About Your Speaker
Nickie Lavoie
Boilermaker, Weld Instructor
Like many after high school, Nickie pursued post-secondary education despite not being confident in her path. Upon completing a year hospitality and realizing it was not her calling, Nickie enrolled in a 40-week welding course where she quickly fell in love with the trade.
In Sudbury at the time, however, securing work as a welder or boilermaker was difficult, so Nickie returned for another two years of college, this time in automotive. Unfortunately, this venture also proved unfruitful as Nickie graduated to work at a local shop for minimum wage. After 4 years of school and a mountain of student debt, Nickie started to lose hope, until she received a call from a boilermakers business rep back in her hometown of Sudbury telling her she'd been accepted into the union.
After promptly joining, Nickie has never once regretted her decision. Today, she not only excels as a boilermaker, but also finds great joy in being a welding instructor at her local in Sudbury, helping apprentices and passionate, young women overcome adversity to enter the trades.
The trades, Nickie believes, are the perfect place for women. With overtime compensation, benefits, a pension, and equal pay, there is no room to discriminate against women for doing the same work as men. Additionally, the trades are a pathway to various opportunities such as domestic and international travel so women can experience more than just the work they do.
