Jani Martinius, Carpenter
Hey! My name is Jani, I am 28 years old and currently a 4th year carpentry apprentice; next year (October 2021) I will write my exam to get the coveted Red Seal ticket, which is super exciting!!
I “fell” into carpentry while volunteering on farms & homesteads through WWOOFing. One owner asked for help fixing up a shed roof and building a chicken run, I had no idea how to do any of these things – I couldn’t even put a screw into a wall! – but I really enjoyed working with my hands. She suggested getting trained in Carpentry, something I had never even considered doing. Now here I am, six years later and I’m almost done my apprenticeship!
I have worked with several companies on wildly different projects like our new local hospital, new homes from start to finish, decks, renovations, and now I’m building beautiful horse barns. I am most proud of the projects I have built in my own home - my pride and joy is our beautiful cedar deck, which I designed and built myself. Talk about job satisfaction! Before carpentry I had a few different jobs in sales and tourism, where my level of job happiness ranged from “HELP, GET ME OUT!” to “This is no fun at all”. I now make the most amount of money I’ve ever made, and I get to use my hands and brain every day while building beautiful things that owners love and adore.
I love my life outside of work - I play & hike with my dog Noah, we go mountain biking, grow delicious veggies in our garden, go kayaking & swimming in the ocean in the summer, lay in the sun reading, alpine skiing, eating (and cooking) delicious meals… If there is fun to be had outdoors – I’m there!
One of my favorite quotes is by Maya Angelou: “Like a tree planted by the river I shall not be moved”. To me it means that as long as I act within my own integrity and stand my ground (while being flexible), I will be just fine in this crazy world! My best advice: Start with a trade, any trade! Learn amazing life skills while making great money and with time figure out what the heck you want to do in life, and then go do that. :)
“Like a tree planted by the river I shall not be moved”
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