The CWB Association brings you a weekly podcast that connects to welding professionals around the world and unrepresented communities as we continue to strive for a more diverse workforce. Join us as we celebrate Black History Month to learn about the incredible contributions of African, Caribbean, and Black Canadians to the welding industry and our communities.
Embark on a transformative narrative as we sit down with Mohamed Sookwa, whose life story embodies the essence of resilience and the unwavering pursuit of dreams. Mo's journey from humble beginnings in Guyana to braving the challenges of immigration and carving a niche in the welding industry. Throughout the episode, we traverse the path that led Mo to his role at CWB, where he now leads internal training and development programs. The serendipitous twists of fate, like walking into the wrong job interview that ended up being just the right fit, and the enduring dream to join CWB that fueled his ambition for 17 years. His experiences highlight the unexpected opportunities that come from a willingness to adapt and the profound impact of mentorship and networking.
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Website: https://www.cwbgroup.org/
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Thank you to our Podcast Advertisers:
Canada Welding Supply: https://canadaweldingsupply.ca/
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
The CWB Association brings you a weekly podcast that connects to welding professionals around the world and unrepresented communities as we continue to strive for a more diverse workforce. Join us as we celebrate Black History Month to learn about the incredible contributions of African, Caribbean, and Black Canadians to the welding industry and our communities.
Embark on a transformative narrative as we sit down with Mohamed Sookwa, whose life story embodies the essence of resilience and the unwavering pursuit of dreams. Mo's journey from humble beginnings in Guyana to braving the challenges of immigration and carving a niche in the welding industry. Throughout the episode, we traverse the path that led Mo to his role at CWB, where he now leads internal training and development programs. The serendipitous twists of fate, like walking into the wrong job interview that ended up being just the right fit, and the enduring dream to join CWB that fueled his ambition for 17 years. His experiences highlight the unexpected opportunities that come from a willingness to adapt and the profound impact of mentorship and networking.
Follow CWB Group:
Website: https://www.cwbgroup.org/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cwb-group/mycompany/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cwbgroupwelding/
Thank you to our Podcast Advertisers:
Canada Welding Supply: https://canadaweldingsupply.ca/
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
All right, I checked, checked, good. So I'm Max Ron. Max Max Ron, shiwb Association welding podcast podcast podcast. Today we have a really cool guest welding podcast. The show is about to begin. The show is about to begin.
Speaker 1:Attention welders in Canada Looking for top quality welding supplies, look no further than Canada Welding Supply. With a vast selection of premium equipment, safety gear and consumables. Cws has got you covered. They offer fast and reliable shipping across the country. And here's the best part All podcast listeners get 10% off any pair of welding gloves. Can you believe that? Use code CWB10 at checkout when placing your next order. Visit canadaweldingsupplyca now. Canada Welding Supply, your trusted welding supplier. Happy welding. Hello and welcome to another edition of the CWB Association podcast. My name is Max Ron and, as always, I'm out there digging and grinding and trying to find the best stories I can find for ya. This episode is another continuation of the fantastic pieces that we're putting together for Black History Month here, coming up on with four episodes. Today we have Mohamed Sukwa, who works at CWB, to tell you about his fantastic story. And I mean, the guy's a great guy. He's kind of a legend in these parts and I've known him for a long time. So, moh, how are you doing buddy?
Speaker 2:I'm good thanks. Thanks for the intro. There bro a legend eh.
Speaker 1:Well, you've been around a long time and I've been seeing you here and there up and down for probably a decade now. Now let's talk about Moh. You know, for people that don't know who you are, what do you do at CWB? What's your official job?
Speaker 2:My official job is really leading our internal and training and development, like for new hires and also for existing staff.
Speaker 1:And when you talk about training, of internal development for staff training, what? What are you training? How to do the paperwork, or training how to do audits, or training how to weld? I don't know what is it you train Right?
Speaker 2:so, primarily, I started off in this role working with our certification team, so basically the CSRs or the reps as we call them. So we've designed a training program for new hires coming into this role so that they can prepare and be able to take on the role executing audits and water testing and other certification services that we can apply to our plans.
Speaker 1:Cool, cool, all right. So we'll get to that in the second half. Specifically, we'll break that down, but let's find out a little bit about who you are, because I'm very interested to learn more about you. Moh, we always have a great time whenever we hang out, we always have good stories and you're a welder by trade, which is something that connects us on another level. Not very many people at CWB are welders, which is shocking to a lot of people, because it's like the Canadian welding girl would be full of welders, but there's very few of us. There's only a handful of us, right, and even less that are red seals that actually did it for a living, for the long haul. So let's start from the beginning. You know where were you born. Where do you call home? Guyana, guyana, all right. So you were born in Guyana. Where? In Guyana?
Speaker 2:So Guyana has three counties. I was born in the county of Barbiz, okay, eastern part of Guyana, and for those who don't know where Guyana is I find it hard people not to know these days because of the old boom that they have but it's located in South America, bordering Brazil and Venezuela, and, interestingly enough, max, it's the only South American country where the official language is English. Yeah.
Speaker 1:I know, because I've asked you before if you can speak Spanish and she is Nope not at all, Nope. So you know, being from Born in Guyana, you know you're born there. It's almost like a solitary country within South America because it's got its own system, its own money. It's kind of got a little bit different thing going on. You know, what did your family do, what did your mom and dad do for a living?
Speaker 2:Well, my dad was paralyzed so he couldn't work. He had stroke when I was four years old, so he wasn't working. My mom was the breadwinner and she, well before she, did two jobs. One she was working in the King Fields as a laborer and then after that she started selling things like popsicles and things like that at his schools, and that was pretty much how she knew.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and what happened to your dad? You know you had a stroke when you were four.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, you had a stroke and he lived for 10 years after that and then he passed away.
Speaker 1:And what did he do before he had the stroke, or was the stroke from work?
Speaker 2:My dad was a tailor, Okay, but then he ended up running a bar, so you know he was partying a bit right, I guess.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's hard on the body, you know. Yeah, yeah. And so then, how did you know a family with a? You know a disabled father, a mom working whatever jobs she could to get ahead? How many brothers and sisters did you got?
Speaker 2:We were seven of us.
Speaker 1:Okay, so then how did you guys get to Canada? When and who did all of you come, some of you come, who like? What was the process there?
Speaker 2:Yeah, my eldest sister came first and then she lived here for maybe close to 15 years and then, you know, she sponsored us after my dad passed away, and that's how we came.
Speaker 1:And what did your sister do here, or does she do here?
Speaker 2:She was an administrative type of work and now I can shoot her up and eventually she started her own business, and so on.
Speaker 1:So how old were you when you got on that plane to come to Canada?
Speaker 2:I was 17.
Speaker 1:17. And what did you think before you came to Canada? You were getting into. You know, as a 17-year-old, you got TV, you got music, you know what's up, you speak English. You're in a speaking, english-speaking country. You had an idea of what you were going into. And then did you come into the GTA?
Speaker 2:No, I actually. We migrated to Montreal.
Speaker 1:Okay. So you came into Montreal, so French-speaking, and what did you think it was gonna be like? What was the dream? You know?
Speaker 2:Max, it was such a surreal feeling. First of all, we didn't have TV, and so leaving Guyana was something that everyone was aspiring to. Everyone wanted to. Just politically, economically, there were no opportunities. So everyone was like one foot in Guyana and the other foot stretching to abroad, right Mostly United States and Canada. So I mean, the excitement was, hey, you know, I'm getting to leave this place.
Speaker 2:Because I was, honestly, I tried, I dropped out of high school and then I started. I did tailoring for a little bit and then I started kind of running a business for the guy who taught me tailoring. That didn't work out, so I ended up doing one of the most, I would say, embarrassing jobs in my life, which was selling bread and pastries, you know, walking house to house, right. And when I found out that we got through without our visit to come to Canada, it was like winning a lottery or even something even more rewarding than that. It's hard to describe the ceiling. So there weren't any type of expectation except, hey, I'm getting to leave this place, I'm going to a place that will offer me a better life, basically, Whatever that is, it's going to be something.
Speaker 2:Whatever that is, we'll find out, right yeah.
Speaker 1:And then you and the remaining family load up on the plane. And what time of year was it?
Speaker 2:That was March the 11th 1986.
Speaker 1:So March the 11th 1986, springtime. You know it's Montreal, still chilly, still kind of chilly, and I'm sure for you guys you thought it was real cold but not so bad.
Speaker 2:So put it this way yeah, so we went to Pearson. Ok, I was always called prisoner that time we were sleeping at Toronto Airport and then we had to change terminals. We all were dressed in summer attire. That was reason, to say the least. Right, that was a wake-up call, right, a wake-up call, yeah. And then when we went to Montreal, most people would understand who probably lived in Montreal a visit there. We have a lot more snow in Montreal than we would ever in Toronto, so there was a pile of snow, I mean like hills and hills of snow, but it didn't bother anyone, right? I mean, we were just so happy to be here. Yeah, I mean we didn't realize we were cold, I guess.
Speaker 1:And what were those first impressions like for you, your family, your mom. You know what were the thoughts when you first finally got to your sister's house and trying to start figuring out what to do.
Speaker 2:You know, it was very foggy I can't really call any particular talk, but we were here, right. We were here, we were safe, we had our whole lives ahead of us to make a difference, right. And so whatever comes next is going to come next, right, and with most immigrants moving to a new country, it's a challenge, right, and there's a lot of things that you don't really care for, you don't understand. You have to experience it, right. So, yeah, it was rocky at first, of course, it was very rocky. My family got split up, right. That was the biggest challenge, because we all couldn't stay in one house. You know, we had to split up. So, right away, the family got split up and we were a tight-knit family. So that was a big challenge there. And then, you know, for me, I had to start working, because now I'm going to be the breadwinner right.
Speaker 1:But I mean for a 17-year-old kid in Canada it's pretty easy to get a job. Like I mean, it's prime time, you know, like it's most 17-year-old healthy people that hit the street looking for work are going to find something you know. So what was that? First job out of the gate?
Speaker 2:Not for me, max, no, no, no. I tell you what I did get a job. I just couldn't go to a job from where it do days, right. The first job, like God, was in a jewelry company where you know, they kind of forged the jewelry and then my job was to kind of take those pieces and bust it on a simler or grinder. And I was creative of the tool, of the equipment, and the guy fired me. He says what are you a glass? He said glass will fragile. So I lost that job. Two days, um, laughter, two days, I was gone. Then I ended up working in a custom wood place, you know, making furniture or something, and I, yeah, that one was like two weeks, so you didn't like the tools.
Speaker 1:it sounds like.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was scared of tools, like I was useless with my hand except on a sewing machine, right, because my parents never really wanted us to. You know, take a hammer and nail a picket fence or whatever. They were scared that. You know you're going to get hurt, right.
Speaker 1:Well, in our countries too, those are seen as like very low jobs construction. You know like it's like if you can't do anything else. It's like an embarrassing, you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that statement definitely is there. Well, it used to be there. It's changed now. Used to be yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. So yeah, keeping a job was one of my biggest challenges and I was very depressed because we ended up living in a one bedroom apartment and it was like I mean, five, six people, right, that was pretty tough, yeah. And my mom couldn't go out to work, right, she didn't have any education, she couldn't speak English, but also people could understand because, if you understand, diana, we have patrol, right, english, like Jamaican sort of. So it's hard to go out and get a job. It's almost impossible. So she started, you know, like baby sitting and stuff like that.
Speaker 1:Do you feel like being in Montreal made it harder because it was more French speaking, so you also didn't have that language?
Speaker 2:Yeah, the barrier, the language barrier at Castle 93, was one of the biggest challenges, I would say, and that's one of the reasons why I eventually left after 12 years and moved to Ontario.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because I was like. You know, when I made the statement about getting a job as a 17 year old, I was thinking about where I was when I was 17, because we're about the same age. So, you know, here in Saskatchewan, in the West, at 17 years old there was work literally anywhere, like I could just walk from street to street to find a good job. Don't get me wrong, it was work, Just not for you.
Speaker 2:Oh, so you have to be able to do the work right. Because I was living in an island of Montreal, you could speaking mission get away with it there. There's not too many issues with that, especially for factory jobs right so yeah, like the language didn't affect that. Later on, as you will see, the language did became a big factor.
Speaker 1:So then, what did Mo do? You know you're getting frustrated. You're like why can't I hold on to these jobs? I don't seem to have the skills that I need. You're too old for high school. You're in a living accommodation that is making it tough. You're not sleeping well. You don't feel like you're doing a good job of keeping the family. You know in the right place to chase the dream. The dream is kind of a bit of a nightmare right now, you know. So what's the next step for you?
Speaker 2:Well, it's just keep trying, man, you know, just keep trying. I never give up. I'm not a type that gives up. So yeah, eventually I did get a job, and I was able to hold that job for two and a half years. Good what was?
Speaker 1:the job. What were you?
Speaker 2:doing so, I ended up working in a chest of steel, right? So, making furniture, my job was really to glue the cushions together, right? Yeah, that's what I did for two and a half years, but then, you know, I always thought that I had more to offer, right, that I'm better. I don't like to use the word better. I don't think it's a good word in this context but your skills were better utilized somewhere else.
Speaker 2:Right, right. So I decided to do something about it, right? And that's when I actually heard about welding and that's how I got into Oleg. So, as the story continues, I had a friend who was going to go into machining and he talked about welding and how much money you worked in on this street offers and there was always jobs and stuff like that, and that's all I wanted to hear money and job, right. So gone home, I went to human resources and I said to them listen, 19 years old or whatever, and I'd like to take a trade. And they're like but why, you have a job, you're making decent money, so I have to sell it to them about. You know, I have more to offer and blah, blah, blah. I did all my research before and about the program and stuff like that, so I was well equipped and they approved it right. So now I would be receiving an income while going to school because I was a breadwinner.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you go on EI yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1:I went to. Ei, although back then it was called UI back then.
Speaker 2:I guess. Yes, yes, it was called unemployment insurance back then I don't know if this works. Yes, yes, yes. So this is where the fund begins. Max Went to the school. The first thing that taught us, as you would know, is health and safety, and I'm like did I just sign my debt warranty?
Speaker 1:What the heck the most dangerous trade.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they start talking about burns and electrocution and all this stuff and I'm like I'm trapped, I can't quit now because I'm gonna lose the yard. I don't have a job to go to, right. So yeah, I was trapped but I went and then I'll start a couple of days. I'm like, wow, this is not so bad. I started liking it and, surprisingly, I was good at it. I was good at it, yeah. So yeah, we ended up doing that and I did complete the course after a year.
Speaker 1:So it was a one year course, and what did you come out with after that one year?
Speaker 2:It's called a DEP, a diploma or something whatever. I forgot what it's called. It's a French acronym, but a vocational certificate is. You will enroll it. I think it's a closest explanation idea. And when you were done that one year program which is like all one year programs.
Speaker 1:It'll be like Meg Stick a little bit of TIG, a couple CWB tickets and a little bit of fabrication, blueprint, reading, math and stuff like that. That's your standard one year program. Did you go back to the furniture company and say, now, I'm a welder, where's my job? There was no it wasn't metal right.
Speaker 2:It was all wood so yeah, what happened next was we sung ourselves in this recession? This was in 1989. So I couldn't land a job. I was a good welder, but I couldn't handle the stress of testing. So the first opportunity I actually had was Dominion Bridge.
Speaker 1:Oh my dad worked at Dominion Bridge.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean that was like, as a welder, that's where you want to be, to start your career.
Speaker 1:Like the biggest shops in Canada, exactly.
Speaker 2:And so I was able to pass all of the practical tests, except I've already got up right and I didn't get the job, and so I ended up working in a lot of factory. Okay, so this factory was the next street over where my apartment was, and it was a clothing, a sweater factory. Do you know what my job was, max?
Speaker 1:Folding sweaters.
Speaker 2:No, that would have been okay. I don't know if that would have been okay, but my job was to cut off the excess threads, the threads.
Speaker 1:Oh, that was sticking out, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, man, I tell you that was one of the most depressing times in my life. Yeah, right.
Speaker 2:Because here I'm thinking I took a step in the right direction. I went to school, yeah, I went to school, and now I'm back doing something that I was. That was the worst thing I was doing in a storage company, right, making less money, right. But again, you know, you got to pay the bills. You do what you got to do, but then I never stopped. The thing is, I never give up. I'm not a type that gives up, you know, I don't think I ever give up. So they were doing, you know, I kept applying for a willing jobs. And then there was one place they were making overhead grades, right, so they would take these i-beams and they'll splice them and, you know, do the stuff. So it was. So I went there for the test and again, the test was a vertical up, right. Yeah.
Speaker 2:So I struggled, struggled and again, I don't give up, I don't. I'm a very persistent guy. Right, and essentially after about an hour, I nailed it. Yeah.
Speaker 2:So the guy came to me and he said listen, I like your attitude or like your persistence, I'm going to hire you. Right, I was making $5.50 an hour at that time at that sweater place. I was talking to him. He says okay, I'm going to hire you, but your starting rate is going to be $5 an hour and, like I mentioned earlier, this sweater place was a straightaway a walk, a two minute walk. This job I had to take two buses and walk on a half a mile, but I took it because of the experience. Right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and although it didn't last too long, you know he, he inspired me $5 an hour. I was doing open routes, you know, and all that stuff, but he wanted production and he thought I was incisive, so I got on Austin on a job.
Speaker 1:But now you had a little bit more time on the tools now. Right, you got so much experience.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, I can use your ground now. You know I'm pretty good now, right, I'm pretty good, yeah, and you know, the, the, the straddle continued and I, I struggled a lot in, in, in, in, uh, in a staying in welding. To be honest with you, um, I don't know if we will save this for later on, but I'd like to tell you how I actually got to where I am right now. But I'll let you lead the discussion.
Speaker 1:Thank you for that. So so you get fired from the crane facility for being too slow. Um, which is something I hear a lot, I came from manufacturing. I worked in manufacturing, and being good and being quick are two things that I'm not sure are too mutually exclusive, but yet conditionally important things, which means that you got to be able to do both of them, but they both got to be good, but they can't make the other one be worse, which is really hard to do. Right, it takes time. Now, I feel at this point things are are are still kind of bleak. You know, like years have gone by. So now you have younger siblings that are probably also coming up. They're probably also looking to go to school, maybe college. You know, um, are you still in the one bedroom with everybody, or are people are starting to get spread out?
Speaker 2:Right At this time, um, my uh, one of my sister, uh, she was living with my eldest sister, the one that sponsored us, Uh, my other sister and they're all older than me, I'm the second to last uh, she, uh, she, uh, she essentially moved out. So, as me, my younger brother and my mom, we ended up renting out the house. We ended up renting a two bedroom apartment. We had a hey man, he had the TV bro. We had. Uh, you know those TV where it's a furniture, you know?
Speaker 1:yeah, yeah, yeah, like built into the shelf.
Speaker 2:There we go. So we had all of that. We put it set up right. Well, listen to life now. We're listening to life now.
Speaker 1:And then, then what's the next job? Where do you go from there? Are you thinking at this point, mo, that you're done with welding? Are you like maybe this isn't for me, or or what? What were you thinking?
Speaker 2:I, I, I, I know I wasn't giving up on welding, it's the only thing that I had, right, um, but now I'm realizing that, uh, I need to do more. So I, I, I kept, you know, looking for welding jobs and at one point in time I lost it, and my one of my sisters, um, or her, you know that time, her see on, say, owned, um, uh, a store, a electronic store. So actually, while I was going to school and welding, I was working there, uh, part time, part time supplement, the AI, um, but then, essentially, I started working there full time and then something happened that actually changed a lot. So, and it's a good, a perfect, uh, you know, peace to talk, yeah, yeah, especially when we are talking about, you know, black history month and all that stuff right now is coming up. So in Montreal, there was, uh, there is, um, this union, local 271 bottom makers and one of the gentlemen, um, sadly, he passed away a few months ago. His name is Thomas, um, uh, he started a moment because when he realized that there were not too many minorities, people of color, working, and so he started something that's called a minority apprenticeship project, right, and uh, the friend of mine who I mentioned earlier, that took machining right. His father ended up meeting uh Thomas, someone else and introduced me to this association and I became one of the first clients, right. So I got in.
Speaker 2:Here is the here's where Dominion Bridge come back. I ended up getting a job working for Dominion Bridge, but not as a welder. So what happened? It was in 1990, august, the hottest month. They were doing some sort of class. Who work this big docking system up in this roof high up? No one wanted to take the job right. So in order for me to get into the unit and you would probably know this that you have to have a company that would sponsor you for X amount of hours or whatever. So Duvenin Bridge, you know they were looking for anyone that could breathe. So I got in there and that's how I joined the, the ball makers, and I worked there and you know a few shutdowns here and there I ended up. You know the project went well. I ended up making the newspapers and all that stuff and then was back to the electronics store again.
Speaker 1:Really, you didn't stay on with the union, they didn't keep you on Well it was.
Speaker 2:It was seasonal work, right, right, it was seasonal work. It was mostly shutdowns. You know all the signaries that took the plants yes, exactly, and yeah, so I continue with that. And you know, as an apprentice you get the last pick. So most of it was, you know, like shifts in remote areas. I didn't have a car. So the same gentleman, thomas, someone I wouldn't, I wouldn't forget would actually arrange to, you know, pick me up at some point and then drop me out, right, just to give me an opportunity, right, and that worked out.
Speaker 1:I made some good money backs, yeah, well, union union money is always different than a lot of people are expecting. You know I it's tough to get into some unions Boiler makers one of the toughest ones to get into for full time work. There is lots of permits floating around every year, like people know, but they're usually considered one of the tougher unions to get a steady, steady eddies right. Yeah, so you're, you're, you're laid off. Basically there's no more work here, the permit's done, you're back at the electronics shop. But now you kind of got a taste for the paycheck, a taste for the work. Well, what's the next step for you?
Speaker 2:Well, during that time I was still a member of the union, yeah. So you know, you would call in, you would go to the union hall and you'll find out if there is any work and stuff and I would get you know. A week here, a week there. And then you know the journeymen. They kind of took a liking to me because I was, you know, I was proven, I wanted to prove myself, I was good work ethics. And you know, sometimes they got mad at me because you know they're like so dumb, whatever.
Speaker 2:But I was willing to do whatever they asked me to. And they then said to me they said, listen, if you really want to get a like more work, you've got to learn to do tick welding and you've got to learn to weld pipes. Yeah Right, so I ended up going and applied for another welding program and it was called the Aviron Institute at that time. I believe it was a pressure vessel or a pressure welding program. And so again, truly, I got into the program. And then I think that was a week or just days before the program started, we got a notification that the program is no longer available.
Speaker 1:Oh, really yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so during that time everything works out Right. During that time, map, the same association I told you about. They had started a welding program for newcomers and you know minorities and stuff like that. So EI told me to just go back into that program. So I ended up going there and that's when I discovered my leadership qualities. I ended up being somewhat of a mentor for most of those guys and the fresh, the fresh blood yeah.
Speaker 2:Right, right, start teaching you know, show them what I knew, give them some guidance and stuff like that. Yeah, so that, and I did that for another year.
Speaker 1:Now were you, and this is. Maybe it was different with the unions then, but why didn't the Boilermakers just sign you up for their training program? The Boilermakers have a school too.
Speaker 2:I don't know about that, but I can tell you that years after they started a Boilermaker course and I was selected as one of the first candidates Okay, but at that time I had decided to leave Montreal, so I didn't take it on.
Speaker 1:So, if I'm following the timeline here, you're about two years three. You're almost four years into welding. You're doing work with the Boilermakers. You're still part timing when you're not on shutdowns or on job. You're now in the specialist course. You know learning how to dig and you know you've alluded a couple of times that you had to make them move out of Montreal. You know why and when did that happen.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so before we get there, after I finished the MAP program, which actually was a revelation in some ways.
Speaker 2:Right as I started loving teaching, I realized that I wanted to go to university and get higher education. And so, because one of the one of the students was a very, very smart guy and you know, he and I did a lot of study work together and then he told me that he was going to go to Concordia University and I said, okay, yeah, I'm coming too. But what happened was is, just before I finished the course, I decided to go back home, guyana, right, okay, for some reason, I got home sick after seven years in Canada.
Speaker 2:And I ended up going there and Max will tell you another word of the line. I met a girl and got married to her. Never met her before, or no I know of her in two weeks. So I came back with a wife no, no, I came back. I was a married man to Canada. Then I had to sponsor her. So, you know, university was now out of the question, right? I ended up getting a job at a sheet metal company. They were doing work for like Norgell, the communication kind of stuff, and I, you know. Long story short, I stayed there for that's the longest I've ever kept a job. I believe it was almost four years.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:But, but in that time, you know, there was a referendum happening. I had a new, new newborn, a new kid. You know I faced some challenges where, you know, the language was really something and it was like it was for me starting to become a problem.
Speaker 2:It became a problem. And the problem was I would apply for a job, a well in job I would get. I would be interviewed, speaking French during the interview and invited to go meet the company. And as soon as I got there, the job was taken like 16, 20 minutes, right, it happened a few times right. So there was that, that type of barrier whatever you want to call it that I had to contend with At this point in time.
Speaker 2:I went back to school and I had to do French and all five levels of it. So it was very constitutional right In French and yeah, but it didn't. It didn't really help me that much, especially if I wanted to get my higher position in or, let's put it this way, if I wanted to really pursue a career in welding right, because my aim was never to remain a welder. I will talk later about how that kind of started to work out, but yeah, so I decided to lease Montreal. So I came here, I lived with my, my cousin, for three months and now it comes to what you were saying. Man, I there was so many, so much work here. I was changing jobs like dirty laundry.
Speaker 1:And did you bring your wife and your kid with you right away or not yet?
Speaker 2:They. They remained in Montreal and I came in to get set up right, and my mother-in-law actually had just came. We had sponsored her. So actually what I did is I key? I drove to Montreal, to the airport, and before I picked her up I went for an interview, got the job, drove her back and the next week I left and I came here. Yeah, I came here and yeah, you know I'm crazy. You know, when I want something, sometimes I don't even think. You know, I don't think too much about you know what's going to happen. I just figure out a way to get it. Then I figure out how I'm going to get there and you know where I'm going to live and all that stuff, right? So, yeah, it worked out. And then, I think, three months later, you know, I brought the family over here and yeah, the rest is history, right.
Speaker 1:So what? What kind of work did you get into in the GTA when you got there, like were you still boiler making? Did you join the hall in in the area, or did you just get into the private sector and just work at shops?
Speaker 2:Yeah, private sector. So the first first job I got was working this company did some stainless steel products as a tick welder. It was a night job and it was a problem because I was living in my cousin right, and she has, you know, insomnia and stuff like that, right so and the house is alarmed. So you know I go back at night as soon as I open the door she would wake up and things like that. So I ended up I went to an agency and I got a job at a company called Orion Bus. So they built transit buses and you know I was there as an agency worker and eventually they hired me, got into Teensters Union, but then again that didn't work out for long because you know seniority, you know when they get slow the first guy out.
Speaker 2:So you know, I quickly got another job with a company that will make an aluminum skids for the nuclear facility and then when Orion was calling me back, I kept both jobs because I didn't know which one to quit. So what I did is I told the aluminum company it was a very small company, maybe four of us he had really liked me and I said, if you want to, I gotta make a choice, I gotta quit a job. So he was just bringing in robotics into the equation, right? So I said, if you get me to operate a robot, you know, take the robotic course, I'll stay with you. And he's like, yeah, done. So he ended up going through ABB for a week and learned how to program robots and, you know, manipulate them and all of that. But I never ended up using the robot to have someone else doing it. I was. You know, sometimes when you're too good as a welder, you get stuck.
Speaker 2:So it's a blessing and it's also a curse sometimes. So the guy treated me really well. He was probably one of the best persons I've worked for, yeah, so I stayed there, for I stayed on until they closed the company. And then I got into a stainless steel company that did pharmaceutical work and, a matter of fact, I went to the wrong address. I went to I was going for another job. I went into the wrong address.
Speaker 2:An Englishman came out. He was Marto Aguyanese. He recognized my accent right away and he said he said to me man, can you weld stainless steel? And I'm like, I don't know, man, not much. He says, okay, come on and take a test, give me the test Passed.
Speaker 2:It hired me on the spot. I mean three or four dollars per hour, right. And then I worked this for a little bit. They laid me off. They laid me off because of some reasons you know.
Speaker 2:The boss was really a person that likes to shout to people and I didn't really appreciate that. So I said that to him. I said you know, bob, I would really appreciate if you speak to me in a way that I speak to you. And he didn't really like that. So he told the former Muntalini. So anyway, former said to me listen, call this company called Ohara Technologies and tell them that you are welding the candy pan. They'll hire you on the spot, because not too many people could have welded it out right, because when they spawned them there was a lot of inconsistencies in the thickness and we had to weld ribs inside. So sometimes you're dealing with like 30 gauge all the way down to less, and so you really had to be good. So I called the company and they said they weren't hiring. And I said you know what? I was welding the candy pie. And they said come on, they hired me. Meanwhile, my goal, my aim, was always to join the CWB group. Really, that was my goal.
Speaker 1:How did that get on your radar at all?
Speaker 2:Right. So that happened when I did the first year of welding. The last thing that you do was to do, like you said, a CWB test. So I liked welding, I was good at it, but I didn't see it as something that I wanted to do for a long time. So I was considering, you know, maybe start my own company in welding things like that, right? Then this gentleman walked in on test day and then this guy was like everyone was like almost boned to this guy and I'm like okay, that's the job I want.
Speaker 2:So, that was the first time I kind of found out about CWB and about inspector. But they're not really their inspectors but not inspectors. They're more than that, right, and I'm like, okay, that's it. It took me 17 years later, but that was how it started.
Speaker 1:All right. Well, this is a perfect time to take the break. Then We'll take our break for our sponsors and our commercials here, and then we'll be back with the CWB portion of the story here with Mohamed Sukwa. Don't go anywhere here. Come back to the CWB Association podcast.
Speaker 3:The CWB Association is new and improved, and focused on you. We offer a free membership with lots of benefits to anyone interested in joining an association that is passionate about welding. We are committed to educating, informing and connecting our workforce. Gain access to your free digital publication of the weld magazine, free online training conferences and lots of giveaways. Reach out to your local CWB Association chapter today to connect with other welding professionals and share welding as a trade in your community. Build your career, stay informed and support the Canadian welding industry. Join today and learn more at CWBassociationorg.
Speaker 1:And we are back here on the CWB Association podcast. Thanks so much for staying with us during these special Black History Month episodes that we are releasing this year. Today we have Mohamed Sukwa, who has just been telling us about his life coming from Guyana to Canada, montreal, then getting married in two weeks, which I have questions. And then, you know, all of a sudden ending up in the GTA working all over the place, all types of industries, kind of cutting his teeth all over the place, and in the back of his mind he had the CWB, which is not my story at all, because I had never, ever thought I'd work for the CWB. And here I am. But you did. You did have it in your mind. So you know how did you start navigating yourself towards that goal?
Speaker 2:Right. So it's not like where we are today and the fabulous work that the Association does and other association and organization. The internet is a very valuable tool for resources and, you know, to get ideas and stuff like that. It was never like that, as you know, max. So I wanted to be a CWB guy. You know the CSR, the certification representatives. At that time I was calling them inspectors and mindfully they are inspectors, but I didn't know how to get there. So what happened was now I'm working at O'Hara Technology, right, beautiful job, air-conditioned plant, the cleanest plant I've ever worked in. And then I was there for six months, max. They treated me like really well, a good company to work for. Pete, you know it was a little bit of a drive, but again, those things don't water me too much.
Speaker 2:But then I saw a job. I saw a job by a CWB company. The company was a CWB certified company. So the first thing is like, okay, that's a perfect opportunity for me to now start exploring the idea of getting this job of CWB. Let me learn about certification and all that stuff. So anyway, you know, those days you find those jobs in the papers, right? So call the guy. The guy said to me can you well Titania? And I'm like I've never welled before. I could well steal a, steal a loom in a new name. He says oh yeah, come on in. So I went, did the test. They hired me to replace a guy that has been there for 24 years, right. So I became their specialty combination welder, right. And then the next thing happened was there was test, they CWB and TSC, both.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:And I had. You know I was now a specialized tick welder. Like I wasn't welding other processes, I hadn't welded flux core since I left school. Stick I did a little bit tacky here, and there, meg, yes, I was doing so the CWB inspector, the CSR, comes up and gives me five tests right Flux, core, aluminum, tick, gas, metal or stick. And I got lucky Max, I passed all of them. And I got lucky Max, I passed all of them and I did.
Speaker 1:Must have been a really nice CSR. No, I guess what the CSR was. Oh man, this would have been like late.
Speaker 2:This is 19,. This is 2007. No, no, this is 2000. 2000,.
Speaker 1:I'm sorry. 2000. 2000, csr in the GTA Doug.
Speaker 2:Bruce, oh, victor Victor.
Speaker 1:Andrewsson, a good old Victor. Yeah, Victor was the first rep that I actually spoke with and we love, everyone loves Victor, everyone loves Victor.
Speaker 2:So every time Victor comes in, he had to deal with me. Hey, victor, man, how do I get a job like this Right, how do I get a job? And he gave me a little bit of hints and advice, but nothing to really work off right. At that time, like I said, I was really a good welder. And then new people that came in. I helped them a lot Well, I did help them to prepare for the test. And then Victor comes to me and he says Mo, you don't want this job, you're too much of a nice guy. So that happened and yeah, so my the setup here, max, is, it took a lot of work, it took a lot of determination, it took a lot of bugging, if you will, to really get the job at CDVB. So, talking to Victor, I met Bruce, remember.
Speaker 1:Bruce.
Speaker 2:Yes, bruce James, bruce James. I met him at one of the conferences, one of the smartest people you'll ever run into.
Speaker 1:Yes, right.
Speaker 2:So talk to Bruce a little bit. He gave me a little bit of tips here and there, but in the meantime, from Montreal in here, I was also continuing my education. I went and did some drafting courses at CJEP and things like that, right, trying to prepare myself. I was always working towards something. And then eventually, craig Martin and the sector and the Sani, the managers, used to have a day go out with the CSR right. They ended up coming to my company, the company that I was working for, and I had seen in one of those CWA Journal Craig Martin one. He was the regional manager at that time. So, craig, quickly, I found a way to say hello to him and whatever, right, I got his card worst mistake he ever made. And yeah, that's where it started, man. I mean, I was very determined to get what I wanted and to be part of the CWB. Right, that was my goal.
Speaker 1:So that first job that you applied for at CWB was it a CSR job.
Speaker 2:It was a CSR. It was a CSR Right. So I ended up, you know, I went and did the supervisor course that we offer, and that's when I found out how much I didn't know about standards and all these things.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no that's a great course. I actually think every welder should take that course in the world. It's an amazing course.
Speaker 2:It's an amazing course. So I went back to all gone woods of my company and I'm like, listen, I wanna help, I really wanna help improve our welding operation, right? So I spoke to my boss. He said it depends on, you know, the VP, whatever. I said okay. So I went to the VP, who was the owner of the company, and I said you know, this is what I want. She said, okay, but who's gonna weld a titanium? I'll do both, right? They didn't see that as working, so it didn't happen. Then I said, okay.
Speaker 2:So I enrolled into a level one. I actually changed that job and I went and took another job at a power. They were making transformers, so they hired me as a lead. So I took that job for about a year and I didn't like it. So I went back to the old company and when I took that job I met a gentleman who works for us right now. Okay, so I wanted now the next step. Okay, so now I'm a supervisor, qualified supervisor. The next step is I need to get my level one and inspect it right.
Speaker 2:That's right, yeah, so I bought the modules 21 or 19 modules at that time. I bought 19 modules. I'm gonna sell study and I'm going to, you know, write this exam and then it went on the shelf for a few years because I was building a basement, so I was doing that. And then I started working in this company. I met this gentleman who works for us today. His name is Ali Tabar.
Speaker 2:Okay, he's one of our CSRs right now and brilliant, brilliant guy. He's got a solid background I don't know what is in metallurgy and inspection, and so he had a big job in Iran and stuff where he came from. And him and I talked and I said, listen, man, what are you doing? And he told me some stories about his struggles as well and I said you know, I'm considering becoming a welding inspector. And this is what I did. And he's like, okay, if I do it, I'm gonna get it done in three months, and me I'm on year number four, five, I don't know. So Ali was the guy who really motivated me to finish it up and Ali did complete it. It probably less than three months. Yeah.
Speaker 2:And then so I did that as well and I got my level one and then from there, so I was looking into like moving, you know, out of a welder and this is where you know career pathing and exploring where you can go. I've got about this time maybe 15 years of welding experience. I'm good at it. I don't wanna leave that and start something new. How can I leverage that into something a little bit, you know, on a higher level? Right? Engineering or welding engineer was not something that I was considering because you know I didn't have enough requisites to get into that, and it's a whole pile more schooling.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Exactly so. I thought about being a welding instructor, which I would be good at. I thought about being a welding salesman, oh yeah, and I almost got a job at ear products, be their industrial specialist. So my job was to, you know, teach the salesman. That didn't work out. So I ended up working with OmniWel. I did a gig for them where I was an instructor for I think it was Steelcar. So I went there, did some instructing for them and then shortly after that I figured, okay, let's get into some NDT. So I took a course at Muller College in LPI, Liquid Penetrant Inspection. And then by that time, right during that course of time, I was always in contact with CWB. So it came to a point where, you know, I would apply for a job, never hear anything, and then I would call Craig Martin every two weeks, every two weeks, religiously, Max. I kid you not.
Speaker 2:So every two weeks I would call him and I'm saying, okay, I just did this, I got my supervisor, I got my love alone. What is it that I need to do right now? And then he said to me I remember this very, very vividly I was in the lunchroom of my company making a phone call to Craig Martin. It was about 1130 or so, okay, and he said to me you know, this job requires someone with a strong personality. So I said okay, there is only one way for you to find out. Why don't you meet with me? And he says well, I don't have the time. And I said, buddy, all I need is 10 minutes. And he said, okay, that was the biggest mistake he made. So I met with him and he said yeah, I can see you being a good fit, whatever, and that you know from there. You know we continue until I actually, you know, got hired by CWB.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and when you got hired, did you get hired on as full time CSR right away? Yeah, Because sometimes there's part time you know so.
Speaker 2:I'm glad you asked that, because at one point in time I couldn't get the full time thing. Now they're saying, okay, you're a good fit, but there's no full time job. So what I did see was a part time job. So I applied for it and then they said to me we can't give you this because it's gonna be a conflict of interest because you're working for a certified company. So I said, okay, I know I can do this job and to prove it to you, I'm gonna quit my full time job. I was making good money. I'm gonna quit it and come work for you part time, just to show you that I'll be really good at this job that you're advertising. They couldn't give it to me because they said they couldn't guarantee me hours. Right, but it took a few months later and then the full time position came up in the Toronto area and I was interviewed and, yeah, I got the job.
Speaker 1:So did you take Vic's job and Vic moved up. How did it work? No, so.
Speaker 2:Vic moved into the procedures department I believe, yes, procedure engineering, right and then there was another gentleman that they hired his name was Josh Star, I believe, and then he was there for six months and then he moved into the international market. So he was traveling internationally and that position came in open and I saw that.
Speaker 1:And now Craig Martin's the VP of the whole damn thing. So you made the right friends. Yeah, I made the right friends.
Speaker 2:Craig was. You know? Yeah, I definitely. You know I had some good, some good conversations with Craig Martin and stuff like that, and you know we all sit in the same chapter and all that stuff. So in a way we became friends in a way. So it was nice to see and that's why you know, like I said, I never give up, right. I always think that. You know, sometimes you have to create your own opportunities.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you know you brought up the chapters. Were you a part of the CWA back then or even before that, the Welding Institute of Canada, wic? Were you a part of any of these welding associations before you joined CWB, or did you only start becoming involved after you started working with the CWB?
Speaker 2:So after I became the CSR for that area, then I met up Ima Adesad, and Ima was, I think he was the chair of the chapter of that time, right, whatever. But he was up there in the executive committee and he invited me to join the CWA. He says, listen, this is where you can meet a lot of people who learn a lot of stuff, and you know, ima is a good salesman, right, yeah, but he was right. So I quickly joined the CWA, attended the meetings and met a lot of different people, learned a lot of stuff in the CWA meetings. It was great, bill Bill, a solid network, right? You know, networking is always a great thing, yeah, and then eventually, you know, years after that, I became the chair of the Toronto chapter, right, so the chapter is a great opportunity as well, not only to attend and network and learn, but also for growth. So I was able to go into that position where now I was taking on a leadership position, right?
Speaker 1:You're a leader of the lead people, you know.
Speaker 2:Right. And you know, lead and influence people without authority, right. You know volunteering is the hardest thing, right? So how did Nazi get around that? I think I had a great committee. I mean Craig Martin, victor, christian, doug, bruce, e-mad, you know, was a solid.
Speaker 1:That's true, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we did a lot of good things for the Toronto chapter and I definitely learned that side of it. And that's how I met you, max, the first time at a CWA conference in was it Edmonton, I believe? Yeah, that was the first time you and I met.
Speaker 1:I think that's when I did the presentation on Africa I? Oh no, maybe not. That was before.
Speaker 2:No, you were new as a cheer, yeah, but you had all these amazing ideas that I was new as a cheer. So right away I was like this is a guy that will connect to us, right, and yeah, that's how you and I talked. I mean, it's a long time. It's been a while, so you've met a lot of people. So I don't remember that I do remember that, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we all had to give our presentation and our updates. And when you came up and you had some fantastic ideas and I'm like yep, thought it would be a guy I should be bugging.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know that's probably 10 years ago now, and yeah, so how long have you been at the CWB now? I just finished 17 years Max 17 years, so this is by far the longest job you've ever had.
Speaker 2:This is by far the longest job, but this is the first time that I've actually done a job where I never thought of looking for another job.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. And how has the growth gone for you inside of CWB? You know, coming in as a CSR, that was the job you wanted, but eventually it wasn't the job you had. You don't have that job now. So the progression, was it on purpose? Did you want to climb or did you kind of just work your way up organically?
Speaker 2:I always just need attention, as always, to elevate right. So, yeah, I did the CSR role for six years. I think I'll grow or grew the role to a certain extent. I mean, it's one of the best jobs, honestly, but I am sometimes too ambitious for my own good. So I ended up traveling and doing the national work where I wanted a ton of stuff and, of course, I saw a lot of different places. In all, because of CWB, I learned the client side, client relationships and all that stuff handling difficult situations. So I never set a skills that I was getting. But again, I was thinking I applied for the soup. There was a supervisor opening and I applied for it. I didn't get it. And then all of a sudden they opened up this new opportunity where they were going to create a new function called internal training. And when I read that the first thing that came to my mind was yes, I needed it.
Speaker 2:No, no, no, I did not even think of that. What I thought was is finally, we are going to get someone to help us technically, because that was the setup. And then then I thought about, hey, I like teaching, I like training, why couldn't this be me? Yeah, but again, the position was so new, they didn't have much information. So the first thing I did is I went to Craig Martin again, I think Craig was I. What role was Craig? He was in a different role, but I went to him and I said, hey, tell me about his job. But he told me a little bit about it and I spoke with Human Resources, odessa at that time. Yeah, I was a generalist and I spoke to her. She gave me a little bit of info and then I just applied for it. And, yeah, there was a lot of people who applied for a job.
Speaker 2:But I think my edge was one I was, I was not fully bilingual, but I was able to to to work in French, if you will okay, right, right so what I did is I actually in my, you know, I was interviewed a few times and in the last interview was a panel interview and I actually prepared a presentation with a plan and said this is what it looks like. And then I was chosen. So I became the internal training specialist, as the role was called, and I yeah, I took that with, you know, just jumped right into it and just started with so much demand of training people that we just started to train, train, train, train, got a dedicated person. So from there I developed a mentorship program. Then after six months, I was promoted to supervisor of internal training. I will now create a framework for onboarding and training for the CSR, something that is standardized.
Speaker 2:And then, you know, a few years later on, as it, you know, it evolved and the model changed for many different times then and I became the manager of internal training. At that time I had a couple of people reporting to me, but at a dual level. They were internal trainers to assess, because there was so much demand for training people and we were getting a good uptake and the results were great and and, yeah, so I've been in that role now for just over 10 years and I'm really happy max, because it became my baby right. It became something that I thought that I built from the ground up yeah and I had so much expectations.
Speaker 2:You know, you know when you're ignorant sometimes, you know you, uh, you don't know what you put yourself into. And you, you know you're an overachiever. You want to do so much stuff but you know you don't have the patience. You want things to happen yesterday, right, so I took a while, but we're in a good position right now. And then recently I've been. My role has been expanded now to more of a corporate level. So now not only am I going to be working with the certification team, but other business units in the CBB. So, yeah, it's been good, you know, over that time, I'm proud to say that we've created a very solid standard on the onboarding training program and to supplement that, we've also created certification programs so that we can demonstrate competencies you know ongoing competencies, right, yeah, so that has been a big success for us as well.
Speaker 2:Now, in doing all of that, now I was a welder. Now my welding is. I was a, you know, welding supervisor, polofrider, welding inspector. I'm a level two. But now I got into training. Okay, so now what do I do? So, yeah, I got into training and then, essentially, you know training courses, programs and then I did a master's certificate at Shulik University. You know just to bring credibility and also to learn. You know the methodologies and the science about. You know adult learning and development. So now I have a master's certificate in adult training and development and I also was able to get my certification as a certified training and development professional through the certification body of Canada, which is I4PL. So you can see the progression here, right and it's never ending okay so what are some of the needs?
Speaker 1:you know, 17 years in this company, I can tell you're not done. You know, I can tell you're not done. So what are some of the things that you still see, that you know, you think that you can contribute to, or that you have maybe on the horizon of you would like to see come to fruition?
Speaker 2:well, it's just building on what we have right now in terms of that, that training strategy. Right is learning up skilling. There is always a need for that, right, you know the world is moving very fast technology, for example. Right, as you can see the way that we as a company, we're growing exponentially right. So there was a lot of opportunities for me to add value to this organization using my expertise, not only as a learning and development professional, but also, you know, with my solid background in the business. Right, you know well enough, so I can see that you know, with my new and I guess the company has seen that as well that's why my role has been expanded now. So now it's about looking at other business units and seeing where I can leverage my expertise to support them.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. And what about your role as a mentor? You know, because you've brought up mentorship a few times, even from being young to now, you know, and as a now kind of a senior leader within the CWB, you have your own whole little department there. That's your baby that you grew and it's well. It's not so little, it's quite a bit. You know, how do you see yourself as a mentor? You know, first of all, as a person of color and then second of all, as a, you know as a someone with actual business background in the welding industry, which are kind of two things that CWB doesn't have a lot there's. You know, I think we're pretty decent on the people of color, on the kind of on the bottom tier, but we don't have a lot of it in the management and upper levels. You know, where do you see yourself being a mentor for that?
Speaker 2:So you know the beautiful thing about my roles.
Speaker 2:My job is I'm the first person that they meet yeah right, I'm the one who envoys them right, and with that there is a lot of, you know, opportunities for me to share ideas and to kind of, in a way, provide them with certain you know best practices, tips, you know ideas for them to navigate right, yeah, through it.
Speaker 2:And I love that about what I do because I get to see someone grow. Yeah, right, I get new people that comes in and water them a lot more educated than I am, but it's new for them, right, so I'm kind of holding their hands in some ways and kind of steering them through and at the time, you know, we have a lot of conversations, right, those. You know what works for me. You know and this is a thing about onboarding right, mentorship and, you know, peer contributions, right, like it's, it's, it's very important for that framework to be in place and has to be solid, because when a new employee comes into an organization, there's a lot of stress, there's a lot of worries, right, and you're working on expectations, yeah unknown expectations, right, and so, if you can have someone and we do a really good job, I mean as that, and we try our best, of course there is always opportunities for improvement, which we are always looking at ways to enhance our, our practices and stuff like that.
Speaker 2:But, yeah, I see like a privilege to be in this position. I know that I talked to these gentlemen and these ladies and whoever comes in as friends, right, and try to make them feel as welcome, comfortable as possible. And then, being a CSR, you know, for six years, I also have a lot of you know, tips and experience and and things that I can share with some funny stories too, probably, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:And how do you feel about the direction of the company? Because, like you said, cwb is growing. Like I've only been here three years, you know, I kind of sort of just flew in like a rocket ship into this job and now I kind of came in at a time of incredible growth for this company at all levels. You know, the for-profit, the not-for-profit, the association foundation, everywhere everyone's growing. You know, how do you feel about the direction of the company, the affiliations with EWI, the growth, like I mean, you've been here long enough, you kind of seen it all.
Speaker 2:I've seen it. I've seen a lot in the last 17 plus years. I like the direction right. I like what we stand for. That's one of the reasons why, you know, I keep to see the B right. It's the purpose, the mission, it's what we stand for, it's what we do right and to expand that and to get better at it right. And then an encompass, not just, you know, welling, but joining right. And then now, with this NDT certification, right and everything. So it's gonna be. I love the idea of a one-stop shop.
Speaker 1:Yeah, me too. Yeah, that's what I love.
Speaker 2:And I feel that we have been growing fast, right and a lot of opportunities for people who really are seeking out opportunities as well. So for someone who's coming into this company, you know there are opportunities that you can leverage right Because the company is growing right and if you have the type of skill sets and the willingness right, the opportunities are there.
Speaker 1:How's your connection with your motherland? Do you still have connections to each other? Do you still have connections to Guyana? Do you go visit you and your wife? Do you take the kids there? You know what's the cultural, you know connection that you've been able to maintain.
Speaker 2:You know the culture is, you know, not much is real. Yeah, I still love the Chinese culture, right, I mean, we spent 17 years, man, I grew up there, bro. Yeah, it's a beautiful culture. Yeah, so I do have a family. They have an aunt there. I have nieces and nephews and their family there. I go back every two years or so, right, my wife has a sister and you know family done there as well. So, yeah, I mean me and my brother and I, just brought up, bought a small little property a few years ago. So, yeah, we're still very, very much in tune there. It's, you know, home is. You know, this is my home. But my background and the memories that you have grown up in, wherever you were brought up in, it's something to cherish, something to hold on to, something to savor. Right Now, I have two cultures, right, I have the Canadian culture and I have the Guyanese culture and not Blaine. It's beautiful. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Hello, and how old are your kids now?
Speaker 2:My oldest is 28. She's engaged. And then I got twins, boy and a girl. They're 23. And any?
Speaker 1:welders.
Speaker 2:No, no, welders at all. No, they're not really like. I've got two girls, so one of them is in kind of while she was studying HR strategies, and then the other one is in psychology. My son is trying to be a social worker and so, yeah, they have to roll back.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I went in the social sciences yeah.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:That's good, because every behind every strong welder is a strong psychiatrist. So hey, that's the last one. Cause. Mental health is important. Take care of yourself, oh yeah. Awesome, buddy. So we're coming up to the end of the interview here. Just a couple more questions just to wrap it up. But you know, first of all, you know how do you feel your culture, you know your background as an immigrant. You know, 17 years old, living in the one bedroom, the struggle, how do you feel it helped shape your life as a Canadian.
Speaker 2:Wow, that's a big question. As I thought of it that way, in every real form, I had to.
Speaker 1:Because you know, challenges. Cause for you to say that you were a Canadian and proud that comes from struggle. You know what I mean, of course. So like I'd love to hear your take on how that affected who you are now as a person.
Speaker 2:I don't know if I can put it into words, I'll try, but I'll tell you that let's put it this way those challenges, those struggles, the patience, the perseverance, right, it is what has helped me become why I'm not only professionally right as a person, as a respected and law-abiding citizen of Canada, as a father, as a friend, and if I can say that, without those struggles, I don't think I would have been the same person, or those challenges that I am right now. I think you know those challenges are meant for a reason. They're put there sometimes for a reason, right? If you want to grow, you have to get out of your comfort zone. Yeah.
Speaker 2:You have to be tested and, you know, go through those experiences and come out as being successful, right. And you know, as a person of color, I mean you know you are going to. You move to a different country, whether you're a person of color or not. You go into a different culture, a different country. There are going to be challenges. It's how you navigate those right.
Speaker 2:For me, my principle is I always try to believe in one thing there are certain things that are beyond your control, but there is a lot that is within your control. So, control what you have control over, take care of those things and the rest, well, hey, you can't do it too much about it. So when people, you know I talk about the challenges I had with language and also as color, I lost it off, right, I realized that that's ignorance. But I also know that I had to work harder and I had to show my value in a different way my worst, right. So, and you know, I talked to you about how I couldn't keep a job because it was too slow or I couldn't handle this, and you know, whatever, I'm a person who has to work harder than other people and I don't, right, and I think my success is based on those challenges and the hard work that I have to put in. So for you, you know, things may come to you naturally. For me, I've recognized that I'm going to have to put in the work, but that has never stopped me and I've seen great results with that. Right, and it's also to your question, you know, because of that, it's made me into somebody that I'm really happy, that I've become Right, understanding what challenges and hard work is. I now appreciate what I have more Right.
Speaker 2:So you know, I would say that all of us have strengths and weaknesses. Right, we all have a place that we can in society and how we contribute. So we have to figure out what our strengths are. I think, yeah, understand what our weaknesses are, but build on those strengths, because the weaknesses, the strengths, will overshadow that. Right, I think what people look for in someone, when they look for value in someone, they look at someone with the right attitude. Right and willingness to work OK and to go ask through your dreams or what have you Right?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, in learning and development we always say one thing we can train people's skills, but not attitude. Right, it's got some brilliant people out there, but they're not hired because of attitudes sometimes, or they don't move up because of their attitude. And then you have other people, and myself included, who I'm always in a constant struggle and I have to work harder to get what I see some of my friends, just I'll give you a good example. So one of my the only hobby that I have right now besides working out is this golf. Right, ok, I think you would like. Yeah, so this golf is something that I found in COVID, ok, and it's the same way that I approach this golf is the way I had approached my career. So I got into this golf at this age, right, and I know that I've seen some of the guys that have natural talent. Yeah.
Speaker 2:But I'm able to compete with them because I put in a work Right. Right. So it's the same thing with your career or what have you in your goals. You have to understand that you have to take control of your path. No no no, nobody else's fault. You have to create your own. In a nutshell, you have to create your own opportunities. So when someone say no to you, you have to figure out a way how that no is going to become yes.
Speaker 1:I always tell my staff no means just not yet. Yes, exactly, I like that. Yeah, no is just not yet. And it's funny you bring up not being able to teach certain aspects of social behaviors, and that's something I always used to tell my students. It's like I can teach you all how to weld, but I can't teach anyone how to be ambitious. That is something that I don't even know how it works. I don't know where my ambition came from. It's like a burning fire in my belly that I've seemed to have had since I was a baby and I don't know how to put that into someone else's belly. You know what I mean, but I hope everyone finds it, because I think what happens is that when you find the thing that you love, then the fire starts to burn. And once the fire starts to burn, it never goes out again.
Speaker 2:That's great, max. I know it's almost the end of time. I didn't really think that I answered your question really well about how my progression. But I would say one thing that I'm really happy that I was able to upgrade myself so that I can be a strong contributor to the Canadian industry and the Canadian economy and I was able to not only come here and suck the life out of the services that are there, but I'm a strong contributor and I do like you. I mean you talk about your ambitions and where you've come from and I think you and I and all the millions of people out there, we do give back. Look at what we're doing right now with your association and the work that I do and all these people. We're getting back to the industry. We're thinking about a new generation. We're thinking about how we can kind of grow as a nation.
Speaker 1:Yeah, all right. So the last question here for you, for somebody that's out there thinking about working for the CWB, for your and I think you're going to repeat a couple of things already, but just so that's clear to them If they are thinking about working for the CWB, you as the onboarding trainer, what are the things that you would love to see them have before they send in that resume that they understand? Clearly, these are the one or two or three things that they should really think about before they apply and have that interview where you're going to be staring at them and asking them the questions.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a good question. I used to be part of the interview process and the first question I always like to ask is why? Why do you want to join CWB? And, surprisingly enough, a lot of people don't even know what CWB does. They don't do the research. They know we're a great company. They see us as the CSRs, but really understanding what CWB is I'd like you to take some time to think about that. And the other thing is understanding that if you're applying, let's keep one role in specific. So we've got many different roles in this CWB. But if you're applying as a CSR, understand that this is a role where it's like running your own business.
Speaker 2:So you have to be very organized. You have the flexibility and you have to make sure that you have what Craig Martin said. Now I understood after I joined what strong personality means. You have to be able to develop and maintain relationship. You have to be able to solve problems right, the few situations right. You're the face of the company, so you have to bring those skills, the technical stuff. Of course you need the background and welding and all that stuff which help, but the technical stuff you'll be trained to. Come with a passion right To succeed, join this great company and make sure that you understand what you're getting into, and that goes for any job. That's the first thing. You said something there when you choose a job, you've got to choose a job that you love. And here's the quote and I learned this from one of the welders in the field right that if you take a job that you love, you'll never work a commodity of your life, and that's an amazing thing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, awesome. Well, do you have any shout outs or anybody you'd like to say hi to before we wrap this up?
Speaker 2:Hello to all my welders out there man. Good. And everyone in the welding industry and everyone who's going to be listening to the podcast. Max, you're doing an amazing job. Shout out to the CWE, cwe Association and CWE.
Speaker 1:Group at Large. Awesome, buddy. Well, thank you. I don't think you're going to get in trouble. You might be getting a promotion after this one. You did some nice things there, so it's all factual Awesome.
Speaker 1:Well, thank you so much, Mohamed, for being a part of this special episode and for being on the show with me today. Thanks, Max Awesome, and for all the people that have been following along, make sure you keep downloading, sharing and commenting on our podcast. We love the information, we love the feedback and we love that everyone's following along. I love getting the messages on Instagram. I love the emails that we get in through the company email info at CWEassociationorg. Catch me on Instagram through either CWE Welding Group or CWE Group Welding or myself. Ask Max75. I just got one this morning saying thank you so much for the podcast and I love that stuff. So keep following along, downloading and making us thrive with the show and stay tuned for the next episode. We hope you enjoy the show.
Speaker 5:You've been listening to the CWB Association Welding podcast with Max Serlan. If you enjoyed what you heard today, rate our podcast and visit us at CWBassociationorg to learn more. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions or suggestions on what you'd like to learn about in the future. Produced by the CWB Group and presented by Max Serlan, this podcast serves to educate and connect the Welding community. Please subscribe and thank you for listening.