July 28, 2025 • 38 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!
What happens when a youth from a remote community of 200 people discovers the world of skilled trades? Blake Moulton, Executive Director of Skills Canada Northwest Territories, is witnessing this transformation daily as he leads the territory's largest-ever delegation to the Skills Canada National Competition. With 40 team members including 22 competitors, they've brought together young people from across the vast northern territory, many of whom have never traveled outside their communities before. This personal growth is just as valuable as the technical skills they develop.
Website: https://www.skillscanadanwt.org/
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 can check.
Check, I'm good.
So I'm Max Duran.
I'm Max Duran, I'm the CWBAssociation Welding Podcast, pod
, pod 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.
Today we are doing a specialseries of interviewing executive
directors from across Canada,including the provinces and
territories.
Today we have Blake Moultonfrom Northwest Territories
talking to me about his amazingprograms up there.
How's it going, blake?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
It's going great.
Thanks for having me.
I really appreciate it and, uh,you know it's a busy event,
been a busy day, um, but yeah,team is having fun and we're
enjoying it for sure.
So when did you guys get intotown?
So we flew out of Yale and I,if we had to fly back to
Vancouver, um, with our Canadathat we flew from Vancouver to
Regina.
So we had an early morning.
We landed in Regina about 1130in the morning, got checked into
(01:06):
the hotel at one o'clock and,yeah, been busy ever since.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Non-stop.
Had you ever been to Reginabefore?
Speaker 2 (01:12):
No, it's first time.
First time and it's the firsttime for a lot of our travelers.
Actually, this competition, youknow, we bring in competitors
from across the NorthwestTerritories, obviously, so it's
an opportunity for a lot of ourteam members to see different
parts of the country for thefirst time.
So it's a really funopportunity and, yeah, we're all
really enjoying it.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
First thoughts.
What's Regina been like for youguys?
Speaker 2 (01:31):
It's way more grass than what I expected yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
A lot greener than you thought it would be Greener.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
You know, greener is probably a better way to put it.
Yeah, yeah, like it's it's.
We've seen so far the thefootball stadium here but that
added opening ceremonies, whichis really exciting the first
time any of us really had putour feet onto a football field a
professional stadium.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Exactly it's been a.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Yeah, that was a unique opportunity.
Yeah, we checked out a lot ofrestaurants so far.
I actually go into the RoughRiders game on.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
Friday as well.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
So I think we're going to be leaving here
football fans, if we're notalready.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Good good, I'm a season ticket holder, so there
you go.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Yeah, I got my seats.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
at that, I'm actually giving my ticket to my staff so
she can go attend her firstrider game too.
There you go.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
I've never been, so I'm looking forward to it.
It'll be fun.
It's good not a football fan.
You're there for the food.
Yeah, that's actually.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
I hadn't I seen it advertised once.
It's like don't come for thefootball, stay for the food.
It's like you know what?
Not wrong, yeah, there'ssomething for everybody for sure
.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Yeah, yeah, on the field it was like, yeah, when we
were on the field taking theteam photos, it was like it
looks a lot smaller once you'reon the field.
But yeah, super, super coolopportunity, yeah, we loved it.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
So how many competitors like what's the
whole team?
What's the?
Speaker 2 (02:41):
numbers, numbers, our full team size we've got 40
team members.
That consists of competitors,volunteers, coaches, skills
Canada, nwt staff as well.
This is the biggest team we'vebrought.
We're really, really happyabout that.
Of that team, we've got 22competitors across secondary and
(03:03):
post-secondary levels.
We've got 22 competitors acrosssecondary and post-secondary
levels.
This year we really wanted togive the opportunity to the
competitors to bring coaches, sotheir teachers, their community
members that have a bit of anexperience in that trade, the
mentorship.
You know because once thecompetitors get on site, you
know it's a pretty overwhelmingexperience.
They often look to somebodythat they know.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Especially if you haven't been to.
Some of them have never flown.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Some of them have never traveled.
Some of them have never been ina city.
Yeah, there's a lot ofoverwhelming things.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Yeah Right, yeah for sure.
We always try to bring and, youknow, kind of strategize our
support system so we have folksfrom different communities who
have connections to thosestudents.
You know, in the NWT we dealwith a lot of communities that
you know sometimes have apopulation of a couple hundred
people hundred people.
So this competition, this wholeevent is such, it's a huge week
(03:58):
for everybody.
It's a week for everybody interms of the travel, the
competition days, returning, andyou're nonstop the entire time.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
It is nonstop.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
It's really important to have those people that have
those connections, thoserelationships to those
competitors.
It's also really valuable tosee them really come out of
their comfort zones and reallycome out of their shells.
A lot of them can be quitereserved, and then by the end of
the competition they'remingling, they're laughing,
they're having fun.
It's a fantastic opportunity,for sure.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
Last year in Quebec, I remember commenting to my
staff that it was one of thelargest Northwestern Territories
teams I'd seen.
To that point, yeah, becauselast year I noticed like, okay,
they're bringing a bigger teamnow.
Yeah, I remember sometimes itwas one, yeah, right, and now
it's like okay, i're bringing abigger team now.
Yeah, I remember it.
Sometimes it was one, yeah,right, and now it's like okay,
(04:47):
there's I think there was about,I would say, 15 or 18 last year
yeah.
And um and this.
And then I also noticed thesupport net.
Uh, one of the competitors wasa young mother.
Yeah, so there was, like youknow, mom was there to help but
taking care of the baby duringcompetition.
Yeah, and I'm watching likeextended family come to support.
Yeah, and I I remember thinkinglast year, this is going to
(05:07):
grow, this is going to grow.
This is steps in the rightdirection, because community in
the north is different too.
Yeah, the way the communitiesare structured, the way the
community supports are expectedto be, yeah, all the talent in
the world, it doesn't matter.
You, you're not as likely to doit on your own.
Oh, yeah, as you are, if youlike, were raised in vancouver,
where it was just expected to doit on your own.
Oh yeah, as you are, if youlike were raised in vancouver,
where it was just like, you'reexpected to do everything on
(05:27):
your own from day one right,yeah, yeah, uh.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
We find that uh, in the end in the nwt, like, people
in our communities wear manyhats.
They're their parents, they'realso teachers, uh, community
members, they're volunteers andeverybody's very intertwined um
and uh.
Especially for a large numberof our competitors at the
secondary level, like Imentioned before, it's their
first time traveling um and wefind that uh, everybody really
(05:51):
rallies together behind the team.
Yeah, we get a lot of uhtraction with, like, local news
stations and things like that.
Everybody's supporting um, the,the students themselves, the
schools that they'rerepresenting, the uh, the um
organizations that they'rerepresenting from the
post-secondary level as well, um, and it's just a really
encouraging environment and uh,it's it.
It means a lot to everybody.
(06:11):
It's not just the competitorsthat are taking part.
There's a lot of people behindthe scenes that you know um,
people don't necessarily see uh,and that can include those
coaches that are, you know, withus supporting the competitors
Um.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
But Coaches back home , other mentors yeah absolutely.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Principals volunteers , yeah, it's.
Yeah, there's a whole team ofpeople behind the team who
support and it just wouldn't bepossible for us to bring a team,
especially of the size that wehave this year, without all the
people behind the scenes thatare just giving their time.
They're just continuouslyhelping, volunteering and, yeah,
we cannot appreciate themenough.
(06:46):
They're the backbone of thewhole event for us for sure.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Now for yourself.
You know, being in the ED role,what is it that you need to do
in order to make that connection, that collaboration, possible?
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Yeah, yeah, I think what, like it kind of varies
from community to community.
We find that Yellowknife's thecapital city of the NWT and it's
kind of the central hub per se,but outside of Yellowknife, but
it's still a city, um, and wedefinitely need to respect the
(07:27):
way that the smaller communitiesoperate, because they they
operate differently, yeah, umand uh, you know, especially in
those smaller, uh locations,those are the community, uh,
those are the locations wherethose folks, like I said, are
wearing those hats.
So we need to work with those,uh, you know smaller communities
, those smaller schools, andlike, really like, what can we
need to work with those?
Uh, you know smallercommunities, those smaller
schools, and like, really like,what can we do to help you?
How can we remove barriers?
(07:48):
How can we assist the coaches,whether it's through funding,
whether it's materials, whetherit's like sending people into
the communities to to give backthe knowledge, to be as
supportive as possible to thecommunities, because you know
they can't support theirstudents in some ways because of
(08:08):
, you know, geographicalbarriers that we try to remove.
So we really need to try to beflexible and, yeah, treat each
community as their own, but alsoas a collective under the NWT
as well.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Yeah, walk that line back and forth.
Yeah, now, what's yourbackground?
So like, either you got intothis because you're a
tradesperson or you got intothis because, as well, yeah, you
walk that line back and forth.
Yeah, now for you, what's yourbackground?
So, like, either you got intothis because you're a trades
person or you got into thisbecause you just love people, I
guess.
So like which one of those?
Speaker 2 (08:32):
is it?
Yeah, uh, I'm actually, uh, I'mactually not a trades person,
uh, no background there,although, uh, through this like,
through this position, throughworking with skills, like there
are many days where I'm like youknow what this could be a fun
opportunity for me.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
Yeah.
Or you see a job posting you'relike, dang, that's a lot of
money.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Yeah, I mean there's so many skill tree careers
across the board.
Right, yeah, but no, mybackground is actually marketing
and communications.
So I was born and raised inNewfoundland, actually, so I
moved up to, uh, the northwestterritories in 2017.
(09:08):
Uh, and that was it wasactually for a position with
skills, canada nwt.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
So there was a marketing.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Yeah, yes, there was a marketing and communication
position that I uh, that I uhtook right out of school, uh
moved across the country and, uh, the first thing, I the first
person I met when I got therewas from newfoundland oh, the
chance is there that that's odd.
But yeah, like I said, mybackground's in the
communications realm, but Ithink it lends itself well when
(09:30):
dealing with all thesecommunities and all of these
kind of barriers that are inplace and schools and different
districts.
Yeah, I mean it's reallyimportant to have that skill set
.
I mean it's really important tohave that skill set.
So I started there and then Istepped into the executive
director position in July of2020.
So a few months after thepandemic.
(09:53):
Then, yeah, been here eversince.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Well, it sounds very much like Courtney's story from
New Brunswick.
She came in on a one yearcontract for marketing.
Yeah, here we are still.
Yeah, and that's the I alwayssay.
It's like the mafia, right,once you're in, there's no
getting out.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
Exactly, yeah, exactly.
There's Courtney, and thenthere's Chris from Alberta as
well.
He has a communications andmarketing background as well,
but I.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
That's a big part of what you do, though, right For
sure.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
I mean, like as the executive director, like we all
wear many hats, like we, uh, arethe communications
professionals we wear, you knowall you know event coordinator
hats.
Yeah, yeah, you know uh, and,and a lot of us are advisors,
you know like planning, yeah,yep, and like a lot of us are on
the ground, especially, uh, us,uh, in the territories.
Like we're, um, you know, we'rethe executive director, but
we're all on the floor, likepassing out the t-shirts,
(10:45):
getting involved with thecompetitions, um, yeah, yeah, so
you wear many hats, for sure,um, but yeah what's the learning
curve been like then?
Speaker 1 (10:54):
like how long have you been with skills right now?
Speaker 2 (10:56):
so since 2017, since 2017 in the in the
communications position, then,uh, in 2020 is when I stepped
into the executive directorposition, before seven years now
with the company.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
And what's that learning curve been like?
You know, you got to learn theterminology, you got to learn
the vernacular, the acronyms.
It's a pretty steep curve andit's not just one trade, it's
all of them.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Yeah, well, that's the thing.
It's like you're kind of one ofthe main points of contact
between the office and theneverybody else organizations,
schools and across all thecommunities.
So for me the learning curvewas interesting because I
stepped in just a few monthsafter the pandemic and when I
started we couldn't do thein-person programs.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
We couldn't do the competitions.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
So there were some things that, uh, you know, my,
my marketing background lendeditself well to.
There was plenty of things thatI had, you know, little to no
experience in, um, or certainlyon a on a much smaller scale, um
, so, you know, the learningcurve has been, uh, uh, quite a
ride, and still learning stilllearning today.
I'll learn again tomorrow um,but I feel like that was one of
(12:04):
the um advantages.
I guess I would use that, asyou know that term loosely but
in terms of like learning thefoundation of some of the
background um, of of the skillsthat are required in this
position.
I had time to put that together,um, and eventually, uh you know
it wasn't just me in thisposition um, uh, when the
pandemic hit, it was alsorebuilding our, um, uh, our
(12:27):
volunteer capacity, um, in thenorth there was a lot of people
that, uh, that left theircommunities when the pandemic
hit, um, and uh, yeah, so we hadto, kind of, you know, hit the
restart button kind of rebuildyeah yeah, um, but uh, it's,
yeah, it's certainly been aninteresting ride.
Uh, one of the again benefitsand advantages I always use
those terms pretty loosely but,um it.
(12:50):
it took time for us to actuallyhave the permission to to have
our events in full capacity.
So we were able to scale up,have a smaller you know a
virtual competition.
The following year was avirtual for secondary um
in-person for post-secondary andit really took some time to
really get back.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
That might've given you a bit of a like a longer
lead ramp right, yeah, yeah forsure, for sure.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
And I was also fortunate enough to have like
the working knowledge of likeour mission as an organization
from the communications positionas well.
So I just didn't get tossedinto this position.
I had like the backgroundknowledge of like our volunteers
, our board of directors,partners, supporters.
I had those connections interms of the terminology and our
programs I was familiar with.
But if the pandemic gave usanything, it gave me an
(13:35):
opportunity to kind of like takeokay, I need to learn how to do
some of these things.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
I'm going to take some time and put that together.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
But yeah, you know, we're all learning every day.
Some of us, you know, in the EDpositions in other parts of the
country, have been with theorganizations for years and
years and years.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
I actually went today , maria, 27 years.
Yeah, I was like wild, yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
And I'm sure she'd tell you that she's learning
every day too.
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Now you brought up a term there that I brought up.
I've talked about this with allthe EDs is the importance of
the sponsors and partners right?
The is the importance of thesponsors and partners right.
The funding that you get fromfederal is there right, but
really the expectation is foreach province to find their own
partner, their own sponsors, toelevate their program to where
(14:22):
they need to be, because youwant to go for goals, you want
to get to the world and youcan't do that just on your base
funding, right, yeah, yeah, in asmaller I would say like it's a
huge territory but it's asmaller pool of companies, how
do you find those sponsors andthose supporters?
Speaker 2 (14:45):
yeah, yeah, there's uh, you know, like you just said
, we certainly cover like alarge range geographically.
There's a lot of communities touh to connect with Um.
It also gives us uh you knowopportunities to connect with
different partners and, uh youknow, supporters in those
communities as well.
Um, you know, I mentionedbefore that uh, in terms of the
support network behind thecompetitors, uh, there's a whole
(15:06):
team of people behind thosecompetitors coaching and
mentoring them, them.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
There's also a whole team of partners and
organizations behind uh at theoffice level have to too many
degrees of separation betweenthe competitor and the uncle who
owns the company.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Yeah, and that's the thing, and it's like sometimes
we have like um, you knowthere's plenty of organizations
that get involved in thecompetition and you know we have
, for example, nwd.
Pinework is an organization upin Yellowknife, and we have
Chloe, who is on our board ofdirectors, her husband Brad.
The three of them own thecompany.
(15:40):
Brad is our technical chair andcoach for carpentry.
They donate the materials andsupplies for the carpentry
competition.
They have two employees thatthey also are getting involved
in competing today and tomorrowat the secondary and
post-secondary level so, exactly, exactly so.
It's a whole it's a whole meshnetwork so we have like uh so
many uh smaller intimaterelationships with these
(16:02):
organizations that employ thosetrades um, that are sometimes
teams of five, ten, twentydifferent people yeah.
We also work with largerorganizations as well.
So we have the Department ofEducation, culture and
Employment within the governmentof Northwest Territories has
been a long-running partner ofours and they're also sending
volunteers, they're also sendingcoaches and they have programs
(16:24):
within that department that helpshow those opportunities to the
competitors and ourparticipants.
So it's not just like thefunding, it's also the in-kind
support, the people, thematerials, the supplies.
So there's a whole spectrum oforganizations and partners that
we work with that you know.
(16:45):
It would not be possible to dowhat we do without them.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
Yeah, now what about the big players?
Because we hear in Canada aboutinvestment into the north.
Definitely mining is up there,right, they want to get under
that ice.
So bad, right, and I'm glad youguys are holding them off and
fighting for what it's worth.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
Don't get taken right .
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Don't get taken yeah yeah, but eventually it's going
to happen right and to thebenefit of Northwest Territories
.
I hope it's to the benefit ofthe economy.
Yeah, now those large playersare they supportive?
Are they on your sponsors list?
Have you been able to pull themin?
Speaker 2 (17:21):
Yeah, yeah for sure.
We've worked with manydifferent mines over the years.
Yeah, right now we're workingwith, uh, rio Tinto.
So Divec is is operating there.
They're coming to a closeshortly as well, that mine site.
Um, the thing about mining isthat, um, I think, since 1999,
um or 2000,.
Like, there's been over $20billion put into the NWT's
(17:43):
economy just from the miningsector alone.
Um, the thing about mines isthat, uh, each site has a finite
lifespan.
So it's like you have uh, youknow, a lot of people so many
trades, 20 years, and that's it.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
And some of the sites are, you know, five, 10.
Um, the benefit is that there'sso much space, is so many big
sites, um that, uh, you knowthere's, there's, they'll move
on to the next one.
Exactly, exactly next one,exactly, exactly.
But yeah, we, we, we do workclosely with those, with those
companies, and uh, and and uh,the apprentices and
post-secondary um students whoare employed in different trades
(18:16):
in the mine welding is a hugetrade, um and uh, heavy vehicle
mechanics there's a whole numberof them, um, but the mine
certainly is a huge uh supporterand partner of ours, but also
economy-wise, billions ofdollars that have been put into
the economy.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
Now, how do you handle training for skills?
Because there's not a lot ofcolleges, there's not a lot of
shops in the high schools.
There's some, but not a lot.
But to get to skills you needneed to train.
So where do they train?
Speaker 2 (18:53):
yeah, so um kind of a wide spectrum all over.
Yeah, yeah, honestly likefinding spit, like we've had
people train and practice out oftheir neighbor's garage and
then go and win a gold medal atnationals.
We've had uh, competitors, um,you know, trained within, uh,
aurora college as a partner ofours, um, a supporter of ours,
(19:15):
and, um, you know, uh, we haveeducators in the school there
that will land out theirclassroom space, their shop
space, um, but at the highschool level it's it's a similar
and different story.
Um, there are schools that have, you know, several high schools
in the territories have your,your traditional, your shop
classes or, uh, maybe, amechanics garage.
(19:36):
We have a couple spots carpentryyeah, um, and we have a couple
of uh welding shops that areactually incorporated in a few
of the high schools up north aswell.
Um, but generally for the mostparts like uh it's it comes from
the support of theorganizations who employ the
apprentices there.
They're donating their, theirspace, um, they're also donating
their their time to coach andtrain as well.
(19:57):
Um, so, like I guess, to answeryour question, wherever we can
find a space, and a human tohelp coach and train.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
You're in, we're all in.
We're all in, yeah, we're allin.
We're all in, yeah, well, and Imean, the idea is that these
sponsors and companies that aresupporting you, they're going to
poach the best kids, right?
Like it's basicallyself-preservation for them.
Yeah, come learn in our shop,come train, you know, then
they're going to go off and wingold and they're guaranteed a
job if they come back, becausethey're they're set Right.
(20:25):
Yeah, yeah, it set right.
Yeah, yeah, it's really takingthe cream of the crop right from
the start.
Right?
Oh, for sure for sure.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
It's like a whole kind of rotating circle.
It's like there's so manyprograms within.
Like I mentioned, uh, ece, thegovernment partner of ours, um,
they have a program called snapand it essentially gives um, it
gives high school students anopportunity to uh work towards
their uh hours and their ticket,as they're in high school, good
um, so they can work afterhours.
(20:52):
Um, sometimes they can actuallystep out of school, uh, during
some classes and put in a fewhours there, um, and so they're,
you know they're, buildingconnections to these
organizations as they're alreadyin high school, and then, by um
us working with the snapprogram in ece, they often get,
you know, incorporated into theand you know it's more common
than not than by the end of theday, you know, if they're out of
high school, they havecompetition experience, they've
(21:14):
made a connection toorganizations that are employing
them through the SNAP program,and then that organization says,
hey, we'd love to have you onwe'd love to keep you on.
Just stay yeah, either as apart-time role, full Um so, yeah
, I mean, like it's all thesesystems that like are giving
back.
It's all about giving back andeverybody helps each other kind
of get to that next step.
Um and uh, like I mentioned, Ican't emphasize enough that
(21:36):
there's so many people workingbehind the scenes Like we've got
a big team here this year, butthere's hundreds of people um,
all across the territories thatare like the fabric.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
Exactly.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
Exactly yeah, and I wish we could add them all here.
They're all here in spirit,yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
More funding, more funding, yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
But uh, also just like the quality of the work
that our competitors have havealready shown us during this
first day, um, we're, we'rereally proud of them, like
they've, they've been putting inso much extra time.
Um, and the organizations havebeen really prioritizing, like
like, the coaching.
Like without the coaching, um,you know it's, uh, it, yeah,
it's, it's, it's essential tohave them have success at the
(22:13):
national competition.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
for sure, yeah, which are the trades that you're
competing at in this competitionthat you feel the most
confident in, because everyprovince, based on their
industry, based on what's aroundthem, have certain you know
things that they do best yeah,what do you feel?
Speaker 2 (22:29):
nwt brings yeah, in terms of uh metal representation
, um, we have uh, historically,hairstyling is is a huge one for
us.
Um, we have uh mint hair loungeand yellow knife.
Uh, elizabeth ferrier she's ourhairstyling tech tech chair.
Um our post-secondarycompetitor also works at that
salon and the secondarycompetitor is actually a student
(22:52):
of hers because she also that'sfull-time training all the time
, so like she's like workingwith Emma, our post-secondary
competitor, at the salon.
She's also helping Ariana, oursecondary competitor at school
and she's trying to, you know,juggle her time there.
So you know, hairstyling is astrong one and that's because we
(23:20):
have a dedicated like coach anda kind of a foundation of like
a good system.
You have that mentorship cyclehappening, yeah, yeah, um, other
ones are like video productionis a huge one.
Um, as of recent, we have acouple of uh students there, kai
and kaylin.
They're a team of two there.
They've been competing for thepast two years.
Um, they kind of got pushedahead because uh, the the first
place uh winning team atterritorials.
Um, they couldn't go.
So I approached them and I saidwould you be interested in
going?
Just to go try, okay.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
And then they won.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
And then they came.
I think they came fourth Okayokay, that's awesome and they
had.
You know again, like they wentin just with the opportunity to
learn and collect informationand come back and compete.
And they came back the nextyear and won silver.
And now they're competing again, this time and and they've got
their eyes on gold exactly,exactly so, like over the course
(24:00):
of the past couple of years,like I've seen them step out of
their comfort zones.
Uh, they're, they're, they're,socially, they're so much
different in in a great waythey're way more outgoing.
They're, they're comfortable,they're funny they're trying
different things exactly exactlymakes me feel old already um,
don't say that, then I'm deadpotato then um, yeah, so there's
a couple areas like that thatthat we have, uh, you know,
(24:21):
historically placed well in, but, like, in terms of places,
areas that I have confidence in,like for us, like it's not just
about the medals, in fact, likewe just want the competitors to
learn and have fun.
They've all won, yeah, the mostvaluable thing to me.
Like, obviously we all love tosee medals, and you know, and so
do the competitors, um, butit's really like the opportunity
(24:42):
that they um, that they steppedout of their comfort zone A lot
of them, like I mentioned,exactly.
Just like just getting here is ahuge accomplishment.
Um so, just like in talking tosome of the coaches and
technical chairs and volunteersof ours, in talking with the
competitors over their lunchbreaks and things like that like
they're all feeling good,they're all feeling comfortable,
they're all feeling nervous,they're all feeling stressed,
(25:02):
and that's just a part of it.
That's part of the journey, butjust hearing that they're having
fun and they're making progresson some level is just like
that's what brings me the mostjoy on some level is just like
that's what brings me the mostjoy.
Um, and especially when youlike, incorporate the fact that
they're coming from smallcommunities that are all like
just imagining all the peopleback home that are kind of
(25:22):
cheering them on just thinkingabout them every day exactly
exactly it's.
Uh, it's that.
That's the most rewarding partabout this competition.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
I think they televise the closing ceremonies yeah,
yeah people can watch from allover the world.
Exactly, yeah, yeah, it's.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
It's a super cool uh thing.
They added to the to thecompetition yeah because, like,
it's not just us that havepeople back home, it's we all
have people back home yeah,everyone, everyone has
volunteers and partners andorganizations and, and you know,
geographically, like the largerprovinces, certainly have more
people that are going to be, uh,wanted to tune in and and share
on the team.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
So, um, yeah, yeah, super cool addition, yeah now
for for you, you've been withthe, with the company, eight
years, now seven ish.
You've been there long enoughto see the cycle of, you know,
young student, secondary topost-secondary, into
competitions and then perhapseven into back into mentorships,
and we talk about being stuckin that cycle of skills forever.
(26:16):
Once you start, you know, howdo you like to see that growth,
that cyclical journey of thepeople themselves within skills
yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
So there's a lot of people who are kind of like have
moved into different role I'man example of that.
Moving into a differentposition, yeah, um, there's also
uh competitors that that changehats once they either reach
like an age limit within thecompetition criteria, um or
plans change or whatever.
The case is, um, I think aslong as people are um, you know,
(26:45):
from my perspective, involvedin the trades and in the
technology and certainly likewith our organization in some
capacity, like that's what I'dlove to see um and uh like, I
guess a good example of that forthis competition year is that
we have um ideal woodwork is acompany up uh in the nwt.
That's their academy makingcompany um.
So, uh, roger nenza, he's uhthe national technical chair for
(27:06):
for the nwt, for cabinet makingum.
His employee uh is uh, or one ofthem rather is uh, isabel.
She's competing at thepost-secondary level and she
already said that once she'sdone competing she wants to act
as a coach for another employee.
That's there.
Roger does a really good job ofsupporting his team.
They all work together to kindof wear those hats and as people
(27:26):
move, they change positions.
They're moving from acompetitor role into a coaching
role.
And eventually, when Roger,eventually, when his time comes
to step down as ntc, I'm surehe'll tell one of the people
there you're in, now you're inum, so it's really like once you
know everybody's so close upnorth and we really have this
like established, like it'sreally like a family of just
(27:48):
like a huge family of people whoare um, you know, helping
people move into the nextopportunity, whether that's um
within their companies, whetherthat's within, like our
organization, um differentvolunteers.
People are also tryingdifferent trades.
There's people who've come herewho've um competed in like a
robotics competition and theysay, like I didn't know,
workplace safety was acompetition so they go from
(28:08):
robotics to workplace safety.
Um so everybody's always cyclingpositions, but I think the one
consistent fact is that, like,everybody's support is right
there and they're all involvedon some level.
Um, I think one of thechallenges for us is that, like,
um, from an operationalstandpoint, like I have one
staff madison with me and likethis is our priority, like the
(28:28):
programs like the operations,getting people involved.
That's our priority.
Everybody else is allextracurricular, everybody from
our competitors.
They don't need to compete.
Our volunteers don't need tovolunteer.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
Um, so it's uh, you know yeah, giving them a reason
to yeah, yeah, for sure for surenow for yourself this whole
competition, all these tradeshere which are your top three to
watch, that you follow out ofjust pure curiosity.
Speaker 2 (28:55):
Yeah, that's a good question, cause that changes,
that changes.
There's some.
Speaker 1 (28:59):
I used to love landscaping.
I used to love watching thembuild the gardens.
That one's awesome.
But I've moved on.
Yeah, I moved on.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Yeah, um, I think, uh , public speaking actually is,
has been one of my.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
I've never sat and watched through it, I'm always
too busy, but I feel like thatwould be great.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
It's very yeah, public speaking is very intense.
Yeah, um, yeah, there's like abased on their schedule.
Um, sometimes they they spend agood chunk of the day kind of
waiting for their turn andthey're just like rehearsing
their speech and you can seethem just kind of like waiting
and waiting, waiting and they goup.
Speaker 1 (29:26):
Oh man, that's so stressful watching.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
Yeah, um, public speaking is a good one.
Um, uh, video production is funbecause the competitors get to
walk off their competition siteand kind of mosey around, record
videos and just like seeingwhat they're doing, like what
they're recording what they'redoing, and then somehow it turns
into that yeah, yeah like Istepped outside uh earlier, I
saw kai and kayla and our videoproduction team and they were
like.
I saw kai lying on the concrete, just like lying there, and a
part of me was like, oh my god,is he okay?
like I should go check on himand then I saw um the other with
(30:00):
the camera over his face and Iwas like okay, well, they're
fine, yeah, yeah, yeah, justyeah, they're fine, um, so video
production is an interestingone.
And then like, uh, the culinaryuh competitions are yeah so
cooking and baking are sointense, um, and you can see how
quickly they're moving.
Baking is so.
I mean they're both timesensitive, but baking is so so
(30:21):
particular, yeah, yeah andthey're really like using every
single like.
Second they have um and at thevery end you get to see um, what
they baked, what they made, um,and particularly like the uh,
like at the post-secondary level, like when they get everything
on display.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
Oh looks, oh my.
Speaker 2 (30:38):
God, oh my God.
Speaker 1 (30:38):
I mean secondary and post-secondary are both quite
impressive, but just like oh myGod, I find that certain
competitions it looks likeeveryone's just cool, like and
they're just working, they'redoing stuff.
Yeah, like the machinists andthe advanced manufacturing.
Yeah, everyone working, they'redoing stuff.
Yeah, the machinists and theand the advanced manufacturing.
Yeah, everyone there just lookslike cool as a cucumber and
they got their cool machines androbots going on.
(30:59):
Yeah.
Then you go to othercompetitions, like baking, and
everyone looks like they're sostressed yeah, yeah, right, it's
just like so interesting howthese different trades react and
work for sure with their
Speaker 2 (31:12):
tools and their workspace right yeah yeah, it's
interesting because, like, uh,you know you look at cooking and
baking and, um, you know thentcs are are, you know they're?
They're looking over, they'relooking at the competitor,
they're walking away and thecompetitors are so like oh my
god, yeah yeah, it's uh, yeahthey're.
They're all fun to like watchin different ways
(31:33):
landscapingcaping, uh,bricklaying super cool to watch.
We actually can't do that upNorth.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
Um, but maybe the why not Just not?
Speaker 2 (31:39):
a, not a space for it .
Or, yeah, uh, geographically,um, you know it has at the
territorial competition.
Hopefully one day we'll getthat introduced.
(31:59):
Well, you gotta get acompetition, you gotta get a
national up there.
Yeah, if you have a facilitylike this.
No, actually, you know what weuh myself, um katie and brandon,
um uh the other territorialexecutive directors like we're
always like you know what, likeit'd be cool if we had, like,
the national competition upnorth.
It would need to be spreadacross all territories and have
multiple competition sites, soyou wouldn't be able to have
these kids coming through oranything you have flights going.
Oh, yeah, yeah, and it wouldlikely have to take place over
the course of maybe like a weekor a two or a month, um so uh
(32:23):
dope, it's gonna be fun, it'sgonna be awesome it'll be
awesome.
So like um, yeah, we definitelydon't have the infrastructure
um the hotel space, anythinglike that, so one can dream one
day.
Speaker 1 (32:33):
Well, I know that cwb is working on getting up there.
We're we're funding programs inthe north extensively, the
territories, yeah, uh, we'retrying to figure it out because
it's uh, it's kind of, uh,uncharted waters and and and,
even from a funding envelope Ifeel like they've been missed by
a lot of people and and kind of, when we look at our, our, our
map of the country and wherewe're investing.
Speaker 2 (32:55):
it's not enough in the north, it's not enough right
, sure, but then you've got tofind the partners, right yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:00):
You've got to find the partners to invest with.
That's it, yeah, last couplequestions.
Sure, we talked about thetrades you enjoy looking at, you
know, following along, butlet's hit that reset button
right.
We've got Blake at 16 years old, coming out of high school.
Speaker 2 (33:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:16):
But you know everything about the trades,
like you know everything thatyou know now.
Yeah, which trade would youpick to do for the rest of your
life?
Speaker 2 (33:25):
I think video game design.
Yeah, I think video game design.
Are you a gamer?
Speaker 1 (33:28):
Yeah, because I'm a gamer too.
What do you play?
I'm PC, I too.
What do you play I have on pc?
I'm super nerd, oh me too.
Yeah, so I'm pc, but with thexbox full pass and yep theme and
gg and all of them.
Yeah, but I also have a switch.
Yeah, playstation, but why?
Speaker 2 (33:41):
whatever, and a steam deck yeah, they're great, I
think, video game design because, like, um, yeah, came from time
to time now when I do have thetime, but certainly when I was
like 16, that was that's all Idid all I did king max 077 on
steam yo anybody um, yeah, likeI think that personally, that
(34:02):
would have been so cool.
Um, it is still cool, it is.
Speaker 1 (34:05):
I have a friend who does that for a living.
But they're, they'll get this.
Uh, he went into audiotechnician to be a sound
engineer yeah and ended upgetting a job with sony to be a
sound engineer and ended upgetting a job with Sony to be a
sound engineer for musicians Wow.
But then he kind of didn't likeit because musicians are
apparently terrible to work with.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
Sure Right.
Speaker 1 (34:23):
And Sony owned Blizzard Entertainment at the
time.
Okay, and so he got a job beinga sound engineer for Blizzard
and he ended up working on videogames.
Now he works for a company,Obsidian, out of the US on video
games and he just won a Grammyfor one of his music
compositions for a video game.
Was it Avowed?
Speaker 2 (34:44):
Avowed.
Yes, oh my God, that game is sogood, the music is so good.
Speaker 1 (34:47):
He's my wife's cousin's husband.
Speaker 2 (34:50):
Oh my gosh, yeah, that's so intense.
That is so intense.
That is so intense.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
That's awesome and I love those connections because
there's a trade.
Speaker 2 (34:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:55):
There's a trade and you end up doing audio for an
award-winning video game.
Speaker 2 (34:59):
Yes, that's so cool.
Yes, that's awesome.
Oh my God, after this I'm goingback to play about and I'm just
going to sit there and put theheadphones on and just take it
all in cool, that's so cool sowhere was I going?
Speaker 1 (35:13):
oh yes, I had two questions for you, was that?
Was that the second one?
Speaker 2 (35:15):
no, I forgot, we got one out there.
Speaker 1 (35:17):
Yeah, we got really excited about video games there
like kind of lost where I wasgoing yeah, oh yeah, last
question yeah, as a skillsdirector now, knowing what you
know, working with the studentsand all the and all the people,
yeah, what piece of advice doyou give a competitor that's
coming here, like when you'redoing the pep talk up home,
before you get on the plane,what are you telling them all
before you come down?
Speaker 2 (35:36):
I think that, uh, you know, if you feel nervous,
that's a good thing, like itmeans you're uh, thinking about,
you know, thinking about thesteps ahead, what the
competition is going to entail,um, and, and you care it means
you care and you're going to tryand, uh, that's, that's the,
that's the biggest thing.
it's just like embraceeverything that comes along with
it, all the fear, all thedoubts, all the you know those
(35:57):
little voices in the back ofyour head.
Just like go for the experienceand have fun Again.
Like the medals are we lovegetting medals if we can.
But like the real wins for uswhen we go home is like, did you
have fun?
Like, are you going to maybeconsider this as a trade?
Did you know this was a trade?
Did you have fun?
Like, are you going to maybeconsider this as a trade?
Did you know this was a trade?
Did you know this was atechnology career path?
Those are what we want to gohome with and those like those
(36:20):
bits of information the kind ofyou know when kids go home away
from the team, you know sittingon the couch and they're kind of
scratching their head sayingwhat am?
I looking at this.
Speaker 1 (36:29):
Am I going down this path one day?
Am I?
Speaker 2 (36:30):
considerate this path .
One day I might consider it.
Um, that's, that's the real,that's the real success stories
for us.
And and, uh, you know, any bitsof information and advice that
I can give to the competitor islike, just go and have fun.
Um, I was telling one of ourcompetitors yesterday that you
know, for years I've been likeessentially preaching that, but
like I've never competed, yeah,I don't know what it feels like.
(36:50):
Yeah, I'm just collectinginformation from other
competitors.
But uh, it's a lot ofconsistent like messages saying
that like I was very anxiousfirst, uh, you know kind of
hectic and and and stressedduring, but in hindsight like it
was so much fun and I would doit again and that's what we want
to hear, for sure all right.
Speaker 1 (37:08):
So I had an idea.
So I'm going to pitch this tothe skills board.
Okay, for maybe next year ortwo years, if it takes planning,
we're gonna need time.
Give me a four-hour window andI can set it up and I'll do a
mini competition.
Then we can pick maybe four orfive different trades and all
the executive directors have tocompete on a four-hour mini
(37:28):
skills competition.
I'm in.
I'm in just to see how you guysdo.
Well, the plate.
Yeah, build a square out ofwood, you know, like wire, a
simple wiring diagram.
That's perfect.
I think that would be fantastic.
Speaker 2 (37:38):
I think it would be awesome.
Speaker 1 (37:39):
I think it would be great television.
I think it would be great forcontent.
Speaker 2 (37:42):
Yeah, great content.
If anything, great contentHilarious, hilarious, hilarious.
I'm got that, I'm in yeah I gotweird ideas.
Speaker 1 (37:51):
I like to make them happen.
It's not weird she does most ofthe work, but it's fantastic so
awesome well thanks so much,blake.
This has been fantastic.
Thanks for coming on the showthanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (37:59):
I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
Thank you awesome and for all the people that have
been following along.
Make sure that you check outall the episodes.
We're going to be recordingabout 14 total.
Is it 14, 13, 15, 13?
So we're going to have a bunchof episodes.
To make sure you watch them alland also please like, comment
and share on them, as always,and if you want to see the video
, it's on YouTube and on allstreaming platforms.
Check out the next one.
We hope you enjoy the show.
(38:23):
Bye.
All right, I can check.
Check, I'm good.
So I'm Max Duran.
I'm Max Duran, I'm the CWBAssociation Welding Podcast, pod
, pod 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.
Today we are doing a specialseries of interviewing executive
directors from across Canada,including the provinces and
territories.
Today we have Blake Moultonfrom Northwest Territories
talking to me about his amazingprograms up there.
How's it going, blake?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
It's going great.
Thanks for having me.
I really appreciate it and, uh,you know it's a busy event,
been a busy day, um, but yeah,team is having fun and we're
enjoying it for sure.
So when did you guys get intotown?
So we flew out of Yale and I,if we had to fly back to
Vancouver, um, with our Canadathat we flew from Vancouver to
Regina.
So we had an early morning.
We landed in Regina about 1130in the morning, got checked into
(01:06):
the hotel at one o'clock and,yeah, been busy ever since.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Non-stop.
Had you ever been to Reginabefore?
Speaker 2 (01:12):
No, it's first time.
First time and it's the firsttime for a lot of our travelers.
Actually, this competition, youknow, we bring in competitors
from across the NorthwestTerritories, obviously, so it's
an opportunity for a lot of ourteam members to see different
parts of the country for thefirst time.
So it's a really funopportunity and, yeah, we're all
really enjoying it.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
First thoughts.
What's Regina been like for youguys?
Speaker 2 (01:31):
It's way more grass than what I expected yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
A lot greener than you thought it would be Greener.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
You know, greener is probably a better way to put it.
Yeah, yeah, like it's it's.
We've seen so far the thefootball stadium here but that
added opening ceremonies, whichis really exciting the first
time any of us really had putour feet onto a football field a
professional stadium.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Exactly it's been a.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Yeah, that was a unique opportunity.
Yeah, we checked out a lot ofrestaurants so far.
I actually go into the RoughRiders game on.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
Friday as well.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
So I think we're going to be leaving here
football fans, if we're notalready.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Good good, I'm a season ticket holder, so there
you go.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Yeah, I got my seats.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
at that, I'm actually giving my ticket to my staff so
she can go attend her firstrider game too.
There you go.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
I've never been, so I'm looking forward to it.
It'll be fun.
It's good not a football fan.
You're there for the food.
Yeah, that's actually.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
I hadn't I seen it advertised once.
It's like don't come for thefootball, stay for the food.
It's like you know what?
Not wrong, yeah, there'ssomething for everybody for sure
.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Yeah, yeah, on the field it was like, yeah, when we
were on the field taking theteam photos, it was like it
looks a lot smaller once you'reon the field.
But yeah, super, super coolopportunity, yeah, we loved it.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
So how many competitors like what's the
whole team?
What's the?
Speaker 2 (02:41):
numbers, numbers, our full team size we've got 40
team members.
That consists of competitors,volunteers, coaches, skills
Canada, nwt staff as well.
This is the biggest team we'vebrought.
We're really, really happyabout that.
Of that team, we've got 22competitors across secondary and
(03:03):
post-secondary levels.
We've got 22 competitors acrosssecondary and post-secondary
levels.
This year we really wanted togive the opportunity to the
competitors to bring coaches, sotheir teachers, their community
members that have a bit of anexperience in that trade, the
mentorship.
You know because once thecompetitors get on site, you
know it's a pretty overwhelmingexperience.
They often look to somebodythat they know.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Especially if you haven't been to.
Some of them have never flown.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Some of them have never traveled.
Some of them have never been ina city.
Yeah, there's a lot ofoverwhelming things.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Yeah Right, yeah for sure.
We always try to bring and, youknow, kind of strategize our
support system so we have folksfrom different communities who
have connections to thosestudents.
You know, in the NWT we dealwith a lot of communities that
you know sometimes have apopulation of a couple hundred
people hundred people.
So this competition, this wholeevent is such, it's a huge week
(03:58):
for everybody.
It's a week for everybody interms of the travel, the
competition days, returning, andyou're nonstop the entire time.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
It is nonstop.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
It's really important to have those people that have
those connections, thoserelationships to those
competitors.
It's also really valuable tosee them really come out of
their comfort zones and reallycome out of their shells.
A lot of them can be quitereserved, and then by the end of
the competition they'remingling, they're laughing,
they're having fun.
It's a fantastic opportunity,for sure.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
Last year in Quebec, I remember commenting to my
staff that it was one of thelargest Northwestern Territories
teams I'd seen.
To that point, yeah, becauselast year I noticed like, okay,
they're bringing a bigger teamnow.
Yeah, I remember sometimes itwas one, yeah, right, and now
it's like okay, i're bringing abigger team now.
Yeah, I remember it.
Sometimes it was one, yeah,right, and now it's like okay,
(04:47):
there's I think there was about,I would say, 15 or 18 last year
yeah.
And um and this.
And then I also noticed thesupport net.
Uh, one of the competitors wasa young mother.
Yeah, so there was, like youknow, mom was there to help but
taking care of the baby duringcompetition.
Yeah, and I'm watching likeextended family come to support.
Yeah, and I I remember thinkinglast year, this is going to
(05:07):
grow, this is going to grow.
This is steps in the rightdirection, because community in
the north is different too.
Yeah, the way the communitiesare structured, the way the
community supports are expectedto be, yeah, all the talent in
the world, it doesn't matter.
You, you're not as likely to doit on your own.
Oh, yeah, as you are, if youlike, were raised in vancouver,
where it was just expected to doit on your own.
Oh yeah, as you are, if youlike were raised in vancouver,
where it was just like, you'reexpected to do everything on
(05:27):
your own from day one right,yeah, yeah, uh.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
We find that uh, in the end in the nwt, like, people
in our communities wear manyhats.
They're their parents, they'realso teachers, uh, community
members, they're volunteers andeverybody's very intertwined um
and uh.
Especially for a large numberof our competitors at the
secondary level, like Imentioned before, it's their
first time traveling um and wefind that uh, everybody really
(05:51):
rallies together behind the team.
Yeah, we get a lot of uhtraction with, like, local news
stations and things like that.
Everybody's supporting um, the,the students themselves, the
schools that they'rerepresenting, the uh, the um
organizations that they'rerepresenting from the
post-secondary level as well, um, and it's just a really
encouraging environment and uh,it's it.
It means a lot to everybody.
(06:11):
It's not just the competitorsthat are taking part.
There's a lot of people behindthe scenes that you know um,
people don't necessarily see uh,and that can include those
coaches that are, you know, withus supporting the competitors
Um.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
But Coaches back home , other mentors yeah absolutely.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Principals volunteers , yeah, it's.
Yeah, there's a whole team ofpeople behind the team who
support and it just wouldn't bepossible for us to bring a team,
especially of the size that wehave this year, without all the
people behind the scenes thatare just giving their time.
They're just continuouslyhelping, volunteering and, yeah,
we cannot appreciate themenough.
(06:46):
They're the backbone of thewhole event for us for sure.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Now for yourself.
You know, being in the ED role,what is it that you need to do
in order to make that connection, that collaboration, possible?
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Yeah, yeah, I think what, like it kind of varies
from community to community.
We find that Yellowknife's thecapital city of the NWT and it's
kind of the central hub per se,but outside of Yellowknife, but
it's still a city, um, and wedefinitely need to respect the
(07:27):
way that the smaller communitiesoperate, because they they
operate differently, yeah, umand uh, you know, especially in
those smaller, uh locations,those are the community, uh,
those are the locations wherethose folks, like I said, are
wearing those hats.
So we need to work with those,uh, you know smaller communities
, those smaller schools, andlike, really like, what can we
need to work with those?
Uh, you know smallercommunities, those smaller
schools, and like, really like,what can we do to help you?
How can we remove barriers?
(07:48):
How can we assist the coaches,whether it's through funding,
whether it's materials, whetherit's like sending people into
the communities to to give backthe knowledge, to be as
supportive as possible to thecommunities, because you know
they can't support theirstudents in some ways because of
(08:08):
, you know, geographicalbarriers that we try to remove.
So we really need to try to beflexible and, yeah, treat each
community as their own, but alsoas a collective under the NWT
as well.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Yeah, walk that line back and forth.
Yeah, now, what's yourbackground?
So like, either you got intothis because you're a
tradesperson or you got intothis because, as well, yeah, you
walk that line back and forth.
Yeah, now for you, what's yourbackground?
So, like, either you got intothis because you're a trades
person or you got into thisbecause you just love people, I
guess.
So like which one of those?
Speaker 2 (08:32):
is it?
Yeah, uh, I'm actually, uh, I'mactually not a trades person,
uh, no background there,although, uh, through this like,
through this position, throughworking with skills, like there
are many days where I'm like youknow what this could be a fun
opportunity for me.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
Yeah.
Or you see a job posting you'relike, dang, that's a lot of
money.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Yeah, I mean there's so many skill tree careers
across the board.
Right, yeah, but no, mybackground is actually marketing
and communications.
So I was born and raised inNewfoundland, actually, so I
moved up to, uh, the northwestterritories in 2017.
(09:08):
Uh, and that was it wasactually for a position with
skills, canada nwt.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
So there was a marketing.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Yeah, yes, there was a marketing and communication
position that I uh, that I uhtook right out of school, uh
moved across the country and, uh, the first thing, I the first
person I met when I got therewas from newfoundland oh, the
chance is there that that's odd.
But yeah, like I said, mybackground's in the
communications realm, but Ithink it lends itself well when
(09:30):
dealing with all thesecommunities and all of these
kind of barriers that are inplace and schools and different
districts.
Yeah, I mean it's reallyimportant to have that skill set
.
I mean it's really important tohave that skill set.
So I started there and then Istepped into the executive
director position in July of2020.
So a few months after thepandemic.
(09:53):
Then, yeah, been here eversince.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Well, it sounds very much like Courtney's story from
New Brunswick.
She came in on a one yearcontract for marketing.
Yeah, here we are still.
Yeah, and that's the I alwayssay.
It's like the mafia, right,once you're in, there's no
getting out.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
Exactly, yeah, exactly.
There's Courtney, and thenthere's Chris from Alberta as
well.
He has a communications andmarketing background as well,
but I.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
That's a big part of what you do, though, right For
sure.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
I mean, like as the executive director, like we all
wear many hats, like we, uh, arethe communications
professionals we wear, you knowall you know event coordinator
hats.
Yeah, yeah, you know uh, and,and a lot of us are advisors,
you know like planning, yeah,yep, and like a lot of us are on
the ground, especially, uh, us,uh, in the territories.
Like we're, um, you know, we'rethe executive director, but
we're all on the floor, likepassing out the t-shirts,
(10:45):
getting involved with thecompetitions, um, yeah, yeah, so
you wear many hats, for sure,um, but yeah what's the learning
curve been like then?
Speaker 1 (10:54):
like how long have you been with skills right now?
Speaker 2 (10:56):
so since 2017, since 2017 in the in the
communications position, then,uh, in 2020 is when I stepped
into the executive directorposition, before seven years now
with the company.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
And what's that learning curve been like?
You know, you got to learn theterminology, you got to learn
the vernacular, the acronyms.
It's a pretty steep curve andit's not just one trade, it's
all of them.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Yeah, well, that's the thing.
It's like you're kind of one ofthe main points of contact
between the office and theneverybody else organizations,
schools and across all thecommunities.
So for me the learning curvewas interesting because I
stepped in just a few monthsafter the pandemic and when I
started we couldn't do thein-person programs.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
We couldn't do the competitions.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
So there were some things that, uh, you know, my,
my marketing background lendeditself well to.
There was plenty of things thatI had, you know, little to no
experience in, um, or certainlyon a on a much smaller scale, um
, so, you know, the learningcurve has been, uh, uh, quite a
ride, and still learning stilllearning today.
I'll learn again tomorrow um,but I feel like that was one of
(12:04):
the um advantages.
I guess I would use that, asyou know that term loosely but
in terms of like learning thefoundation of some of the
background um, of of the skillsthat are required in this
position.
I had time to put that together,um, and eventually, uh you know
it wasn't just me in thisposition um, uh, when the
pandemic hit, it was alsorebuilding our, um, uh, our
(12:27):
volunteer capacity, um, in thenorth there was a lot of people
that, uh, that left theircommunities when the pandemic
hit, um, and uh, yeah, so we hadto, kind of, you know, hit the
restart button kind of rebuildyeah yeah, um, but uh, it's,
yeah, it's certainly been aninteresting ride.
Uh, one of the again benefitsand advantages I always use
those terms pretty loosely but,um it.
(12:50):
it took time for us to actuallyhave the permission to to have
our events in full capacity.
So we were able to scale up,have a smaller you know a
virtual competition.
The following year was avirtual for secondary um
in-person for post-secondary andit really took some time to
really get back.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
That might've given you a bit of a like a longer
lead ramp right, yeah, yeah forsure, for sure.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
And I was also fortunate enough to have like
the working knowledge of likeour mission as an organization
from the communications positionas well.
So I just didn't get tossedinto this position.
I had like the backgroundknowledge of like our volunteers
, our board of directors,partners, supporters.
I had those connections interms of the terminology and our
programs I was familiar with.
But if the pandemic gave usanything, it gave me an
(13:35):
opportunity to kind of like takeokay, I need to learn how to do
some of these things.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
I'm going to take some time and put that together.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
But yeah, you know, we're all learning every day.
Some of us, you know, in the EDpositions in other parts of the
country, have been with theorganizations for years and
years and years.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
I actually went today , maria, 27 years.
Yeah, I was like wild, yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
And I'm sure she'd tell you that she's learning
every day too.
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Now you brought up a term there that I brought up.
I've talked about this with allthe EDs is the importance of
the sponsors and partners right?
The is the importance of thesponsors and partners right.
The funding that you get fromfederal is there right, but
really the expectation is foreach province to find their own
partner, their own sponsors, toelevate their program to where
(14:22):
they need to be, because youwant to go for goals, you want
to get to the world and youcan't do that just on your base
funding, right, yeah, yeah, in asmaller I would say like it's a
huge territory but it's asmaller pool of companies, how
do you find those sponsors andthose supporters?
Speaker 2 (14:45):
yeah, yeah, there's uh, you know, like you just said
, we certainly cover like alarge range geographically.
There's a lot of communities touh to connect with Um.
It also gives us uh you knowopportunities to connect with
different partners and, uh youknow, supporters in those
communities as well.
Um, you know, I mentionedbefore that uh, in terms of the
support network behind thecompetitors, uh, there's a whole
(15:06):
team of people behind thosecompetitors coaching and
mentoring them, them.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
There's also a whole team of partners and
organizations behind uh at theoffice level have to too many
degrees of separation betweenthe competitor and the uncle who
owns the company.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Yeah, and that's the thing, and it's like sometimes
we have like um, you knowthere's plenty of organizations
that get involved in thecompetition and you know we have
, for example, nwd.
Pinework is an organization upin Yellowknife, and we have
Chloe, who is on our board ofdirectors, her husband Brad.
The three of them own thecompany.
(15:40):
Brad is our technical chair andcoach for carpentry.
They donate the materials andsupplies for the carpentry
competition.
They have two employees thatthey also are getting involved
in competing today and tomorrowat the secondary and
post-secondary level so, exactly, exactly so.
It's a whole it's a whole meshnetwork so we have like uh so
many uh smaller intimaterelationships with these
(16:02):
organizations that employ thosetrades um, that are sometimes
teams of five, ten, twentydifferent people yeah.
We also work with largerorganizations as well.
So we have the Department ofEducation, culture and
Employment within the governmentof Northwest Territories has
been a long-running partner ofours and they're also sending
volunteers, they're also sendingcoaches and they have programs
(16:24):
within that department that helpshow those opportunities to the
competitors and ourparticipants.
So it's not just like thefunding, it's also the in-kind
support, the people, thematerials, the supplies.
So there's a whole spectrum oforganizations and partners that
we work with that you know.
(16:45):
It would not be possible to dowhat we do without them.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
Yeah, now what about the big players?
Because we hear in Canada aboutinvestment into the north.
Definitely mining is up there,right, they want to get under
that ice.
So bad, right, and I'm glad youguys are holding them off and
fighting for what it's worth.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
Don't get taken right .
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Don't get taken yeah yeah, but eventually it's going
to happen right and to thebenefit of Northwest Territories
.
I hope it's to the benefit ofthe economy.
Yeah, now those large playersare they supportive?
Are they on your sponsors list?
Have you been able to pull themin?
Speaker 2 (17:21):
Yeah, yeah for sure.
We've worked with manydifferent mines over the years.
Yeah, right now we're workingwith, uh, rio Tinto.
So Divec is is operating there.
They're coming to a closeshortly as well, that mine site.
Um, the thing about mining isthat, um, I think, since 1999,
um or 2000,.
Like, there's been over $20billion put into the NWT's
(17:43):
economy just from the miningsector alone.
Um, the thing about mines isthat, uh, each site has a finite
lifespan.
So it's like you have uh, youknow, a lot of people so many
trades, 20 years, and that's it.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
And some of the sites are, you know, five, 10.
Um, the benefit is that there'sso much space, is so many big
sites, um that, uh, you knowthere's, there's, they'll move
on to the next one.
Exactly, exactly next one,exactly, exactly.
But yeah, we, we, we do workclosely with those, with those
companies, and uh, and and uh,the apprentices and
post-secondary um students whoare employed in different trades
(18:16):
in the mine welding is a hugetrade, um and uh, heavy vehicle
mechanics there's a whole numberof them, um, but the mine
certainly is a huge uh supporterand partner of ours, but also
economy-wise, billions ofdollars that have been put into
the economy.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
Now, how do you handle training for skills?
Because there's not a lot ofcolleges, there's not a lot of
shops in the high schools.
There's some, but not a lot.
But to get to skills you needneed to train.
So where do they train?
Speaker 2 (18:53):
yeah, so um kind of a wide spectrum all over.
Yeah, yeah, honestly likefinding spit, like we've had
people train and practice out oftheir neighbor's garage and
then go and win a gold medal atnationals.
We've had uh, competitors, um,you know, trained within, uh,
aurora college as a partner ofours, um, a supporter of ours,
(19:15):
and, um, you know, uh, we haveeducators in the school there
that will land out theirclassroom space, their shop
space, um, but at the highschool level it's it's a similar
and different story.
Um, there are schools that have, you know, several high schools
in the territories have your,your traditional, your shop
classes or, uh, maybe, amechanics garage.
(19:36):
We have a couple spots carpentryyeah, um, and we have a couple
of uh welding shops that areactually incorporated in a few
of the high schools up north aswell.
Um, but generally for the mostparts like uh it's it comes from
the support of theorganizations who employ the
apprentices there.
They're donating their, theirspace, um, they're also donating
their their time to coach andtrain as well.
(19:57):
Um, so, like I guess, to answeryour question, wherever we can
find a space, and a human tohelp coach and train.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
You're in, we're all in.
We're all in, yeah, we're allin.
We're all in, yeah, well, and Imean, the idea is that these
sponsors and companies that aresupporting you, they're going to
poach the best kids, right?
Like it's basicallyself-preservation for them.
Yeah, come learn in our shop,come train, you know, then
they're going to go off and wingold and they're guaranteed a
job if they come back, becausethey're they're set Right.
(20:25):
Yeah, yeah, it set right.
Yeah, yeah, it's really takingthe cream of the crop right from
the start.
Right?
Oh, for sure for sure.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
It's like a whole kind of rotating circle.
It's like there's so manyprograms within.
Like I mentioned, uh, ece, thegovernment partner of ours, um,
they have a program called snapand it essentially gives um, it
gives high school students anopportunity to uh work towards
their uh hours and their ticket,as they're in high school, good
um, so they can work afterhours.
(20:52):
Um, sometimes they can actuallystep out of school, uh, during
some classes and put in a fewhours there, um, and so they're,
you know they're, buildingconnections to these
organizations as they're alreadyin high school, and then, by um
us working with the snapprogram in ece, they often get,
you know, incorporated into theand you know it's more common
than not than by the end of theday, you know, if they're out of
high school, they havecompetition experience, they've
(21:14):
made a connection toorganizations that are employing
them through the SNAP program,and then that organization says,
hey, we'd love to have you onwe'd love to keep you on.
Just stay yeah, either as apart-time role, full Um so, yeah
, I mean, like it's all thesesystems that like are giving
back.
It's all about giving back andeverybody helps each other kind
of get to that next step.
Um and uh, like I mentioned, Ican't emphasize enough that
(21:36):
there's so many people workingbehind the scenes Like we've got
a big team here this year, butthere's hundreds of people um,
all across the territories thatare like the fabric.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
Exactly.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
Exactly yeah, and I wish we could add them all here.
They're all here in spirit,yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
More funding, more funding, yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
But uh, also just like the quality of the work
that our competitors have havealready shown us during this
first day, um, we're, we'rereally proud of them, like
they've, they've been putting inso much extra time.
Um, and the organizations havebeen really prioritizing, like
like, the coaching.
Like without the coaching, um,you know it's, uh, it, yeah,
it's, it's, it's essential tohave them have success at the
(22:13):
national competition.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
for sure, yeah, which are the trades that you're
competing at in this competitionthat you feel the most
confident in, because everyprovince, based on their
industry, based on what's aroundthem, have certain you know
things that they do best yeah,what do you feel?
Speaker 2 (22:29):
nwt brings yeah, in terms of uh metal representation
, um, we have uh, historically,hairstyling is is a huge one for
us.
Um, we have uh mint hair loungeand yellow knife.
Uh, elizabeth ferrier she's ourhairstyling tech tech chair.
Um our post-secondarycompetitor also works at that
salon and the secondarycompetitor is actually a student
(22:52):
of hers because she also that'sfull-time training all the time
, so like she's like workingwith Emma, our post-secondary
competitor, at the salon.
She's also helping Ariana, oursecondary competitor at school
and she's trying to, you know,juggle her time there.
So you know, hairstyling is astrong one and that's because we
(23:20):
have a dedicated like coach anda kind of a foundation of like
a good system.
You have that mentorship cyclehappening, yeah, yeah, um, other
ones are like video productionis a huge one.
Um, as of recent, we have acouple of uh students there, kai
and kaylin.
They're a team of two there.
They've been competing for thepast two years.
Um, they kind of got pushedahead because uh, the the first
place uh winning team atterritorials.
Um, they couldn't go.
So I approached them and I saidwould you be interested in
going?
Just to go try, okay.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
And then they won.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
And then they came.
I think they came fourth Okayokay, that's awesome and they
had.
You know again, like they wentin just with the opportunity to
learn and collect informationand come back and compete.
And they came back the nextyear and won silver.
And now they're competing again, this time and and they've got
their eyes on gold exactly,exactly so, like over the course
(24:00):
of the past couple of years,like I've seen them step out of
their comfort zones.
Uh, they're, they're, they're,socially, they're so much
different in in a great waythey're way more outgoing.
They're, they're comfortable,they're funny they're trying
different things exactly exactlymakes me feel old already um,
don't say that, then I'm deadpotato then um, yeah, so there's
a couple areas like that thatthat we have, uh, you know,
(24:21):
historically placed well in, but, like, in terms of places,
areas that I have confidence in,like for us, like it's not just
about the medals, in fact, likewe just want the competitors to
learn and have fun.
They've all won, yeah, the mostvaluable thing to me.
Like, obviously we all love tosee medals, and you know, and so
do the competitors, um, butit's really like the opportunity
(24:42):
that they um, that they steppedout of their comfort zone A lot
of them, like I mentioned,exactly.
Just like just getting here is ahuge accomplishment.
Um so, just like in talking tosome of the coaches and
technical chairs and volunteersof ours, in talking with the
competitors over their lunchbreaks and things like that like
they're all feeling good,they're all feeling comfortable,
they're all feeling nervous,they're all feeling stressed,
(25:02):
and that's just a part of it.
That's part of the journey, butjust hearing that they're having
fun and they're making progresson some level is just like
that's what brings me the mostjoy on some level is just like
that's what brings me the mostjoy.
Um, and especially when youlike, incorporate the fact that
they're coming from smallcommunities that are all like
just imagining all the peopleback home that are kind of
(25:22):
cheering them on just thinkingabout them every day exactly
exactly it's.
Uh, it's that.
That's the most rewarding partabout this competition.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
I think they televise the closing ceremonies yeah,
yeah people can watch from allover the world.
Exactly, yeah, yeah, it's.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
It's a super cool uh thing.
They added to the to thecompetition yeah because, like,
it's not just us that havepeople back home, it's we all
have people back home yeah,everyone, everyone has
volunteers and partners andorganizations and, and you know,
geographically, like the largerprovinces, certainly have more
people that are going to be, uh,wanted to tune in and and share
on the team.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
So, um, yeah, yeah, super cool addition, yeah now
for for you, you've been withthe, with the company, eight
years, now seven ish.
You've been there long enoughto see the cycle of, you know,
young student, secondary topost-secondary, into
competitions and then perhapseven into back into mentorships,
and we talk about being stuckin that cycle of skills forever.
(26:16):
Once you start, you know, howdo you like to see that growth,
that cyclical journey of thepeople themselves within skills
yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
So there's a lot of people who are kind of like have
moved into different role I'man example of that.
Moving into a differentposition, yeah, um, there's also
uh competitors that that changehats once they either reach
like an age limit within thecompetition criteria, um or
plans change or whatever.
The case is, um, I think aslong as people are um, you know,
(26:45):
from my perspective, involvedin the trades and in the
technology and certainly likewith our organization in some
capacity, like that's what I'dlove to see um and uh like, I
guess a good example of that forthis competition year is that
we have um ideal woodwork is acompany up uh in the nwt.
That's their academy makingcompany um.
So, uh, roger nenza, he's uhthe national technical chair for
(27:06):
for the nwt, for cabinet makingum.
His employee uh is uh, or one ofthem rather is uh, isabel.
She's competing at thepost-secondary level and she
already said that once she'sdone competing she wants to act
as a coach for another employee.
That's there.
Roger does a really good job ofsupporting his team.
They all work together to kindof wear those hats and as people
(27:26):
move, they change positions.
They're moving from acompetitor role into a coaching
role.
And eventually, when Roger,eventually, when his time comes
to step down as ntc, I'm surehe'll tell one of the people
there you're in, now you're inum, so it's really like once you
know everybody's so close upnorth and we really have this
like established, like it'sreally like a family of just
(27:48):
like a huge family of people whoare um, you know, helping
people move into the nextopportunity, whether that's um
within their companies, whetherthat's within, like our
organization, um differentvolunteers.
People are also tryingdifferent trades.
There's people who've come herewho've um competed in like a
robotics competition and theysay, like I didn't know,
workplace safety was acompetition so they go from
(28:08):
robotics to workplace safety.
Um so everybody's always cyclingpositions, but I think the one
consistent fact is that, like,everybody's support is right
there and they're all involvedon some level.
Um, I think one of thechallenges for us is that, like,
um, from an operationalstandpoint, like I have one
staff madison with me and likethis is our priority, like the
(28:28):
programs like the operations,getting people involved.
That's our priority.
Everybody else is allextracurricular, everybody from
our competitors.
They don't need to compete.
Our volunteers don't need tovolunteer.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
Um, so it's uh, you know yeah, giving them a reason
to yeah, yeah, for sure for surenow for yourself this whole
competition, all these tradeshere which are your top three to
watch, that you follow out ofjust pure curiosity.
Speaker 2 (28:55):
Yeah, that's a good question, cause that changes,
that changes.
There's some.
Speaker 1 (28:59):
I used to love landscaping.
I used to love watching thembuild the gardens.
That one's awesome.
But I've moved on.
Yeah, I moved on.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Yeah, um, I think, uh , public speaking actually is,
has been one of my.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
I've never sat and watched through it, I'm always
too busy, but I feel like thatwould be great.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
It's very yeah, public speaking is very intense.
Yeah, um, yeah, there's like abased on their schedule.
Um, sometimes they they spend agood chunk of the day kind of
waiting for their turn andthey're just like rehearsing
their speech and you can seethem just kind of like waiting
and waiting, waiting and they goup.
Speaker 1 (29:26):
Oh man, that's so stressful watching.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
Yeah, um, public speaking is a good one.
Um, uh, video production is funbecause the competitors get to
walk off their competition siteand kind of mosey around, record
videos and just like seeingwhat they're doing, like what
they're recording what they'redoing, and then somehow it turns
into that yeah, yeah like Istepped outside uh earlier, I
saw kai and kayla and our videoproduction team and they were
like.
I saw kai lying on the concrete, just like lying there, and a
part of me was like, oh my god,is he okay?
like I should go check on himand then I saw um the other with
(30:00):
the camera over his face and Iwas like okay, well, they're
fine, yeah, yeah, yeah, justyeah, they're fine, um, so video
production is an interestingone.
And then like, uh, the culinaryuh competitions are yeah so
cooking and baking are sointense, um, and you can see how
quickly they're moving.
Baking is so.
I mean they're both timesensitive, but baking is so so
(30:21):
particular, yeah, yeah andthey're really like using every
single like.
Second they have um and at thevery end you get to see um, what
they baked, what they made, um,and particularly like the uh,
like at the post-secondary level, like when they get everything
on display.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
Oh looks, oh my.
Speaker 2 (30:38):
God, oh my God.
Speaker 1 (30:38):
I mean secondary and post-secondary are both quite
impressive, but just like oh myGod, I find that certain
competitions it looks likeeveryone's just cool, like and
they're just working, they'redoing stuff.
Yeah, like the machinists andthe advanced manufacturing.
Yeah, everyone working, they'redoing stuff.
Yeah, the machinists and theand the advanced manufacturing.
Yeah, everyone there just lookslike cool as a cucumber and
they got their cool machines androbots going on.
(30:59):
Yeah.
Then you go to othercompetitions, like baking, and
everyone looks like they're sostressed yeah, yeah, right, it's
just like so interesting howthese different trades react and
work for sure with their
Speaker 2 (31:12):
tools and their workspace right yeah yeah, it's
interesting because, like, uh,you know you look at cooking and
baking and, um, you know thentcs are are, you know they're?
They're looking over, they'relooking at the competitor,
they're walking away and thecompetitors are so like oh my
god, yeah yeah, it's uh, yeahthey're.
They're all fun to like watchin different ways
(31:33):
landscapingcaping, uh,bricklaying super cool to watch.
We actually can't do that upNorth.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
Um, but maybe the why not Just not?
Speaker 2 (31:39):
a, not a space for it .
Or, yeah, uh, geographically,um, you know it has at the
territorial competition.
Hopefully one day we'll getthat introduced.
(31:59):
Well, you gotta get acompetition, you gotta get a
national up there.
Yeah, if you have a facilitylike this.
No, actually, you know what weuh myself, um katie and brandon,
um uh the other territorialexecutive directors like we're
always like you know what, likeit'd be cool if we had, like,
the national competition upnorth.
It would need to be spreadacross all territories and have
multiple competition sites, soyou wouldn't be able to have
these kids coming through oranything you have flights going.
Oh, yeah, yeah, and it wouldlikely have to take place over
the course of maybe like a weekor a two or a month, um so uh
(32:23):
dope, it's gonna be fun, it'sgonna be awesome it'll be
awesome.
So like um, yeah, we definitelydon't have the infrastructure
um the hotel space, anythinglike that, so one can dream one
day.
Speaker 1 (32:33):
Well, I know that cwb is working on getting up there.
We're we're funding programs inthe north extensively, the
territories, yeah, uh, we'retrying to figure it out because
it's uh, it's kind of, uh,uncharted waters and and and,
even from a funding envelope Ifeel like they've been missed by
a lot of people and and kind of, when we look at our, our, our
map of the country and wherewe're investing.
Speaker 2 (32:55):
it's not enough in the north, it's not enough right
, sure, but then you've got tofind the partners, right yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:00):
You've got to find the partners to invest with.
That's it, yeah, last couplequestions.
Sure, we talked about thetrades you enjoy looking at, you
know, following along, butlet's hit that reset button
right.
We've got Blake at 16 years old, coming out of high school.
Speaker 2 (33:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:16):
But you know everything about the trades,
like you know everything thatyou know now.
Yeah, which trade would youpick to do for the rest of your
life?
Speaker 2 (33:25):
I think video game design.
Yeah, I think video game design.
Are you a gamer?
Speaker 1 (33:28):
Yeah, because I'm a gamer too.
What do you play?
I'm PC, I too.
What do you play I have on pc?
I'm super nerd, oh me too.
Yeah, so I'm pc, but with thexbox full pass and yep theme and
gg and all of them.
Yeah, but I also have a switch.
Yeah, playstation, but why?
Speaker 2 (33:41):
whatever, and a steam deck yeah, they're great, I
think, video game design because, like, um, yeah, came from time
to time now when I do have thetime, but certainly when I was
like 16, that was that's all Idid all I did king max 077 on
steam yo anybody um, yeah, likeI think that personally, that
(34:02):
would have been so cool.
Um, it is still cool, it is.
Speaker 1 (34:05):
I have a friend who does that for a living.
But they're, they'll get this.
Uh, he went into audiotechnician to be a sound
engineer yeah and ended upgetting a job with sony to be a
sound engineer and ended upgetting a job with Sony to be a
sound engineer for musicians Wow.
But then he kind of didn't likeit because musicians are
apparently terrible to work with.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
Sure Right.
Speaker 1 (34:23):
And Sony owned Blizzard Entertainment at the
time.
Okay, and so he got a job beinga sound engineer for Blizzard
and he ended up working on videogames.
Now he works for a company,Obsidian, out of the US on video
games and he just won a Grammyfor one of his music
compositions for a video game.
Was it Avowed?
Speaker 2 (34:44):
Avowed.
Yes, oh my God, that game is sogood, the music is so good.
Speaker 1 (34:47):
He's my wife's cousin's husband.
Speaker 2 (34:50):
Oh my gosh, yeah, that's so intense.
That is so intense.
That is so intense.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
That's awesome and I love those connections because
there's a trade.
Speaker 2 (34:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:55):
There's a trade and you end up doing audio for an
award-winning video game.
Speaker 2 (34:59):
Yes, that's so cool.
Yes, that's awesome.
Oh my God, after this I'm goingback to play about and I'm just
going to sit there and put theheadphones on and just take it
all in cool, that's so cool sowhere was I going?
Speaker 1 (35:13):
oh yes, I had two questions for you, was that?
Was that the second one?
Speaker 2 (35:15):
no, I forgot, we got one out there.
Speaker 1 (35:17):
Yeah, we got really excited about video games there
like kind of lost where I wasgoing yeah, oh yeah, last
question yeah, as a skillsdirector now, knowing what you
know, working with the studentsand all the and all the people,
yeah, what piece of advice doyou give a competitor that's
coming here, like when you'redoing the pep talk up home,
before you get on the plane,what are you telling them all
before you come down?
Speaker 2 (35:36):
I think that, uh, you know, if you feel nervous,
that's a good thing, like itmeans you're uh, thinking about,
you know, thinking about thesteps ahead, what the
competition is going to entail,um, and, and you care it means
you care and you're going to tryand, uh, that's, that's the,
that's the biggest thing.
it's just like embraceeverything that comes along with
it, all the fear, all thedoubts, all the you know those
(35:57):
little voices in the back ofyour head.
Just like go for the experienceand have fun Again.
Like the medals are we lovegetting medals if we can.
But like the real wins for uswhen we go home is like, did you
have fun?
Like, are you going to maybeconsider this as a trade?
Did you know this was a trade?
Did you have fun?
Like, are you going to maybeconsider this as a trade?
Did you know this was a trade?
Did you know this was atechnology career path?
Those are what we want to gohome with and those like those
(36:20):
bits of information the kind ofyou know when kids go home away
from the team, you know sittingon the couch and they're kind of
scratching their head sayingwhat am?
I looking at this.
Speaker 1 (36:29):
Am I going down this path one day?
Am I?
Speaker 2 (36:30):
considerate this path .
One day I might consider it.
Um, that's, that's the real,that's the real success stories
for us.
And and, uh, you know, any bitsof information and advice that
I can give to the competitor islike, just go and have fun.
Um, I was telling one of ourcompetitors yesterday that you
know, for years I've been likeessentially preaching that, but
like I've never competed, yeah,I don't know what it feels like.
(36:50):
Yeah, I'm just collectinginformation from other
competitors.
But uh, it's a lot ofconsistent like messages saying
that like I was very anxiousfirst, uh, you know kind of
hectic and and and stressedduring, but in hindsight like it
was so much fun and I would doit again and that's what we want
to hear, for sure all right.
Speaker 1 (37:08):
So I had an idea.
So I'm going to pitch this tothe skills board.
Okay, for maybe next year ortwo years, if it takes planning,
we're gonna need time.
Give me a four-hour window andI can set it up and I'll do a
mini competition.
Then we can pick maybe four orfive different trades and all
the executive directors have tocompete on a four-hour mini
(37:28):
skills competition.
I'm in.
I'm in just to see how you guysdo.
Well, the plate.
Yeah, build a square out ofwood, you know, like wire, a
simple wiring diagram.
That's perfect.
I think that would be fantastic.
Speaker 2 (37:38):
I think it would be awesome.
Speaker 1 (37:39):
I think it would be great television.
I think it would be great forcontent.
Speaker 2 (37:42):
Yeah, great content.
If anything, great contentHilarious, hilarious, hilarious.
I'm got that, I'm in yeah I gotweird ideas.
Speaker 1 (37:51):
I like to make them happen.
It's not weird she does most ofthe work, but it's fantastic so
awesome well thanks so much,blake.
This has been fantastic.
Thanks for coming on the showthanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (37:59):
I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
Thank you awesome and for all the people that have
been following along.
Make sure that you check outall the episodes.
We're going to be recordingabout 14 total.
Is it 14, 13, 15, 13?
So we're going to have a bunchof episodes.
To make sure you watch them alland also please like, comment
and share on them, as always,and if you want to see the video
, it's on YouTube and on allstreaming platforms.
Check out the next one.
We hope you enjoy the show.
(38:23):
Bye.
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