Fall Specialist with Andrea Martin
Episode #92: Welcome to the She Builds Show! I’m your host, Stefanie Olson, and on today’s episode, we have the privilege of interviewing a true industry expert and trailblazer, Andrea Martin, a fall protection specialist at 3M. With a remarkable 18 years of experience in the safety industry, Andrea has honed her expertise, becoming a go-to authority for customers seeking safety solutions for complex applications. Her passion for her work stems from the fascinating resemblance between fall protection solutions and puzzles, where every piece must seamlessly fit together to create a robust safety system.
Throughout this episode, we gain valuable insights into the world of fall protection, learning about the importance of precision and innovation in ensuring worker safety in various settings. So, join us as we sit down with Andrea Martin to discover the intricacies of fall protection and gain inspiration from her dedication to making workplaces safer, one puzzle piece at a time.
ABOUT ANDREA MARTIN:
Andrea Martin, a fall protection specialist at 3M, has built her expertise in the safety industry over the course of 18 years. She is highly regarded for her ability to assist customers in developing safety solutions for complex applications. One aspect of her work that brings her immense satisfaction is the resemblance between fall protection solutions and puzzles, where each piece must seamlessly fit together. Taking into account factors such as the product, application, and safety standards, Andrea is dedicated to finding the optimal solution that ensures the safety of workers and provides thorough training on product usage, handling, and maintenance. Operating within a predominantly male-dominated industry, Andrea actively addresses and overcomes gender bias on a daily basis. She emphasizes the significance of well-fitting safety gear for individuals of all body types. As a mentor to aspiring women in the industrial and safety fields, she serves as an inspiration for those interested in pursuing safety-related roles beyond the confines of a site manager.
CONNECT WITH ANDREA:
• Website: https://premium.thesafetymag.com/ca-top-women-in-safety-andrea-martin
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/safety_chick
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fallspecialist
WAYS TO CONNECT WITH STEFANIE…
• Website: https://shebuildshomes.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shebuildsbetter
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shebuilds.homes
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/shebuildsshow
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:
0:01 Welcome to the She Builds Show.
0:03 I’m your host, Stefanie Olson, a licensed general contractor who builds new construction, renovates and designs your vision today.
0:12 More than ever, we need raw, authentic women who are willing to rise above society’s norms, break those glass ceilings and encourage each other to boldly build the life we were meant to live.
0:24 So, honey, what are you building?
0:27 Welcome to the She Builds Show.
0:29 We have an incredible guest today.
0:31 Her name is Andrea Martin.
0:32 She actually lives in Canada.
0:34 I don’t know what part yet because you’re going to have to tell me that.
0:36 And I’m so excited to hear about what you do because you are everything’s safety and we have never had a guest like this on.
0:43 So I’m excited to hear about that and welcome to the show.
0:48 Thank you so much.
0:49 I’m excited.
0:51 You know, every time a guest comes on, I spend like quite a bit of time, like just getting to know them, you know, stopping them.
0:57 It’s another way to.
0:59 So I’m interested to know first, like just in a brief description and describe what you do.
1:05 And then I want to get into how you got there.
1:08 Yeah.
1:08 So, pretty cool job.
1:10 I’m a fault protection specialist.
1:12 I handle a certain region within Southwestern Ontario.
1:16 My job essentially involves me going out educating anybody who works at heights doing site assessments at, well, pretty much anywhere where people say, like, what do we need to do?
1:27 How can we do it safely?
1:29 We know that gravity is a constant thing.
1:32 So, when we’re working at heights, it’s just I guess the biggest thing is I, I get to have the coolest job in the entire world because I get to see everything, I can go into food plans.
1:42I can go into a petrol cam site.
1:44 I can go into a mine; I can go into heavy metal manufacturing every day is different.
1:50 So there’s no monotony to what I do and education for me is crucial when it comes to working at heights.
1:56 That’s one of my other favorite things that I get to, to do in my day-to-day activities.
2:01 That’s so cool.
2:02 That’s so funny that you’re like the best child in the whole world and you’re like, I don’t know, specialist, which sounds like you have no idea.
2:08 Like at least most people have no idea that that’s a thing.
2:12 Yeah, that there are actually people that can specialize in this and the fact that you love it is so cool and that you are probably one of the few women that do it is also amazing.
2:23 How long have you been in this role with 3M, I’ve been here for almost eight years, but I it’s been doing fall protection now for, I’d say about 15, 18 years, he rotated, he, like, really focused on full protection for that amount of time.
2:42 Wow, that’s incredible.
2:44 Ok.
2:44 Now let’s back up before that, like 15 to 18 years and tell me, you know, maybe just a little bit of history and like, how you got into it and why, you know, it was interesting, like, I’m always like, wanting to know why people’s personalities fit with the job that they love because a lot of times people don’t know themselves well enough to be like, I’m really detail oriented or I’m really not organized and I need to create a job or I’m so crazy, you know, and my skills of keeping color coded closets translates to fault protection, you know, like, I don’t know.
3:19 Absolutely.
3:20 And, you know, the funny part was ever since I was like, 12 years old, I wanted to be a marine biologist.
3:24 So I’m so far away from what my dream job as a kid was to where I am now.
3:30 And so before I got into the safety world, I have been working in the restaurant business since I was 15 years old.
3:37 So whether it was being a hostess, graduating up to being a waitress, being a bartender and then being a manager and I love that.
3:46 Like it’s fun.
3:47 We had DJ s, and you know, you’re serving drinks, pulling cocktail kind of situations, flipping cans and bottles and I loved it.
3:56 And then I got pregnant when I was 21.
4:01 So, and then I had my kid when I was 22 years old and just realizing a few years into my kid being like, I think when he was two and I just kind of turned around and he said this is not stable.
4:13 If I want to make good money, I have to work at night to make good tips during the day.
4:18 I was barely making enough money to cover daycare.
4:21 And I’m like, I can’t do this.
4:22 I applied at a local glove manufacturing company and a month later I got an interview I came in and next thing, you know, I, I had the job and so gloves to fall protection is a big gap in between there.
4:35 So hand safety versus, you know, working at, but it was the starting point into where it went and how it got to where I am today.
4:45 Ok.
4:46 So you did like hand protection.
4:48 Obviously, you’re, there’s a lot of manufacturer but then when was like, like, what was the turning point or the class or the education piece that brought you into the fall protection?
4:59 Yeah.
4:59 One of my customers, so one of my distributors had, he’d always called me up all the time.
5:04 I was always helping him out and he threw something at me at a trade show and offered me a job to come work over there.
5:11 And when they threw the dollar figure, it was double what I was making.
5:17 And then now, at this point I’m, I’m a single mom.
5:20 So I’m still in love manufacturing.
5:21 But now I’m a single Mom, and they threw at this, you know, here you go, here’s your little salary plus, then there’s bonuses and all these other cool things.
5:29 And I was like, hold on a second here.
5:31 Somebody actually wants to pay me this.
5:33 Like, am I not getting paid enough on the back end?
5:36 So I jumped on that opportunity and then through there starting in as their safety specialist within the company, all I knew was gloves.
5:44 They started off bringing in different manufacturers.
5:47 So, you know, we had respiratory manufacturers, we had defibrillator manufacturers, SC VA S and then they sent me for Fall Protection training, and I was like, whoa what is this?
5:58 This is kind of cool because for fall protection, there’s a lot of rules that go along with it, but it’s like a puzzle piece and all those pieces have to fit well, like you’re only as strong as your weakest link within the world of Fall protection.
6:12 So, so all these puzzle pieces and OK A can go with B but can’t go with C, how do we put this together.
6:19 It really kind of took the fall protection world and the gear and everything I had learned and started kind of implementing it into customer sites as a female in the sales side of things.
6:32 I was a, a lone wolf.
6:34 So you’re walking in and you’re trying to take business and work with people who have relationships with men that span back 10, 15, 20 years.
6:43 You can’t just walk in and be like, hey, how about those, you know, Blue Jays.
6:47 And so it’s not the same, right?
6:50 If they don’t look at you, what can you bring gloves, glasses, computer plugs, those are kind of a commodity product.
6:56 So Fall protection was that solution be and that’s kind of where I built the trust of working with these end users.
7:03 And then from there, it was like, ok, now I can get a little bit more business and then I was building those relationships and it kind of became a domino effect after that.
7:13 So it really chips at Fall protection as my starting point to have the conversations within the end user level at any account I ever went into.
7:24 Because it’s the thing that I guess people will say it’s the thing that keeps them awake at night.
7:29 There’s so many different things with fall protection that are they up to speed, you know, do they meet the, the regulations for the province or is it CS an approved et cetera?
7:40 So, it was one of those where I had that knowledge and I could bring it forward and build those relationships and those relationships that I built 15 years ago, I had those relationships.
7:52 How so that when my competition and male counterpart, like my male competition to walk in, they’re trying to build those relationships that I’ve taken.
8:01 And I’ve held on tight for all these years because that trust and that, the knowledge, I guess that goes behind it.
8:08 Absolutely.
8:08 Tell me just for the audience.
8:10 So like describe what three M does because you’re just us, I’m guessing gathering because I don’t know that you’re like a piece of the bigger picture.
8:18 What does 3M provide as like an overall service?
8:22 Yeah, so 3M is built out of many entities within this world.
8:28 So starting with what I’m part of what we call the personal safety division three M with respiratory rate and 95 masks.
8:37 I wear hearing protection.
8:39 Part of the acquisition with the Fall protection with the capital safety DB I line, which is, that’s kind of where I came in.
8:46 Are you guys producing and distributing these products?
8:50 Like, so you have a manufacturer of these products and then you’re on the sales end of that fall.
8:56 Protection.
8:56 Is that correct?
8:57 But we are, we are the manufacturer.
8:59 So three M is the main manufacturer and then we will sell to distributors who then sell it to their end users.
9:06 Right.
9:07 Yeah.
9:07 Are you having the conversations with the distributors or are you going and selling directly to, like, a large contractor who’s building?
9:15 I’m guessing like a high rise or some sort of higher building.
9:20 Yeah.
9:20 So for me, so we don’t sell direct to the actual end user, but that’s where the end users call us in for our expertise on the fault protection world or any other personal safety related matters.
9:34 And then they would just get a quotation from their distributor.
9:37 So I work very closely with my distributors too.
9:40 We educate them a lot so that when they are going out in the field, they’re educated enough to ensure that the right product is getting out there too.
9:47 At the same time, the middleman is there on the selling side.
9:51 So we sell, of course, I have a, I’m a seller, but my first thing is I’m, I’m a specialist within my field.
9:58 Right?
9:58 Yeah.
9:59 Can you give me like an example of what type of product?
10:06 Give me something?
10:06 Not too complicated, but you know, like if somebody was building a, like a, a larger type, higher building, what type of product would be the thing that they would need that you guys are providing because I’m picturing like harnesses and like, like, I don’t, I’m like, am I right on that or we do or I think that the Wes or like what kind of stuff?
10:31 Yeah, absolutely.
10:32 We kind of we talk about fault protection as the ABC.
10:35 The Anchorage, the body support and then connecting links.
10:38 So definitely if somebody’s building a commercial high rise, you know, we got hollow core precast slab that’s coming in, they would have full body viruses, they would have self-retracting lifelines, leading edge, self-retracting lifelines both.
10:55 Yeah.
10:55 Self tracking lifeline that can be small personal units that you would wear on your back or much larger 2030 60 ft of cable that would be anchored somewhere, you know, maybe on a column or an anchor point and then allow the worker to move back and forth.
11:12 They’ll move in and out like a seatbelt and allow you to.
11:15 There’s no slack in the system, there’s a large drum on there.
11:19 So as you’re moving in and out, but if you were to slip and fall, that lifeline will lock up on you, right, protecting you.
11:26 And then leading-edge product will actually protect that sharp edge that you would go over.
11:32 We’re in like a pore slab.
11:33 Concrete and structural steel are very sharp edges that can cause regular cable and regular web to have a failure.
11:42 So you just because you have a harness on and just because you have a, a self-retracting lifeline or a lanyard on doesn’t necessarily mean that in the event of a fall it’s going to hold up because depending on what you’re coming in contact with Hm.
11:56 Interesting.
11:56 Yeah.
11:57 And then rescue.
11:58 Right.
11:58 That’s the component that everybody forgets about so that, you know, having rescue plans and coming in and implementing rescue products for those applications because you can’t hang in that harness.
12:08 We want you down and we want you either onto the next deck or down to the ground within 10, 15 minutes.
12:15 It’s got to happen very quickly.
12:17 Right.
12:18 Do you have any stories of things like that where clients have?
12:23 I mean, like, because all of this is kind of like insurance, right?
12:26 Like you’re like, making sure everybody is safe.
12:28 You want all your products to work well, but like, have you had stories of it happening where people have fallen and there’s been rescues and you have your equipment.
12:37 Like, I don’t know, I’m just wondering if there’s like personal ties to it.
12:41 Yeah.
12:41 So for us within our company have had workers that have fallen, their gears worked exactly the way it’s supposed to work.
12:49 It did everything that they needed it to do.
12:52 It saved their lives.
12:53 Right.
12:54 Fall protection isn’t there to make your job easier.
12:56 We know that it’s to protect you and save your life at the end of the day.
13:00 It’s unfortunate that a lot of the falls and a lot of the fall fates have that come around or injuries are usually associated because people aren’t wearing their fault protection.
13:11 I mean, you know, gravity is there all the time, but we hope people, they’re not falling every day, but our numbers are going up and a lot of it, sometimes we look at it as complacency.
13:20 Like, why aren’t you wearing a harness or it’s not comfortable?
13:23 Ok, like let’s get you into something that’s comfortable.
13:26 So you wear this and really trying to educate folks as to it’s about you.
13:30 If you don’t wear your harness properly and you fall, something can happen to you like an injury or fatality and you have a family that care about you on the back end, bring in an emotional connection on that side.
13:44 It’s not like here’s a respirator and if you don’t shave, you’re not going to feel the effects today, but it may be 10, 15, 20 years down the road, you’re going to feel those effects from working in whatever environment it was that you’re working in, unfortunately fall protection like it’s instantaneous.
13:59 The second you slip off of the side of a deck or you know, off a roof, it’s instantaneous.
14:05 Yeah.
14:05 And I’m sure that like there’s a part of your work or a part like element of it that you get clients as a result of something bad happening.
14:14 Yeah, absolutely.
14:16 And you know, things will pop up in our local, I guess Ontario or Canadian magazine Safety magazines and you’ll hear about a false fatality and you’re like, hey, that’s, that’s a customer of mine like, or we know that customer.
14:31 So we’re fairly interconnected that way when there is an injury or fatality and I’ve talked to many customers after an injury or fatality occurred where now, ok, we need to get you out on the site.
14:43 We need help to build our program for cracks come in and tell us what we need to do.
14:51 Right.
14:52 Yeah.
14:53 You know, there is proactive and then unfortunately there’s that reactive component to you, which is not one.
15:00And do you only service Canada?
15:02 Like is that your distribution is in Canada only for three?
15:07 I know we’re a global company.
15:09 So yeah, we have false specialists in the US and, and all over the world.
15:14 And how big of an area like do you cover for me if you see the province of Ontario?
15:21 It’s, it’s a pretty good chunk.
15:23 You, I would say it’s probably a, a third of the province.
15:27 It’s a big province, there’s three of us in Ontario.
15:31 So one of my coworkers says the northern part, I do the southwestern part and then I have another counterpart who does like the what we call the GT A, the, the greater Toronto area and a little bit towards like the Ottawa area heading towards the Quebec.
15:47 So there’s three of us interconnected in one province and then there’s eight of us across the entire country.
15:54 Ok.
15:54 Wow.
15:55 I’m curious as to know like that question that I kind of asked at the beginning, like, what about your personality fits well with this type of job because I’m always trying to think about like the young lady out there that doesn’t know what she wants to do.
16:12 And, you know, like the purpose of this is to share about people like you who nobody has ever heard of this job and let people know that like, if this type of personality or these types of things describe you like, this is something that you could be really, really good at in the realm of construction.
16:35 Yeah.
16:35 And I think one is I’ve always been a customer centric person, you know, coming from the bartending world.
16:42 And if you’re not really good at customer service, you’re not going to make money, right?
16:45 It’s very simple.
16:47 And yes, there’s a selling component to what I do.
16:50 But for me, it’s going out to the customers.
16:53 I think my personality is just about helping people.
16:56 Like I, before I became a mom and after I graduated high school, I lived in Thailand for five months and I taught human rights to Burmese refugees, and I did a lot of these other things and I’ve done a habitat for humanity build.
17:10 So I think it’s that the helping side of things and I’m a very technical person.
17:14 So taking full protection and taking the technical aspects of it, you don’t need to know at all because it’s in user manuals.
17:22 If you know, sometimes you forget things.
17:23 But the helping hand side of things, the education, I think it’s that feeling like when you’ve left and somebody comes up to you and says, I had no idea about this.
17:33 I’ve been doing this for 20 years and nobody’s ever explained this to you.
17:36 Like, to me now, I know and you’re like, ok, you helped somebody but like, and pieces that, that are teaching somebody how to correctly use this or put it on or how it helps you.
17:49 And why, rather than I’m always all about that in my, like, just this morning, I had a job and I was talking to the guy that was going to fix the section one pest stuff.
18:00 And I’m like, do you know why we need to do this?
18:05 You know, like, do you understand how your job right now correlates to the end user?
18:09 And he’s like, no funny, maybe I didn’t sound so sophisticated, but I said that, but, you know, like affection one P in our world, what that means is there’s dry rot on your house.
18:19 And this particular project that we’re doing is a flip and we need all of the section one done and the section one clearing.
18:26 So that means that there’s no dry rot.
18:28 And what that in our world translates to is when a buyer comes to purchase that house, a lender that’s going to lend, give them a loan on that house is not going to lend on a property that has section one item.
18:41 And so I go, it’s going to cost me $200 for an inspector to come out when you’re done to ensure that there’s clearance on this house and there’s no dry rot.
18:51 And so that’s why like, because I had like a map of all the things and the description of like what needs to be done.
18:57 And I’m like, I need you to grasp the concept of it that an inspector is going to come out here and inspect us, provide clear.
19:03 And so we’re going to give that to the lender so that we make the buyer’s job easier and the lenders job easier, like your job affects all these other things.
19:10 And so I’m just always like, trying to come from it rather than like, get this done.
19:15 Do you know?
19:16 So I think that like, correlates to what you’re saying and that there’s an education piece to it and when people understand when and how and why and what it affects, they grab onto it and then they own it.
19:29 Yeah.
19:30 Absolutely.
19:30 And being a female sometimes, you know, you’re walking on to a construction site and it’s, it’s very daunting.
19:35 Like when I first started, it was scary, you know, and still I go to speak to 200 guys, you’re always going to have the one guy and I’m like, whatever I’ve gotten, I’m in, I’m in my forties.
19:46 I’ve gotten to the point where it’s, you know, listen, if you don’t want to pay attention, walk away because the rest of these guys, 100 and 99 guys that are here.
19:55 They want to hear about how they can properly protect themselves and keep themselves safe.
20:00 Get home.
20:01 The same way that you walked in is the same way they’re going to walk out, not by an ambulance, not by a body bag so you can walk away and then people all look at them.
20:09 Yeah, buddy.
20:09 Shut up like she’s hacking and, and I’ve been on sites where I’ve been pulled aside afterwards.
20:15 And I’ve had these conversations and one guy said to me, you ever worked in construction before?
20:21 And the guy I was with that day kind of held onto my belt at the back end because I thought he thought it was going to look like this guy the way he was asking me.
20:28 And, and I said, no, I’ve, I’ve never physically worked in construction, but 70% 75% of what I do is in cons on construction site.
20:38 So he goes, well, listen and I’m going, oh, great.
20:42 Here comes the man explaining.
20:43 He’s going to explain how I’ve done something wrong.
20:47 And he goes, when you educated my guys, you educated them based on how the product works in conjunction to what they’re doing.
20:57 He’s like, how do you know so much about 25 M Marie Bar and, and how look and precast.
21:02 And so because when I come out on the site, I ask people to explain their process to me and we can talk through this.
21:09 So I better understand how the gear that I’m going to implement will work with what they’re doing.
21:16 He goes, well, your competition, they come out here, they get all technical, the, the guts and the components and he goes, my guys are so lost, but now my guys understand their limitations within the gear because you’ve spoken to what they’re physically doing.
21:31 So it’s a nice feeling, right?
21:33 You don’t, I honestly didn’t expect that conversation to go the way that it went because I thought it was going to be a man explaining situation.
21:39 But it was a good feeling like you leave.
21:42 And I’m like, ok, and just so, you know, a lot of people don’t have that gift.
21:48 A lot of people don’t know how to take something extremely technical and break it down into a way that, you know, people can understand.
21:58 And I think that that is like, you know, I went to school to be a teacher and getting to take information and translate it into a way that other people can learn it, own it, apply.
22:10 It is like lights up my world because then you’ve just empowered somebody to be able to own that, do it themselves and possibly teach someone else now that they know what it does, how it works and, and what it means.
22:26 So I think that kind of circling back to like what type of personality really fits this job and this type of work is, you know, somebody that can do that.
22:37 And I mean, I think the people aspect of it is really cool too.
22:40 A lot of people think, oh, I work at a restaurant, you know, like I have all of those skills.
22:45 I could totally go do this, you know, and it’s fun and I don’t want to ever say it’s dumbing it down because it’s not, there’s so many moving components to fall protection.
22:54 It’s just for them to understand the limitations.
22:58 You know, you can’t do this because not because I think so.
23:02 I, that only works on my husband.
23:04 It’s because engineers because standards because the manufacturer, these people are saying this because you can’t do this.
23:11 It’s not allowed and there’s rules and we have to understand and respect those rules because going beyond those rules could lead to an injury could lead to failure of the gear.
23:22 So when they kind of understand that, oh, that’s why they don’t want me to do this because it could fail.
23:28 You know, I got it now, it, it kind of all clicks in and, and when some guys do it now they’re like, hey, don’t do that.
23:34 Yeah, exactly.
23:36 So that’s a cool component of it.
23:38 Like I’m not an actual trades person per se, but I get to work with them all, which is the neat thing in the entire world.
23:46 You get to learn all kinds of things about the industry and the process and absolutely, I love it because I’ll work with trades guys in a petrochem refinery and then I’ll work with trades guys in a food plant, you know, a big chocolate plant or in a distillery and then work with trades guys on a construction site, whether it’s residential or commercial.
24:05 So everybody is, it’s fun.
24:07 It’s such a great job to be able to go out.
24:11 And I think having that personality be like, hey, guys going on and I want on through, right.
24:15 I pull in, they’re like, what’s a chick like who, who’s this girl, that situation like my life?
24:21 What are you going to take that?
24:23 And it’s nice when you turn around one guy’s like, hey, 12 years ago, I worked at this job, and you came on our site too and you taught us this.
24:30 And so to start off, it’s scary.
24:33 But those years go by so fast before you know, and it’s like, hey, I remember you and, and then it’s that building of respect and, and respect goes both ways.
24:42 It’s earned both ways on that side of things.
24:45 And then folks know that I don’t lie to them.
24:47 I’m a street shooter.
24:49 Can’t do this because of this, simple as that, right?
24:52 I’m not going to try and sell you something that you shouldn’t be using, and I’m not going to try and sell you something that’s more expensive when you can go with something that’s equally as good.
25:01 But when I tell you, you can’t do this.
25:03 You better not do it.
25:05 Listen, you better listen.
25:08 Absolutely.
25:09 Yeah.
25:09 Ok.
25:09 So one last question, tell me, you know, how this job and what it’s done maybe for your, you know, the more personal side of your life, you know, I don’t know how many kids you have and how long you’ve been married or, or your personal life.
25:23 But is there a good, like, work life balance for you?
25:27 Is it like symbiotic?
25:28 Do you like, is your stress level?
25:30 Ok.
25:31 Like how are you, how personal and we do talk about work and being an instruction, but there’s also like the part of life that we can’t ignore and I think a lot of times can be expected that we ignore the fact that we’re mothers and wives and we keep it so private and separate because we kind of do have to work harder and show up and make sure, you know, and I’m complete opposite.
25:56 I’d like, I got to go pick up my kids and I got this to do or my kids coming on site with me.
26:01 Like I want there to be an inner mingle, clean up my personal and work life one so that my kids can know what I do.
26:09 See what I do be inspired by what I do know that they can do whatever they want in life and that you can be a mom and work and try to, you know, do all of the things and be good at it and I still curious, like how that is for you.
26:24 Yeah.
26:25 And like my kid now is 21 but Ash has been there through pretty much when you think about it, like, in the last 18, 20 years, like their entire life is kind of evolved around safety.
26:37 So we would start off with like, hey mom, look at those gloves that they’re wearing and look that guys on a roof.
26:43 And so pointing things out and understanding because safety is something we all deal with every single day.
26:51 You tell kids not to touch a hot stove because they’re going to burn themselves, right.
26:55 You’re not handing them big butcher knives and they’re cutting off their fingers and we put on a seatbelt.
27:00 So, and wearing helmets, like when you’re riding a bike, there’s reasons.
27:04 And that’s kind of what I love about safety.
27:06 Is that what I instilled in my kid at a young age, rolls over into their day to day lives, regardless if they go and work in a grocery store or when they’re in a job, they have to understand that there’s health and safety that has to be taken.
27:23 And if they’re not too sure and they’re unsure about that and then your gut tells you something’s not right back away, you know, don’t put yourself in jeopardy.
27:31 So my, my kids been involved with it, work life balance.
27:34 It’s kind of always been a big thing over the course of the years.
27:37 Of course, pay parity and changing and understanding, pay parity and, and gender biases and all these things that I went through and, and starting to fight for.
27:46 Hold on.
27:46 I’m worth this.
27:48 This is where we go, led to the ability to go on a trip and, you know, simple things that some people might take for granted on, you know, going on an annual trip.
27:59 What was not even a question for me?
28:02 I couldn’t even do that.
28:03 And saving for like three years as a single mom, like to take my kid to Disney World was like a major feat.
28:10 And I was like, how am I going to budget this?
28:12 But I want to do something.
28:14 So finding that work life better balance as I’ve built myself up and I’ve fought for pay parity and I’ve done a lot of other things in this and where I’m sitting today, I’m a big pusher of work life balance.
28:24 I have a trailer that I go to on the weekends as soon as I put that pass card, like on the gate key and the gate opens up.
28:33 Oh, goodbye Monday to Friday.
28:36 Hello, weekend sort of thing.
28:38 And I have a good group of friends too, like my good small tribe that I have where I can vent if I need to get it off my chest because I think it’s very important that we have those kinds of people.
28:50 All right, done.
28:51 Let’s go have a drink.
28:52 You know, if I did that work life balance.
28:55 Absolutely.
28:56 Like I look at it and go.
28:57 If I got hit by a bus tomorrow, I’m sure that in a month from now somebody’s going to have to cover my territory.
29:02 So 3M’s going to have to hire somebody, you know, it can happen to all of us.
29:06 So, taking that and really ensuring that you’re putting yourself first, you always have to put yourself first.
29:14 So that whether it’s changing jobs to put yourself first or saying, you know what?
29:18 No, I’ve put in 60 hours this week.
29:22 I’m not putting it anymore.
29:23 I’m not working the weekend.
29:24 The weekends are mine.
29:25 You have to do that because you’ll stress yourself out, you’ll just, you just, yeah, and women tend to burn themselves out a lot faster and a lot more than men do because we’re trying to struggle and here’s the house cleaning and, you know, we got so many balls in the air and plus be a professional in your job and take that on and then come home and do everything else that has to happen on the back end.
29:50 So I’m super lucky.
29:51 I have an amazing supportive husband.
29:53 You know, it’s not a, this is your job, this is my job, and this is what we do.
29:57 You know, we both take care of the household, and both do all these great things and he supports me in all the craziness I do with whether it’s changing jobs or, you know, you want to work at heights.
30:09 You, what are you doing?
30:10 I’m definitely afraid of heights, by the way.
30:12 So, yeah, definitely.
30:14 Like, I wear a lot of black clothing so people can’t see me sweat if I’m like, on a job site, like, you know, 50, 100 ft in the air.
30:22 But I think having that support group, whether it’s a husband or a friend or a parent, somebody who’s behind you to help support, you don’t burn yourself out.
30:32 We can’t, we’re no good to anybody at work or at home if we’re burned out.
30:37 Yeah, I, and I read a lot.
30:40 That’s my other, my other.
30:42 Yeah, I read a lot.
30:44 What kind of books do you like to read?
30:45 Psychological thrillers?
30:47 So I jump between Hallmark movies.
30:51 I love Hallmark movies.
30:52 I’m a sucker for Hallmark.
30:54 Gone.
30:54 You and my mother, I am a sucker from the time my trailer closes like Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, like mid-October until it opens like Mother’s Day weekend.
31:05 I’m like every Saturday, Sunday on the couch in the morning with my cup of tea or a cup of coffee and watching Hallmark movies.
31:12 And then I read psychological thrillers.
31:14 So it’s like I know how to be super happy, but I also know how to hide bodies.
31:17 So, you know, it’s, I’m like, I’m also a safety person so I can make things look like accidents.
31:23 But I think.
31:25 Right.
31:25 It’s all, I’ve got it all figured out.
31:27 But that, for me, like, I can get lost in a book.
31:30 It’s great.
31:31 We go on vacations with, a group of friends every year and everybody knows, like Andre is down on the beach for a few hours reading her book and then I’ll eventually want to the pool, hang out with everybody and then I might take a break in the shade and read for another hour.
31:46 So, do what you want to do when you want to do it.
31:49 Yeah.
31:50 Right.
31:50 You don’t have to live on anybody else’s time.
31:52 I love it.
31:53 Well, this has been such a pleasure to get to know you and what you do.
31:57 It is incredible, and I have learned so much.
32:00 So, thank you.
32:02 And I am, I’m just excited that this can get out and you can, you know, more people can just learn about what you do.
32:09 Absolutely.
32:09 There’s so many opportunities within the safety world.
32:12 Right.
32:12 And, and, and it’s an important thing because if you look at every job, say there’s multiple safety people within the contractors and the trees world and then on the manufacturing side.
32:23 So it’s neat.
32:25 There’s no mono just like construction, not, no two days are ever going to really be the same.
32:30 So I give you the opportunity to meet so many different people around the country and I love it.
32:36 That’s awesome.
32:38 Thank you so much.
32:39 Thank you, Stefanie.
32:40 I appreciate it.
32:41 All right, have a great day.
32:43 Bye now.
32:44 Bye.
32:45 Thanks for joining me today on the She Builds Show.
32:48 My name is Stefanie Olson.
32:50 My hope is that this episode leaves you feeling empowered and ready to boldly take that step into building the life that you envision one 2×4 at a time.
32:59 And if you can do me a quick favor, please leave me a five-star review on iTunes.
33:03 I get giddy over reading the reviews each week and I will choose one special person to win some She Builds swag.
33:10 Make sure you add your name to the review, and I’ll reach out if you’re the winner.
33:13 Thanks again for hanging out.
33:15 Be sure to visit me at theSheBuildsShow.com or you can ask me questions and share with me what you’re building.