The CWB Association Welding Podcast
The CWB Association Welding Podcast
Episode 206 with Ivan Wright and Max Ceron
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.
Growing up in Halifax, Nova Scotia's vibrant Black community, Ivan Wright, a Welding Technician from Fronius Canada, is a testament to perseverance and the power of cultural heritage in shaping one's career. From early aspirations in sports to discovering a passion for welding, Ivan's path reflects the influence of historical communities and the need for representation in diverse fields. From motocross mishaps to mastering advanced robotics, his story underscores the importance of embracing every experience, learning from it, and moving toward new possibilities with courage and optimism.
Follow Fronius Canada:
Website: https://www.fronius.com/en-ca/canada
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/perfectcharging/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/froniuscanada/
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
What did you think about this episode? Send a text message to the show!
All right, I can check. Check, I'm good. So I'm Max Duran. Max Duran, cwb Association Welding Podcast, pod pod podcast. Today we have a really cool guest welding podcast. The show is about to begin.
Max: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.
Max:Hello and welcome to another edition of the CWB Association podcast. My name is Max Saron and, as always, I'm out there trying to find the coolest talent I can in this beautiful country of ours. This episode is going to be a special episode, where we're going to be talking to Mr Ivan Wright, who's a well technician from Ferronius, canada and also a member of the Black community here in Canada, and we're going to be tying it into the wonderful month of Black History Month, which we always take the opportunity to try to learn as much as we can about the black community, not just in terms of welding, but also in terms of Canada. We have a long, storied history here in this country and I think it's always a point of pride to have these episodes and to teach and learn more about what our communities are based upon. And with so, ivan, welcome to the show.
Ivan:Max, thank you very much for having me on the show. As mentioned, it's absolutely an honour and a pleasure to be here with you, especially, you know, representing Black History Month and things like that, right, and obviously the welding side of things too right but yeah, it's a pleasure and an honor to be here. Thank you. Thank you to you and your team. Awesome man.
Max:Well, I met you in person. You're a great guy. We had a super fun day that day at Ferronius, Got to play with a bunch of new toys and machines and you know. So I got to meet you in person and feel your passion for the industry, which was fantastic, and I think it was kind of a setup by Leon. I think it kind of set us up Like he knew this was going to happen.
Max:I think he had the idea there all along. But for the people that don't know you, let's start right at the beginning. Let's start with where you were born. Where do you call roots or home?
Ivan:Okay, yeah, so that's a great place to start, because where I'm from, we're very passionate about where we're from. So I was born and raised in Halifax, nova Scotia. Okay, so Halifax is home to the oldest and largest Black community in Canada, so that's where I was born and raised and I lived there for 25 years before migrating to.
Max:Ontario To Ontario and when you're talking about Halifax and some of the oldest communities for for the Black, you know culture. I know I've interviewed other people from that area and I believe it's Preston, east Preston sort of area. Is that the area you're from or near there?
Ivan:Nope, so I'm from another area on the other side of the bridge, so I'm from a small community called Beachville. Beachville is just about five or 10 minutes from downtown Halifax actually Nice.
Max:Nice. So as a young man growing up in this area, you know, did you have a lot of trades people around you, you know? Where did you kind of get this bug in your ear that you might get into welding, or what did you aspire to do as a young man?
Ivan:So for me welding was. It wasn't even a thought process as a young fella coming up. So lots of trades people in the community obviously so home builders, carpenters, things like that but welding was not something that I ever saw to be honest as a young man or young person or something that I even entertained.
Ivan:My stepfather was a carpenter, so growing up I did a lot of carpentry work. I worked with my hands. I was always very inquisitive as to how things worked. I grew up, so you mentioned, or we talked a little bit earlier about my love for motorcycles. So I grew up I had little dirt bikes and two-stroke motorcycles and they would fail and, you know, trying to put them back together and that kind of stuff. But carpentry I worked for. You know, at a young age I started working bricklaying and things like that. Right, so that was kind of really that was the start, unbeknownst to me, to me being somewhat successful in the welding industry.
Max:And did you like the trades? Like you know, if I went to 10-year-old Ivan or 13-year old Ivan and said, hey, what do you want to be someday? You're like, I want to be a carpenter or a bricklayer. I'm sure you had some other dreams.
Ivan:Absolutely so. I mean, basketball plays a big part in my life so you know you always have that dream as a kid to play professional basketball and these kinds of things. My dad played and that was a huge influence on me. But I think you know being where I come from and some of the adversity. I was just looking for a job, right, I just wanted to get paid somehow.
Speaker 3:I didn't know what that was.
Ivan:I didn't have, you know, a whole lot of direction, to be completely honest, right, and so it was like what can I do to make a good living, an honest living right?
Max:And this community that you grew up in. Was it predominantly people of colour in the area or was it a mix? Because I know some areas in the Maritimes, atlantic Canada. They're tied all the way back to the Loyalist movement You're talking about. This is the deep, deep culture of the end, or, you know, mid end, of the slave trade and people looking to start new lives and I always you know it's a it's a wild story that you know the Maritimes were such a big part of that movement that the rest of Canada doesn't really know about Now in your community. Was it a predominantly like people of color or was it, you know, like a pretty good mix, or were you a minority?
Ivan:No, it was. It was definitely a good mix. Um, where I, where I grew up, where I came from and I'm I'm of mixed background too, right, so my mom, my mom, is white and my dad's black, right, so, um, but um, but where I grew up, was definitely a mix. Like you know, there wasn't a lot of diversity in terms of other cultures, yeah, but there was definitely a mix of white and black in the community that I grew up in and that and folks that I seen on a daily basis and interacted with, for sure, which is way different than a lot of other parts of Atlantic Canada where it's very predominantly white right.
Max:Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
Ivan:Absolutely, absolutely. And I mean it depends on where you go. So you're talking about HRM, halifax Regional Municipality. Um, we're, we're, we're definitely um a little bit different than some of the rural, more rural communities, where, where that demographic is a little different.
Max:So then we, we get you, you know, kind of following in the construction steps. You obviously have a mentor or someone at least around you. That's like in the trades and can get you that bite. You know you're more rural, you know you have access to dirt bikes and stuff like that. And learning on engines on a two stroke is the best, because you can even put those things together wrong and they still fire up.
Max:Like I mean they'll burn oil, more oil, but they'll still give her. But you know you got this bug in you and you're coming up in high school. What are you thinking? What? What's the thought process? You know you're playing basketball, you know you got some aspirations, but what's the game plan?
Ivan:So, you know, we had home ec in in junior high, we had shock class, all that kind of stuff, right. So these, these things were, I would say, easy for me, right, we did some, some resistance, welding and shop and stuff like that, but even still, welding wasn't, was not on my radar. Um, after high school, um, you know, I, I left I a lot, of, a lot of pitfalls in life, right. So, um, I ended up having, um, a young daughter, um, by the time I was 17. Right, right, um, so that that force fought my hand in a lot of respects, right.
Ivan:So I had to get out there and work, right, and, um, a big thing in old East, right, right is go West, right. So, if you can't find work here, right, if you can't find what you love or you can't do what you love here, go West, right, there's opportunity, right. So you know, my dad often tried to get me into the military and all these kind of things. I was a little bit of a wild child and I didn't think that I would, you know, be able to manage life in the military with all the restriction and, you know, regiment, regimented lifestyle. So so I decided, okay, I'm going to, I'm going to head west. I had some family here in Ontario and so I, so I came to Ontario, I came here um and and was still relatively, you know, rudderless.
Ivan:I didn't, I didn't have a whole lot of direction as to what I was going to do, right.
Max:And are you 17 here or moving to Ontario with your daughter and and and baby mama, or or are you just coming out to see if you can find your way?
Ivan:I just just exploring. I had, I had a cousin that was here and he said, he said at the time, just come on out, come on out and work and we'll, you know, find something and and get into something. Right, just come on out and try it out. If it doesn't work out, you go back, it's not a problem. So there wasn't really a concrete plan as to what, what I was going to do, right, yeah, and so I came here, I was working, working at a temp agency, and I, I distinctly remember, um, I was at a, it was at a printing, a printing place, uh, in scarborough, and the first week was okay. Second week they were like, yeah, everybody's off on fridays, um, and like I was driven at this point, right, so, um, empty stomach and a broken heart, right?
Ivan:um, yeah, so I, I was, I was motivated, right, I need to do something. So I called, I called back to the temp agency and I said listen, the company you have me at right now. I said they're closed on fridays. I said I need something. I need something that's like five, six, seven days a week, even right, give me the hours, yeah that's right, so that.
Ivan:so the lady calls me back and then she's like okay, um, I got a place for you. It's as much work as you can handle. It's in a wet room environment. Show up at this place at this time, talk to this person, are you okay with that? And I said, yeah, yeah, I'm okay with that.
Ivan:So Monday morning I got my stuff together and I showed up to this place and so the guy brings me in and he shows me this big room and he says, okay, so this is, this is what you're going to be doing. This is your, your rubber boots and your respirator. And we're going to bring a crane and we're going to drop these tubes off here and you're going to you're going to rinse, dump these tubes in this bath, then you're going to dump them in this bath and you're going to dump them in this bath and then, when they're done, you're going to rinse them all out with um, with a pressure washer. He said wear your mask, keep your goggles on. This stuff is acid. I said, oh, okay. I said okay, yeah, made sure, right, and and so unbeknownst to me, right, it was a pickle room, right? So I was pickling stainless.
Ivan:Tubing stainless yeah, and so this, this company was um, it was a division of san jose, so um, so that was your first foot in the door into like kind of a the steel world.
Ivan:This was my first foot into the, into the, into the steel world. Um, and so yeah, and so I worked, I worked there and there was still I still didn't have a plan. The first week there I trained. Second week they put me on afternoons, which was also a little bit weird for me because we didn't have three shift locations. At least right it was. You work nine to five and then doors are closed on the weekends.
Ivan:Like you know what I mean so cause this is going back quite some years, right? So, anyway, so, okay, yeah, afterno, yeah, no problem. And so I just kept working. I kept pickling tubes, man, and I had a few inspectors come over and they said, man, like what are you doing in there? Like I've never seen the ID of these tubes so clean, right, Like I said, I don't know, I'm just doing what I'm supposed to do.
Ivan:I'm just doing what I'm supposed to do. I'm just doing what I'm supposed to do. So this went on for a while and you know, I always had a business of mind and my own business and just showing up for work and doing what I had to do, right, and so I did that for a number of weeks and then the lead hand on the day shift actually I come in one day and he was from newfoundland, so he always had, you know I think he saw something to me.
Ivan:He knew I was driven. He probably seen a little bit of himself in me, right and so, uh, he comes to me one day with an envelope and he says here you go. And I'm thinking right away getting fired.
Ivan:I'm looking for another job now, right, right, so, right away, this is what I'm thinking right. And I said, okay, looking for another job now, right, right, so, right away, this is what I'm thinking Right. And I said, okay, glenn, all right, no problem, right? He said, just just open it and have a look, cause I think you could tell that I got a little bit discouraged yeah.
Ivan:And so I opened up this Brown Brown envelope and I look in there and it was a uh, an offer letter of permanent employment. 20-some dollars an hour to start, right, yeah, at that time back in 2004,. That was good money, yeah. And so I looked at that, I looked at Glenn and I shook his hand and I thanked him and I said, okay, I'm going to go home and I'm going to go over it and everything. To me it was a done deal already.
Speaker 3:There was no question right, but you've got to and to me it was a done deal already.
Ivan:There was no, no question, right, but you gotta look professional. Uh, well, I try at that time, but um, you know, but I just didn't want them to think that I was too excited, or or whatever, the thought process at that time was but so then that was. That was definitely my like my first introduction into the steel world, and and money you can make yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Ivan:And I and that was that was amazing money, because for me it was like oh, can I get a job at shoppers, drug market, you know, when I was living out east, right, I'm trying to get a job at shoppers, or here or there yeah, yeah you know what I mean.
Ivan:And it just wasn't wasn't working. A lot of those, you know, a lot of those jobs were taken. So so then I worked in the pickle and shortly after I got hired, they bring me a guy and they're like okay, train this guy. So I'm like, train him, okay. So I trained this guy for a couple days and they look at me and they say, okay, you're going when he's done training, you're going to that machine, you talk to that guy. And so that's what I did. And then I worked my way through there. I went, and so that machine was a polishing machine. I was polishing industrial cleaning um pipes at that time okay so that I that I had to.
Ivan:You know, there's certain they had to be a certain dimension and this machine was old man. I think it had to have been 100 years old, I think right. So some, some polishing belts and whatever, and it would break down all the time right. So then I would just do my thing right. Like I said earlier, naturally I was mechanically inclined yeah I grew up inquisitive and mechanically inclined.
Ivan:That's right, and so I would do my things, I would make my improvements right. I would talk to the maintenance guys like yeah, like we can do this, we can do that. And so then here I am again. Guys are coming and saying like how do you produce so many pipes in a shift? Yeah, right like I don't know, I'm just and I and it was on an elevated platform and I would always have my headphones in.
Ivan:No one really bothered me headphones and I'm just gonna use it right, and it was a physical job right, but I would just pump up, pump up parts man all day long, all day long all day long and so and so then I day long, and so now fast forward two or three years into doing this. And so now I've met, I've become a little friendly with some of the maintenance guys, some of the mill operators, you're in your 20s.
Max:now too, you get more mature.
Ivan:That's right, that's right. And so then I started asking the guys I want to be on one of the mills, I want, how do I get there? And they're like you have to go apply or talk to the foreman. I said, well, who's the foreman? And they were like and I'm going to name drop right now because this gentleman was very instrumental in my career at Samuel Sons and even after, and a huge, a great amount of respect for this gentleman for the way that he interacted with me, how he treated me, because I did come across some issues related to race at that time during my time there. But he was a consummate professional and an absolute gentleman.
Ivan:Um, so sha ali was his name, is his name. And so they said you have to go talk to sha um. So I said you know where, where is he at? And they're like, oh, his office is there, there, whatever. So I said okay. So I I applied first, I applied, I didn't hear nothing back. So six, eight months go by, I don't hear nothing, um. So I said you want to know what? I'm just gonna go to shah's office and let him see who I am, who's applying for the job, because I felt like I was the guy.
Ivan:So your, your background, max. Um, so I was making six inch brew pipe and once I got on the mills I was doing like all kinds of piping and stuff like that, Like a lot of duplex materials and stuff. So I go knock on Shah's door and he's there glass door and he sees me. He looked at me like who are you Right? Well, I said I'm like motioning. Can I come in?
Ivan:And he says yeah yeah, yeah, come, in, come, in come in and I said, hey, like you know, I applied for the mill job a couple of times. I never got a response, but I just want to let you know, or let you meet who the person is behind the name. So he looks at me, he says okay, all right. And I'm waiting for some like warm response, like all right, yeah, like you're the guy you know what I mean. And he's like okay, yeah, cool.
Ivan:Close the door behind me, right, I'm like, okay, closed the door by a day, right, and I was like man, that didn't go how. I thought it was going to go right. And so I think it was maybe the next day or the day after I'm walking in for my shift and I hear somebody calling my name, ivan Ivan, and I'm looking around and I turn around and it's Shaw, and he Ivan Ivan. I'm looking around and I turn around and it's Shaw and he says right, and so from there he asked me. He says, dude, you want to work on the mill? I said I do, I do, and that was my introduction to welding.
Ivan:So, we had. We had to join coils right. So we had to take, take, take, weld the coils together and it was a. It was a timed event. We would rifle the end of the coils down into the. We had a pit there and a clamping bench and a TIG machine and we TIG welded the coils together, and that's not no little TIG machine.
Max:You're talking like a let's go TIG machine.
Ivan:For sure, depending on the material too, right, and, like I said, danieluel suns, um shaw, lee, glenn, reese a lot of those guys are very instrumental in in the stuff that I. I ended up getting involved in um and and always being successful, right, because of my, my nature, right and uh. So it was a timed event. Some material stick or whatnot and it would. These welds were important because if the well, if the welds failed at the ends in the breakdown um rolls, that could mean that we have to take all the material out of the mill, reset the mill, we have to readjust the heights and it just like resetting the mill again, right?
Ivan:so if if that went wrong, it could be hours, or even sometimes days of you know changing over the mill or fixing this, fixing that. Huge money loss yeah, yeah, yeah, and I've had drive shafts fail and all kinds of stuff, and so again guys would compliment me, right, like you never have these welds fail, right.
Speaker 3:And then.
Ivan:so they would join at the weld box. I would get minimal oxidization on the IDs and stuff like that. And so, yeah, the guys were like I like, we're like where'd you come from, kind of thing. You know what I mean. And uh, yeah, man, so I, so I just I went about that and, um, for for self, I worked at Samuel's sons for a long time.
Max:How long were you?
Ivan:there, uh, so I worked there from 2003 to 2008.
Max:So five years yeah that was the kickstart.
Ivan:Then that was, that was the kickstart that was definitely the kickstart and then so, while doing that, right, I'd be there, I'd be fabricated, I'd work there sometimes three days, seven days a week, right, work on the weekends. Man, I work with the maintenance guys would be fabricating stuff and getting into all kind of stuff. And then one of the maintenance guys was like you know, they had a mig welder there or do some mig welding, and just that's really where I got my start and and my passion, because when I would take well, those, those, those coils together, right, I could, you know just the, the arc burning, nice, clean arc, and it was quiet, and I would you know, have my little, you're in the zone, yeah right and and they would look good, right.
Ivan:I was like like nice little pattern, I put in there as well. I was like okay, like I can uh you know I can do. Yeah.
Max:So so like, if let's let's go back to backtrack a little bit. So no, you're you grew up in in rural, um, nova Scotia. Now in your community, your community is your community, um, and and from what I understand, you know how was your upbringing in terms of you being of mixed race. You know, like was that something that was odd or normal, or like you know, because usually when you go to the bigger centers, the bigger cities, that's usually when you start, really you know, encountering a lot of discrimination. People can be a lot more I guess I don't know ugly about how how they treat people with less consequence. When you're in a small town you can't really do that because that gets around pretty quick Right Now. Did you notice a big difference going from Nova Scotia to Ontario in terms of how people treated you, and did you think it was racial or did you think it was just because you're from the east coast?
Ivan:um, I've had some pretty mean things said to me, um, like being in ontario, I've had people treat me um really unfairly, um because of color of my skin or what I represent. Right, I think in nova scotia, um nova scotia, there's to this day, there's still a very there's a division between the white and the black community.
Ivan:I think, it's better than it was years ago, but I think the racism that I encountered in Nova Scotia was somewhat subdued. I mean, coming up in school, there were some things in terms of racism that I had to deal with, like kids being kids, right, I went to um well, and they get it from their parents, so like they get taught racism right like yeah, and I mean for me, I, I went to a predominantly white school.
Ivan:I think I was one of two black kids in the school, so and so my parents split up. My mom moved to um a suburb of halifax where I went to school and I encountered some some pretty harsh stuff as a young kid. Um, that that stays with me to this day, right, I I tell the story often, but kids were being kids, right. A five-year-old, somebody different in the neighborhood, you know. I mean, I was happy, go lucky kid riding my bike around.
Ivan:They would call me names right push me down and I was a target and I was, I still am. I'm a very nice person, right, I'm a, I'm a very nice guy, but I, I had to learn to be, to be tough at a young age, right? So, uh, that was always a challenge, that was always a challenge, but, um, you know, I, I, I overcame that in some respects, but that that kind of was part of the struggles. Growing up, right is dealing with these kind of things. Now, fast forward, moving to Ontario and dealing with these kind of things.
Ivan:As an adult, I'll tell you, I've had some really mean things said to me at work, at work, right, and so, like I said, shah ali, there was some stuff to happen there, um, you know, and I always try to go over things in a professional manner, especially at work, uh, but he handled things very, very gracefully, um, on my behalf, um, a couple, a couple, you know, there's a couple different things that are instances I remember. Deal with racism here. Um, so it's still, it's still out there, it's still a thing. Um, it would be nice to think that it doesn't exist anymore, but that's not the reality, right?
Max:no, it's not. It's not. And like you say how things stick to you like I'm. I'm a person of color, I'm from south america and one time at work someone uh hung a squirrel in my work cell on a noose, like that's. I don't know how much rancor you can get like number one.
Speaker 3:You're killing an animal and number two.
Max:You're hanging it in a noose in my work cell in the morning and it's like a haha moment for everyone at work.
Max:It's like yo, like this, that that affects you forever yes that's the ugly thing and you're talking about being a kid and one of the ugly things that I find and you can agree or disagree with me. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. But one of the things that racism starts to do to you as a young kid is you start putting up walls right, and so when you meet a new person that's not of your color, you know you immediately have to assess real quickly if they're genuinely nice or if they're fake nice, or if they're going to be mean or if they're going to be racist or a bigot. You have to have these thoughts and it's you start doing it just automatically, it just becomes part of the walls, of how you protect yourself, but it's an ugly wall to have, like you wish you didn't.
Max:you wish you could just be like hey new person. How's it going? That's right you can never do that, not once, can you do that for the rest of your life, because you got to be like hey, I'm Max, how are you? You got to like go through this feel out period, which is really stupid, but it but it, but it exists, right.
Ivan:It does exist and I think, I think you're it's it's it's an accurate statement, um to say that when you're young like that and you deal with things that there, there are some barriers that are put up. Um, you know, as a kid. Sometimes it's hard to um understand the thought process, right Cause, at the end of the day, when you're a kid, you're just a kid, right yeah?
Speaker 3:you just want to play.
Ivan:Yeah, exactly right. Some kids are taught certain behaviors. Some kids are taught other behaviors. Right and ideologies and thought processes. I was taught that I was just a kid and that, you know, color of my skin shouldn't really matter, right? And?
Speaker 3:I can do anything.
Ivan:Right, but the reality is that there's other kids out there that are taught other things Right and that aren't maybe as kind or as loving as others, right and that's. You know, that's part of the problem with racism, right and and and the way that it affects people long-term Right.
Max:Yeah, now you're, as you know, as you got older, your parents, your mom's white and you have a mixed, they have a mixed relationship. I know your dad, you know your, your mom and dad split up but them being, you know, kind of both sides of the equation. Were you able to draw on their experiences, like, were they able to explain to you like it must've not been easy for them either as a mixed race couple, right For sure, for sure.
Ivan:Um, yeah, they started, uh, dating in the 70s, which was a different time completely right so, um, you know my, my parents, my mom, you know she was always supportive of me and and still is, um, and just encouraged me to to keep moving and, you know, not really think too much about what other people think or what other people say and and stuff like that right is, is really how I can sum it up um but yeah, for sure, they definitely had, um probably had a lot tougher than folks do these days in terms of being in that you know, mixed relationship right yeah, you hope it's gotten better.
Max:I mean, the world's a crazy place right now, so like we hope that these things get better. But you know, know for yourself as an adult. Now, if we jump forward back to you being in Ontario, you know how do you deal with those issues in the workplace. You know those people in the workplace cause you know you're in grind mode. You want to go, you want to put hours in, you want to, you want to move up and make something of yourself and get paid.
Max:But, but you know, and I and you're in a, and it happens in every shop, every shop I've ever been in my life, there's always that one person or you know there's going to be there and going to be a thorn in your side.
Ivan:How do you get?
Max:past that.
Ivan:Always that one guy, right, yeah, um, being able to identify them early, um is is what I find is the key. Yeah, and just go the other way, right, you see them coming, right, you go. You know, go left, right, so that's that's the best way I find. But sometimes they, they look for you, right, cause they know that you don't want confrontation, you don't want to have no issues, um, because you're trying to further yourself or better yourself, right, um. So you know, you start out, you know, by killing them with kindness being. You know being being nice to them, right, um, and then, when that doesn't work, max right, you just catch them.
Ivan:You know, while they're alone and have a conversation just let them know, right, like, yeah, this doesn't, it's not gonna fly, right. So, yeah, you take that fight and and take it elsewhere, but it's not gonna work here, right? Um, and that's where my old man came in, right, where you gotta be a little bit tough sometimes to deal with these things, right?
Max:yeah, I remember my dad having that talk with me too, being like you know, some people are gonna pick on you just because of the way you look and the way you talk. I mean I got I've done a really good job of getting rid of my accent, but I mean I I wasn't always like this.
Speaker 3:I had a heavy, heavy accent growing up.
Max:So it's like uh, some people, like you said, some people look for it for some reason.
Ivan:Yep, yep, they feed, they feed off that kind of stuff, right. And especially if they they think that you might be a little bit timid or a little bit weak, right, then that that's what, how, how you know these guys and people, um, you know they operate, yeah. Yeah, they get some gratification from that, right. So, yeah, man, just just try to avoid the situations, right.
Ivan:Um, be a consummate professional, right, that's, that's always the key yeah um, keep your head up, be proud of, of who you are and what you're doing, and then understand that there's you know there's things bigger than all of us here, right, in terms of what we're doing, and focus on those kinds of things more than anything, right? So?
Max:after you left Samuelson. Then where were you going? Like you got some big experience, you got sounds, like you got a good thing going on there. Why leave? Why bounce?
Ivan:So 2008,. You know, there was some stuff, some stuff going on with the economy. Um, like I, I've been an avid um motorcyclist motocross um most of my life, since I've been about five Um. So I ended up getting hurt on my motorcycle, um on my dirt bike back then, so I was off work for for a year or so. Oh, wow.
Max:That's a pretty serious accident yeah, it was a good.
Ivan:It was a good one, um so, um, but at that time so it was like, okay, I'm gonna take some time off. I had to take some time off to recover at that time, plus the economy, um, and I just made a conscious decision that, um, I was gonna go on on and do something else from samuel sons, right, as much as I, you know, I love the place, I enjoyed the work and the people were were amazing, I just felt that there was something else out there and and I think I was, I was, um, headed here earlier, but, um, you know, I come from a time and a place where you, you know, you get a good job, you work there and then you retire there, yeah, right. So that's kind of the mentality I had when I started at Samuel was, you know, okay, you're alive for now.
Ivan:Yeah, this is where I'm going to retire. This is it Right? So you know, after after having the accident and being off work for a little while, I, you know, I talked to them and I'm like listen, I'm you know, I'm gonna, I'm gonna pursue something else, right?
Ivan:so, um, my goal was to pursue civil engineering. Um, at the time, I go back to university, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I took some, some classes, I was going to seneca college for a while and then, um, you know, life, life being what it is, I think we talked earlier about my path, and welding isn't a direct straight line where I have to go there's.
Ivan:There's some ups and downs and with some highs and some lows, Right, so the times of the time that I was off was a very low time in my life. It was. It was a tough time, Um, but I was like I was still determined that I'm going to make it, but I was like I'm still determined that I'm going to make it right.
Ivan:So I took these courses at Seneca, I'm pursuing civil engineering. The money runs out, the money runs out, and so, okay, what's next? Right, so I start digging, I start looking. Okay, so I find a job at a small, um, a small company that that was producing, uh, wire mesh, um. So I got a job there as a setup guy. So I was doing setup for resistance welders, spot welders, some, some ped welders and stuff like that, um, and they at the time had a at the very back corner, had a robotic weld cell back there and it never ran the whole time I was there.
Max:I've seen that a lot. What's that? I've seen that a lot. In shops in Canada People bought robotic welders and then didn't know what to do with them. It happens.
Speaker 3:It happens.
Ivan:So I see it there all the time. But I was focused on what I was doing there. Um, I had some good mentorship there, um, but yeah, so I was their weld setup guy, uh, at this at this um, smaller company and I worked there for a couple of years. Uh, then one day the general manager comes to me. Um, so I was doing a really good job as far as I'm concerned, like setting up the machines, getting parts out, like keeping the uptime good, troubleshooting the welding, making sure the defects were. You know, we're reducing defects and increasing throughput in the shop. So one day the general manager comes to me and he says he says, do you want to get involved in the robotics program? I looked at him.
Max:I said, well, I don't see robots here, right? That dusty robot over there, right yeah.
Ivan:And so it's, it's. He said this one is we have. We have a job coming up for the for this, for this robot here. He said do you want to get involved? Yeah?
Max:I sure do.
Ivan:Yeah, and so that was kind of it, to be honest, once I got involved with that. So they sent me over for a bunch of training, like a bunch of training. And then I come back from the training and he says, okay, so I'm going to give you 30 days. I need A-side, b-side programs, all welds, done in 30 days. If you have questions, you need anything, please don't wait till the last minute. Let me know so we can take action and get this stuff out the door. And so within two weeks I had everything done, programmed, ready to go. And he's looking at me, he's like you done already. I said are you sure? I'm like, yeah, I'm sure. So we ran some tests and he looked at me. He's like, wow. He's like I didn't even think you'd get it done in 30 days, right and so and so. But that was it for me.
Ivan:Um, I, from then on I knew exactly what I, what I wanted to do, um with my working career for the rest of my life right, automation, welding, right, um. So that that was it. And so I worked there for for another couple of years. Um, you know, things happen in, in, in workplaces and you know not, not everybody sees eye to eye, but, um, that was another, another great experience and I tell you um Just a great mentor. And you know, another key individual in my career that I really hold dear to my heart and I'm going to drop his name too Matt Bolger. He really helped guide me and educate me and really helped get me to a next level in terms of automation and welding.
Ivan:That's awesome help get me to a next level in terms of automation and welding. That's awesome, yeah, yeah, yeah, and I can never thank him enough, um, you know, for for the positions that he put me in to be successful. Uh, just educate me. He's a brilliant person, uh as well, so uh, always a big shout out to him for everything. Um, so, yeah.
Ivan:So I did that for a number of years and then I left that company and I went to another, smaller Also. Okay, let me backtrack for a second. I did a bunch of fabricating there, so a bunch of MIG, weld and manual. We were fabricating. They were doing a project for some big stainless bins and we we took that robotic cell, we modified it to accept these large vessels and we do a lot of stainless welding at that time, and the kicker to the story is that cell that I, that I first was involved in uh, was uh the escala motor man robot with um froeys, tps, cmt right, so that will that that will tie into things later on as that must have been an early cmt, like I mean yep, yep, yep, tps, cmt, yeah, yeah, so that was my first, my very first introduction.
Ivan:Um do well, I can't say first introduction, but that was like major robotics, but I was you know the the rolling two bills. That was automation too right yeah, that's all automated equipment. Yeah right so, but that that was my first into like really programming my own stuff and plc and all this kind of stuff, right so?
Max:I love that you brought up that. You know this one shop. You know things happen, didn't work out, whatever. You don't always get along with everyone, but you still focus on the positive and the growth that you can take from that shop and even the mentors that made a difference in your life, regardless of whether the job worked out. I find that that's always something really really you know key to people that are successful that you don't ever run away from something, you only run towards something.
Max:So like if it's, if you know I've worked in shops that were terrible, or you know musty, dirty, unsafe. You know 80% of the people in there. I could be fine never seeing them again, but you run into one or two and they teach you something and you go with it. That's part of your journey. That's part of your journey, right, and you take what you take, the good and you forget about the bad. Who cares? It doesn't matter, right?
Ivan:Yep, I mean most of my life, right, I've had to see the. You know the good in everything. You know what I'm saying. Yeah, to be successful, right, If I looked at all the bad stuff, you know you get stuck, you get, you become a product of that, right? So always looking at the bright side of things, always, um, what can I learn, what? How can I better myself? Right, um I'm a very giving person, but you know I'm also selfish in terms of like well, you can't give from an empty cup, right?
Ivan:you can't give, that's right to cup, you got to fill your cup first. That's right. And what and what can I take from this experience? Right, what you know, whether it's good or it's bad, right, but what? But what can I take from it? What can I learn from it? Right, and how can I better myself in every situation?
Max:right, Cool, All right. Well, let's take a break now for the sponsors. We're at about 40 minutes into the interview and when we get back from our commercial break here with our advertisers we'll talk about. You know what happens after you get that automation bug and you start working with robotic welders, which is very much going to lead to where you're sitting in a red room right now. So we'll be right back here. Make sure you guys don't go anywhere. We'll be right back here with Ivan right on the CWB association podcast.
Max:Looking for top quality welding machines and accessories, Look no further than CannaWeld, Based in Vaughan, Ontario. Cannaweld designs further than canna weld, based in vaughan, ontario. Canna weld designs, assembles and tests premium welding machines right here in canada. Our products are csa certified and ontario made approved, reflecting our unwavering commitment to excellence. Count on us for superior service that's faster and more efficient than market competitors. Whether you're in aerospace, education or any other precision welding industry, canna weld has the perfect welding solution for you. Visit cannaweldcom today to discover why professionals rely on CannaWeld for their welding needs. Cannaweld where precision meets reliability in welding. Enjoy peace of mind with our four-year warranty on most machines. Conditions do apply.
Max:Josephgassesca, your one-stop welder's superstore. Whether you run a welding shop or are just starting your welding journey, Joseph Gass, the welder's superstore is the best place for everything related to welding. Come to the site or browse our top picks of welders, helmets and welding supplies specific to your industry. Even filter out the items eligible for manufacturer cash rebates. Our intuitive search tool puts everything at your fingertips and checkout is always a breeze. Pay securely with your credit card at any time. If you are ready to streamline your welding supply shopping experience, visit josephgassesca that's Joseph with an F as in family. Start filling your cart with welder confidence and we are back here on the CWB Association podcast. Thanks so much for staying with us today.
Max:This episode has been a special episode that we're recording for Black History Month and we have a wonderful guest here, Ivan Wright, who is a weld technician with Fronius and calls his home in Ontario now, but is originally from the East coast out in Nova Scotia Now, right before the break we talked about, you know, that first opportunity to work in a weld cell and and the different challenges and the new things you need to learn when you start looking at full automation. Um, a lot of people look at a welding robot or automation cell for welding and they only worry about the hot wire on the end, without thinking about the billion steps there is in between, with fixtures, the ground, the robot, programming, consumables, types, parameters, variables and even all the selections of sensors and different setups you could do within the same you know unit, so you start dipping your toes into this and you're thinking that you got the bug. Now what do you do, Ivan? What do you start doing?
Ivan:yeah. So I 100% had the bug and um as laser focused, though, um, you know, I left. I left where I was at. I went to another company as a robotic well tech. Now, that was the job I applied for. That was the job that I got. So I worked at this company. It wasn't a long-lived venture, but I learned, right, I learned from it. So the lead robot guy there he was, um, I don't know if it was me that he didn't like or if it was what I represented that he didn't like. I don't know, but he didn't. He didn't like me for sure, right.
Max:So so I was the guy you guys weren't going for coffee in the morning before work?
Ivan:no, man, I don't even know, I don't even. I don't want to say too much, right? Yeah? No birthday cards at chris. No, no, we, you know, I mean if I, if I seen him in the mall, right, you know what I mean. But yeah, so he, he gave me a real hard time, right so I came.
Ivan:I knew motor man. Right, I knew motor man. I knew motor man a little bit, right, yeah, um, robots, iskawa, right, yeah. So I go there. They've got um. Now they got some phoenix in there, um, some, I think they had some hannah socks and some old motor mans or whatever. But anyways, yeah, um, I'll make this one quick, because it was. It was just a speed bump in my, in my path, right, yeah, um, but he treated me like trash, right, like anything that he could do to make my life difficult he would do, right. So in the end I ended up leaving there. But while there I learned a little bit about FANUC and some Panasonic or what have you, and so I applied for a job. It was I was reaching, I thought at this point, but I applied for a job at a Martin Rea facility in Brampton here in Ontario, and that's a big, established company.
Max:Yeah, Yep, Yep. I applied for a job at a at a Martin Rio facility um in Brampton, here in Ontario, and that's a big, established company.
Ivan:Yeah, yep, yep, and so I. So I got the job as robotic well tech and I was just so fortunate to get that job. Um, so the hiring man, the hiring manager was was the. Um was the maintenance manager when I worked under. He hired me, was the maintenance manager when I worked under. He hired me and he put me in situations where I could. I could succeed. So I worked with another well tech on afternoons. That really taught me a lot of the robotic side of things. So I learned ABB and this is something that I want to mention because it's it's important to me. I'm a car guy, gearhead, but I worked on the. And this is something that I want to mention because it's it's important to me. I'm a car guy, gearhead, but I, I worked on the and this is this is like welding, canadiana kind of yeah right so uh, we were producing the camaro in oshawa at that time, and so we were producing all american muscle in canada, right?
Ivan:so yeah, to me it was, it was amazing, right, and so I'm camaros, or the v6 camaros oh, we were, we were producing like rs's oh, we were producing the engine cradles so okay, all right, cool we're for um the coupes, um the convertibles or whatever right, yeah, um, and I, I would assume, I mean I got a mustang outside.
Max:That'll any Camaro, but we can talk about that later.
Ivan:Okay, okay, I'm not going to touch that right.
Max:But that's awesome.
Ivan:You know, there's nothing like bikes, right?
Max:I don't trust myself. It's me the problem. That's why Right.
Ivan:So to me though, right, so I you know. After a couple of years I became the lead tech on this front and rear cradle line right. So we're producing cradles for you know the Camaro, which to me was the coolest thing.
Max:That's so dope yeah.
Ivan:Ever. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I ran that line into service right, so ran it right into service part, so you know at some points it was you need to make 10 parts for whatever the line would be down, and this is a big line, probably a couple hundred robots on the front and rear line, and so you know I got involved with vision systems, um red herring programs, right, so creating the next year yeah, yeah, I was integrating, like I was literally integrating cells myself, programming them right um and so, um, they had adhesive systems, they had projection welding, spot welding, not welders like everything like under the sun in this one facility, right, and, and I was on afternoons and there was times like I was the only well tech there, right, so it's sink or swim Like I can't, right.
Ivan:And so I had a guy that I could call all the time, um, ali Muhammad, my, still my friend to this day, but just another instrumental person that really believed in me and my capabilities and what I brought to the table. Right, but I'll never forget, you know, a couple of times getting stuck right. So I'm dealing with sometimes 12 robots that are all interconnected, right, and one of them goes down. How do I troubleshoot that? How do I, you know, get the lineup going? I got. How?
Ivan:do you isolate that one out? Yeah, that's right. I got 20, 30 operators that are dependent on me that they don't want to go home early because they got mouths to feed to and all this kind of stuff, right. So there was some, some pressure there, right, and I always somehow found a way to make things happen. And it goes back to my childhood and and my, my inquisitive nature and and you know, uh, my, some of my troubleshooting skills that I learned when I was quite young, right.
Max:Now when, when you're working, you know at this next tier. Early on you said that you know you come from a world where it was like you get the that good job and you hold on till you're retired. Now you is like you get that good job and you hold on until you retire. Now you've been disillusioned a few times. You had a few up and goes and like I mean it happens to I think more to people in the trades that they care to admit that sometimes you just don't fit in the job. It ain't the job, it's you and that's fine Bounce. You know, like you're not going to work everywhere perfectly, but at this job. Now you know, now you're coming up on your late 20s, early 30s. I'm trying to follow the timeline here.
Ivan:Yeah, mid 30s.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so you're in your mid 30s here?
Max:Are you thinking now, Martin Ria, this is where I'm going to stay.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Max:You know, at some point you start thinking okay, I got to stop jumping around, I got to start building a pension here. I got to stop jumping around, I got to start building a pension here, I got to start getting stuff in order. So now you're, because this sounds like a pretty cool place to work.
Ivan:It was an amazing place to work. It was, you know, one of the best things that ever happened to me, right, like I said, because the exposure to different applications, different things, freedom to learn and within, like the last couple of years working there, I was leading um like a training program. So these guys would buy robots, we'd bring robots in. I had a. They gave me a training cell where I could bring the robots in and educate um the younger folks that they're hiring, right.
Ivan:So how to master a robot, like how to, how to communicate with the robot, with the welders, and all these kinds of things. So, yeah, there was no intent for me to leave. They treated me quite well there. There was nothing that I wanted that I asked for, that they didn't give me. I made my own hours, more or less. I ended up getting married and bringing um young lady into the world and they, they let me jump to day shift whenever I need it, right?
Ivan:so, yeah, like there was no intent for me to leave, I'll say that, right, and and just having and just having that mentality yeah, that I that I still have to this day, like when you get a job right. It's kind of one of those things, like you should stay there, make a way. You know loyalty is a big factor right In everything that I do. So, yeah, I was. You know that was my. I was going to be there for the foreseeable future and yet and yet here we are.
Max:So what pulled you away? What happened? How did someone come and offer you a nicer bone?
Ivan:So, like I said earlier, and that's why I said this, I'm going to tie in later on down the line. So I worked my first robot job right or robot application job, robot welding job was with Yaskawa Fronius. I knew the Fronius brand. I knew what they were capable of. I, I, I remember back then welding with cmt, thinking like I've never seen so much like this, yeah, like what is this right, yeah, um, so yeah, I mean I got the. The knock on the door brought fronius, but how back up?
Max:how did the fronius find you? How did? How did that knock on the door brought Fronius, but how back up, how did the Fronius find you? How did? How did that knock on the door happen? Cause it's not like you're walking around with a Fronius sticker on the back of your bike or something you know like.
Ivan:Nope, what happened so so, yeah, so I, I was working in my the general manager um that I was working with in the past, um, he was working at Fronius, oh, so he went over there, so he went to Fronius, and then so they were. They lost a couple technicians here, and so he called me up and he was like you should apply so I was like you know, my little girl.
Ivan:I think my little girl was like six months at the time. I was like I'm good where I'm at, like I'm stable right now I can, I don't know if I want, if I don't if I want some change like that, that's too much change and I don't know. I think Ronis might be out of my league a little bit.
Max:You know what I don't know? Coming out like out West Ferroni's doesn't have nearly the footprint because we haven't been as automation heavy as the East. But I remember the very few Ferroni's that I did encounter and then even the first time I got to use a CMT machine I was like what kind of magic is this?
Ivan:Absolutely, yeah, absolutely so, yeah, and like so, to be honest, max, I turned it down more than once so I was living, uh, 10 minutes from erroneous um canada's headquarters, yeah, and so he would call me up. He's like I'm gonna drop by for coffee, right so yeah come through right come through and, uh, we'd have coffee, we'd chat and he know he's like apply for that job, man, Like I think you'd be a good fit, Like you know you've got the skills to do the job.
Ivan:Like you know you're very knowledgeable. He's like I know what you're capable of, like you should apply right. And it took some convincing. I even talked to my wife. I was like, listen, listen, this guy keeps on bothering me, man. I keep telling him no, what do you think? And she looked at me and said are you crazy? She said just apply, man. Just apply and see what happens.
Max:See what they offer you yeah.
Ivan:So anyway, so I applied. So I applied for the job here at Fronius and I got the call for the first interview. I came here and I met with, um, uh, the management team and the tech manager, uh, and so first meeting went okay and so, like for me, it's usually like you get to take an interview and then you get a call, whether you get the job or you didn't, right?
Ivan:so yeah, these guys call me back and they're like can you, you come back in for another interview. I'm like what I was like okay. So we go back in for another interview and we talk some more and then they ask me to do a. You know, can you put together a presentation? Basically is what they ask no, actually sorry, can you do a? We want to do a well test. We want you to do a well test.
Ivan:We want you to know right right yeah, so bring your pp so I come in. Um, you know, and I was only I was one of the only to be honest, like for years, I was one of the only weld techs um that had a welding bucket on my toolbox, right?
Ivan:so you know how to weld, yeah yeah, anytime I had a troubleshoot, a weld, like even on the robots. Like I'm in there, I'm looking at the arc right, is the arc length long right, or too much wire or what have you right, is the torch angle off? Always. And I tell the guys like, yeah, you're well-technical, you have a well helmet, right, but anyway. And yeah, I did a half decent job, I guess, right. So, uh, it came in, did some some vertical up for them and, um, did a little bit of TIG welding. Um, I'll never claim to be a TIG welder, but you know, uh, I put down some TIG welds for them and right, and uh, I guess, for now, I guess, as they say, that's interview too. I guess, for now, I guess, as they say, that's interview two.
Ivan:Yeah, so that's interview two. And then I had to do a presentation. So I had to do a comparison presentation of that kind of stuff, which was it was nerve wracking, right, and I spent a lot of time putting it together, but at the end of the day they offered me a job here and I've been working here for the last six years now. I'm the national product expert for high-performance welding, so I deal with tandem, twin, laser, hybrid or anything heavy deposition here at Ferronia. So that's what I'm doing now. I'm loving every minute of it. There's never a dull moment here. As you know, we're constantly releasing new equipment, uh, new features, new processes, um, that just enhance the the world of welding the way I see it.
Max:So on the you know on the day-to-day now what's a day look like for you in ferronius. You know when you're coming in and I mean it sounds like the dream job. You get to play with the newest, coolest machines and. But what is that they expect from you? Like what you know you. You say you're in, you're in charge of, you know high deposition rate and these things. What does that mean to the customers? What does that mean to the people coming in and talking to you?
Ivan:so, for what that means is that I'm dealing with proof of concept, right? So? Customer has an idea they want to weld a certain thing. How are we going to go about welding that, right? Um? So, uh, well, testing, um, yeah, so design review. So helping customers review whatever designs they come up with um recommending applications or processes for their application. Um, so that's that, that's the main part of what I do. So troubleshooting, like customers have our equipment, so helping them troubleshoot um their stuff on site, whether that involves me going there um to physically assist with my hands on um or or or over the phone, or or or over email that kind of thing?
Max:And is your territory just like the Ontario territory? Are you like doing this across Canada? Cause I mean, I've worked with a few of the Ferronius guys out here out West and I'm not sure how it works for territories and stuff like or if you're just Ontario or if you're everywhere.
Ivan:Yeah, so I'm a national product expert, so anything in Canada I deal with, right, so Awesome. From coast to coast, if it's from halifax to vancouver, if there's anything there that's laser, hybrid, um, tandem, twin welding or anything in between, and even, from time to time, just fill it in for the guys, some of the guys at west, and you've got some of the greatest technicians of the planet out in your area too, right?
Max:yeah, they're fun guys. Yeah, they're super cool, I just saw them a couple weeks ago actually. Uh, you know, I can hear his accent, that German accent, like down the hallway it's like, hey, I know who's here. Yeah.
Ivan:Yeah, yeah, so you got some of the best uh in your territory. So, yeah, um, from coast to coast. Um, I've I've spent a lot of time in Manitoba, uh, working and helping set up our, our VSP team there. Um, oh, left bridge, alberta, uh, edmonton Uh, I haven't made it all the way out West yet, but yeah, um, all over, all over Canada, uh, working on a day-to-day basis. I'm mostly localized Ontario, but yeah that can, that can be from um Sault Ste to Kingston right and now, what about?
Max:you know, like, if we go back to the overarching theme of Black History Month, you know there's two angles here. Because now you're an established person, you got a great career, great job, a job that people could really aspire to, to be like that's, that's kind of, you know, top of the of the of the pile type of job. You know, number one do you still experience? You know, racism in your position now, because now you're in a position of of authority, you're, you've worked your way up a long and hard ladder, but you know, and you hope that these experiences stop at some point in your life. But but have they, or is it still something? Every now and then you still got to deal with it in the workplace or with clients or customers or who knows right.
Ivan:So our workplace here is very diverse and Fronius is an amazing employer, an amazing company to work for, and you know. So I not care, but because of what I do, I deal with customers, right, I'm a customer facing technician right, and the answer to your question, max, unfortunately is yes, right, and that comes in different ways, but the answer definitively is yes.
Max:And now, on the other side of that coin, as an established person who could be in a mentoring position, how important is it for you to help inspire? You know, young people in general, but specifically young people that may be of color, that are going to experience some of the same struggles you had. You know how much is it now you trying to give back to help people get to where you are. You know how how much is it now you trying to give back to help people get to where you are.
Ivan:You know, theoretically, Yep, um, that's super important, um, and you know, I've been blessed, um, to, to be where I am, uh, and there's many times where I'm providing training or I've been invited as a guest speaker at, at schools and schools and vocational schools and colleges you know, across the country as a matter of fact, and yeah, so mentorship or inspiring more so is important, and I'm not afraid to tell my story, right, because if it wasn't for the challenge and some of the barriers, I wouldn't be where I am right.
Ivan:So it's super important. I wish I had more opportunity to inspire and give back, but I think right now, what I'm doing here, speaking with you, is one of those platforms that I've been blessed to partake in, and maybe my story will inspire somebody out there that's maybe struggling with racism or lack of direction, right, yeah, and see it and say, like there is something there, right, if I just keep on pushing forward, right, keep pushing forward, good things will happen if I believe in myself. Right, and yeah, absolutely, and any chance that I get right to either tell my story and if you get to know me a little bit better, I always have a kind word for somebody or a motivational word for somebody, no matter what, it is right.
Max:Yeah, absolutely.
Ivan:So, yeah, that's just part of who I am and, yeah, like, the more I can give, the better in my opinion, because, like you said earlier, right, the world is changing and not necessarily the way that we would hope that it is Right.
Max:So, yeah, and you and you like there's like that old saying you said kill it with kindness. I remember being young and thinking that's such a stupid saying. But then you get older and you're like you know what. There is something in that, because when someone's being ignorant, you got to go down to their level to to to engage. And why would you do that? Why level to to to engage? And why would you do that? Why would you go down there into the mud to fight? You know that fight.
Speaker 3:Because they're not going to.
Max:They're not going to crawl out of the mud to you, right?
Ivan:Right, but like what? Like I said, I think you know people that engage in that kind of behavior. They enjoy the reaction, right? They? Want to see you get out of your character and say things that maybe you will regret later.
Speaker 3:They know what they're doing, right you know, they practice.
Max:What's that they practice?
Ivan:Yeah, yeah, right and so and so, then, we should practice too Right, and that practice right Self-love, and maintain a respect for yourself and keeping your head up and never, never lowering yourself to the level of somebody that will call you a derogatory comment or treat you in a certain way, because of how you look or where you're from.
Max:Well, and I think you give a very great example that, at the end of the day, it's about drive right, it's about your drive, and that's a personal journey. No one can drive for you, no one can feed you ambition. There's no ambition pill that exists out there. It's something that you got to, you know, force yourself into, and and sometimes those days are dark. Sometimes those weeks, those months, those years can be dark.
Max:But you got to stay focused and you got to keep pushing. I always tell people I was never the best welder, I was never the best anything, but I had the most drive and I'm also extremely good looking. But aside from those two things, you know it was uh, it was the things that caught me through, because you know, if you've got a bad attitude, it doesn't matter how good of a welder you are. That's as far as you're going to get man.
Ivan:Yep, and that that applies to everything in life. If you don't have, if you don't have a positive attitude, a positive outlook, then you're done before you even start it, right? So, um, and that's what I'm instilling in my, in my young one now, right Is um, you gotta have a positive attitude, right, um, body language right, people can, can tell right what you're thinking. If you have poor posture, poor body language, right, keep your shoulders back and your head up Right, even, or most importantly, when you're being challenged in certain situations.
Ivan:That's the most important time to to maintain that composure Right. So yeah, it's important stuff.
Max:Right. And so what's next for Ivan? You know, like you now, it's gotta be the lifer job now, like I think you're probably around. You're younger than me, but probably not by much. I'm in my late forties. How old are you, ivan? My birthday's tomorrow, actually Tomorrow. And how old will you be tomorrow? I'll be, 48. Oh, you're only a couple of years younger than me, so I'm. I turned 50 this year. You're going to be 48. So so at this point, you know you're been it, what's next on the list?
Ivan:what are the things that you still have to check off that you want to do? Um, so I mean, I'm continuous, continuously and trying to improve my, my knowledge. Right, I mean in for only this is an environment where there's really no days off, right, because of the amount of technology and things they're able to learn right. So stay on top of all that stuff, you know.
Ivan:Building customer relationships, you know being a brand ambassador, as I am here today with you, you know I'm speaking as Ivan, but I'm also speaking from a Ferronius point of view. Right, that's right, just representing Ferronius in a way that you know encourages people to use our product, to believe in our product. And you know, yeah, just keep on moving with the company and growing as the company grows. We're a subsidiary of an international company that's family owned to this day, which I'm extremely proud of. And you know, just maintain my position here and grow with the company here in Canada as we continue to grow. We still, as big as we are or big as we're getting in Canada, we still have a long way to go. So there'll be a lot of room here for myself personally and for other people that we hire you know, for growth.
Max:You're selling it, man, you're selling it. I'm going to have to come apply for you guys now. Yeah, man, do Right. So you're selling it, man, you're selling it. I'm going to have to come apply for you guys now, yeah, man, do it, do it. I mean, we had, we had a blast.
Ivan:We had a blast when you were here. I think I think we continue that work here, right. But yeah, it was a pleasure meeting you when you came to um yeah. I get into work with you.
Max:Yeah, I'm a lot shorter in person than people realize. I never noticed actually. Now, what about? You know community work, you know like as and not even necessarily with welding. But you know, do you? Do you like to be involved with the community? Is there anything you work with in your local area, like what's the kind of stuff that keeps you busy outside of Ferronia?
Ivan:Yeah, so I got a nine-year-old um she pretty active, but um I did um. So I you know I'm a basketball fanatic. I grew up in a in a basketball home. Um, I coached basketball. So when I first moved to Ontario, um, I spent a year or so and I was volunteer coaching at the Bob and Bait Community Center.
Ivan:Um with Doyle Orange um down at, uh, the Christian Bloor area. So I've been taking my little girl um. She plays basketball competitively and the more I'm in the gym, the more I'm looking at getting some coaching certificates and get back into the world of coaching, probably some young youngsters and stuff like that Um, probably between the nine and 15-year-old age. That's kind of what I'm looking at right now in terms of what I do outside of work and welding.
Max:Awesome. Yeah, I see that's a lot of kids, too, coming up. It's like I love welding, love welding. Get into the trades, but keep some hobbies. Keep some hobbies, because it's not just about work and you got to keep. What keeps you passionate at work is having something passionate outside of work.
Max:You know what I mean, because then you got something to work for, because you don't work just for work. It ain't just about work. Work you got to have, it's a purpose. You know work is like a tool, it's like a wrench. If you don't got a nut to put to turn, what's the point? Right, I agree, I agree. Alright. Any shout outs or anything you'd like to say to anybody out there before we end the interview? I know you threw a few names on your show.
Ivan:Yeah, um, but leon hudson, I want to shout him out um, he's been instrumental as well, put me in positions to to be successful and really um showing some some mentorship um from his core office, right so I want to shout out to leon matt bolger uh, another person who's an instrumental I spoke of earlier. But I also want to shout out my wife and my little girl, aveline, because you guys are the ones that keep me going every day, keep me motivated and inspired and, yeah, I love you guys.
Max:Smart move, smart man. We've got a smart man in the house here.
Ivan:Everybody that I mentioned. I love you guys.
Max:Awesome man. Well, I can't wait to get back out there. I hope I see you at our events. You know we, I know you guys are trying to come out to more of the the events that we hold there. We have some great local chapters in your area too that are always looking for connections, and we always kind of throw leads your way to try to, of course, to get you guys warm. But it's a two-way street. You help us, we help you. You know how it is.
Ivan:100% I get a chance to work with a lot of your members on the course of what I do and, just much like yourself, fantastic people very passionate about welding. We all have a lot in common and for me, any of the CWB guys and gals that I work with, I always send out the invite, send me an email. You're more than welcome to come by the office, just like you guys did when you came by man, I'll show you what we have here in the lab, whether it's CMT, some twin stuff.
Ivan:We have lots of interesting processes.
Max:I won't go too deep into it. Some of them are secret, but they're pretty cool.
Ivan:None of it's a secret, Max.
Max:Not if it's a secret, but when we were there you had not released that new welding helmet yet and we got to see it before it went to market.
Ivan:Oh yeah, I was going to put it on my desk while I was sitting here, but it's pretty dope, I figured I would.
Max:Yeah, it's nice, and it's nice to work with I'm doing lot of um, the low amperage plasma, the lab right now. That's really excelling there for me at my ripe old age, right, awesome man. Well, I very much appreciate taking the time to be here and for all the people out there that are listening. If you're interested in ferronius or or ivan's story, all the information will go up with the podcast. So check out the comments and, speaking of comments, make sure you give us some comments, share and you can write us in anything you'd like, if you've got questions for the guests, questions for us, or if you have any topics that you'd like us to cover. We're always out there hunting for materials. So we very much appreciate Ivan. Again, thank you very much.
Ivan:Max, you're more than welcome. I appreciate it. Um, especially this time of year when it's black history month. Um, I appreciate what you're doing on your podcast with Black History Month and just in general, spreading the word of welding. It's an amazing career. If anyone out there is interested or thinking about it, I would say dive in with both feet. You won't be sorry, fantastic, awesome.
Max:Well, until the next episode, everyone, take care, and we'll catch you there. We hope you enjoy the show.
Speaker 3:You've been listening to the CWB Association Welding Podcast with Max Cerullo. 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 Horn, this podcast serves to educate and connect the welding community. Please subscribe and thank you for listening.