Why I Started Agora Time After 25 Years in the Trades
Why I Started Agora Time After 25 Years in the Trades
By the Founder of Agora Time · April 2026
I didn't start Agora Time from a boardroom. I started it from a job site.
Twenty-five years ago I picked up my first hammer as a carpenter. Over the decades I worked my way through some of the most demanding roles the trades have to offer — rigger, swamper, and eventually leadhand, managing crews and making sure everyone got home safe at the end of the day.
In that time I wore a lot of PPE. Some of it was excellent. A lot of it wasn't. I watched guys show up with gloves that fell apart after a week. I saw headlamps that died mid-shift. I worked alongside people who skimped on their gear because the good stuff was either too expensive, too hard to find, or buried in a big box store where nobody could tell you anything about it.
That bothered me. Because in the trades, your PPE isn't optional. It's the difference between going home and not going home.
The Problem with How PPE Is Sold
Most PPE is sold by people who've never worn it. It's sold by companies that see tradespeople as a market segment, not as human beings doing difficult and dangerous work. The gear gets stocked based on margins, not merit. And the person behind the counter usually can't tell you whether a glove will hold up in a chemical spill or whether a headlamp is bright enough for a dark trench at 5am in January.
I can tell you those things. Because I've been in that trench.
Why Now
Agora Time — the name means something. In Portuguese, agora means "now." In ancient Greek, the agora was the gathering place — where people came together, traded, shared knowledge. Put them together and you get something that feels true to what we're building: Now Is The Time to protect yourself, and this is the place to do it.
We're not a corporation. We're a Canadian-owned store built by someone who has spent 25 years understanding what workers actually need. Every product we carry has been evaluated through that lens. If I wouldn't trust it on a live site, it doesn't make the cut.
For the People, By the People
That's not just a tagline. It's the entire point. The trades built this country. The people swinging hammers, pulling cable, rigging steel, and pouring concrete deserve gear that works as hard as they do — at prices that don't require a second mortgage.
That's what Agora Time is here to be. And we're just getting started.
— The Founder, Agora Time 🇨🇦