For a time, Rachel Wagner could barely endure the shame
she felt hitchhiking nearly 100 kilometres almost every day with a
50-pound bag of carpentry tools strapped to her back.
For
the past five years, Rachel Wagner has been Art MacKinnon's trusted
sidekick. The garage shown in the background is just one of the projects
that they have conquered together. (ANDREW RANKIN / Local Xpress)
For a time, Rachel Wagner could barely endure the shame she
felt hitchhiking nearly 100 kilometres almost every day with a 50-pound
bag of carpentry tools strapped to her back.
With rare exception, the 27-year-old carpenter and single mother of two children has made the round trip, thumbing a ride from her home in Louisbourg to Sydney and back again, nearly every weekday for the last seven years.
In the beginning, Wagner was looking for a way out of dead-end jobs. Carpentry appeared to be the most practical option. With no prior experience, she enrolled in a two-year construction course at Nova Scotia Community College's Marconi campus in Sydney. The money she had left over from her employment insurance benefits went to paying for a babysitter.
She graduated. And for the past five years, she's been Art MacKinnon's most dependable employee, his right-hand woman. Together they have worked from one end of the island to the other, teaming up on projects big and small, from deck and roof construction jobs to an assortment of home renovations in between.
She continues to hitchhike to work and back at least six times a week. But it now serves as a point of pride, symbolizing how far she has come.
"I was embarrassed," said Wagner, while she and MacKinnon were finishing up at a job site in Sydney on Saturday morning.
"Hitting that road was embarrassing. I was in my early 20s and I was embarrassed that I had to do it. But people have taken their hats off to me. They say, 'You have two kids at home and you're willing to do this for a living.' That makes me proud. It went from being an embarrassment to a sense of pride."
Wagner knows she's come a long way. Not long ago she was a junior high school dropout and a mother of two babies at the age of 18. Nothing has been handed to her.
She's thankful for MacKinnon's guidance. The owner of MacKinnon and Whyte Construction Ltd. was willing to give Wagner an opportunity to prove herself, when no one else would.
"He's taught me everything I know. I went to a few crews after graduating and they never gave me a shot, never looked at me twice.
"Another guy told me to hitchhike in to Sydney to meet him, and he didn't show up. That same day I called Art and and he gave me a shot."
Wagner can recall her first day on the job, the scariest day of her life, she admits.
"I'm thinking I'm going to spend every day with these guys, and I'm going to have to put them in their place," she said with a laugh.
MacKinnon has not regretted the hire. In fact, they have become quite the duo, enduring the elements year-round together.
"When she first called I thought, everybody needs a chance and I said, 'What the hell,' " recalled MacKinnon. "I remember thinking she's not the biggest girl in the world. I thought, 'Geez, are you going to be able to do this kind of job?' But she surprised me.
"She's smart and has the right attitude. She does everything I do and she's still here after five years."
It hasn't been a cakewalk. Apart from the physical rigours of the job, Wagner has confronted the odd sexist remark, but she never shies away from standing up for herself.
"You talk to me for five minutes and you'll see I fit on the site. You can't have a weak spine. You have to put the guys in their place if they say something inappropriate."
MacKinnon knew from the start Wagner would be no pushover. He's witnessed her overcome the obstacles, allowing her work to speak for itself.
"We did this roof job in the middle of the winter in Ashby, and I recall us walking into the yard and this older guy says, 'Where's the rest of you at?' He said, 'Well you're just a girl and he's only one man.' She didn't like that too much. But we did the job and at the end he apologized."
Wagner has found her dream job. Every day presents a new challenge.
"There's no greater feeling than going to a big, old ugly house, redoing it top to bottom and standing back and saying, 'I did that.'
"We've done 10 decks since I've started with Art and I could go and frame up a deck and level it off, all that stuff. But when it gets to the stairs, I still feel I need more training. That will come."
She plans to purchase a new vehicle in the near future, but she's in no real rush. Hitchhiking still seems like the most practical option at the moment.
"I'm proud of where I landed," said Wagner. "I had my daughter at 15 and I had my son at 18. The cards looked like they were against me. I didn't really have anywhere to go. I fought to go to high school, I fought to go to college and I fought for my job. I landed on a pretty good side of things".
With rare exception, the 27-year-old carpenter and single mother of two children has made the round trip, thumbing a ride from her home in Louisbourg to Sydney and back again, nearly every weekday for the last seven years.
In the beginning, Wagner was looking for a way out of dead-end jobs. Carpentry appeared to be the most practical option. With no prior experience, she enrolled in a two-year construction course at Nova Scotia Community College's Marconi campus in Sydney. The money she had left over from her employment insurance benefits went to paying for a babysitter.
She graduated. And for the past five years, she's been Art MacKinnon's most dependable employee, his right-hand woman. Together they have worked from one end of the island to the other, teaming up on projects big and small, from deck and roof construction jobs to an assortment of home renovations in between.
She continues to hitchhike to work and back at least six times a week. But it now serves as a point of pride, symbolizing how far she has come.
"I was embarrassed," said Wagner, while she and MacKinnon were finishing up at a job site in Sydney on Saturday morning.
"Hitting that road was embarrassing. I was in my early 20s and I was embarrassed that I had to do it. But people have taken their hats off to me. They say, 'You have two kids at home and you're willing to do this for a living.' That makes me proud. It went from being an embarrassment to a sense of pride."
Wagner knows she's come a long way. Not long ago she was a junior high school dropout and a mother of two babies at the age of 18. Nothing has been handed to her.
She's thankful for MacKinnon's guidance. The owner of MacKinnon and Whyte Construction Ltd. was willing to give Wagner an opportunity to prove herself, when no one else would.
"He's taught me everything I know. I went to a few crews after graduating and they never gave me a shot, never looked at me twice.
"Another guy told me to hitchhike in to Sydney to meet him, and he didn't show up. That same day I called Art and and he gave me a shot."
Wagner can recall her first day on the job, the scariest day of her life, she admits.
"I'm thinking I'm going to spend every day with these guys, and I'm going to have to put them in their place," she said with a laugh.
MacKinnon has not regretted the hire. In fact, they have become quite the duo, enduring the elements year-round together.
"When she first called I thought, everybody needs a chance and I said, 'What the hell,' " recalled MacKinnon. "I remember thinking she's not the biggest girl in the world. I thought, 'Geez, are you going to be able to do this kind of job?' But she surprised me.
"She's smart and has the right attitude. She does everything I do and she's still here after five years."
It hasn't been a cakewalk. Apart from the physical rigours of the job, Wagner has confronted the odd sexist remark, but she never shies away from standing up for herself.
"You talk to me for five minutes and you'll see I fit on the site. You can't have a weak spine. You have to put the guys in their place if they say something inappropriate."
MacKinnon knew from the start Wagner would be no pushover. He's witnessed her overcome the obstacles, allowing her work to speak for itself.
"We did this roof job in the middle of the winter in Ashby, and I recall us walking into the yard and this older guy says, 'Where's the rest of you at?' He said, 'Well you're just a girl and he's only one man.' She didn't like that too much. But we did the job and at the end he apologized."
Wagner has found her dream job. Every day presents a new challenge.
"There's no greater feeling than going to a big, old ugly house, redoing it top to bottom and standing back and saying, 'I did that.'
"We've done 10 decks since I've started with Art and I could go and frame up a deck and level it off, all that stuff. But when it gets to the stairs, I still feel I need more training. That will come."
She plans to purchase a new vehicle in the near future, but she's in no real rush. Hitchhiking still seems like the most practical option at the moment.
"I'm proud of where I landed," said Wagner. "I had my daughter at 15 and I had my son at 18. The cards looked like they were against me. I didn't really have anywhere to go. I fought to go to high school, I fought to go to college and I fought for my job. I landed on a pretty good side of things".
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