Clueless CEO or Culture Genius? When Curiosity Beats Credentials
Making Sparks Podcast for Fabrication Leaders
Release Date: 07/30/2025
From Healthcare to Welding: One Woman's Path Into the Trades, Ep #65
Making Sparks Podcast for Fabrication Leaders
This week I sat down with Nico McTague, a soon-to-be welder up in Toronto who's about to finish an eight-month intensive program and walk straight into her first welding job. What makes her story worth your time isn't just where she's headed, it's where she came from. Nico spent years in healthcare caring for people with special needs, a career she loved until burnout, and the addiction that came with trying to cope with it, forced a hard reset. A family friend offered to get her into a steel mill. She walked in expecting to hate it. Instead she fell in love with the noise, the heat, the...
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From Dirt Track to Job Shop: How a 23-Year-Old Sprint Car Racer Built a Woman-Owned Fab Business
Making Sparks Podcast for Fabrication Leaders
In this episode, I sit down with Emme Hughes, the 23-year-old owner of EH Metalworks in Enid, Oklahoma. She runs a woman-owned custom job shop that does laser cutting, plasma cutting, tube bending, and fabrication in aluminum and stainless. What struck me is that she has been around metal fabrication her entire life. Her Paw Paw taught her to TIG weld when she was six years old, and by 18 she was running her own plasma table and hiring her first employees. Emme's story starts in her Paw Paw's shop. He spent more than 50 years in fabrication, ran an ASME code shop, and did work for...
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He Built a Fiber Laser in His Garage. What does that Means for Fabrication? #63
Making Sparks Podcast for Fabrication Leaders
In this episode, I sit down with Travis Mitchell, a full-time creator who has built a flat-sheet fiber laser, tube laser, metal 3D printer, CNC equipment, and more from his garage. Travis did not come from a machine-building background. He started in graphic design, got hooked on 3D printing, and followed that curiosity all the way into building machines most people would assume require an OEM, a factory, and a much larger budget. We dig into what it actually takes to design a DIY fiber laser: starting with the controller, finding compatible components, decoding manuals, studying commercial...
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Should You Really Buy That Laser? The Hidden Math Behind Modern Fabrication, #62
Making Sparks Podcast for Fabrication Leaders
Fiber lasers have completely changed what's possible in metal fabrication, but here's the part nobody puts on the brochure: speed alone doesn't make a shop profitable. In this episode I'm joined by Mike Peterson, owner of Critical Laser and Spire Ranges, for an honest conversation about what it actually takes to run a successful laser cutting and sheet metal business in 2026. Mike's story goes all the way back to 1992, when Critical Laser brought one of the first lasers into Utah, a 1,600-watt Mitsubishi CO2 machine that felt more like magic than manufacturing. Since then he's watched the...
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From Curiosity to Career: How SparkShop is Building the Next Generation of Makers, Episode #61
Making Sparks Podcast for Fabrication Leaders
What if the biggest challenge in manufacturing isn’t technology, but timing? In this episode of MakingSparks, host Brendon DiVincenzo sits down with Shonali Ditz, co-founder and executive director of SparkShop, to explore a powerful idea: we’re trying to solve a talent pipeline problem far too late. Shonali’s journey from engineering student to nonprofit founder started with a realization that many in the industry share—there simply aren’t enough people entering manufacturing and engineering. But instead of focusing on recruiting at the college or job level, she and her team...
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Passing the Torch: The Next Chapter of MakingSparks, Ep #60
Making Sparks Podcast for Fabrication Leaders
Change in manufacturing rarely comes quietly—and neither does progress. In this special episode of MakingSparks, longtime hosts Matthew Nix and Casey Velker take a moment to reflect, rewind, and ultimately pass the mic to the next voice of the show: Brendon DiVicenzo. It’s not an ending—it’s a handoff mid-stride. Matthew and Casey revisit the origin story of MakingSparks, from a short-run idea built around 100x growth to a full-fledged podcast embedded in the MakingChips ecosystem. Along the way, they’ve built something bigger than episodes—a platform for honest...
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The Hard Truth About Pricing Your Work
Making Sparks Podcast for Fabrication Leaders
In this episode, hosts Matthew and Casey sit down with Codie Aljets, owner and artist behind Sage Country Customs, to talk about the realities of building a business around custom metal art. Codie shares how he turned his passion for high-detail metal artwork into a full-time career, the lessons he’s learned about pricing creative work, and why relationships, storytelling, and value matter just as much as the craftsmanship itself. From navigating the business side of being an artist to building meaningful pieces that clients will treasure for generations, this conversation dives deep into...
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What Modern Fabricators Can Learn from Blacksmiths
Making Sparks Podcast for Fabrication Leaders
Buy the Numbers Podcast by Making Chips:
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The Critical Few: How to Focus Your Business for Real Growth
Making Sparks Podcast for Fabrication Leaders
🔥 Welcome to Making Sparks, the podcast where we ignite your passion for metal fabrication and fuel your business success! 🔥 In this episode, hosts Matthew and Casey sit down with executive coach Brent Rasche to unpack what strategic planning really looks like inside a growing manufacturing business. From shiny object syndrome to identifying the “critical few,” this conversation dives deep into why planning isn’t a one-time offsite event — it’s a discipline that must be exercised consistently. They discuss how to build a leadership rhythm that sticks, why transparency drives...
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The Price of Progress: Investing in Machines, People, and Trust
Making Sparks Podcast for Fabrication Leaders
🔥 Welcome to Making Sparks, the podcast where we ignite your passion for metal fabrication and fuel your business success! 🔥 In this episode, hosts Matthew and Casey sit down with Rob Sublette of Mountain Man Welding and Fabrication to talk about leadership, ownership transitions, smart investment in equipment, and building a business that thrives on quality and process. In this episode, you’ll learn: - Why investing in your business can inspire confidence in your team - How buying the right equipment sets up long-term growth - The importance of balancing financial realities with...
info_outlineWhat happens when a self-proclaimed “mechanically deficient” leader takes the reins of a 170-person fabrication business? For Brandon Stanchock, it meant leaning into curiosity, asking “dumb” questions, and spending a week in every department—boots on the ground, in the heat of summer.
In this episode of Making Sparks, Brandon joins Casey and Matthew to talk about:
- How imposter syndrome shaped his leadership style
- Why asking the right questions beats having all the answers
- His mission to turn culture into a competitive advantage
- Practical ways he’s using AI and AR to improve operations
- And the launch of his internal content series: The Clueless CEO Chronicles
Whether you're a seasoned executive or an up-and-comer in the trades, this one’s for anyone who believes leadership is earned, not inherited.
Timeline:
00:00 – LinkedIn Is the Wild West
06:00 – From Project Manager to CEO
09:40 – Imposter Syndrome at the Top
14:30 – Leading Without Knowing the Trade
20:00 – Culture as a Leadership Strategy
24:00 – Walking the Floor, One Department at a Time
27:00 – AR, AI & Asking Better Questions
36:00 – Culture Sells
Resources:
Join our Facebook Group for conversations that will help grow your business: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1Dspnz4Qt5/
Brandon's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandonstanchock/
Lights Out Podcast: https://makingchips.com/show/lights-out/
Buy the Numbers Podcast: https://makingchips.com/show/buy-the-numbers/
Connect with Brandon: https://justsomebs.buzzsprout.com/share