“A story of triumph over adversity”
Keeley Prockiw (Welder ’15) didn’t take any chances with her application to start on the path to apprenticeship. In 2010, she was on her own with her daughter and son, recently free of an abusive relationship, working a retail job that didn’t pay a living wage. For her kids and herself, she knew she had to make a change.
So, Prockiw picked up her pen and wrote until she ran out of space.
“My application was dripping in ink,” she recalls. Prockiw filled every line and margin, shocking the Women Building Futures staffer who reviewed it. “I wanted it so bad,” she says of a spot in the nonprofit’s trades education programming that led her to NAIT. “There wasn’t enough information I could give.”
Looking back now as a project coordinator at PCL, following more than a decade on the tools with specializations that include rappelling to welding jobs accessible only by rope, Prockiw keenly recalls that anxiety. What if that reviewer decided the trades wasn’t a place for her, denying her family a better life?
The stories of other women and underrepresented people in the skilled trades may not mirror Prockiw’s, but she knows there’s “a common thread.” As a frequent speaker at conferences and events, she shares her experience so that her audiences “know they’re not alone.” That theme will underpin the keynote Prockiw will deliver at NAIT’s Build Her Up skilled trades conference on March 5, a day of community building, inspiration and professional development.
Prockiw won’t deny the grim reality of self-doubt. But she’s also seen the rewards of perseverance, including financial security, travelling worldwide for work, and promotion. She wants others who’ve not traditionally considered careers in the skilled trades to see them too.
Strength in numbers
Prockiw’s keynote will be the first for Build Her Up, now in its second year at NAIT. While the day will feature 10 break-out sessions and a panel discussion for tradeswomen looking to advance their careers, adding the opening address struck co-organizer Laurel Tokuda (Electrician ’09) as an opportunity for something “more condensed and inspirational.”
Prockiw, whom Tokuda had heard speak previously, seemed perfect for that. In addition to being a grad, Prockiw is a recipient of the Spirit of NAIT award and a Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee Medal. Perhaps most importantly, however, “[hers] is a story of triumph over adversity,” says Tokuda, associate dean in the School of Construction and Building Sciences.
“She's a humble and authentic speaker, but very impactful.”
Part of that impact, Tokuda hopes, is to continue to push the proportion of women in the skilled trades. Current estimates for representation in Canada range from just 5% to 8%.
“My hope for the conference is that there will be people who are interested in the trades that will decide that, yes, that is in fact a career for them,” says Tokuda.
Prockiw also believes bringing people together is essential to the cause. “It’s strength in numbers,” she says. The impact is two-fold.
One is potentially establishing a new balance through presence. Despite progress in industry perspectives and policies, Prockiw’s previous experience on job sites has been that, for women, and members of the LGBTQ2SIA+ and racialized communities, “space isn’t just given to us.”
The other impact helps lessen the sense of loneliness. Greater numbers can mean having someone to talk to who shares an experience, understands, and can relate. “I think that’s one of the biggest things,” says Prockiw.
“What would my kids think of me?”
Among the many things her years in the trades have taught Prockiw, ranking high among the realizations is that success, while worth the wait, takes time and various types of effort.
It wasn’t easy for Prockiw to muster the courage to file that application. She faced the prospect of being out of work during the downturn in 2014 by upgrading her skill set. Throughout it all, she’s fought to set boundaries and has been open about working on her mental health.
“Quitting is so much easier,” Prockiw admits. “But then, what would my kids think of me?”
In a way, that aligns with her advice to those considering careers in the skilled trades. Prockiw sees underrepresented people in the field today as trailblazers. But she doesn’t believe that means bearing the burden alone.
Prockiw recommends focusing on the “micro level.” For her, the focus was her son, now a roofer, and her daughter, a piping non-destructive testing inspector who also has rope-access certification (making them the only mother-and-daughter rope-access technicians in the world). For both of her (now adult) children, she hopes her example has inspired their drive and work ethic, and them to value of healthy relationships and kindness.
“I knew that if I could change my life then that would change theirs,” says Prockiw. “That’s always the hope – that you better yourself enough that they see it and they better themselves.
“I think I've done that so far.”