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.
When Ruth Falokun describes her transition from Nigeria to the bustling energy of Calgary, Alberta, it's a testament to the resilience and determination one can wield when navigating new terrain. As a QA/QC Inspector in the welding industry, Ruth shares tales from the shop floor to the adrenaline-fueled environment of turnarounds, revealing her preference for the latter with its unpredictable challenges. Her narrative isn't just about technicalities; it's a profound reflection on the cultural and emotional nuances of an immigrant balancing family with a demanding career.
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.
When Ruth Falokun describes her transition from Nigeria to the bustling energy of Calgary, Alberta, it's a testament to the resilience and determination one can wield when navigating new terrain. As a QA/QC Inspector in the welding industry, Ruth shares tales from the shop floor to the adrenaline-fueled environment of turnarounds, revealing her preference for the latter with its unpredictable challenges. Her narrative isn't just about technicalities; it's a profound reflection on the cultural and emotional nuances of an immigrant balancing family with a demanding career.
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, shitwb 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. 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 all the time, all the times, I'm looking everywhere to find the best guests I can find.
Speaker 1:Well, we have some very special episodes coming up this month for Black History Month, and today I have a wonderful guest coming into us from Calgary, alberta, ruth. Felicun Ruth, how are you doing? I'm good, thank you. How are you? I'm good, I'm good. I'm confused by the weather here in Saskatchewan. Two weeks ago we were minus 40 and today it's raining and plus eight, so I have no idea what's happening.
Speaker 3:I can see the same for Calgary, yeah, well usually we get your weather yeah. Oh yeah, it's been the same for the past couple of weeks, so yeah.
Speaker 1:All right. So what is your job title, ruth? Tell us what you do.
Speaker 3:So I'm currently a QAQC inspector and pretty much that's what I do. I go, I do shop inspections, turnarounds and the like. So, yeah, that's my title, that's what I do presently. I'm a world-end inspector.
Speaker 1:Cool, and do you work for an inspection company or are you alone, like as a self-proprietor?
Speaker 3:or business. So pretty much now I'm alone. I work alone as a contractor for a company where I literally go for turnarounds and the likes of it, so yeah, and do you like working the shutdown work?
Speaker 1:Do you like chasing the work around?
Speaker 3:It looks like it. Yeah, If I wanted to compare it with the shop. Yeah See, it's got its ups and downs, but definitely I take that over shop for sure.
Speaker 1:Really, a lot of people like to shop better, cleaner home at the same time, every day.
Speaker 3:Yes, I think actually both of them do have like their pros and cons right. So pretty much to be able to spend time with family and the likes of it. That's why I would definitely prefer to be local. However, you know, we know more pay and more experience, more exposure to so many things you don't do in the shop Like this really most times. For me, I think that there's no repetition of stuff going to turnarounds. I have, like, for every time I've gone for turnarounds I have, you know, different experiences with projects so far. So, yeah, that's why I like it.
Speaker 1:Definitely more exciting on the road. Until you get tired of the road life, and some people never do. Some people love it forever, right?
Speaker 3:I don't see myself loving it forever, but it is a tough game. I don't see myself loving it forever.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I didn't love it forever. I didn't. I didn't road work up until my mid-30s and then I was like that's enough of that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, there's always like a time, you know, we draw the line like it's enough.
Speaker 1:So let's start at the beginning here. All right, so now we know what to do, but let's start at the very beginning, ruth, where were you born? And let's start with the story of Ruth as a little baby.
Speaker 3:So I was born in Nigeria. I've got three siblings, two older sisters and a brother, and yeah, I grew up in Nigeria. I was school in Nigeria. I actually had my bachelor's degree in Nigeria before relocating to Canada in 2014. And that has been my journey since 2014. Since I got to Canada, I went back to school a couple of times, started my own family and, yeah, here I am today.
Speaker 1:Okay, so you skipped over a lot of information there, so let's go back. Where in Nigeria were you born? It's a big country, one of the bigger ones in Africa. So where in Nigeria were?
Speaker 3:you born, correct? So I was born in Lagos States. I'm sure you've heard. Yeah, lagos is a very popular city in Nigeria. I was born in Lagos State and my father is originally from somewhere we call choir state and my mom was actually from Lagos State. So I was born there. That's the city, that's where life happens and that's why I'm in Calgary also because I'm used to the lifestyle. So, yeah, so Lagos is a very big city.
Speaker 1:So I've worked in West Africa a few times and I've been to Benin Kotefua, ghana. I've been around the places. I worked in a couple of training programs in Ghana around the Voltaire region and so I know the area very well, but I've never been to Nigeria specifically. It's sometimes when I was in West Africa people would say you know, oh, the food is same here that you get. Let's go, like you know Fufu and Ghana. You know, like I love Fufu. It's a type of like cassava root cooked and they're like that's only a Ghanaese food. But then I ran into someone from Nigeria and they said Nigeria has Fufu, but I don't think they do. They.
Speaker 3:they got their own like I don't know, oh, yes, we have our own Fufu and it's you know you don't want to be on the social media saying that, because I promise you we have like the clash between Nigeria and Ghana.
Speaker 1:That's right. So you gotta be careful.
Speaker 3:It's like yeah, yeah, I would you know both of it. Like we have the best food, we have the best Jollof.
Speaker 1:I'm sure you know.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, I love Jollof, that rice is big, yeah, so I haven't tried Ghana Fufu, but yes, we definitely have our own Fufu and, like you said, it's probably the same way we prepare it, but you know different though.
Speaker 1:Every region even inside of Ghana, different regions at different level of spice have different level of consistency and, like I mean, here in Canada you try to get Fufu and you just get like the dried cassava powder. It's not the same folks.
Speaker 3:No, it's not the same. That's actually not Fufu. That's not. That's definitely not the right Fufu. No, that's like all the Fufu I see on social media. I'm like no, you have to go to like Nigeria to get the real Fufu, where they pound the root they pound it and it makes it the right consistency.
Speaker 1:So it sticks together and then you make the little bowl for the soup and the fish.
Speaker 3:There we go and another, another feel to it is, you know, when you kind of scoop it like you have it draw you know like elastic.
Speaker 1:You know exactly something like that. So it's, it's yeah, I'm getting hungry now.
Speaker 3:I know I'm missing them right now, this conversation also.
Speaker 1:Is there and this is kind of off the track now already I'm doing it, but is there Nigerian restaurants in Calgary that you can go get like a traditional food?
Speaker 3:Yes, we do have like a couple. I do visit the couple of them. However, like we had the conversation, we still don't have the. Fufu here. Yeah, it's definitely not the same and I still make like the homemade food also for myself, you know, just to keep having that feel. But yes, we have a couple like we have quite a few African restaurants here in Calgary, A lot yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's just catching on. Here in Regina we have there's a lady from Takarati that actually I worked just down the street from her and then I met her here in Canada and, like I worked down the street from her in Takarati and so she cooks Food. Now she's opening up a restaurant called a quaba quaba foods here in Regina and it's good it's good but she said she was gonna do foo foo for me.
Speaker 1:She said she got the root but it was good. Okay, so it was good, but not, it's not the same as being like on the ground there and plus it's not plus 30 out that human. Yeah, it's a whole different vibe. You know, being being in West Africa's West Africa is beautiful. People always think of Africa's is like dry and, you know, poor, but West Africa has lots of money. It's corrupt. That's a different story. That's a different story we talk about. But yeah, there's lots of resources and there's lots of stuff going on, like, like I've heard, lagos is an amazing city. I heard it's a really cool place. I've been to a crowd across four million people is. It's no joke, you know.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I say to a lot of people, you know, if I just wanted to describe Nigeria specifically to them I'm like we pay off, like we buy our houses in cash. Everything we do is in cash, like we don't have opportunities for more gauges and what the likes, or pretty much. That gives you a feel of how rich the country or the continent is.
Speaker 3:As a whole and you know some people are still kind of Should I say they need more training on Thinking Africa is the country? No, it's not a country. Nigeria is just one of a few like in the whole continent, right? So yeah, I think it's a. You know, people just need to and we have curious people now trying to learn a lot about Africans. I have a couple of friends. You know we'll try the food also and you know it's been a journey so far and I think I like the transition and what gets an into in this day and age.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, that was something that made me so passionate about About Africa in general and, like I'm an immigrant, I'm from South America, came to Canada when I was a kid With my family, so I already have like the immigrant story. We were refugees, which is a very impactful story when people want to hear about my journey. Most of the Western African people that have come in the last, I'd say, 20 years have come for economic reasons. You know it's not. There hasn't been any outright wars, although there's always some fighting, but there hasn't been any outright wars, not like the east of Africa which you have Eritrea, somalia, ethiopia. You know they have like refugee camps, they have all sorts of other issues going on there. So most of the people that you meet from West Africa are usually educated, usually went to school, usually parents had decent jobs. They were, you know, and they came to Canada Searching for for a new life. You know what I mean, especially because access to West Africa, immigration-wise, is a little bit easier because it's English-speaking countries right.
Speaker 1:So so there is a whole angle there. So now, knowing that, coming back to your story, you know, as a young girl growing up in Nigeria, you know two older sisters and a brother. Did you, what was your dream? What did you want to do when you grew up? I don't think you wanted to be a weld inspector because, you know, and if that's not even a girl or boy question, I don't go into any grade 8 school and say what do you want to do when you grow up and people put their hands up and say, well, the inspector doesn't exist. You know. So what was your path? What did you want to be?
Speaker 3:So technically, you're right, I never grew up thinking I was gonna be a world and inspector. It's wasn't even something I knew about when I was in, when I was growing up pretty much. However, you know, just like you said, back home in Nigeria we have Should I say like in Africa generally, we have discrimination against females. You know Pretty much going into like the male dominated industry and I remember growing up vividly well. Like I said, I have two older sisters, like Geralt was pretty much into like North and and mass communication. However, I I did want to push myself because I felt like you know people Like I, we have three sisters.
Speaker 3:For some reason I think my mom would have continued having kids if she never had like my younger brother.
Speaker 3:So it's, you know, it's just like a thing in Africa whereby you know you just want to keep having somebody, especially a male figure, to be able to like dominate.
Speaker 3:Then you know like just keep the family name and you know that pushed me Because I was just like I was gonna do all of these things these guys you know do, and for the fact I was the third girl, like I Remember vivid, my mom telling me when they had me, my father literally thought I was gonna be a boy and he gave up and it was just like I'm just gonna give this girl my name. And he gave me his name literally and I took that as Something really sacred. But you know, he gave up like it was never gonna have a guy, like it wasn't gonna have a boy, and I worked with that and told myself I was gonna be an engineer. So I went to school literally when I was a little kid, my parents said I was gonna be an electrical engineer because I was like Changing sockets at home, like you know everything, fan bobs and all those stuff. So they kind of spoke into me like oh, I think, you're gonna be an electrical engineer.
Speaker 3:But you know, as life would have it, when I wanted to go into school, I wasn't like I didn't get the admission into electrical engineering. I, wherever I got civil engineering and then I schooled in a university of, in Lawnry, and that's where you know.
Speaker 3:I kept pushing myself and it was a class of like 79 people in total and we had just nine girls and that even pushed me more like you know, the guys just, we just felt and you know it was just something exciting like, okay, I don't know what's going on, I don't know why girls and are coming into this field, and I just Became even more curious as to how, just keep doing this stuff. I don't know how hard it is, I'll just keep pushing myself to get this thing done, and that was how I. I knew from the onset I was gonna be an engineer, pretty much like when I was a kid. I, everyone in the family knew that and I've been pushing myself. And then when I got to Canada, I did go back to school. I did a project management and At a point I was like this doesn't really work.
Speaker 3:I was like I'm gonna go back to school and I was like this doesn't really look like it's for me, exactly like it had a lot of stories in it. I wasn't used to like reading a lot of stories and stuff and I had a friend then who did well then. However, no, I skipped something. When I was in school in Nigeria, we had like this thing we call internship, like a swipe, and I remember one of my instructors making me strike an axe and I was like you know, it was just Just striking an act. I was like, oh, what's the mechanism behind this thing? How did this, you know? Or I do see like the, the uneducated peeps back home tend to be like the welders, and for that reason it's not something I resonated with because, I felt like, you know, you don't have to go to school to, you know, do things like that.
Speaker 3:So when I did that hack, I was like, okay, this is welding and then soldering. You know, they taught us a little bit of soldering and I got curious about it. When I got to Canada I got the opportunity also to talk to like friends of mine who were in the welding industry and they told me about the money.
Speaker 3:You know they were earning and then the excitement there and how fun it is, you know, to just keep learning and getting so many experiences.
Speaker 3:However, when I got here and wanted to apply for the study, I also doubted myself because, you know, I still had the mindset like I don't think I'm gonna have a lot of opportunities here as a female and you know, knowing my skin color and stuff like that. So I Applied into SAIT and I was just pushing myself and told myself, okay, I'm gonna apply for two courses. I hope they give me the one that is really, you know, female dominated. Then give me the male dominated field and by doing that it makes me, you know, block the fact I'm gonna do welding engineering in school. But no, sait gave me both admissions and made it to all of me. You know, I did apply for a member of mental engineering and the welding engineering and I got both and I was like, okay, it means I really have to push with the welding engineering, right, and I did it for the first week. I Almost gave up also because, like I said, I had a family.
Speaker 3:I actually had like a five months old kid at that point in time, and my instructors I Particularly like, particularly, have an instructor who kept pushing. I was like Rich, you know you did civil engineering, I'm sure you can handle this, and blah, blah, blah. And you know I took it upon myself and that was like the first mentor I ever had in this industry and you know the push and encouragement I got from this instructor of mine Just kept me going and I just, you know, just kept Scaling and scaling through to. You know where am I right now? So yeah, that's amazing.
Speaker 1:That's amazing. So you know when, when you decided to come to Canada in I think you said around 2014 Did you come alone or did you come with other family members, or was already family members here, or you know, usually it's, it's kind of a Order.
Speaker 3:Yes, correct, so my husband was already here.
Speaker 3:It was schooling in Newfoundland, in Labrador, and it was schooling and applied and you know, all of it came In play when I got my PR also and relocated with him as a spouse and Not long after that because he was always coming back home, you know, to visit and the likes of it, no longer that I had my first child and you know I had to take a little bit of break, you know, from pursuing anything and that was when I did like the project management and realized it wasn't for me.
Speaker 3:And yeah, I had my second child and the life was, you know, the inspiration came for me to apply for those two courses and I knew if I did take a little bit of time I might, you know, not do anything. And that was actually was really six, um, five months old when I went back to school was like a big deal because I haven't done that before having a baby, having to deal with, baby, go to school and you know family and the likes of that, and I still had a toddler to deal with and that's a lot different culture than back home, because back home you stay home with the baby till the baby is pretty much like almost two years old, like I mean it's kind of the normal way to do it, even with the family, like the mom and the grandparents to help out.
Speaker 1:It's still expected, which here in Canada not so much not so, yeah, not so much.
Speaker 3:Yeah, definitely. Even back home, we get to, like you know, pay for maids and the likes of it. So if I choose to go back to work at three months, I have the provisions and, you know, get a maid to stay with the kid. But, as you said, in Canada that's you have to be like a celebrity to be able to afford that right. So, yeah, that was, I took my time to be, and then my husband was like the support system. He was, you know, trying to always push me like. He's also an engineer. He currently works as a pipeline engineer and it's just one person I feel like is my greatest fan who tries to like get me out of my comfort zone. So just keep pushing myself on things like this. So, yeah, I think kudos to him for that so what did your mom and dad think about?
Speaker 1:first of all, you getting into engineering? You know, were they supportive of their the little baby daughter getting into engineering. And then, when you decided to leave home and come to Canada, you know you are going to continue with that path, even with a baby and another baby on the way. You know, where were your parents in all this?
Speaker 3:uh. So my parents were very learned, like they were very educated. So they literally just uh, they never pushed us on our career path. They only encouraged us pretty much. So from the onset, when I was like fixing stuff at home and just taking wires and stuff, and you know, they just spoke it into me like, oh, I think this girl is going to be an engineer.
Speaker 3:My dad never wanted to shoot us from things like risk it was such a go getter, like, oh, this is what you want to do, go for. My brother wanted to be a pilot and it was like, yeah, go for it. And I was scared. I was like, oh, you want to be a pilot, are you sure you're not going to crash?
Speaker 3:and my mom was like, shh, you know don't say that exactly, she was like shh you know so needed that and when he was like, oh, I'm going to be a pilot, I'm like, okay, I don't know about that, you're going to be a pilot. Well, you know, I just know my parents as people who just push. They don't really care like what you say, they just try to motivate you. That's what you want to do. You have the whole support for them to be here.
Speaker 1:You're very lucky to have parents that support of like that because, you know, in my experience in western Africa, women are not pushed towards any type of STEM education, whether it's engineering or the maths or the sciences or the trades. And and, to be fair, the trades in many countries around the world are not like they are in Canada. Even the US and Mexico, even the other. Really, you know, richer countries are not really set up like we are in terms of how we support our trades. I mean, like you said, a welder in Canada, it's a serious business.
Speaker 1:You know, you could have a very successful life as a welder and you know, I remember the first class of welders I taught in Ghana. By first time I was in Kikum, which is a tiny little town right on the southern coast, and there was people there that told me they had years of welding experience. But then I gave them their welding hoods and they had never seen a welding hood. They had been welding for years on the side of the road with a 12 volt battery and a couple electrodes and no welding helmet staring at the light, and that and that was considered an experienced tradesperson. You know what I mean. And unless you worked for a mine or like a big corporate company, you would basically have no education or training. Now, if you could get in with the big company they usually those companies are owned from England or Germany or Canada. So then they, they will give you some training, but still it's minimal, you know yeah, correct.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I agree with you for sure because, like I said, that growing up I never saw welders, as I never saw welding as a career, pretty much because it was all on the side of the road. Yeah, with people not using an helmet. Like you said, no shield, nothing about. So yeah, you're definitely right with that.
Speaker 1:I know it's changing. Now, though, there's a lot of commissions happening in in all over I would say all over the continent of Africa. Actually, there's a lots of movement towards trying to bring the trades up, not because the people there can't do it, but because it's good for the economy. It's good for people to make money. That roadside welder should have a little bit of education and do it properly, and then he will have a better life. And then, you know, all those things start to happen. All right, so you came to Canada. Why didn't you stay in Newfoundland with your husband? What was the choice? To come to Calgary?
Speaker 3:so my husband was in Newfoundland for his master's degree. It was a great place. I did like Newfoundland. I think it is beautiful. Oh yeah, it is really beautiful, and you know they've got lots of nice people there also.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, my husband was there schooling and I was there with him while he was working for a company there and then he got a better offer in Calgary and you know we just had to relocate, or there's always a lot of work too, for welding related work in the west, right, yeah, all right, so you get to, you get to Calgary and you you decide to take the welding engineering program through the what's it called the wet program, through SAIT, and that's for a technologist, engineering technologist, which is, I believe, a one-year course, right?
Speaker 1:no two, two years okay, two year course, so you finish this two-year course. Was there fears that you might not be able to find work, you know, or that you would have struggle? First of all, being a female, which is still, in this country, lower ratio. It's not great, you know. It's, I would say, maybe better than other places, but not by a lot. And then, second of all, being a person of color.
Speaker 3:You know, sometimes there's a thought that people of color are not going to be as good in these industries because they don't come with the same backgrounds that many of the people here have yeah, that's a very good question, because pretty much I did have the fear when I was going into it and I think that's why I was more inclined into was I gonna go in the female dominated industry than going into the male domain. And you know, that was like my first gig in Canada, so I never knew how the system worked and everything. And, like I said, and during the schooling, my mentor, pretty much my instructor, I think it was kind of the one who eased my fears. You know, from like the first week I almost literally gave up in school, like I said, because I spoke to him and it was like you know, just the support system I got from him. I was like, okay, I think I should be able to get this in the industry also. And you know, with my classmates and everything and you know, my friends around too, I did continue pushing.
Speaker 3:But then when COVID is because I did graduate towards the COVID period I was like, okay, I've got so many huts against me, like the COVID is there, I've got the break, you know, having a family, as you said, a woman and the woman of color. So, like you know, I just listen all of the disadvantages you know I was ever going to encounter in this industry. But I did connect with an employer, um yeah, like an employer, during the summer time, pretty much when I was still in school, and you know I still maintain the communication and everything and you know, outside COVID, when COVID had its back and forth, I got the opportunity to start with this company because I maintain a very good relationship with the manager. So that was another, you know, stepping stone for me. I was like okay, this guy kept to his word, it was gonna get me into the industry.
Speaker 3:When things were okay, you know, I just feeling that little relief in me, like okay, it's not so bad after all, and some people are willing to help, you know exactly people are definitely willing to help and you know, during my journey there, I had both, you know, good and bad experiences, you know, with people telling me to my face like, oh, you're so lucky because being a black lady and being a woman and being hired like they made it sound like a favor.
Speaker 3:You know, for me getting the position and you know I just I'm just that kind of person I'm always having like the positive energy view, like give me a vibe that doesn't fit well with me. I just take that as something positive and just, you know, keep fighting for it so that you can swallow your words back right. So, yeah, so I I definitely did have the fear, I had a lot of fear and I still have it because, you know, sometimes when I'm doing stuff, I'm like, oh, you know, the hud's having a family having to give excuses at work just because I need to do this for my kids, so I need to go pick up. You know I still have very young kids, right. So it's just it's it's, it's a challenge, but I've come to realize I've had lots of people who's helped me along the way and there's no barrier that cannot be broken and there's no difference between what you're doing than what all the previous generations did.
Speaker 1:You know, because Canada, at the end of the day, is a country built of immigrants only immigrants. Right because the indigenous population is only 12 to 14 percent roughly so. The rest of this country is not from here, so everyone really has the same story. If they just think about it, that you know they're, they're the. The balance between a career and a family is never easy, that's never, that's not gonna be easy for anybody.
Speaker 1:And then, like you said, it's sometimes you get caught up in kind of making the list of why things can go wrong, even if it doesn't help you. Sometimes you just do it. Just last week I had a very, very bad, racist encounter here in Regina at a doctor's office. I had very rude things said to me by, uh, by someone, and you know I told my wife and my wife who's you know, metis, half Metis, half white.
Speaker 1:She was very upset and she said why are you not more upset? And I said well, because I choose my battles. You know, like I need to worry about what makes what helps me and what makes me move forward, and me getting into an argument with somebody because they're racist isn't gonna help me. I'm not gonna come out of that thinking like I'm the hero and I won, like I mean it's like I feel more sorry for these people like what is wrong in your mind that you think these thoughts.
Speaker 1:You must have a very unhappy life because you must be these terrible things all the time. You know what I mean. Like, yeah, have you had any moments since you've come to Canada and I'm sure, like I mean I kind of know the answer, but I'm gonna ask it where you felt like maybe I made a mistake or maybe I should be back home with my family in Nigeria, where my path might have been a little bit easier? You know, have you had those moments where you were you double guessed what you've done?
Speaker 3:uh, yes, I, I double guessed almost every time like, um, it's, it's. You know, just like we both had the discussion, it's tough in Canada not having your family around. Pretty much you're having to do all of this thing and for me, I hate to look incompetent in my workplace, especially a male dominated industry. I love to give my best and knowing for a fact, um me having the families like a barrier to get to the level I want to get to in life. I beat myself a lot of times and I'm like, you know, if I'm back home, everyone understands I'm able to like, afford, you know, everything just to make life easy for me while I pursue my career also right, so, yes, I've had a lot of, even before I got the job I got, like my first job in the industry.
Speaker 3:I felt, you know, like with people discriminating against me, like I did take a lot of my resumes to people's, you know, to shops in Calgary, and I'm like, okay, maybe I shouldn't go, maybe if they see the call of my skin, maybe that's why they don't want to call me back. You know, everything is just an assumption because if anything happens, you just put that, as you know, as an excuse to be like okay, exactly, maybe I'm not good enough, maybe it's the call of my skin. I've also thought of okay, I'm just gonna put my first name on my resume I never put my last name, you know just to create a scenario for people to be like okay, this is a mystery, who's this person? Let's interview this person, you know, just to get myself out there. So, yes, I've had a couple of times, even a few months ago and the likes of it, just to be like did I make a mistake coming to Canada?
Speaker 3:You know, I would love to go back. I don't see, I haven't achieved what I want to achieve yet. But that's not on the people. To be honest, it's. It has nothing to do with the people, because I've had the opportunities but, like I said, to be able to balance both family and my kind of job. It's it's. It's really tough. And also, I lost my lost my mom along the line, when I was also going to school, when I had my five months old child.
Speaker 3:That was like the big deal for me I was going to exactly everything happened all at the same time and I'm like, okay, I think this is it. This is like a sign for me to like quit and just come back home. But you know the perseverance and everything and the encouragement I keep getting from people around me, from, you know, my bosses and my spouse especially, and my kids. I just want to give them the best life. That's why I feel, you know, canada is still the best bet for me because, like I said, back home we're not giving these opportunities. I have a couple of friends who finished as engineers and you know they're like entrepreneurs now.
Speaker 3:They just pretty much run businesses. They don't practice the engineering because they don't have this equal opportunity. So I think I'm thankful for that to be here and to have the opportunity to be seen as an equal and given this opportunity to work in this industry with my fellow mates.
Speaker 1:So yeah, no, I love that. And you know you brought up a couple of very interesting items that a lot of people don't think about for immigrants, when you know Canadians, look at immigrants. Number one is our names, our names. In most countries and it's, I would say, pretty much all countries they're very select. Names, like our names, are sacred to us. They're given to us by our parents and there's usually a reason.
Speaker 1:So, latinos, we carry four names. All Latinos carry four names, maybe more, but four is the minimum because you get a first name, which is usually from the father, then the second name is usually from the mother, and then you have a first last name, which is the father, at a second last name, which is the mother. So that's just our culture. When we came to Canada we weren't allowed to have four names. In the seventies it was like that's not allowed. So we had to change our names and we are like find a shorter version of our names. So you know the names that we had been called our whole lives were not our names anymore, you know.
Speaker 1:And then you also worry and I've seen this more with non-Latinos, because Latinos we have. We have, we're fairly integrated with the, with the population here in North America, but especially with a lot of the new immigrants from the East Indies, like the Indian Pakistani, you know region they get very much judged on their last names. Before anyone even looks at them, they say, oh, that's an Emmy must be from so and so I've seen that happen, you know, and I've been like, oh my God, so for myself. My full Spanish name is Sebastian Maximiliano Seroncandia.
Speaker 1:People here don't know how to say that, right, so they're going to just so max max is good that works, you know and and I just was able to get my passport with my full name about eight years ago when I was able to, because they changed the laws. Now you can have any name you want when you come now. So I was able to get my whole name back put out my on my passport, which I was happy to have my real name back, you know? Yeah, for sure. And and yeah, for you, you have, like your dad's name, so it's like well, maybe they'll think I'm a man, right?
Speaker 3:Actually it's more of a unisex name. Yeah, yeah, the names we have back home, like you said, it's always sacred to us and it's it definitely has its meaning right. So but yeah, I've always had my name. I never used my dad's name as much I wish I did, because there was a reason to give that to me, but I wasn't thinking then. I was just like you know, like I said, they were carefree, like everything you wanted to do, just do it. But I wish you know I understood the impact of that name because, like I said, it's late also, and I wish you know I'm carrying that name for him because my brother never got the name.
Speaker 2:I got his name.
Speaker 3:So, yeah, I wish I did better with that, though All right?
Speaker 1:well, let's take a quick break now for our sponsors and advertisers and when we get back from the break I want to discuss what it is that you do on the daily like with your job, what you specialize in and kind of what your work is and, I guess, what the future looks like for Roots. So we'll be back here right away on the CWB Association podcast. Don't go anywhere and we'll be right here.
Speaker 2: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 CWB Associationorg.
Speaker 1:And we are back here on the CWB Association podcast. My name is Max Dran. Thanks for tuning in for this special Black History Month episode that we are having here with Ruth. She's calling from Calgary and telling us about her travels from Nigeria over to Newfoundland, over to Calgary Now where she's taking out her ground as a weld inspector and QA specialist.
Speaker 1:So, ruth, you finished your wet program, you're getting your job, you're working, you are doing the Canadian dream. You're trying to just get out there and make as much money as you can with, and hopefully not sending too much home, because that always gets us to meet. We're always, we're so bad for that. We gotta always tell everybody don't do that, worry about yourself first, because we always do that, we do. We can't help it. But but uh well, and you know I'm gonna jump off track because that brings up something that I always find so interesting Our families back home always think that we're so rich, yeah, and it's like, no, you don't know how much bread costs here.
Speaker 1:One loaf of bread here is like a. Two meals back home, like. So it's like they think we make so much money, but at the end of the day, we do have a lot of privilege. You know, living here and the systems are much different. You know, like, even when I have family come visit, the first thing they see when they get off the airplane is it's so clean here, you know, compared to other countries where it's just the infrastructure is not there, right. So you know for yourself now. You know, tell us about your job what it is you do as a well inspector and what your specialties are? What is it that when someone needs Ruth, they're reaching out for Ruth?
Speaker 3:So pretty much, like I said, I mean too I go for turn arounds and nothing is always the same when I go for turn arounds and the last shutdown I had was more of like an exchange tubes, like we're changing pretty much X bands and the likes of it. I've never done that, I've never worked with like chrome tubes before and it was like a new thing, like even my, like some of the people I work with, they've been in this industry for like maybe 20 years and it was like the first time we encountered, you know, a lot of things that you know we encountered there. So I don't specifically do what's it called like a specific thing I go for like piping. It could be S bands, like I said, it could be e-thex changes, it could be erasing Like.
Speaker 3:I worked on a lot of things I would never have been exposed to in the shop, but when I was in the shop I did more of like barge barges and piping tubings and the likes of it, like compressive skids and the likes of it. So I think I've gotten a whole lot more broad experience out there in the field, like going to see different projects pretty much. I've done like a couple of piping also in the field bar it's always specifically like the last one. Like I said I did was more of the heat exchanges and like the S bands I worked on her saying bands and the likes of it, so yeah, and are you a level two inspector?
Speaker 1:level one inspector what certifications do you have within the inspection game?
Speaker 3:So I'm currently level two. I actually just obtained that last year. I got my level two last year and I have the B-3213 endorsement and the 178-2. I have my W-59 and 47-1. And I'm hoping to like get like some other endorsement in there, just like the APIs and Z662 and the likes of it, just to be able to explore more of the pressure vessels and all those stuff.
Speaker 1:For sure I was going to ask you about Z662 and API 650 because in Alberta there's a lot of that I believe. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Z662 is for piping coming up from underground, and then API 650 is tanks over six feet, low pressure tanks, and there's a lot of that in Alberta.
Speaker 2:Right, there's a lot of that.
Speaker 1:And as a welder that stuff's actually pretty easy to do, so it's usually a fairly good return, like in terms of you know, there's usually not a lot of discontinuities or issues with that stuff, but it gets checked, it all gets checked. Do you work with Mag Particle? Do you work with X-ray? Are you only non-destructive or are you also involved with destructive testing? What is it that you usually do on?
Speaker 3:site. So pretty much it's all NDE. I haven't done anything destructive yet. It's all NDE and, like you said, mag Particle, x-ray, lpi and the likes of it. I've done every of those things on the projects within the field and that's even when I was in the shop. Also, I did a lot of the NDE's. I don't do that specifically, but you know the documentation, the inspection and everything that entails from my hand is what I do. So I have experiences in all of the NDE examinations for sure.
Speaker 1:I remember when I was younger I used to love the smell of the penetrant of LPI, and now I've been told that it's extremely bad for you. And I remember being young and we'd play with it and like spray it on things and it would see like I mean, we were so careless in the 90s with safety. It's unbelievable that any of us are still alive. Maybe there's not a lot of us, but I remember being like, oh, this stuff smells. I didn't like the smell of the developer though the developer makes you choke, but the red fluid I was always cool. And then now I know that it's apparently poison. Basically we're not supposed to breathe it in. So I hope you're very safe with that.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, I take safety very seriously, especially in the field you have to. It's important, you know you go in one piece and you return in one piece to your family, right. So I take all of those seriously, especially, you know, when we have like RTs, and you know RTs especially. I'm super cautious of that too, because the barricades and the stuff, I just don't want to go close to it.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, yeah no, and things happen fast too. For in your experience now, as you've worked in the industry for a few years now, if you look back and want to make a comparison, you know, let's compare what you know of the trades in Nigeria versus what you do in your job now, Because there's oil and gas in Nigeria, there's mining in Nigeria. These same industries exist. What would you say is the biggest contrast between what you know of the trades in industry in Nigeria versus what you see here in Canada?
Speaker 3:To me specifically. I think it's safety. Yeah, we don't take safety seriously back home Probably, for, like the very recognized companies, I would assume they do. That you know we're just talking about welding generally on the side of the road, like people are exposed to, like the acts you know they are exposed to, like the fumes and everything it's not curved, it's not regulated and things like that. So I'd say safety more. I think that's what even gave me the confidence to actually keep going in this industry also because I just don't want to have like halfling coming back. And so I think you have the contrast. For sure is education wise people back home also. They just go into the trades. You just go train on their weather is welding and then you're qualified to be a welder pretty much, and that's not supposed to happen here.
Speaker 3:We have regulations, we have you know things and procedures, all of them exactly like and people are held accountable for things that go wrong. Even the government is not held accountable back home. So you know, like the contrast is definitely clear and obvious. I've always had the mindset that, you know, if I get to the position I want to be, I want to be able to encourage other girls back home to be able to do things like this, because it's just a passion for me. If I had someone show me this in the past, I think I'll probably just have dived into welding engineering before you know, routing through civil engineering and the likes. It's fun, it's my favorite, it's like metallurgy. So I just love to know, like how things work. How does this corrosion occur? Why is this reaction taking place and the likes of it. So yeah, I'd say the contrast is definitely education wise. We're not so learned back home and the safety standards, procedures and all those things are not really enforced, so people are just like doing whatever they want.
Speaker 1:So yeah, that's a big contrast and it's interesting because I know a lot of the attitude in North America in general to the rest of the world is that kind of like we know the most. But it's not necessarily about that. It's not because the universities and back home in all our countries are fantastic. There's some of the best programs in the world. So it's not a lack of education but accountability, I think, is the word. You nailed it, because it's about the accountability of you maintaining that standard professionally forever, not just while you're in school, until you got that paper and then you can go do whatever you want. It's like no, no, no, no, we got to keep you up Like. I know people complain about welders having to test every two years. Well, we have a lot less bridges and buildings collapsing Canada than the rest of the world. You know why? Because we make our welders test every two years, you know.
Speaker 3:Yeah, definitely I agree to that.
Speaker 1:Now, what kind of future plans are you looking at? Because it seems like Ruth is always thinking about the next adventure. So you know, I feel like there's already something formulating in that mind about what you would like to perhaps do professionally, or even, you know, on the side, as a passion project.
Speaker 3:Yes. So pretty much I want to explore what I can in the field. You know, I know we never can learn everything, but there's always a time to like, there's always a time limit to how much I can go to the field having a young family. So my future goal, and pretty much what I'm planning, is to actually do core corrosion or metallurgy, since it's also in line with this. It's going to probably help me more with, you know, being more local and, you know, with my family, pretty much no matter where I find myself, to be more local and also to be able to like create something. Just like I said, I wanted to create a platform for women, not technically just women of color. I just want to be able to like encourage women to like, you know, go into this.
Speaker 3:When I was in school, here at SAIT also, we had like 27 peeps in total and we had three girls and you know it was just like okay, you know, we just don't have a lot of people doing this. I also worked, I did a volunteering also at the SAIT summer camp and I saw, you know, girls holding back from welding and I, you know, I just know my passion is more inclined into people like that. So I know for sure I'm going to create a platform. I don't know when that's going to be it could be 50, 20 years, I don't know but I hope to create a platform where I'm able to, like, encourage ladies, like the females and the industry, letting them know it's okay, you know, go for it, go for it. You can also do whatever things these people are doing. There's no limitation to it.
Speaker 1:And, like I said, to pursue stuff and like metallurgy and corrosion, integrity and all those areas, these programs that you wish to do which I love, you guys, basically what I do for a living, that I help other people run, programs for welding. When you look at how you want to align these, are you looking about your local Calgary community, about bringing people into, you know, supporting young women that are trying to get into the trades in the Calgary area where you are? Or are you also, or at the same time, thinking about supporting women back home, like, do you have any visions? You know, I always interview people from other parts of the country, the world, I should say, and there's always that kind of rope that connects you back home, where you're thinking how can I help back home? Right, do you have that urge as well?
Speaker 3:Oh, yes, definitely, it's something I literally do. Now I'm not in the welding industry, but I kind of and should I say sponsor some kids, pretty much some girls, into elementary school, which we call secondary school, back home, and I do a lot of sponsorship with my husband, you know, sending money down to support, you know, for some girls who don't have access to education. So I think I'm just very passionate about, you know, women being go-getters and you know just pushing themselves. So, yes, I'm definitely working on, you know, encouraging women back home too. For sure, that's always a main plan. How many kids you got? I've got two, two, and they're both girls. Good, I was gonna ask, I was gonna ask.
Speaker 1:All right, they boys are girls because you got two girls.
Speaker 1:My oldest is a girl and man. She's the strongest woman I know. Like you do not wanna get in my daughter's way, she will tell you which side is up in a hurry, you know, and I love that. I remember when she was young the teachers would say oh, your daughter is a little bit loud and aggressive, maybe you should talk to her. And I said no, she's fine, she can figure it out on her own. You know she will learn what the limits are, because if it was a young man or a young boy, you would not be saying that. You would just say boys will be boys and they do what they want. No, girls will be girls too. You know, if she wants to yell at somebody, then she feels that she needs to. That's her, you know.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, that's definitely what I'm trying to raise. I wanna raise kids that are strong, and I just want them to believe in themselves. Just like mommy is right, I just wanna be a role model to them and that's why I just keep going out for adventures and keep learning. So, yes, you're right, there's no limitation If they wanna do things and go for it like I'm here full support.
Speaker 1:Awesome, and are you planning on having any more? Cause I probably shouldn't have sound on the radio. Let's see if your husband's around, maybe he's listening, but you're done. No, I'm so. Done Too's a good number. I'm done too.
Speaker 3:Too's a good number. I'm so done. Oh, yeah, I'm so done. I got the quote out. No, I'm done. Yeah, I'm so done.
Speaker 1:Now, you know there's a lot of programs in Alberta where you are able to work. You know, like I'm not sure if you heard about the CWB Association chapter that is through SAIT and the CWB. You know, you're a CWB inspector. You also went to SAIT. I don't know if you ever got exposed to what is the chapter there or participated in any of the events, but there is an organization that is always trying to run camps and women camps and working with the foundation to create more access. You know, would you be inclined in volunteering in programs like that?
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, most definitely. I've heard of the chapter that came to SAIT. When I was schooling for paper night, I did participate in the paper night and I won. Yay, yeah, how much did you get yeah, so oh thousand bucks actually that's awesome man.
Speaker 1:Yeah, good job.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I am aware of them, but I'm not sure I'm aware of the. You know the volunteering and people trying to empower. I'm not sure I've been exposed to that.
Speaker 1:I'll send you an email after to connect you with your local chapter, because Paul Robodowski is the chair.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I know, paul Robodowski, yeah.
Speaker 2:Paul's a good stuff.
Speaker 1:He's the chair of the chapter and Josh Brewster who's the. He was the past chair and he just gave up his chair position because he got a big promotion at SAIT. Oh yeah, so, and those are the great people I mean, like that's what I'm gonna be hanging out with next week in Calgary, so you know, you should see about getting a ticket. Maybe you can come out with us and I can meet you in person. But maybe you can show me where these Nigerian restaurants are and. I can get some food.
Speaker 3:Yeah, for sure, definitely. Let's meet that at the eat-ya.
Speaker 1:Awesome. What are your thoughts about returning home? Do you still have those thoughts about someday you'll go back to the motherland, or are you trying to convince the rest of the family to come here?
Speaker 3:So it's a 50-50. Like I said, I'm happy to be here because my kids are gonna be, you know, exposed to all of the opportunities and everything they wanna explore. Also, it's part of my plan to probably retire back home because at the end of the day, no place like oh, I still miss home. I haven't been home since I was born. I haven't been home since I've been in Canada actually.
Speaker 2:Not even once.
Speaker 3:Not even once. Yeah, so it's something I.
Speaker 1:That happens. You know, I didn't go to back home for 17 years because I had children and then I got busy in my career and my studies and I just couldn't go back. And then finally I got to the position where I was able to go back and travel with my kids. And then I've been back every couple of years ever since then. But it takes there's a window there where it's just Going home is just out of the question, right.
Speaker 3:Exactly. Yeah, that's definitely the obstacle for me right now. It's because of the kids and the activities, the timing and everything. So I'm hoping very soon I'll be able to go back home and, like I said, my parents are no more, so I don't really have a purpose to go home, to go visit, but then I still have my siblings there and pretty much sometimes I feel like when they come here they should experience the life here. Then me having to go back and with the security and what not going on back home it's more of, is it the right time to go or just wait a little while just to be able to do that? But yes, definitely it's a 50-50. I want to be here for my kids. However, no place like home. So definitely that's so funny you have the exact same plan I have.
Speaker 1:I have a little house back home that we purchased with the family and my plan is to retire where my dream this is my dream, if I somehow figure it out is that I'll live in Canada like eight months of the year and then I'll be back home for winter.
Speaker 1:So as soon as the snow lands, I go back home and then I stay there and we have a house at the beach so we can stay at the beach for the other four months and then come back here right for spring, and so that's kind of the dream. Whether I can afford that or not is another story. Hopefully my kids make lots of money and they can just send me back home. But everyone knows that's the plan and I feel like that's a lot of immigrants' plans is to always have that connection back home.
Speaker 1:Although I will tell you, I've been trying to get my family to come to Canada for decades and they just always want me to go there. They don't want to come here and. I don't understand why. Because I feel like they should come here, because I already know there, I know they're already. You come here and experience something new. We have this argument all the time, you know.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I feel like you're speaking, like you're taking the words from my mouth right now, because that's exactly where I've been, like with my sisters.
Speaker 3:it's been so tough to get them out here, like you know, I just feel like, just come down here. But they're like, oh, it's so cold here, it's this, it's that, why would I come? And you know, probably with the lifestyle, the complaints, and you know we work in hat and everything, they're like nope, just just enjoy Canada. When you're ready, come back home. So yes, you definitely took the word. It's been so tough getting them to, you know leave. Yeah, just to visit, like I don't want more, just visit.
Speaker 1:but they have to come and come in the summers. The summers are so beautiful here and the mountains and the lakes, and it's wonderful, you know, but stubborn they're stubborn, yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, they're definitely stubborn on that.
Speaker 1:All right, we're getting close to the end of the interview. I have just a few more questions for you. One of them is about you know what your recommendations would be. What would you be your insight now as a you know a strong black woman coming from Nigeria establishing her life with her husband here in Canada. What recommendation would you say to you know, perhaps anybody in West Africa or North Africa that is thinking about the same dream? Perhaps there's a young woman that's going to listen to this podcast, you know, 18, 19 years old, just going into college in Nigeria, who's thinking about going to Canada. What would you say to them, as a you know, a couple of things to keep in mind of and to be ready for.
Speaker 3:There's a saying the sky is just the starting point, and that's what I'll say, Like we don't need to keep limiting ourselves to what people think about us is what we believe about ourselves. And that has pretty much been my watchword to where I'm at right now. I've pushed myself even, you know, with the obstacles we're like the chat from different people, the limitations and the words that can actually get you depressed and stuff like that. But I just keep picking myself up, keep fighting. You know the end goal you want to have a better life. No one is gonna have the better life for you, so you just have to pick yourself up, keep fighting so you get there. And I'm not there yet, but I'm happy we're where I'm at. So you just keep fighting. That's all I'll say.
Speaker 1:Awesome, just keep fighting. What about the value of a mentor? You spoke about how you had a mentor at Satan. How much that helped you kind of resolve your plan and resolve your ambition. How important is it to have a mentor at some point for someone young coming up in the industry, especially, say, a person of color or a young woman?
Speaker 3:It's one of the most important things in life. I would say that's the foundation for where I'm at right now, cause, like you did pinpoint, that, without the mentor I had, without the instructor, I don't think I'm gonna be where I'm at today. And you know, I still, like it, still contacted me a few days ago and I still told him, oh, like you're like still my best instructor, my best mentor, cause, whatever you said to me then, I still tell people about it, like mentorship is the most important thing, especially in this industry too. Like you want to keep learning, I have bosses to you know, they look up to or kind of carry me along. Who tries to pass the message along to me? No man is an island, right?
Speaker 3:So, pretty much, you just need to keep having those good figures in place to be able to direct you in the right path, cause even my instructor was I'm sorry, my boss was one of the people kept pushing me to go for my level, to, like Ruth. I'm like, okay, what do you want me to do better? Just go for your level too. What do you want me to do better? Just go for your level. I'm like, okay, yeah, I think I'm just gonna go for it Right. So I've had like. I have bosses who are like mentors to me, I have instructors. So it is very important to you know, find that figure. That would definitely help you set the foundation. And once the foundation it's made, it can never be broken.
Speaker 3:For sure it can be shaken. So, yes, that's important.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you know I find that the internet is so helpful with that. Now, you know there was not much of a community for for people from other places to connect. You know, cause, for example, the association in which which I run in what we do is a networking. We're really, at the end of the day, we're about networking, bringing people together, creating mentorship pathways, letting people meet each other.
Speaker 1:Cause, that's going to be the biggest strength and the association's been around for over a hundred years.
Speaker 1:So, like, obviously someone decided a long time ago that this is important in this industry and we and we know it once we're in it, we know it that these people that we run into for every you know you could have a hundred bad people that you run across and you forget them, but you have one good one and you remember them forever. You know what I mean and that that's the key is, you know you filter the bad out, because there's good people out there trying to do good things. And when I when I think about people back home, for people like us, they're not going to find a lot of those mentors back home, because it's not just the industry's not set up the same way. So it's like I always tell them like, go on Instagram or, you know, type it in. There's lots of groups now on social media where people are meeting each other. But having someone physical, like you, ruth, who's trying to be a mentor, I think it's huge. It's huge, it's very amenable.
Speaker 3:That's good. Thanks for that. All right, I did. I did survive with a mentor, so I would love to definitely be a mentor to other people also.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I had great mentors. I think about them. I actually invited one of my mentors to a big conference that we had here in town and it was in Regina, so not too many are in Regina very often. So I invited him and I introduced him. He was so embarrassed but I was like this old guy right here with the long hair and the ponytail. This old guy he taught he is one of the biggest reasons that I am where I am today, because I was a tattooed, bad, dark kid.
Speaker 1:That was no one. I thought no one would give me a chance, but he didn't care. He just taught me. He didn't even ask about anything about my personal life. He didn't care and he ended up being one of my best friends and he taught me so much, so like it's a huge change they can make in your life. So for the last question how do people get into weld inspection? Just to wrap it up, like if people are listening, being like, specifically, if I want to become a weld inspector, like this wonderful Ruth person on the interview, how do I do it? What do I do? Do I? How do I start that journey?
Speaker 3:So, basically for myself, I did go to school, I did the work program just to be able to get my foot out there and I don't regret doing that because I was able to learn a lot in school that could you know, that prepared me for the industry. However, I've also had some people in the industry who kind of have like a mechanical engineering background, who just go straight to write like the CWB level one exam, to challenge it and stuff like that. It's works for you know, I have a couple of friends who has done that. But I think the difference between that is, you know, the experience.
Speaker 3:You have more experience, oh yeah, you have more experience and I could have probably opted for that, but I didn't, because I just wanted to. I didn't want to be a novice in the industry, right? So I just wanted to. I still learn every day, right? So, yeah, there are different routes to it, like you know. You're challenging the exam and going straight for it, or go to the school, which is like I went to SATE and I think they take the course at NATE also and go to the WET program. It's a two year program. Very interesting. Never, you know, you would never know. The time is gone by, right? So, yeah, that was the path I took. So, yeah, those are like the two paths I know to becoming a well-done inspector.
Speaker 1:Awesome, awesome. And is there lots of work? Is there still lots of work? I feel like there's always. I see on my end the books that say that we're short, Like all these inspectors across Canada, have you had any trouble finding or keeping work?
Speaker 3:Not really. Like I said, limitation has to be with myself. You know my availability for a lot of things but you know for turnarounds and the likes of it, we know when it comes up there's always something to do in the summer and there's always something to do in the fall. So definitely I haven't had. If it's more local, I would say yes, the shops are maybe pretty much occupied because you know they have like the quota of QC or QA inspectors they would need in a shop. But you know the opportunities help there in the field and BC different places in Baskotia and the likes of it. So like there's a lot of opportunities for well-done inspectors out there for sure.
Speaker 1:Awesome, all right. Any shout outs. You wanna send anybody, any hellos or anybody you wanna yell out to.
Speaker 3:I'd say shout out to my mentor you know yourself, and to my boss he also knows himself. Thank you so much for being who you are, and to my amazing husband, who has always been like the push for me has always, you know, made me keep challenging myself, even sometimes when I doubt you know my strengths. I'm glad to have you guys in my life and I'm happy to know that this man are the one actually, you know, pushing me out there, motivating me. And thanks to my friends also. So thank you, max, for having me, thanks, daniela.
Speaker 1:Awesome. Well, thank you very much, ruth. This has been a fantastic episode. I hope a lot of people learned a lot, and you know, and if they get the chance you know, I would recommend anyone to get on a plane and go visit Nigeria and West Africa beautiful country, wonderful people and amazing food.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, definitely amazing food. That's very important yeah.
Speaker 1:All right, thank you very much.
Speaker 3:For all the people that have been following along with the episodes.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much for being a part of the CWB Association podcast. We're working really hard right now on a couple of big promotions. We're gonna be doing Skills Canada. We're gonna be in Quebec City for the whole week recording over a dozen episodes in French and English for world skills. That's gonna be huge. Plus, we're really gearing up for Fabtech Canada, canwell, then Toronto. Like I said, there's lots of events happening with chapters across the country. We're gonna be in Calgary next weekend. I'm in Regina this weekend for an event. There's events coming up in Ottawa. There's events in Hamilton and Ontario. So there's lots of different or sorry in Toronto. There's lots of different things happening. Check them out. Check out the Instagrams, check out CWB Group online. We got all the information there. Become a member. It's free Best way to do it. So, until the next episode, take care of yourselves and stay tuned. We hope you enjoy the show.
Speaker 4:You've been listening to the CWB Association Welding podcast with Max Serran. 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 Serran, this podcast serves to educate and connect the Welding community. Please subscribe and thank you for listening.