< PreviousThe official publication of the Canadian Association of Women in Construction 11 A nd here we are… Launching our first national magazine! What an amazing feat to be a part of. Since being elected to the CAWIC Board in 2017, my main takeaway is consistency, vision, and making things happen! I would like to thank our members, volunteers, Board of Directors, sponsors, and industry affiliates for your support, as you all have played an amazing part to help grow CAWIC. Looking back, my journey began as a Special Events Director focussing on special events and programing. I was so grateful for this opportunity as we launched amazing site tours, golf days, education events, and even our own branded women’s leadership program. As my professional and personal life evolved and I welcomed the arrival of my son, I remained steadfast in supporting and guiding our national organization and helping to address some of the biggest challenges and opportunities facing other women in the industry. Even through the pandemic, CAWIC continued to build on its foundation and prepare itself for a strong future. I can say without a doubt that after being appointed President in 2019, my ambitious goals for CAWIC are now coming to fruition. We are working to make construction an inclusive sector where women can start and grow their careers. We aim to provide increased support for working moms and those transitioning back to work from maternity leave. We are continuing to expand our reach across Canada and growing the allied network of CAWIC ambassadors to help with local events. We have increased our bursaries to help aspiring women pursue careers in the trades and academics within the construction industry. I came into CAWIC with visions of growth and expansion – to grow our members, increase our bursary recipients, and be the association for women in construction Canada-wide – and that’s exactly what we have done. We have raised capital for a larger operating fund to hire our newly appointed Executive Director, and now we are launching our inaugural national women in construction conference in September 2024! I am so excited to see you all there. Advancement for women in construction is taking on a new direction, and we will continue to be at the forefront to support and enhance women in our industry. I would also like to celebrate passing the torch to our newly elected President Lisa Laronde. She is such a strong and powerful woman in our industry, and she is bringing to CAWIC additional areas of focus and new initiatives, including the new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. I believe we are in good hands as we lean in with new, strong, and dynamic leadership. I am looking forward to mentoring the new Board of Directors and celebrating the sisterhood we share with the common mission we all care about to enhance the success of women in our industry. May this magazine bring you joy, and the stories of Canadian women working in our industry inspire and light a spark within you, to powerfully stay connected and take charge of your career or owning your own business within this amazing sector. AWIC on of Women in Construction Luana Buratynski Past President CAWIC WHAT AN ACCOMPLISHMENT! We are working to make construction an inclusive sector where women can start and grow their careers. We aim to provide increased support for working moms and those transitioning back to work from maternity leave. We are continuing to expand our reach across Canada and growing the allied network of CAWIC ambassadors to help with local events. GET TO KNOW CAWIC Canadian Association of Women in Construction12 CAWIC Canadian Association of Women in Construction Spring 2024 | Issue #1 Meet the CAWIC 2023/2024 Board of Directors President – Lisa Laronde, President, RSG International Past President – Luana Buratynski, Technical Sales & Business Development Lead, Northern Facades, a division of the Flynn Group of Companies President Elect– Kristen Hallberg, Senior Manager, Innovative Technologies, United Rentals Secretary– Laura Krische, Construction Coordinator City of Toronto – Parks Forestry & Recreation – Parks Development Capital Projects Treasurer– Munjyot Jaswal, Chief Operating Officer, Toronto Business Development Centre Vice President, Operations– Kristina Thom, Associate Director – Relationship Manager Insurance Modelling & Analytics, Moody’s Analytics Vice President, Finance– Christina Kontogeorgopoulos, Assistant Vice President and Operations Manager, HUB International Ontario Limited Board Director – Emma Donnelly, Commercial Account Executive, Carma Corp. Board Director– Asta Schouten, Marketing & Communications Manager, mform Construction Group Board Director– Leah Traviss, Senior Project Manager, MARANT Construction Ltd. Board Director– Jamie West, President, Peninsula Construction Should you have any questions or would like to contact any member of the CAWIC Board of Directors, please email info@cawic.ca.14 CAWIC Canadian Association of Women in Construction Spring 2024 | Issue #1 A chance encounter with a former classmate led Jamie McMillan down an unexpected path. Now an ironworker and industry advocate, Jamie travels North America showcasing to youth the opportunities a career in trades can offer, which is something she wishes she had learned while she was still in high school. A Journey of Grit and GloryThe official publication of the Canadian Association of Women in Construction 15 J amie McMillan is known for her engaging presentations delivered through KickAss Careers, an organization that advocates for young people to join the trades. While she recognizes she’s developed a compelling way to connect with youth, she doesn’t take all the credit. “I’ll tell you the truth – I didn’t create it myself,” McMillan says. “I had the kids help me create it.” When she started offering presentations to encourage young people to join the trades, she asked the students she spoke in front of to critique her on how to be a better presenter. “It led to me becoming an expert on the subject based on the knowledge the students passed on and some of the things that I’ve learned along the way,” she says. “Now, I have industry, schools, detention centres, all kinds of people reaching out to me to try and spread the good news.” As a traditionally male-dominated industry, and one with labour shortages, the construction sector is looking for solutions to appeal to more women and other underrepresented groups. Education and awareness often come up in conversation among leaders – the more that people know about the benefits, the more inclined they’ll be to join. But simply giving a presentation to cross it off the list isn’t enough; it’s about reaching potential employees in a way that resonates with them and shows them the benefits they give to and receive from the industry. “Put your mindset back into the mindset you were in when you were in high school, and you had thousands of pathways to choose from. For some people, it was scary and intimidating, and you didn’t know how you were going to make it. What would you have liked to have heard?” she asks. “Students like authenticity and credibility. If there’s anything students can see through, it’s BS. They want to see actual people in the industry.” McMillan suggests having hands-on activities for the students to take part in at the presentations. “If you want to see more people enter the skilled trades, give them something to build or create that makes them feel empowered. Then they’ll see they have the ability to do those jobs. That’s where you will start seeing their minds shift, as they realize there’s opportunity for them. ‘I’m seeing somebody who’s in that career, and they’re doing really good, and they’re answering my questions, and maybe I can be like that person some day.’” FINDING HER WAY The way McMillan was introduced to the construction industry was like a meet-cute in a Hollywood movie, except it was between McMillan and her future career. One day, McMillan was walking down the street. A driver pulled over their car to take down notes from a phone call but realized their pen ran out. This person rolled down their window to ask McMillan for a pen. The driver turned out to be a former high school classmate of McMillan. The two caught up, and the driver told McMillan about her journey of becoming an ironworker. Her former classmate’s story stood out to McMillan – she got paid to go to school, she had hands-on training rather than having to sit in a classroom all day, and because of her training, she had a stable, well-paying career. McMillan left the conversation feeling inspired and did some more research on becoming an ironworker. She decided to apply and got in as Mr. Jamie McMillan, a misidentification she corrected when she wrote her entry test for the school program. She was always interested in working with her hands. Her dad was a miner, and her mom was a nurse. Her parents would also buy old houses and fix them up. “I grew up with a hammer in my hand, learning how to do a lot of stuff for my family. It came naturally to me,” she says. “I’m a hands-on, visual learner. Forget reading and listening skills – I’m not good at that.” When McMillan started in the industry, she noticed how few women there were, although, for her first year and a half, she By Kaitlin Vitt, Magazine Staff Writer d Glory16 CAWIC Canadian Association of Women in Construction Spring 2024 | Issue #1 had a female co-worker who she’d carpool with, and she says that camaraderie was welcome. “I realized there were probably many women who could have been in the skilled trades had we known about the industry in school, if people had been advocating and promoting it to us,” she says. In addition to the challenges that come with being part of an underrepresented group, another barrier she experienced is that she felt like she had to prove herself over and over again, from job site to job site. This ties into being a woman in a traditionally male-dominated industry. “Every time you go to a different job, you’re learning a bunch of new stuff, and that’s great, but you’re meeting new people that you probably didn’t work with before who don’t know you, and they expect you to prove yourself over and over and over and over,” she says. “If you make one mistake as an underrepresented group in this industry, they forget all the good that you did. You can be the most amazing worker on a job site for three years, but one mistake, and that’s all they remember you for.” When McMillan has encountered situations like this, she says she stands up for herself and remembers how much all her hard work has paid off to get her to where she is. She also reminds herself why she chose this career path in the first place. “I’m absolutely in love with the physical aspect of my job. I like the idea of building infrastructure. I love the idea of being able to work with different types of materials and cranes and big machinery and equipment and just seeing the results of your work,” she says. “When you stand there and you walk in on a jobsite and there’s nothing on the ground, and then you’re leaving and there’s this beautiful building that’s there that you get to brag about and tell people about – that is such an empowering feeling.” ADHD AS A SUPERPOWER No matter how someone shapes their career in the trades, it’s a job where you can always learn something new, which is “If you want to see more people enter the skilled trades, give them something to build or create that makes them feel empowered. Then they’ll see they have the ability to do those jobs. That’s where you will start seeing their minds shift, as they realize there’s opportunity for them.” – Jamie McMillan, Founder, KickAss CareersThe official publication of the Canadian Association of Women in Construction 17 something that stood out to McMillan when she started in the industry. “We get paid to never stop learning. It’s the best medication for my ADHD,” she says. “I’m not going and doing the same repetitive tasks day after day. I’m constantly doing different things, constantly learning.” McMillan’s attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder(ADHD) has impacted her since she was a kid, but she didn’t have a name for it, and didn’t have the information about it to manage it through medication, until the last few years. Knowing this about herself has helped her understand her feelings and actions more. “People with ADHD, we have a really hard time regulating our emotions. One we really struggle with is rejection sensitivity dysphoria (intense feelings in response to perceived or real criticism or rejection),” McMillan says. “I always took things way more personally, and I couldn’t understand why the guys were always like, ‘Oh come on, Jamie, just lighten up.’” This rejection sensitivity has, at times, made her ruminate on her actions, and she says this has created distance between herself and others, since she assumed they didn’t like her or that she was annoying them. Now that she knows this about herself – that it’s a part of ADHD – she can better manage situations that bring about similar emotions, knowing that for her, the feelings are intensified more than what she might actually feel. Her ADHD is even an advantage, she says, particularly because of her ability to hyperfocus, that is, concentrate on something that interests her for a long period of time. This trait is what makes people with ADHD such great leaders, she says. “When you use your ADHD doing something that you can hyperfocus on and that you love, it goes from being a disability to a literal superpower,” she says. “People with ADHD, we become so hyper focused on things that we love.” THE LAUNCH OF KICKASS CAREERS A few years into McMillan’s career, she received an email from Skills Ontario, asking if she’d be interested in becoming a mentor for young students at various events. She’d sit with the students and talk with them about her experience. She agreed and started attending these events as a mentor. At one of the events, a panellist didn’t show up, and McMillan was asked to fill in. “The next thing you know, teachers were coming up to me asking me to go to their schools,” she says. She started taking time off work to deliver presentations, and eventually, the demand was so high, she started her company, KickAss Careers. Along with her team, McMillan visits schools and attends events to talk about the skilled trades, showing young people all the opportunities in the industry. This is her main focus now; it was too difficult to manage both her job as an ironworker and all the presentations she was being asked to do. But she still gets her hands-on trades fix – if she has the itch to weld, she welds 18 CAWIC Canadian Association of Women in Construction Spring 2024 | Issue #1 with students on a school visit, or if she wants to do some woodwork, she’ll go into a woodshop, plus she has projects to complete around home. She’s still very much involved in the trades, just in a different way than before. McMillan, who lives in Hamilton, Ontario, sees herself going back to more regular ironwork eventually, maybe even heading out to British Columbia this summer when school is out. That’s another aspect she likes about the industry – the opportunity to travel and make your career what you want it to be. “I’m an adventurous person. I like road trips. I love travelling. I love climbing mountains,” McMillan says. “Working in the trades, you can literally live in a van or travel around the world.” AWIC on of Women in Construction Through KickAss Careers, Jamie McMillan travels approximately 30 weeks a year providing engaging keynote presentations and workshops to more than 50,000 students, parents, educators, and employers each year across North America. Her efforts have gained international notoriety for opening doors and minds to the possibilities of well-paid careers in skilled trades and technology sectors. Jamie was recently appointed to the Executive Committee for the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans. Jamie McMillan and her team have a kickass mission – to “engage, educate, and encourage students of all ages to consider the vast opportunities for sustainable careers in skilled trades and technology through apprenticeship, technical programs, and the armed forces.” If you’re interested in having Jamie present at your local high school or at a corporate event, or you’d like to check out her book, visit the KickAss Careers website. www.kickasscareers.ca Help Recruit Tomorrow’s Workforce Today!Next >