People of Carrier Drive

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From Jody Fisher to Olivia Dawn Barrow, they are a few examples of exceptional women who went against the grain and successfully thrive in a male-dominated industry.

Olivia, a Humber College welding technician, gave us an exclusive on her career path. She explains her career expedition went beyond finding a stable income for herself, but it was part of her self-discovery journey.

From being a model to a musician, Olivia tried different careers to find her life purpose. Olivia, who felt inspired by her welder dad and always being mechanically inclined, had decided to learn about trades. She took construction trades at George Brown, which led to her developing an interest in welding. She then attended Humber’s welding techniques program to further her training.

After graduating from the program, Olivia worked at different places and overcame obstacles associated with being a woman within the welding industry. She did it by focusing on honing her welding skills to produce the best results in her work. A memorable moment for Olivia was when she saw a truck owner’s happy expression after they saw how perfectly the fabricated extension she built fit on their truck. The moment eliminated her doubt about choosing the right career and motivated her to continue welding.

Olivia says that many women have reached out to her for guidance and to ask her to teach them how to weld. She says she 100 per cent would teach welding, but feels she is not yet experienced enough. This has been another memorable part of her career because of how many courageous women have reached out in hopes of pursuing welding.

Olivia kept in touch with Mark Goodacre, a Humber welding professor because she was always interested in working as a welding technician at Humber. She persistently emailed Mark every three to four months for two years until she secured this opportunity.

Her advice for future students is to “become comfortable with the uncomfortable.” She says we need to push through the uncomfortableness of learning new things and the fear of being judged to become successful in life and your career.