Wear the suit, attend the dinner, trust the opportunity.

by Peter Mate, President of Planit Canada 

I recently had the pleasure to suit up and join a great group of industry professionals for the BC AWMAC awards night. If you’ve never been, I highly recommend taking the opportunity to celebrate the excellent work our industry produces, and socialize with like-minded people.  You can never predict what your take-away will be from the evening – from noticing an excellent grain matching technique on a door, to developing a new relationship that will open doors you’d been wanting to walk through.

It was a great opportunity for me to reconnect with previous co-owner of Planit Canada, Rob Pawluk, and his son Ben. Rob was my business partner for over 10 years, and we’ve known each other for almost 20 years. In all my years with Rob through good and bad times, we had only one real big argument and it wasn’t even that spectacular – some relationships are simply natural. Rob’s brought so much good to my life both personally and professionally; I can’t imagine what my life would have looked like without him in it. His knowledge of the industry, his passion for craftsmanship, and his all-Canadian witticisms have made him a well-loved character for more than just me.  If you’re a woodworker in Western Canada, he’s likely told you to “sign the mucking quote”, and somehow put a smile on your face while he said it.  Trust like that comes from decades of building relationships and developing a true understanding of the real day-to-day of woodworking life.

As that friendship moves into a different stage, new relationships are born. The icing on the cake of the evening was a new connection over a well-crafted Manhattan that evening. This was another person with whom I just naturally “clicked”. Is this the universe working its magic as Rob moves on to different challenges? Maybe. Well worth putting a suit on for, certainly.

I continue to be grateful for the opportunities I get to connect with others. It makes coming to work every day that much better. Great industry. Great relationships. Great business. What more can you ask for? Life’s pretty great!  Especially with AWMAC throwing such great parties.

On a final note, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate a few of our loyal clients who took home a well deserved prizes at the AWMAC awards. Congratulations to Artsy Contracting Company Ltd., Beckville Woodcrafts, Stirling Woodworks Ltd., and Mosaic Millwork!