Latest / The Elevator Careers Podcast / Breaking Barriers: A Woman's Journey in Elevator Construction | Shannon Drezek

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Breaking Barriers: A Woman's Journey in Elevator Construction | Shannon Drezek · The Elevator Careers Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, absolutely.
• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: It just blows their mind.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: They, they, they're they're confused.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: They're elevator constructor, or like, you're you're not selling elevators.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: No, no, I'm installing elevators.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you very much.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: And especially with women, they're just drawn to it.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: And they're like, like a celebrity, can I take a picture with you?
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you're so rare to come back.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, holy cow, you're working on elevators.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: You're a woman.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: You're doing this.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, yep, I'm a woman.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: I do lots of different things.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's thank you for recognizing that.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, I'm just doing my job.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, guess what?
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: This could be you or your daughter, your niece, or your nephew, whoever you want it to be.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's just so so rarefied and almost celebrity status.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I love it, but it gets them talking about it and talking about the trades and giving them the opportunity that, yeah, you can do this yourself too.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_01: Hello, and welcome to the Elevator Careers Podcast, sponsored by the Allred Group.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_01: I am your host, Matt Allred.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_01: In this podcast, we talk to the people whose lives and careers are dedicated to the vertical transportation industry, to inform and share lessons learned, building upon the foundation of those who have gone before to inspire the next generation of elevator careers.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_01: When talent is mission critical, call the All Red Group.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_01: With industry expertise, top talent, and exceptional customer service, you need the All-Red Group on your side.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: Your priority is their priority.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_01: Call now 404-890-0445.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_01: Today our guest is Shannon Drezick, an IUEC elevator constructor, a NEEP instructor, and a qualified elevator inspector from Oxford, Wisconsin.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_01: Shannon has been in the trade for 19 years and is passionate about the work she does.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_01: She only wishes she had found it sooner.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_01: Shannon is excited that more women are joining the industry, and although they are still in the minority, there is always room for talented and ambitious people.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_01: If you have any interest, don't be afraid to give the elevator industry a try.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_01: You might just learn to love it like Shannon does.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_01: Shannon, welcome to the show.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: Hi, Matt.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for having me.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_01: I'm excited.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: It's uh it's honestly it's not every day that I get to talk to a woman who who works as a mechanic in the field.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um and something that obviously you're aware of that, right?
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_01: Having having been there for so long and and uh and I guess just knowing that you're you're probably outnumbered a good bit.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah, almost definitely.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: So um in our estimation, um in the US and Canada, there's about 33,000 elevator constructors.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: And from our best guesstimate, uh only approximately 300 um of those people are females.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: So we are less than 1%.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: We're trying every day, and and we see um more women coming to the trade um and turning that around, but that's still a giant, a giant uh despair, dispared number.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: So that that number 300, how has that changed since you got in the trade?
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so uh leaps and bounds, I can definitely say, and trickle down uh my local out of the, you know, as a smaller independent local, roughly about uh currently 140 members.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: And um I am the second female to my local.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: And we had um I'm currently been in the trade for 19 years, and we just had um our first female probationary three years ago.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: So for 16 years, um I was just the other um female uh journey worker or elevator mechanic in the trade.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: So um it's it's been very tough, but I can definitely say it has taken the upward swing uh in the recruitment efforts that are put on um by the national elevator industry education program, NEEP, uh, and the union itself to get the word out.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: So uh to up those numbers.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: So I I've seen we've probably grown about 40 women in the last three years across the US, and that's huge.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_01: So, Shannon, do you ever get strange looks when people ask you what you do and you say I'm an elevator constructor?
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, absolutely, it just blows their mind.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: They they they're they're confused.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: They're elevator constructor, or like you're you're not selling elevators.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: No, no, I'm installing elevators.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you very much.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: And especially with women, they're just drawn to it.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: And they're like, like a celebrity, can I take a picture with you?
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you're so rare to come back.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, holy cow, you're working on elevators, you're a woman, you're doing this.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, yep, I'm a woman.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: I do lots of different things.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: That's thank you for recognizing that.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, I'm just doing my job.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, guess what?
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: This could be you or your daughter, your niece, or your nephew, whoever you want it to be.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's just so so rarefied and almost celebrity status.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: And I I love it, but it gets them talking about it and talking about the trades and and giving them the opportunity that, yeah, you can do this yourself too.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: That's amazing.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: That's amazing.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_01: So, so yeah, celebrity status.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_01: Let's take a selfie.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: I'll post you on my Instagram, elevator constructor.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yep, girl power, hashtag, and we we try to use one as um as as elevator constructor women, right?
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: Is hashtag elevate her.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: Not only going up, but it sounds like elevate Tor, right?
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: But elevate her, and we use that all the time.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: So, oh, that's great.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: And they they see our our clothes or things that we do for it, and everybody wants to do a rosy pose and and figure with that.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: So we just play into it, whatever's gonna get our names out there.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: And um, my significant other drives a race car.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: I actually put a sticker on his car and I make them say the International Union of Elevator Constructors, the women of the elevator constructors, put on a race car, advertise it.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: I'll put it anywhere.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_01: So tell me, I mean, going back to the beginning, right?
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_01: How did you get in and and what was it that you know kept you in, kept you in, right?
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_01: Once you once you got in and realized, oh my gosh, I'm like way outnumbered.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_01: So I guess let's go to the first question first.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_01: But how did this all start for you?
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so for me, um, I was in the private sector.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, for for schooling and secondary education, I'd gone to college prep high school.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I was gonna go and uh do college for international business.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I didn't like the the size of the school that I had to go to and and things like that.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: And I just, you know, my parents said, okay, well, if you're not gonna go to school, um, because I didn't know what I wanted to be, it's so hard to pigeonhole yourself to kick off the bat, you know, if you haven't tried something, how do you know what you want?
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna dedicate four years and all that money to.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so uh I was, you know, working in manufacturing, they said, you're gonna go to work.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: If you're not going to school, you're going to work.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: I was fine with that.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: And then um I just found uh the challenges through those years.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, having a job wasn't hard for me.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: Could get up, go to work, you know, do all that.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: But um the piece was to grow with it, that if I didn't have any type of degree in anything, even if it didn't have to do with with what I was currently working in, that I couldn't get any career advancement out of it.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm like, this isn't gonna cut it for me.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: You're not gonna make me, you know, pick and choose.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: And and how do you know?
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: Because the economy has fluctuated so much um since then.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: So um I was actively seeking employment.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: I saw the elevator constructors listed in the local newspaper.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: And so that was um, so 2005 um was was when I saw that in the career in there.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: And I um had asked, you know, friends of that, and my significant other uh is in the trades.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: He's a tradesman, uh, operating engineer.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: He's currently retired.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: But um I said, well, what about this?
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: Because I just knew he had a great job, he had excellent benefits.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, it was tough work, but you know, the money and you know the health care and the pension that was going to go through it.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: Like, how can you duplicate that?
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: But I also knew that being with him, what if we don't work out?
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't want to have a career that didn't reflect um my capabilities, and I wanted to make a mark for myself.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: So I knew his trade was not going to be big enough for the two of us.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: Come hell or high water, whether we were together or not.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: So I wanted something for my own.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: So I saw the elevated constructors.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: I said, What do you know about this trade?
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: He says, That's the top trade.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: You you know, had experience and background and electronics and manufacturing.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: He said that should help you with part of that program.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: So I saw it, I went and I applied and did all that.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: And the rest is is now history because I just scare you a little bit.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's just it seemed like it's so foreign, right?
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_01: You didn't know anybody in it.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: You it's like no, absolutely nothing, nobody.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I wasn't scared to try something new.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: I was definitely scared to just be a tradespeep person.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um, am I am I gonna be tough enough?
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: Am I have the skin tough enough?
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I grew up in a family of of predominantly men.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: I only had a you know one other female cousin.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, I can handle this, I can I can handle that, but just you know, the the challenge, am I gonna be smart enough?
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: What are they gonna ask me to do?
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: But I liked the fact that it was an apprenticeship program.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: They're going to teach me.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna learn on the job and I'm gonna have classroom to do that.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, that's fine.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: I'm I can be a good student, you can set me down, I'm a quick learner.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: But you know, was I gonna have that that grit, that extra oomph, the physicality to pull it off?
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: And um, I did get in the trade later on, I was only um 28 years old, so I wasn't like, you know, fresh, young, and early, you know, wanted to get in and start a career.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: So um I knew I could handle myself and I said, what's the worst thing that could happen?
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna go there and I'm gonna try.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: They're gonna send me home or it's not gonna be good.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: But at least I tried.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: I I bet on myself that I could do that, and and that's what I would want anybody else to do is bet on yourself, and I'm sure you can overcome it.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_01: Love that, love that.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_01: So as you look back, any regrets?
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_01: Do you ever wish, oh, I wish I'd have stayed in in college, or oh, I wish I'd have stayed in manufacturing, or oh, I, you know.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: No, I just wish I would have found the trade a lot sooner, and that other people, and then predominantly women, because they're not associated with the trade, and then especially in our trade.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: But um, I had, you know, again, my significant other, um, he was a you know a teacher in the trades also.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: I had seen one of his prior students, and she was successful on the road, you know, doing it, and she had a family and she had a child, and you know, she's saving up and her winter, she's she would be laid off, but she'd be on snowmobile trips and she could have a second cabin.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, well, that's great.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: All I have to do is show up and go to work and just try my hardest and and and do it.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that it so I wish I would have found it sooner.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: I just I wish I would have been exposed.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: I I grew up in a blue-collar family of police officers and teachers and you know, union based and city workers and county workers, but to just see it uh not just a college prep high school, but you know, many high schools now don't even have you know shop or you know, home economics or or things like that to teach these like real-world skills that people need to succeed.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: You know, why why are you pushing us into the like political atmospheres or things like that?
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, what you need to know how to prepare a meal or iron your shirt or you know, maybe you don't do need to build a birdhouse or work on a car someday or things like that.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: That's down to the grit.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: And I think we're we're finally turning and and bringing back value to um to to that work and that the need for that.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I hope so.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_01: What what would you say keeps women from from being in the trade?
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, is it you know what could it be?
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I I seeing the the people, it doesn't apply to me necessarily in my situation, but it is actually surprisingly enough, childcare.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um, of course, women are having the children, right?
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: Unless you can go through surrogacy or IVF, but in, you know, predominantly women are carrying, you know, these babies and and early childhood development until they're able to go to school.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, even in the situations of single fathers or you know, divorce or things like that, but it is the child care who the parent, it they'll they'll take the sacrifice of their job and their careers.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: And it's so ironic because they could be making top-tier benefits, top-tier money to take care of these families and provide for them and and give them whichever direction they want to raise them, but it's also keeping them from getting those jobs, going through the apprenticeship, the long hours of working construction, because that's what you're gonna start off in.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: And it's it's finding, you know, the early child care to take care of them when they're not in school.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: And then, of course, you know, navigating 10 or 12 hour workdays, how do we get them early?
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: How do you get to the job and work six to four or six to five and and out of town and things like that?
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: So um, it is a big thing that's come up with our other sisters and just our members that, you know, if they go through the life changes of, you know, planning marriages or divorces, or they're like, I'm having kids, is this gonna mess up my my um my career, my future, you know, becoming a mechanic or you know, however they find it.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, many of them, um, they're successful families of dual partners, of where, you know, the the wife and the husband are both elevator constructors.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I I know we know women that have already retired out, and that's how they met, and now their sons are in it, and they're all just trying to make it work and balance for each other.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: But if we we can open the eyes in the construction industry, um, you know, union or not, that that's keeping us away from a talented um pool of of people, men or women, to to come to the trades in general.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_01: Interesting.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_01: So so on one hand, I hear that that childcare is the issue.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_01: On the other hand, I hear that that if you, you know, as a as a family, you're you work together, you know, there are there are ways to to work around that to make it successful.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_01: And and and for those who have, it's it's it's good for the family.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_01: It's uh you know, it's it's not uh, I mean, obviously there are a lot of corporate jobs, you know.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_01: I spent many years just in in corporate America, right?
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_01: And and you know, women have families.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_01: You know, they they there have to obviously men as well.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_01: I'm just saying that that to your point, often the childcare, you know, has traditionally landed in the you know in the women's corner.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_01: And so there there has to be ways to to work through that.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_01: And I and so maybe what I'm hearing you say is yes, this can be an issue, yes, it can be worked through, and maybe it's uh perception as much as anything that that says, okay, I can't do that because of childcare, but but just I guess expanding people's uh awareness that no, this this can be done and and this is how it's been done.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_01: And here are some examples of of people doing it.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um so that that's kind of what I'm gathering from what you're saying.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, definitely.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, many people have said, oh, is it you know the physicality of the work or you know, um the the education or not the knowledge, right?
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I I'll say to that, I mean, you can learn anything with the right teacher.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_00: Not everybody's a teacher, maybe, and people learn different ways, but the trades is definitely the way to go.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_00: That I wouldn't say that, you know, um you you never really necessarily know if you are mechanically minded or electrically minded unless you try it.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: There's no litmus test really to do that otherwise in our testing procedures.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: So people had said, you know, is that what's keeping women out or people disinterested in the trade and not doing it?
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: And I I think surprisingly enough, no, it's not.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_00: I would definitely say it's it's other priorities that are taking them away from not choosing these careers because you you go out there, they they can see you working, and I've had men or women, hey, that's great.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_00: I would love to do that, but you know, this family situation and and this has it that that keeps me from the work schedule, which definitely we have to be freed up.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_00: Many people do, and particularly my local.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: I travel in a three-state area, so I have to be very flexible at that.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: But then, you know, there's still other people in my local that are doing it, and they'll do whatever it takes and and with their home life to balance it.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: And um, yeah, I guess it takes, you know, an understanding of the other partner.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_00: Like I was able to with my significant other that understood from a construction background that hey, if I have to go and I have to be out of town, this is what's gonna have to happen.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna have to pick up the bid, take care of the things at home.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: But um, I I think that's you know, with anybody, whether you're working with a doctor that's on call, you know, um a first responder that's gonna have to leave in the middle of the night and things like that when we're taking elevator calls.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I think that's that's just gonna be in any relationship is to find the other person that's going to understand your work and um, you know, again, weigh out the balances of that if your absence for that paycheck is going to be worth what your goals are as a family or as a couple.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, thank you.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, what what comes to mind is, you know, I think there's a lot of you know tradition, there's history, there's their stereotypes around who does what jobs.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_01: And I know a lot of families where where the the you know one of the spouses is a nurse and and they have interesting shifts and they have, you know, maybe it's a 12 hour, maybe they're traveling, maybe they're you know, there's all kinds of challenges to to taking care of a family, and yet they can all get worked through.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_01: So um yeah, I think it it might just be people's awareness that, oh, hey, this is an option.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_01: And certainly if if someone has those skills, I I know that you know technical and electrical competence does not run on gender lines, right?
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_01: It's just you know, some guys don't do it, some do, some women, you know, it just depends.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um but I but I think getting the message out there.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm curious what what are some things that you do, maybe your your local or your involvement with Neat to get that message out because it sounds like it's yeah, it's maybe a little slower than than certain others to just just to get out to the public.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_00: It is, it is.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um we all try to do wherever we can with our time.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's definitely public engagement.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: And um I I think it's already too late if we're just trying to hit um even the high school level, or just say like um uh say Skills USA or you know, um the STEM programs that are happening now in the high schools and things like that, or just going to technical colleges or just doing a job fair.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_00: I think um for us to really stand out and the interest, you have to almost hit them in like uh a grade school or middle school aspect and and still get to to people or kids um with with the imaginations, right?
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_00: Because they they still haven't gotten to the confines, you know, if they still want to be an astronaut or a ballerina or things like that.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_00: You still need that creativity to find that outlet, right?
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_00: Or a race car driver or things like that, and and and kind of steer that, you know, working with your hands or trying that, even artists, right?
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: Because um, you know, almost like you know, architecture or anything else that's going in our trade, um, you're gonna have to be able to walk into a room and kind of see a bigger picture and imagine.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_00: And you should already, by the time you you get into the trade, like in journeying out, you can already see where you know the the challenges are going to be, what you're gonna have to overcome, you know, possibly what you need.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_00: So you need that creativity, and it's really hard and it kind of gets, I think gets taken away from any of our jobs or going forward, you know, um a lot of that creativity and and AI is coming out with that, besides the the physicality.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_00: So it's great to get that, and I think we're getting to those people, but um, I mean it's it's just any opportunity working um with again uh high school career fairs or just the interest doing a Zoom communication cult and you know, maybe sending out some tape measures because grade school they're learning fractions.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_00: So hey, guess what?
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we're a job where you use those fractions, it's not a tape measure, right?
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_00: And you give that and it helps them learn those things and and bringing out the awareness.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: So um, so we have you know, people let us know, but you know, just career fairs that are out there.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, I try to look for anything different, you know, hook up with the local urban league or um another big thing that we're trying to tap into is um for the indigenous groups, right?
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_00: So we have tribal um that you can work, they have, you know, actual tribal centers to help pair them up to get people that maybe are only exposed to reservation life or you know, unfortunately limited to casinos or or things like that that you know America has set aside for them.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_00: Well, we need to go to them and see where the talent and skill, and it's just mind-blowing when you you come up to those people and be like, hey, did you ever think about it?
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_00: Money's always going to be attractive to anybody, and I can always walk in and say, hey, you want to come work for the highest paid trade?
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_00: But hopefully it's not just chasing the money, it's be like, you know, hey, have you ever thought of this?
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_00: What what kind of skill or gift do you think you have?
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_00: And and and it's transferable, whether they're already into a trade that you're going, you're seeing an electrician on a job site or a plumber and be like, hey, do you want to do that for the rest of your life?
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_00: Or do you see what I'm doing over here?
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, potentially, you know, talking about skills and wages and things like that.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_00: And people come up and ask you, so you know, wearing your clothes or be seen and things like that wherever we can, job, job fairs, career fairs, um, you know, just anywhere that to take the time and and do that.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_00: And um, and in our our recruitment efforts, we'll we'll send letters out, but I I think we really need to to uh maximize in person and people seeing that because I know when I saw it advertised in the newspaper, and just like anybody else is gonna see a piece of paper that's gonna come by, they're really not going to associate it with the work.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_00: So if they they see you doing that and putting those out, I mean, I think we Need to do more commercials out there and whatever we can to bring the awareness.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_00: And your podcast has been great for that.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_00: I appreciate you.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_00: You working it through.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_00: I know you're bringing people, you know, pr perhaps on the corporate side, but to take the time to know in the field because it's a perfect marriage.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: We all need each other inside in the office and outside to make that all happen.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_01: Well, honestly, when we know when you and I first talked, right, the kind of what I was saying was, I want more of the mechanics.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_01: Not only are you the ones doing the work, but but some of the most passionate people, right?
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_01: It's like just the love and oh, I love what I do.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that that excites me every time I hear it because there's I think there's a huge swath of the population that that can't say that, that doesn't enjoy what they do.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_01: And so to hear you say, you know, I tried college, I tried manufacturing, I really found myself in this elevator trade and and opportunities to grow and to earn and to to really make a contribution to the world.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_01: I what what is it that you love the most?
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_01: What was it that really clicked for you?
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I definitely I like the variety.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_00: It was, it's not just going to one place every single day.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's not just you're going to be doing this, it's the whole variety of the tasks and and the awareness and working, and then definitely the teamwork that's involved, right?
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_00: And that you really get to showcase and bring your thoughts and your talent and seeing it come to fruition and it's it's going up there.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, hey, I did that, stand back.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_00: And now it's gonna be there until either they modernize this equipment or they just tear this whole building down and something new goes in.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_00: But to walk away and like, I did that, I you know, like planting a tree or you know, I don't have children, perhaps having a child is to see that something there that you can go back and revisit and see that.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: And uh definitely, you know, the other point of it is is working with the apprentices.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_00: I had great teachers, you know, giving me the opportunity.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_00: I like I said, I didn't wasn't, you know, um tinkering around with my dad, you know, working on cars or anybody else that had let it so you know they don't let you play with power tools and cubicles, they kind of frown on that and offices.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_00: So to get loud and just demolition and tear it down and and the dirt and the grit and tear it all down and then put something new in or build it from scratch and make it coordinate, it you know, it's just like Legos on steroids, you know, we can do that, but then teaching somebody else, hey, I'm gonna teach you the tips and tricks, or perhaps they're gonna show you something new because everybody learns differently, everybody experiences and that give and take and seeing the light go off and in their head what's in the classroom, or you know, putting the tool in their heads, they're like, Okay, I showed you this one now, go for it.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_00: Just start cranking.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_00: And they're like, Really?
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_00: Are you sure I'm allowed to do this?
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, Yeah, what are you gonna do?
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna break something, we'll just buy a new part.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that's the nice thing about it.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_00: And your boss, my boss might not think that or appreciate me saying that, but it is, it's all fixable.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_00: And you have to give somebody that confidence and that space to grow and learn.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the best part about the trades, is that there's no perfection to it, but it'll come together and it'll work out.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_01: Hey everyone, thank you for listening.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_01: This is Matt with a brief message from our sponsor.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_01: The All Red Group has been recruiting elevator industry talent for over 14 years.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_01: If you were looking to grow your business and hire great people, contact the all-red group at allredgroup.com.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_01: That's a L-L-R-E-D, G-R-O-U-P.com, and talk with Matt and his team about how they can assist you.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_01: And now, back to the show.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_01: And the way you you talked about the you know, learning through you know confidence and using your hands.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, uh what I'm hearing and kind of what I'm interpreting here is just that you're allowed to use your creative energy.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_01: And you talked about you know, younger kids, younger than middle school even, and and you know, and they're still trying to think about you know astronaut ballerina.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um I I find that fascinating that that yeah, maybe maybe as we get you know far along enough in world culture, it's like, oh no, you need to fit into this mold.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_01: But when they're when they're young enough to to not have been tainted, if you will, by the by the stereotypes and and oh, I need to please so and so, um they can be a little more creative.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_01: And it it almost sounds like you're you know, you kind of allowed your inner child to come out and hey, we're gonna create something amazing, and then we're gonna stand back really in awe that look what we did.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_01: And look, it works and it takes us up and down.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_01: This is such a smooth ride.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_01: This is this is amazing, right?
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and that was definitely the draw to this was that you know, there's market has many electricians and many plumbers and and carpenters, but you get down to it.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, depending upon the size of the building, it might just be two people putting in an elevator, and I was like, holy cow, and I'm the other person, and we're gonna do all this.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, we're gonna make it work.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_00: And and that's been the best part is that, and it's a it is a well-kept secret because of that.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_00: You don't need a lot of people to do it, just the time and the material to do it and the and the right tools, and and that's been that's been the greatest thing is that you don't you know it's not like you're just putting a hundred people on it and you don't know what part you did or anything else.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, we need you to show up, we need you to do your part, be thinking, you know, actively engaged, thinking safety, looking out for your safety, for each other's safety and the proper tools and and get that flow.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, it's it's amazing to to be able to do that with such lower overhead per se of personnel doing it.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_01: So that's cool.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_01: So you you you talked uh when we talked before a little bit about you um being an educator, right, in in the neat program.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_01: How did you kind of get into into that to teaching classes and training?
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um I just I just kept on asking and and asking because I had the passion for it and uh I thought I you know would take the time to explain and you know uh do a temperature check.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_00: Did it did that you know make sense or anything else and you know get the feedback of just like when I was you know working on the job and people say, hey, thanks, you have the patience for it, or you know, you explained it to me a different way than another mechanic did at one time.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, okay, great.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_00: Well, maybe I can you know do this more broad and doing that.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_00: And so um, and then I I like um a mentorship part of it too.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_00: So I like having the apprentices right away.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_00: I like to do the the um lower semesters, the entry-level things, because that's all about the safety um and and the skill set, and it's active in what I'm doing and it's it's practical to instill those qualities right away.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_00: So I like to do um what's now semester 100, we kind of change our curriculum, but that's the lessons in CPR, um, which is important on a construction site.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_00: And then again, especially if you're working with two people and it's not a big active job site, you might be the only trade on the job that day.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but the reliance that you know your teamwork, you you need to rely on each other in case of emergencies, have somebody minded that way.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um, building scaffolding, which is kind of a dying art with the technology that's going on.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_00: But if you're gonna do a repair or something, it might it might come up.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_00: So you need to be able to do that safely.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_00: But it's it's earning those degrees.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_00: And then of course, um OSHA.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_00: My I'm passionate about OSHA.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I try to do that because out in the community and some of our um like uh pre-apprenticeship programs that some of the states can put on, and I participate with one in our state, um, it's trying to get people that are thinking about a career in the trades, whatever trade it is, and they really steer them towards the union trade.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_00: So that's um a priority for for me personally, but it's to teach them that safety of you know what needs to happen, re-reinstilling these things because there are too many um incidents that are happening.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um, they they went up uh before COVID and we're we're coming back down to it.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_00: But then of course, just the dynamics of our society also is that reaching out that there's a language barrier, that there's still accidents, and you know, we have people from you know every everywhere, every culture, um, and the melting pot in the US.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_00: So to take the time to teach about safety, make sure they understand it, you know, allow opportunities that if you get down to anybody in the in the trade and it's universal, whether it's the elevator trade or any of the other trades, that those basic safety that even if if people don't have access to that education themselves, that hopefully somebody else I try to teach them on the job is to look out for other people that are on there.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_00: Just because they're not your trade doesn't mean it's not your business because we're all working in the same space eventually.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_00: So it's a very community thing that I like and drive.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's the thing is to give them a chance, my opportunity.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_00: And then again, to never say that this has never happened to me or I always do it safe.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_00: I I don't think that's practical and I have scars all over my body to prove it, but I've learned from my mistakes.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_00: I can identify those hazards.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_00: And if I choose to do something, I understand the risk associated with it.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_00: So to really let people know and find a common ground.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_00: I definitely um don't like to talk down to people.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_00: I just want to find their interest and what interests them and find that correlation so that they learn some way, somehow, and and take some skill or knowledge that they didn't have and of course receive that in return.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_01: Very cool.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_01: How how long had you been in the trade before you got got uh the opportunity to teach the NEEP courses?
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um for me personally, I was in um 15 years before I got the opportunity.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but that also you know depends on you know what's going on in the local area.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_00: If we have enough teachers doing that, um, and then of course, you know, NEEP updating their curriculum, um, updating um computers, you know, became a bigger necessity during COVID and distance learning for our students.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but it's definitely it's better to learn hands-on, and they try to do that in the classroom.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_00: And then, of course, depending upon the type of work somebody's doing in the trade, it depends on you know, how you can move in and move through it.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but a phenomenal training facility, all the instructors are you know taken out to Rhode Island to do that top notch so it's consistent, as consistent as you can be, because everybody's different, everybody picked up a key, you know, thing that their interests are passionate about, and and that's the the great part, but it it all comes together and all that access.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_00: But I could, you know, still jump on a computer program that if I need to fill in you know for a class that needs to do distance learning, I could still be talking to a group in in Texas in my time zone or if I had to pick it up.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_00: So it's great.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_00: Again, it's not the same thing all the time.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_00: There's variety and I thrive on variety.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, it sounds like it.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you it sounds very energizing, both the the constructing side and the instructing side.
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_01: And um, so you know, it's it's it's fun to hear your yeah, your your passion, your yeah, you know, your experience.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_01: And obviously by the time you got into instructing, you know, 15 years is you've learned a lot, right?
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_01: You've uh certainly uh you've you've like you said, you've you've got some some scars to prove that okay, yeah, I learned from this one.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_01: Umfortunately, you know, I I know I'm the same way, right?
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's like I have to land on my face a few times before I learn the lesson.
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um hopefully, though, it's it's not uh you know so severe that I that I can't recover and and learn from it, right?
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_01: And and I know that's a huge part of teaching safety in the trade because you are in a high risk environment, you're in a high risk occupation, and so the the cost of not being safe is is bigger in that environment.
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you don't you know don't don't want to mess with that.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um you know we're we're kind of getting close to the end here, and um, I'm curious if if you had anything that you wanted to um I guess say before I ask my last question.
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, um no, I just love the passion.
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_00: There's great people in the trade um to find it and support.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_00: And and that's been uh the great connector that even if we are small and in our own locals and within the state, when you reach out and be active in the union, in the local, in your community, um, you just you find so many people to feed off of their energy and make those connections and learn so much more that's bigger of our trade and and how construction works in general and and both sides of it.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_00: So um it's just so important to have a big picture to understand what your small part may be, that um to be open to it and and the willingness to to learn and grow with it.
• 34:29
  SPEAKER_00: And as we know, technology is taking us in different paths.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_00: So it's it's best um for for anybody in the trades, I think, is to do it, to do it well.
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_00: You have to be willing to continue to learn because you have to keep up with it with everything.
• 34:43
  SPEAKER_00: So it's definitely um, you know, a learning environment.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's not like once you know everything, you'll never know everything.
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
• 34:51
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you, thank you for sharing that.
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_01: So my last question um is you know, what would what advice would you give to somebody who's maybe considering getting into the trade or maybe they're brand new?
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, what would what would make the biggest difference from your perspective?
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um, the the most important thing that seems to be so basic is um you know, showing up, showing up on time, um, showing up to to listen and um to participate it.
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_00: But um again, you know, you you don't know what your favorite flavor of ice cream is unless you try it.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_00: So um to not be scared, to to try for yourself.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_00: If you have an interest and an opportunity to do it, just try it.
• 35:35
  SPEAKER_00: You know, if it doesn't work out for you, you can walk away.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_00: If it doesn't work out with the employer, you know, they'll let you know and walk away.
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_00: But just to limit yourself, there it life's too short to do that.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_00: And there is so much work, and you know, that this is the work that's that can't be traded outside the US or anything else.
• 35:55
  SPEAKER_00: Buildings are here to stay, buildings are gonna go up, so it requires all those trades.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_00: But to to give the confidence that you need to try it, you won't know unless you try it, nobody can do it for you, but to show up with that willingness to learn something new and definitely to to get your hands dirty and dive into it.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_00: But um, and and even if you don't like this aspect of it, there is so much more in in our career.
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um, even if you know your book smart and and you like the code and and diving into that, you can be an inspector.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_00: We have a great need for inspectors and and things like that.
• 36:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but it definitely helps if you've had the experience to work in the field to associate with what's going on.
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_00: But you know, if you're an engineer, you you might be, you know, you might be creating the next conveyance that I'm installing.
• 36:41
  SPEAKER_00: There's so many aspects and such a need amongst all the companies and all of our trade that I'm sure you could find something.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, just show up and give it a try.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_00: Get give yourself that chance and and come with a willingness to learn and and you might make a successful career out of it, and we can use all the help we can get.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_01: Beautiful.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Shannon.
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_01: That that is one thing I see over and over is that that just getting in, learning your part really opens up doors to to other things that that I haven't seen in in other career areas as much, right?
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_01: To see somebody move from maybe they're an ops and then now they're in sales, now they're inspecting, and now they're leading, now they're owning, and now they're you know, there's just exact kinds of opportunities that will present themselves as you get in, do a great job, learn your your stuff, and then you know, write your own ticket.
• 37:30
  SPEAKER_00: That is, that is.
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_00: That just like you said, bet on yourself and you you can carry your way.
• 37:35
  SPEAKER_00: You make your name.
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_00: You make your name, and that's everything in the trades.
• 37:38
  SPEAKER_00: They'll hire you, they'll seek you out.
• 37:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yep, absolutely.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_01: Shannon, thank you so much for being with me today.
• 37:44
  SPEAKER_01: I've enjoyed it.
• 37:46
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 37:46
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for the opportunity, Matt.
• 37:48
  SPEAKER_00: Pleasure to to meet you face to face on it, and and thanks what you're doing for putting the word out about elevators and in our industry.
• 37:55
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_01: It's a lot of fun for me, and I appreciate you being with me today.
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_00: Super.
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you for listening to the Elevator Careers Podcast, sponsored by the All Red Group, a leader in elevator industry recruiting.
• 38:07
  SPEAKER_01: Please visit our YouTube channel at Elevator Careers or check us out online at elevatorcareers.net.
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_01: Please like and subscribe.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_01: And until next time, stay safe.