PROFILE
Teach and be Taught
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drian Gaspell has worked at Assured South Barrie Collision Centre for more than 12 years, and feels he was meant to repair vehicles back to OEM specifications. If you had told him about his career path fifteen years ago, however, he would have struggled to believe you. “Assured started out as just a summer job for me. I didn’t intend to stay there any longer or come back. In fact, I was planning on doing a completely different college program.” There was something special about his work at Assured that Adrian couldn’t quite shake. He quickly realized that it was there where he wanted to be, and has pursued autobody ever since. After studying at Centennial College and continuing his lucrative career at Assured Automotive, Gaspell realized he had made the right choice. “I love what I do and I love the trades,” he says. Even after so many years in the industry, Adrian is eager to improve his skills and pass on what he knows to others.Learning, and in turn teaching others, is an ongoing responsibility the best technicians must possess in order to keep up with the pace at which modern cars are changing. “Knowledge is the most important part of my job. You need to take every opportunity you have to learn in order to avoid becoming stagnant.”
Adrian Gaspell, third from right, and the Assured South Barrie Collision Centre team. According to Adrian, the best part of working at Assured is the team environment.
Working at a business like Assured, a company that is dedicated to teaching its staff everything they need to know to do their jobs well, including equipping them with the best and latest tools, certainly helps Adrian keep ahead of the curve. “To stay up-to-date we take I-CAR courses, and Assured is pretty flexible with allowing me to take different courses.” Apprentices at the facility receive top-notch training as well. “When we get apprentices, they’re placed with a good trainer who we think they will work best with. That way they can move through the training process effectively.” Adrian is also a part-time teacher at Centennial College and is on the Ontario College of Trades board as chair of the autobody and collision damage repairers
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trades, in an effort to both improve the trades and help others learn about the trades. “I want to be able to pass knowledge onto others and encourage up-and-comers to get in the trades so we can all work together to make it better. Teaching also allows me to learn. If a student asks me a question I don’t know, I’ll find the answer.” The shop he works at is one of the largest in Ontario, and so its sense of community is hard to ignore. “Our team works together to help each other out. There is a
sense of comradery—we all get along.” Assured encourages the staff to engage in after-work activities together, something the staff embraces. “In the summer we play baseball together every week, and we’ve gone to Blue Jays games together.” To describe his career in one sentence, Adrian said, “I would say it’s a hands on, technical job that requires problem solving, applying yourself and a willingness to learn.” He continues, “Everyday there are new challenges.”
Assured Automotive 2360 Southfield Road Mississauga, ON L5N 2W8 Canada 905-363-0125 assuredauto.ca