Holiday Message 2012

Image Montage by Wo-Built: Warm Season’s Greetings by fireside with champagne

and evergreen trees from Wo-Built and PeapodLife Building EcoSystems and Technology
Image Credit: MS Office ClipArt: Season’s Greetings

Season’s Greetings from all of us at Wo-Built, Inc.

As we close out another year, we pause to remember everyone who made 2012 such an exciting and prosperous year for Wo-Built.

We worked on some fabulous projects and took major strides forward in our new strategic initiative, PeapodLife Building EcoSystems and Technology.

This year wasn’t without its challenges, but with the help, guidance, patronage and support of our Partners, Clients, Investors, Friends and Family, we came through stronger, wiser, and better prepared for the challenges ahead. Thank you one and all.

If 2012 was any indication, there will be many more people watching and wishing us success, if for no other reason than our social, environmental and economic mission is one they too believe in.

As we head into the New Year, we do so with a renewed sense of passion and commitment to the future of our Company, and all who stand beside and behind us. We will not let you down.

It is therefore with warm hearts that we wish one and all a Very Happy Festive Season and blessings for a prosperous and peaceful New Year.

From all of us to all of you, may you be happy; may you be joyful; may you be at peace.


Martina Ernst
President/CEO
Wo-Built Inc. - Innovative Design and Build
and the Entire Wo-Built & PeapodLife Team

Women & Philanthropy: Come together for a Great Cause!

Poster: 85 Broads Toronto Annual Fundraiser: Women & Philanthropy

Featuring Rosemary McCarney as this year’s Chief Guest and Keynote Speaker

Credit: Plan Canada

Women & Philanthropy
85 Broads - Toronto Annual Fundraiser

When: Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Time: 6:00pm until 8:00pm in EST

Venue: La Maquette
Address: 111 King Street EastToronto, Ontario M5C 1G6

Price: $30 in advance and $35 at the door
Special 85 Broads member advance price of $25.
Group rate of 10 tickets for $200.

TONIGHT: Celebrating Women & Philanthropy w/ Plan's Rosemary McCarney at La Maquette ow.ly/i/17FUb @85broadstoronto
— Plan Canada (@PlanCanada) November 13, 2012

Rosemary McCarney as this year’s annual fundraiser's Chief Guest and Keynote Speaker.

As President & CEO, Plan Canada, Rosemary will speak about her journey to success and share tips with the audience. She will also talk about the evolving relationship between women and philanthropy as women are becoming more financially independent. If you’re curious about philanthropy and want to learn more, this is the event for you!

This event is being held in partnership with Plan Canada and proceeds from the event will go to Banji and Misbah, two little girls our chapter is sponsoring through Plan Canada’s Because I am a Girl initiative.

Held at La Maquette, the Upscale French Restaurant at 111 King Street East.

Followed by optional Maquelicious gourmet dinner with speaker at La Maquette for $40 (special discount from the $50 prix fixe) with $2 for each dinner going to support Banji and Misbah.

This event is open to both men and women.

For more information contact:
email: 85BroadsTO@gmail.com
web: 85Broads.com Canada - Toronto Chapter
facebook: 85 Broads - Toronto Chapter
twitter: @85BroadsToronto

links:
huffingtonpost.ca: Empowered Girls Become Empowered Women
"By investing in girls- -- and by that I mean focusing our collective will, attention, and resources on their survival and development -- we can we support a generation of empowered women, mothers, workers and leaders who will improve the lives of everyone around them."
by Rosemary McCarney, President and CEO, Plan International Canada Inc.
Posted: 04/20/2012

linkedin: Women and Philanthropy

Career Buzz interview with Martina Ernst, President & CEO, Wo-Built Inc.: Part Four

CIUT 89.5 Show: Career Buzz Canada, Wednesday, 11-12 pm
Be inspired by ordinary people with extraordinary stories
who share the secret twists and turns in their own careers and lives.
Screenshot credit: ciut.fm/career-buzz

This is the last part of a transcript of Career Buzz interview with Martina Ernst, President & CEO, Wo-Built Inc. (Click here for part three.)

Martina Ernst interview on Career Buzz Canada with Mark Swartz



Part 4:
What were the biggest challenge you had to overcome when starting up your business?
How do you continue to integrate your social mission with your for profit objectives?
What triumphs have you experienced as an entrepreneur?
What advice would you give to a start-up entrepreneur?

Mark: Now, Martina, when you started up what would be the biggest challenge that you had to overcome? You have talked about two different messages that might be at odd - design/build and you have to bring women into the trades. What other challenge you have had to overcome because you have been in this business now for 5 years and most new businesses go belly up within a year or two, so did it past that critical stage?

Martina: Well, we are very lucky, in a sense that we were able to sustain it for that long. But we do have all the issues that any other start-up has, we have a cash flow issues, we have issues of how we get our message out there, how do we get clients, and because of what kind of projects we do. Our projects, the additions and extensions, start ranging from $100.000 and upwards, so it’s a big chunk of money you have to dedicate towards us and that is one of the challenges actually. You are a new start up and you are asking people pay all this money and there is a trust factor. Of course, with longevity, being in business for five years is helping a little bit. So, that all sorts of issues we had as a start-up company.

Mark: OK, today you are an ongoing and you are a thriving small business. How do you continue to integrate your social mission with your for profit objectives?

Martina: It has not changed – what we do as we grow our social mission grows with us. The idea is when we make a commitment to the social mission you don’t minimize it after you getting some traction on your business. You grow your social mission with you. You actually expend it, you make it bigger, and you change direction into another social mission which is possibly more in line with what you do as your profit sector.

Mark: Could you give us a quick example of how you have grown that social mission along with your for profit site?

Martina: Well, we are on a building site and on women in construction site, the more sites we have that can sustain women the more women we hire from the colleges.

Mark: Excellent. You do get your word out with the colleges as well? Do you liaise with them? Do you have some sort of arrangements at all or it just on informal basis?

Martina: Well, the colleges know about us, some of them do, and George Brown certainly does. We have a liaison with them on ongoing basis and when we do have the sites we contact to them. Yes, we are in contact with them.

Mark: OK, great. Now, in terms of being ongoing you must have been experienced a couple of triumphs in addition to your challenges. So, maybe you can share some of the good stories or good sites of what’s going on in terms of getting clients, bringing people in from to help mentor them. What can you think of?

Martina: For me, personally, because my background is architecture I just love to see things built. So, I always get a huge buzz when I actually see a product finished. But one of the most heartfelt things which happen was when somebody we mentored really expressed the gratitude to us and it was very heartwarming that we made of a little bit of difference in that woman’s live.

Mark: So, it is intrinsically rewarding as well as profitable for you.

Martina: Well, it has to be because being a social entrepreneur is the way of life. It is really comes from your heart off what you are doing. So you are sacrificing some profits towards that social mission. You are making choices.

Mark: Hopefully, not always so. I am sure that in some cases when the mission melt with the for profit site as you say it can grow in tandem in conjunction with each other and over time you get bigger slices of both.

Martina: Yes, that is true. All of this goes in conjunction with each other but you still make choices. You get bigger, you have bigger profit margin. How much of that do you dedicate towards your social mission? It is always a choice of what you do and you have to have a real commitment to that other site of your business.

Mark: OK, Martina, you are a veteran now of social entrepreneurship having lasted five difficult years. What advice would you give to a start-up entrepreneur; who want to be able to bring some sort of social goodness, some sort of cause into their business?

Martina: The most important thing is that your message, your social mission is in line with your business. Then you can push both things forward in the same way. One of hypothetical example of that would be, for example a panel manufacturer who wants to alleviate asthma in kids which might be cause through mould. This manufacturer can manufacture mould resistant panels. So, those two things are inline then. The mission of alleviating asthma though mould with what they manufacture. If anybody wants to start a company like this you have to really look into what are your messages, who is your target market, and are these things actually inline.

Mark: OK, that’s great information. You are listening a Career Buzz radio, Canada’s unique radio conversation which empowers lives and energizes organizations on CIUT 89.5 FM.

Career Buzz interview with Martina Ernst, President & CEO, Wo-Built Inc.
Part 1: What Wo-Built Is about?
Part 2: Challenges of Running a Business;
Part 3: What Peapod Life Is about?
Part 4: Social Entrepreneurship Is a Way of Life.

About Mark Swartz
Mark Swartz, MBA, M.Ed., is a leading Canadian speaker, Monster.ca National Career Coach and Columnist; author of best-seller Get Wired, You're Hired!, and CareerActivist. He may be reached by visiting careeractivist.com.

Career Buzz interview with Martina Ernst, President & CEO, Wo-Built Inc.: Part Three

CIUT 89.5 Show: Career Buzz Canada, Wednesday, 11-12 pm
Be inspired by ordinary people with extraordinary stories
who share the secret twists and turns in their own careers and lives.
Screenshot credit: ciut.fm/career-buzz

This is part three of a transcript of Career Buzz interview with Martina Ernst, President & CEO, Wo-Built Inc. (Click here for part two.)

Martina Ernst interview on Career Buzz Canada with Mark Swartz



Part 3:
What Peapod Life is about?

Mark: All right, in terms of your current business and you have mentioned that you are beginning to moving into this whole green sphere: the eco-building or building and design what is going to be an environmentally-friendly in sound. So, you have an initiative that you are working on right at this moment. I have gone to trade shows to visit you and I’ve seen you at your booth and you were whipping up a storm and chatting it, chatting it away. What about this initiative?

Martina: Well, we call it Peapod Life. And it a glass enclosure that is for both living and working and growing plants on a larger scale. So, you can do both live in it, you can work in it, and you can grow plants, and, we actually growing food plants in it, as well.
What we did over the last couple of years was to identify that there were other issues in society that needed help. One of them is food. We are always concerned about food. Yesterday, I was at an event which was hosted by FoodForward Toronto and people were talking about food shortages in Toronto, so that people cannot actually get fresh foods in some areas and so on. It just emphasizes that there is need out there for people to supplement their food sources.
We came up with the product that allows both living and growing off plants. We have solar cells to produce the energy to help run it, we have rain water recovery to help watering the plants, so it is more than just having an energy-neutral building. We are looking at having an energy-gaining and energy-producing building.

Mark: This is not simply adding a green house to your backyard. You are talking about building a living space – an extension to your existing home that allows you to be like a living room with plants and stuff growing in it. Is that essentially it?

Martina: Yes, that is exactly what it is. Because you cannot really live in your green house: it is not insulated enough, it has not the right ventilation, and you don’t have humidity control, so we have to integrate all these elements in it. And our social mission in that sense is a) to provide a different way of looking at buildings and b) to provide possibility of people having an alternative to their food sources.

Mark: That’s great. Just to remind to our listeners that I am speaking on Career Buzz Radio and I am chatting with Martina Ernst, a founder of Wo-Built, a women's build social entrepreneurial company for profit that not only designs and builds in this case some green space, additions to homes that their newest product but also helps to bring young women into the workforce within a construction trades, so - social mission and for profit.

Please click here for part four: Career Buzz interview with Martina Ernst, President & CEO, Wo-Built Inc.

Career Buzz interview with Martina Ernst, President & CEO, Wo-Built Inc.: Part Two

CIUT 89.5 Show: Career Buzz Canada, Wednesday, 11-12 pm
Be inspired by ordinary people with extraordinary stories
who share the secret twists and turns in their own careers and lives.
Screenshot credit: ciut.fm/career-buzz

This is part two of a transcript of Career Buzz interview with Martina Ernst, President & CEO, Wo-Built Inc. (Click here for part one.)

Martina Ernst interview on Career Buzz Canada with Mark Swartz



Part 2:
What are the challenges of running a business that also has a social mission?
How to get media exposure for your startup?
How to support your social mission?

Mark: Great. You say some of your people you have mentored have gone on to larger different experiences; do you think that you have infused into them the spirit of mission that they may carry on as well?

Martina: I think to a certain extent, maybe. I cannot talk for them but I am hoping that we have, because we think that social entrepreneurship, if you are talking to a smaller company like ours, is that our influence maybe like a pebble in the water when you throw it in, and maybe the ripple effect will actually bring a wider and wider and wider influence sphere.

Mark: It’s nice analogy. Now, you are running a business that also has a social mission that must be somewhat complicated because from time to time there, I am assuming, could have been some inconsistencies or challenges: you want to do right; you want to do the best thing for your people but at the same time you gotta make a buck. So, tell me a little bit about that.

Martina: We actually had many challenges over the last five years. One of them was that the economy was not very good so, what happen also was, because we actually had a training mission which was coupled with a construction company which is a building company, so we had two different messages. We had our training and mentoring message and we also had our building message. And to push both of them forward to the same extend was quite challenging because the two messages are not that much inline. We found that over time because our social mission of women in construction took off, it actually got a lot of PR and we had a lot of success with it in terms of that. Now we feel that it just runs on its own and we are getting more and more involved in green building. So now we have a new product which is an integrated green building mission in many ways, you can say.

Mark: OK, great. Let’s come back to the green portion of it in just a moment because it’s very topical and it is mission oriented. But you mentioned something earlier I think our listeners might want to hear especially if they are thinking about starting a business, social mission. You talked about getting PR, public relations, media exposure for the training of women in construction, and you said that got some traction. So, how that came about?

Martina: Well, actually, sometimes we approached people and told them about what we were doing and they got excited about it and they started writing about us or we, actually, got approach by them because they have heard of us and wanted to interview us. That is how we got the PR.

Mark: Tell me what kind of media exposure did you get at this point?

Martina: We were written up by The Toronto Star, at one stage; and we were mentioned in a couple of other articles, as well.

Mark: OK, great. At that point, did you push on it or really it was what’s coming in, and this is nice, but you were satisfied with the level of exposure?

Martina: That is an interesting question because hindsight is always 20/20, and I think we probably should have pushed a lot more then that what we did. We were just very, very pleased that people were writing about us and they wanted hear about us but, I think we did not actually push it enough.

Mark: OK, but for businesses that just starting out there are so many different aspects that you need to focus on, so, it’s understandable that once momentum begins in one area, likely, you are getting some publicity, you are taking your eye for a bit, you move on to the next thing, like you know, make me a few bucks.

Martina: Well, it was also coupled with the fact that the two messages were intertwined, so we also had to get our building message out because that’s really what makes us money and that is what actually supports our social mission. So we had to push on that a lot more than the social mission and somehow it got turn around.

Mark: As these things sometimes do.

Please click here for part three: Career Buzz interview with Martina Ernst, President & CEO, Wo-Built Inc.

Career Buzz interview with Martina Ernst, President & CEO, Wo-Built Inc.

CIUT 89.5 Show: Career Buzz Canada, Wednesday, 11-12 pm
Be inspired by ordinary people with extraordinary stories
who share the secret twists and turns in their own careers and lives.
Screenshot credit: ciut.fm/career-buzz

Recently, a good friend of mine, Mark Swartz, asked me to take part in his radio show Career Buzz as he wanted to do a segment on Social Entrepreneurship.

Mark has been a Career advisor for many years and his show provides information about possible career directions and choices.

I was very touched that he thought that I could contribute to the subject, but albeit a bit nervous as I usually don't call myself a social entrepreneur. But Mark managed to get some useful information out of me and I hope you will enjoy listening to the interview.

Many thanks to Mark Swartz for making this interview a success.

~ Martina Ernst

Martina Ernst interview on Career Buzz Canada with Mark Swartz




The following is the transcript of a recent Career Buzz interview with Martina Ernst, President & CEO, Wo-Built Inc., one of few female-led design and build companies in Toronto.

Part 1:
What Wo-Built is about?
How the company has a social entrepreneurship bend?
What kind of successes had Wo-Built had?

Mark: Welcome to Career Buzz - Canada’s unique radio conversation that empowers lives, riches careers and energizes organizations.

Hi, I am Mark Swartz, founder of Career Activist dot com, Canada’s free career website. Social entrepreneurship - what is it? Well, it’s basically entrepreneurship with a social mission: making money, while making a difference. Maybe you will start your own business but you want to inject the measure of social goodness still make a profit.

I have two fascinating young ladies with me this afternoon and they are going to talk about their experiences with social entrepreneurship. Coming up with the second half of this show I have Elisa Birnbaum. She has started a nationwide online magazine called seechangemagazine dot ca, and she features social entrepreneurship and small businesses, medium sized businesses from coast to coast who have been able to put together a viable business plan and an ongoing business while also injecting social mission.

But right now with us in the studio I have a wonderful individual and friend, her name Martina Ernst. Now, Martina started off a company called Wo-Built, and what is the designation at the end to the web-site?

Martina: It is dot com.

Mark: Martina has a background in design/build construction building and also she looks at the green side of the equation. So, welcome this morning, Martina.

Martina: Thanks Mark.

Mark: It’s great to have you here.

Martina: Thanks for inviting me.

Mark: Now, you have got some interesting things going on at your company and it’s called Wo-Built. But maybe you can tell me a little bit about what the company is about and how it has social entrepreneurship bend?

Martina: We are design and build contractor for residential market and also for small commercial projects. We specialize for residential market for additions, extensions, new build and on the commercial side we like to be involved with the alternative medical community and build offices for them.

Mark: OK, you say you build offices. What is that in tell?

Martina: Usually, it is interior renovations because these offices are in larger commercial buildings and we do fit-outs for them.

Mark: OK, now, Wo-Built is short for … what exactly?

Martina: It is short for ‘women build’ because the company is 100 percent women-owned. So, roughly about 6 years ago I met my business partner Elida Huignard and we actually met at a CAWIC, which is the Canadian Association of Women in Construction, it was their inauguration party. So, we got chatting and we were both pretty much taken by the number of women in construction we actually saw there. It’s still a rarity to see women in construction.

Mark: Certainly, in Canada, it is.

Martina: So, we identified that there is an opportunity there to actually help women in construction, and one of the things we said when we got chatting was why don’t we open up a construction company that helps mentor women. It was our social mission. We started Wo-Built with a social mission at its heart which was mentoring women in construction. We see ourselves as a little bit a stepping stone for them. We hire young women out of colleges. They want to go into the construction industry as trade’s women and we offer them a stepping stone on our sites to start off their careers there. So they have their first site experience and afterwards we hope they actually find a contractor which can give them an apprenticeship because we are not set up for that.

Mark: Great. Wo-Built is a social entrepreneurial business in design/build and you help young women get their feet into the whole area of construction building. What kind of successes had you had over because you have been in business for how long, Martina?

Martina: Just, over five years.

Mark: OK, what kinds of successes have come up over that time?

Martina: Well, we actually had a couple of women which we helped in our sites and since then they moved onto what we believed to a better thing – in construction. They actually started big careers and we were very happy to be able to be helpful to them to start off their careers. We felt that women actually had more difficulties to start careers as tradeswomen in construction because there might be a perceived disadvantage maybe in terms of strengths or skills, or so. We are helping them by giving them their first experience on site.

Please click here for part two: Career Buzz interview with Martina Ernst, President & CEO, Wo-Built Inc.

An Interview with Martina Ernst on Shannon Skinner's Extraordinary Women TV

Photo-collage: Extraordinary Women TV with Shannon Skinner
& Martina Ernst, President & CEO Wo-Built
Image Credits: ThatChannel.com on blip

Extraordinary Women with Shannon Skinner

Every Tuesday 10:00 am (live on ThatChannel.com): Extraordinary Women TV with Shannon Skinner is a weekly talk show featuring one-on-one conversation with successful women from all walks of life, Canadian and international, who share their extraordinary insights on how they made it. Shannon marries her media expertise with her coaching prowess to unlock the secrets of their success.

Last month, Martina was a guest on Extraordinary Women TV with Shannon Skinner sharing her extraordinary insights: "Have confidence in yourself; confidence in yourself to know that what you are doing is absolutely right and you have no doubt of it." If you are interested in a career in the building trades, in designing and constructing homes from a women perspective, or would you like to hear top success tips this interview is certainly for you.

Audio-only version:

Watch the interview for Extraordinary Women TV Show: Shannon Skinner talks with Martina Ernst:

Extraordinary Women TV with Shannon Skinner on Blip: Shannon Skinner interviews Martina Ernst on ExtraordinaryWomenTV.com Host Shannon Skinner sits down with Martina Ernst, President & CEO, Wo-Built Inc., one of few female-led design and build companies in the Greater Toronto Area.

About this series: Extraordinary Women TV with Shannon Skinner is a weekly talk show featuring successful women from all walks of life, Canadian and international, who share their dramatic and/or extraordinary insights on how they made it. Shannon marries her media expertise with her coaching prowess to unlock the secrets of their success. Tune in, see through a new pair of eyes – and be inspired. For updates, visit: www.ExtraordinaryWomenTV.com Check it out: Shannon posted on her blog Extraordinary Women TV on April 8, 2012

Martina Ernst builds people's dream homes. As president/CEO of Wo Built, a women-led design/build company in Toronto http://bit.ly/HoqZtk

Success Strategies for Women & Trades Follow-up

Flyer: Success Strategies for Women & Trades
An event to accelerate women’s employment in non-traditional trades
Hosted by Centennial College, Toronto, March 6, 2012
Credit: Women’s Access to Trades Network

Success Strategies for Women and Trades
Date: 3/6/2012
Time: 9:00 a.m to 4:00 p.m
Location: Centennial College, Ashtonbee Campus
Who should attend?
This event will benefit all those who want more women working in the non-traditional trades.
centennialcollege.ca

#womenintrades

Today I attended the MicroSkills Success Strategies for Women & Trades Forum presented by the Women’s Access to Trades Network, held at Centennial College.

The event began with two great introductory speeches by Kay Blair, Executive Director, MicroSkills, and Karen Webb, Chair, MicroSkills Board of Directors.

Ann Buller, President of Centennial College presented a warm and welcoming speech, looking at the future of women in trades.

In Gail Smyth’s (Skills Canada-Ontario) uplifting speech highlighted the tremendous opportunities for women if given the right information and opportunities to advance.

Skills Canada has an amazing amount of programs that will help young women choose the trades as a career. According to Skills Canada, “we need to engage and enlighten young women to take the risk and go into skills trades.” The trades deserve recognition as good career opportunities for women.

I was fortunate to be the facilitator at one of the break-out sessions where we discussed the way forward of encouraging and retaining women in the non-traditional trades. Lively discussions and sharing of experiences made for really great insights which were all captured and will be of great help when the next steps are taken.

After lunch, a Success Panel convened on Leadership, Collaboration, Commitment. Discussions included strategies for getting women in the trades, provincial women's access to trades network - dedicated to accelerating women's participation in the trades.

The College of Trades presentation was very interesting and for anyone interested, check-out: The Labour Market Group: Ontario College of Trades presentation.

Thank you MicroSkills and Centennial College for hosting a fantastic forum on women in trades!

For more information on the Success Strategies for Women and Trades Forum, checkout our previous blog on the topic.

Martina Ernst
President/CEO
Wo-Built Inc. - Innovative Design and Build

Doll House or Bawdy House? What Kind of Women is Society turning Little Girls into these days?

Collage: What Kind of Women is Society turning Little Girls into these days?
Images Credit: Microsoft Office Clipart: Girl painting toy house + MS 00018269

"Boys and girls in America have such a sad time together; sophistication demands that they submit to sex immediately without proper preliminary talk. Not courting talk - real straight talk about souls, for life is holy and every moment is precious."
- Jack Kerouac, American Poet and Novelist. Source: thinkexist.com

Today, I brought my childhood doll-house furniture collection into the office. Everyone eagerly crowded around, carefully emptied out the box of tiny little chairs, tables, wardrobes, kitchen cupboards and appliances, bathroom fixtures, even little books, magazines (all legible), and every conceivable household necessity in miniature. Many made from real wood.

Everyone was excited and we spent a good deal of time reminiscing and feeling like kids again. It almost brought a tear to my eye. I wish I could say it was a tear of happiness and joy, but I can’t. Here’s why…

Last week I watched a documentary entitled “Sext Up Kids” on CBC’s Doc Zone. Here’s a preview:

youtube.com: CBC Doc Zone: Sex't Up Kids- Preview
Uploaded by CBCtv on Feb 15, 2012

Watch the full documentary online here: CBC: Sext Up Kids

I know there’s a large contingent of women out there who are adamant that little girls shouldn’t be forced to play with doll houses and other gender-specific toys that impose old-fashioned ideas about gender roles in society and might skew impressionable young girls’ ideas about their future adult roles.

Fair enough, but what about “Bratz Big Babyz” or “Monster High” dolls’ thongs? Or “Struts,” the sexed-up pony featuring high-heels and handbags?

Collage: What “positive gender roles” are such toys encouraging little girls to embrace, exactly?
Images Credits: amazon.co.uk: Bratz Big Babyz + shapingyouth.org: Monster High Dolls +
essentialkids.com.au: New Struts dolls

What "positive gender roles" are such toys encouraging little girls to embrace, exactly? What about lines of lingerie being marketed to ever-younger audiences, as young as 7-12 years of age? What ever happened to letting children be children and not rushing them into a life they cannot begin to understand, let alone cope with: mentally, emotionally, and/or physically?

Many women find coping with issues around self-image, healthy sexuality, gender roles and men’s expectations, relationships, and all the messy stuff around sex challenging. Even as adults we find it difficult to handle the onslaught of ever-more risqué ads depicting grown women as sex objects.

Wo-Built is a woman-owned contractor in the Greater Toronto Area. We started this company with a social mission which included encouraging and supporting women in the trades. We know the issues around gender roles, self-image, what is “sexy” and what makes “a real woman.”

I grew up playing with my doll house and have fond, loving memories of my childhood years playing house. Now, I run a construction company that is innovating a revolutionary new way to live off-grid in the 21st Century. We will be launching this innovation at the National Home Show. No “booth babes.”

But then, I had a proper childhood. I never had to contend with marketers apparently hell-bent on rushing me into a thong and onto the couch of some pimply-faced boy playing “monkey see, monkey do.” Not having any idea what they are doing. No notion how much their actions will come back to haunt them as an adult. A pop culture seemingly indifferent … a “porn culture,” indeed.

In fact, we created Wobinna as a direct answer to the “oversexed teens and tweens” phenomenon. Here’s what Wobinna did when she needed “a doll house” as a little girl …

Comic Strip: Wobinna & Friends: Wobinna Built a Fabulous Doll House
Illustrations and story by Dawn Palfreyman
Copyright 2012 © Wo-Built Inc.

And here’s what Wobinna and Friends “do” with “empty apartments and spaces” as teens …

Comic Strip: WoBinna and Friends: A Home Reno: The Final Reveal Panorama
Illustrations and story by Dawn Palfreyman
Copyright 2012 © Wo-Built Inc.

Martina Ernst
President/CEO
Wo-Built Inc. - Innovative Design and Build

Success Strategies for Women and Trades: Forum

Comic Strip: Wobinna & Friends: The Joys of Shop Class!
Illustrations and story by Dawn Palfreyman
2012 © wobuilt.com

Save the date
March 6, 2012
Women Trade Forum
An event for those who want more strategies to accelerate women’s employment in non-traditional trades.

Success Strategies for Women and Trades

Showcasing and enhancing best practices
Illuminating ideas to accelerate change

Date: Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Time: 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Location: Centennial College, Ashtonbee Campus
75 Ashtonbee Rd., Toronto, ON, M1L 4N4

Coordinated by the Women’s Access to Trades Network**, and hosted by Centennial College, with support from the Province of Ontario and Canadian Women’s Foundation.

Who should attend?
This event will benefit all those who want more women working in the non-traditional trades:

• Employers seeking more women and skilled workers
• Labour groups looking to include more women in trades and apprenticeship
• Tradeswomen looking for more compatible workplace
• Groups accountable for equity, diversity, labour force development, productivity, poverty reduction
• Colleges, training centres looking to increase women in trades programs
• Secondary schools seeking more career options for girls
• Women looking for better paid jobs

What will the day offer?

• Success strategies in recruiting, training and employment
• Conditions for success -what we need to do more of
• Opportunity to envision what needs to change for more change to occur
• Update on status of College of Trades
• Emerging opportunities for change – a provincial women’s access to trades network

Why are we doing this now?

• Advancement on this issue is still a work in progress
• The demand for skilled trades’ workers is increasing
• We need to collaborate, link up and scale up in order to achieve a critical mass of women in trades
• Women need access to the full range of well paid jobs. It’s in our social contract.

Women’s access to trades is about…
women’s equitable participation in the economy.

• And reducing child poverty.
• And improving labour force development.
• And increasing productivity in a global economy.

**The Women’s Access to Trades Network is a collaboration of organizations dedicated to accelerating women’s participation in non-traditional trades to increase women’s access to good jobs and decrease their risk of poverty. Members include MicroSkills, On Track Career and Employment Services, The Centre for Skills Development and Training, George Brown College, YWCA, South Asian Women’s Rights Organization, Centennial College, Canadian Association of Women in Construction, IBEW Local 153 Women’s Committee, Skills for Change.

links:
about.com: Non-Traditional Employment for Women: Chipping Away At the Glass Ceiling
By Dawn Rosenberg McKay, About.com Guide

WIL National Mentorship Program: 2012 · Vancouver · Toronto · Montreal: Toronto Mentorship Program Application Packages

itabc.ca: The British Columbia Industry Training Authority: : Women in Construction Trades: A Strategic Plan to Promote Women
Prepared by The Women in Leadership Foundation, WIL, November 16, 2007

alis.alberta.ca: Career Planning - Education - Jobs: Women in Non-Traditional Occupations: Stories to Inspire

swc-cfc.gc.ca: Status of Women Canada: Statistics: Women in Canada 2010-2011 - A Gender-based Statistical Report

statcan.gc.ca: Statistics Canada: Women in Non-traditional Occupations and Fields of Study
"As was the case for occupation, women have made fewer inroads into non-traditional fields of study in the trades. The top five trades in which men had earned a trades certificate accounted for 79% of men in the trades in 2006. In these top-five male-dominated trades, women accounted for 2% of those with trades certificates in mechanics and repairers and in construction trades; for 3% of certificates in the precision production trades; for 7%, in transportation and materials moving; and for 10%, in engineering technology."
by Kathryn McMullen, Jason Gilmore and Christel Le Petit

employmentjourney.com: Women in non-traditional trades and technology: raising awareness
"Trade HERizons is a program coordinated by Women’s Network PEI. The aim is to encourage women to consider a career in trades and give women the support needed to make that transition."
by Gloria Welton

thecentre.on.ca: Local skilled trades training program helps women achieve their dreams
by mcdonaldm

skillsontario.com: “Women in Non-Traditional Roles – Putting Our Skills to Work”
Putting Our Skills to Work - Women Working in the Skilled Trades and Technologies

theglasshammer.com: The Glass Hammer is an online community designed for women executives in financial services, law and business.

wobuilt.com: Community: Mentoring: The Wo-Built Career Advancement Program
Our mission is to help women enter and succeed in the skilled trades. We hope to open more doors and provide more opportunities for women who strive for a career in the building/finishing trades.

wobuilt.com/blog: Helping Women in the Building Trades

Helping Women in the Building Trades

Want to have a career in the finishing trades?
Interested? This could be you...
2011 @ wobuilt.com

"What could be better than providing a necessary building while helping women to build a future for themselves."
Martina Ernst

Our bulletins – Wo-Built's recent involvements in helping women in the trades.

March 2012 Forum for Women in the Trades and New Network of Women in the Trades

Toronto, November 15, 2011 - Wo-Built Inc, represented by Elida Huignard, Vice President of Training, participated in the November meeting to organize the March 2012 Forum for Women in the Trades.

Skills for Change invites the participation of several Ontario Building Trades Unions like the Sisters in the Trades from IBEW353; and professionals associations like CAWIC (Canadian Association of Women in Construction); colleges like George Brown, Centennial, The Centre for Skills Development & Training; the Ontario Works Apprenticeship Committee, SAWRO, the YWCA and On-Track for Women.

Skills for Change and all the above organizations will coordinate the forum where the launch of the Provincial Network of Women in the Trades will be announced, for which Skills for Change has obtained three year funding.

Wo-Built Inc, a private contractor that promotes the training of more women in the trades salutes the initiative and will participate enthusiastically in its development.

Meeting with Sisters in the Trades, at the IBEW353

Toronto, November 16, 2011 - Wo-Built Inc, represented by Elida Huignard, Vice-president of Training, Jane Wilson and Rebecca Anderson from Skills for Change participated in the informative meeting with the Sisters in the Trades at the Electricians IBEW 353 Union Hall.

Skills for Change, who provide learning and training opportunities for immigrants and refugees, requested the participation of the Sisters at the planned March Forum of Women’s Access to Trades. They also inquired about any issues the Sisters see important to be discussed at the Forum.

The Sisters, a lively group of trades’ women consisting of Journeymen (that are women) and apprentices; many which contributed with important insights in the life of women in the trades. These issues will open many venues of discussion at the Forum.

The Sisters in the Trades is a young organization which is attracting women from several Union Halls: electricians, plumbers, painters and carpenters, united to defend the rights of women in the trades.

links:
microskills.ca: Microskills Annual Report 2011 Highlights: Trades and Technology: Women’s Access to Trades Network
"We launched a Women’s Access to Trades Network, in partnership with several organizations and individuals dedicated to assisting women to get good jobs in the trades. The Women’s Access to Trades Network hosted a "Women in Trades Forum" where more than 80 stakeholders offered recommendations in a report that highlights the need for more leadership and commitment to greater opportunities for women to access employment in the trades. A copy of this report is available on our website. As part of the planning committee for a Youth Trades Fair sponsored by Career Foundation, we designed a very successful Women in Trades Corner aimed at teenage girls."

cawic.ca: Women’s Access to Trades? Not Even Close! A One-day Forum for Accelerating Change
An invitation by MicroSkills Women Services and several collaborators to review women's progress in the trades and ways to increase women's access and success. Fort York, 250 Fort York Blvd. Toronto, November 25th, 2010

wittnn.com: Women in Trades & Technology National Network (WITT NN)
WITT National Network (WITT NN) is an education and advocacy organization dedicated to promoting and assisting in the recruitment, training and retention of women in trades, technology, operations and blue collar work (TTO/BCW) across Canada.

wobuilt.com/blog: Fulfill Your Dreams, and Have a Great Career in the Trades

wobuilt.com/blog: Building Homes - Leading Women into Construction

wobuilt.com/blog: Career Possibilities for Women in the Building and Construction Trades

competencescanada.com: Skills / Compétences Canada (S/CC) is a national, not-for-profit organization that works with employers, educators, labour groups and governments to promote skilled trades and technology careers among Canadian youth.

skillsontario.com: Skills Canada - Ontario is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting the skilled trades and technologies as viable, first-choice career options for Ontario youth.

skillsontario.com: The Ontario Technological Skills Competition & Career Exploration Showcase
1900 Competitors, 30,000+ Spectators, 60+ skilled trade contest areas, Over 325,000 square feet, Elementary, Secondary and Post-Secondary Students
Monday, April 30 and Tuesday, May 1, 2012, Waterloo, ON

skillsontario.com: The Ontario Technological Skills Competition & “Think Skills…Think Future!” Young Women’s Conferences
Mentor Registration: A mentor is a woman who works, trains or teaches in a skilled trade or technology field and is willing to share her positive career experiences with the student participants through informal networking activities.

A Message from the CEO: What Guides Us

CEO Message: We will be able to serve you, our clients,
and the community even better than before.
2011 @ wobuilt.com

Taking all the experiences we got over the last five years, ... we will be able to serve you and the community even better than before.

The Exhibition just started again, signaling the end of summer. The great weather over the summer allowed me to visit our great patios in Corso Italia and, since I am not actively involved in the day to day running of projects, reflect on the last five years. Yes, Wo-Built is almost 5 years old.

Like any start-up company we had our ups and downs, but what fantastic ups we had.

• Our addition projects: the Classic, the Ranch, the Tower, the Lodge, each is unique in their own way.
• Our social mission: helping women in construction and the trades.
• Our anime: WoBinna.
• Our community involvement: Corso Italia.

But as any start-up company we also had a huge learning curve over the last 5 years, especially since we based our company on a social mission. I am still convinced that for profit companies should have a social mission as the core. (In the same way that I believe any not-for-profit organization should have for-profit programs to offset some of the peaks and troughs of operation brought on by the uncertainty of funding.)

Over the last 5 years we have added to our original mission to help women in construction. Community, Green Building and Eco Consciousness now play a large role in our company. Hence, to give our original mission the attention it deserves, we are now going to form our own not-for-profit to help women in construction.

One of the other areas of change is our operation. Even though we had rewarding smaller projects in the past, we are now going to concentrate on larger projects, due to our change in organization structure. Our former president Elida Huignard has kindly agreed to head the not-for-profit organization and is therefore stepping back from the day-to-day running of projects, which she did so amazingly over the last years. In the future our projects will be run by project management consultants who are committed to our high standards of ethics, construction expertise and excellence.

One of the corner stones of our operation is transparency in both our financial and operational dealings. We have now decided to be even more transparent, and we will be embarking on a multi-year project of producing our own Best Practices Manuals.

In the past we said that we wanted to be the best builder while doing good, we still maintain this for the future. Taking all the experiences we got over the last five years, implementing the elements discussed above and we will be able to serve you and the community even better than before.

But first let’s enjoy the rest of the summer.

Martina Ernst
President/CEO
Wo-Built Inc. - Innovative Design and Build

links:
wobuilt.com/blog: What Is Special About Our Design And Built Construction Company?

wobuilt.com/blog: Our Achievement Lunch

Fulfill Your Dreams, and Have a Great Career in the Trades

Poster: Women Transitioning to Trades
Moving On celebration
Friday May 7, 2010
5 - 5:45 Food and reconnect
5:45 - 6:30 Guest spakers & video
Georgina Quartaro - Dean, School of Work and College Preparation
Elida Huignard & Martina Ernst - Wo-Built Inc.
Dee Smith - Home Improvement Technology & Services
Nadine Sookermany - Parkdale Project READ
Dixon Hall Video
6:30 - 7:00 Gifts and Thank Yous
Credit: georgebrown.ca

Women Transitioning to Trades is a George Brown College program (funded by the Ontario Women’s Directorate) that is designed to make the skilled trades and technician training accessible to women who are looking for safety, support, independence and control in their lives.

This program works with you to help you identify and assess your skills and career goals as well as the skills and training required for a wide variety of skilled trades.

If you are interested in exploring the world of trades - this is a fantastic program.
Women Transitioning to Trades Program

We were looking through some older files and came across an event last year we were invited to speak: George Brown's Women Transitioning to Trades.

We hope many of the young ladies from that course were able to fulfill their dreams to have a career in the trades.

We wish them all the best and much success.

Martina Ernst
President/CEO
Wo-Built Inc. - Innovative Design and Build

Our Anime PR Avatar WoBinna First Anniversary

Collage: Our Anime WoBinna Is Turning One
2011 @ wobuilt.com

WoBinna and Friends – Happy Birthday - Our anime is turning one.

It has been a year since WoBinna and her friends came onto the scene and helped us to promote Wo-Built’s mission of encouraging young women to consider the building trades as a career. We had great fun bringing you stories where WoBinna shares her design and building experiences and her love for the building trades.

WoBinna is based on the collective experiences of the Wo-Built team, our experiences on site and life, even our aspirations when we were children.

My own personal favourites are: “A fabulous doll house” and the follow-up “A star is built”, “A summer job project like no other” , and "Class assignment" with a petroleum pelican getting the green message out.

Enjoy!!!! For more stories: wobinna.blogspot.com and wobuilt.blogspot.com

We wanted WoBinna’s stories to be humorous and interesting to encourage debate about the trades amongst young people and hopefully plant a seed to consider the building trades an alternative career. The building trades face a crisis in the next few years as more and more qualified trades people will retire. The industry has not managed to inspire a lot of interest in young people to do apprenticeships and WoBinna is our attempt to engage them in discussions.

I grew up with sophisticated comics, such as Asterix and Obelix by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo; and I have always liked animation. When I first envisaged WoBinna three years ago I had an Archibald "Archie" Andrews’ look and feel in mind, created by Vic Bloom and Bob Montana; mainly because this comic deals with teenagers. But recently I have been intrigued by the Japanese based manga style and I believe WoBinna would do well in this genre. Much more hip and fun, more contemporary. So look out for a change in WoBinna again - another make over is on the way.

We want to spread the news about WoBinna much more than we have and we need your help!!! We invite everyone to share WoBinna’s stories with their friends, schools and anyone who would like to start career discussions with young people. Or just share the stories, because you love them.

Martina Ernst
Wo-Built Inc. - Innovative Design and Build

Young Blond Female Anime Avatar
Credit: MS Office Clipart - MC900440373

Links to some other WoBinna & Friends comic strips:
Wobinna and Friends: Built a Fabulous Lemonade Stand
Wobinna and Friends: The Joys of Shop Class!
A Home Reno: Inspired by Piet Mondrian
A Home Reno: Finishing Touches

Promoting Young Women

Collage: Women in Information Technology Management
Networking Night, Ryerson University, March 23, 2011
Credit: Women in ITM

Yesterday I was invited to a networking night arranged by Women in Information Technology Management at the Ted Rogers School of Management. The purpose was to introduce female students to networking. The challenges women face in IT are not dissimilar to that in Construction and we are happy to help women where we can. Both fields are still seen as non-traditional for women. But the meeting gave me a lot of hope that times are changing as many of the young women seemed determined to make their careers in the field.

Another sign that times are changing: today an article in the Toronto Star – A whirlwind tour of the trades – describes the new construction trades techniques program at George Brown College which attracted two ladies who wanted to make their careers in the trades, but had not made up their minds to which trade.

At Wo-Built we are encouraged by these signs as they bode well for the future. The more women will be trained by the schools the more will stay the course and become experienced and well educated professionals who in turn will be role models for future generations.

I also believe that both the IT and the Construction Industry have to play an important part in promoting these young women. In the case of the construction industry employers have to be willing to break through the preconceived ideas and hire these young women on the strength of their performance during their schooling. In the construction industry we will face a rapid trades shortage in the next few years as the older generation will retire.

For many years the industry did not have to implement widespread apprenticeship programs and make the commitment of systematically training the new generation. This will need to change if a disruption in the quality and skill level of the trades is to be avoided. As the trades have difficulties attracting boys as well, courting young women may be the answer to the problem.

At Wo-Built we see ourselves as a stepping stone in young women’s careers, giving them the first on-site experience at our larger construction sites. During the building of additions and larger renovations they help and observe many of the trades and get hands on experience.

In the IT industry women may not face the same physical dimension as in construction, but what I glimpsed yesterday they also face challenges. What I can say to women in both industries: find something you love doing and own it.

Martina Ernst
Wo-Built Inc. - Innovative Design and Build

You would also be interested to read:
Wo-Built: Celebrating International Women’s Day - Encouraging Women in Construction

Wo-Built: A Great Evening Celebrating CAWIC's (Canadian Women in Construction) 5th Anniversary

Wo-Built: Wo-Built Is Talking to George Brown about Training Courses for Women in the Finishing Trades

Share Your Thoughts: Why do so few women choose the skilled trades as a career?

Entering the Next Phase of Our Brand: Boutique, Green, Commercial Contractors

Wo-Built - Building the Next Phase of the Brand
2011 @ wobuilt.com

When we started the business all we had was the name: Wo-Built (short for women built) and the determination to help women in the construction industry.

Note to anyone considering names for businesses: The letter 'W' will always list towards at the bottom of directories. Next time we will start with an 'A' in front somehow.

We had no marketing material, no logo, not even a clear idea of a tag line, but we had to get out there and start hitting the drums. No projects – no mentoring. So we produced quickly simple business cards from a template and a couple of months later bought a logo idea from a website which we incorporated.

The tag lines the vision builder was created and, of course, renovations with a woman’s touch. After a few months we developed the logo figure which we lovingly named WoBinna. Later WoBinna became the name of our anime.

The logo embodied what we were about, a women run company building our clients’ visions for their homes and commercial spaces and building our social missions for women and the community. When we first started we were aiming for renovation work to be able to employ women. As the company is 100% women owned the tag line 'renovations with a woman’s touch' was appropriate.

Fast forward 3 years and the brand has gained in depth. We should have realized that with both Elida’s and mine extensive experience with large projects, building home additions would be natural. Also with both of our design backgrounds aiming for interesting designs is a given. Hence, Wo-Built is becoming a boutique design and build company which aims to produce interesting projects for our clients, both residential and commercial. We are still committed to helping women in construction, but we are also committed to green. We are entering the next phase, the niche growing phase.

Over the next few months we will revisit our logo and the taglines to see how the new phase can be visualized and still incorporate our original values. Luckily our corporate colour is already green.

Martina Ernst
CEO
Wo-Built Inc. - Innovative Design and Build