Interview 11: Gina, a Fabricator
Gina is a fabricator at Morrison Industries in Southeast Michigan
Women Who Weld, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that teaches women how to weld and find employment in the welding industry, has launched a new program - Arclight - in which we showcase women who create, ideate, and collaborate across specializations and trades.
Gina Ceccoli completed Women Who Weld’s Intensive Welding Training Program in October 2019, and landed a job as a production welder at a custom steel packaging company where she became the line lead and then the lead fabricator. Below is an edited and condensed interview between Samantha Farrugia, the founder of Women Who Weld, and Gina, a former Women Who Weld participant, in November 2021.
Where did you grow up?
Port Clinton, Ohio
Why did you move to Michigan?
To go to Eastern Michigan University.
You received a bachelor’s degree in music and philosophy, and a master’s degree in music composition from Eastern Michigan University. Why did you pursue a degree in music?
I pursued a degree in music because I enjoyed performing, I enjoyed learning all aspects related to it, though not necessarily as a career, but more because I knew I enjoyed everything about it, and I wanted to just keep learning more and more.
Which instruments do you play?
Clarinet and piano.
Why do you not work in the music industry?
It’s a passion of mine, but it's more for fun. I don't want to take the hobby enjoyment out of music and make a career out of it.
When you first reached out to me in 2019, you said, “I’ve racked up enough debt for the rest of my lifetime going to college to get a degree I cannot use.” Around that time, you filed Chapter 13 Bankruptcy. Have you been able to work through your debt? Did Chapter 13 Bankruptcy help?
I am working through it. I'm still in bankruptcy and have until February of next year for it to either be done or extended. But it has probably been the best thing I could have done to make my life affordable and be able to feed myself and fix my car if I need to. My private loans are not collecting any interest and have not since I filed bankruptcy, which is awesome. So, what I owe is what I owe and that's it. Now it’s for each creditor to decide what their portion is, based on how much I’ve paid, to determine what's left. And then I can kind of negotiate to make my payments per month reasonable.
Are you comfortable disclosing the amount of debt you have?
I don't know exactly what it is, but it's around $150,000.
Is your debt primarily from student loans?
It’s all student loan debt and about half of it stems from private loans.
What makes you eligible to file Chapter 13 Bankruptcy?
I think anybody who has a significant amount of debt can file for whatever type of bankruptcy is appropriate for them. It's just a matter of meeting with an attorney to determine whether or not it's worth it, and what type of bankruptcy to file.
Because of your student loan debt, if you could go back in time, would you have not attended college?
Correct. I probably would have gone to trade school. Something that would not have cost more than $10,000, and been fine, and had a job this whole time.
Where did you work before becoming a welder?
I worked in referral coordinating and performed authorizations for various health procedures. I did that for about 10 years.
Why were you interested in becoming a welder?
I was interested because I grew up around men who did lots of car-related things. My grandpa was a mechanic, and my dad worked on cars in the garage with my grandpa and also did a lot of bodywork. I remember when I was about, like, 15 or 16, a welder was helping my grandpa with something in the garage and I was really interested by it. I remember looking at it and my grandpa was like, “Don't look at that!” I was like, “But why? It looks really cool!” And ever since then, I've been really interested in welding. Plus, I'm the only daughter of my dad’s who really didn't care about getting dirty, so I would always help him. He’d be like, “Reach in here, you got little hands. Why don't you turn that screw for me?” I didn't have a problem doing that. And I feel learning stuff kind of related to what my dad and my grandpa did makes me feel closer to them. And it's fun, it's awesome, and I just really enjoy it.
For those who don’t know, the welding arc is the electrical current formed between the tip of the electrode and the metal being welded on. The arc is several thousand degrees and produces intense ultraviolet and infrared radiation. Accordingly, it’s important to shield your eyes and skin from the arc light.
You participated in Women Who Weld’s intensive welding training program in 2019 and landed a job as a custom fabricator, but shortly thereafter left that job for a production welder position at Morrison Industries, a steel packaging company. Why did you leave custom fabrication for production welding?
I wish I would have stayed there a little longer, but the dynamic of the men in that shop…it just, it was a bad environment for a woman, for me specifically. I didn't feel like they were welcoming toward me. They weren't very nice. If they would have just told me what I needed to do the right way instead of being jerks about it, I probably would have given it more of a chance. But I didn't feel welcome.
You have worked your way up from production welder, to line lead, to leading the fabrication department in only 2 years. As head of the fabrication department, what does your role entail?
A lot of things. I'm the only person in the fab department so all of the work is done by me. Right now, we're working on 14 different jobs and some of them require a lot of fabrication work and some of them require none, thankfully. But what it really entails is me prioritizing my time, and what I have to do on a daily basis to meet my week's goals to allow for the production team to meet their goals the week after.
But my role is changing yet again and I'm being moved up even more. I’m transitioning out of the fabrication department and into materials coordination and inspection.
In 2020, you took on a role as a worker’s advocate/trainer at Morrison, which you held for a short time, but then requested to go back to welding. Why did you want to go back to welding?
Because I left a desk job for a reason and I didn't want to go back to a desk job. And it wasn’t a well-defined job or role, so it was hard for me because I'm a very structured person and I like to know what I need to do on a daily basis.
You survived multiple layoffs at Morrison through the ongoing pandemic. How did you retain your job amid the layoffs?
I actually was only laid off for about two weeks total during everything, so it wasn't that bad. And because it was during Covid, I was able to get unemployment for those two weeks, which was nice. There were only about 15 of us working during that time.
What types of products have you built at Morrison?
Well, we do a lot of the steel packaging – it's a way for the automotive industry to store parts so they can keep track of what they have to make their product to sell cars. We make steel packaging for Toyota, Honda, Rivian, Ford, GM, and so on. Automotive racks are our bread and butter.
What’s your schedule like, including start and end time, each day? Which days of the week do you work?
Previously, I was working 10-hour days, but I was overworked and decided to make a request for a schedule change so, as of about 4 months ago, I am working Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Describe a typical day on the job?
With the amount we've got going on right now, I'm doing like five different things. Recently, within the last week or two, this is my daily: we have a kickoff meeting in the morning, before everybody starts working, to let us know what's going on and what our expectations are. And then I will talk a little bit with my supervisor to see if there's anything that's been thrown in the mix, or if things are still the way they're supposed to be and I can just keep doing what I was doing the day before.
Today, I started drilling a bunch of holes. We have this one set of racks that requires three different sized tubes that have all these holes drilled in them. There are two different sizes that have roughly 10 holes per tube, and then another one that has one big giant hole. So that's been my life for the last week or two. And then there's another job we're currently working on that requires little flat bars to be bent, and I've got about 1500 of them. So I determine from the master schedule how many of this type of rack we need to have by the end of this week, so that I can gauge when I need to have this stuff done by. And that way I don't have to do all of it, I can just do a 30 rack set of this, or 50 of that, and then I'll keep going through the process so I don't feel so overwhelmed. Because you can easily feel overwhelmed when you're by yourself and you have thousands of things to literally process. So, I prioritize, I figure out how many of each thing I need to do and I just keep going in circles with it, basically, until it's all out of my area. And the next job comes in and I have whatever I need to fab on that.
You’ve mentioned to me that production work is hard on your body. How do you protect yourself from the harsh work environment?
Well, the best I can do with what I currently have going on is to move around and do a variety of things versus doing the same thing all of the time. Which is why I really like fab because my body doesn't get used to the same thing all of the time. Except for when I have to drill thousands of holes. But I combat that by utilizing elements of the machine that make it easier on me. I work smarter and less hard. I also use back braces which are amazing. Even if you're not lifting things, they really do help, because I'm constantly bending over and picking up something or constantly bending over and putting something down. So, learning how to use the machines to your advantage and wearing appropriate PPE.
Which process of welding do you primarily engage in?
MIG.
At one point you were interested in learning TIG welding, why?
I'm interested because it's super delicate and super precise. And to me, it's like the crocheting of welding. And I'm a crocheter. So that made it interesting and more desirable for me, because of how I use my hands, and because of the different things that you can do with it. TIG is pretty versatile, things look really pretty, you can make cool artwork with it. And I'm more of an artsy person and I like to create stuff. So that's another reason why I’m so interested in it. And my plan, eventually, when I have my own garage and space, is to get my own multi-process welder, so that I can learn TIG myself and kind of do it at my own pace.
When do you think you may have your own garage space?
It’s going to have to be after bankruptcy, but definitely within the next 5 years.
What sort of tools and equipment do you use regularly?
A lot of things. I use a milling machine that is also a drill press, a big giant 8-foot mechanical shear, a little baby iron worker that also has a little baby shear on it, a brake press, a puncher, chop saws, band saws, and hem saws. I can operate everything in the building, including the forklift.
How old are you?
I’m 39.
What are your future career aspirations?
To not work until I’m 80. Currently, my work aspiration is to figure out my new role with my current company. But beyond that, I hope to make more money, I hope to do more welding, I hope to have a garage of my own to do welding sculpture and welding art or even have a fabrication shop in my garage.
What are the things you like most about being a welder?
I don't have to deal with a lot of people, which is really nice after having worked 10 years in an environment where I was constantly bombarded by doctors, physicians, physician assistants, patients, and health insurance companies. It's really nice to not have to be anchored to a phone all day; it's nice to have a physical job; it's nice to feel like I actually worked when I come home, and be able to sleep at night knowing that I'm a hard-working person; and it's okay to get dirty, it's even fun.
What are some challenges you’ve encountered as a welder, if any?
As the line lead it was challenging for me to feel like I could assert myself and do so in a way where I didn't feel like I was offending other people. It was a learning process. But that was hard to get past and I'm still struggling with that. But I'm glad my transition may help me overcome that, because I'm going to have to point things out to people if things are wrong, and it's just got to be addressed and it's got to be fixed.
Do you have advice for women who may be interested in pursuing a path in welding?
If you're interested, do it. Just do it because you won't regret it. You'll either learn that you love it, or you'll learn that you hate it. And the point is that you learned. And if you love it, just go for it because it's awesome.
“It's nice to feel like I actually worked when I come home, and be able to sleep at night knowing that I'm a hard-working person.”
What do you like to do in your free time?
I love to hang out with my cat. And I like to hang out with my boyfriend. We like to take adventures in our cars and drive around, look at antiques. I also enjoy cooking and crocheting.
If you were not a welder, which career path may you have chosen?
Possibly an auto mechanic.
If you could travel anywhere, where would you go and why?
I would want to go to Italy, where my great-grandma came from. To learn more about how she grew up, where she grew up, what it looks like, maybe more about the culture and the food. And then I can bring all of that lovely stuff home with me and cook more delicious things for the people I Iove!