The CWB Association Welding Podcast
The CWB Association Welding Podcast
Replay with Alisyn Palla and Max Ceron
The CWB Association brings you a weekly podcast that connects to welding professionals around the world to share their passion and give you the right tips to stay on top of what’s happening in the welding industry.
Please note this episode is a replay, bringing you a blast from the past.
This week's guest is Alisyn Palla, Metal Artist and Owner of Meraki Metal Works. 10 years ago, Alisyn was given a used welding machine and she was determined to learn how to use it. After her successful career as an attorney, Alisyn focused on expressing her creativity through her favourite medium, metal. Tune in to learn how her first-time experience went at Fabtech.
Check out Meraki Metal Works :
Website: https://www.merakimetalworks.net/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meraki.metal.works
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All right, I can check. Check, I'm good. So I'm Max Duran. Max Duran, cwb Association Welding Podcast, pod, pod podcast. Today we have a really cool guest welding podcast. The show is about to begin. Thank you, you, you, thank you, hello, and welcome to another edition of the CWB Association podcast. My name is Max Duran and, as always, scouring the globe for the best talented stories I can find, this week we are at Fabtech in Chicago having a fantastic time, man. It's been a blast seeing all my old friends in the new industry, the new technology. It's been great. And one of the new people I met this week is Allison. So how's it going, allison? Allison Pala, here from California.
Speaker 2:I am well. How are you?
Speaker 1:I'm doing great. Good, I've been having lots of fun. This is what I do. This is. You know, I'm tired, I'm sore. But this is what I get paid to do and it's been a really good time and I mean I'm loving the show Sounds like a pretty neat job to me. It's kind of a job that I created for myself, almost. So it's kind of like, hey, this is what I'm going to do. Will you pay me? It's like, yeah, okay.
Speaker 2:Those are the best ones, yeah.
Speaker 1:Right. So you know, allison, you're here from California. What is it that you're here to do? What brought you to Fabtech?
Speaker 2:This is my first Fabtech and it's been a fantastic experience. I have gotten to meet people that I follow on social media who are just as cool in person as they are on social media, and I'm like a sponge right now.
Speaker 1:I just want to learn as much as I can about the industry, because I'm pretty new to it. Well, I saw you yesterday. We caught you on the floor for a bit, and um, and you thought I was a creepy person. But but then you started talking to some of our friends there, right, and you were like I'm getting like information right now, like this information is flowing into my brain right and is it?
Speaker 1:was that like when you thought I'm gonna go to fab tech because you know this, you know this fairly well-connected internet social media community, right that you would come to chicago to learn about welding or to practice, or you're looking at equipment, like there's so many different variables, right, things going down?
Speaker 2:there's so many different people's people here and all different kinds of um manufacturers and everything in the industry people in the industry. I came because I have been dabbling with welding for like the last 10 years. My neighbor gave me a used Harbor Freight flux core MIG welder 10 years ago and it was like here I'm moving to I think he moved to Bangladesh or something. He's like I can't take it.
Speaker 1:Wow, that's a serious move Right right.
Speaker 2:Would not take a Harbor Freight welder with you to bangladesh, right? So he leaves it for me and he's like here and I was like I don't know what to do with this thing. My dad had always built cars and dairies and all kinds of things and I'd follow him around in the shop we built.
Speaker 2:When I was in high school we built a 1956 ford pickup, slammed it, you know nice fun uh, super great, um, and so I'd always kind of like followed him in the shop, but he would never teach. I never learned how to weld, so um I also was scared of sparks when I was little.
Speaker 1:Now I can't get enough of them, so it's kind of weird how things change can't get enough of them, like looking at them or like them burning your arm and you being like yes, um, all the above because I'm kind of like a hot mess in all aspects so um but yeah.
Speaker 2:so he gave me the welder and I YouTubed the out of how to weld and read as much as I could, and um just started building things in my garage and most of the things I first built I probably don't think that they're still in existence because they would have broken apart a hundred percent, a hundred percent. It was kind of like using what is that Stick glue like?
Speaker 1:a glue stick to put things together.
Speaker 3:It doesn't always work. Not load bearing structures Right, it doesn't always work, not load-bearing structures, right right.
Speaker 2:So I didn't have a whole lot of time to practice because I was still a full-time litigation attorney way back in the day. So I would weld and make things around the house and then people would like friends and family be like, hey, can you make me this? And so I'd do it. So it was like maybe hit and miss and there was a period in the last 10 years where I probably didn't even go in my garage or shop or whatever it was or weld at all for probably five to six years and so so you started kind of walked away and got back right.
Speaker 2:Oh, lots of walking away, because as a full-time litigation attorney sometimes I worked anywhere from 40 to 120 140 hours a week, like if I'm in trial, I pretty much don't go home. So, um, not a lot of time for creating, um, and I never. I knew I always have been somewhat artistic or creative and so I kind of turned the whole. I wanted to see what I could do with metal and fast forward. This February I'm now in-house counsel for one of my longtime clients and I love it.
Speaker 1:It's so different. I got tired way more chill yeah.
Speaker 2:I got tired of fighting. I'm in my 40 now. I'm too old to fight all the time.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So I am in-house counsel, so that affords me an opportunity to do more. So in February I decided this year I'm going to see what I can do, like let's really just put the energy into creating and really welding and working with metal and other construction materials in my work. So I went and saw Stephanie Hoffman hoffman at underground metal works in february and it changed my.
Speaker 2:You went and took the course. I took a week-long course with her and she's fabulous. Um, and it, it, it gave me confidence because I I welded, but I never called myself a welder, I didn't even call myself an artist. So, um, working with her gave me that confidence to be like, oh my gosh, like I really can actually weld and now my stuff sticks together because I actually can weld. Thank you, stephanie. No, so and we became friends and I asked her about Fabtech. I'm like what do you think about me going to Fabtech? Is it too early in my jump off into?
Speaker 2:whatever happens Right, and that's exactly what she said. She's like go, why not Like this? Is I consider this to? Be my year of, yes, all the things uncomfortable like talking to you right now but I'm just kidding no, but all things uncomfortable. This is my year to just push myself, push my boundaries and see what happens. I have zero expectations and the last six months have been since I went to Underground Metalworks. It has been a wild but super awesome ride.
Speaker 1:So let's talk about the decision to go take a course from stephanie from across the country right you're in california right, she's in jersey.
Speaker 2:I believe they had it there. It's like right around the corner, right, and so you decide to like what.
Speaker 1:There is a train that goes from california to jersey, I believe there is.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's almost direct. It goes through michigan.
Speaker 1:Takes like two months yeah, so really like, the crops change before you arrive, right. So what was the decision for you?
Speaker 2:like I, mean, that's why they're, why they're that's an investment, like there's a travel investment.
Speaker 1:There's a time investment. I'm sure there was a school in your area that you could have taken right so so why that?
Speaker 2:so I don't other than my, my dad, who's built lots of things um cars, dairies, all the things. I don't really know any welders and I did some research. I I I honestly wanted to learn from a female instructor and I had watched the Metal Shop Masters series and I did some research and I found out she had a school and I was like you know what Year of? Yes, why not? You've got flight miles. New Jersey is not really that far away.
Speaker 2:I mean it is far away if you fly into Atlantic City instead of Philadelphia and you have to take a bus. That did happen because on the East Coast things are a lot closer together than they are in California. So I Googled closest airport to where it was going and it turns out logistically it's absolutely not. That's not, yeah, so for all of you who are going from California to the East Coast and you need to go to New Jersey, please fly into Philadelphia and save yourself the drama and the bus ride twice.
Speaker 1:Well, we had a guest this morning from Philadelphia. Like everything's coming together for us.
Speaker 2:Yep, yep, full circle.
Speaker 1:So you, you decide because you, because of her exposure, she's out there Right. Right, she's on TV. She's got a great social media presence, or I should say underground metal works at a great presence. Still does? Yeah, it still does with Jason. They're doing a great job and you decide I'm going to take this course, right? What kind of courses were offered? How'd you pick the one you want to do?
Speaker 2:So, uh, underground metal works offers a great variation of courses, right, if you just want to go and do a weekend mid class, or I think they do nightly sessions If you live closer was when I did the research about it and what attracted me was I now call myself an artist and so she had a sculpting class and I wanted to learn more about manipulating metal and also the welding stuff. So I looked and she conveniently had a one-week MIG-TIG stick class or arc and also a sculpt. So Saturday was off and then Sunday was a sculpting class.
Speaker 2:So, that was a signing class, so I that that was a sign to me that it was meant to be like just go learn. And I had never, prior to going to underground metalworks, I had never held a tig gun in my hand. I've never stick welded. I still have to this day. I've not stick welded. They try to get me to do it, but I don't want to mess up my hair, so I love stick I've never done it, I think it's like the most raw power feeling.
Speaker 2:Well, and I think I would probably use it for some cool textures, like in pieces like if it called for it and I do want.
Speaker 1:And different electrodes have very different textures, like even between alloys Right.
Speaker 2:That's what I've heard. I still don't know, but I do. I have a Multimatic at home and so I could do all three. Yeah, I just am so busy, especially right now I'm so busy doing the commissions that I'm working on that. I'm stuck doing make for a little while, but I am going to practice that tig stuff for sure so you come out of this course.
Speaker 1:When did you take it?
Speaker 2:you said february february, it was like early february okay.
Speaker 1:So you come out of this course, you're feeling inspired. Yeah, stephanie's a inspiring person, thousand percent right, and she's, and she's fantastic. So you come out and you're, like, you know, on, you know, on your way back to california, already dreaming of how to use the skills you've just learned.
Speaker 2:Right? I listen to podcasts the whole way home, like welding podcast. I'm like.
Speaker 1:Give me all the info, yeah, yeah then you get back home and are you like that's it. I'm an artist, I'm gonna no I'm gonna start just building and this is what's going to happen, or what happened next.
Speaker 2:So and when I in February, while I was in New Jersey, stephanie was like we went to dinner and she's like what do you want to do with your life? And I was like, okay, like I don't really have any expectations. I have like a handful of goals. I want to be cool enough in the world that people find what I do and they think I'm cool so they hire me to build cool stuff. Like that's not a huge expectation. And then I was like I want one company on the planet to send me something free. Just one, just send me. I don't even care if it's like a sticker, like here's your sticker, tag us okay, and so and then I wanted really, I wanted to build.
Speaker 2:I wanted to be invited to do a public art installation.
Speaker 1:So, those were my goals. That's a tough one.
Speaker 2:That's a big one, right. So I left super inspired, motivated, probably more inspired and motivated than I've ever been in my life, actually counting my previous legal career all the things. I've done all the crazy that opportunity to go learn.
Speaker 1:It resonated oh absolutely Changed.
Speaker 2:It Changed everything.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and so now you get. I've done all the crazy that opportunity, uh, to go learn.
Speaker 2:It resonated oh, absolutely changed. It changed everything, yeah and so you now?
Speaker 1:you get back to California, you're back home, you're back in the garage. 200 followers, right, and what?
Speaker 3:what are the? What are the?
Speaker 1:first steps you start taking now.
Speaker 2:I mean first of all, you can probably leverage, stephanie yeah, like I try not to right, but it is a thing that you can do.
Speaker 1:Like it happens, I'll be like on social media. Why is someone tagging me? I was like I'm I'm not the person to tag to get you any more followers. Oh, I'm going to tag you, I'm going to tag you I love it. I just like to know what people are doing Right, but um you know that that, but you said you didn't really want to pull that card. No.
Speaker 2:I have some friends who are in marketing and social media and I reached out to them and I'm like how does this work? Because I'm like borderline boomer right.
Speaker 2:Technology is not my friend. I spent my life typing and researching online and that was the extent of it. Beyond that, I didn't want to touch computers because I sat in front of one all day. So I had to learn a lot about social media and when I started I had like 220 followers or something like that. And you know, I hired a family member. She was pretty new to social media and we kind of like worked together and then she got married and got busy and did all the things in the meantime I like kind of followed what she did and learned and initially I hated it.
Speaker 2:I absolutely hated social media. It was it felt like work, it felt like work.
Speaker 1:It's a chore. It is so much You've got to invest into it, or else it looks like garbage.
Speaker 2:You do, and so I had to change my mindset. So I'm a creative. How do I make this fun? And so I started learning how to make reels and I tried to film myself and take pictures and then try to be creative with the process of social media. So make something fun, make something that I feel good about, like I want to watch it, and if I want to watch it, maybe you'd want to watch it too, or whatever. So I started doing my own stuff and I, in the last six months, have gone from 220 followers to I think I might have hit 1,500 today. I haven't had a chance to check.
Speaker 2:So, six months. It's been a wild ride right. So I started social media and then a couple of people locally hired me to do some stuff. I just got hired to well about a month ago. I have two months to build like it's like a 63 foot metal grapevine sculpture for a probably the busiest Italian restaurant locally owned Italian restaurant in our community, and they're opening a new location and my sculpture is going to basically span the entire length of the new dining room so it is for a local opportunity.
Speaker 1:It doesn't get much better than that so 500 followers check yeah, commission art piece. Check yeah, cool, cool stuff. Check, check, yep, free stuff I, yeah.
Speaker 2:So there was a company called um bocamal bocamal b-o-c-o-m-a-l-f-r. Um, I ordered their stuff on amazon, right, and I was wearing it and I tagged them because I'm like I don't know what I'm doing, so I'm just gonna tag. If I use your product, I'm gonna tag you because I don't know what I'm doing. Um, and so I tagged them and they reached out and they're like your content is so cool. Well, if we send you some shirts, will you please? Put something out there I'm like it's happening, Like.
Speaker 1:I'm getting free stuff, yay.
Speaker 2:And actually I ran into him at Fabtech today and I had when we were working together. Initially I asked him I'm like do you have a woman's line? And they were like no, we don't.
Speaker 2:I was like that's, I think, frustrating to my knees it's a dress it's almost more dangerous than just wearing a regular cotton shirt um, and so I am trying to the companies that I have worked with or reached out to, I'm trying to encourage them to do more women's um apparel, gloves, yeah, um, and so, uh, yeah. So I got free shirts and I I saw them. They're like we just came out with a woman's line. Will you try it? Will you give us your feedback? Will you help us with our research? I'm like absolutely, yeah, I'm absolutely willing to light myself on fire for no, that's awesome.
Speaker 1:You know, like uh, the, the women's safety gear is is still a struggle. Right in canada, we work with a company called cover gals and all they do is it's a female owned and operated company that only does women's safety gear, like smaller gloves, pp, hard hats, nice things that'll fit women.
Speaker 2:I didn't know that I'm off to check them out, but they don't have welding fr stuff. Yeah, so like I mean, but they started in the construction space they were working with construction roofers like so you know.
Speaker 1:We started talking to them like well, when's welding?
Speaker 2:so I know it's on their cool game plan well, if they need somebody to try them out, I'm happy to do so yeah, find them on instagram.
Speaker 1:I will. I'm going to yeah and be like yo max yeah, hey, max, yep, yep, so you know let's, let's rewind.
Speaker 1:Okay, because, like you know, dad was, know, knew how to weld and some stuff. You know you love the vehicles and that world. You know it sounds like you had some fun projects there in the family and as a young woman coming out of high school or girl, you decide to go into what, like you decide to go into trades or you decide to go into what was your passion at that point. Like you're 17 years old, coming out of grade 12.
Speaker 2:So I'm a dairyman's daughter and so I grew up around animals and agriculture and I live in a very agriculturally dominant and oil and gas industry community, and so I went to school to be a vet. I went to UC Davis, which has got a great vet program, and I took basically chemistry for dummies my first quarter and I was like absolutely not we need to pivot and figure something else out, because math and science apparently are not my jam just that's why I do art, because then it doesn't have to be perfect, right?
Speaker 2:I could just be like it's art, yeah? So, um, I pivoted and I ultimately um graduated with like a two bachelors in sociology and political science. What are you gonna do with that? I either had to teach or go to law school yeah so I took the entry exams for both and decided I would go law school route, because everyone told me I was good at arguing that's.
Speaker 1:I hear that a lot, oh yeah, like when little kids all this one's gonna be a lawyer, yeah. And then every lawyer that I know is like I wish I wasn't a lawyer. Right, like right, yeah, yeah, we were talking about this yes, yeah my undergrad was in philosophy and, like 90 of my friends are lawyers. That's like. It's like a. It's like a preferred degree to get into law school.
Speaker 2:It's not philosophy, it's helpful. I was one class away from a philosophy minor because I loved the classes. Yeah, and anytime I could do a philosophy class in order to substitute like political science, that's what I did.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, and you know, for me it was like the options were either get your doctorate in philosophy to teach there's no middle ground there. It's either all the way or nothing, or really nothing. Because I didn't want to go to law, like I was, like I just don't, and I went back to welding, yeah, so it's like you know, it's like I was a philosophical welder. Okay, I mean, why not, why not? And it all full circle ended up helping right, like education is never bad, right, agreed, agreed, you learn what you want to learn. It'll come in useful someday. But for you deciding to get into law, what was that like?
Speaker 1:like were you excited about getting into law.
Speaker 2:I mean like I guess yeah, so I have always loved to problem solve. Um, the bigger the problem, the more fun it is for me. Um, the more complicated you bring me something that is impossible to solve and I will figure it out. Um, and because not just by myself, like there's, you have to use other resources, right? Um, and so, using the that problem solving aspect, it I I still love about law.
Speaker 2:And my old firm will call me, like if they have projects and like, hey, we have this super complicated matter, can you work on it? Put some time on it? Yeah, and I will, because I love my old firm. Like they were very, very good to me and you know, it just came time for me to. I hit 40 and I got tired of fighting.
Speaker 1:And so in-house was general counsel, was calling my name and so in-house was general counsel was calling my name, and what type of law did you go into? What was it that you wanted to do?
Speaker 2:So I always wanted to do family law and then I had a family law instructor when I was in law school. I was like, nope, I'm not doing that. So, and I and again that's like it doesn't get any more fighting than that, so I'm glad I didn't go.
Speaker 3:Oh, it's bad.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I ultimately, because my family in the dairy and ag industry. I was like, well, I'll do agricultural law, water law, and I wound up not. I went to a firm that had agricultural attorneys in it. They did ag law and I wound up getting sucked into full litigation because I was told, because of my personality and my ability to problem solve and think on my feet, I was going to do transactional work. And they were like absolutely not, Like nope no way.
Speaker 2:You're going to be in the courtroom and you're going to like it. It's basically how it worked out, and so I spent 16 years doing complex business litigation like trial work and did you enjoy it? Um, am I supposed to be honest? I'm just kidding, yeah you know what?
Speaker 1:so law is uh like pros and cons so pros and cons, so law there.
Speaker 2:I know some attorneys who absolutely love it. They eat it up right.
Speaker 1:My best friend is uh loves, yeah his like. He has his own for me. He ate at, work somebody else but then he opened his own firm and he is like re-found his love for law, yeah I love the problem solving.
Speaker 2:I like the challenge. I, if someone tells me I can't do something, guess what. I'm going to do it, so I'll figure it out. So that to me was I mean, I have I had multimillion dollar clients and I did primarily defense litigation, where they come to me screwed, yeah, and my job is to unscrew them. I was good at what I did because I am willing to think outside the box and I'm willing to collaborate with my peers and, um, any resource I can get to fix the problem or solve the problem, and a lot of times attorneys will actually get in the way. Um, and you have to think rationally and approach situations reasonably and fairly. Um, and a lot of attorneys are just like they're in it for the fight and they want to fight no matter what but's not in the best interest of the client. So I did like that I had. I always had super great relationships with my clients, um, and they, even to this day, will reach out to me. Be like hey how's?
Speaker 2:it going. They all had my cell phone number. The good ones um and so yeah, and so I I do miss I I do miss relationships that I had with clients. I do. I was in court, actually, for the first, so I went in-house in October of 2019 and I have not set foot in a courtroom until about two weeks ago and I had to pull the monkey suit out and the heels and you know, do my thing and I do, I do miss court. I do miss court and I miss the complex problem solving.
Speaker 1:And it's a very on the spot thinking that it is it, thinking that it is, it is, it is, and I, but I don't miss attorneys like I don't miss fighting, I don't miss it.
Speaker 2:And the daily grind. Like if I'm in a daily grind, I'd rather be out of my shop yeah, so so the cons were time yeah commitments yeah, it took me.
Speaker 2:It took me so I was a billable attorney, meaning, uh, I build by the hour. Yeah, um, and so I can literally look at the clock and be like, oh, that's 0.3, 18 minutes. Oh that's 0.2, 12 minutes. Oh that's 0.4, 20. You know, like my brain think it took about two years for me to stop looking at my watch. Like you and I are having a conversation, I didn't look at my watch. Had you and I had a conversation two years ago, I would have been like, well, we started at you know 0.1 and it's now 0.8, so that's a 0.7. And like my brain would just think, constantly looking at the clock and being obsessed with the calendar, because the calendar is the fastest way to commit malpractice yeah, crazy, crazy.
Speaker 1:So you know you're doing this, you're working away. When does this bug start entering back into you that you want to do something else like there? There has to be a moment or a period of time where the questioning starts to happen I've always had it.
Speaker 2:I've always, even through your entire career, like I've meant for something else, oh yeah, I, I went to I when, so, when the vet program at school didn't work out, I was like, oh, I'm gonna go into art and design. I took one art class and I the instructor was like kind of mean about shading and I'm like, yeah, but I like the way this looks they were shady about shading yeah, they were shady about shading oh, you have a drum roll, oh no that was awesome that made my day right there.
Speaker 2:so he, he was like really kind of almost mean to the class and I feel very strongly that art is like it's passion, it's you, you're, it's a level of vulnerability that that you you can get it in other ways. But, um, being a creative is putting yourself out there, it's, it's putting your heart and soul into something and then sharing it with the world. That scary and so for. After that class I like clammed up and I was all oh, I can't I'm not want to do art and so, but I always needed an outlet.
Speaker 2:So I would doodle, I would do things, but I never showed anybody my work were you artistic as a kid? Oh, yeah, yeah oh yeah, but I never showed anybody my work my whole life. I never know that to put myself out there.
Speaker 1:It was just an introspective thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was just a yeah, it was just a way for me to just use that other side, because two sides of my brain right, I've got the analytical, logical side, the attorney side, and now I've got this crazy creative side that they sometimes they don't get along, sometimes they don't. So um, but um, I would say I just kind of dabbled in. When I found um metal working, I fell in love, absolutely fell in in love, because it's just, it's fun, and I just recently learned how to manipulate metal using heat and I'm having a blast with it. I've been talking to all the vendors who have torch setups. I'm like, okay, how do I do this, whatever? So I think some cool things are coming down the pipe.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. So this change you said so in january. Basically you're like okay yeah I need to like commit to this. Yeah, see where it goes, see what happens right, jump in and like I, I look you up pre-show, like I think last night and today right there's already a website. Right, there's a website, and yeah, so meraki metal works meraki, meraki. Sorry, meraki is greek, it's greek right, and it means like uh, to climb a tree or something.
Speaker 2:It means so. Meraki is a Greek term for if you're going to do something, do it with heart and soul, do it with passion, and so that actually, I have a couple of companies. I have Meraki Consulting, meraki Construction, and Meraki Metalworks is a DBA for Meraki Construction. Okay, construction, okay, that company owns all my tools. So, yeah, um, but I, I literally formed, uh, I, when I wasn't doing art. I have a consulting company, so I do like project management and stuff now and, um, I named it america consulting because I it just it was there, right. So when I decided to rebrand and do everything, I was like this name is meant for my art, it's not meant for consulting because I was trying to put my passion into other things and it just wasn't feeding my soul.
Speaker 2:And it wasn't until this year when I just started creating more consistently and I'm out in my shop probably most days by two o'clock because of what I do during for my adulting day job. I can manage a lot of my adulting from my phone or computer after two o'clock because it's mostly construction.
Speaker 2:Okay, so or a phone call, right, or an email, and I go back to doing what I'm doing. So, um yeah, I decided to just jump in and see what happens. I'd never done that before. I'd always just um dumb, you know what you're supposed to do right go to school, get a degree, get a job, do all the things, and I never gave myself permission to follow my heart and I'm doing it.
Speaker 2:You don't strike me as a person that would hold back well, you gotta remember, I was trapped in lawyer land for a long time, where you know, when I first started practicing law ladies, don't roll your eyes I wore closed-toed shuls, shoes, pantyhose, full suit and, you know, no tattoos. I had no tattoos when I first started practicing law and then it just wasn't feeding my soul. I liked, liked it I mean, it was fine and it paid the bills, right, and but I just it didn't. And then I started kind of just being more open to being me and started getting tattoos and started buying the hot pink heels and pop a color. And then there went the hair and the hair. Was it so?
Speaker 2:I um, I just I decided it life is too short not to be authentically you and I don't have a lot of. I don't have a lot of tolerance or patience for lack of authenticity anymore but I'm in my 40s and I hear, as you get older you your bs meter gets a lot smaller yeah, yeah, like people are like oh, you're so much more organic.
Speaker 1:now it's like I don't, don't have enough, I'm too tired.
Speaker 2:I am too tired. I have lived too much life and I'm too tired to be anything. But what you see is what you get. And some people love it and some people hate it, and I don't care.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that really shouldn't matter to anybody.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't care, so, yeah. So this is the year of yes, this is my year of jump in and see what happens and I will tell. I will say this um, in 16 years of complex business litigation, you know you go to law school and you have these dreams of like making a difference, right, and I, I would volunteer here and there, but I just never felt like I was making a difference. And in the last six months of jumping in and taking a leap of faith and doing something I was absolutely terrified to do and being willing to be vulnerable to people I don't even know, like social media is this thing where you put yourself out there and you have no control what happens and it'll come back.
Speaker 2:Sometimes it'll bite you and sometimes you'll soar right, and so to do all of those things it's scary, but for the first time in my life I feel like I'm impacting. I've had dads reach out to me and say my daughter found your page, or I've shown my daughter your page and you've inspired her. And I've had people reach out to me.
Speaker 2:I have other attorneys reach out to me who are also and they play with you know they do metalworking and stuff, and they're artists and creatives and I've had more people reach out to me and say that I've inspired them than ever in the last six months, actually in the last 60 days, than ever before in my life. And if I can, if I can, if my journey can inspire just one person to take a leap leap, of leap of faith, jump in, do something they're scared of, take an opportunity that they never thought they would do, or follow their passion, then it's all worth it.
Speaker 2:it doesn't matter what their passion, then it's all worth it. It doesn't matter what came before that moment, it is all worth it and I feel like I I don't know if I'm making a difference, but if I am cool.
Speaker 1:I mean, this is a the timeline's tight.
Speaker 2:It's so tight Right the timeline. It's been a wild ride, right so.
Speaker 1:January to February. You know, we got February. Now we're what? Where are we september? How many?
Speaker 2:oh gosh, yeah, I think it's september. This is almost seven, yeah, seven months from from from february.
Speaker 1:And website social media sponsors. You know a class and traveling and you said that when you were on this ride back to california after taking the class with stephanie, you were inspired more than you had ever been. Absolutely, absolutely, and I'm feeling from you the energy that, that hasn't really subsided.
Speaker 2:No, and it's not. I feel like I'm.
Speaker 1:This is like the new norm now.
Speaker 2:This is the new norm and I feel like I'm finally on the path I was meant to be on and I don't know where it's going to take me and I have zero expectations. But I'm here for the ride. You and um. I haven't announced it yet publicly, so I'm going to give it to you all, right, um, I actually whatever number on my little bucket list of one year, I'm, uh, I've been hired by a city close by um to the public work. I'm doing three separate public art installations this year, so that's another.
Speaker 1:I think that's the final checkbook. I think that's it.
Speaker 2:I got to find out, I got to come up with new goals. I think it's been so wild that I'm just. I don't even know that I have goals per se. I'm literally just here for the ride.
Speaker 3:Just like what's next.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like, yeah, like, let's do it like I'm ready for anything and um, the projects that I've been hired to do are going to, um, help me get a lot of exposure locally, and I'm grateful for that, because, uh, you know it doesn't come along every day.
Speaker 1:But it came quick, man, it came quick. So, yeah, in this path. Yeah, you doodled, you hid it from people. Yeah, you drew, you hid it from people. No formal training no, as an artist or welder, except for stephanie's class.
Speaker 2:That's it right.
Speaker 1:And then as an artist, except for the one class that you were like.
Speaker 2:No, and I actually dropped the class before the end of the class. I lasted a month and I was like I'm out, I can't do this.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I cannot so so these, aside from stephanie's, obviously yeah, they're not great experiences, not a lot of feedback, not a direction, no, and then you decide that you want to be an artist.
Speaker 2:Sure, why not Jump in right? Yeah, that's fine.
Speaker 1:I mean, I could say, hey, I want to be an artist, but I kind of suck.
Speaker 2:And I've tried. Art only has value if people put it on there, right?
Speaker 1:Right. So for me, I'm very I don't know industrially minded, so when I build, I build things with precision and squareness.
Speaker 2:And I okay. So when I build, I build like things with precision and squareness, and I don't know if I have the aesthetic or the creativity on that, like with that. I just don't think that way.
Speaker 1:But even that's beautiful, right to me, yeah, right to me and I do things like I do have people that are like I need a work desk that'll do this and that and this thing swing up. Yeah man, I got you and I can make that look cool and it'll be like slick.
Speaker 2:But if someone's like I need something for the front of my house, I'm like like I don't know what you're like here, let me give you this number yeah, yeah, like the sun, I don't like what I don't know, like what, yeah, I just no idea.
Speaker 1:Like a blank right. So how do you get good? Because I I went to your website and there's really nice stuff on there, right, and this is recent, so like that was a very fast and quick learning curve. So either you have some crazy hidden, natural inborn talent that you just like scratched the the scab off of and exploded out there, or you have like a divine intervention or something like like, maybe both.
Speaker 2:I hope, I'm hoping for both. Like, let's just go with both. I'm hoping for both. I'm hoping for both. Um, I, I, oh man, I, I think in my shop it is a lot of experiments and failures to figure out what works and I am currently limited by my lack of knowledge and the only way to learn is to jump in and try and figure it out or take a class. But even taking a class is like you can sit like. Stephanie is great, she's super hands on it's specific skills.
Speaker 2:It is, and so I think that right now, when I say I'm a sponge like I want to learn all the mediums. So this year I've done a pottery class, I've done glass blowing, I've done glass blowing, I've done glass fusion. I took the week workshop with Stephanie. I want to learn as much as I possibly can because I love metal. Metal is my favorite. Probably 95% of the work I do is metal, but I've also done I've worked with concrete. I have a couple ideas in my head that are going to incorporate concrete and metal.
Speaker 1:Concrete is my least favorite of all metal.
Speaker 2:Oh come on, why Because?
Speaker 1:it's so messy and time consuming and it can go south on you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so you just do it again or do something.
Speaker 1:So I will say this I'm so confident with steel that I was like someone's, like, can you make me something out of wood? I'm like sure, but steel right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, someone I had a years ago. Someone asked me if I could make them something out of wood and I was like you don't want it out of steel yeah, she was like no, I wanted a wood. I'm like yeah, but still is, it lasts forever. And she was like I want out of wood. I'm like fine. So I I work with wood, I've built vanities, I've built furniture.
Speaker 1:Um, wood is like less forgiving than metal though yes, because I can add metal, I can't add wood no, but I did nothing more forgiving than steel when you learn how to use.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and so I just I think my passion is metal, but I'm willing to work with the other one, the other mediums, and I think my mediums are anything industrial and construction. Like I don't. I'm a terrible painter. Do not ask me to paint. You want me to sketch in black and white? Cool Done, you want me to paint? Bye, not happening.
Speaker 1:Please do not call me if you want a painted a painting. It's not going to happen. Well, considering how fast you seem to be getting good at things, you're like I suck up painting. Next year I'll see you and you're gonna be like yeah, I just painted that new 16th chapel I I actually found a local painting class.
Speaker 2:It's like a sunday class.
Speaker 1:I'm like here we go do that right watch out world.
Speaker 2:Here I come, yeah, so no, um, but to answer your question, trial and error, trial and error and and, to be honest, some of my favorite pieces that I've done have been ones where it was like emotional meltdown central, like this piece could not get any more terrible.
Speaker 2:I don't know what, but I was talking to a friend earlier today. Some of the best learning opportunities I've had is just to been to experiment and screw up, like the best way to learn is because when you screw up, you have to figure out how to fix it yeah and once you learn how to fix something, you don't forget what you learned.
Speaker 2:If, if I go to you and I say, hey, how do I do this process, and you're like blah, blah, blah and you tell me how to do it, I'm gonna go home and be like what'd he say. But if I go back to my shop and I'm like I'm gonna figure process right, you learn how it works. It gets like in your system to where you it's like muscle memory, you know, and so you can do it. And so, having been completely self-taught with the exception of underground metal works there's been a lot of trial and error and so it's really fun. And so I this piece that I'm doing for this restaurant.
Speaker 2:It's a process I've never used before. I had never used before I've, I had never used uh heat to manipulate metal. I always just strong-armed it like I'm strong, I'm like I can do that, and I made my whole entire wedding bouquet. It's like a bunch of wrapped up steel. Or I used uh, copper, brass, um, aluminum and steel and I just made a bouquet with it and I have to say I think my least favorite was the brass.
Speaker 1:It's really hard to manipulate with yeah, and heat actually doesn't help brass.
Speaker 2:Oh good to know, see I would have probably put a torch on and be like oh, I made a stick, like nothing happened.
Speaker 1:You can work. Yeah, colors with, uh, with, with brass and. But the problem is is that it's considered a hot short? A hot short is the molecular structure. When you heat it up, it actually just tends to snap, oh yeah yeah, that would have been bad to try and twist it after that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, good thing I didn't heat it.
Speaker 1:Certain time, certain certain time. Types of aluminum as well, oh, only bend when cold, not hot.
Speaker 2:So see, I'm like, okay, that's better as you world no but that's so cool to Fabtech, like every year, because the trades people I have met have been the coolest, most authentic people I think I've ever encountered in anything.
Speaker 3:I've ever done.
Speaker 2:They love to share and you know what. Social media is cool that way, right? So if I have a problem, I can reach out to somebody. I don't know who you are. I follow you on Instagram, but hey, can you answer this question? And the trades industry has been more willing than any other industry I've ever been part of. And I've done law, I've done construction, I've done real estate. I've done, you know, I was a personal trainer, I was a CrossFit trainer. Like I've done, I collect licenses and certifications for a living.
Speaker 1:Because I always Do you want to talk?
Speaker 2:about CrossFit. Oh no, the first rule of CrossFit is don't, please they all't talk about crossfit like. I'm sorry for all you crossfitters out there. I drank the kool-aid, I did it, but I am too old for it. I had two surgeries and a concussion for six month period, like I told me, I was like girl, you are too old for this. So, yeah, yeah. Now I just work in my shop, yeah, and and and my with my recent project. I don't need to work out because I I it's heavy it was a lot of yeah I.
Speaker 2:I called it dancing on my table tell us about your most recent project so right now I'm working on the grapevine sculpture for the restaurant and three fees it's like well, so it's, it's gonna sit on top.
Speaker 2:So there's the dining room, and this restaurant really likes to have the kitchen be part of the dining experience, and so they it's. My sculpture is um six grapevines, or six trunks, each one representing a different family member in their immediate family. Um, because when they met with me they didn't really know what they wanted. They just didn't want frosted glass, like. They didn't want to feel like a chain restaurant. They didn't want in their current location they have, like, a brass railing.
Speaker 2:They wanted something one-of-a-kind, artistic, um, and they wanted people to walk in, wow right yeah and so uh of a friend of a friend and, uh, they reached out to me and I went and met with them. They're like, well, do you have any ideas? And I was like, well, I love plasma cutting, like that. That's how, like people who hire me locally, they I hand, I hand draw and I hand cut everything. So they hire me for that purpose. And, um, a lot of the work that I've done has been plasma cutting and so I, of course, throughout I was like, oh, we could cut some panels, like we could tell the story of your restaurant or of your family or whatever. And they're like, yeah, and like it's too bad, we can't do a family tree. And I was like Italian restaurant wine. Who doesn't want wine at an Italian restaurant?
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 2:So I threw out the idea of why don't we do a vine sculpture and put some grapes on it, and in the back of my mind I'm like I've never done this before. Stop talking, Stop offering suggestions.
Speaker 2:You've never done this before, but it's actually been one of my favorite projects because of the learning opportunity. I've learned different processes. I've learned how to work with different. I always work with steel. The only time I've worked with anything else was my wedding bouquet, and then Stephanie taught me how to take aluminum, which, by the way, I can't wait to do again but, I've been too busy.
Speaker 2:I went, I came home and I set my multi-matic up for like all taking and I still haven't turned it on because I've been too busy running my MIG life you know trying to keep up with the momentum that things are taking right now.
Speaker 2:So, um, anyway, yeah, so it's gonna span the dining room and then it goes up and over the the arch entryway for between the server where the servers go in and out of the kitchen, and then it continues down along another pony wall and then over onto a booth. I've never made something for something that doesn't exist yet, and that's what I'm doing, like it's a building that's currently under construction.
Speaker 1:That's the best time to do it, though it is Because you don't got to worry about scratching stuff or moving things around.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but my client wants to. He wants the vine to wrap around the column and there's no way to do that unless you build it on site, right? Well, they're going to have all this big, beautiful like fancy wood in there. What if you built it all and then cut it down?
Speaker 3:the two sides. So it was like so I, I could absolutely do that where were you a month ago?
Speaker 2:no, I, I did. I thought about that, but then I was like, if it's not perfect because construction's not perfect. Yeah, I didn't. I didn't want to be one of those girls who like shows up to install their piece and nothing fits, so I wanted to build in a way that I was like guaranteed installation is happening.
Speaker 2:So one of the there's two columns, and so the vine's basically going to wrap around one side. I'm going to like put a leaf or a grape there to hide it, and then it'll come back around the other side because, he doesn't care what it looks like on the kitchen side.
Speaker 2:And so it was the easiest way to do it, not knowing what, and I've gone there and you know the original measurements I took were one thing, and then I went back for the fit test and they were something different, because just it's construction right and people, it's human error.
Speaker 1:Construction it changes, and so well, carpenters have to be like within, like what a foot.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, you know so what your door jams look crooked, no, but so it's been, and and when I took the column pieces back, you know it was a perfect fit. So I'm happy with how it's going. And now I'm I've made, I'm I the client was totally fine with me slapping some prefab grapes and leaves and stuff on there and I spent so much time. So the metal I ordered came from Italy and it's pre-stamped solid rod. It's beautiful and it it's so fun to work with because with the pre-stamped markings on it that look like vineyard rod, when I heat it it just gets even gnarlier yeah, and so it's been really fun.
Speaker 2:And then, um, you know I, I went and looked at all the leaves and grapes and stuff.
Speaker 2:Well, I went to look at all the prefab stuff because I'm like, well, that's easy. Like you know, I couldn't do it. I get my my artistic side. It made my eye twitch. You wanted to cut it. I don't like to use fakes. It's not fake stuff. Prefab stuff is great for certain applications, right? Yeah, I wanted it to be mine, like I want every aspect of this sculpture to be mine. Obviously, I bought prefab stamped yeah I could either in the two months that I have to do this project. There's no way I could.
Speaker 2:I could do that, there's just there's some limitations, but the the rod is beautiful. So I was and it came from italy for an italian restaurant. Like it's got a good story. Um, and this particular client is really cool because they're building this restaurant, even though they're outsourcing materials from other locations. All of the labor is local. He's adamant about using local, local labor, which I admire. Um, kudos to them because that's, that's cool. It supports your own industry and it's like local advertising, like, oh, what'd you do? It's all local here. So and so, um, so yeah, I made I made my own grape clusters, which I'd obviously never done before and it was super fun. Like I, I can't wait to get home and finish making grapes what about the leaves?
Speaker 1:all plasma cut.
Speaker 2:So I hand cut over 100 leaves um before I left. And then I tried a new process I'd never done, which somebody told me um back in february while I was hanging out with her, that you could soak stuff in vinegar and make the milk scallop fall off. And I'm like why have I been wrecking my hands my whole life?
Speaker 2:trying to grind it off so I soaked, I threw all the leaves and um in vinegar. It last wednesday right, and then I haven't been back out in my shop since because I came here, uh. But saturday before I left I texted stephanie. I was like hey, I put those leaves in vinegar. Is it okay if I leave them until next Wednesday?
Speaker 3:when I get back.
Speaker 2:And she's like I've never left anything in that long. I don't think that's a good idea.
Speaker 3:And I was like so I ran outside.
Speaker 2:I ran outside real quick and I have a picture of it. I almost posted it because I was like this is real life.
Speaker 2:I was in my steel-toed boots, because I hate dropping things on my toes. If I'm in my shop, I've got my still toed boots on. I was in my still toed boots, socks hiked up to my knees like I don't even know jammy shorts and a shirt and I'm out there cleaning my leaves, getting the vinegar off of them. And then I was like, okay, I got to keep them from resting for the week while I'm gone, because now they're right open to the elements.
Speaker 1:Now they're toast if I don't do it and you can't paint over wd-40 no, I know.
Speaker 2:So I do know that you have to get them back up yeah, and I well, and there's, I'm gonna add texture. They're all hand cut. I actually like the shape of them better than the prefab, because they're imperfect and and nature is imperfect, um, and so when I get home, I'm gonna bend them and tweak them and add some texture and see what I can texture chisels or so, um, stephanie and dave rubin um I was, I actually was talking to them both I'm like I gotta add texture.
Speaker 2:I don't want to use the prefab stuff and collectively they came up with the idea, um, of throwing all the leaves in a cement mixer and just turning it on and good luck. So I'm gonna try it and we're gonna to see what happens. I'm going to throw them in, probably just by themselves at first, and see what comes out and then, if I don't get enough beat up texture, because you kind of want, you know leaves kind of have that like imperfect. I don't want to just put like flat steel right, you put a flat leaf up.
Speaker 2:it's going to look ridiculous with everything else. So at a minimum I want them to have naturally occurring dents and movement and bumps and bruises, and I'm going to see what they look like.
Speaker 1:So I learned in a blacksmithing class years ago about texturing leaves. I'm a sponge, specifically Okay. This may be a lot of intensive work that you may or may not ever want to do.
Speaker 2:I have less than a month.
Speaker 1:I literally have two and a half weeks of shop time to get this project done so you go find some two by six, a piece of two by six lumber from a hardware store. Look for one with a knot, like a nice shaped knot, because it'll have the rings right and the circle. And then you heat up your steel, your cut leaf, okay, until it's almost red. Then you hammer it on the wood, on the knot, on the knot, and it'll imprint because the knot will have natural ridges that are harder and softer. It'll push into the steel and it'll give it it looks like the veins of a leaf. That's pretty rad, that go into the steel.
Speaker 3:Okay, that's pretty rad I tried it.
Speaker 1:It works, but like you got to hammer each leaf hot on wood which, like this blacksmith, made this beautiful flower. Like these leaves look like they were like flowing. Yeah, it's like, how long did it take you? He's like you don't want to like yeah, I don't know if I have that, so for the listeners, if you want to try this, can you?
Speaker 2:air this after october 1st, when my project is due, and then just like, pretend like this idea did not come before it was due. No, I think, um, I, I you know. What's interesting, though, is in my so I usually will have clients that, on the bigger projects, are like can you sketch it up for me so I can see and I'm like it's in my brain? You want me to sketch it, I guarantee, and I always tell them I was like, here's an idea.
Speaker 2:It's not going to look like this I'm just telling you up front because the process of creating things will move it does and I in, and okay, so I drew it this way. That looks like I'm not going to do it that way because this looks way better. Um and so with all my projects, I always tell them up front like you gotta give me creative liberty. This is the overall concept, but let me play like, let me freeform and and 99.9 of my clients, unless they want something very specific, have been pretty cool about that.
Speaker 1:Well, you know when, like it's, it's your game, it's your gig, it's your art, yeah so, like, how can someone argue that being like well, no, actually you'd be surprised, I'm paying you yeah. So since I'm paying you yeah, and it's like okay, then if that's your attitude, go to walmart, bro.
Speaker 2:Like yeah, when I first, when I first started, like 10 years ago, um so the first art pieces I ever sold were um, I was walking around downtown and there was this they have this like downtown art association and they had a big glass window. It was empty and I walked in and I was I was just like killing time and I looked around and it was a bunch of like paintings which I don't do, paintings, yeah. And they asked me they were like are you an artist?
Speaker 3:watch out here I come world, um.
Speaker 2:And they were like oh, are you an artist? And I was like oh, I don't paint or anything. They're like yeah, but are you an artist? I'm like no, and they're like well, oh, are you an artist? And I was like oh, I don't paint or anything. And they're like yeah, but are you an artist? I'm like no, and they're like well, what do you do? And I was like well, I do art.
Speaker 2:I go, I play with metal. And they were like really, do you want to put some stuff in our space? And I was like I'm looking around. I was like, okay, well, when do I have to like commit? And they're like, well, first Friday downtown is what we do every Friday. It's like an art walk or every first Friday of the month, and they were like well, first Friday is this next day and it was February 1st, which is my birthday, and so that's how I remember.
Speaker 2:So I ran home and I was like what can I make in like two days? And I look around and I real quick cut out a whole bunch of hearts and then I broke them like made them broken hearts and then I wound them back together with barbed wire and like leather and other random abstract materials. All of them sold that first night. So my first art piece that I actually made money was on my birthday 10 years ago oh so that's how I remember.
Speaker 2:I know everyone's like crazy, like how do you know, how do you know? And I'm like it was my birthday, that's the only reason I remember um, and, and I was I. It was the first time I put myself out there artistically in the world, because I had to stand there and watch people actually look at my art and I was terrified so there's a gap there?
Speaker 1:oh, there's a gap, yeah, sure, because you got 10 years ago. You're getting out the first piece of art, great experience. You make it, it comes out of your brain and it sells. Yeah, and you're like, no, I'm not doing that again.
Speaker 2:I did it for like a year, but it was like a weekend warrior and I would be out my shop till like two in the morning making stuff sometimes and there was a. There was a very brief period where a couple girlfriends and I we rented a shop over in cambridge, california, which is like a local beach town, and we had the shop open thursday through sunday and I would. I went. I I was like you know what, I'm gonna be an artist, I'm gonna do this. So I went part-time litigation and my boss at the time was like you're a fart in a skillet, I can't keep track of you. Fine, go be an artist, that's fine. But can you come back like 30? Give me 30 hours a week? I'm like I can do that, yeah.
Speaker 2:So I was working litigation 30 hours a week, which really was like 60, and then I was going out in my shop at night and on the weekends so I could make stuff for the shop, and then I was driving cambrai, which is like two, two and a half hours from where I live. I would leave thursday and I'd come back early monday morning. I did it from thanksgiving through christmas. We shut the shop and I didn't go out my shop for like six years. Well that I didn't create it all because I was that's incredibly draining it.
Speaker 2:It was physically meant yeah, everything I was like I don't want to be an artist. This is dumb I. This is why. Why would I want to do this?
Speaker 1:I feel like. I feel like the business plan was flawed it absolutely, absolutely. I had to find that balance I had to find that balance and and I think balance is important, no matter what you do so now you know now, six years after that experiment, right, and you decided to go all in for the, for the yes team. And how do you balance now?
Speaker 2:so my parents hired me? Well, not hired me.
Speaker 2:That's dumb um I, my parents, we did a, we did like a group project together, so I remodeled my parents' front yard and my dad and I and my mom built work together to build this. It's a. It's a beautiful patio. Um, we did a basket woven fence. We used, uh, 12 inches by 10 foot long strips and we basically made a giant basket. We woven fence and then I hand cut their gate out. Um, and my dad and I put it. It was the first time I learned how to drill and tap, which I can't wait to drill and tap again Because it's so much easier. Like you can paint stuff, you can do whatever you want.
Speaker 1:You can still like glue it together, it still goes together.
Speaker 2:And so that was a game changer for me and I did that and it got me. That was kind of the first big art thing I've done in the last few years, because I went from from full-time litigation to working really intensely for this client in-house counsel for a year and a half, almost two years, and then things have slowed down and now I just do their land development and legal, and I just kind of just do whatever they need at this point.
Speaker 2:And so it. I now have more flexibility and that project with my parents kind of got me fueled up to like work again and Kool-Aid went back in. Yeah, I mean, I mean, it was a family project, so there were their ups and downs, right, there were like lots but that's not the steel's fault no, that was not the steel's fault.
Speaker 2:There were lots of laughter and tears and you know I, you know it's it, but but we did it and and I would not change I got to spend time with my family right and create with my parents and we used um sculpt nouveau products. So we um went through and we paint, we use their paint patinas for the fence, and then we used a cold patina for the gate and so I got to work with those products and I was like, okay, these products are rad, like I want to use them again. So, anyway, it got me energized and and we finished that we mom wanted it done for halloween, because she always does an annual Last year.
Speaker 2:Yeah, last year. So we finished it October last year and then mom got sick so she wound up not being able to do her party. But this year you better watch out, it's going to be off the hook. I'm going to help her decorate and we do like life-size skeletons all over and they're climbing all over the house.
Speaker 1:Anyway, all Wow, just throw that on the pile.
Speaker 2:No, no, no they're like Walmart special, amazon special, yeah, no, no. But the gate inspired me to do it and get back in and I was like and then my grandma passed away and my dad collaborated and my dad and I collaborated on this like beautiful heart piece to honor my grandma for her funeral. And that was in January, february, and that was right before I went and I was like you know what? Screw it, I'm just going to go to New Jersey, I'm going to learn from Stephanie and I'm going. I don't know anybody, I have no expectations. I'm going to learn and then I'm going to come home and see what happens and here.
Speaker 1:I am Awesome. So we're coming to the end of the interview here. It's an hour. That was awesome. That went fast. So you know what's next. You're going to go home from Fab Tech when Thursday no, I fly out at 6 am tomorrow. I'm leaving my hotel at 4.
Speaker 2:And I'm going to go to Arks and Ales and maybe I just won't go to bed.
Speaker 1:Yeah no.
Speaker 2:Sounds like a Some of my new friends have been like we'll carry you around, you can do it.
Speaker 1:I'm like've made a thousand friends this week.
Speaker 2:I've had a blast, I've had a blast.
Speaker 1:I'm older than you. Being in your 40s is not an excuse.
Speaker 2:It's been really fun to.
Speaker 1:You're not that much older than me.
Speaker 2:You got me a couple years. So it's been really fun gaining this social media following and coming to Fabtech and meeting people. And people are coming up to me and like you're the welder with the hair and I'm like what? Oh, yeah, okay, and I was like I should have branded my hair not this new logo thing but whatever. But it's been fun because people are recognizing me and they're coming up and they're saying hey, I follow you, I've talked to you and I was like how cool is that?
Speaker 1:no-transcript.
Speaker 2:And I've been so impressed with the tradespeople because they're what you see, is what you get, and I didn't get that in the legal world.
Speaker 1:I do get a lot when people meet me that I am way shorter in real life than they thought. So am I.
Speaker 2:So am I.
Speaker 1:They think the hair adds like six inches to my height and so yeah, no you put me in a pair of five inch heels.
Speaker 3:I can run in them, by the way yeah, I can run in heels too.
Speaker 2:Oh, yes, it takes practice. It takes practice. Yes, yeah, so no, what's next? Um, I don't know. I'm along for the ride, I am just gonna keep riding the journey as long yeah, commission's lined up.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, keep you busy for a bit um this.
Speaker 2:the grapevine is due october 1st. The restaurant's trying to open mid-October, and then I'm going to roll right into those three public art pieces and they're going to be fun. They're going to be really fun. And then I have smaller commission pieces that I'm going to do in between.
Speaker 1:So you're locked up for the year, like till the end of the year.
Speaker 2:I'm not going to take any significant commission pieces through June 1 because I just what I don't want to do is commit and not be able to deliver, and I'm big on that. Like what is it?
Speaker 3:Under promise, over deliver.
Speaker 2:That's kind of my motto. Like I want to be very careful. Things have grown faster than I was ever expecting, which I'm grateful for.
Speaker 3:But you don't want to burn that out.
Speaker 2:I don't want to get too big for my britches. Like get too, not too. Not too big for my britches, but take on more. I'm a one-woman shop, so I don't want to take on more than I can handle.
Speaker 1:And I still have that day job Right and you don't want to burn yourself out. I mean it gets tough to maintain that level.
Speaker 2:It does. And I'm grateful for Fabtech, because Fabtech got me away from my shop and I can't go out in my shop, I don't feel obligated to work on that piece, I can't go out in my shop, I don't feel obligated to work on that piece and I got a break. And I think that having the break and then meeting all the cool people and all the cool vendors and just being in this space, it's almost like going back to Underground Mettaworks in February. I'm going back fully inspired, fully motivated. I'm ready to just knock some crazy stuff out and I'm ready for it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, awesome. Is there anything that you want to do to add to that checklist? Like, like you said, you'd only really know what is what would be the next thing. But I'm putting you on the spot you are what would be? Something like I'd love to have x happen in my career you know what that's.
Speaker 2:The weird thing about art is I love that, I don't know. I love that.
Speaker 1:I don't know what I'm gonna get hired to do installation on mars. Yeah, right, yeah, I want to go.
Speaker 2:I want to go to mars and, like, do the first art installation on mars. Yeah, maybe that's my new goal. That might be a little. Let's talk to me in a couple years. Maybe I'll be ready for that one. Um no, you know what? I just kind of want to keep plugging along and just enjoying the ride. I don't want to set expectations because I don't I. I well, first of all, the goals I set six months ago. I blew them out of the water, which I wow, like I'm so grateful but, yeah, win, win.
Speaker 2:Um, I don't, I don't know. I just want to keep making cool stuff like I just want I want to be. I want to be cool enough that people hire me to make cool well, and you got painting classes possibly coming up.
Speaker 1:So there's a whole new angle to take.
Speaker 2:You know what it's actually? Okay, it's actually a figure painting or figure drawing, class figure painting and yeah, huh, like people, like people. Yeah, well, because I want to do some, uh, human sculptures.
Speaker 1:Um, that's tough yeah I don't even understand how people do. I just saw a sculpture of a hand made of steel right.
Speaker 2:No, I've seen some cool stuff.
Speaker 1:I'm like, like. I even look at my own hand and not understand what I'm seeing.
Speaker 2:I can draw a hand Like I can draw a hand, that's one thing I was always good with hands and eyes.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I can draw the things that only 17-year-old boys can draw. Okay, okay.
Speaker 2:I always could draw hands and eyes, because that's the first thing I notice about people is their eyes, and I read lips draw an eye, I can be pretty good so eyes and hands, because I feel like eyes and handshakes are like the first way you you meet someone. Like shake my hand, but shake my hand, shake my hand like a human, like don't give me a good handshake yeah, good hands like the no, if you grab my hand like a limp fish, we are not friends. No, it's not happening. Don't do it.
Speaker 1:Don't do it it feels dirty, like it's weird you gotta get the hand sanitizer after like. That is not okay 100, 100, yeah.
Speaker 2:So what's next? I I hope everything. I hope. I feel. I really do feel like I am open to anything and everything and I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm gonna make some cool stuff, cool shout all right.
Speaker 1:Well, this is your space. Let the people know your website, how to find you.
Speaker 2:Okay, your handles okay so the easiest way to find me is you can go to my website, which is wwwmerikimetalworksnet dot com. Dot net, and merikai is m-e-r-a-k-i and then metalworks, plural, w-r-k-s. Um. That actually has links to my instagram, links to everything, and I've got a contact form if you want to reach out um. But instagram is probably the funnest because I'm trying to post fun content, um, and the instagram handle is uh, merikai, m-e-r-a-k-i dot metal. M-e-t-a-l dot works w-o-r-k-s. Merikai metal works.
Speaker 1:So and if you find a big sunflower, that's me you're the big sunflower, I'm the big sunflower, I'm a big hair too, apparently I'm the boulder with the hair is. Is that a look that you look or you wish to keep? Is this going to be like a trademark thing? Like Ivan and his hat?
Speaker 2:Right. So I've had this hairstyle for four or five years now. It just changes colors, like I was a peacock one time I did teals and blues and purples, and I've done pink, I've done blue, I've done yeah. So it's pretty much shaved with a faux hawk. Sometimes I'll do curls if I want to just be a little girly, but no, this is it.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. Yeah, I mean, it's you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it is. My natural color is brown, though, so I could do a brown faux hawk.
Speaker 1:But right now it's bleached out. I can tell.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it looks awesome. I'm like a. I'm a bottle blonde, I can be dingy. I can be dingy. Well, thank you very much for coming on the show. Oh, thank you for the opportunity.
Speaker 1:We had a ton of fun, yeah it was good and I'll be seeing you tonight at Arxenale Absolutely.
Speaker 2:And good luck with tomorrow morning. That is goal number one. I gotta get home. Yeah, yeah, awesome.
Speaker 1:Thank you, max you bet, and for all the people that have been watching the shows and checking out what's going on here at fabtech, we got lots more coming, a couple more episodes we've been working our butts off. Thanks to daniela.
Speaker 1:I'm gonna throw that out right now you guys have been busy for for making me stay on track and all the work that we've been doing. We're gonna be at arcs and nails tonight uh, ewi is tonight. Uh, the's tonight. So there's lots of things going on and we're going to have lots of fun. But stay tuned for the rest of the podcast from Fabtech and keep sharing and downloading the episodes. We really appreciate it. Thank you.
Speaker 3:We hope you enjoy the show you've been listening to the cwb association welding podcast with max. If you enjoyed what you heard today, rate our podcast and visit us at cwbassociationorg to learn more. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions or suggestions on what you'd like to learn about in the future. Produced by the c the CWB Group and presented by Max Rump, this podcast serves to educate and connect the welding community. Please subscribe and thank you for listening.