Finding your new career can be as simple as strapping on a virtual reality helmet, thanks to a Winnipeg-based new media startup company.

The Campfire Union specializes in e-learning using digital learning resources, games and virtual reality. Their latest creation is Tower Crane VR, designed with the Manitoba Construction Sector Council to help prospective students decide whether they’d be interested in a career as a crane operator.

“[Tower Crane VR] gives access to people who might not want to get into an actual crane right away,” says Rachael Hosein, Chief Creative Officer and co-founder of The Campfire Union. “They can try it out before making that investment in furthering their education

The Tower Crane simulator uses Oculus Rift, the world’s first consumer virtual realty helmet, and allows users to control the crane’s hook, trolley and rotation using a video game controller.

“One of the things we always say is, ‘Practice makes perfect.’ So with any sort of training instance, the closer you can get to reality, the better – taking someone through an experience where they react to a situation that’s as close to real life as possible.”

Luckily for Hosein, a 2009 grad of Red River College’s Digital Media Technology program (now called Digital Media Design), deciding what to study wasn’t difficult.

“I’ve always enjoyed combining art and technology. A friend of mine… suggested that I look into the DMT program. As soon as I read up on the program, I decided that I wanted to learn how to make games and applied.” Read More →

How many philosophers does it take to change a light bulb?

If the philosopher in question is Daniel Blaikie, the answer is one. Blaikie – the son of former Elmwood-Transcona MP Bill Blaikie – works as an electrician with McCaine Electric Ltd., but also holds a master’s degree in philosophy from Concordia University in Montreal.

Blaikie is a recent graduate of Red River College’s Pre-Employment Electrical program and is currently working towards completing the Electrical Apprenticeship program. The 30-year-old, who lives in Transcona with his wife Janelle and his 18-month-old son Robert, said the decision to move from philosophy to electricity was made in order to stay in Winnipeg.

“My wife and I decided we wanted to stay in Winnipeg and raise a family, so I needed to figure out something else, and I had actually started out in the Carpentry program [at RRC],” says Blaikie, who’d attended carpentry classes in 2006 and 2007.

“I wasn’t able to do the second half of that program, but it whet my appetite for the trades and I realized I like working with my hands, so when I was contemplating what else to do when we moved back to Winnipeg, the trades were high on the list. One of the great things about the trades right now is you can get paid to learn, and you’re learning something that other people value and are willing to pay for.” Read More →

She’s the director of community relations at the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN), and a proud member of Sandy Bay Ojibway First Nation.

But there was a time when Vera Houle kept her indigenous identity to herself.

Before graduating in 1991 from Red River College’s Aboriginal Journalism program, a Creative Communications spinoff funded by the province and Winnipeg Core Area Initiative, Houle faced discrimination from employers because of her background. She recalls traveling to Winnipeg for a job interview at a library.

“I thought (the interview) was really good but of course I put down my address as being on the reserve and during my interview I was informed I wouldn’t be competent due to drinking,” says Houle, 51.

Completely new to the city, Houle says she took “drinking” to mean water, pop or tea, inferring that there was some sort of danger of those liquids getting on the library books. That was until she returned to Sandy Bay and her grandfather set her straight.

“When he told me that I was really upset,” Houle says. “When I came back for another interview I did not admit I was Native. I did not say I was on the reserve, and when they asked me my nationality, I didn’t say anything. They said ‘Oh, Portuguese?’ and I’m like ‘yeah.’ I wound up getting a very good job at the Health Sciences Centre in payroll.”

“For many years I didn’t admit who I was. Then when I started working with ACFS (Anishinaabe Child and Family Services) and when this program (Aboriginal Journalism) came around, it was really easy to come forward and say, ‘Yes I am this, but here’s why I had to hide it – because society had labeled me before I had even opened my mouth.’” Read More →

Some might shy away from sewing their own wedding dress, especially if they’ve never made one before. Not Monica Jones.

“It was very stressful. I had actually never made a dress before – maybe that’s why I didn’t realize how hard it would be – so I just dove right in,” she says with a laugh. “It actually turned out pretty good but I needed a little help from my aunt who knows how to sew.”

It’s not that Jones had never sewn before – she’d been making purses for some time. It’s just that she’d never taken on such a large – and important – project.

Despite some initial hiccups, Jones – a saxophonist with a degree in jazz performance – quickly found she was hooked on sewing.

“I’ve always had an interest in the eye of design as well as auditory art, so I think it’s just that I’ve always been a bit of a multi-disciplinary artist,” she says.

Today, the Red River College Apparel Design grad has come a long way, recently launching a line of high-end leather handbags.

Called Barbara & Cecile (after Jones’ grandmothers), the line features high quality leather and hardware, and Jones even designs the printed textiles that line the purses. Read More →

Ever look at a major construction project and think, ‘I wonder who’s running the show?’ In the case of the new Health Sciences Centre Diagnostic Imaging complex, it’s Red River College grad Jorge Laba.

Laba is the HSC project’s Assistant Site Superintendent. He’s the guy that makes sure things are running smoothly, whether overseeing subcontractors, coordinating logistics, maintaining safety, recording payroll, documenting progress, or more. He enjoys being able to see a project’s many sides.

“My favourite part is having the freedom and flexibility to learn all the paperwork involved in a complex construction project, as well as the practical side by seeing what is on paper [being] built in real life,” he says. “It gives me the chance to leave the desk to walk around the job site and observe the subcontractors perform their associated works.”

Laba, 29, works for Bockstael Construction, the contractor for the $39-million Diagnostic Imaging project. When completed, the seven-storey building will house a full range of state-of-the-art imaging technology and include a rooftop helicopter landing pad.

He accepted the position with Bockstael even before graduating from RRC’s new Construction Management degree program earlier this year. The training ensured he was prepared for the job’s multifaceted nature.

“Training at RRC prepared me on a technical level – hard skills – and personal level – soft skills – both equally as important in a leadership role. I mastered blueprint reading and some of the complexity that comes with specific work of the trades on site.” Read More →

Five years into her nursing career, Stephanie Staples was burned out.

“I was trying to be everything for everybody and not asking for help. I had the superwoman cape on,” she says.

After graduating from the one-year Nursing program at Red River College in 1985, Staples worked as a geriatric nurse and opened her own in-home foot care business. As terrible as the burnout was, she made the best of it.

“It kind of became a catalyst because I changed my life and people started asking me what I was doing and how I was doing it.”

It was then that Staples began considering a career as – and underwent training to become – a life coach.

“I started helping other people live their lives happier and better and healthier. I started doing one-on-one coaching and then I started doing group coaching and then someone asked me whether I’d do a seminar. And then one day the Mayo Clinic called!”

Today, Staples works as a professional speaker and life coach, which she’s been doing full-time for about nine years. You might not think nursing and motivational speaking have a lot in common, but you’d be mistaken. It was nursing that set the foundation for her current career, as Staples predominantly speaks to those working in the healthcare field.

“People think what I’m doing now is so different, but it’s not. I went into nursing to help people and that’s exactly what I’m doing now. And I think the way I’m doing it now can help more people than nursing one-on-one. It was a pretty cool evolution.” Read More →

As a kid riding his bike through Assiniboine Park’s “monkey trails” and doing tricks on “Devil’s Dip”, Kevin Hunter would never have guessed he’d one day be in charge of singing the park’s praises to the world.

“Assiniboine Park and Zoo were both a huge part of my childhood,” says Hunter, the Director of Marketing & Community Engagement for the Assiniboine Park Conservancy (APC), which oversees Winnipeg’s historic park, including its zoo. “My friends and I would spend entire days here during the summer and, now that I have a family of my own, it means a lot to be part of making this place something really special for them and so many other families. I really feel I have the best job in the world.”

When Hunter joined four years ago, the APC had already begun working on its 10-year, $200-million redevelopment plan, launched in 2009 to expand and improve the zoo and other public spaces. He’s charged with promoting the park and these new initiatives, including the Assiniboine Park Zoo’s brand-new Journey to Churchill northern species exhibit which just opened earlier this month, featuring animals including polar bears, seals, wolves and snowy owls.

“So much of our role here is to create new and exciting things, which is a big part of what makes what I do so much fun,” he says. “The whole redevelopment of the park and zoo is really unbelievable, and it naturally played a big part in what attracted me to this position.” Read More →

“Simple food made good.”

That’s the motto of Laneil Smith, manager of the newly-opened Marion Street Eatery. Smith, 28, a graduate of Red River College’s Hospitality and Tourism Management program (2006), runs the St. Boniface restaurant with chef Melissa Hryb, a graduate of RRC’s Culinary Arts program (2005).

Located in the Marion Hotel (393 Marion St.), Marion Street Eatery offers such comfort foods as chicken pot pie, meat loaf, and mac ’n’ cheese, reasonably priced dishes that reflect the working-class clientele of the bar and the community it serves.

“We both said we want to do something that’s not pretentious, that’s down to earth, like a small town restaurant but done in a nicer fashion. A greasy spoon minus the grease,” says Hryb (shown above, at left), 28, who grew up in Niverville, Man.

“That’s what we were going for and I think that’s what we achieved. It’s very basic, very down to earth, but at the same time it has a little kick.”

Marion Street Eatery opened its doors in mid-February. Smith’s family owns the hotel and eatery space, which was formerly leased out to a Polish restaurant for 18 years. Smith started working for the family business six years ago, and said she had her eye on the space right from day one.

“I said to my parents ‘Whenever that space comes open, tell me first,’”says  Smith (shown at right). “It’s a beautiful space and I knew it had potential and I know that my heart is 100 per cent in restaurants and food. I knew if I could twist her (Hryb’s) rubber arm I’d have a pretty good chance of making a go at it.” Read More →

When cheerful and outgoing Juanita Fraser decided to switch careers to pursue information technology (IT), her friends were thrown a bit off guard.

“They were surprised, because IT is typically more introverted, you know ­– they put their heads down,” she says.

Fraser is anything but introverted. (Though it’s actually a common misconception that all IT staff prefer a quiet work environment.) She had spent a number of years as an elementary school teacher before realizing she was in the wrong career.

“One day I realized I didn’t have job satisfaction … it’s hard to realize that I spent six, seven, eight years of my life teaching, [and now I wanted] to want to make a career change,” she says. “I was lost. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do.”

A natural logician and problem solver, Fraser took a few aptitude tests to discover her options. The tests pointed her towards business analyst.

“It was funny because I was thinking back in Grade 9 or 10 you do [the aptitude tests], and I think business analyst came up, but no one knew what it meant so I never pursued it.”

She started researching programs, and when Red River College came up as the top result, she enrolled in the Computer Analyst program (now called Business Information Technology).

“I already had a degree and I spent four years doing that,” she says. “I didn’t want to take a Computer Science degree, so that was perfect.” Read More →

At 46, Barb Szpak decided it was time for a career change.

“I felt that things were getting too mundane, too monotonous. You need something just to challenge you, to keep your brain active and keep you wondering what’s out there.”

After spending 21 years working as a baker/cake decorator for the same company, deciding to give it all up wasn’t as difficult as you might think, especially since Szpak knew she’d be heading to Red River College.

“RRC was the only place that I wanted to attend, as I have always had great experiences in the past. I had been taking evening courses over many years, to challenge myself and keep my brain active.

“I decided to take some Accounting courses just to challenge myself because I hate math. So why not take the hardest thing, right?” she says with a laugh.

After deciding to head back to school full time, deciding what to take proved an easy choice.

“I went… looking through stuff and thought ‘[RRC’s] Administrative Assistant program has a bunch of different [courses] in there that I could use.’ And it was a shorter course so I knew that financially I wouldn’t be out of work for that long.”

She excitedly enrolled, but nonetheless started to doubt herself.

“I was nervous about making that change. I was nervous about my ability. Can I do it at my age? When you’re going into a classroom with a bunch of 20-year-olds – there might have been one 30-year-old in the whole class – and then me, the first day at orientation I was looking around the class thinking, ‘What did I get myself into?’”

But she soon formed great relationships with her classmates.

“They were wonderful. And they started looking to me for answers. It felt good that they were asking me for my opinion, asking me for help, even though I was learning just like they were. I became a mom figure for a few of them, I think,” she says with a laugh. Read More →