Lainey Locke with lips and sticks welding here at Babtech 2025 in Chicago. We were are across the aisle neighbors and I saw your female welder sign so I thought you would be an amazing contribution to the women in the trades discussion that we're having kind of doing this series on our podcast. So why don't you tell me a little bit about who you are and what you do? Sure. Okay, so I own a welding company, but the reason I started the welding company, I was in welding school as a student, and I couldn't find any stickers that I thought were funny enough or spicy enough or girly enough for my hood. I have, I was in marketing for 15 years before I became a welder. So I'm like, I'm going to make some. Well, everybody loved them. And so that kind of started my business. And then I branched into clothing and metal art and then continued on to that. My goal is to be able to do funeral flowers next for grave sites, for memorials. And people that don't get to visit their graves very often, I want to be able to cement metal flowers into their graves. The family can choose the bouquet and whatever is important to them, like flags or a motorcycle thing. Something's important to them. The flowers never die. They never die. Well, yeah. Forever flowers. And I want them to be able to have something nice at their grave, even if their family can't be there and they're safe. And it always looks pretty with a light in it. So that's my next goal to be able to offer that to families. Anyway, I love metal art. It's my favorite thing in the world. Okay, so you started off. You said you start off in marketing. You were telling me a little bit about that yesterday, that you were doing that for a welding school at one point. So tell me a little bit about your background. Where was that transition between the marketing and then right into welding? Sure. So I worked at a technical college in my town, and the gentleman in that program, all of the programs in there, we had 35 programs. So I was in charge of all the men and all the programs, mostly men. It was all men. But they were my brothers and dads I never had and family members. So we got really close. So I was in an auto shop in a day. Like the people from the marketing team never like I think it's important to get to know the people that you're working with and be in the shop in the trenches with them not just come out from the office and say hi I need I need all these things moved for my event in your shop so I got to know the men I was in there with the tools learning what they did in their programs and it made such a difference so we were doing a welding event for the school and they were like you should just come try this Women, and then they said, women make wonderful welders. And they said, we'll take women all day. We need more in the trains. And I was like, okay, let's try this. Yeah. I literally put the hood down and hit my first arc. And it was love at first strike. It was like exhilarating. Yeah. So much. It was the most powerful feeling to hold that fire and to know that I controlled it. That's Amazing. And that you could do anything with that fire and literally build anything you wanted. Yeah. There is so much power in creating things with your own hands. I can't even explain. I growing up was the son my dad never had. My dad was very country and my mom was a fashion major. So I got good both. Yeah, of course. But we spent so much time woodworking and working out in the shop he never welded the rest of my family welds my uncle welds my grandfather welds they all have welding shops but i had never welded and he didn't weld yeah because we did woodworking and so i started to take a night class after i fell in love with welding uh for woodworking we had a short amount of time like three month class for that so i learned well you're still working your marketing job at the same time okay And then, so I took night classes in that. And I was like, well, what workings fun. I know how to do that. And then I took a night class in welding. And I ended up taking it like three years back to back just in the evening. And they're like, why don't you just do the program? So I quit my entire life of marketing and my desk job and all the things. And literally put my hood on and went to welding school. That is incredible. Thank you. That's amazing. Thank you. So right from the jump, where did you find yourself then? Did you immediately jump into Lipson Six? Did you start that business for yourself? Or were you working for a different company doing welding and then you kind of transitioned into your own company? So in order to still kind of make my schedule work because I was in school eight hours a day, welding eight hours a day. It was a full shift. Like we did we do kind of shift for earlier. So I would, we were kind of visiting one day on the back porch with my grandma and my aunt. And they were, they are one of my biggest supporters. And so we started talking about the stickers and like, why don't you just, why don't you do this? Why do you do this? So the idea is just started to flow. But I wanted to be able to have a way to like get in front of people in an easy, fun, happy way but to show that women welders are important yeah we're here to support you and then I love it so it kind of started with the stickers and then it was like oh okay women empowerment in a in a nice in a nice way I'm not you can be you can be powerful in yourself and strong in what you know and who you are without being too much and in a work situation so so the feminine side of the stickers were really fun and the bright colors and anyway so that kind of kind of came out of that and then it just kind of kept growing yeah so anyway and that brought you here today obviously yeah so the stickers the stickers brought me to bocimal who i rec uh rep for now as a clothing rep okay and i absolutely love that and to be able to meet the women welders that are my absolute heroes and the reason I'm literally welding, Ray Ripple is my absolute all -time hero and I got to meet her for the first time last year. And it's just, it's so nice. It's a small group and we know each other so well, all of us now. That's amazing. Yeah, I've had the pleasure of getting to talk to a couple of them. I spoke with Demi Knight Clark yesterday. So we had a fantastic conversation on just she her her go -to line is put more blow torches in women's hands or girls hands yes yes i loved i just thought that was like i'm like that right there it's such like a simple statement but at the same time i'm like that means so much i feel yes and i'm i'm so grateful that i was raised by a dad that taught me to run with the boys but he always said like my daughter will compete like higher harder faster than you know any man in the shop so put her in there she can perform which is great to have that background and that upbringing because then that definitely led you i feel like more to a place of not being threatened by entering a more male -dominated field and just saying like i can do this too and i can support you while also being super proud of myself for doing something that not a lot of other women are doing too and being an advocate it sounds like absolutely Absolutely. Yes. And I wanted to create a safe space for girls. And I have a lot of moms actually reach out to me on social media and say my daughter's starting the program. Like what do I have or wear? Like what shoes? Like I wanted it to be a nice, yeah, a safe place to ask questions because I was kind of going through the same thing too. Like I was new in school. I was figuring things out. I'm so grateful for my instructors that were so kind and made it such a safe, nice space, and a lot of shops are doing that so much more. Hiring women instructors, it's just so nice to see more of the culture. Well, and that's so, that's just such a testament too, because you would really hope that, I mean, that could really make it or break it. That school setting is right where you start off. So if you had just not as welcoming as an environment or people that kind of put down women being in those trades, that's, I mean, that's where it all starts. And my conversation with Demi yesterday, she was talking about how it's starting all the way as early as early middle school with so many. And it's actually so much more about treating everybody across the board as equal, the girls and the boys and not just like singling out the girls for being the only, you know, they're like, oh, you're the only girl here. And just being like, we're all here doing this together. And just making it more normal like it's everyone can do this this really cool trade together we don't have to be like oh you're you're gonna get singled out now because you're the only woman in this classroom and it's making it this very even like you have to start talking differently about the trades to younger generations yes yes and get them excited sooner yes um i saw that from a trade school side on both sides so we would bring in the eighth graders i'm like that's not that's that's too late yeah yeah so that's Yeah, yeah. That's what she was saying. She goes, I, she started a camp that she was doing with kids as young as six. I want to do that next. Yes. That's my next goal. So that even brings me to you have a sign up over there. I'll have to include a picture, but it says female welder 5%. So tell me a little bit about what that means to you or what that 5 % is. So 5 % nationally right now is the amount of the number of women welders in the entire country, only 5%. So it's a big deal to be a part of that. And I want them to get excited about that and be proud of that. And so I come from a motorcycle family. And so with the design, it was kind of an idea of like a patch from a club. That's immediately what I thought of with the arched kind of letters. Yeah, it looks exactly like that. So I wanted them to have like this like warrior like I am the 5 % and I have t -shirts and like I've been stopped so many times wearing it and like oh like you're a welder like that's so neat. And you know you just I just I love to see that when my my instructors were like you're a welder stand up and act like yeah. And so I want them to feel that pride because it's such a small crazy group because I so I when I started in my class there were seven women by the time I finished in my my it's a six -month program I took a little longer about eight months of time to take my time and finish there was two of us wow yes why do you think that was is that strictly just it was something that wasn't for them as much or was it the program that truly weeds people out just kind of like in school naturally I think it it is life and I would not change it for the anything yeah like looking out that little window literally saved my life yeah oh that's amazing I love that yeah but it is it is not for the week not easy you say that's just a mixture of and anyone listening that has been through it obviously knows what you're talking about but is that just a mixture of the time commitment the manual labor the phys like just like and also it's probably mentally and just the mental just emotionally draining, yeah. I learned so much about my mental, my mental game and my mental toughness in there. And it taught me more about myself and how I really work in the hardest situations that I've ever been in when you're frustrated, when you're tired, when you're on fire, when you're literally on fire, and you don't want to stop because you are on that test plate. It is Yeah. And you are losing and scarring yourself. Is that happening? Yes. I'm covered in scars. Oh my God. Covered. Covered. That is insane. That's my next thing. Like, I'm excited that we're moving toward clothing for women that is safety mind. So have you guys run into that being in the industry and being a female in the industry that the apparel and clothing side of it and the PPE is not as present and it's usually only for men it is not there I had to wear I'm wearing men's clothes every day wow yes so is that what the company that you're currently representing over there is that what you guys work on as well is it PPE or is it like it's all PPE no all PPE and they're moving toward a women's line and that's why I'm here and that's why they brought me on And it's that I love that. I wore this clothing line before I was even a rep for them. And I, I love it. And so we're going to have a women's line that's adapted for women with extra things like buttons, a dart. So it fits because I deserve to go to work safe and not hurt just because I chose to work in a man's field. Right. It doesn't mean I need to have bad clothes. Something as simple as like, can I want to wear something that fits me. I don't want to just have to, like, put on this clunky. Yeah. Just because that's the only thing that was off. Yes, and it's not safe. At the end of the day, if a girl gets caught in a machine or her, like, she gets caught in. It's such so baggy and so big. So anyway. I've never thought about that. Yeah. So it's just things, yeah, people get weeded out in the program easily. And a lot of men dropped out too. It's a very, it's a very small percent that actually can graduate and get through it. So that kind of even transitions into women in the trades and women in welding as well. How would you say your experience has been and how it sounds like you're doing a lot, but how are you advocating for women in the trades? Every day, all day long. It sounds like every single day. Through everything I could do, social media, I would stand on the street corner and with a megaphone and tell them to send send them to the trade schools first we used to teach our kids at the uh technical college level to get a skill work in uh in like in high school or something get through that program and then we would teach them so if you get through the welding program in high school and you want to be an engineer then you work your way through a four -year university as a welder in no debt and you become an engineer which makes you a better engineer because you have the experience as a welder first because you can read the blueprints yeah that every welder in your shop will thank you if you have that double thing which we see a lot that's so i know i would love to bring every girl and and visit with her and just make sure she's okay and happy and and that she loves it because you have you have to love it and you have to want it more than anything that you ever wanted in your entire life. Absolutely. And I feel like one thing I've noticed a lot now that I've been, I just seem to be following a lot of the female influential and like women in the industry. And I love the kind of intersection between these technical skills, the creativity and the artistic side, and also still being able to remain feminine as well. You don't have to fit into this masculine, just because you're in a masculine girl. Yeah. feminine while also being a badass and doing something that men are doing too but be just as good as them if not better yeah put your boots on and kick their ass yes that's awesome get gas every day what are so what's your plan for fab tech what have you been seeing here if you've gotten a chance to even really explore have you guys seen anything that any you know new tech in welding that you guys have kind of had conversations about or anything um i I haven't made it around a ton, but the personal connections that we've been making have been absolutely incredible. And for me, it's the metal artist that I'm getting to meet because that's my real, my real bread and butter. My favorite thing in the world is, so especially as a designer to get to draw with fire and draw the shapes and the pattern. Anyway, so for me, the metal artists that we've been able to meet has been fun for me so that's that's my favorite so I would say that you said you're working on the forever flowers so what is with lips and sticks what's kind of your your next steps and what are your goals for the future oh so many things yeah my my top goal is to be able to provide p -pe internationally for women that don't have it I see so many women that are we're doing all the same things and they're like in flip -flops and no no hood just holding the lens up while they weld i i i grew up my family had a humanitarian aid foundation my whole life and so we traveled all over the world as a team uh providing uh aid to women and children all over the world and so that is incredible i just felt like this moment's all thank you wow it It was a really humbling way to grow up. And I am so grateful for what we're blessed with. But seeing that, I want to offer PVE, not just for women, but for men as well. But internationally. So my next goal is to keep doing the metal art. I really, really want to do classes for women. And we opened a metal art program of my college because my teacher would like bribe me like okay do a test play we can make a rose at the end you can you can do something fun like art yeah yeah because all i wanted to do was art yeah so anyway what we were talking about yesterday is um demi was saying in the schools it can just be pretty you obviously you have to have like a curriculum you have to have a structure but yeah she wants to try to provide these kids in that camp that she's doing with like literally what do you want to make yeah anything yes because it sounds like that's so many people are getting in and they're like I just want to like create but obviously you kind of have to walk before you run so they yeah do these more basic things that you're like yes I don't want to just put two plates together well and the fun part about our art class we have like a horseshoe night so they we bring in a whole box like a palette of choose and then they can either they can choose what they want to make or we help them but to have that creative option to make what you want out of absolutely nothing and you can see that I think teaches a whole different way of being smart yeah that a lot of people don't have anymore so just unlocking something in yourself that you didn't know is yes and I kind of I grew up like that my mom would dump the pipe cleaners and the glitter and the popsicle sticks on the table, make what you can create. And I've always, I've always loved that brain, that side of my brain. So that's awesome. Well, for anyone listening, where can they find you on socials or if you have a website? Sure. Where can they find you? I have all of them. Uh, website, Etsy, uh, socials, uh, Instagram, TikTok, uh, lip just lips and sticks welding so in the polka dot hood yes okay perfect well I'll definitely I'll have to put that on the video too I can include all that but Laney it was so great talking to you and you've had such an amazing story and I think a fantastic contribution to the women in the trades doing so thank you so much for joining you're so welcome just remember to stay humble stay hungry and work really hard because it's worth it I love that thank you You're so welcome.