Meet our Vertical Transportation Consultant, Banjo Choi RSE!
When not on-site, Banjo can be found in the mountains…
Did you know, Banjo bought home second place in the snowboarding race at BOMA Calgary’s annual ski trip this year at Lake Louise?
Banjo and Smutwood Peak in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park
You are GUNN’s Vertical Transportation Consultant in Calgary!
Tell us, who inspired you to pursue the career you have today?
Every elevator industry individual that I’ve met so far! Coming out of university, I wanted to do something challenging, and it just so happened that one of my university friends was working at Otis at the time and asked me if I would be interested in working in the elevator industry. My initial thought was “it’s just a box that moves up and down the shaft so how hard can it be?”. Boy was I wrong about that! My initial learning curve was very steep with many sleepless nights, and I was getting very discouraged for the first year or two. Thankfully I had great colleagues who’ve helped me along the way and shared their knowledge with me. Of course I had to pry out information from time to time but I guess my persistence worked and they eventually gave in (or more like I didn’t let them off the hook until I got my answers). And the more I learned the more interesting it got. So much so that I’m still here after 10 years and I’m not even close to being done yet!
What’s the best advice you can give to someone who just started their career?
There is a saying in Japanese that I abide by to this day and that is “To ask a question is a shame of a moment. Not to ask the question is a shame of a lifetime”. To that, I’ve always told people that there are no such thing as stupid questions, and the only stupid questions are the questions that don’t get asked. It’s okay that you don’t have the answers as no one is expecting you to know what you don’t know. It’s a problem when you don’t know what you don’t know. So go ahead, start asking ton of questions, be persistent, and start annoying your colleagues. They’ll eventually learn that there is no escaping you and they will give you what you need… Because that’s how I learnt, and you will too.
What’s the most unique thing about working at GUNN?
I feel like GUNN adopts the mentality of “new school ways of thinking in an old school world”. We are constantly evolving with the time and making changes for the better. We’re never the “one size fits all” type consultants, and always tailoring the way we do things based on our client’s needs. That’s why we do many custom and special projects that no other consulting firm will touch.
Last, but not least, if you could get a new skill in 10 minutes, what would it be?
To be able to play the banjo only because I get asked countless times because of my name! For once I’d like to whip out the banjo, shred some bluegrass riffs, and live up to my name…
Banjo snowboarding at Castle Mountain Ski Resort