WEBVTT 00:00:04.540 --> 00:00:08.660 Hi, today I have Christina Dal Dosso and we are 00:00:08.660 --> 00:00:11.839 going to be talking about women in trades. I'm 00:00:11.839 --> 00:00:13.839 so glad you got in touch with me because this 00:00:13.839 --> 00:00:16.620 is something that I really feel is important. 00:00:17.079 --> 00:00:20.780 Now, You are in the trades? Yes, I studied to 00:00:20.780 --> 00:00:23.039 be in the skilled trades, but currently I'm doing 00:00:23.039 --> 00:00:25.859 marketing for the skilled trades. For the HVACs? 00:00:25.960 --> 00:00:29.260 For HVAC, yes, correct. So she does go on ladders 00:00:29.260 --> 00:00:32.119 and she knows what she's talking about. But I 00:00:32.119 --> 00:00:35.500 mean, even we're talking, even skilled trades 00:00:35.500 --> 00:00:39.759 can be like aesthetics and hair. And I mean, 00:00:40.100 --> 00:00:43.619 get out there and use your hands, use your minds, 00:00:43.899 --> 00:00:48.299 use your... energy and build something creative. 00:00:48.859 --> 00:00:51.299 Absolutely. There's lots of jobs that people 00:00:51.299 --> 00:00:54.799 don't realize are skilled trades. I had no idea 00:00:54.799 --> 00:00:58.399 either until I attended the Ontario Skilled Trades 00:00:58.399 --> 00:01:01.719 competition and that gave me an eye opening to 00:01:01.719 --> 00:01:04.599 just what the possibilities are. Now what is 00:01:04.599 --> 00:01:07.620 that? I've never heard of that. So there's two 00:01:07.620 --> 00:01:10.319 categories. There's a competition for the high 00:01:10.319 --> 00:01:12.799 school students and there's also a competition 00:01:12.799 --> 00:01:18.069 for the college. and it's within Canada, so we 00:01:18.069 --> 00:01:22.010 have welders, we have florists, we have hairstylists, 00:01:22.349 --> 00:01:25.150 and they all compete, and it's just a great way 00:01:25.150 --> 00:01:27.590 to get yourself out there. These are all trades 00:01:27.590 --> 00:01:30.989 that we are seriously lacking in the Windsor 00:01:30.989 --> 00:01:34.810 -Essex County area, like bricklaying and even 00:01:34.810 --> 00:01:38.109 landscape design and construction. There's not 00:01:38.109 --> 00:01:42.079 a lot of women in those areas. I absolutely agree 00:01:42.079 --> 00:01:45.920 and we're also at a time where a lot of the population 00:01:45.920 --> 00:01:49.519 is retiring from skilled trades so we do need 00:01:49.519 --> 00:01:52.920 to fill up that gap with women and with whoever 00:01:52.920 --> 00:01:56.269 else is interested. Do you feel that there are 00:01:56.269 --> 00:01:59.409 more women that are willing to take these courses 00:01:59.409 --> 00:02:02.790 and to take these jobs? I feel like it all starts 00:02:02.790 --> 00:02:05.989 with learning what's available, right? So these 00:02:05.989 --> 00:02:08.830 skilled trades competition shows and even just 00:02:08.830 --> 00:02:11.129 career expo shows that show you what skilled 00:02:11.129 --> 00:02:14.539 trades are out there. And that gives high school 00:02:14.539 --> 00:02:16.919 students a good opportunity to understand that 00:02:16.919 --> 00:02:19.080 there's more than just engineering or becoming 00:02:19.080 --> 00:02:22.939 a doctor or a lawyer. And then OEAP. Absolutely. 00:02:23.159 --> 00:02:25.560 Some of the schools have that, and that allows 00:02:25.560 --> 00:02:29.840 them to try things out. Absolutely. We have an 00:02:29.840 --> 00:02:32.479 OEAP student at my work currently who's doing 00:02:32.479 --> 00:02:36.129 plumbing. And then some of my skilled trades 00:02:36.129 --> 00:02:40.310 workers, like my nail technician and my hair 00:02:40.310 --> 00:02:43.310 artist, they also did OYAP, which allowed them 00:02:43.310 --> 00:02:46.229 to understand what career possibilities are after. 00:02:46.729 --> 00:02:49.990 Now, doing an OYAP program through high school, 00:02:50.389 --> 00:02:54.969 does that cut down on any of your time in college 00:02:54.969 --> 00:02:58.550 or university? So it actually allows you to get 00:02:58.550 --> 00:03:01.370 your level one while you're still in high school. 00:03:01.889 --> 00:03:04.370 So it's almost like you graduate high school, 00:03:04.409 --> 00:03:07.129 but then you fast track your first year of your 00:03:07.129 --> 00:03:09.310 apprenticeship. Oh, that's great. Absolutely. 00:03:09.469 --> 00:03:11.169 Everybody likes that because then you end up 00:03:11.169 --> 00:03:13.889 saving some money, too. And time, right? Yeah. 00:03:14.090 --> 00:03:17.669 For sure. I had somebody on here a year ago and 00:03:17.669 --> 00:03:22.610 urban artistry and she does carpentry and woodworking 00:03:22.610 --> 00:03:25.930 and beautiful work and even she had said that 00:03:25.930 --> 00:03:29.389 we definitely need more people and my son he's 00:03:29.389 --> 00:03:32.210 a carpenter and I don't hear him talking too 00:03:32.210 --> 00:03:35.729 much about having women in that area which is 00:03:35.729 --> 00:03:39.289 sad. Yeah I fully agree and I feel like once 00:03:39.289 --> 00:03:41.729 again it comes down to just not knowing what 00:03:41.729 --> 00:03:45.830 opportunities are out there. have like carpentry 00:03:45.830 --> 00:03:49.330 classes or auto shop and I know from my personal 00:03:49.330 --> 00:03:53.210 experience that I was removed from my auto program. 00:03:53.689 --> 00:03:57.030 My counselors warned me when I tried taking carpentry 00:03:57.030 --> 00:03:59.250 and they told me that I would be one of the only 00:03:59.250 --> 00:04:02.770 girls in my class. So I feel like we're now moving 00:04:02.770 --> 00:04:06.930 out of a fear -based inquiry and now we're trying 00:04:06.930 --> 00:04:10.050 to showcase women that it's not scary and you 00:04:10.050 --> 00:04:12.930 don't need to be super strong or physically fit. 00:04:13.789 --> 00:04:17.009 You can use your intelligence as well as your 00:04:17.009 --> 00:04:20.129 technical skills in any trade. I'm glad that 00:04:20.129 --> 00:04:23.689 they've changed because I'm going to be 55 and... 00:04:23.610 --> 00:04:26.610 The school I was at is no longer around, and 00:04:26.610 --> 00:04:30.230 it was a technical school, and you had your home 00:04:30.230 --> 00:04:34.509 act, or you had automotive or carpentry, and 00:04:34.509 --> 00:04:38.189 the mechanical side, the girls did not go. The 00:04:38.189 --> 00:04:41.009 guys were allowed to do home act. but we weren't 00:04:41.009 --> 00:04:44.310 allowed to do their stuff and it was never fair 00:04:44.310 --> 00:04:46.689 because I personally probably would have preferred 00:04:46.689 --> 00:04:50.470 to work in the auto shop. Yeah it's fun right 00:04:50.470 --> 00:04:53.170 like it you're working with your hands and I 00:04:53.170 --> 00:04:55.290 know a lot of people that are auto mechanics 00:04:55.290 --> 00:04:58.829 they've always had an inkling to just tear stuff 00:04:58.829 --> 00:05:02.449 apart put them back together so I feel like I 00:05:02.449 --> 00:05:05.189 like how we're not looking at gender anymore 00:05:05.189 --> 00:05:07.290 when it comes down to joining the trades and 00:05:07.290 --> 00:05:09.529 we're we're working together with different perspectives. 00:05:10.040 --> 00:05:12.560 And I feel like one thing that all of us women 00:05:12.560 --> 00:05:17.040 can relate to is clothing. And I feel like we 00:05:17.040 --> 00:05:19.579 all have a pair of pants that have no pockets, 00:05:19.779 --> 00:05:23.569 right? Which... We need pockets. And one thing 00:05:23.569 --> 00:05:25.689 that's important for women joining the skilled 00:05:25.689 --> 00:05:30.089 trades is proper PPE gear. So there's a couple 00:05:30.089 --> 00:05:33.370 of Canadian content creators that are also in 00:05:33.370 --> 00:05:35.529 construction, and that's what they dedicate their 00:05:35.529 --> 00:05:38.149 page towards, showing the difference between 00:05:38.149 --> 00:05:40.730 men's clothing in the construction field and 00:05:40.730 --> 00:05:43.850 women's. I've always loved a good cargo pant. 00:05:43.990 --> 00:05:46.990 Right? All the pockets? Yeah, the phone goes 00:05:46.990 --> 00:05:50.160 in there, but... and then you would have the 00:05:50.160 --> 00:05:54.600 tool belt. Now, how are the men accepting of 00:05:54.600 --> 00:05:58.240 the women coming into these fields? They've had 00:05:58.240 --> 00:06:02.259 time to adjust and adapt, I would say. My dad 00:06:02.259 --> 00:06:05.060 is a tool -and -die maker, and I remember when 00:06:05.060 --> 00:06:07.240 I was younger, he would tell me about all the 00:06:07.240 --> 00:06:10.319 changes that would happen back then and till 00:06:10.319 --> 00:06:14.850 now. A huge change was no pinup model posters 00:06:14.850 --> 00:06:18.569 and calendars. So they've had a lot of that time 00:06:18.569 --> 00:06:23.290 to adjust certain things like that. And now when 00:06:23.290 --> 00:06:25.990 I went to trade school, I remember we have our 00:06:25.990 --> 00:06:29.329 own designated bathrooms where we have like tampons 00:06:29.329 --> 00:06:31.589 and pads and stuff, which is really inclusive. 00:06:32.310 --> 00:06:36.310 So we have our own designated spaces. and there's 00:06:36.310 --> 00:06:39.550 men that are looking to be like a mentor to anybody. 00:06:39.930 --> 00:06:42.610 It's nice to hear that men are accepting and 00:06:42.610 --> 00:06:46.370 mentoring the women and that times are changing. 00:06:47.149 --> 00:06:51.230 Now you are also part of... the Women in Skilled 00:06:51.230 --> 00:06:55.250 Trades site? We're called Women on Sites. Okay. 00:06:55.389 --> 00:06:59.069 Yes. So we have a bunch of chapters all over 00:06:59.069 --> 00:07:02.170 Canada and we've recently started expanding to 00:07:02.170 --> 00:07:05.110 the States, which is really exciting. It's a 00:07:05.110 --> 00:07:08.170 drop -in program that happens once a month. So 00:07:08.170 --> 00:07:10.750 we just started our Windsor chapter, I believe, 00:07:10.970 --> 00:07:15.319 back in November or December. And it's open to 00:07:15.319 --> 00:07:19.240 anyone in STEAM. So that's science, technology, 00:07:19.839 --> 00:07:22.300 engineering, arts, and math. I hope I said that 00:07:22.300 --> 00:07:27.519 all correctly. And it's available to apprentices 00:07:27.519 --> 00:07:30.939 or... full -scale skilled trades workers like 00:07:30.939 --> 00:07:33.040 it doesn't matter where you are in your journey 00:07:33.040 --> 00:07:36.819 and it's a community of other women that are 00:07:36.819 --> 00:07:40.459 just there for mentorship and communication and 00:07:40.459 --> 00:07:45.079 community. So that's a huge site and I was peeking 00:07:45.079 --> 00:07:49.379 around on it and they also have an area for jobs 00:07:49.379 --> 00:07:54.160 as well. Yes, there's a job search network. They 00:07:54.160 --> 00:07:57.560 try to post any jobs where anyone can apply to, 00:07:57.560 --> 00:08:01.019 which is great. We just did the pictures for 00:08:01.019 --> 00:08:05.819 the high school robotics competition, and there 00:08:05.819 --> 00:08:08.860 were quite a few girls on the various teams, 00:08:09.100 --> 00:08:11.439 but there was two teams that were specifically 00:08:11.439 --> 00:08:14.439 all women. That's awesome. I love the robot flipping 00:08:14.439 --> 00:08:18.240 videos. They're so entertaining. Very impressive 00:08:18.240 --> 00:08:21.660 what these high school kids were doing and then 00:08:21.660 --> 00:08:25.759 I think it was probably about 90 % of the photographers 00:08:25.759 --> 00:08:28.959 which were kids from the high schools were the 00:08:28.959 --> 00:08:31.759 girls. That's awesome. That were taking the pictures 00:08:31.759 --> 00:08:34.519 for their classes for the school and that. That's 00:08:34.519 --> 00:08:37.159 great to hear because even photography sometimes 00:08:37.159 --> 00:08:40.639 it could feel very like male dominated and it 00:08:40.639 --> 00:08:43.620 could be hard to like break into the fields as 00:08:43.620 --> 00:08:46.179 like a woman that's interested so it's great 00:08:46.179 --> 00:08:48.080 to hear that there's more women in just different 00:08:48.080 --> 00:08:52.720 industries. I'm just finding it's hard to get 00:08:52.720 --> 00:08:55.820 the women and the men to break the stigma. It's 00:08:55.820 --> 00:08:57.980 got to be men. You know, well, we're just little 00:08:57.980 --> 00:09:00.740 so we can't carry this stuff. Well, we're not 00:09:00.740 --> 00:09:03.960 as weak as what you might think. Absolutely. 00:09:04.240 --> 00:09:08.360 And it's all about teamwork and it's all about 00:09:08.360 --> 00:09:11.360 transferable skills too, right? So let's say 00:09:11.360 --> 00:09:13.899 you can't carry something. Maybe you can use 00:09:13.899 --> 00:09:16.120 like your networking and your communication skills 00:09:16.120 --> 00:09:19.440 to have someone else help you out, right? Now, 00:09:20.059 --> 00:09:23.360 you also do the marketing for the HVAC, so you 00:09:23.360 --> 00:09:27.740 have to get... up there to take pictures or what 00:09:27.740 --> 00:09:32.039 do you do to make you get onto the roofs? I had 00:09:32.039 --> 00:09:34.519 a fear of heights before starting this job and 00:09:34.519 --> 00:09:37.919 I remember on my first day I would climb a ladder 00:09:37.919 --> 00:09:40.539 and I still climb ladders to get on top of roofs 00:09:40.539 --> 00:09:44.519 to take photos of our rooftop HVAC units which 00:09:44.519 --> 00:09:46.960 is basically like a big air conditioner unit 00:09:46.960 --> 00:09:49.720 and it was kind of scary at first but as long 00:09:49.720 --> 00:09:52.000 as you have three point contact you know you're 00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:55.659 all good. It's scarier coming down, and I always 00:09:55.659 --> 00:09:57.820 tell myself if I don't get down, I don't want 00:09:57.820 --> 00:10:01.200 to call the fire department to come get me. That'd 00:10:01.200 --> 00:10:04.340 be so embarrassing. But it was definitely getting 00:10:04.340 --> 00:10:08.200 over my fear of heights. And when it comes down 00:10:08.200 --> 00:10:12.179 to new construction condos, I find that sometimes 00:10:12.179 --> 00:10:14.950 I'm the only woman on that site. So it comes 00:10:14.950 --> 00:10:17.529 down to my communication skills of introducing 00:10:17.529 --> 00:10:20.909 myself to the site supervisor, saying, hi, I'm 00:10:20.909 --> 00:10:23.809 not health and safety. I'm actually with marketing, 00:10:24.110 --> 00:10:25.990 so you don't have to worry about me. And yeah, 00:10:25.990 --> 00:10:28.710 I go about. I take my photos. And then I go back 00:10:28.710 --> 00:10:32.669 to the office and edit them. And I put them into 00:10:32.669 --> 00:10:35.970 our social channels and stuff. So do you work 00:10:35.970 --> 00:10:39.210 for one specific company or do you work with 00:10:39.210 --> 00:10:41.750 various companies? So I work for one specific 00:10:41.750 --> 00:10:45.669 company in Windsor. I also do marketing and photography 00:10:45.669 --> 00:10:48.850 with my own business on the side. And what type 00:10:48.850 --> 00:10:51.750 of photography do you do? So for my own business, 00:10:52.029 --> 00:10:54.809 Chaos by Eris, I like to do creative portraits. 00:10:55.330 --> 00:10:57.710 It's just something that I'm drawn to. They're 00:10:57.710 --> 00:11:00.429 so much fun. They're so cool. They really are. 00:11:00.700 --> 00:11:02.679 Now, how did you come up with that name? Because 00:11:02.679 --> 00:11:05.100 that's a really, really interesting name. I have 00:11:05.100 --> 00:11:07.720 a lot of people calling me Eris. I wish my name 00:11:07.720 --> 00:11:09.940 was Eris. It's so much cooler than Christina. 00:11:11.019 --> 00:11:15.360 But I drew from the War of Arts by, I believe 00:11:15.360 --> 00:11:19.179 it's Steven Pressfield. And I also drew from 00:11:19.179 --> 00:11:23.679 Greek mythology. So Eris is the goddess of destruction 00:11:23.679 --> 00:11:27.799 and chaos. And I know it's kind of crazy, but 00:11:27.799 --> 00:11:31.120 I find with chaos comes clarity. So I feel like 00:11:31.120 --> 00:11:33.779 when it comes down to art, there's so much chaos 00:11:33.779 --> 00:11:36.139 that happens, but then there's a beautiful end 00:11:36.139 --> 00:11:39.230 product. That's really well said because I was 00:11:39.230 --> 00:11:42.490 looking at your site and you do have some wonderful, 00:11:42.490 --> 00:11:45.509 wonderful shots. Thank you. That's a lot of hard 00:11:45.509 --> 00:11:50.169 work too. Yes, and I find I work against imposter 00:11:50.169 --> 00:11:53.250 syndrome all the time so I'm getting over the 00:11:53.250 --> 00:11:56.190 fear of not feeling enough or not posting enough, 00:11:56.330 --> 00:11:58.629 not being creative enough and I'm just trying 00:11:58.629 --> 00:12:01.190 to do my own thing. I really do appreciate you 00:12:01.190 --> 00:12:03.870 being here and it's so important to have women 00:12:03.870 --> 00:12:09.139 in skilled trades and to realize that we can 00:12:09.139 --> 00:12:13.259 do it. The men are there to help us and to support 00:12:13.259 --> 00:12:16.720 us and to allow us to become part of the team. 00:12:17.179 --> 00:12:20.440 And it's nice to hear that it's finally starting 00:12:20.440 --> 00:12:24.830 to sway that way. Well said, yes. And they can 00:12:24.830 --> 00:12:28.490 find also more information about it on Women 00:12:28.490 --> 00:12:32.950 On Sight. WomenOnSight .ca, yes, correct. And 00:12:32.950 --> 00:12:36.269 you can RSVP if you'd like to join our Windsor 00:12:36.269 --> 00:12:39.450 chapter meetings that happen monthly. Now are 00:12:39.450 --> 00:12:41.549 you involved in that site or are you just part 00:12:41.549 --> 00:12:44.250 of the chapter? I'm part of the chapter and it 00:12:44.250 --> 00:12:47.350 is sponsored by Build A Dream. So they are the 00:12:47.350 --> 00:12:51.210 ones that run our chapter. And if you have a 00:12:51.210 --> 00:12:54.710 daughter or a a female relative in there in high 00:12:54.710 --> 00:12:58.190 school, tell them to try out the OYAP program 00:12:58.190 --> 00:13:02.169 or give it a shot in college. I mean... And it 00:13:02.169 --> 00:13:04.889 opens your opportunities, right? We always need 00:13:04.889 --> 00:13:07.830 carpenters and electricians and welders, so it's 00:13:07.830 --> 00:13:09.610 not like you're going to go out of business. 00:13:09.909 --> 00:13:14.309 Absolutely, right? With AI advancing, we're always 00:13:14.309 --> 00:13:16.409 going to need people to have hands -on skills. 00:13:16.830 --> 00:13:19.269 So thank you so much, Christine. I really do 00:13:19.269 --> 00:13:22.070 appreciate you being on here. Thank you, Tracy. 00:13:22.590 --> 00:13:25.669 Bringing this awareness to us and I'm going to 00:13:25.669 --> 00:13:30.710 make sure to have more women trades people. Trades 00:13:30.710 --> 00:13:34.110 women. Trades people, yeah. That's okay. But 00:13:34.110 --> 00:13:36.269 my name is Tracy and I want to thank you so much 00:13:36.269 --> 00:13:38.850 for joining me for another episode of Waikiji 00:13:38.850 --> 00:13:41.669 and Bloom. And you guys all have a great day.