Don't be a knowledge hoarder

In 1980, I joined the army as one of the 1st cohorts of women mechanics. As the next cohorts came along, we not only passed on our tricks of the trade, we shared from our experience, how to be around the men - not all of them were allies and we had made mistakes early on based on the assumption that everyone was happy we were there.

The first one through the wall bears witness to laying the groundwork.

Education isn't meant to be hoarded. When women learn, we have a tendency to share it with our community.

When I became a rebar apprentice in 91, part of a diversity initiative where a group of women would train for the work in the oil and gas in Newfoundland. Even though there was a MOU that they would employ 3% women across the board, the numbers weren't there and that's for certain. Because the men were going to work as journeymen steel workers based on experience they had acquired in the building trades across Canada, they wanted access to the info the women were getting in the formal program.

Education isn't meant to be hoarded.

At night, I would be in the shed with the boys, sharing how to tie steel with gloves on - how to do the calculations around weight of concrete and steel in a gravity base system (GBS). We had quite the apprenticeship program with Newfoundland Steel. Having been a mechanic for more than a decade, I was a natural for steel work. I could rebuild an engine - how hard could it be to do a saddle tie on 1" rebar?

When we learn, the community benefits when we share the information. I learned early on that I am an excellent educator - when I share information, people do better in their journey.

I went to law school and learned a lot about being among the affluent - I shared that knowledge with parents and a group of scholarship recipients about where the risk was in a "non-traditional environment".

I may have attended university and got a degree but my friends have all benefited and changed the way we do things as a result of the knowledge I acquired.

Communities benefit when we share our wisdom.

I now teach others, including those tradespeople, to mine the wisdom in their own learning journey and put it into a book to pass on to future generations.

My legacy piece will be around impacting future "first generation" people to maximize their potential instead of getting taken advantage of. Oh, did I really say that out loud?

I once coached a contractor who had to take a job - because he was "self made" and didn't appreciate that what he was bringing to the position was proprietary knowledge. Our conversations enabled him to go to the table and negotiate for a raise and an extra bonus when he advised on projects. That's powerful.

I was once asked if I wanted to become a corporate trainer - the money would have been easier. It's much more rewarding to me to teach in my space - I feel quite blessed that this work has chosen me