Tessa Moon, Red Seal Carpenter at MAC Renovations Ltd.
VICTORIA – Year after year, MAC Renovations Ltd. continues to be Vancouver Island’s most trusted renovation team, a badge of honor the company wears proudly. MAC has built its entire reputation on honesty and integrity and, when it comes to inclusivity in the workplace, these principles are even more evident.
Tessa Moon has been a full-time carpenter for MAC Renovations for nearly two years. While she was not the first woman in the field, she was the first female Red Seal Carpenter the company had ever had. In her journey to find a suitable workplace, Tessa worked for nearly 10 different companies before finally finding the respect and inclusion she was actively seeking as a female carpenter new to the profession.
“I had a really hard time finding a company that was happy to have me there and have skilled people working for them that I could learn from,” says Tessa. “It seemed like all the places where there were nice people, they were not actually very good at their trades. And then on the other side, the men who were very skilled did not treat me with respect.”
“MAC is the place where I have found it all – people are knowledgeable, people are friendly, I feel like I can learn and there is room to grow. Working for MAC, I feel my opinion is valued, my work is appreciated and I feel like I actually fit in whereas everywhere else I felt left out or even bullied.”
Tessa is joined now by another female carpenter named Marianne Schmidt. In fact, Tessa and Marianne both worked at the same coffee shop before changing careers, going from co-workers to friends. Soon after, the two realized their shared passion for carpentry work and discussed making a change in their life and going back to school. Tessa took the leap and joined the apprenticeship program at Camosun College first. Marianne was immediately intrigued, and shared her desire to join Tessa but was hesitant to make the move herself.
Marianne Schmidt, Red Seal Carpenter at MAC Renovations Ltd.
“I actually called Camosun and pretended to be Marianne so that she would sign up to the program,” laughs Tessa. “Marianne just couldn’t bring herself to make the call, so I did it for her and we went on the journey together into the program.”
The friends each entered the Carpentry Foundations program with funding from Camosun Empowering Women in Trades. After a challenging but rewarding six-month-long program, the two entered the field and had varying experiences with different companies over the years and returning, together, each year to Camosun for their subsequent levels of apprenticeship training. Shortly after completing the final of their four years of apprenticeship training, Tessa found MAC. After becoming a part of the team, she urged Marianne to apply.
“It is no coincidence that we are together, once I got the job at MAC I convinced Marianne to also apply so we could tag along,” says Tessa. “There is not a lot of us out there so we all have to look out for each other, and that’s what we did.”
Marianne did apply to MAC and was hired. Now, the two work side by side and are proud to be representing the company principles.
“I love working at MAC because the company culture is really awesome and everyone is really nice and supportive,” says Marianne. “They also have a focus on education which I really like, I have started moving into a safety position and they have been giving me a lot of extra training to be able to compete in my role so I feel very supported.”
Both Marianne and Tessa agree on how impactful the Camosun College program was at preparing them for the future as women in construction, and encourage all those interested in the industry to give the trades training program a go. Marianne also suggests just starting with an email to the college or an instructor to learn more.
“More women need to get involved, it is a great job and there is so much, every day can be very different, there is no reason why women can’t or shouldn’t do it,” says Marianne.
“It is an excellent program and it has lead me to this amazing job where I am surrounded by great people – I feel proud of myself and I am happy with my work, and those are great things to feel.”
