The CWB Association Welding Podcast
The CWB Association Welding Podcast
Skills Canada Series - Season 3 - Episode 5 with Blake Moulton
The CWB Association is thrilled to collaborate with Skills/Compétences Canada on a special podcast series. This year, we are excited to interview the Skills Canada Executive Directors from across Canada. Tune in as we explore their skills journey and commitment to promoting skilled trades in their provinces and territories!
What happens when a youth from a remote community of 200 people discovers the world of skilled trades? Blake Moulton, Executive Director of Skills Canada Northwest Territories, is witnessing this transformation daily as he leads the territory's largest-ever delegation to the Skills Canada National Competition. With 40 team members including 22 competitors, they've brought together young people from across the vast northern territory, many of whom have never traveled outside their communities before. This personal growth is just as valuable as the technical skills they develop.
Website: https://www.skillscanadanwt.org/
Follow Skills/Compétences Canada:
Website: https://www.skillscompetencescanada.com/en/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/SkillsCanadaOfficial
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skillscompetencescanada/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/skills_canada
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/skillscanada
There is no better time to be a member! The CWB Association membership is new, improved, and focused on you. We offer a FREE membership with a full suite of benefits to build your career, stay informed, and support the Canadian welding industry. https://www.cwbgroup.org/association/become-a-member
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. I'm Max Duran, I'm the CWB Association Welding Podcast, pod, pod podcast. Today we have a really cool guest welding podcast. The show is about to begin. Hello and welcome to another edition of the CWB Association podcast. Today we are doing a special series of interviewing executive directors from across Canada, including the provinces and territories. Today we have Blake Moulton from Northwest Territories talking to me about his amazing programs up there. How's it going, blake?
Speaker 2:It's going great. Thanks for having me. I really appreciate it and, uh, you know it's a busy event, been a busy day, um, but yeah, team is having fun and we're enjoying it for sure. So when did you guys get into town? So we flew out of Yale and I, if we had to fly back to Vancouver, um, with our Canada that we flew from Vancouver to Regina. So we had an early morning. We landed in Regina about 1130 in the morning, got checked into the hotel at one o'clock and, yeah, been busy ever since.
Speaker 1:Non-stop. Had you ever been to Regina before?
Speaker 2:No, it's first time. First time and it's the first time for a lot of our travelers. Actually, this competition, you know, we bring in competitors from across the Northwest Territories, obviously, so it's an opportunity for a lot of our team members to see different parts of the country for the first time. So it's a really fun opportunity and, yeah, we're all really enjoying it.
Speaker 1:First thoughts. What's Regina been like for you guys?
Speaker 2:It's way more grass than what I expected yeah.
Speaker 1:A lot greener than you thought it would be Greener.
Speaker 2:You know, greener is probably a better way to put it. Yeah, yeah, like it's it's. We've seen so far the the football stadium here but that added opening ceremonies, which is really exciting the first time any of us really had put our feet onto a football field a professional stadium.
Speaker 1:Exactly it's been a.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that was a unique opportunity. Yeah, we checked out a lot of restaurants so far. I actually go into the Rough Riders game on.
Speaker 1:Friday as well.
Speaker 2:So I think we're going to be leaving here football fans, if we're not already.
Speaker 1:Good good, I'm a season ticket holder, so there you go.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I got my seats.
Speaker 1:at that, I'm actually giving my ticket to my staff so she can go attend her first rider game too. There you go.
Speaker 2:I've never been, so I'm looking forward to it. It'll be fun. It's good not a football fan. You're there for the food. Yeah, that's actually.
Speaker 1:I hadn't I seen it advertised once. It's like don't come for the football, stay for the food. It's like you know what? Not wrong, yeah, there's something for everybody for sure.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, on the field it was like, yeah, when we were on the field taking the team photos, it was like it looks a lot smaller once you're on the field. But yeah, super, super cool opportunity, yeah, we loved it.
Speaker 1:So how many competitors like what's the whole team? What's the?
Speaker 2:numbers, numbers, our full team size we've got 40 team members. That consists of competitors, volunteers, coaches, skills Canada, nwt staff as well. This is the biggest team we've brought. We're really, really happy about that. Of that team, we've got 22 competitors across secondary and post-secondary levels. We've got 22 competitors across secondary and post-secondary levels. This year we really wanted to give the opportunity to the competitors to bring coaches, so their teachers, their community members that have a bit of an experience in that trade, the mentorship.
Speaker 2:You know because once the competitors get on site, you know it's a pretty overwhelming experience. They often look to somebody that they know.
Speaker 1:Especially if you haven't been to. Some of them have never flown.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Some of them have never traveled. Some of them have never been in a city. Yeah, there's a lot of overwhelming things.
Speaker 2:Yeah Right, yeah for sure. We always try to bring and, you know, kind of strategize our support system so we have folks from different communities who have connections to those students. You know, in the NWT we deal with a lot of communities that you know sometimes have a population of a couple hundred people hundred people. So this competition, this whole event is such, it's a huge week for everybody. It's a week for everybody in terms of the travel, the competition days, returning, and you're nonstop the entire time.
Speaker 1:It is nonstop.
Speaker 2:It's really important to have those people that have those connections, those relationships to those competitors. It's also really valuable to see them really come out of their comfort zones and really come out of their shells. A lot of them can be quite reserved, and then by the end of the competition they're mingling, they're laughing, they're having fun. It's a fantastic opportunity, for sure.
Speaker 1:Last year in Quebec, I remember commenting to my staff that it was one of the largest Northwestern Territories teams I'd seen. To that point, yeah, because last year I noticed like, okay, they're bringing a bigger team now. Yeah, I remember sometimes it was one, yeah, right, and now it's like okay, i're bringing a bigger team now. Yeah, I remember it. Sometimes it was one, yeah, right, and now it's like okay, there's I think there was about, I would say, 15 or 18 last year yeah.
Speaker 1:And um and this. And then I also noticed the support net. Uh, one of the competitors was a young mother. Yeah, so there was, like you know, mom was there to help but taking care of the baby during competition. Yeah, and I'm watching like extended family come to support. Yeah, and I I remember thinking last year, this is going to grow, this is going to grow. This is steps in the right direction, because community in the north is different too. Yeah, the way the communities are structured, the way the community supports are expected to be, yeah, all the talent in the world, it doesn't matter. You, you're not as likely to do it on your own. Oh, yeah, as you are, if you like, were raised in vancouver, where it was just expected to do it on your own. Oh yeah, as you are, if you like were raised in vancouver, where it was just like, you're expected to do everything on your own from day one right, yeah, yeah, uh.
Speaker 2:We find that uh, in the end in the nwt, like, people in our communities wear many hats. They're their parents, they're also teachers, uh, community members, they're volunteers and everybody's very intertwined um and uh. Especially for a large number of our competitors at the secondary level, like I mentioned before, it's their first time traveling um and we find that uh, everybody really rallies together behind the team. Yeah, we get a lot of uh traction with, like, local news stations and things like that. Everybody's supporting um, the, the students themselves, the schools that they're representing, the uh, the um organizations that they're representing from the post-secondary level as well, um, and it's just a really encouraging environment and uh, it's it. It means a lot to everybody. It's not just the competitors that are taking part. There's a lot of people behind the scenes that you know um, people don't necessarily see uh, and that can include those coaches that are, you know, with us supporting the competitors Um.
Speaker 1:But Coaches back home, other mentors yeah absolutely.
Speaker 2:Principals volunteers, yeah, it's. Yeah, there's a whole team of people behind the team who support and it just wouldn't be possible for us to bring a team, especially of the size that we have this year, without all the people behind the scenes that are just giving their time. They're just continuously helping, volunteering and, yeah, we cannot appreciate them enough. They're the backbone of the whole event for us for sure.
Speaker 1:Now for yourself. You know, being in the ED role, what is it that you need to do in order to make that connection, that collaboration, possible?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I think what, like it kind of varies from community to community. We find that Yellowknife's the capital city of the NWT and it's kind of the central hub per se, but outside of Yellowknife, but it's still a city, um, and we definitely need to respect the way that the smaller communities operate, because they they operate differently, yeah, um and uh, you know, especially in those smaller, uh locations, those are the community, uh, those are the locations where those folks, like I said, are wearing those hats.
Speaker 2:So we need to work with those, uh, you know smaller communities, those smaller schools, and like, really like, what can we need to work with those? Uh, you know smaller communities, those smaller schools, and like, really like, what can we do to help you? How can we remove barriers? How can we assist the coaches, whether it's through funding, whether it's materials, whether it's like sending people into the communities to to give back the knowledge, to be as supportive as possible to the communities, because you know they can't support their students in some ways because of, you know, geographical barriers that we try to remove. So we really need to try to be flexible and, yeah, treat each community as their own, but also as a collective under the NWT as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, walk that line back and forth. Yeah, now, what's your background? So like, either you got into this because you're a tradesperson or you got into this because, as well, yeah, you walk that line back and forth. Yeah, now for you, what's your background? So, like, either you got into this because you're a trades person or you got into this because you just love people, I guess. So like which one of those?
Speaker 2:is it? Yeah, uh, I'm actually, uh, I'm actually not a trades person, uh, no background there, although, uh, through this like, through this position, through working with skills, like there are many days where I'm like you know what this could be a fun opportunity for me.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Or you see a job posting you're like, dang, that's a lot of money.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean there's so many skill tree careers across the board. Right, yeah, but no, my background is actually marketing and communications. So I was born and raised in Newfoundland, actually, so I moved up to, uh, the northwest territories in 2017. Uh, and that was it was actually for a position with skills, canada nwt.
Speaker 1:So there was a marketing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yes, there was a marketing and communication position that I uh, that I uh took right out of school, uh moved across the country and, uh, the first thing, I the first person I met when I got there was from newfoundland oh, the chance is there that that's odd.
Speaker 2:But yeah, like I said, my background's in the communications realm, but I think it lends itself well when dealing with all these communities and all of these kind of barriers that are in place and schools and different districts. Yeah, I mean it's really important to have that skill set. I mean it's really important to have that skill set. So I started there and then I stepped into the executive director position in July of 2020. So a few months after the pandemic. Then, yeah, been here ever since.
Speaker 1:Well, it sounds very much like Courtney's story from New Brunswick. She came in on a one year contract for marketing. Yeah, here we are still. Yeah, and that's the I always say. It's like the mafia, right, once you're in, there's no getting out.
Speaker 2:Exactly, yeah, exactly. There's Courtney, and then there's Chris from Alberta as well. He has a communications and marketing background as well, but I.
Speaker 1:That's a big part of what you do, though, right For sure.
Speaker 2:I mean, like as the executive director, like we all wear many hats, like we, uh, are the communications professionals we wear, you know all you know event coordinator hats.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, you know uh, and, and a lot of us are advisors, you know like planning, yeah, yep, and like a lot of us are on the ground, especially, uh, us, uh, in the territories. Like we're, um, you know, we're the executive director, but we're all on the floor, like passing out the t-shirts, getting involved with the competitions, um, yeah, yeah, so you wear many hats, for sure, um, but yeah what's the learning curve been like then?
Speaker 1:like how long have you been with skills right now?
Speaker 2:so since 2017, since 2017 in the in the communications position, then, uh, in 2020 is when I stepped into the executive director position, before seven years now with the company.
Speaker 1:And what's that learning curve been like? You know, you got to learn the terminology, you got to learn the vernacular, the acronyms. It's a pretty steep curve and it's not just one trade, it's all of them.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, that's the thing. It's like you're kind of one of the main points of contact between the office and then everybody else organizations, schools and across all the communities. So for me the learning curve was interesting because I stepped in just a few months after the pandemic and when I started we couldn't do the in-person programs.
Speaker 1:We couldn't do the competitions.
Speaker 2:So there were some things that, uh, you know, my, my marketing background lended itself well to. There was plenty of things that I had, you know, little to no experience in, um, or certainly on a on a much smaller scale, um, so, you know, the learning curve has been, uh, uh, quite a ride, and still learning still learning today.
Speaker 2:I'll learn again tomorrow um, but I feel like that was one of the um advantages. I guess I would use that, as you know that term loosely but in terms of like learning the foundation of some of the background um, of of the skills that are required in this position.
Speaker 2:I had time to put that together, um, and eventually, uh you know it wasn't just me in this position um, uh, when the pandemic hit, it was also rebuilding our, um, uh, our volunteer capacity, um, in the north there was a lot of people that, uh, that left their communities when the pandemic hit, um, and uh, yeah, so we had to, kind of, you know, hit the restart button kind of rebuild yeah yeah, um, but uh, it's, yeah, it's certainly been an interesting ride. Uh, one of the again benefits and advantages I always use those terms pretty loosely but, um it.
Speaker 2:it took time for us to actually have the permission to to have our events in full capacity. So we were able to scale up, have a smaller you know a virtual competition. The following year was a virtual for secondary um in-person for post-secondary and it really took some time to really get back.
Speaker 1:That might've given you a bit of a like a longer lead ramp right, yeah, yeah for sure, for sure.
Speaker 2:And I was also fortunate enough to have like the working knowledge of like our mission as an organization from the communications position as well. So I just didn't get tossed into this position. I had like the background knowledge of like our volunteers, our board of directors, partners, supporters. I had those connections in terms of the terminology and our programs I was familiar with. But if the pandemic gave us anything, it gave me an opportunity to kind of like take okay, I need to learn how to do some of these things.
Speaker 1:I'm going to take some time and put that together.
Speaker 2:But yeah, you know, we're all learning every day. Some of us, you know, in the ED positions in other parts of the country, have been with the organizations for years and years and years.
Speaker 1:I actually went today, maria, 27 years. Yeah, I was like wild, yeah.
Speaker 2:And I'm sure she'd tell you that she's learning every day too. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Now you brought up a term there that I brought up. I've talked about this with all the EDs is the importance of the sponsors and partners right? The is the importance of the sponsors and partners right.
Speaker 1:The funding that you get from federal is there right, but really the expectation is for each province to find their own partner, their own sponsors, to elevate their program to where they need to be, because you want to go for goals, you want to get to the world and you can't do that just on your base funding, right, yeah, yeah, in a smaller I would say like it's a huge territory but it's a smaller pool of companies, how do you find those sponsors and those supporters?
Speaker 2:yeah, yeah, there's uh, you know, like you just said, we certainly cover like a large range geographically. There's a lot of communities to uh to connect with Um. It also gives us uh you know opportunities to connect with different partners and, uh you know, supporters in those communities as well. Um, you know, I mentioned before that uh, in terms of the support network behind the competitors, uh, there's a whole team of people behind those competitors coaching and mentoring them, them.
Speaker 1:There's also a whole team of partners and organizations behind uh at the office level have to too many degrees of separation between the competitor and the uncle who owns the company.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and that's the thing, and it's like sometimes we have like um, you know there's plenty of organizations that get involved in the competition and you know we have, for example, nwd. Pinework is an organization up in Yellowknife, and we have Chloe, who is on our board of directors, her husband Brad. The three of them own the company. Brad is our technical chair and coach for carpentry. They donate the materials and supplies for the carpentry competition. They have two employees that they also are getting involved in competing today and tomorrow at the secondary and post-secondary level so, exactly, exactly so.
Speaker 2:It's a whole it's a whole mesh network so we have like uh so many uh smaller intimate relationships with these organizations that employ those trades um, that are sometimes teams of five, ten, twenty different people yeah.
Speaker 2:We also work with larger organizations as well. So we have the Department of Education, culture and Employment within the government of Northwest Territories has been a long-running partner of ours and they're also sending volunteers, they're also sending coaches and they have programs within that department that help show those opportunities to the competitors and our participants. So it's not just like the funding, it's also the in-kind support, the people, the materials, the supplies. So there's a whole spectrum of organizations and partners that we work with that you know. It would not be possible to do what we do without them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, now what about the big players? Because we hear in Canada about investment into the north. Definitely mining is up there, right, they want to get under that ice. So bad, right, and I'm glad you guys are holding them off and fighting for what it's worth.
Speaker 2:Don't get taken right.
Speaker 1:Don't get taken yeah yeah, but eventually it's going to happen right and to the benefit of Northwest Territories. I hope it's to the benefit of the economy. Yeah, now those large players are they supportive? Are they on your sponsors list? Have you been able to pull them in?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah for sure. We've worked with many different mines over the years. Yeah, right now we're working with, uh, rio Tinto. So Divec is is operating there. They're coming to a close shortly as well, that mine site. Um, the thing about mining is that, um, I think, since 1999, um or 2000,. Like, there's been over $20 billion put into the NWT's economy just from the mining sector alone. Um, the thing about mines is that, uh, each site has a finite lifespan.
Speaker 2:So it's like you have uh, you know, a lot of people so many trades, 20 years, and that's it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:And some of the sites are, you know, five, 10. Um, the benefit is that there's so much space, is so many big sites, um that, uh, you know there's, there's, they'll move on to the next one. Exactly, exactly next one, exactly, exactly. But yeah, we, we, we do work closely with those, with those companies, and uh, and and uh, the apprentices and post-secondary um students who are employed in different trades in the mine welding is a huge trade, um and uh, heavy vehicle mechanics there's a whole number of them, um, but the mine certainly is a huge uh supporter and partner of ours, but also economy-wise, billions of dollars that have been put into the economy.
Speaker 1:Now, how do you handle training for skills? Because there's not a lot of colleges, there's not a lot of shops in the high schools. There's some, but not a lot. But to get to skills you need need to train. So where do they train?
Speaker 2:yeah, so um kind of a wide spectrum all over. Yeah, yeah, honestly like finding spit, like we've had people train and practice out of their neighbor's garage and then go and win a gold medal at nationals.
Speaker 2:We've had uh, competitors, um, you know, trained within, uh, aurora college as a partner of ours, um, a supporter of ours, and, um, you know, uh, we have educators in the school there that will land out their classroom space, their shop space, um, but at the high school level it's it's a similar and different story. Um, there are schools that have, you know, several high schools in the territories have your, your traditional, your shop classes or, uh, maybe, a mechanics garage.
Speaker 2:We have a couple spots carpentry yeah, um, and we have a couple of uh welding shops that are actually incorporated in a few of the high schools up north as well. Um, but generally for the most parts like uh it's it comes from the support of the organizations who employ the apprentices there. They're donating their, their space, um, they're also donating their their time to coach and train as well. Um, so, like I guess, to answer your question, wherever we can find a space, and a human to help coach and train.
Speaker 1:You're in, we're all in. We're all in, yeah, we're all in. We're all in, yeah, well, and I mean, the idea is that these sponsors and companies that are supporting you, they're going to poach the best kids, right? Like it's basically self-preservation for them. Yeah, come learn in our shop, come train, you know, then they're going to go off and win gold and they're guaranteed a job if they come back, because they're they're set Right. Yeah, yeah, it set right. Yeah, yeah, it's really taking the cream of the crop right from the start. Right? Oh, for sure for sure.
Speaker 2:It's like a whole kind of rotating circle. It's like there's so many programs within. Like I mentioned, uh, ece, the government partner of ours, um, they have a program called snap and it essentially gives um, it gives high school students an opportunity to uh work towards their uh hours and their ticket, as they're in high school, good um, so they can work after hours. Um, sometimes they can actually step out of school, uh, during some classes and put in a few hours there, um, and so they're, you know they're, building connections to these organizations as they're already in high school, and then, by um us working with the snap program in ece, they often get, you know, incorporated into the and you know it's more common than not than by the end of the day, you know, if they're out of high school, they have competition experience, they've made a connection to organizations that are employing them through the SNAP program, and then that organization says, hey, we'd love to have you on we'd love to keep you on.
Speaker 2:Just stay yeah, either as a part-time role, full Um so, yeah, I mean, like it's all these systems that like are giving back. It's all about giving back and everybody helps each other kind of get to that next step. Um and uh, like I mentioned, I can't emphasize enough that there's so many people working behind the scenes Like we've got a big team here this year, but there's hundreds of people um, all across the territories that are like the fabric.
Speaker 1:Exactly.
Speaker 2:Exactly yeah, and I wish we could add them all here. They're all here in spirit, yeah.
Speaker 1:More funding, more funding, yeah.
Speaker 2:But uh, also just like the quality of the work that our competitors have have already shown us during this first day, um, we're, we're really proud of them, like they've, they've been putting in so much extra time. Um, and the organizations have been really prioritizing, like like, the coaching. Like without the coaching, um, you know it's, uh, it, yeah, it's, it's, it's essential to have them have success at the national competition.
Speaker 1:for sure, yeah, which are the trades that you're competing at in this competition that you feel the most confident in, because every province, based on their industry, based on what's around them, have certain you know things that they do best yeah, what do you feel?
Speaker 2:nwt brings yeah, in terms of uh metal representation, um, we have uh, historically, hairstyling is is a huge one for us. Um, we have uh mint hair lounge and yellow knife. Uh, elizabeth ferrier she's our hairstyling tech tech chair. Um our post-secondary competitor also works at that salon and the secondary competitor is actually a student of hers because she also that's full-time training all the time, so like she's like working with Emma, our post-secondary competitor, at the salon.
Speaker 2:She's also helping Ariana, our secondary competitor at school and she's trying to, you know, juggle her time there.
Speaker 2:So you know, hairstyling is a strong one and that's because we have a dedicated like coach and a kind of a foundation of like a good system. You have that mentorship cycle happening, yeah, yeah, um, other ones are like video production is a huge one. Um, as of recent, we have a couple of uh students there, kai and kaylin. They're a team of two there. They've been competing for the past two years. Um, they kind of got pushed ahead because uh, the the first place uh winning team at territorials. Um, they couldn't go. So I approached them and I said would you be interested in going? Just to go try, okay.
Speaker 1:And then they won.
Speaker 2:And then they came. I think they came fourth Okay okay, that's awesome and they had. You know again, like they went in just with the opportunity to learn and collect information and come back and compete. And they came back the next year and won silver. And now they're competing again, this time and and they've got their eyes on gold exactly, exactly so, like over the course of the past couple of years, like I've seen them step out of their comfort zones. Uh, they're, they're, they're, socially, they're so much different in in a great way they're way more outgoing.
Speaker 2:They're, they're comfortable, they're funny they're trying different things exactly exactly makes me feel old already um, don't say that, then I'm dead potato then um, yeah, so there's a couple areas like that that that we have, uh, you know, historically placed well in, but, like, in terms of places, areas that I have confidence in, like for us, like it's not just about the medals, in fact, like we just want the competitors to learn and have fun. They've all won, yeah, the most valuable thing to me. Like, obviously we all love to see medals, and you know, and so do the competitors, um, but it's really like the opportunity that they um, that they stepped out of their comfort zone A lot of them, like I mentioned, exactly.
Speaker 2:Just like just getting here is a huge accomplishment. Um so, just like in talking to some of the coaches and technical chairs and volunteers of ours, in talking with the competitors over their lunch breaks and things like that like they're all feeling good, they're all feeling comfortable, they're all feeling nervous, they're all feeling stressed, and that's just a part of it.
Speaker 2:That's part of the journey, but just hearing that they're having fun and they're making progress on some level is just like that's what brings me the most joy on some level is just like that's what brings me the most joy. Um, and especially when you like, incorporate the fact that they're coming from small communities that are all like just imagining all the people back home that are kind of cheering them on just thinking about them every day exactly exactly it's. Uh, it's that. That's the most rewarding part about this competition.
Speaker 1:I think they televise the closing ceremonies yeah, yeah people can watch from all over the world. Exactly, yeah, yeah, it's.
Speaker 2:It's a super cool uh thing. They added to the to the competition yeah because, like, it's not just us that have people back home, it's we all have people back home yeah, everyone, everyone has volunteers and partners and organizations and, and you know, geographically, like the larger provinces, certainly have more people that are going to be, uh, wanted to tune in and and share on the team.
Speaker 1:So, um, yeah, yeah, super cool addition, yeah now for for you, you've been with the, with the company, eight years, now seven ish. You've been there long enough to see the cycle of, you know, young student, secondary to post-secondary, into competitions and then perhaps even into back into mentorships, and we talk about being stuck in that cycle of skills forever. Once you start, you know, how do you like to see that growth, that cyclical journey of the people themselves within skills yeah.
Speaker 2:So there's a lot of people who are kind of like have moved into different role I'm an example of that. Moving into a different position, yeah, um, there's also uh competitors that that change hats once they either reach like an age limit within the competition criteria, um or plans change or whatever. The case is, um, I think as long as people are um, you know, from my perspective, involved in the trades and in the technology and certainly like with our organization in some capacity, like that's what I'd love to see um and uh like, I guess a good example of that for this competition year is that we have um ideal woodwork is a company up uh in the nwt. That's their academy making company um. So, uh, roger nenza, he's uh the national technical chair for for the nwt, for cabinet making um.
Speaker 2:His employee uh is uh, or one of them rather is uh, isabel. She's competing at the post-secondary level and she already said that once she's done competing she wants to act as a coach for another employee. That's there. Roger does a really good job of supporting his team. They all work together to kind of wear those hats and as people move, they change positions. They're moving from a competitor role into a coaching role.
Speaker 2:And eventually, when Roger, eventually, when his time comes to step down as ntc, I'm sure he'll tell one of the people there you're in, now you're in um, so it's really like once you know everybody's so close up north and we really have this like established, like it's really like a family of just like a huge family of people who are um, you know, helping people move into the next opportunity, whether that's um within their companies, whether that's within, like our organization, um different volunteers. People are also trying different trades. There's people who've come here who've um competed in like a robotics competition and they say, like I didn't know, workplace safety was a competition so they go from robotics to workplace safety.
Speaker 2:Um so everybody's always cycling positions, but I think the one consistent fact is that, like, everybody's support is right there and they're all involved on some level. Um, I think one of the challenges for us is that, like, um, from an operational standpoint, like I have one staff madison with me and like this is our priority, like the programs like the operations, getting people involved. That's our priority. Everybody else is all extracurricular, everybody from our competitors. They don't need to compete. Our volunteers don't need to volunteer.
Speaker 1:Um, so it's uh, you know yeah, giving them a reason to yeah, yeah, for sure for sure now for yourself this whole competition, all these trades here which are your top three to watch, that you follow out of just pure curiosity.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a good question, cause that changes, that changes. There's some.
Speaker 1:I used to love landscaping. I used to love watching them build the gardens. That one's awesome. But I've moved on. Yeah, I moved on.
Speaker 2:Yeah, um, I think, uh, public speaking actually is, has been one of my.
Speaker 1:I've never sat and watched through it, I'm always too busy, but I feel like that would be great.
Speaker 2:It's very yeah, public speaking is very intense. Yeah, um, yeah, there's like a based on their schedule. Um, sometimes they they spend a good chunk of the day kind of waiting for their turn and they're just like rehearsing their speech and you can see them just kind of like waiting and waiting, waiting and they go up.
Speaker 1:Oh man, that's so stressful watching.
Speaker 2:Yeah, um, public speaking is a good one. Um, uh, video production is fun because the competitors get to walk off their competition site and kind of mosey around, record videos and just like seeing what they're doing, like what they're recording what they're doing, and then somehow it turns into that yeah, yeah like I stepped outside uh earlier, I saw kai and kayla and our video production team and they were like. I saw kai lying on the concrete, just like lying there, and a part of me was like, oh my god, is he okay?
Speaker 2:like I should go check on him and then I saw um the other with the camera over his face and I was like okay, well, they're fine, yeah, yeah, yeah, just yeah, they're fine, um, so video production is an interesting one. And then like, uh, the culinary uh competitions are yeah so cooking and baking are so intense, um, and you can see how quickly they're moving. Baking is so. I mean they're both time sensitive, but baking is so so particular, yeah, yeah and they're really like using every single like.
Speaker 2:Second they have um and at the very end you get to see um, what they baked, what they made, um, and particularly like the uh, like at the post-secondary level, like when they get everything on display.
Speaker 1:Oh looks, oh my.
Speaker 2:God, oh my God.
Speaker 1:I mean secondary and post-secondary are both quite impressive, but just like oh my God, I find that certain competitions it looks like everyone's just cool, like and they're just working, they're doing stuff. Yeah, like the machinists and the advanced manufacturing. Yeah, everyone working, they're doing stuff. Yeah, the machinists and the and the advanced manufacturing. Yeah, everyone there just looks like cool as a cucumber and they got their cool machines and robots going on. Yeah. Then you go to other competitions, like baking, and everyone looks like they're so stressed yeah, yeah, right, it's just like so interesting how these different trades react and work for sure with their
Speaker 2:tools and their workspace right yeah yeah, it's interesting because, like, uh, you know you look at cooking and baking and, um, you know the ntcs are are, you know they're? They're looking over, they're looking at the competitor, they're walking away and the competitors are so like oh my god, yeah yeah, it's uh, yeah they're. They're all fun to like watch in different ways landscapingcaping, uh, bricklaying super cool to watch. We actually can't do that up North.
Speaker 1:Um, but maybe the why not Just not?
Speaker 2:a, not a space for it. Or, yeah, uh, geographically, um, you know it has at the territorial competition. Hopefully one day we'll get that introduced. Well, you gotta get a competition, you gotta get a national up there. Yeah, if you have a facility like this. No, actually, you know what we uh myself, um katie and brandon, um uh the other territorial executive directors like we're always like you know what, like it'd be cool if we had, like, the national competition up north. It would need to be spread across all territories and have multiple competition sites, so you wouldn't be able to have these kids coming through or anything you have flights going.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, yeah, and it would likely have to take place over the course of maybe like a week or a two or a month, um so uh dope, it's gonna be fun, it's gonna be awesome it'll be awesome. So like um, yeah, we definitely don't have the infrastructure um the hotel space, anything like that, so one can dream one day.
Speaker 1:Well, I know that cwb is working on getting up there. We're we're funding programs in the north extensively, the territories, yeah, uh, we're trying to figure it out because it's uh, it's kind of, uh, uncharted waters and and and, even from a funding envelope I feel like they've been missed by a lot of people and and kind of, when we look at our, our, our map of the country and where we're investing.
Speaker 2:it's not enough in the north, it's not enough right, sure, but then you've got to find the partners, right yeah.
Speaker 1:You've got to find the partners to invest with. That's it, yeah, last couple questions. Sure, we talked about the trades you enjoy looking at, you know, following along, but let's hit that reset button right. We've got Blake at 16 years old, coming out of high school.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:But you know everything about the trades, like you know everything that you know now. Yeah, which trade would you pick to do for the rest of your life?
Speaker 2:I think video game design. Yeah, I think video game design. Are you a gamer?
Speaker 1:Yeah, because I'm a gamer too. What do you play? I'm PC, I too. What do you play I have on pc? I'm super nerd, oh me too. Yeah, so I'm pc, but with the xbox full pass and yep theme and gg and all of them. Yeah, but I also have a switch. Yeah, playstation, but why?
Speaker 2:whatever, and a steam deck yeah, they're great, I think, video game design because, like, um, yeah, came from time to time now when I do have the time, but certainly when I was like 16, that was that's all I did all I did king max 077 on steam yo anybody um, yeah, like I think that personally, that would have been so cool. Um, it is still cool, it is.
Speaker 1:I have a friend who does that for a living. But they're, they'll get this. Uh, he went into audio technician to be a sound engineer yeah and ended up getting a job with sony to be a sound engineer and ended up getting a job with Sony to be a sound engineer for musicians Wow. But then he kind of didn't like it because musicians are apparently terrible to work with.
Speaker 2:Sure Right.
Speaker 1:And Sony owned Blizzard Entertainment at the time. Okay, and so he got a job being a sound engineer for Blizzard and he ended up working on video games. Now he works for a company, Obsidian, out of the US on video games and he just won a Grammy for one of his music compositions for a video game. Was it Avowed?
Speaker 2:Avowed. Yes, oh my God, that game is so good, the music is so good.
Speaker 1:He's my wife's cousin's husband.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, yeah, that's so intense. That is so intense. That is so intense.
Speaker 1:That's awesome and I love those connections because there's a trade.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:There's a trade and you end up doing audio for an award-winning video game.
Speaker 2:Yes, that's so cool. Yes, that's awesome. Oh my God, after this I'm going back to play about and I'm just going to sit there and put the headphones on and just take it all in cool, that's so cool so where was I going?
Speaker 1:oh yes, I had two questions for you, was that? Was that the second one?
Speaker 2:no, I forgot, we got one out there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we got really excited about video games there like kind of lost where I was going yeah, oh yeah, last question yeah, as a skills director now, knowing what you know, working with the students and all the and all the people, yeah, what piece of advice do you give a competitor that's coming here, like when you're doing the pep talk up home, before you get on the plane, what are you telling them all before you come down?
Speaker 2:I think that, uh, you know, if you feel nervous, that's a good thing, like it means you're uh, thinking about, you know, thinking about the steps ahead, what the competition is going to entail, um, and, and you care it means you care and you're going to try and, uh, that's, that's the, that's the biggest thing.
Speaker 2:it's just like embrace everything that comes along with it, all the fear, all the doubts, all the you know those little voices in the back of your head. Just like go for the experience and have fun Again. Like the medals are we love getting medals if we can.
Speaker 2:But like the real wins for us when we go home is like, did you have fun? Like, are you going to maybe consider this as a trade? Did you know this was a trade? Did you have fun? Like, are you going to maybe consider this as a trade? Did you know this was a trade? Did you know this was a technology career path? Those are what we want to go home with and those like those bits of information the kind of you know when kids go home away from the team, you know sitting on the couch and they're kind of scratching their head saying what am?
Speaker 2:I looking at this.
Speaker 1:Am I going down this path one day? Am I?
Speaker 2:considerate this path. One day I might consider it. Um, that's, that's the real, that's the real success stories for us. And and, uh, you know, any bits of information and advice that I can give to the competitor is like, just go and have fun. Um, I was telling one of our competitors yesterday that you know, for years I've been like essentially preaching that, but like I've never competed, yeah, I don't know what it feels like.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm just collecting information from other competitors. But uh, it's a lot of consistent like messages saying that like I was very anxious first, uh, you know kind of hectic and and and stressed during, but in hindsight like it was so much fun and I would do it again and that's what we want to hear, for sure all right.
Speaker 1:So I had an idea. So I'm going to pitch this to the skills board. Okay, for maybe next year or two years, if it takes planning, we're gonna need time. Give me a four-hour window and I can set it up and I'll do a mini competition. Then we can pick maybe four or five different trades and all the executive directors have to compete on a four-hour mini skills competition. I'm in. I'm in just to see how you guys do. Well, the plate. Yeah, build a square out of wood, you know, like wire, a simple wiring diagram. That's perfect. I think that would be fantastic.
Speaker 2:I think it would be awesome.
Speaker 1:I think it would be great television. I think it would be great for content.
Speaker 2:Yeah, great content. If anything, great content Hilarious, hilarious, hilarious. I'm got that, I'm in yeah I got weird ideas.
Speaker 1:I like to make them happen. It's not weird she does most of the work, but it's fantastic so awesome well thanks so much, blake. This has been fantastic. Thanks for coming on the show thanks for having me.
Speaker 2:I appreciate it.
Speaker 1:Thank you awesome and for all the people that have been following along. Make sure that you check out all the episodes. We're going to be recording about 14 total. Is it 14, 13, 15, 13? So we're going to have a bunch of episodes. To make sure you watch them all and also please like, comment and share on them, as always, and if you want to see the video, it's on YouTube and on all streaming platforms. Check out the next one. We hope you enjoy the show. Bye.