013 - Alex Burnett

Set Your Own Destiny

A profile of Alex Burnett, excavating company owner, Edmonton, Alberta

Portrait of Alex Burnett in Las Vegas, Nevada at ConExpo 2026. Shot on 35mm Kodak Tri-X 400 film with Leica R6.2.

Alex Burnett came up in the dirt. His grandfather ran a concrete and excavating company, and Alex was the kid who tagged along.

"I hung out with him as a little kid and I loved it. From day one, that was me."

He knew early that this industry was where he'd end up.

"I knew I was going there, even though family tried to talk me out of it."

Ask him what pulled him in, and it's the work itself, and the machines.

"I think it's working outside, knowing that you get to do something where you can see it and be active. And I'm like everybody else, I love the yellow things cruising around, that make a lot of noise."

The trade ran deep in the family. His grandfather ran his outfit a long time.

"Sixty years. Pretty much right up till the end."

His father stayed in it too.

"My dad, he's in the same business as well. He kind of continued it on when my grandfather retired."

His Own Path

Alex could have worked for the family, but he chose a different way.

"I wanted to do a different path. I wanted to try something else out. I moved across the country and it seems to have worked out."

Today he runs a small excavating company in Edmonton, Alberta, digging basements for new houses. He knew from a young age he'd never work outside the industry.

"I think I'm one of those people that I knew from a really young age, this is what I was going to do. And I've never questioned it. So it just seemed like the only path."

He is certain it was the right one.

"Absolutely. I couldn't see myself doing anything else."

Everybody's Equal

Even though he loves the big yellow machines that make a lot of noise, they aren't his favorite part of the industry. The people are.

"You meet such a diverse group of people in this industry. You could have guys that grew up with money and they've never done outside work and they came to the industry. You have guys that have no money and they've struggled through life. But we're all equal in the field. No matter where you came from, no matter what your background, everybody's equal."

To Alex, the trade is one of the last places a person can rise on the work alone, no matter where they started.

"I think we're like the coolest melting pot, because this is one of the few industries left where you could have no education. You could be straight out of school. You might not have graduated high school. You could rise to the top of the biggest excavating company or the biggest construction company out there just because you're good at your job. You don't need the fancy degree. You don't need the letters behind your name or the pinky ring. You can set your own destiny."

Tomorrow's a New Day

The work has hard days, and Alex has made his peace with them.

"I've come to realize there's going to be bad days out there, and all you can do is move on and do better. And I think having a family helps. Being outside of work, realizing that not everything revolves around the job site. You have to get really good at, just five o'clock end of the day strikes, the day's over. It's time to begin, tomorrow's a new day."

Asked what he is most proud of, he points to the years he spent training operators for a mining company, passing on what he knew.

"I think I got to pass on some information to other people, and I learned a lot. I think that's part of our industry, that you can learn from others and kind of meld into one giant group. And for me, it's just, I got to meet some cool people. And I got to do some cool things in the game."

The work has changed him, too.

"I think it's made me more open to seeing other people's opinions. I'm an absolutely opinionated guy, but I've learned that if we're all working towards the common goal, it doesn't matter how we get there. We can do it together. There might be fifteen different paths, but we're all going to do something really cool together."

Something That Lasts

There is a reason Alex loves this work, and it outlasts any single day on a job site.

"There's just nothing like the feeling of, you get done at the end of the day, you can see you did something. There's the old joke that goes around, 'Hey, I built that thirty years ago.' You're going to point it out to your kids. But it's true. You can see what you did. If you sit in an office and you do spreadsheets, you can't look at that spreadsheet twenty years later. So I can drive by, 'I helped build that building. I helped build that road.' And that's such a cool feeling. To know that you did something that lasts."

This Is the Place to Be

Alex grew up in a generation that was steered away from the trades, and he watched where that steering led.

"I grew up in the generation where schools really pushed white collar jobs. They really pushed technology when I grew up, and they didn't push the trades. And I have a lot of friends that went into that after high school and they kind of struggled through life."

He wants the younger generation to see what he sees.

"I wish that the younger generation could see that this is a path that could be really good for you. You can make really good money. You can do good, satisfying work. You're going to work hard, you're going to learn a work ethic. But I know I always have a job. There's always something to build. And when the economy goes down, there's something to do. I wish our industry showcased that more, and that we really taught people that this is the place to be."

Alex Burnett runs a small excavating company in Edmonton, Alberta.