Green Vehicle Retrofitting
19 December 2015
Red Cannon Expedition
Red Cannon Expedition (RCE) was founded by Dion Kranz and his wife Jen. After 17 years of experience in the car audio and custom vehicle fabrication industry, Dion decided to start RCE to create the first off-road off-grid recreation vehicle that could park in the city, and rock crawl through the desert. This expedition vehicle is called the Darien, and Dion has decided to custom build these vehicles for people to purchase.
As a fourth year college student studying sustainable living I had the opportunity to intern with RCE for a month, working four hours a day, five days a week, and two hours on Saturdays. This opportunity taught me so many things and rather than showing me exactly what I want along my career path, it gave me the perspective I needed to know some key things that I do not want for my future.
The main realization I came to this month that clarified what I want from my life and my career was that I did not want to work in an office setting. At RCE we are in an auto shop, and it is the most amazing work environment. Having to go from my internship to my actual job, which is university admissions at MUM, was almost torture. All I wanted to do was stay in the shop, working hard, and moving around, but then I would have to go into the office, wear nice clothes, and stare at a computer for two hours. RCE taught me that for me, hard work in an active setting is much more enjoyable and rewarding than a desk job. Everyday I woke up looking forward to the day and the work I would get done, and dreading the two hours that I had to sit at my desk. The most profound thing that RCE taught me was that if you are doing what you love, you will never have to work another day in your life. This is the biggest lesson that helped clarify my future and potential career path.
The second realization that I came to in my time at RCE was how important it was for me to be able to think critically and have space for problem solving. Dion was an amazing mentor, guiding me through the learning process of each step in the build process, but not telling me what to do. He would give me the information and then leave me alone to figure out the best ways to do each thing that needed to be done. This is important to me because I felt that I had room to think, analyse, and try different things to make something work. This taught me how important it is to be able to think for myself in my work environment, and not just follow given instructions. This also taught me the importance of working with a supervisor that encourages new ideas and personal expression. In just one month working at RCE I was able to bring new ideas to the table and brainstorm with others how to best go about getting everything done. This independence is very important to me for my continued intrinsic motivation to work towards any goal, including that of a career.
My third major realization this month, regarding my future career, was the importance of the people we work with. These are the people with which we spend the most time, and should therefore be people you can communicate well with, and who share similar goals, values, and views of the world. The main importance is that we are around people that, even if you don’t share these things with, are open to everything you stand for. Everyone at RCE was willing to hear my passions and would work with me to see how my passions could improve the company. Having passion for sustainability, they asked if we could work together to come up with a sustainability plan for the company, as well as what they could do at this moment to be more sustainable. These people cared about what I cared about, and shared what they cared about so that together we could be a part of a business that was greater than the sum of the employees working there. Having such a supportive atmosphere, and being surrounded by people who are genuinely passionate and care for what they do, and who they do it with, is what I want out of a company I make my career with.
In just one short month I learned how fun work can be. I learned that working in an office is not for me, independence within a workspace is necessary for my happiness, and the people who I work with need to be intrinsically motivated to make the company the best it can be. I learned many other things as well and hope to continue to find what works best for me and what I want out of a life career. I was offered a longterm position with RCE and I quit my job with the university so that I could continue to explore and learn in this work environment. RCE showed me what I was missing in all the jobs I have had before, a family working together to reach a common goal, in an exciting creative environment.
My Journey Through Sustainability 