Castuner

Making Sparks

Brendon DiVincenzo

Matthew Nix and I, Casey Voelker, are here to speak to the welding and fabrication industry. And just like MakingChips, we want to equip and inspire while attracting the next generation. Everyone will have some takeaways from MakingSparks.

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Episodes

70 episodes

  1. Inside FABTECH 2026: Why the Show Is Back in Vegas and How the Data Center Boom Is Reshaping Fab Shops | Ep. 70 50:15
  2. Run Your Shop Like You're Selling It: How One Owner United Welding and Machining Under One Quality System | Ep. 69 46:44
  3. What 'Green Steel' Really Means: The Hidden Economics of Tariffs, Carbon, and the Data Center Boom, Ep 68 47:06
  4. The Culture Playbook for Keeping Good People, Ep. #67 42:01
  5. The Content Marketing Mistakes Costing Manufacturers RFQs, Ep #66 50:45
  6. From Healthcare to Welding: One Woman's Path Into the Trades, Ep #65 31:38
  7. From Dirt Track to Job Shop: How a 23-Year-Old Sprint Car Racer Built a Woman-Owned Fab Business 43:25
  8. He Built a Fiber Laser in His Garage. What does that Means for Fabrication? #63 50:11
  9. Should You Really Buy That Laser? The Hidden Math Behind Modern Fabrication, #62 1:07:30
  10. From Curiosity to Career: How SparkShop is Building the Next Generation of Makers, Episode #61 49:11
  11. Passing the Torch: The Next Chapter of MakingSparks, Ep #60 39:41
  12. The Hard Truth About Pricing Your Work 40:33
  13. What Modern Fabricators Can Learn from Blacksmiths 42:58
  14. The Critical Few: How to Focus Your Business for Real Growth 58:35
  15. The Price of Progress: Investing in Machines, People, and Trust 42:24
  16. From Logos to Legacy: Why Your Brand Needs a Story 48:18
  17. From the Shop Floor to Magnolia Network: Why Authenticity Wins 55:56
  18. The Science Behind Better Welders and Better Shops 33:39
  19. You Can't Elbow Your Way to Leadership — Goodhart Sons' Wake-Up Call 52:47
  20. Reviving the Trades: Santiago Rivera on Tough Love, Structure, and Second Chances 37:59
  21. Character Over Competency: Why Blue Collar Leadership Starts with Vulnerability 1:02:34
  22. Why Showing Up Still Matters in Manufacturing 20:21
  23. From Hands-On to High-Tech: The Real Future of Fabrication 26:14
  24. Culture Under Fire: Building Values That Survive Growth Jesse Kleiman Part 2 50:53
  25. Grow Fast or Go Broke: The Truth About Scaling a Fab Shop 47:29
  26. The Hanna Golf Story: Building with Grit, Craft, and American-Made Pride 32:13
  27. Trial by Fire: How Leadership Finds You on the Shop Floor 41:08
  28. Clueless CEO or Culture Genius? When Curiosity Beats Credentials 49:32
  29. Your Process Is Only as Good as Your People 54:30
  30. How to Grow a Small Fabrication Shop without Losing Control 49:20
  31. How to Build a Culture While the Last Generation Lets Go 44:40
  32. People Buy from People They Trust with Meaghan Ziemba 44:45
  33. After the Merger: Building a Shared Future in the Fab Shop | Part 2 37:38
  34. Preparing for a Merger: Hard Decisions to Preserve Legacy in the Fab Shop | Part 1 35:04
  35. How To Turn Influence into Metal Fabrication Sales 38:54
  36. The Quiet Cut That's Loudly Threatening Small Manufacturing 35:09
  37. How to Reach the Next Generation in Trades 41:54
  38. What Fuels the World's Largest Metal Fabrication Projects 45:25
  39. How to Fix Your Quoting Process Before it Kills Your Shop 42:47
  40. How Weld.com is Bringing Welding Education Online 34:43
  41. How to Streamline Metal Sales 18:19
  42. How to Leverage Conferences and Tradeshows to Grow Your Fabrication Business 28:40
  43. Crafting Metal and Breaking Barriers with Barbie the Welder and Sarah Stork 45:46
  44. The People Behind the Sparks 21:57
  45. Solving Labor Shortages with Cobots 23:42
  46. Empowering Small Shops with Automation 40:02
  47. Bridging Generations in the Shop 28:10
  48. New Leadership Takes Over 150 Year Old Steel Fabrication Company 51:42
  49. American-Made Excellence: Craftsmanship and Innovation at Pacific Press 18:42
  50. Why It's Okay to Tell Your Employees You Love Them 47:42