In this video, we celebrate Lasana Harper: A lead carpenter at Kevin Cradock Builders, Inc. While being a craftsman, he also fulfills a more important role: a mentor to other budding carpenters.
The Start of Lasana’s Carpentry Journey
Lasana’s journey to becoming a lead carpenter had humble beginnings. A friend of his introduced Lasana to his father, who gave Lasana a job fixing things on multiple properties. After a year, Lasana realized he enjoyed the work and stayed on board to learn as much as he could.
Lasana credits the people who gave him his start, saying: “A lot of thanks to my friend for even referring me to his father, and then his father as well, for just giving me a chance. I take what they taught me, and I kind of carry it on my shoulders to this day.”
He Found a Clear Path at Kevin Cradock Builders
After learning basic carpentry skills, Lasana found his clear path at Kevin Cradock Builders, Inc. Kevin believes in providing motivated, passionate apprentices with the opportunity to take their field as far as they wish, and he appreciates Lasana’s dedication and impact.
As a lead carpenter at Kevin Cradock Builders, Lasana describes his daily role: “A typical day for me would be getting on-site, opening the job up for everyone. Maybe someone needs something specific done for the day and so I’ll help, like, move people around to make sure that we kind of execute the goal for the day or the week.” His leadership extends to mentoring apprentices on the job — standing behind them, guiding their growth rather than simply critiquing their work.
Lasana’s Typical Day As a Lead Carpenter
Lasana’s typical day involves getting to the project site before everyone else and opening up the project. He’ll also take stock of what needs to be done and manage the people on the job to ensure the daily tasks are accomplished. He also spends a lot of time standing behind apprentices, answering questions and supporting them as they navigate their different tasks and projects.
Lasana Believes In Giving Everyone a Chance
Lasana’s approach to mentorship is providing everyone with the patience he wishes he experienced during his apprenticeship. He also wants to give everyone the chance to show Kevin that they’re passionate about carpentry and woodworking.
Lasana sees mentorship as essential to keeping the trades alive. As he put it during a visit with the Ask This Old House crew: “I think it’s very important for any trade to get apprentices and give new people a chance.”
He Thinks All Trades Should Take That Approach
Lasana believes it’s important for all trades to foster apprentices and give them the chance to work and learn. He tells those looking to get into the trades to look around their neighborhood, find the different projects that are underway, and ask if they need help. He says, “If you want it, just go after it.”
Eric Coughlin, a level three apprentice woodworker at Kevin Cradock Builders who works alongside Lasana, echoes this encouragement: “Even though you’re going to be at the bottom of the totem pole and learning something brand-new, it’s going to really broaden your horizons and just give you so much more.”
Resource
Special thanks to Kevin Cradock Builders, Inc.
