Posted by Erin Autio on Friday, October 9th, 2020 11:38 am
“Teamwork makes the dreamwork”
Or sometimes around here we like to sing the wonderpets tune: “What’s gonna work? Teeeamwork!”
I can’t fully put into words how important our team is to us. Everyday I am thankful for their hardwork, humour and tenacity. Quite literally their blood sweat and tears have built this company, our dream into what it is.
In a field of work that struggles with many staffing challenges we choose to see opportunity. Sure, it is difficult to have to hire and train new people every year in our busiest season but this process also brings fresh energy and enthusiasm. New relationships are built, new stories are shared and new perspectives are learned. Sure, we hear it said that young people don’t want to work hard these days but that’s not what we see. We see kids who want to be challenged, kids who take pride in solving problems and accomplishing big things together that seemed impossible at first. Sure, it’s hard to keep good people on staff when it isn’t a high paying career and you shut down for a few months every year but maybe we learn to enjoy the pause and the rest and get creative finding solutions that will work for everyone.
I am grateful for the opportunity I have to get to know these kids. You learn about people in a unique way when you spend 12 hours a day with them doing work that pushes you past physical exhaustion right on into delirium! Bathroom habits are no longer private as you sit side by side in the Tim Hortons stalls and your smell sitting in a truck together after a long hot day is no longer a concern because you’re too busy talking about how badass you are because you just moved a few thousand pounds of stone!
I didn’t realize when we started this company what a gift I would find in building a work force. I remember lying awake at night when we hired our first employee worrying if we would have enough work to keep him employed all summer, worrying about him getting hurt or not being the right fit for us and having to let him go. Being a boss seemed like a huge responsibility. But we took on this new responsibility and never looked back. Like I said, what a surprise it was to me that this became one of the best things about my career. Gardens, plants, physical activity and being outside brought me here and sharing this passion with our staff keeps me in it.
Taking a group of people who mostly don’t know each other and mostly don’t know what they are doing and building them into a team that can accomplish amazing things is so fulfilling. Seeing them build confidence in themselves and in each other, seeing them learn to lift each other up even if they aren’t the best of friends is hopefully the gift I can give back. Hopefully through this work I can teach them that they are capable of big things if they just keep at their goals one really heavy wheelbarrow at a time. Life is going to send you rain and sometimes you will be exhausted and won’t want to get up in the morning but on those days hopefully you’ve got a great team to lean on and laugh with.
Kids today….
They are something to be thankful for this weekend of giving thanks.
Team Gaia past and present, you make us so proud. Keep being you without apologies. Know that we are eternally grateful.
