00:00:00 - 00:00:32
Alicia Woods

And so, we went down a couple of drifts, found a porta potty. Unfortunately, no door. Turned off my light because it was in the middle of a busy drift. I can hear my things falling out of my pockets. I’m trying not to touch anything. I came back to the station and said, I will never wear your coverall again.

00:00:32 - 00:00:40
Bhavna Bhari

Today I’m joined with Alicia Woods, CEO and founder of Covergalls. Welcome, Alicia. Thank you so much for being here. We’re thrilled to have you.

00:00:40 - 00:00:42
Alicia Woods

Oh, thank you very much Bhavna for having me as well.

00:00:42 - 00:00:53
Bhavna Bahri

So, let’s jump right into it, Alicia. How about you tell us a little bit about yourself, your background, your incredible career journey and how it led you to Covergalls.

00:00:53 - 00:02:51
Alicia Woods

I feel like, I grew up mining, born and raised in Sudbury, Ontario, home of the Big Nickel. For me, mining was all around me. And my father, my grandfather, my uncles had a manufacturing facility where they actually designed and manufactured underground mining equipment.

So on weekends, I would find myself in the shop, and I was always fascinated by the work that they did. Upstairs was the engineering team and the drafts table, and they would draw out the equipment and it would translate onto the shop floor where they would cut the steel, and eventually a vehicle would roll out the back door.

So, for me, that’s how I grew up. In terms of how I entered the mining industry, I never thought that I would actually find myself back in mining. Unfortunately, when I was in grade eight, my father passed away unexpectedly, and a few years later, the business was actually sold to a company in southern Ontario. So, as I went through high school, I had to figure out who was I going to be again. You know, I had always thought I would be like my father. After high school, into college, I actually found myself back at that business that my family had started doing a number of different roles, and I immediately felt like I was back at home. I just loved being in that space. And so, I remember sitting with one of the general managers at the time, and we talked about where I would be, and I had shared with him kind of my five-year-old dream.

And that’s how I ended up back upstairs, in the world of sales for underground mining equipment. Now, in that role, of course, you’re going to have to go underground. And that means that you’ve got to go to the local safety supply store and get all of your gear. And when I walked into the store, to my surprise, there was absolutely nothing for women.

So, I bought the smallest set I could find, having to, you know, like roll things up and tuck things in. But it wasn’t until I got off the cage that day that I understood the true challenge with that garment, and that was if I had to go to the washroom that day, where would I go? And I immediately looked down on my gear and thought, I’m going to have to take everything off and face the end of the dark drift. So, I simply just refused to do that.

00:02:51 - 00:02:58
Bhavna Bahri

That’s quite right. You refused to take no for an answer, that the solution doesn’t exist. So how did that lead you to Covergalls?

00:03:04 - 00:05:05
Alicia Woods

I remember getting back to surface that day, and I went online and did a quick search of women’s coveralls. And all I could find were gardening coveralls, which you and I both know aren’t going to meet any of my industrial needs. So, to be honest, for the next 10 years, I actually didn’t drink anything before going underground. I just simply refused to be faced with having to take all of my gear off.

That was until the summer of 2011, I was at a potash mine in Saskatchewan, really dry and dusty, and what my colleagues failed to tell me that day is that underground, we would actually be running underneath the conveyor belt. And, you know, by the end of kind of that tour, I could scrape the potash off my face and without realizing it had consumed three bottles of water. We got back to the station, I sat on the bench and, we were getting ready to go to surface and the cage tender said we’re going to be down for maintenance for a few hours. And I remember looking around going, I have avoided this for a decade. And so, I said to Corey beside me I’ve had three bottles of water, can we please find a facility?

And so, we went down a couple of drifts, found a porta potty. Unfortunately, no door. So, I stepped in, turned off my light because it was in the middle of a busy drift. I can hear my things falling out of, you know, my pockets. I’m trying not to touch anything. And I zipped it back up and I came back to the station and said, I will never wear your coverall again.

So, I came home, worked very closely with a local seamstress to not only make my coverall fit me properly, but actually function. And what that meant was putting like old-school long johns, rear trap door in that coverall for easy bathroom breaks. And I started to wear it. So, I would go to different sites and women would stop me and say, like, how are you drinking water? And how does your cover off fit you so well.

And so that’s really how the Covergalls was born. Starting to make coveralls that fit women properly and functioned. And then Vale Mining Company in Sudbury took notice of what was happening. And so, they approached me and said, we love what you’re doing as an organization, safety is number one. But we also want to attract and retain a female workforce. And we believe this is a tool that could do it. And that’s how we came to be.

00:05:05 - 00:05:15
Bhavna Bahri

It’s incredible. So, women for the history of, you know, mining when they’ve been they’ve had to go through that. Right. But you stepped in, and you said this is not the way it’s going to go in.

00:05:15 - 00:06:10
Alicia Woods

Yeah, definitely. I mean, selfishly, I made them for myself. I was, you know, being frustrated with wearing the men’s coverall, being, you know, having that experience underground at the potash mine. But it was when other women would reach out sharing their own frustrations and challenges. Like women, I think, just want to do their job and be recognized for the work that they’re doing and don’t necessarily want to rock the boat over something that they perceive to be as small as ill-fitting coveralls.

And so, I think once I started to get that feedback, I realized this is a real issue. And that’s what really led to launching the Covergalls. But how we launched it was actually through Dragons’ Den. I remember watching the TV show and they had a commercial for an audition the next day in Sudbury, and that’s when that light bulb moment came on. I thought, wow, this could be an opportunity to kind of really put that product out there and see how many other women are going to come forward with the same challenges.

00:06:10 - 00:06:13
Bhavna Bahri

And they did. They did. And that’s why you’re here.

00:06:13 - 00:06:31
Alicia Woods

Yeah, it was incredible because it almost I think women sometimes feel like they’re on an islands in their own respective industries or roles. And I think what Covergalls did for them was make them realize that they’re not alone. And it was like essentially just pulling all of these islands together. So that they felt like they belonged.

00:06:31 - 00:07:25
Bhavna Bahri

You’re right. Yeah. So, from my own experience, just getting the PPE or personal protective equipment. Going to manufacturing site, it’s a pain because it’s not designed for us. And it’s meant to, first of all, keep you safe. But that’s what you keep thinking about that is it fitting me well, for I’m going to handle it. So, you take care of took care of the first thing that started manufacturing, safety, right away and wellness. You made sure that you’re hydrated going through that. But I think you went much beyond that. Like you said, you’re getting women more included. You’re making them feel like they belong. So, it goes a long way of creating probably a culture of inclusion and culture of equality. So, as you think about creating more products in Covergalls beyond the coveralls, how have these values or, you know, really influenced your product innovation and what have we heard from women how it’s actually influencing their workspaces?

00:07:25 - 00:09:02
Alicia Woods

I think having a proper-fitting workwear is just kind of like the starting point. And I truly didn’t appreciate what the garment did beyond safety until I had these three young women actually find me at a talk I was giving in Toronto.

They actually weren’t even attached to the organization. They simply wanted to find me to share their story with me in person. And what they said to me, they were, you know, probably in their mid-late 20s, they had traveled up to Sudbury Ontario to go on an underground tour at a local, you know, NORCAT site. And when they got there, they went into the trailer with all their male colleagues, and they got changed, when they came out of the trailer, the host that day said, girls, what are you wearing?

And they said, I don’t know. We just grabbed what was in the trailer and he said, no, come with me. And he took them to an area that Covergalls had actually set up and donated product. And those three young females said the moment that they stepped into that side of the trailer and they knew they had workwear that was designed and made for them, it was then that they felt that they were included that day.

They said up until that point, they felt like they didn’t belong in the industry. They didn’t feel like they belonged on the tour because it was like they’re wearing their dad’s clothes. But the moment they stepped in, and they actually put on workwear that was designed and made for them, they were excited about mining. They were excited to go underground that day.

And I never understood the power of clothes until that story. If you think about it, clothes empower a person. When you wake up in the morning, you get dressed. It’s a reflection of who you are. It’s your personality. It gives you confidence, comfort, and it allows you to do your job in a very productive and effective way. And we wear workwear every day, all day. And it’s certainly, I think, a critical piece to creating an inclusive work environment.

00:09:02 - 00:09:14
Bhavna Bahri

Absolutely. So, as you look back, what are the key lessons or highlights that you can share with us? And what are some people who really influenced this journey?

00:09:21 - 00:11:04
Alicia Woods

Yeah, I definitely it’s actually kind of raising a few hairs on my arms because if I think back to my five-year-old self, just being a young female in a manufacturing facility, I was so lucky because I was never made to not feel like I didn’t belong there. My father, my uncles, my grandfather and even really the male workforce because it was just the male workforce. They always had me included, you know, they never made me feel like the industry or that place was not for me.

So, I think that’s kind of like the foundation I think that created me. And then, you know, fast forward, I come back to the business. I had an amazing general manager at the time who, you know, would give me time on Friday afternoons when it was quiet and we would kind of talk about like, you know, where does Alicia want to be in 12 months, you know, three years, five years, ten years. And he was very receptive to kind of coaching me along that way. And I remember one piece of advice he’d given me, he said, in the role as a general manager, you never have to be the expert at every respective area. It is your job to bring those experts around you. Never feel threatened by bring somebody on your team that is stronger than you.

That’s actually what you should be doing. So, I think that was a key advice kind of along that journey. And then moving along, I’ve had two incredible mentors, you know, Patrice Marin, who is really kind of help to coach me and I think really kind of empower me to make decisions such as retaining a 100% of Covergalls after the Dragons’ Den, and then Ian Pearce just kind of providing some guidance in business support.

And I think mentors are meant to kind of come in and out of your journey. You’ll find different ones, whether it’s for professional reasons or personal reasons. But I always say if there’s an area that you’re not too sure about, whether personal or professional, reach out to people. Most people want to help, they want to support, and they’re not going to say no to giving you a few minutes of their time.

00:11:04 - 00:11:23
Bhavna Bahri

That is true. One. Bring people around. Surround yourself with smart people. That’s the key.

As you move towards becoming an entrepreneur, a lot of things would have changed. I’m sure they were, you know, lots of inhibitions. There were things to be taken care of, a lot of changes happening. So how did that work out for you?

00:11:23 - 00:13:18
Alicia Woods

Oh, my goodness. Absolutely, Bhavna. I think back to kind of like that transition period, where I had a full-time career as a general manager. I was trying to launch Covergalls. I had a young family, I have a husband and you’re just trying to manage it all. And back then I thought I had to be everything to everybody, on point. I thought I had to be kind of like, perfect in every area.

And that was not sustainable. You know, it gets to a point where there’s just so much going on and it’s hard to be everything to everybody. Right. It just so happened that around that time I remember flying to Texas to be on a panel discussion. It was a Pink Petro event, and the keynote speaker was Randi Zuckerberg.

And Randi gave this talk, and she also shared her book, Pick Three. And it was almost like a light bulb moment where Randi was saying, as females, you think you need to be everything to everybody all the time, and it needs to be perfect. That can only last for so long. It’s not sustainable.

So her advice is wake up in the morning and pick three. You know you’ve got family, friends, your health, your sleep, your work. Five things, wake up in the morning and pick three. Are you going to get a good night’s sleep today? Are you going to go for a run and spend time with your family?

Perfect. Do those very well. Then wake up the next morning and pick three more things that you’re going to focus well on. And I remember leaving that conference, jumping back on a plane to come back to Toronto. And I read that book from one end to the other. And it was like this kind of “Aha!” moment where I was like, I don’t have to be great at everything all the time.

And it’s okay today to let one of those other items go by the side. And I think that really helped to kind of put things into perspective for me and really allow me to be I say more balanced. I don’t know if there’s true balance, but it definitely certainly helped me as I moved forward in that journey.

00:13:18 - 00:13:40
Bhavna Bahri

So, you mentioned growing up around men and not feeling like you don’t belong. But however, we need to recognize you’re a woman helping other women, to get into manufacturing in a heavily male-dominated environment. It’s great that you were fortunate, but have you seen, when now you go into the workplace for other women out there, have there been any challenges with this, and what were they and what did you learn from them?

00:13:40 - 00:15:29
Alicia Woods

Yeah, there’s definitely been challenges or maybe situations or experiences that have come up. For example, I remember being in a really important meeting with a client, sitting in a boardroom around the table. And I was the most senior person at that boardroom table. And they were talking about taking notes. And one of the guys from the organization I work for said, Alicia, you can be the secretary today. And I thought, oh, okay. But I actually didn’t have to say anything back to him because immediately the client actually stood up and said no, you can be the secretary today. So, I think we still face kind of those stereotypical comments in roles. I know, raising a family, trying to have a career too, your children get sick and another situation was my son happened to be sick.

And I remember I took one day off and the next day I had to go in because I had a client meeting and I remember sitting there and that same person actually said, I thought your child was sick? And I said, Well, he is sick. He said Why aren’t you at home? And I said, well, because my husband’s at home. And he said, Well, you should be the one taking care of your child today. And I said, Actually, that may be what goes on in your household. However, in mine, my husband is more than capable of taking care of our child. And we are a true team. It’s very equal in my household. So, I kind of just, chuckled at that.

But there are certainly challenges that come up. And I have been fortunate to have a lot of strong male allies around me. But if you think about even infrastructure, that is another challenge. With females, if you think about manufacturing, most facilities were built around a male workforce. They never thought that females would be working there. And therefore, just even the physical infrastructure is not set up for females.

00:15:29 - 00:15:52
Bhavna Bahri

So, as we saw the drop in women in manufacturing during COVID, it’s coming back up, we’re seeing a lot of industries now making investments to get more women. But the challenges are certainly there. And they come across every day. And I think we just need to figure out who can we depend on to stand by us so that we don’t face the challenges ourselves? Who are the allies who will be with us?

00:15:52 - 00:16:36
Alicia Woods

Yeah, and I didn’t realize that infrastructure challenge until I remember when I was managing my business, designing, manufacturing underground equipment. We went to hire our first welder, and she was a recent graduate from a local college. And wow, she was like, awesome. She did a welding test, and she was like, top of the test. But now we bring her to our organization, and I don’t even have proper facilities for her to change or to shower after a shift. So it was a lightbulb moment. Wow. These facilities are actually not built with females in mind. And so, an investment had to come in to be able to modify the building to accommodate her. And hopefully by having that first female, it would then attract more women to join our organization.

00:16:36 - 00:16:45
Bhavna Bahri

Yeah, that shows great commitment, absolutely, that we want more women. We want to be more inclusive. And it is an investment to grow your workforce, grow the talent to get more talent too.

00:16:45 - 00:17:33
Alicia Woods

Definitely. And that female welder, I will share a little story because I think it’s a pretty unique one. We were looking to hire a new welder. And there was 20 résumés that were brought in. And I remember my shop foreman at the time had brought forward the résumés, and he had already kind of sifted through them. But I’d seen them before, and I quickly noticed that he actually put aside one of the female résumés. And I asked him why, and he said, well, he actually said, She’s female and she’s a new graduate.

And I said, Whoa, hold on, we’re going to do something different. I said, Bring in these 20 people, do a welding test. I’m going to mark the résumé number to the welding test. So, résumé number one, welding test one. You’re not going to know who did it. But let’s just see how it goes. Sure enough, all 20 welding tests, he picked hers as number one.

00:17:33 - 00:17:35
Bhavna Bahri

So, you took care of the unconscious bias.

00:17:35 - 00:17:50
Alicia Woods

100%. And he was and you know, and for him, it was a moment for himself too, Wow, I didn’t realize. And it certainly changed his behaviour as we moved forward. But had I not done that, she would have never had the opportunity to fill that role.

00:17:50 - 00:18:01
Bhavna Bahri

The talent and skill don’t have a gender. It’s pure by itself. You’re leading a culture of change, like how women show up and how women are included in this workplace. How would you define your leadership style?

00:18:01 - 00:19:40
Alicia Woods

Yeah. So, I think there’s two things. And one thing immediately comes to mind. You’re talking about leading and making change and having impact. And I did have a great career, a promising career. I was general manager of a business, but I had Covergalls. It was kind of a startup. And it was going and, I remember having this moment where, and I don’t know if it was just my age, or my children were getting older. And it was like a moment where If you have to bury me six feet under tomorrow, what are you going to say about me? And I thought I just had this fancy title of this organization, or are you going to say that I actually made a difference and I had changed, and that was the moment where I went, Okay, it’s okay to leave your comfy, secure career and take on Covergalls because I felt like Covergalls was an opportunity and a venue for me to actually have positive impact. So, I made that leap into the world of entrepreneurship just based on like, How can I make change in this world? And so that’s one piece.

And I think the second piece, in terms of my leadership style, it’s a very, I call it flat, in terms of I want to make sure that everybody feels like they’re included and that they’re contributing to the growth and the success of Covergalls. Of course, you’re going to make mistakes, but I encourage people to make mistakes. That’s how you learn. Everybody has a voice. You know, just always making sure that those lines of communication are open, and that people feel valued. If you think about the structure of a hockey team, right? At the end of the day, everybody has a respected position. But collectively, that’s how we’re going to win the game. And I think that’s the approach that I take in terms of leading.

00:19:40 - 00:19:49
Bhavna Bahri

Great. So, you took the risk. You took the leap and now you’re creating space for others in your team to take that risk and take that leap. That’s pretty incredible.

00:19:49 - 00:20:06
Alicia Woods

Yeah, definitely. Well and you want to build them up and I again, I go back to that piece of advice that I had received from the general manager where your job is kind of like the leader is to bring on board those that are stronger than you in all the individual respective areas. And, and that’s what I intend to do.

00:20:06 - 00:20:29
Bhavna Bahri

That’s really, really inspiring. Alicia. So, as you look at this, is there any advice, that you would like to give to the industry or the manufacturers out there? But also, maybe the younger Alicia, the five-year-old Alicia that you spoke about, and as she is thinking about, and then she grows up to start her career, what would you tell her today as well?

00:20:29 - 00:21:51
Alicia Woods

I mean, I think if I think about the younger self, I was so focused and driven on achieving a certain title. I don’t know if I felt like, you know, having title VP or President would just make me kind of prove my worth, you know, and all the extra work that I felt that I had to do to kind of like get my position in the industry.

I was very focused on that. I think I would tell my younger self, the title is not that important. It’s, you know, the work, the contribution. But in terms of other advice to women and manufacturing leaders is, like some females in organizations aren’t comfortable using their voice. So, my advice to them was, if you’re not comfortable using your voice, then reach out to those who are. And often at Covergalls we’ll get messages or we’ll get emails from women who aren’t comfortable using their voice.

And so, I’m completely comfortable using it. So, I have no problem kind of going out and trying to be their voice, whether it’s educating their organization, whether it’s educating maybe a group that they belong to and kind of helping them to raise awareness. So, I also think if you’re comfortable using your voice, then you need to be using it. You also need to be leveraging the platforms you’re given to kind of, you know, spread that awareness, which will ultimately lead to positive change.

00:21:51 - 00:21:58
Bhavna Bahri

So, if you have a voice that people can hear, just don’t use it for yourself. Use it for everybody else around.

00:21:58 - 00:22:22
Alicia Woods

Because not everybody is comfortable doing that. And I think we all have our have our part to play in doing that. And I think from a leader’s perspective or manufacturing company, check in with your employees. So, if you’re checking in with them, it kind of takes that level of maybe discomfort away from that individual and trying to be honest with you.

00:22:22 - 00:22:48
Bhavna Bahri

You’re right. Yeah, often we find women don’t want to be the troublemakers even though they feel trouble. So maybe one last piece of inspirational nugget. This has been great conversation, Alicia. As you look at the next five years, what do they look like for you, Alicia? And Covergalls and how it’s going to continue to transform, the industry for women. And how does the industry change as well? How do you think it’s going to go?

00:22:48 - 00:23:52
Alicia Woods

I’m really excited about the next five years, because I think there’s also something to be said about timing. You know, I think about when I launched Covergalls, I incorporated in 2013, believe it or not.

But I think the timing wasn’t right back then. I think the timing is right now. And I think for Covergalls, securing, this recent partnership with Mark’s is absolutely key. Finding a partner who’s actually committed to investing in women, having access to proper-fitting PPE. That’s something that hasn’t been done yet. You know, distribution partners say that they carry all these female pieces of workwear, but yet not everybody is willing to invest in having it readily available. And Mark’s is doing that. I find Mark’s walks the talk, and they’re very committed to making change. So, I’m really excited about that partnership. It’s new and I really think you’ll see a lot of growth there. The other piece that I’m really excited about is our role in shifting the workwear industry to be more sustainable. It’s something that hasn’t been done. And I’m really excited about our partnership with Ways to Wear and what we can do together to really kind of disrupt things.

00:23:52 - 00:24:08
Bhavna Bahri

So going above and beyond just not the workwear. But how do you make a sustainable, how do you make it more holistic for everyone. That’s a lot like to cover in five years, but I’m sure you will do that and much more.

00:24:08 - 00:24:36
Alicia Woods

Well, I feel like, you know, somebody said Because I love it so much, it doesn’t feel like work. And I think when you’re making change and having impact, that fuels you to just want to do more.

So, I think if I’ll leave you with a piece of advice that I always give, but I always follow. And at the end of the day, you have two choices. And you have the choice to build somebody else’s dream, or you have the choice to build your own. And I’ve just decided years ago that I’m going to build my own dream.

00:24:36 - 00:24:50
Bhavna Bahri

That’s great. So, I feel this sense, strong sense of purpose and strong sense of helping others and uplifting others. Women helping other women. This is, this is what’s coming across for this conversation. It’s very, very inspirational Alicia.

00:24:50 - 00:25:07
Alicia Woods

I think you’ve one life to live. Right. And I think if anything, thinking back to losing my father at such a young age, life is short and so, what can we do to try and leave our positive, you know, fingerprint, when we’re no longer here? So that’s really what drives me.

00:25:07 - 00:25:11
Bhavna Bahri

Alicia, thank you so much for being with us today here. It was very inspirational.

00:25:11 - 00:25:21
Alicia Woods

Well, thank you very much, Bhavna and the team at EY for having me.