Jamie McMillan
Inspirational Keynote Speaker, Journeyman Ironworker & Skilled Trades Advocate
Empower
For over 10 years Jamie has been empowering thousands of students, and workers to recognize the hidden value in their differences and “how to smile in the face of adversity” through her brand KickAssCareers.
Shift
Dozens of notable unions and organizations look to Jamie as an advocate, board member, speaker and trainer to help unearth costly mistakes being made “on the ground level, out of the corporate eye” so they can correct the problem before it gets worse. Companies are learning how to save millions of dollars by addressing uncomfortable truths and modifying workplace standards that have traditionally led to high turn-over, incident-rates and costly mistakes made by under-experienced workforces.
Transform
Jamie is on a mission to help reframe what it means to be “an underdog” or marginalized member in the classroom and the workforce. Her bold speaking efforts to bridge the gap between employers, schools and “boots on the ground” workplace experiences have helped transform hands-on learning, creativity, and craft in every industry and classroom community across North America, for the better.
About Jamie
For more than twenty years, Jamie McMillan has connected with people across North America as a speaker and advocate. A proud journeyman ironworker who spent years on industrial tools, she lived by one truth: being a journeyman is a status, not a gender.
Her journey was far from a straight line. For years Jamie wore a mask, composed on the outside while privately fighting unseen battles. Discovering rejection sensitivity dysphoria (RSD), alongside her ADHD, was an eye-opener: it put a name to what had been quietly running the show. Eventually the mask caught up with her. Heavy responsibilities and complex headwinds added up to deep burnout, and life forced her to slow down. She chose radical transparency and used the time to heal, study human psychology and behavior to understand her own mind, and go deeper than ever. She is now enrolled in school studying architecture and universal structural design, and she is still a work in progress, which is why this site will always keep evolving and changing.
The world is accelerating through automation and AI, and many fear what it means for their future. Jamie sees an opportunity for humanity to pivot. When everything outside speeds up, stability comes from within: hands-on practical intelligence, creativity and lifelong learning. And teachers, she believes, are the architects of humanity.
Recognition
National Skilled Trades Advisory Committee
Served as co-chair of the National Skilled Trades Advisory Committee for the Government of Canada, helping students recognize the importance of hands-on careers as first choice pathways.
International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
Served as a board member for the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, helping govern and guide educational initiatives and resources for benefit plans across North America.