As the female-owned electrical contracting firm reaches its ten-year milestone, the founders reflect on the challenges of the trades and the support of the Sarnia-Lambton community.
Tonya Falconer and Natasha Bayduk Egan are celebrating a significant milestone this month. Their company, TIB Electric, has officially reached the ten-year mark as a locally owned business in Sarnia-Lambton. In a sector traditionally dominated by men, the sisters have carved out a reputation built on quality, family values, and deep community roots.
The business began with Falconer, a third-generation electrician who discovered her path during a high school co-op placement. After earning her master electrician licence, she recognized a gap in the local market. Some senior customers, she noted, felt more comfortable welcoming a female tradesperson into their homes.
For Falconer, launching her own company was also about survival and balance. As a mother with two young daughters, she needed the flexibility to be present for her family while maintaining a career she loved. The early days were a juggling act of late nights and relentless effort.
“It meant late nights, paperwork while everyone ate dinner, and showing up to school recitals in work boots covered in cobwebs and insulation,” Falconer said. She handled everything from the physical labour to the billing and booking.
That is when Bayduk Egan stepped in. With a background in business, she took over the branding, advertising, and administrative weight, allowing Falconer to focus on the electrical work. Together, they slowly expanded the team, hiring apprentices and journeypeople to meet the growing demand.
Being a female-owned company in the construction industry has made them stand out, but the sisters view their gender as less of a hurdle and more of a distinct feature of their identity. They have encountered few gender-based obstacles, largely due to the trust placed in them by their first customers.
“We have been very privileged to be female owned in a male dominated industry,” Bayduk Egan said. “There have been speed bumps along the way, but that is a reflection of the lack of integrity of those people.”
The landscape of the trades is shifting. Bayduk Egan notes that interest in the field has expanded significantly in recent years, with a noticeable increase in women entering the workforce. She points out that the majority of their current co-op placement students are female.
Despite their success, systemic challenges remain for small trade businesses. Bayduk Egan highlights the current apprenticeship ratios as a significant difficulty. Provincial rules often restrict the number of apprentices a company can employ relative to journeypeople, making it hard to maintain a full workforce when apprentices leave for mandatory schooling.
Connection to Sarnia-Lambton remains the company's anchor. They prioritize hiring high school co-op students to encourage the next generation of tradespeople. They also rely heavily on a network of other local businesses, from home builders and designers to the local coffee shops that keep the team fueled.
“It was eye opening to see who we rely on to keep us as productive as possible,” Bayduk Egan said. “We flourish by building genuine relationships and friendships.”
Looking to the next decade, the goal is not aggressive expansion, but sustainability and happiness. They aim to create systems that make the work efficient while keeping their team challenged and content.
“At the end of the day, you are only as successful as you are happy,” Bayduk Egan said. “The stress and the worry, the blood sweat and tears that have gotten us this far was essential to getting us here, but ultimately it is the relationships we have built… that make the sacrifices worth it.”
