Latest / BREAK/FIX the Motorsports & Vehicle Enthusiast Variety Show / From Scrap to Sculpture: The Epic Journey of Barbie the Welder

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From Scrap to Sculpture: The Epic Journey of Barbie the Welder · BREAK/FIX the Motorsports & Vehicle Enthusiast Variety Show

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  BreakFix podcast is all about capturing the living history of people from
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  all over the autosphere, from wrench turners and racers to artists, authors,
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  designers, and everything in between.
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  Our goal is to inspire a new generation of petrolheads that wonder.
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  How did they get that job or become that person?
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  The road to success is paved by all of us because everyone has a story.
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  Creating sculptures for various corporations such as Harley Davidson
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  and giving live exhibitions at events including the Sturgis Motorcycle
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  Rally, Americaid, and SEMA, this maker came from humble beginnings
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  starting her newfound passion 20 miles outside of Watkins Glen, New York.
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  And with the help of social media, she became an overnight success with her
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  often gothic inspired self taught art and unique style of welding Barbara Parsons,
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  better known to many of us as Barbie.
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  The welder is tonight's guest on break fix here to tell us about her epic journey
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  into the world of artistry and welding.
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  So welcome to break fix Barbie.
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  Thank you.
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  I'm so grateful to be here.
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  Gosh, I'm going to hire you to do my intros for wherever I go.
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  That's amazing.
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  Thanks.
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  Let's get into it.
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  What inspired you to get into welding and more importantly, becoming an
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  artisan in such a challenging craft?
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  I actually came out of high school with a background in auto mechanics.
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  I went to BOCES for auto mechanics.
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  I went to college for auto mechanics.
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  It was my first love, I dealt with a lot of sexism and at the
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  time wasn't able to handle it.
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  I did the best I could handle it, but just definitely didn't handle it.
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  And after seven years, I left and just fell in love with it and
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  worked for myself for a while.
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  Hauling scrap metal and selling stuff on eBay, which was better
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  than working for someone else, but very low income for me, even though
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  I was working seven days a week.
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  Sat down with my neighbor one day to watch a movie, Castaway, starring Tom Hanks.
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  And in the beginning of this movie, there's this woman
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  welding these giant angel wings.
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  And she was in a barn welding, and it was dark, and she's got like this
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  just giant sculpture and there's like sparks going everywhere.
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  And between the wings and the sparks, like it just spoke to my soul.
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  I cannot put it into words, but I just knew at that moment that I needed to be a
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  metal sculptor, even though I didn't feel like I had any artistic talent whatsoever.
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  Or had never welded before and never even used cutting torches,
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  not even for mechanics, which if I had first year mechanics, I would,
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  but I knew I need to be a sculptor.
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  And so I spent the whole rest of the movie trying to figure out
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  how I could make that happen.
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  So you don't know what's in the box either, then you thought you
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  thought about welding the whole time.
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  I don't know who Wilson is.
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  I don't know if they do get off the island.
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  I have no freaking clue.
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  I just literally just.
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  I spent that whole time just, yeah, I don't know how I you didn't already
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  have a background in art, but did you ever dabble with pen and ink or
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  any other, you know, medium of art where you could express yourself?
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  Or was it when you first went into welding that you started to discover
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  that you had natural talent in art?
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  So if someone held a gun to my head before that and said, draw a
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  picture of a dog, I would have died.
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  Just completely, not really just, I felt like I had zero artistic talent.
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  My mom tried to get me to do calligraphy.
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  I was homeschooled first through fifth grade.
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  She tried to do calligraphy.
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  I remember her having an art box of just like different art supplies.
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  My water colorings were awful.
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  Like just everything bled through the page.
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  Like I'd try to do one and the whole book would be soaked.
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  I mean, just like, there's just, there was no evidence that I could be successful.
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  whatsoever.
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  You obviously had to go to a formal welding school, right?
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  Not to be confused with fabricating.
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  So what was that journey like going from, you know, working every day,
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  hauling metal, doing those things to suddenly finding yourself back
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  in school with a craft like welding.
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  I actually took a night course for BOCES.
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  It was 104 hours over the course of six months.
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  Uh, my local BOCES in Elmira, New York.
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  It took me nine months to save up for, I was making 10, 000 a year
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  supporting a family of five and was relying on government subsidized
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  help with my housing and with food stamps to help feed my family.
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  It took me nine months to save up the 1, 200 for the school.
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  I already knew that I was in love with welding before I ever picked up a torch.
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  And when I finally got to go into school, like the first thing they
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  let us play with was a plasma cutter.
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  It really was a magical experience for me, like all the way through.
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  Like literally like the universe just opened up and said, how can I help you?
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  I made that decision to be a sculptor.
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  And just one amazing thing after another just kind of happened as far as like.
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  My teacher had never taught before in his life.
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  He was 25 years at Jim Ostrom.
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  Thank you, Jim.
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  I love you so much.
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  25 years at the local welding supply shop where he would travel around to
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  like the local companies and make sure they had the welding supplies you need,
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  he would help them get that stuff for whatever reason, decided to be a teacher.
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  Now he did it for the one year and the one year old, like what a just amazing.
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  He taught the way my dad did where he was like, be safe.
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  Don't go, don't burn your eyes.
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  Go have fun kind of thing, which he taught way more than that.
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  But it was like in the style of my dad, where it was like, let's go and work
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  hands on, he wasn't like, let's go read everything that basic safety stuff.
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  I went to work and it just was my style of learning.
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  And so he deeply encouraged me from day one to push myself
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  and to try this and try that.
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  And he saw my passion.
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  He knew what I wanted to do and really just helped really guide me into getting
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  a job at a local custom fabrication shop.
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  Where after six months of school, I went to work at that custom fab shop and
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  thought I knew what I was doing and like learn more in the first 40 hours of work.
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  Like it's whole different from being in school and welding a straight
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  line or Jim would have me, he'd say, we need a rack for this material.
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  Here's one of the racks that we have.
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  He's like, make something like that that'll hold the metal.
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  And I went through the scrap bin and got the stuff I needed and copied it.
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  And he saw that I could do that.
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  And so he pushed me to go to work at the local custom fab shop.
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  Which I didn't want to go to work at because I dealt sexism on mechanics
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  and thought that I would get the same thing in the welding industry.
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  Looking at your background, you were there for a short time in the fab shop.
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  And like I said, a lot of us like to pretend that we can weld really
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  well, especially those straight lines on tubing and things like that.
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  There's some really great fabricators out there can make some really cool stuff.
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  And especially in the car world, if you can dream it, you can make it right.
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  But when you go to sculpting, it's a whole different.
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  Scenario.
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  You're right up there with people that are painting and carving
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  and marble and working in clay.
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  It's a whole different way of working with the metal.
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  And we'll talk about that and talk about your transition into that.
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  So you're there, you're working at the fab shop and then suddenly you
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  decide that's not for you, right?
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  Just like it wasn't for you in the automotive world.
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  So you decided to quit your full time job and become an
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  artist working out of the house.
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  How hard was that?
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  What was that translation like?
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  And what was it like starting your own business?
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  Oh, I didn't know what I was doing.
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  So I actually worked at that custom fab shop for five years, learning to
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  weld and fabricate before I left to be a full time artist, but I already knew
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  before I took that job that I was going to quit that job to be full time as an
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  artist, that's a whole reason that I got started in welding to begin with.
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  I learned from brilliant welders and fabricators at Cameron Manufacturing
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  and Design, that custom fab shop, and then took those skills into, I bought
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  a garage that had a house attached to it, and I saved up again, I got the
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  welders, and I was working part time after work for about 9 or 10 months.
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  Starting to weld stuff, starting to weld art, and teaching myself how to weld art.
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  I, like, as an artist, I'm completely self taught.
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  I was googling metal art, and I would find something that someone
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  else had made, and I'm like, okay.
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  I would reverse engineer, and I was simple stuff, like horseshoe art or silverware
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  art, like very, uh, basic metal sculpture.
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  And so I would look at it and be like, okay, like...
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  I can cut that horseshoe in half.
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  And if I do that and I move it 90 degrees, it's going to make a toilet
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  paper holder or whatever it was.
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  I was just making any kind of stuff that I was like, that's cool.
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  How can I do that?
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  And went from that to, um, learning more complicated stuff, but.
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  Stepping away from a very deeply secure job, the best pay I've ever had
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  in my entire life, the respect that I had for my co workers who are just
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  brilliant fabricators and just that camaraderie that you have in a, like
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  there's a brotherhood in the trades, my family, they're still my family.
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  I love these guys just deeply for what they taught me because of the, you
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  know, the knowledge they taught me, I was able to step out and do this.
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  It was scary as heck.
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  I know I was walking away from insurance, my two sons, medical insurance.
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  I was walking away from 401k and a paycheck every week.
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  Had I known what I didn't know, I never would have laughed as far as like, I
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  had no idea I was running a business.
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  I didn't know I was going to step up like, Oh yeah, I'm
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  going to start an art business.
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  I just needed to weld art.
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  That's all I knew and pass that like, and I never dawned
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  on me like about making money.
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  It would just be goofy to say out loud, but it's the truth.
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  Like I just, I have no frigging clue about branding market sales.
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  I didn't know about social media, leveraging that and, you know, and
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  using that and like, I posted a couple of pictures on Facebook, which was
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  the only platform I had at the time.
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  Oh, I made this, but I was so scared to show people what I made because it was.
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  Something I've been working towards for about seven years.
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  I think it was at that time, literally like this journey where everyone
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  just thought it was bat crap, crazy.
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  Like my parents thought I was silly to go into welding.
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  My husband told me, no, I couldn't go into welding.
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  And then I made a defiant decision since I was the one making the money.
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  I was like, this is what I'm going to do.
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  And it's like all along the way, like people were just like that silly.
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  But then once I.
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  Got that job and I was welding is making money.
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  My parents were like, Oh, my daughter's a welder.
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  This is awesome.
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  She's very secure in what she's doing.
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  When it was time to quit my job, I knew in my heart it was time to go.
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  My mom cried and my dad told me it was the worst mistake of my life to walk
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  away from that job, which was so hard to do because like it was made harder.
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  Like I was already halfway out the door and then they start talking like this.
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  I'm just like, am I making a mistake?
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  And the thing is.
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  My desire to sculpt was so great.
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  It was hard to go against what they were saying.
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  Cause like they're intelligent people and I know they want the best for me.
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  They want that security.
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  They want it for the boys.
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  Just my need to sculpt was so great that it was pretty much everything else.
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  I need to do this for me and just listen to that and went for it.
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  The first nine months of being full time is how, like, the first day
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  I'm just like, oh yeah, I'm gonna crack a beer at lunch, it's gonna
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  be amazing, which it never happened.
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  God, I sat in here for nine months and I made art, selling things, because
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  I just didn't understand, like, and I'm not a dumb person, but it
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  just, the money never dawned on me.
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  I didn't get into this to make money, I got into it to make art.
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  Thankfully, I got into it to make art, because had I got into it to make
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  money, You wouldn't know who I was.
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  I still be working back at Cameron because the money there is amazing and the
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  benefits are even, you know, even better.
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  I just, I sat in here and I sculpted.
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  It was magical for a while because I was working full time in here and I'm
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  working 16 and 18 hour days versus, you know, six hour days in here.
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  Right.
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  And so I was going through supplies a lot more, and then
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  I also wasn't selling anything.
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  And so the money I'd saved, I'd cashed in my 401k.
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  I had taken a personal loan out the day before I went full time as an artist.
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  Like, yes, I'm gainfully employed.
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  Figuring that, like, worst case scenario, I would use that
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  loan to pay that loan back.
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  But it would give me that, you know, that cushion and a little bit of savings.
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  Through extra work and really poor decisions in a
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  relationship, I ran through...
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  Uh, I had a guy see me, uh, like, cashing in my money.
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  I had low self esteem at the time and chose a relationship with a
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  human being who I thought loved me.
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  And he was looking for the money, you know, my decision, he used me for my
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  money and then kicked me to the curb.
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  And it was a physical kick to the curb.
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  So grateful for it because it is definitely.
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  Made me into a stronger person.
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  Never would I ever come close to letting anything like that happen again, but at
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  the time it's what I needed because that's what I gave myself, made it harder on
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  myself, but I'll tell you what, man, it's definitely coming back from all of that.
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  And what I've done is it's built me into someone that I'm so proud of today.
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  Hated myself in the beginning.
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  I like hated myself most of my life.
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  But through welding and through my journey, like I gained
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  self esteem a little bit.
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  And then as I grow myself as an artist and a business owner, which
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  I know I own a business today, growing myself into someone I deeply
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  love who I am, I respect who I am.
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  And that's just complete difference.
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  But that's because of the art and the things we build, build us.
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  Absolutely.
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  As you leverage social media to your advantage, I, I saw that you started
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  going down the path of a lot of other makers, which is to leverage things
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  like Etsy and things like that.
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  People looking back probably want to know what was one of the first things
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  you sold out on the open market?
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  Oh my gosh.
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  The first thing I made was a three tier chandelier and I
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  owned that for a year and a half.
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  Actually, the first thing I ever made as art was I was still working at that
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  custom fab shop and I'd taken these punch outs from metal and arranged
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  them into three daisies and I pulled stuff out of the scrap bin and I Made
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  that for my mom and dad for Christmas.
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  They still own it.
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  And I told them like, that's going to be the most valuable one.
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  I made another Daisy after that for myself, which I think ended up
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  breaking because I'm tough on them.
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  So very simple things were just like tack welded together, which is still art.
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  And we all start there.
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  We start with those simple things for me.
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  I just kept pushing myself to, you know, like, I still like on a daily
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  basis, like push myself hard to improve myself over myself, but yeah, like the
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  first pieces were like, I love flowers.
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  And I welded those.
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  I fabricated a bunch of stuff, designed and made a, basically like a hat hanger,
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  like a jacket hanger, it's like a shelf.
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  And then it had my boy's names on it.
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  And then it had three bolts for like, you can hang a sweatshirt or hang a
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  purse or hang something off of it.
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  Well, I hang my purse off of it because I still use mine every day.
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  So what was the item that really took off?
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  What really set the stage for you?
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  And it was all downhill from there.
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  Yeah.
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  This is a horrible question to ask me, but you want the truth that
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  I don't want to swear yourself.
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  My big dick hot dog cookers.
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  No shit.
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  Like once I figured out the whole selling thing, which is still taking me, like
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  I'm still learning on a daily basis, but.
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  What I learned is I needed to go and set up and sell at shows.
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  Was at the beginning of like basically taking my whole, you know, my whole
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  shop and set, you know, setting up.
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  I was welding live.
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  I started like this live welding thing I was doing.
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  I was figuring out like what stuff would sell and I would travel back home and I
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  would hammer out a bunch of stuff real quick and then travel the next show.
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  I was going up and down the east coast, basically sleeping in the back of my
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  truck, you know, setting up for the weekend and then welding for three or
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  four days during the week and travel.
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  It was amazing.
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  Holy crap, it was crazy, but, and it was like selling on, on Etsy is what
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  allowed me to reach people worldwide from my one car garage and, you
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  know, in a very small town, but, uh, it was a big dick hot dog cookers.
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  Someone else had made one and I saw it.
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  I'm like, that's badass.
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  So I made it and I made a picture of it, like out back with two hot dogs on it.
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  Get the picture.
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  What it looks like.
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  Just go Google it.
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  My YouTube video will come out.
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  Because of my social media following, thank you to everyone
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  who supports me on social media, I'm so deeply grateful for you.
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  It goes viral, and then I'm selling these things like on a regular basis to
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  where I'm literally like, every week I'm sitting down and making like 40 sets of
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  these things, and I'm selling the set.
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  I'm literally paying my truck off with these hot dog cookers, and like
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  it's my electric bill, I'm finally starting to feed my belly, like I'm
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  not scared that I'd like to be shut off or I'm going to lose my house.
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  Like it finally got to a point where I'm just like, and that's what did it was.
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  A lot of us have probably been introduced to, you know, metal working and things
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  like that through the popularity of shows on history channel, like forged and fire.
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  I know my wife and I get really excited watching that it's night and day
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  compared to what you're doing, right?
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  But I'm not here to say that I have some sort of concept of how
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  metallurgy works and, you know, tempering and all that kind of stuff.
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  But what I find is a comparison is that understanding of sourcing
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  metals from different places.
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  And on a show like Forge and Fire, it's always like, here's a crushed car,
• 16:15
  take it apart and turn it into a sword, you know, you're like, okay, whatever.
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  But in your case, you're looking at metals from all over the place.
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  And obviously you have the background and doing that from salvaging and
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  scrapping and whatever, but how do you take something from the automotive
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  world or even the motorcycle world?
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  You look at a rotor or a piston or a set of wheels and say, I'm going to turn this
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  into a statue of Liberty or something like that, how do you go from raw?
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  to production.
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  What is that journey like for you?
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  And where do you start?
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  It's completely a practice in the beginning.
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  Like I said, I was looking, I was Googling metal art and I was looking
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  at what other people were doing.
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  And that's where I started was by looking at what other people
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  were doing and copying it.
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  And that's where you start.
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  And what that does is you do that enough and spend enough time copying other
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  people, you know, taking their design and maybe twisting it a little bit and
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  making, you know, putting your unique twist on it or copying it directly.
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  You start with that.
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  But what happened for me anyway is one, I'm very just, I feel like out of school,
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  like even in school, I was able to do it.
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  I could see something I could make it.
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  And that's, you know, I took that to the, to the Googles.
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  But then after doing that enough times, it's just starts training your brain
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  and with practice anything gets easier.
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  And so then I started seeing, like I made a man out of silverware, that's
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  an arm, that's a leg, that's a head.
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  This is really cool.
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  Like there's a body.
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  But then I started having like all these like cast off pieces, like
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  the ends of silverware because I was using one part and not the other.
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  And I was sitting there one day and I go.
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  The way it's just spread out of the table.
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  I'm like, that's an Indian headdress.
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  Like that would be really cool.
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  And so it just kind of progressed from copying other people too, because I've
• 17:51
  spent so much time, like if you bend the fork here at 90 degrees, you've
• 17:54
  got a hand and you've got, you know, you've got an arm and like, here's the
• 17:58
  spoon is the head and like the rest of it's like the body and then you go,
• 18:02
  like just that practice of seeing it.
• 18:04
  I was able to take that and just transition into making my own
• 18:08
  designs and one of a kind stuff that other people weren't making.
• 18:12
  And again, it started simple.
• 18:13
  Like I said, the Indian headdress was just the ends of silverware, like
• 18:17
  they're very ornate to begin with.
• 18:18
  And I love that.
• 18:19
  Just take them and just weld them together.
• 18:21
  Now here's an Indian headdress.
• 18:22
  And I saw the Indian headdress and I go, a turkey tail.
• 18:25
  And then like, okay, I can weld a turkey.
• 18:27
  And how would I make a turkey?
• 18:28
  And like, gobbler thing.
• 18:29
  And there's this little belly, the forks or feet.
• 18:32
  And it's just that practice.
• 18:33
  But the more you do that, your brain is literally just making
• 18:37
  these amazing connections.
• 18:38
  You're talking, I've been welding for 15 years.
• 18:40
  I've been full time as a sculptor for seven and a half.
• 18:43
  But when I say seven and a half years as a full time artist, it's
• 18:46
  like, 16 and 18 hour days and it's barely like I just started taking
• 18:50
  days off last year, like no kidding, it was no days off for a long time.
• 18:55
  And so my art has progressed the way it has because of deep focused
• 18:59
  work over a long period of time.
• 19:02
  I mean, it's really incredible what you can do when you're looking
• 19:04
  at objects just laying around.
• 19:06
  I mean, it's pretty neat when you can abstract from that.
• 19:09
  But then there is abstract art, right?
• 19:11
  The really crazy stuff that you see.
• 19:12
  But then.
• 19:14
  There was a transition in your art as obviously as you progress, you become
• 19:17
  a master and all these kinds of things.
• 19:18
  And for the folks that aren't seeing this video in the behind the scenes on
• 19:21
  our Patreon, there is a pretty famous piece of work that you've done and
• 19:26
  it's hanging behind you in your shop.
• 19:28
  And that's Davy Jones, right?
• 19:30
  Similar to the one in the Disney Pirates of the Caribbean movie.
• 19:33
  And it's a tool holder, but that's not made from scraps of
• 19:37
  spoons and forks and things like that you found around the shop.
• 19:40
  How do you forge something like that?
• 19:42
  Or how do you weld something like that?
• 19:44
  How did that come to be in other pieces?
• 19:46
  Very similar to it in your portfolio.
• 19:49
  So I did start with the spoons and forks and horseshoe stuff,
• 19:53
  which is, I feel like an amazing like entry into metal sculpture.
• 19:58
  From there, I was doing the shows and setting up and I was welding.
• 20:01
  Like I said, I was coming home and hammering out, like I was mass producing
• 20:04
  stuff because I knew what was selling.
• 20:07
  And it was like the horseshoe stuff, like 45 is a great price range.
• 20:10
  And so I was doing that for a long time.
• 20:13
  I say a long time, time gets away from me.
• 20:15
  I was doing that for, it was a couple of years of, of doing shows like that.
• 20:19
  Social media was growing.
• 20:20
  I was teaching through YouTube.
• 20:22
  And so people were like, once I learned how to do stuff, I was going over on
• 20:25
  YouTube and teaching other people how to do it because of being self taught.
• 20:28
  I'm like, how wonderful would it be to put that out there?
• 20:31
  Now it sure as hell didn't start out.
• 20:32
  And they're like, Oh yeah, let me teach people metal art and write books.
• 20:35
  And what the hell, it just doesn't make sense.
• 20:37
  I was teaching people and I was mass producing stuff.
• 20:40
  It was feeding my belly, but it wasn't feeding my soul.
• 20:43
  It was literally like crushing my soul to mass produce this stuff.
• 20:47
  And I was so grateful, like so grateful, like my truck's being paid and my house
• 20:51
  is being paid and my electric's on.
• 20:53
  And you know what I'm saying?
• 20:54
  Like I got a steady stream of SpaghettiOs going on that I could like, you know, I
• 20:57
  got like a case of SpaghettiOs instead of one can like moving on up, you know.
• 21:02
  But it was feeding my belly and not my soul.
• 21:05
  Because I was having to mass produce this stuff.
• 21:07
  I'm just like, I don't mean any disrespect in this, but like traveling to the shows,
• 21:11
  it was just so time consuming and I'm like, my art is just staying stagnant.
• 21:16
  I'm like, I want my art to really improve.
• 21:18
  And I was like, the way to do that is I want more shop time.
• 21:21
  It's a lot of travel time and I love the fact that I got to go out and I got
• 21:25
  to, you know, I got community, I got other entrepreneurs that are setting
• 21:28
  up and that was just so wonderful.
• 21:30
  I love to travel, which is wonderful, but I also slept in my
• 21:34
  truck every night and got my son sleeping in the front of the truck.
• 21:37
  And I was like, it was rough, but also very grateful for that.
• 21:41
  So I was like, I made a decision.
• 21:43
  I said it to Shimon Kami Fair, which is a local event.
• 21:46
  It was like a five or six day show.
• 21:47
  And it was like 70 some hours of sitting in my booth and not welding.
• 21:51
  And I sat there and I'm like, you know what girl, you're going
• 21:55
  to learn how to sell online.
• 21:56
  And I did 48 shows in 52 weeks that year.
• 22:00
  I said, you get three shows next year, pick your three favorite, whether
• 22:03
  it's a social show or a monetary show, pick your three favorite, and
• 22:07
  you're gonna learn how to sell online.
• 22:09
  Now I didn't know how I was going to do it.
• 22:11
  But I knew I needed to, because I knew I needed to go back to sculpting
• 22:14
  things that really made my heart happy.
• 22:17
  And I wanted my art to improve.
• 22:18
  I was making some bigger pieces.
• 22:21
  And at that time, I'm like, I think 250, 350 was like my
• 22:25
  top for what I was charging.
• 22:27
  You know, and those were like more one of a kind, but it was a lot of those
• 22:29
  hot dog 45 bucks for a set of two.
• 22:32
  And I can hammer out 80 of them in eight hours, like no kidding.
• 22:36
  And it was soul sucking for me.
• 22:37
  I came home from that show and I just started going on.
• 22:41
  YouTube and Googling like how to sell online.
• 22:44
  And it was the social media is what, you know, like where it led me to was
• 22:47
  like, just build up the social media, Instagram and YouTube around 2015.
• 22:52
  And just started really going to town on figuring it out.
• 22:57
  And so I had finished out the year with shows, which, you know, was good, but
• 23:00
  I was making enough money to basically.
• 23:03
  Pay for and travel to the next show and maybe have like, maybe
• 23:06
  like a hundred bucks extra, and now you're talking, I need food.
• 23:10
  No, when they say starving artists, I did in the beginning, but that's
• 23:12
  because I didn't understand about sales and branding and marketing.
• 23:16
  So, and I didn't even know those terms back then, other than sales, which.
• 23:21
  I kind of sucked at, um, thank goodness the art was good because I
• 23:26
  really didn't have to say anything.
• 23:27
  I would like sit in the booth and I would be super like nervous about it.
• 23:30
  Someone would come in and be like, Oh, does your husband do this?
• 23:33
  Like literally my name was on, you know, behind me.
• 23:35
  And like I put Barbie, the welder, a little banner I got
• 23:38
  on Vistaprint and they're like, Oh, does your husband know this?
• 23:40
  And I'm like, yeah, I'm just a pretty face.
• 23:42
  Like it just, it was kind of harsh, you know, thank goodness
• 23:45
  I had a good sense of humor.
• 23:46
  January 1st, I'm like, you know, no more shows.
• 23:49
  I stopped booking stuff.
• 23:50
  And it was awful for about three or four months.
• 23:54
  I didn't sell diddly shit.
• 23:56
  And I was like, like, bitch, you made a mistake.
• 23:59
  Like you made a mistake.
• 24:01
  This is such a, like, no money came in.
• 24:03
  They had like my like 10 bucks, you know, like 35.
• 24:05
  Like, I mean, like, I literally was just like, I'm going to have to do something
• 24:09
  different because I can't pay my mortgage.
• 24:11
  You know, there was like never enough for savings kind of thing.
• 24:14
  And I also didn't make good money decisions.
• 24:16
  So I was out buying like, you know, seat covers for my Jeep.
• 24:18
  But I should have, I was a major problem also in my business.
• 24:22
  They were keel flush seat covers.
• 24:24
  They're like waterproof.
• 24:25
  They're amazing.
• 24:26
  After like the third or fourth month, like, I mean, just like every minute
• 24:29
  that I wasn't working in my shop.
• 24:32
  I was working on my business.
• 24:34
  It's sort of like zero downtime.
• 24:36
  And when I was traveling, like the last couple of years I was traveling, I'm
• 24:39
  playing like Zig Ziglar on sales, like audio books, like listening to that,
• 24:42
  like it was like Tony Robbins and Oprah.
• 24:44
  And like the people that I like, I built this community of entrepreneurs around
• 24:49
  me that deeply helped me improve myself.
• 24:52
  It started helping me improve my business.
• 24:54
  And probably somewhere in there was the idea of like, you
• 24:56
  know, I really need to like.
• 24:58
  The art needs to improve because I'm just not happy, like, shitting stuff out.
• 25:03
  All due respect to everyone that bought my stuff.
• 25:05
  But it was pushing myself like that.
• 25:07
  After a couple of months, because of working on social media, learning
• 25:10
  a little bit more about sales, I was showing my stuff in a unique
• 25:14
  way because of teaching on YouTube.
• 25:16
  It was drawing people to what I was doing.
• 25:18
  It started taking off a little bit here and there, a little bit there, you know,
• 25:21
  starting to make a couple hundred dollars a month versus 30 and 40, you know, and
• 25:26
  then, like, There was a couple of big sales where like I sold something was
• 25:29
  like 850 a ton, just like mind blown over because I'm just like, that's a
• 25:34
  month's worth of, you know, pays my truck and pays my house, which I had
• 25:39
  the time my son, actually my oldest son moved back in with me to help me pay for
• 25:43
  my bills because I couldn't afford it.
• 25:45
  His friend moved in with us.
• 25:46
  And so I like only had to pay a third of my bills because these guys were covering
• 25:50
  my ass, which so dang grateful for that.
• 25:52
  I did not bend for them.
• 25:53
  Like I probably still wouldn't, I probably wouldn't own the house.
• 25:56
  So the techniques used to create Davy Jones are very different than
• 26:00
  those of the Indian headdress.
• 26:03
  How did you go from one to the other?
• 26:06
  And what's it like to create a sculpture more like Davy Jones?
• 26:10
  Oh man, that makes my heart sing.
• 26:12
  It started with a local entrepreneur as part of a group commissioned a
• 26:17
  sculpture of a sad angel and framed it out in quarter inch round barn and
• 26:21
  then took 18 gauge steel and sheeted it like the outside of it like patchwork.
• 26:26
  When it got to the hands, I tried and tried and couldn't figure that
• 26:29
  out of how to get that to look good, but it just, it just made the hands
• 26:32
  look like mittens and it was awful.
• 26:34
  I had the idea to take five eighths inch round bar and sculpt
• 26:38
  it into hands, like cut a little notch in a finger and bend it.
• 26:41
  That was my very first true, like, sculpture, like, not only just
• 26:45
  sculpture, that sculpture alone, because The guy just took a huge risk on me
• 26:49
  because I said I could do it and he just, there was no proof whatsoever.
• 26:52
  He literally just took me on my word.
• 26:54
  That was my first masterpiece.
• 26:56
  And not only did I learn how to make larger sculpture that way,
• 26:58
  cause it was just problem solving.
• 27:00
  I'm like, how can I, so asking myself, how can I make the body?
• 27:04
  So I was taking pictures of me sitting on the floor and like that position.
• 27:08
  And then just looking at that picture and referencing measurements off of it.
• 27:11
  But getting into those hands and having that not work out the way
• 27:14
  I thought it would, I started seeing that and I was just like,
• 27:17
  Ooh, that's a game changer for me.
• 27:20
  Not only was it a masterpiece sculpture, like a true, in my eyes,
• 27:23
  it's my first tattooed on my arm, true masterpiece sculpture, but it was
• 27:29
  physically sculpting metal versus tack welding something on that right there.
• 27:35
  Something shifted in my mind.
• 27:37
  And that's when I started seeing metal in a whole new light.
• 27:40
  So what are some of your favorite pieces that you've been commissioned to make?
• 27:45
  The number one favorite piece ever would be, uh, two sculptures for Harley
• 27:48
  Davidson, which blew my Freakin mine.
• 27:52
  Wild.
• 27:53
  Wild, wild that uh, I had that opportunity.
• 27:55
  And not only one but two of them.
• 27:57
  Like here I am, this, again, self taught artist.
• 28:00
  So what was some of the hardest ones to produce that you look back and go,
• 28:04
  man, I don't want to do that ever again?
• 28:07
  Oh my gosh.
• 28:08
  The first one for Harley Davidson was for um, the 35th anniversary
• 28:12
  of Hogg, the Harley owners group.
• 28:13
  That one was, up until that point, by far the hardest sculpture I welded.
• 28:18
  Because I welded it live at Sturgis, you know, with a little 110 welder
• 28:23
  and a 50 foot extension cord.
• 28:25
  And I had no idea if it was going to work, but I told them yes, and then showed
• 28:29
  up and figured it out when I got there.
• 28:30
  Like literally just kind of handed my ass like, holy crap, I hope this works.
• 28:34
  But normally to make a masterpiece sculpture, I'm looking at three
• 28:37
  weeks minimum time in my shop by myself without distractions.
• 28:42
  I had nine days at Sturgis.
• 28:44
  I had a 10 by 20 tent set up with all my art to sell.
• 28:49
  And then I've got hundreds of people a day coming over and talking to me
• 28:52
  and want to know my story and want to, you know, and I love people.
• 28:55
  So I'm just like, but also like I need to get this done.
• 28:58
  And so that was finished two hours before I presented it
• 29:01
  on stage to Harley Davidson.
• 29:03
  Other one, like just deeply having to push myself and just that
• 29:07
  first one was, was one of them.
• 29:10
  And then the one I just finished recently, which actually hasn't
• 29:13
  even been unveiled yet, but made a sculpture for Rock the Trades, which
• 29:17
  is owned by Stanley Black and Decker.
• 29:19
  And it is a six foot tall tradesman, a man that represents.
• 29:24
  All the different jobs and careers and skilled trades is completely
• 29:28
  made out of quarter inch round bar.
• 29:30
  And then people from all over the country sent in tools, special to
• 29:33
  them, special to their parents, special to their grandparents.
• 29:36
  And those tools are welded into him.
• 29:38
  It's ridiculous because the entire thing is TIG welded.
• 29:41
  And most of it, all this TIG welded.
• 29:43
  And it took me approximately five months to create, which is about
• 29:46
  two months longer than anything I've ever done, but it is by far my
• 29:49
  best sculpture I've ever created.
• 29:51
  Deeply proud of it.
• 29:52
  And I'm super honored to work with rock the trades with Stanley black
• 29:56
  and Decker, DeWalt craftsmen, just the deepest honor to be able to represent
• 30:01
  tradesmen and showcase skilled trades careers that are just, there's so
• 30:05
  many amazing opportunities in it.
• 30:06
  I, through my journey, become an advocate for the skilled trades
• 30:10
  because of how it's built me.
• 30:11
  And how much joy that I find in that just got done speaking Saturday at
• 30:16
  a local sheet metal workers union.
• 30:18
  And two more days I'll be going up to Buffalo and speaking to the
• 30:21
  American Welding Society up there.
• 30:22
  And it's just, it's just a mind blowing deep honor.
• 30:26
  With Watkins Glen International being in your backyard, is there any Barbie
• 30:30
  the Welder statues in the works for the racetrack or anything that we should
• 30:34
  be looking out for when we're downtown?
• 30:36
  No, we need to talk to you about that.
• 30:38
  Like why, why not?
• 30:39
  Who can I sculpt?
• 30:41
  Like who would be like the most amazing person to sculpt for that?
• 30:44
  Wow.
• 30:44
  Yeah.
• 30:45
  I feel like I need to make a phone call.
• 30:46
  I've actually set up and sold at the track and a wine
• 30:49
  festival that they had up there.
• 30:51
  Have not made a sculpture for the track yet.
• 30:53
  In fact, I've not made a sculpture for any track yet.
• 30:56
  I was at Richmond last year and, uh, yeah, I feel like there's a
• 31:00
  couple of sculptures, definitely.
• 31:02
  We have an amazing history in our, in our town, man.
• 31:04
  I love.
• 31:06
  I love this area.
• 31:07
  It's incredible.
• 31:08
  Barbie, not every project is a success.
• 31:12
  Let's be serious.
• 31:14
  So how do you learn and grow from the mistakes you've made and the and the
• 31:17
  failures and was there ever a worst idea ever or a project that you've
• 31:21
  put to the side and haven't touched in quite a while that maybe you
• 31:25
  regret starting or it's one of those you'll get around to it as we say.
• 31:29
  So I definitely have no regrets whatsoever in anything I've created,
• 31:32
  but I have failed my way to success.
• 31:36
  I literally have turned every failure into a stepping stone, and I have paved
• 31:40
  my way to a very happy, successful life.
• 31:42
  And it's just like one failure after another, and it's fall
• 31:46
  down seven times, get up eight.
• 31:48
  That is like the only way to be an entrepreneur.
• 31:50
  And I think the only reason I'm here is because I did go into business
• 31:53
  to make art, it had nothing to do with money and thank goodness.
• 31:57
  And I think that's why most businesses fail is because if you go into
• 31:59
  business to make money and you don't make money, there's nothing left.
• 32:02
  But if you go into business for a passion, like when the money's
• 32:05
  not there, the passion is.
• 32:07
  I definitely have a 10 foot dragon sitting out in front of my house that I started
• 32:11
  sculpting in 2018, I believe it was.
• 32:14
  I have a six foot tall garage door.
• 32:16
  Ask me why I made a 10 foot tall dragon.
• 32:18
  Like sometimes just happens in here.
• 32:20
  It's a magical place.
• 32:22
  I come in here and I go, you know what?
• 32:24
  I want to, I want to weld a dragon.
• 32:25
  Freaking love dragons.
• 32:27
  And so I started making a dragon, but like I go into the zone
• 32:31
  and it just like things happen.
• 32:33
  The only way I could describe it is literally like I'm in the back of
• 32:36
  myself and I could see my hands moving.
• 32:39
  I know I'm doing it, but it's almost like AI, right?
• 32:43
  Like it's just almost like this AI experience.
• 32:45
  And Jesus, I just had like this next thing I know, I'm just like, what are you doing?
• 32:49
  And it's like this 10 foot tall dragon.
• 32:51
  I had to cut his head off to put his legs on and then I had to take him outside
• 32:55
  to weld the head back on to make sure it was, you know, like symmetrical.
• 32:59
  Is that the right word I'm looking for?
• 33:01
  It was like proportionately right.
• 33:02
  And then I'm like, what the hell?
• 33:04
  Here I am like at the time where I'm not financially in a good position.
• 33:10
  That I'm making this dragon.
• 33:11
  I didn't have anyone to buy it.
• 33:12
  I'm pouring time and resources into it, and I couldn't even weld it
• 33:15
  in my shop because it doesn't fit.
• 33:18
  There is a picture of me sitting on it, out in front of my garage door, and this
• 33:22
  is like the last time I welded on it.
• 33:23
  It's got a couple scales on it.
• 33:25
  It's amazing.
• 33:26
  I want to finish it so bad, I don't have the space to do it.
• 33:29
  And I am working on selling my house this uh, this summer and moving to Daytona
• 33:35
  Beach, Florida because of the car culture and the bike culture that's there because
• 33:39
  I'm madly in love with all of that.
• 33:41
  And I'm just like, I just, I literally looked at the dragon today.
• 33:44
  His name is Argon.
• 33:45
  I've named him.
• 33:45
  It's awful because I have to look him in the eyes when I
• 33:47
  walk past him to get the mail.
• 33:49
  And I'm just like, I love you, buddy.
• 33:51
  I'll get you soon.
• 33:52
  And just, it may or may not be a lie.
• 33:54
  I'm not sure what to do with them when I move.
• 33:57
  If I move this behemoth, I'm going to have to drive him to Florida,
• 34:01
  which is going to cost money.
• 34:02
  And take time.
• 34:03
  And so I'm just like, Oh my gosh, like what to do.
• 34:06
  So it definitely was one of those things where the art comes through me.
• 34:09
  Like I work purposefully, but also like with Davy Jones, like making
• 34:13
  him knew I needed the hammer holder.
• 34:15
  It's the whole purpose of making him and I still look at it and I'm in shock
• 34:19
  that I did it, if that makes any sense, I mean, it's absolutely breathtaking.
• 34:24
  Oh, thank you so much.
• 34:26
  Like, I know I did it, but it's also just very surreal.
• 34:29
  Like.
• 34:30
  I look at stuff I make, I'm mind blown and gobsmacked that I could do what I do.
• 34:35
  I still push myself on a daily basis to do better.
• 34:38
  I've got a five foot tall Phoenix I'm starting tomorrow that I'm stoked on.
• 34:42
  It's not going to be done until I blow my own mind on that.
• 34:44
  As far as like, it just has to be better than anything I've ever done.
• 34:47
  And like really push the details and like the, the feathers and just
• 34:51
  everything and just make it look like it's literally ready to fly.
• 34:55
  I constantly surprise myself and I don't even know sometimes.
• 34:58
  Like I know what I'm doing, but also it just.
• 35:00
  Oh, I wish I had better words to tell you just how, like, how much I'm in love with
• 35:05
  what I'm doing, and how honored I am to be able to do this on a daily basis, and
• 35:09
  how shocked I am that I can do it too.
• 35:13
  So you mentioned earlier, and many people might not realize that you're
• 35:16
  also a motivational speaker, and you have sessions with titles like,
• 35:20
  Welding and skilled trade careers.
• 35:22
  Honor thy art, how to be an extremely successful artist, the
• 35:25
  inspirational blueprint, how to design and create an inspired life.
• 35:28
  But there's one in particular that got my attention and it says, and it
• 35:33
  reads, fuck you, fuel, how to turn shit into sugar, learn how to take
• 35:37
  every negative thing you've experienced in life into fuel for success.
• 35:42
  I love that by the way.
• 35:42
  I think it's very catching, but what are these all about and how does somebody.
• 35:48
  Get involved or attend one of your seminars.
• 35:51
  Those three books, the inspiration blueprint, the underlay arts, another
• 35:55
  one, and then the, the fuck you fuel.
• 35:57
  Those are books that I've written through my entrepreneur journey.
• 36:00
  What I've learned and how I've molded and shaped my life
• 36:02
  into a life that inspires me.
• 36:04
  Without needing motivation, companies will hire me and have me
• 36:08
  come out and speak to their people.
• 36:10
  I've spoken for the AWS a couple of times.
• 36:12
  Last one was just, I spoke at Fabtech.
• 36:15
  That was about being an entrepreneur, like how to build an online business.
• 36:18
  I have several subjects that I speak on.
• 36:21
  It is.
• 36:21
  Just crazy that I get to do that, but yeah, like a company will have me come in.
• 36:25
  I built a sculpture for a company and they had me come in and spend time with
• 36:29
  their employees because they wanted some of my juju to rub off on them.
• 36:34
  And it kind of, kind of went from there, but I've spoken
• 36:37
  to the AWS a couple of times.
• 36:39
  I've spoken at schools and everything else.
• 36:40
  It just like from third grade up to like seniors at both ages.
• 36:44
  It's very, very cool.
• 36:46
  But it's because of what I've built in my life.
• 36:48
  Like I just wanted to make art.
• 36:50
  It was a very selfish.
• 36:51
  I call it selfish.
• 36:52
  It was just a very selfish mission.
• 36:54
  I just need to make this art.
• 36:56
  And what's transpired out of that is I turned into a teacher through how to, you
• 37:00
  know, how to weld art videos on YouTube.
• 37:03
  I've written three how to weld art books, which is just weirdest thing ever.
• 37:06
  Because English was my We're subject in school.
• 37:09
  And then the other three books, which are how to run an art, like
• 37:12
  how to create an art business.
• 37:13
  Like the actual business part of like the social media and how to get, how
• 37:17
  to get sponsors to like, to give you stuff and how to like have them pay
• 37:20
  you to work with them, um, different stuff I've learned, but yeah, the
• 37:24
  speaking is like scary as heck at first.
• 37:26
  I definitely sweat a lot.
• 37:29
  I tell people I'm like, I'm not a speaker.
• 37:31
  I'm a welder.
• 37:32
  I'm just going to hang out here and we'll talk about some cool stuff.
• 37:34
  As cool as I get to go into places and, you know, hopefully through my
• 37:38
  journey, like my, my ups and downs, it, uh, I get to inspire someone
• 37:42
  to go out and live a life that.
• 37:44
  Inspires them instead of needing motivation to get out of bed
• 37:48
  every morning or working in a job that they're not happy, you
• 37:51
  know, like life is so dang short.
• 37:52
  It's it's mind blowing to me that to stay in a place like the money is
• 37:56
  good, but it's like, it's feeding your belly, but it's not feeding your soul.
• 37:59
  So it's finding that soul mission and then staying in that as much as possible.
• 38:03
  I think you hit on the word of the day for this particular
• 38:06
  episode, which is inspiration.
• 38:08
  And it's really important to note that as we record this, we're doing this
• 38:12
  during International Women's Month.
• 38:14
  And so I want to ask you some really pointed questions, you know, as one of
• 38:18
  few female guests on the show, and we're building that out as we go along, but
• 38:22
  I want to understand how you're using your craft and your art to encourage
• 38:27
  other young ladies to, or other aspiring welders to get into this profession.
• 38:32
  It's Showing up and running my welder, not my mouth, I think is most of that.
• 38:37
  It's just showing my skills is going out there and putting my best foot forward
• 38:43
  and letting my work speak for itself.
• 38:45
  I am people power.
• 38:47
  It's not, you know, one sex or the other or whoever.
• 38:50
  It's just, I love to show people how amazing the careers in welding
• 38:53
  are or any skill trade is just by going out there and doing the best
• 38:57
  possible work that I could do.
• 38:59
  Like when people think of welding they think of like an industrial building
• 39:02
  or a bridge or pipeline and that's usually like, that's where it ends,
• 39:06
  or you know working in a factory which these are all amazing, amazing
• 39:09
  career opportunities in welding.
• 39:11
  The whole just build us, whether in our paychecks and our
• 39:15
  pockets and our, our, our souls.
• 39:18
  Art for me is like, it's been a gateway drug to show people how amazing welding
• 39:23
  is and that there's and showing up and doing the best possible work I can,
• 39:28
  and then showing that on social media, whether it's whatever platform it is.
• 39:32
  But when, when I show up and I'm showing skills, other women can see themselves.
• 39:37
  In a career in welding because I'm there or because other women are there and other
• 39:42
  women are showing it on social media.
• 39:44
  I encourage all women, if you're comfortable doing it, show your welds
• 39:48
  on there, like show, you know, show what you're doing, show you in your welding
• 39:51
  hood because we've got less than 5 percent of all welders are women, which is mind
• 39:56
  blowing to me because I see a ton of them, but I also, I seek them out and
• 39:59
  I do everything I can to raise them up.
• 40:01
  Even if it's just like liking their posts that they make.
• 40:04
  But when I show up and I show myself, you know, as a woman, you know, in the welding
• 40:08
  industry and showing my skills, other women see that like she can, so can I, and
• 40:13
  the more women that do that, we're going to bring more women into the industry.
• 40:17
  They're going to see how empowering it is, how amazing it is, like how good it feels,
• 40:20
  but then also how damn good it pays too.
• 40:23
  This is deeply rewarding career.
• 40:25
  I think you touched on something that some of our previous female guests have
• 40:28
  hit on, which is see me, be me, right?
• 40:32
  And we talk about that, especially diversity in the
• 40:34
  paddock and things like that.
• 40:35
  If you don't see yourself there, you won't be there.
• 40:38
  So it's important to, like you said, to show off your craft.
• 40:41
  You know, even if you're learning is to get that encouragement from other
• 40:44
  people, it helps build your esteem as you talked about it earlier.
• 40:47
  And so that leads into my next question, which is looking back over
• 40:51
  your long career now in welding, and there's still a long future ahead.
• 40:55
  What kind of advice would you give to somebody starting
• 40:58
  out learning how to weld?
• 41:00
  Don't judge your day one against someone else's day.
• 41:03
  Look to someone else to see what they're doing and say, yes, I
• 41:06
  want to get there, but don't judge yourself against what they're doing.
• 41:09
  Don't look at Davy Jones and say, I can never do that.
• 41:11
  You need to look at what you're doing and then work to improve yourself
• 41:15
  over yourself every single day.
• 41:17
  So Barbie, if a kid came up to you tomorrow, especially a little girl
• 41:21
  and asked you, why do you weld?
• 41:23
  What would you say?
• 41:24
  Oh, that's such a great question.
• 41:27
  Welding gives me freedom to make whatever I want.
• 41:30
  I like it right to the point.
• 41:33
  With that said, Barbie, any shout outs, promotions, or anything
• 41:37
  else you'd like to share that we didn't cover up until this point?
• 41:40
  So grateful for everyone that likes and shares and comments
• 41:43
  and follows my social media.
• 41:45
  My shout out is to all the people that support me online.
• 41:48
  Without you, I wouldn't be where I am doing what I'm doing.
• 41:52
  My business is completely online and from my very small garage and
• 41:56
  my very small town, I've sold art to clients in 15 different countries and
• 42:01
  worked for major corporations and had displayed the most amazing experiences.
• 42:06
  And that's because of people on social media that take their special,
• 42:10
  their limited time on earth, that they will spend time messaging
• 42:14
  me, writing to me, commenting and stuff, sending me stuff like.
• 42:17
  I'm so damn grateful for my support of following on social media.
• 42:22
  Grateful for you guys.
• 42:23
  Love you to the moon and back of a zillion times.
• 42:26
  Barbie.
• 42:26
  That said, you know, I want to thank you as well for taking time out
• 42:30
  of your day to sit and talk with us and tell your story yet again.
• 42:33
  And you know, maybe one of these days, hopefully before you move to
• 42:36
  Daytona, or maybe when we're down for Rolex, we'll get to see you around
• 42:39
  Watkins Glen or one of the tracks.
• 42:41
  So I think it would be awesome to talk more about this and expand upon it and get
• 42:45
  people to meet you and, you know, maybe learn about Barbie, the petrol head, or
• 42:49
  maybe the motorcyclist or, you know, the other secret things that we don't know.
• 42:53
  Oh, yeah, that'd be amazing.
• 42:55
  I listen, last year was my best race year ever.
• 42:59
  I was at Richmond and.
• 43:01
  Pit box, uh, seats at Richmond was amazing with Al.
• 43:05
  I was at the N H R A nationals out in Indy, and I got to go to my
• 43:09
  first 4 0 1 race, like literally the best racing year ever.
• 43:13
  Oh my gosh.
• 43:14
  I'm not sure I'm gonna top at this year, but I need to get started.
• 43:17
  more to come on that.
• 43:19
  So to check out all the amazing artwork that Barbie produces through
• 43:22
  her welding, be sure to check out her website, www.barbiethewelder.com.
• 43:27
  click on sculpture gallery or follow her on social at Barbie the
• 43:31
  welder on Facebook and Instagram.
• 43:33
  You can also touch base with her on LinkedIn or check her out in
• 43:37
  action via TikTok and better still you can learn some new techniques
• 43:42
  through her YouTube channel.
• 43:44
  And as always, details on everything we covered in this episode will be available
• 43:48
  in the follow on article on gtmotorsports.
• 43:50
  org.
• 43:51
  So Barbie, I cannot thank you enough for coming on the show.
• 43:54
  This has been an education and an inspiration.
• 43:57
  And I think all of us look up to you as a mentor for those of us that
• 44:01
  want to weld and those of us that can or claim that we can, you know.
• 44:06
  Looking at your work is absolutely amazing.
• 44:08
  It's stunning.
• 44:09
  And it continues to get more and more impressive as every day goes on.
• 44:12
  So we look forward to some of these new reveals that are coming
• 44:15
  out here in months to follow.
• 44:17
  And again, thank you for coming on the show and talking to us.
• 44:20
  I'm so grateful for your time and hanging out and getting a little
• 44:23
  peek into my life today, man.
• 44:24
  I'm so grateful for you.
• 44:26
  Well, we thank you as well.
• 44:32
  If you like what you've heard and want to learn more about GTM,
• 44:35
  be sure to check us out on www.
• 44:37
  gtmotorsports.
• 44:39
  org.
• 44:39
  You can also find us on Instagram Also, if you want to get involved or have
• 44:45
  suggestions for future shows, you can call or text us at 202 630 1770 or send
• 44:52
  us an email at crewchief at gtmotorsports.
• 44:55
  org.
• 44:55
  We'd love to hear from you.
• 44:57
  Hey everybody, Crew Chief Eric here.
• 44:59
  We really hope you enjoyed this episode of BreakFix, and we wanted
• 45:03
  to remind you that GTM remains a no annual fees organization, and our goal
• 45:08
  is to continue to bring you quality episodes like this one at no charge.
• 45:13
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• 45:36
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• 45:37
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• 45:42
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• 45:45
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