Our Industry Person of the Week is Tiffany Noel Orff, Founder and Host of Welding Women Syndicate.
Q: How did you get started working in your field?
Tiffany: I literally started dating a custom fabrication/ suspension shop owner after going through a divorce and began with sweeping the floors… that was 13 years ago. I co-owned that shop 1.5 years later and had my hand in every aspect of building custom vehicles. This later lead to a formal education in welding, a degree, structural contracts, private lessons in welding to me teaching college welding and finally to the opening of my own welding facility a year later.
Q: What do you love the most about your job? What are you most proud of?
Tiffany: I love that I continue to learn from my students and projects I work on and evolve constantly when it comes to welding. I have the ability to customize my students’ learning experiences according to their expectations and give them real-life scenarios due to my expansive work history. Proud of winning an AWS WEMCO award in November 2023 in the media category. Nice to finally be acknowledged on a level that will hopefully inspire positive change in the welding industry.
Q: What advice would you give to someone considering this line of work or new to the field?
Tiffany: Give yourself grace… you most likely will not start out as a rockstar social media influencer. Give yourself the gift of time to learn each aspect of welding from the ground up. Make the mistakes and keep your ego in check, this is where you give yourself grace. Also, find your tribe of people who will support you during your welding journey.
Q: Can you talk about a project you recently worked on?
Tiffany: Recently opened and founded The Exploratory Academy, which is a welding facility that is centered on the introduction of welding to women and youth in a more mindful and diverse space.
Q: Anything else you would like to add?
Tiffany: Sharing the stories of women who own shops, run businesses, and are in positions of power creates normalcy that is needed to help inspire positive change so thank you for this opportunity.
Connect with Tiffany on all social media platforms under Welding Women Syndicate @welding_women_syndicate @shopgirlvonorff
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