Chad Doucette, foreman at Ace Welding in Oceanside, California, joins Jason Becker on the Arch Junkies Podcast to talk about going from a random job offer on the street to running a structural steel shop — all in five years.

Chad breaks down the real path to growth in this industry: why the helper position is the most underrated opportunity in any shop, how attitude and work ethic matter more than your cert, and why he's now setting his sights on the CWI. He also gets candid about where he came from, how welding changed his life, and the mindset shift that made all the difference.

If you're early in your career, thinking about the CWI, or just need a shot of motivation — this one's for you.

Topics covered: Starting as a shop helper · Growing into a foreman role · What Chad looks for when hiring · Pursuing the CWI exam · Running a structural solar canopy shop · Mindset, health, and building a life you love in the trades.

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In this special National Welding Month edition of Weld Wednesday with AWS, host Jason Becker sits down with three guests who each represent a unique and exciting path that a welding career can open up. Kicking things off is Austin Ross — known across social media as A-Ross Welding — a pipeline welder with roughly a decade of experience and a member of Pipeliners Union 798. Austin breaks down the real cost of life on the pipe, how to break into the industry as a helper, what it takes to earn your spot, and why attitude and thinking ahead can make or break your career out there.

Next up, Richard Johnston from The Ocean Corporation in southwest Houston, Texas joins the show to pull back the curtain on the world of commercial diving. Richard — a third generation diver — explains what commercial diving actually looks like day to day, the range of environments divers work in, how the training program at OceanCorp.com prepares students with zero prior experience, and why the career is far less dangerous than its reputation suggests. Closing out the episode is Brian Wills, a motorsports fabricator, race car builder, and Formula Drift Prospect Series competitor who builds and races his own cars under the Nasty Habit Motorsports banner. Brian shares how fab school launched him into drifting, what goes into building a competition-ready drift car from the ground up, and why welding has made it possible for him to spend the last five years doing exactly what he loves.

Jason sits down with Sheldon Wray, head of Industrial Technology and Innovation Strategy at Lincoln Electric, for a conversation that is equal parts inspiring career story and inside look at the future of the welding industry. Sheldon shares how he went from studying electronics and computer engineering in LA to falling in love with welding at night school class — and how one chance encounter at a career fair changed everything. He breaks down Lincoln Electric's legendary welding school, what it actually takes to earn your place in the field, and the inside story behind the development of the game-changing Lincoln Electric 300C.

The guys also dig into the retirement of the iconic Lincoln 225 tombstone, where AI and robotics are headed in the fabrication world, and the emerging role of handheld laser welding technology. Plus, Sheldon opens up about earning his MBA from the prestigious Kellogg School of Business — while working full time in Cleveland — and why he believes failure isn't something to fear, it's the first step toward mastery.