Metal Is Still in My Blood

Greg Sheldon is back with Metal Fabrication Nation; a solo podcast for welders, fabricators, shop owners, foremen, estimators, field crews, apprentices, and anyone who believes the trades still matter. In this first episode, Greg talks about stepping away, rebuilding his life, getting closer to God, and why he still believes deeply in North American manufacturing. This show is about real shops, real metal, real people, and the future of the trades. 

Metal Fabrication Nation with Greg Sheldon. Real talk for welders, fabricators, shop owners, and the next generation of tradespeople. Built on the belief that AI won’t replace real tradespeople, and the trades aren’t a backup plan; they’re the backbone. 

Greg reminds welders, fabricators, foremen, shop owners, and tradespeople that they are not behind the times — they are building the future. Follow the show, share it with someone in the trade, and keep pushing the industry forward. Want to see what bad quoting may be costing your shop? Get the free calculator and Baseline Efficiency Report here: https://gregsheldon.github.io/metalfabexcel/calculator.html

Transcript

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Welcome to Fabrication Nation. I'm Greg Sheldon, and this is the first episode of a new show built for people who cut, weld, fit, build, quote, manage, own, and run the metal fabrication and welding industry. This show is for shop owners, welders, fabricators, foremen, estimators, project managers, field crews, suppliers, apprentices, and anyone who still believes in the skilled trades. So some of you may know that I have done this before. Years ago, I hosted the Metal Steel Manufacturing Podcast. It was an amazing experience. I learned so much from the guests that I had. I had conversations with them about so many things that really opened my eyes. Um, how big this world is, how big the industry is. It's not just welding, it's not just steel, it's not just fabrication, it's business, it's people, it's leadership, it's project management, it's field work, it's safety to its core because their industry is dangerous. It's equipment, technology, and training for the next generation. It keeps it's it's about keeping real manufacturing alive in North America. And now I'm back, but this time I'm going solo. This time it's metal fabrication nation. This show is going to be broader, deeper, and more real. I'll talk about some of the stuff I've been through, um, but also how the industry's changing. I'll talk about the news. Um, but I just wanted you to know that I took a long break. I know that. And uh I had life hit real hard. I went through a divorce, I lost my children, I changed jobs, um, saw some addiction in the industry, and I started another business. I had to rebuild parts of my life from the ground up, and uh I had to find myself in certain ways again, and I had to get closer to God. I backslid a bit. Um and I had to learn what men go through, me being one of them, you know, holding it together to provide, lead, heal, and keep moving forward. It's changed a lot in me, it's humbled me, and it's forced me to look at who I am, what mattered, what I was building, and what I still had in me. I'm not one to give up. Sometimes it takes me a little time to recover, but I always get up, and I hope that that is the same for all of you gentlemen and ladies. Through all of it, one thing has never changed, though. This metal is still in my blood, the smell of the shop, the sound of grinders, the flash of an arc, the weight of steel, the pressure of the deadlines, and the pride of seeing something built that did not exist before. And that has not shaken within me. I still believe in this industry. I believe in the everybody in it, the fabricators, the welders, the fitters. I believe in the small shops, big shops, field crews, the estimators, project management, mo uh foreman, owners, and people who keep showing up and building real things in North America. I believe in North American manufacturing. It still matters. I believe we need to make more here, build more here, train more here, and support the people who know how to work with their hands and solve real life problems. I believe the industry is facing some serious challenges. We have labor shortages, we have rising costs, we have young people being pushed away from the trades when they should be shown the opportunity inside it. We have shops trying to stay profitable, profitable, we have owners carrying pressure. Most people never see. We have experience uh we have experienced tradespeople retiring, we have technology changing, and now we have AI. So let me say this clearly. My belief is that AI will not replace real real tradespeople. AI can help, it can help do paperwork and all the things that none of us want to do anyway, but it cannot walk into a field install and solve a problem and make the steel fit. It cannot weld a joint like a person can. It cannot read the room in a shop, it cannot teach pride for what you've built and pride for your country. It cannot replace years of judgment, the algorithm a person like myself or somebody else has of 50,000 hours in the trade. It cannot replace the person who knows when a drawing looks good on paper and what will it will really happen in the real world. Uh technology should only support tradespeople, not replace them, and it won't. I'll stand for that, I'll fight for that. But because the trades are not because skill trades are not outdated, they are essential. On the show, I'm going to show you and talk to you about the whole metal fabrication welding industry. We'll talk about shop floor problems, welding, fitting, fabrication, stairs, railings, platforms, structural steel, miscellaneous, field installs, shutdowns, repairs, real stories, the business of it, people, um, HR, the problems with HR, the problems with management, and what we can do as people on the floor or people in management to make our businesses better. So everybody, so we don't have that wall in between, let's say, the machine shop and the fab shop. That's something we've all seen, and it's something that needs to go away because we're all in this together. Um, and we'll also talk about the young people entering the trades, and there needs to be more focus on that. We'll talk about why trades are not a backup plan. We'll talk about why high schools need to be pushing the trades and how AI and technology can be can come from a practical angle of how to how it can help us reduce the redundant tasks. And uh, I just I'm not gonna create hype around the fear or fear around the hype. I just want to help and what sh and what shops should be paying attention to. We'll talk about men, work pressure, addiction, responsibility, rebuilding faith, and what it means to keep going when life knocks you down. And most of all, we'll talk about the people because the industry is full of stories, hardworking people, skilled people, underrated people, people who build the world around all of us and rarely get the credit they deserve. That's what this podcast is about real talk, real shops, real metal, solving real problems. Thank you. I'm Greg Sheldon, and welcome to Fabrication Nation.