Janet Maik hadn’t so much as thought of going back to school until the day her high school-aged daughter refused her own post-secondary education.

“My husband and I had been saving for our daughter’s education for years, so when she told us she didn’t plan on going to school, we were really unhappy. When we told her she needed to go to college, she replied, ‘Why? You guys never did!’ Those words really hit home.”

Although Janet had been happily employed by Safeway for over thirty years, she was determined to show her daughter how education could improve a person’s station in life. So, Janet resigned from work.

“It wasn’t a popular decision in my home. After all, I was forty-eight years old. My daughter kept saying, ‘Mom, you’re not going to do this!’” Janet recalls. “But I did it. I researched, got in touch with the organization Women Building Futures, and realised the electrical trade would be the best fit for me.”

Janet applied at many trade schools, but her application was repeatedly denied because it was submitted too close to registration deadlines. At the last minute, Janet discovered Northern Lakes College and was thrilled to hear they would do whatever they could to help her.

“My husband and I live in Edmonton, so it was a three-hour drive for me to get to the Slave Lake Campus to register and pay for classes. The earliest I could get there was the Saturday before classes started but they said that they would make it work. When I arrived at campus that morning the school was closed, but they had instructed a security guard to help me process payment and register for the program! He also showed me around student housing and helped me get set up in my dorm room.”

Within only a few days, Janet was certain she had made the right choice. She was impressed by the quality of education and found herself engaged during every lab. She also loved the way her instructors encouraged her to follow her curiosity.

“I’ve noticed while mentoring new apprentices that some schools seem to steer students only to answer test questions correctly, but what good is that? I always ask these apprentices, ‘Don’t you want to know how to fix things? How things work?’ Some schools will even have only one student perform a lab while the other students watch and take notes. Not at NLC. At NLC, everyone gets hands-on practice.”

Armed with advanced education, Janet confidently asserted her place within the male-dominated industry, earning the name ‘Mama J” from guys on her crew. That’s not to say she was welcomed with open arms, however.  

“I’d been working for a few years when, after introducing myself at orientation one morning, a new crewmember piped up, ‘Don’t put me with her.’ It was a joke at my expense, and the young guy rolled his eyes as he said it. Well, that was the worst move he could have made, because I insisted the foreman put him with me from then on. The first day, he was really quiet, but then he started to realize there was a lot he could learn from me. Well, now it’s been a couple years down the road and that kid still texts me weekly. He often requests me personally when we end up on the same work site.”

Janet has a wealth of advice to offer other women in the trades. “First, take care of your body – it’s the most valuable tool you have. I’ve seen it again and again: women who take care of themselves can work circles around men who don’t. So, dress for the weather, eat well, get exercise, see your doctor. Next, shoot for the stars. You can do whatever you want. There are so many more options for women than just minimum wage jobs. Get a trade and see how good it feels to be paid like a man. Last of all, fight your way in. It takes time, but you just have to stick it out because you deserve to be on that worksite as much as any man.”

But Janet isn’t just a role model for women in the skilled trades. Her determination, confidence, and can-do spirit proved inspirational for the most important young woman in Janet’s own life. Now an adult, Janet’s daughter has a vibrant career in human resources – a prospect only made possible by advanced education.

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