Graduate Connections – Meet Mindy Carol “Moe”

Moe, 24, from Columbus, Georgia, completed the Professional Welder program at Tulsa Welding School in Jacksonville in September 2023. 

Thanks for your time, Moe. What did you do before enrolling in Tulsa Welding School?

I graduated high school in 2019, and then did a six-month EMT [Emergency Medical Technician] program and graduated at the end of 2019. I was an EMT for a while, but after Covid broke out really bad, I just said to hell with it, it wasn’t for me. I couldn’t take care of my patients the way I wanted to. We had to be cautious, we had to deal with hazmat, all that stuff. I just got fed up with it. My parents owned a poultry farm, so I talked to them and said I’d willing to work with them full time, to take the burden off their back. I know a lot about it; we have a ten-house poultry farm where we grew meat chickens for Tyson.

Where did the idea of welding come from?

Well, I’ve always been a hands-on person. I’ve always loved being outdoors, being able to kind of do what I want to do on my own terms. When you get in your welding hood, it’s just you and the weld. Nothing else. 

Did you have any welding experience before TWS?

I took a welding class my sophomore year of high school and I thought, “This is kind of interesting!” Then I did a little bit here and there on the farm, but not enough to know what I was doing…just a tack here, a tack there. I wouldn’t call it experience. I didn’t know how to lay a bead or watch the puddle. 

So, what made you decide to commit to going to Tulsa Welding School?

I turned 23 soon after school started. I knew I had to better myself for a better future. Gen Z nowadays, people my age, if we don’t go for it, nothing’s ever going to come to us. It’s really hard because we get judged a lot at our age. But for me and my family, I know I need a career in order to make a good living. Nowadays you can’t live off $25,000 a year, it’s impossible. I guess that would be my reason. I knew I wanted to be hands-on, and I felt welding was the way to go. I did some research, mostly watching TikTok and Facebook videos, and I have a couple friends that have been welders for a while. They actually own their own business at this point, to where they can do work when they want to and not work when they want.

What did you enjoy most about your time at TWS? 

I’d say some of my instructors, not all of them. I’m going to put that out there, but most of my instructors were there in the booth with me showing me how to do what I needed to do. They showed me how to fix the little things that needed to be fixed in order to get to where I am now. I’d say if you put in the work, they were willing to give you back what you put in, absolutely, 100%. Mr. Jimmy Naro was great. He was my very first instructor at Tulsa. If I needed him to come hold my hand and walk me through a weld, he would be there in my booth doing exactly that. Honestly, they’d say that showing up is the biggest part. If you’re going to do something, do it right the first time is what I say.

Did you find the program hard, frustrating, or did it come easy to you?

Absolutely. There were days where I’d just walk in and I’d have something else going on in my life besides school and I’d be like, “I don’t even want to be here.” But then I’d get in my booth and all that frustration would go away because everything I did in there would go well. It kind of locked out the outside world for the five hours that I was there. Then there were days where school got on my nerves and I’m like, “I don’t want to be here.” I’ll be honest with you, there were some days that I packed up early and went home because I got so mad! But I never let that steer me away from coming back. I pushed through those hard times, because I knew there were going to be hard times, and I had a support network with me. 

Tell us about that network. That’s an important thing to have when you go through school.

My parents are the best, but my parents weren’t by my side going through school with me. While I was in school there were two guys I was in class with, a father & son actually, and the dad kind of became a father figure to me in school. These guys picked me up when I was down, “Hey, you’re my kid now, let’s do this thing together.” We become a clique. Matter of fact, I still talk to them now; we hang out because they moved to Georgia from Florida. They helped me out tremendously. Then my fiancé was the biggest blessing I could ever hope for. I pushed through because of my fiancé. We had to have a better life.

Awesome. So, where are you working?

Being a female in a small town, it was really hard for me to get a job. I went to multiple, multiple  interviews and I got denied every time. I worked at Lowe’s. But I kept going to interviews and I recently started a welding job at Centek Industries in Thomasville, Georgia. I actually work for the Delta-T Systems division. We build boat parts for the military, like fan housings. I started there two months ago.

Are you happy with the money they started you on, and the potential of this career?

Absolutely. This is a newer company. They’ve only been here maybe a year and a half on the welding side. I do believe that we can definitely grow as a company. Not a lot of companies do aluminum welding, and this company does a lot of aluminum. People are always looking for aluminum welders because aluminum is really, really hard to weld. So, for them to take a leap of faith with me was a blessing because yeah, I did some aluminum in school, but not really enough to know anything!

Two months in…are you enjoying it?

Absolutely. I work five eight-hour shifts and I’m off every weekend. I usually work from 6:00AM to 2:30PM, but this week I’m working 5:00AM to 3:30PM just so we can have an extra day off for Labor Day. So, they gave us ten-hour shifts this week, so we’re going to work Monday through Thursday, and then be off Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday. Next week we’re back to eight-hour shifts because we still get paid for Monday! It’s not really a family business, but it kind of feels like family. They take care of you. 

What’s your plan from here, Moe?

I’m going to grow with this company. Everyone I work with right now has been here less than a year, and the production side is phenomenal. We put out a bunch of stuff each week. I believe it’s going to grow to where we need more welders, honestly. So, my goal for now is to stay where I am and build my experience and my skills. If a better opportunity comes up, then you’ve got to take a look at that opportunity. Like I said before, it’s hard for people my age to get a good income job because we’re so looked down upon. No one wants to give us a shot. I’ll say it again, I’m blessed they gave me this opportunity.

Do you have an ultimate career goal?

I’d like to hit the road and travel some, one day, but I’m not ready to leave home yet. My end goal is definitely to open a welding shop somewhere. I do some welding on the side now. I get calls sporadically, “Hey, can you come fix this trailer?” or “Hey, can you come weld this, or fix that?” I still get those calls because I have my ‘semi-own’ welding machine that I work with. But the production side for me is slow because my name is not out there. I have a lot of farms around me that could probably keep me in steady work, but when you don’t have the means to get started, it’s hard. If you’re looking to buy a welding rig, you’re looking at $25,000 right off the bat, and that’s on the low end. 

What do you enjoy most about this new trade?

I mentioned before that I am in my own world. No one bothers me. It’s just me and the weld, me and my brain, and I just work. We have to fabricate our stuff as well, so once you get done with all that hard work, you drop your hood, and you get to see all these pieces come together and make this one big product. I see the end product and it makes me feel good about what I’ve just done. 

What advice do you have for someone to be successful at Tulsa Welding School? 

Show up, work hard, and never give up. The first time you give up, you’re doomed to failure at that point. Just know that there are going to be days when you don’t understand what you’re doing. There will be days when you don’t know why you’re there, but that’s when you turn to your peers and your teacher. Let them walk you through the steps, especially if you’re a brand-new welder. But there will also be days when you understand it completely. The biggest thing is to work hard. Your work ethic means everything when it comes to welding. The more time you spend under your hood, the better you’re going to be.

If you’re a TWS graduate and would like to share your success and be an inspiration to others, please email [email protected] to be considered for a Graduate Connection interview. Please include details such as your graduation date (month/year), program, and campus name (Tulsa/Jacksonville/Houston/Dallas).