.
I had to walk away because sostressful it is so stressful to
see um and yeah, I'm, I'm a bitmore of a really creative person
(21:57):
, so seeing things likehairstyling come together.
That's really the beauty ofreally great for me to see, and
then I mean right, I can seeright now the heavy equipment,
to see those big machines andhow they operate.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
They can be so graceful.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
I always think of them like dinosaurs.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
They look like dinosaurs.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
I have a four-year-old son, so I watch
them quite a bit.
And yeah, they are reallygraceful machines.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
Yeah, they are, especially when you've got a
skilled operator.
I've seen them run by notskilled operators.
That would make a difference,not graceful machines.
Yeah, they are Like especiallywhen you got a skilled operator.
Yeah, I've seen them run by notskilled operators.
Not graceful, not graceful,that's awesome and you know, and
in terms of you know gettingaround and seeing all the people
and you know seeing the supporthere, how do you not get
energized?
How does it not refill thattank Right?
Speaker 2 (22:47):
It happens every year and I think it's really
important that we bring like Ibring my staff with me to these
events um as many as we can,because it fills their cup too.
It makes them realize we wework hard in our office and when
we come here, we see why andhow it pays off, yeah, and, and,
and.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
You see it, for generations to come, like,
especially if you got new staff.
They might not sense yet theimplication of the depth of of
an action that you create yeah,yeah, I'm I.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
I think they catch that because, as we're walking
through the halls with them, I'mstopping and talking to so many
people, because I've met somany people since I've been here
and great friendships areformed.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
You look forward to seeing that person once a year.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
We always say welcome to the skills family because it
really does feel like a family,that's awesome, all right.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
Last couple of questions here for you, knowing
what you know of the trades now,and if you went back in time
you're young, coming out of highschool, but you know and if you
went back in time you're young,coming out of high school, but
you know about all thesefantastic opportunities which
trade would you pick to startover in?
Speaker 2 (23:57):
well in high school I don't know if I would make the
same decision, but if I wasdoing it now, I think cabinet
making is beautiful yeah um oneof our past cabinet makers.
Um, he has his own shop in hishouse now and what he can do
just blows my mind, and I meannot the not fastening with like
(24:20):
nails and like how he makesthings, the joinery of it all,
it's just, it all just comestogether.
I I really think what he doesis so beautiful and to have that
talent.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
It's creativity, but it's also tactile, exactly, yeah
, so I think cabinet makingwould be my choice.
So now you know this is theretirement gig.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
You got it, oh gosh, I don't think I'm not quite that
skilled, they're all just kindof whatever, but you're learning
, exactly you can get yourprevious competitors.
Robin's Crooked Kitchen.
Come and see it, robin'sCrooked Kitchen.
I love it.
Nothing closes properly, but itlooks pretty.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
Good color schemes.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
Maybe Great handles, I hope.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
And then for the last question, you know you got to
pump your group up right.
Like a lot of the support thathappens throughout skills is
maintaining the focus of thecompetitors, because it can be
overwhelming.
How do you pump them up, how doyou keep them positive and
engaged throughout these three,four days of madness?
Speaker 2 (25:23):
I think one of the key things to say is that
they're already a winner beinghere.
They've won a gold medalprovincially.
That says something about theirskill and talent.
They may have hiccups when theycome out here.
Everyone's going to makemistakes, so letting them know
that, yeah, you're focused onyour mistakes, but what you
didn't see is everything elsethat everyone's doing.
Nobody is perfect.
Speaker 1 (25:44):
Yeah, and everyone's nervous yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
And someone said the other day that you know you're
coming out here to compete, butreally you're competing with
yourself yeah, and you have todo the best that you can do and
not really focus on what'shappening elsewhere.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
Yeah, that's awesome, that's good advice yeah, and
hopefully they'll keep theirhats on and, you know, hopefully
we see some of them on thepodium this week.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
Yeah, we've got a great team.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Yeah, I hope so your fingers crossed yeah well,
thanks so much for being on theshow today.
I really appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (26:10):
No problem.
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
Awesome and for all the people that have been
following along with theexecutive directors interviews
here at skills Canada, check outall the episodes.
We're going to have 13 in total, so if you stumbled into this
one, make sure you listen to.
Thank you for downloading,commenting and sharing on the
podcast.
(26:32):
I'll catch you at the next one.
We hope you enjoy the show.
All right, I check, check.
Good, so I'm Max Duran.
Max Duran, cwb AssociationWelding Podcast podcast podcast.
Today, we have a really coolguest welding podcast.
The show is about to begin.
Hello and welcome to anotheredition of the CWB Association
(00:27):
Podcast.
My name is Max Duran and I amhere in beautiful Regina,
saskatchewan, for this year's2025 Skills Competition.
I got distracted by a passerbythere.
Sorry, but this week what we'redoing is we're going to be
recording all the executivedirectors of all the provinces
and territories and we're goingto be finding out all the
amazing stuff happening withintheir teams.
Right now we have robin lorwayfrom nova scotia.
(00:50):
Robin, how are you doing?
Speaker 2 (00:51):
I'm doing well.
Thank you for having meabsolutely.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
You know we all love nova scotia.
It's like everyone who's everbeen to the maritimes loves the
maritime.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
You love being out there I love being out there, so
I was born in Cape Breton andnow live in Halifax and, yeah,
it's such a beautiful part ofthe country to be in.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Now for the Nova Scotia team.
I was going to say Norway Forthe Nova Scotia team.
Have any of them ever been outto the prairies before?
Or Saskatchewan I?
Speaker 2 (01:20):
mean a couple have.
But we even had first timeflyers with us.
Oh wow, Some of our coacheshave never been on a plane
before.
On a plane before, so that's anincredible experience to offer
them for the first time, whichis really neat.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
What's the size of your team?
Who's all here?
Speaker 2 (01:34):
We've got 41 competitors and our team
altogether is 72, includingcoaches and skills staff.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
That's a big team.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
It's a big team yeah, like I have seen the skills
blow up in the Maritimes overthe last decade.
We were just at Skills Atlanticin New Brunswick and it was
huge.
It was huge, you know, andwe're seeing a big investment
into the skilled trades in NovaScotia.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Yeah, definitely.
I mean, the Department ofEducation is fully behind us.
The Apprenticeship Agency seesus as a great way to promote
what they do, and I just feel asif people are starting to
really realize that these areviable and excellent career
options, and teachers know thatthey need to expose students to
(02:24):
these careers.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
Yeah, and we need them.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Oh 100%.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
yeah, one of the narratives that the Maritimes
has always suffered from is theidea that you have to leave the
Maritimes, go west, for example,to make money, to have great
careers.
And out in the west myself herewe would have the influx of
people from the Maritimes everyspring for shutdown season.
Now I feel like that narrativeis changing.
(02:49):
Now A hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
So I started at Skills 18 years ago and I have a
vivid memory of a conversationwith one of my coworkers, out on
her back deck, saying are wedoing the right thing?
I mean, we know so many peoplewho go into trades but then they
have to go out West to work.
And that's what it was like 18years ago.
Now it seems to be just theopposite.
People are able to find jobs athome, nova Scotia, the
(03:14):
population is booming.
There are cranes all overHalifax, Every direction you
look you see cranes.
So obviously we are.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Destruction is there yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
And you would hear about it when I started 18 years
ago oh, there's going to be atrade shortage, it's going to
happen, and now it's here.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
The reality is there, yeah yeah, and you know, I love
that growth, I love that seeingthat, that idea of not only
reshoring your own employee baseright and saying you know, you
can grow up in Nova Scotia andstudy here, you have great
programs, nscc is an amazingcollege, you've got lots of
smaller training providers andthen you get to stay in your
(03:53):
area to work, whether it's onthe shipbuilding or construction
or manufacturing.
I say I would even take thatone step further.
Is that now people outside ofthe Maritimes are looking at you
know Nova Scotia and sayingmaybe I'll leave where I'm at to
go there because it is stillreasonable living expenses, the
(04:14):
wages are good and it'sbeautiful.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Exactly, and I think, during COVID especially, a lot
of people decided to come backhome.
They wanted to be closer totheir families.
They saw that that wassomething that was missing in
their lives.
And so so many people movedback home and I think that
really helped with thepopulation growth.
My neighbor across the streetis a contractor and he was
(04:37):
living in Ontario and it wasalways his idea, when he could,
he was going to move back home.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
He took his wife from ontario, planted her in nova
scotia and now they're livinglike the ideal life that he
always dreamed of yeah, that'swonderful, I love to hear that
well, and it creates a bar forthese young trades people to be
like something to aim for, ofthat of that idyllic life where
you work hard, you invest inyour community and then you get
to reap the rewards of youinvest in your community and
(05:04):
then you get to reap the rewardsof your investment in your
community.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Exactly, and I think that in my perspective, like in
Nova Scotia, families are soimportant to us, so to be able
to have that proximity tograndparents, to cousins, aunts,
uncles, it's really, it's agood benefit to living in Nova
Scotia.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Awesome.
Well, let's talk about yourjourney into skills.
You know 18 years.
You said how did you get intoskills?
Or how did skills nab you?
How did they nab me?
Speaker 2 (05:32):
I was working somewhere and I was absolutely
miserable.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Yeah, what were you doing, like?
What type of work?
Speaker 2 (05:38):
I was doing public relations.
I'd graduated from the publicrelations program at NSCC and I
was working in a place where Ijust felt unseen.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
I was that's the worst.
I was just.
It was awful and a friend ofmine knew this.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
And he said you know, he worked in the same office.
He worked for theapprenticeship agency which we
were based in at the time and hesaid I know this organization
and they're hiring.
It's a great group of people.
You should put in anapplication and I did and I got
the job.
And ever since I think when youwork somewhere that's just not
(06:14):
your vibe.
When you finally find a placewhere you are seen, where you
are heard, where you are welcome, where your opinion actually
matters then I'm a skills forlife pretty much yeah, you can
come out of your cocoon and youcan.
You can grow yourself yeah, myideas actually matter like I I
feel like I can come up with alot of creative things, and to
(06:36):
have someone actually hear themand welcome them made me feel
and and grow on them yeah and beable to do something about them
.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Now, 18 years ago, you've seen the rise and crest
of many different I guess.
Uh, trades waves, right, thingsgo up and down in the trades
worlds, they ebb and flow.
Skills like that also ebbs andflows.
You know what changes or whatevolutions have you seen in your
18 years within skills at NovaScotia?
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Our organization has grown substantially in 18 years.
I think, when you have, as Iwas saying before, when you have
a team that feels like they canshare their ideas.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
We welcome innovation .
Speaker 2 (07:22):
I think that's it, and they love their job, and so
they come up with all thesegreat things that we could be
doing with youth, and from thatwe pitch new programs to
partners to the provincialgovernment and then people say,
oh my gosh, this is theorganization that's doing it.
Well, they understand youth.
(07:43):
We are really respected withinthe school system and they open
their doors to us and let uscome in and speak about careers.
They know that we are fun.
They know that we areinteractive.
They know that we're engaging,so they want us in their schools
.
They know that we are theorganization that works well
with youth, promoting skilledtrades.
(08:04):
So, yeah, we just have peoplecoming to us saying do you think
you would be interested inmaybe doing this program?
Or we're doing summer campsthis year for the second time,
which is really quite fun.
And we're doing that inpartnership with the Nova Scotia
Apprenticeship Agency and NovaScotia Community College.
And yeah, they came to usbecause they knew yes, they
offer the training that isneeded in the summer camps, but
(08:27):
we're the ones that make it fun.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Yeah, and all the supports and the wraparounds are
cool with it too.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
But you know everyone's safe and happy and
enjoying their time right.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Yeah, Now.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
Nova Scotia has grown in their programming tons.
I know the Canadian WeldingBureau.
We've invested into a number ofprograms in Nova Scotia.
We helped build the trailer,the welding trailer, with NSCC
and you know there's a lot offunding going on.
But I think the narrative haschanged where before skills was
kind of beaten on the doors ofthe teachers to say let us in,
and now it's the other wayaround, where the teachers are
(08:57):
coming to skills and saying comeon in.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
So we have an in-class presentation initiative
that we do, where we havesomeone who travels across the
schools of Nova Scotia, and thedemand for it became so high
that we had to say wait a second, we can't reach everyone.
We don't have enough people, sonow we're just doing grade tens
and we have another programthat's just for grade nines, and
the amount of people that wantto come to the come to see our
(09:23):
provincial skills competition.
We had like a thousand peoplecome to each of our events this
year, which was that's amazing.
And we didn't have to push forit.
We had to say at the endactually we don't have any more
room.
We're maxed out, so that's anice problem to have.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
That is, that's amazing.
Do you feel like it's a tradesforward province?
Do you think that they'vegotten the?
I feel like like I don't thinksaskatchewan's there right now.
I mean, we are such a tradesreliant province but it's still.
The narrative is university.
The narrative is the academicor academia.
Um, do you feel like thenarrative is kind of more
(09:58):
reasonably now spread out?
Speaker 2 (10:01):
I think that we have some really good champions in
the schools right now.
We have a wonderful options andopportunities program in the
schools where students get totry out different careers, and
it's almost like a co-op programtoo.
They get to actually like goand experience what it's like
working in different careers,and I think that that's really
opened a lot of eyes.
Yeah, I do think I mean we do.
(10:23):
We are very university heavyprovince we've got dalhousie,
saint mary's mount, saintvincent, acadia so yeah, there's
still I mean, university isstill often what is promoted in
schools, but I think that Ithink it is changing for the
better.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
Yeah, that's good.
Yeah, now for yourself cominginto skills as an ed from non, a
non-skills or a non-tradesbackground.
What was it like to get intothis role and have to learn this
part of the, the industry, likethe, the terminology, the
language, the acronyms, all the?
Speaker 2 (11:01):
I'm still learning it's been a while I'm still
learning.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
There's a lot.
The learning curve must havebeen heavy.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Yeah, so I started out as the competition
coordinator, the provincialcompetition coordinator, and
I've had various rolesthroughout but, honestly, the
volunteers that we work with areso amazing and understanding
and just offer to help in anyway they can, so I've definitely
had an education over the last18 years.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
I just had a memory of the rain.
What year was that?
Speaker 2 (11:29):
That was just two years ago.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
When everything was flooding in Halifax.
That was two years ago.
Was that just two years ago?
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (11:36):
because we had the forest fires in Hammonds Plains
first and then we had theflooding.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
The flooding, I remember the excavators were
trying to pile sand to stopwater from coming in.
I mean, you can't predict theweather, but I still had a
fantastic time.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
Oh yeah, Good, good yeah.
My house is at the top of avery tall hill and our gravel
driveway was completely ruinedand we were stuck at the top of
the hill for a couple of days.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Yeah, but I mean that's the fun of skills, right?
Like you do these events acrossthe country, you pick different
locations to try to showcasedifferent areas.
I absolutely love goinganywhere.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
Oh, you're talking about the flooding during the
Skills Canada NationalConvention.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
That's what I'm talking about.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
We also had really bad floods in Nova Scotia two
years ago.
But yes, when the NationalConvention.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
It was during the National Convention.
Yeah, okay, that's what it was.
I felt like it was longer ago.
Yeah, that was madness Longerago.
Yeah, that was madness.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
Yeah, if everyone's running around, I was off on
maternity leave so I escaped itall.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
So it wasn't your fault.
No, you didn't have anything todo with the rain.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Nothing at all.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
I remember we still talk about that because you know
what.
It was like a great example ofthe community getting together
to make it happen.
Because it was like I rememberthe excavator students all ran
out and got dirt from thelandscaper students to try to
block the water and I was likeyou know what, if you're gonna
have a disaster, we're in thebest group of people exactly.
(13:00):
You've got all the expertsright there like we'll have
power, we'll have water, we'llhave food.
We're good for months here,guys.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Yeah, and I will say it doesn't only happen in nova
scotia, because I went to acompetition in france a couple
years ago and the same thinghappened.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
Let it right out, yeah, yeah well, here in regina
in the summer you'd be hardpressed to find a rain cloud
yeah, I don't know if you'venoticed, we don't really get
clouds yeah, I've noticed that.
Yeah, it's a thing, yeah I knowthat a lot of people are like
oh yeah, does it rain?
It's like, maybe in may for abit.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
Yeah, coming from the east coast, the dryness here is
quite noticeable yeah, yeah, isyour eyes burning?
Much.
Yeah, all the time.
Yeah.
It's funny because when I go,out east.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
My hair is this big, exactly right yeah, but my
sinuses are fantastic yeah,that's salt water air.
Now you know, in terms of your18 years as well.
You know what kind of newprogramming and what kind of new
stuff have you brought into theskills group.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Well, not me necessarily, but as an
organization, one of the thingsthat we're most proud of is our
App Olympics competition.
So App Olympics is aninternational movement, Olympics
of Abilities that's kind ofwhere the word comes from and
it's a skills competitionspecifically for persons with
disabilities.
Um, so we are the only provinceright now to host ab olympics
(14:19):
competitions.
We've taken several teams torepresent canada to the
international ab olympics, so Itook a team to k, oh awesome.
I've taken two separate teams toFrance to compete and we also
participated in the Finnishnational competition.
We had a cooking team competethere, so we're the only
(14:41):
province that really offers that.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
So why is it not involved in like a
cross-provincen we're?
Speaker 2 (14:46):
trying to spread it out.
It's a new initiative.
It's quite costly to bring inand I think you know as much
like this skills.
Canada has done really well atbecoming a bit more accessible
the national competition itselfover the years, but wrapping
your head around doing acompetition specifically for
(15:08):
people with disabilities andeverything that that entails.
It's a huge endeavor and thenext International Olympics is
in 2027 in Finland, and we'rereally hoping that we get more
participation from across thecountry.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
Reach out, let us know, because that sounds like
something right in ourwheelhouse.
Because when we look at thetrades of the Canadian Welding
Bureau and we look at the tradesof the Canadian Welding Bureau
and we look at the steel, youknow, industries, and we realize
that the numbers just they justaren't there.
I mean, and you know I was atthe CAF conference last week and
, uh, you know there was apresenter talking about you know
, we've been discussing thisimpending retirement.
(15:45):
You know, runoff, that's goingto be happening right away.
And they said, well, accordingto stats, canada it started.
There's not like, oh, theretirements are coming.
Apparently the tradesretirements doubled from 2024 to
2025, so it's coming.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Like it's now.
Well, several volunteers in ourteam are telling me two years,
two more years and we're done.
Yeah, so here we go, like it'sit's, it's go time now.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
meanwhile, on the other hand, you have industries
that are like I got 300 jobopenings, yeah, 200 job openings
, and it's like, okay, if we'regonna, if we're being honest
with ourselves and we want tofill all these jobs, we need to
be open, we need to get women,we need to get, uh, people of
color, we need to get indigenous, we need to get neurodivergent,
we need to get indigenous, weneed to get neurodivergent.
We need to get differentlyabled.
(16:31):
We need them all.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
We need everybody we had a competitor in France with
us a couple of years two yearsago now, I believe and she
female welder neurodiverse.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
So that's exactly who you're talking about right
there, that's what we need right, and those are the people that
are going to open the doors forothers too, because, at the end
of the day, you can't be whatyou don't see right.
And even for myself, you know,I've been in the steel trades
over 30 years.
I've never had a boss who's awoman ever.
I've never had a boss who'sIndigenous ever, and I've never
(17:11):
had a boss who's a person ofcolor at all.
So it's like, okay, well, howdo you start pushing this out?
You need to not only find andsupport the people that
represent these groups, but alsoelevate them.
They need to get into thoseforeman jobs, those supervisor
jobs, right?
Speaker 2 (17:24):
or come compete in a skills competition so that
people can see.
The young people can see whenthey're touring through exactly
what's people reflected I'veseen or I talked to someone I
forget what contest area orskill area it was, but saying
you know, oh, it was bricklaying.
Actually one of the ntc is afemale, so our competitor was
like it was so cool to see afemale bricklayer at this level,
(17:48):
at this level, yeah, andapparently she's got.
The NTC member has like severalRed Seals.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
Oh, awesome.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
So she's like multi-talented and maybe even a
master's, like this is a rolemodel.
Yeah, and so that's the type ofperson that we need to be
showing everyone, everyone, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
And like I mean, how do we, how can we do that better
?
You know, my organization, yourorganization, all our
organizations.
How can we take those gems andjust put them up on a on a
pedestal, I guess, or I don'tknow like glamorize that somehow
?
Speaker 2 (18:20):
I think you could do it, have them on your podcast.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
I do send me their names this is part of why we
started the podcast is trying tofind as many social media
channels to promote, and we onlydo lifestyles here.
I'm not pitching product yeahthat's not our game.
I have a whole nother part ofthe company that that's their
job.
Yeah, my job here is just uh,people just want to hear, like
if someone's listening and saysI want to be an ed, yeah, this
(18:45):
is, they can see you and be like.
This is an opportunity, right?
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (18:48):
yeah, and I think, like, like social media is so
crowded with different, so muchinformation right now, so
figuring out, I think I thinkthis skills competition is a
great way to do that, becausewhen people are walking around
and seeing people like themrepresented especially, I mean,
it's a lot of young people thatare touring through here to see
people their own age that areout there excelling and I mean
(19:12):
it's incredible what they do atthe competition.
These competitors.
It's really impressive to seeand I think that they really are
inspiring to people their ownage and everyone that's here is
getting those top jobs.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Like everyone here, is going to be able to fulfill
what they wish, they want.
You know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
That's such a freedom what I find really interesting
is I was talking to someone fromthe community college the other
day and I kind of reflected onhow many of our team nova scotia
alumni are now teaching at thecollege and I said.
You know why they're doing that?
It's because the ourcompetitors are the ones that
don't want to stop learning.
(19:52):
They always want to be gettingbetter and they want to share,
they want to be those mentors.
So I think like really theteams and the, the competitors
that are competing at thiscompetition are really like the
stars of our future, yeah and itcame up earlier with another
interview about the cyclicalnature of the trades and how
(20:12):
skills fits within that.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
Because you can find these kids, support them, get
them competing you know what winor lose whatever they compete
and then elevates them.
Then they wish to give backbecause then they're given into
and then they end up inmentorship positions, teachers,
back in skills, and then youknow, then they're the NTC 10
years later exactly, and it justbecomes this, this cycle of
(20:36):
support from like cradle tograve.
Not just get you in, but we'regoing to be around until you
retire exactly so.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
The coaches that we brought with us, who are now
becoming NTC, who were mycompetitors when I started 18
years ago.
It's really great to see thathappen.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
I was hoping to see Tony Rose out here, but he's
retired now.
Yeah, I mean, that makes me mad.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
Yeah, one of my best buddies.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
Every skills we hang out.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
Okay, every skills.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
When it was in Winninipeg, we ran out to go to
see metallica together.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
Tony, if you listen to this, I'm spilling the beans,
but you're retired, you can'tget in trouble you know it was,
it's, it's fantastic.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
Now let's take another lens at this.
Okay, you're a spectator.
Now you're at skills.
Regina, you did yourwalkthrough, you've seen it all.
Which are your top three tradesthat you like to spectate?
Speaker 2 (21:34):
I love cooking because I love food I love to
eat.
I love um, the presentation ofthe food, although I must say
yesterday I was watching our,our high school competitor.
Just she had five minutes topresent a plate.
I had to walk away because sostressful it is so stressful to
see um and yeah, I'm, I'm a bitmore of a really creative person
(21:57):
, so seeing things likehairstyling come together.
That's really the beauty ofreally great for me to see, and
then I mean right, I can seeright now the heavy equipment,
to see those big machines andhow they operate.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
They can be so graceful.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
I always think of them like dinosaurs.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
They look like dinosaurs.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
I have a four-year-old son, so I watch
them quite a bit.
And yeah, they are reallygraceful machines.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
Yeah, they are, especially when you've got a
skilled operator.
I've seen them run by notskilled operators.
That would make a difference,not graceful machines.
Yeah, they are Like especiallywhen you got a skilled operator.
Yeah, I've seen them run by notskilled operators.
Not graceful, not graceful,that's awesome and you know, and
in terms of you know gettingaround and seeing all the people
and you know seeing the supporthere, how do you not get
energized?
How does it not refill thattank Right?
Speaker 2 (22:47):
It happens every year and I think it's really
important that we bring like Ibring my staff with me to these
events um as many as we can,because it fills their cup too.
It makes them realize we wework hard in our office and when
we come here, we see why andhow it pays off, yeah, and, and,
and.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
You see it, for generations to come, like,
especially if you got new staff.
They might not sense yet theimplication of the depth of of
an action that you create yeah,yeah, I'm I.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
I think they catch that because, as we're walking
through the halls with them, I'mstopping and talking to so many
people, because I've met somany people since I've been here
and great friendships areformed.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
You look forward to seeing that person once a year.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
We always say welcome to the skills family because it
really does feel like a family,that's awesome, all right.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
Last couple of questions here for you, knowing
what you know of the trades now,and if you went back in time
you're young, coming out of highschool, but you know and if you
went back in time you're young,coming out of high school, but
you know about all thesefantastic opportunities which
trade would you pick to startover in?
Speaker 2 (23:57):
well in high school I don't know if I would make the
same decision, but if I wasdoing it now, I think cabinet
making is beautiful yeah um oneof our past cabinet makers.
Um, he has his own shop in hishouse now and what he can do
just blows my mind, and I meannot the not fastening with like
(24:20):
nails and like how he makesthings, the joinery of it all,
it's just, it all just comestogether.
I I really think what he doesis so beautiful and to have that
talent.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
It's creativity, but it's also tactile, exactly, yeah
, so I think cabinet makingwould be my choice.
So now you know this is theretirement gig.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
You got it, oh gosh, I don't think I'm not quite that
skilled, they're all just kindof whatever, but you're learning
, exactly you can get yourprevious competitors.
Robin's Crooked Kitchen.
Come and see it, robin'sCrooked Kitchen.
I love it.
Nothing closes properly, but itlooks pretty.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
Good color schemes.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
Maybe Great handles, I hope.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
And then for the last question, you know you got to
pump your group up right.
Like a lot of the support thathappens throughout skills is
maintaining the focus of thecompetitors, because it can be
overwhelming.
How do you pump them up, how doyou keep them positive and
engaged throughout these three,four days of madness?
Speaker 2 (25:23):
I think one of the key things to say is that
they're already a winner beinghere.
They've won a gold medalprovincially.
That says something about theirskill and talent.
They may have hiccups when theycome out here.
Everyone's going to makemistakes, so letting them know
that, yeah, you're focused onyour mistakes, but what you
didn't see is everything elsethat everyone's doing.
Nobody is perfect.
Speaker 1 (25:44):
Yeah, and everyone's nervous yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
And someone said the other day that you know you're
coming out here to compete, butreally you're competing with
yourself yeah, and you have todo the best that you can do and
not really focus on what'shappening elsewhere.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
Yeah, that's awesome, that's good advice yeah, and
hopefully they'll keep theirhats on and, you know, hopefully
we see some of them on thepodium this week.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
Yeah, we've got a great team.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Yeah, I hope so your fingers crossed yeah well,
thanks so much for being on theshow today.
I really appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (26:10):
No problem.
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
Awesome and for all the people that have been
following along with theexecutive directors interviews
here at skills Canada, check outall the episodes.
We're going to have 13 in total, so if you stumbled into this
one, make sure you listen to.
Thank you for downloading,commenting and sharing on the
podcast.
(26:32):
I'll catch you at the next one.
We hope you enjoy the show.
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