Interview 16: Denise, a Body Quality Technician
Denise is a body quality technician at Rivian in Normal, IL
Arclight is a long-form interview series in which Women Who Weld, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that teaches women how to weld and find employment in the welding industry, showcases women who create, ideate, and collaborate across specializations and trades.
Denise Bedolla completed Women Who Weld’s Intensive Welding Training Program in August 2021. She then landed a job as a Manufacturing Operator at Rivian in Normal, IL, and was recently promoted to the position of Body Quality Technician. Below is an edited and condensed interview between Samantha Farrugia, the founder of Women Who Weld, and Denise, a former Women Who Weld participant, in March 2023.
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Southern California, in Riverside County.
Before moving to Normal, Illinois, had you ever lived outside of California?
No, I had not.
Where did you work prior to Rivian, an American electric vehicle manufacturer?
I worked at UPS for roughly 11 months. I was a package handler, but I was also a belt tender.
What were you up to before your job at UPS?
Before UPS, I was going to school for aerospace engineering. I was in school for six months, and then the pandemic hit. I had to withdraw from those classes because everything went online. Some people still chose to do online, but for me, personally, I felt it would have been better for me to do in-person, so I decided to withdraw.
Which school were you attending for aerospace engineering?
I started at Moreno Valley College; it was by my house and I didn’t want to go to a four-year university right away and I also didn’t want to move away so soon.
You participated in two of Women Who Weld’s Single-Day Introductory Welding Workshops in Southern California in 2019. What was your experience like as a participant?
My brother told me about the first workshop, and I thought it sounded cool. I was 17 years old and it was the first time I had ever welded. At the time I didn’t even know exactly what welding was all about; I didn’t know how to distinguish between TIG welding, MIG welding, or stick welding. So that was a really good point in time for me to learn a little about each of those processes and it gave me insight, a good first step of what welding is and where it can take you.
Why were you interested in learning how to weld?
My brother catapulted me toward it. And after I took the Women Who Weld workshop, my brother started talking to me about welding even more.
I have a lot of respect for people who know how to weld really well. For me, the process that would be really cool to master is TIG. TIG welding isn’t user friendly right away, it’s a discipline that you have to invest your time in, you have to practice. It involves messing up a lot before you can perfect it.
There are a lot of job opportunities for TIG welders in the aerospace industry. Are you still interested in pursuing aerospace engineering?
I am. Right now, with my work schedule – sometimes we have 10-hour days and then spontaneously it’s a 12-hour day – I haven’t really figured out how exactly I’m going to go about it. But I’m still trying to and eventually, at some point, I want to go back to that.
You visited Michigan for the first time in 2021 for Women Who Weld’s Week-Long Intensive Welding Training Class. And then again in 2022 to participate in robotics training at FANUC. What did you learn through FANUC? How did it prepare you for your current role?
My brother also told me about FANUC’s classes, so I went back to Michigan in February 2022 to take the class at FANUC’s U.S. headquarters, which is like a Disneyland for robots! It was a really solid program, we learned how to make programs, how to execute and reset parameters. It prepared me a lot for my role, and I’m confident that certification helped me get my current position; it’s one of the keys that helped open the doors to working here.
You described flying into Michigan for the first time and mentioned the treetops looked like giant broccoli from your airplane window.
It was always hot in Southern California where I grew up. I would always tell my parents that other people were experiencing fall and actual winter. We would have about four months of cooler weather, but then it went right back to summer. And Southern California doesn’t have a lot of greenery. So when I came to Michigan for the first time, I was stunned to look out of the airplane window and see it was so green. And Michigan gave off a home feeling.
I recently met robotics programmers from Michigan and I told them they’re lucky to have grown up there! There are more things to do, you get four seasons!
When I went through Women Who Weld’s intensive training, it was summer and humid, but then I went back to FANUC in the winter, and I had never experienced snow falling like that before! I got to feel how it is in the summer and in the winter. At some point, I want to live in Michigan, it would be really cool.
Michigan is compelling because it’s still relatively affordable compared to many other parts of the country, and there are interesting job opportunities, especially in the manufacturing and automotive industries. And as much as I dislike the cold, seasons are nice to experience. For me, time is hard to gauge when seasons are indistinct. When it’s really cold in the winter, time feels like it slows down and you have a period to catch up and reset.
Now that you’re dealing with your first winter in Illinois, what’s it like?
It’s really nice. I will say though, in the beginning, in late November, it really felt different. I would come out of my apartment and it was so cold and I wasn’t used to it. People know I’m not from Illinois so they kept asking me how I like winter. And honestly, it’s really cold. It got to the point where I was like, “I’m not leaving my apartment unless I have to, even on the weekends.” But now I’m used to it, and I really like it because, as you said, you have that point in time where you stop for a moment and reflect, and you feel like, “Oh, now I’m looking forward to spring!”
Versus back home, when it’s spring but it feels like summer, and then summer rolls around and you just wish winter would be here because we don’t have fall, it’s just an extension of summer. It was so hot all year round growing up. I would always tell my parents, “How come everybody else gets to experience the seasons and we’re over here in the sun and it doesn’t even feel like winter!”
How many rounds of interviews did you go through for a job at Rivian?
I had three different interviews. The first one was over the phone, and the third one was a Zoom call with a panel of people.
When did you start working at Rivian and what was your first job there?
In June 2022. I was a Manufacturing Operator. Everything is divided here: body shop, paint shop, general assembly, end of line, and different areas that handle assembling other pieces. The body shop is where I was at, where the entire vehicle comes together as a raw vehicle.
When the R1S, Rivian’s SUV, or R1T, its pickup truck, shows up to us on the framer, both sides – the left and the right side – would meet. Then the car would get welded, which the robots would take care of. But what’s cool is that I was where the entire car came to be. It was basically the point before it went to paint and became an actual car.
Do you ever do any of the welds?
I’ve done some spot welds, but a majority of the welds are performed by the robots. There are so many welds on the vehicles, it’s crazy.
How many people work at the Rivian plant?
It’s very, very, very busy. People are coming in and out of the building at all hours. The plant never stops running, so many people work here at any given time. There are thousands of people working in the plant, in the offices, on the floor, or the sidelines.
Tell me more about your recent promotion.
As of this past Monday, I am now a Body Quality Technician. I’m in a different area than where I used to be, which is great because I get to do and learn something new. Now I’m in charge of checking welds. I look for defects and work with technicians. I check welds using a computer. If welds aren’t meeting standards, or if there is a continuous problem, then we track down where the problem is coming from and address it.
I still work throughout our entire body shop, as well as inspect and look through welds to make sure they meet current safety standards.
You were in your previous role as a Manufacturing Operator for about seven months. How did you come into this new role as Body Quality Technician?
I was speaking to one of the Quality Team leads on second shift, and they asked me what I wanted to do, what my goals were. I told them that at a certain point I wanted to switch to another area to learn something new. They told me about this position and to apply for it if I was interested. I applied for it in December and in January I had an interview.
Was there a pay raise?
Yes.
What’s your schedule like, including start and end time, each day?
Right now, I’m on first shift for about 2 to 3 weeks while training, then I’ll go back to second shift. On first shift, for the techs or people working on quality in general, our day typically starts at 6 a.m. and ends at 4:30 p.m. Some people stay until 6 o’clock in the evening. But while training, I’m on the shorter schedule.
When I was on second shift as a Manufacturing Operator, it was 6:30 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Do you like working nights?
That’s a funny question because everybody on first shift asks me that too. To me, nights are cool because it’s a little more laid back, and the less people there are, the more you actually get to experience hands-on. On first shift, there are so many people that everybody is just in one spot. When there are not as many people, you have a little more time to go around and see, for example, how certain things are being made, how certain procedures are functioning, how certain processes work. You have a little more time to bounce around and they will intentionally move you around to get you to learn different things.
It all comes down to the person. If you want to learn more, which is exactly what I want, you need to branch out into something else, as there was only so much I could do in one area.
Can you describe what your new role is like so far?
There is so much going on simultaneously, there are different areas checking the welds and we are the last eyes on the vehicles right before they go to paint. So at this point, once the vehicles reach metal finish, they are already built: they have doors, a tailgate, and hood on them. Then paint takes care of the rest.
There are a lot more technicians on first shift, so those technicians are more spread out in specific areas, with some working on underbody, some on framer. Where I’m at right now, it’s where they make the doors for the R1S and R1T, and I’m also on metal finish. Metal finish is the last stop before the paint shop. The paint shop is restricted, I haven’t been in there. You have to suit up. There are certain areas where you can’t have lint on you or anything that can stick to anything.
How has your welding training through Women Who Weld prepared you for both of your roles at Rivian?
It really prepared me for what I was going to see. In the introductory workshops, and even more so in the week-long intensive class, I love how you covered visual inspection and what could go wrong if even one area of the weld isn’t penetrated well enough. We stress that a lot here because we’re producing cars that people get into, so every weld matters. We use special flashlights to flash through the weld to see the penetration.
And that’s what I learned through Women Who Weld over the course of the week, I realized I have to look over each of my welds and it’s not just one and done.
Do you own a Rivian vehicle, either the R1S or R1T?
No, but the cars are really nice. The parking lot of the plant is filled with them.
Would you like to attend a four-year university?
I want to go back to school. But I’m so busy all the time it’s hard for me to find the right time to work and go to school. I actually had a meeting with an academic advisor at the University of Michigan. At some point I want to pursue a degree in engineering and work in aerospace, I just need to figure out a way to make it happen.
If you want to get an engineering degree and work in aerospace, then you should pursue it! You’re young, you already have great work experience, and you know what you want. When you’re ready to go back to school, I can help connect you with my contacts in the aerospace industry. I’ve helped former Women Who Weld participants get jobs in that industry
Thank you. And that’s what is really cool about the work you do, because you can offer that perspective. You’ve gone to school so it’s nice to hear the opinion of someone who has been on that path. I would hate to be 28 years old and wonder, “What if I would have done this, or what if I would have done that?” and have regrets. I know how I am, and I know if I don’t do certain things that I feel might help me in the future, I’ll always wonder, “What if...?”
I took on a lot of debt for both my undergraduate and master’s degrees, but I made a plan to pay it off in full. It takes a lot of sacrifice, but I don’t regret it, especially my master’s degree. It’s not for everyone, but it was worth it to me.
“We’re producing cars that people get into, so every weld matters.”
What are your future career aspirations?
I’m still trying to figure it out. But I really want to get into Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) Programming. It’s usually easier to learn how to teach the robot first, then pick up PLC, because PLC is basically the brain of the robot, it controls how it functions. If something goes wrong and for some reason you can’t identify what the problem is, PLC can tell you exactly what is wrong with the robot. So, for me, that would be the next step: learning how to proficiently program the robot. Then I would like to learn pneumatics and a little bit of everything related to programming. And eventually I want to get into aerospace in several years.
What are the things you like most about working in automotive manufacturing?
The challenges. You don’t see the same thing every day. I've been in so many different areas and there are so many components, so many different processes, so many different procedures, so many different eyes and ears and other decisions that go through certain points in the plant.
Do you work with any other women?
Before my recent promotion, I worked with a couple of women, but it was very, very, very minimal. It’s mostly men, which I don’t have a problem with, but sometimes I feel like I’m underestimated a lot. It’s one thing when you hear about being a female in a male-dominated field, but it’s a whole different thing when you experience it. Some people for some reason feel they’re entitled to make certain comments that aren’t necessary. I try not to take it personally.
Do you have advice for women who may be interested in pursuing a path in automotive manufacturing?
I would 100% recommend it to anybody who is genuinely interested in it because it really gives you a different outlook in general when you buy a car. I feel like a lot of us either go for the brand, or the color, or the way it looks, but there's so much that goes into it. When you are actually the one behind it and you see everything: all the equipment, all the parts, all the different metal, it’s incredible - we've used such thin metal I’m taken aback that people can actually work with it. So, I would 100% recommend it because it really allows you to understand the process of getting a vehicle from literally nothing to what it becomes in the end.
Also, stay focused, do your own thing, and branch out. I knew I wanted to work in another area at some point, and I think a good way of doing so is to become familiar with everybody you’re working with and people working in other areas. When you establish a connection, it’s easier to work with other teams and ask questions to get the perspective of somebody who works on different things. And they also may have a sense of direction for where to guide you.
Sometimes people get too carried away with being comfortable in what they're doing. If you have a goal for where you want to be, make it known! If you don't make it known that you want to do something, it’s possible nobody will ever consider it.
And this advice doesn’t just apply to automotive, it applies to anywhere you work.
Nobody is going to fight for you better than yourself. It’s important to look after yourself and make sure you are advancing. You don’t want to forget about those around you, but you have to consider yourself and be your own advocate and fight for what you deserve.
I would like to also stress that sometimes people genuinely don’t have your best interest and you can feel it – you just get a sense that somebody doesn’t like you or the energy is just off; they don’t even have to say anything, you can just feel it. So, my biggest thing is to stay focused because it’s very easy for some people to try to sidetrack you, or even go as far as to try to sabotage you. So it’s important to stay focused and on track for what you want to do, because when people know how you work and understand your work ethic, it then becomes easier for you to say, “I want this role.” And if someone has something negative to say about you, the other person who knows your reputation and work ethic can counteract them.
What do you like to do in your free time?
I've taken up reading now that I actually have a little more time to slow down and reflect. I even have a Barnes and Noble membership now. I like both fiction and nonfiction, I’ll read anything that I think will be interesting to read. I really like Stephen King.
I also like skydiving. The first time I went was for my 19th birthday in San Diego and I went again last year when I turned 21 in Ottawa, Illinois. And I have another one booked for this year. I thought it was going to be a one-time thing, but I want to do it over and over again!
If you were not working in manufacturing in a welding-related capacity, which career path may you have chosen?
Engineering, or aerospace. Maybe even architecture, designing floor plans. Now that I’m on my own, I have a lot more freedom and when I moved into my apartment I wanted to design it in a particular way. I feel like architecture is really cool because you get to design a building, an outline, or what a certain area will look like.
That’s why I’m kind of grateful I didn’t go to school right after high school. I follow this girl on TikTok who’s a mechanical engineer, and she made a video where she talks about how she realized mechanical engineering is not a career she wants to retire doing, so she’s more of an influencer now. I think it’s crazy to go to school for something and then realize you don’t want to do it. So, I am grateful and it brings me peace of mind that I was able to try out different things to see if I liked them or not before actually investing money and time.
If you could travel anywhere, where would you go and why?
I would go to Argentina, which is one of the countries I’m considering if I eventually study abroad. And I speak Spanish, but their Spanish is not entirely the same as what I speak. Also, Soda Stereo, a Spanish classic rock group that I really like, was formed in Argentina, so that’s probably why I’m so driven to go there.
Thank You So Much for having me in your ArcLight Series Samantha! It was amazing getting to catch up with you and talk about my experiences.
What an inspiring experience! Thank you for sharing! Denise, I love how you have taken the time to take control of your present in order to plan for your future. I also love how supportive your brother has been in your life, helping you to consider a career path that you may not have otherwise. It's great to have someone you love and respect in your corner! I wish you all the best for your future endeavors.