Meet Sandra! A dedicated, hard working member on our mass timber finishing team and an active participant of our We Care employee committee. Learn more about Sandra by reading a short Q+A below!
How long have you been with Kalesnikoff?
2 ½ years
Why Kalesnikoff?
I wanted to work hard, I spent 11 years in an office and needed a change. Kalesnikoff asked me in the interview if I was ready to work hard, and they definitely delivered on that!
What is your position with the company?
I’m working over at Kalesnikoff’s mass timber facility in the finishing and production departments.
What is your favourite thing about working here?
Watching an initiative that was 6 years in the planning process unfold at KMT. The feedback on the product, we have the nicest lumber making these beautiful timbers and panels. I’m fortunate to have witnessed the growth and integration, literally from the land to lumber into a state of the art Mass Timber Facility.
Can you tell us a little bit about your training?
I fully deserved wearing a green hard hat when I started working at Kalesnikoff. The leadership team recognized I was a bit of a keener for learning so they started training me on everything: Mobile Equipment, Boiler Safety Awareness, every lock out and test start in the mill and planer and regular Level 3 First Aid training. Now I’ve moved over to our mass timber facility and I’ve learned a lot about Mass Timber, such as tension levels and grading requirements to meet code, forklift operations to level ninja, how to efficiently package multi-dimensional panels and beams up to 60 feet long for transportation – it’s a lot to learn.
What is your favourite thing about living in the Kootenays?
My favorite thing about living in the Kootenays is how well my garden grows here! I grew up on a farm in northern Alberta and moved to Stony Plain when I was six, and I’ve been in the Kootenays for 11 years.
What can we find you doing in your spare time?
I moved to BC to snowboard every day, it took 3 years of riding Kicking Horse in Golden to get that out of my system. I moved to Nelson for work and bought an acreage in Thrums and turned it into a little hobby farm. I love all bikes, especially Trials Moto, now I explore on my Yamaha dual purpose, I can go further, but Trials are way more fun.
