Talkin' Shop with Metal Shop Masters: Stephanie Hoffman of UnderGround Metal Works

The FABRICATOR sat down with New Jersey-based welder-fabricator Stephanie Hoffman to talk about her career as a welder-fabricator, her business UnderGround Metal Works, her work with the American Welding Society, and her time as a judge on the Netflix show "Metal Shop Masters."

Hoffman explained that from an early age she knew she wanted a career in welding and earned as many welder certificates as should as a teenager. She took welding as an elective class her freshman year of high school and ended up racking up certifications: structural steel, API, 6G, and so on.

"I kind of crushed it with the certification game when I was pretty young," Hoffman said. "I guess I'm really, really competitive."

That eventually led her to getting a degree in education and becoming a high school welding instructor in New Jersey.

"My mission was to get my students out into the industry. I would cold-call shops and commute two hours each way to get to work. I would do anything for these kids and help get them jobs. They were like my babies."

By the time many of her students reached their senior year, many of them had jobs lined up in area shops. Word then started to spread about Hoffman's high level of welding training.

"I had more people offering jobs than I had students at that point," she said.

With more students working, that freed up time for Hoffman to start building up UnderGround Metal Works, an artistic metal fabrication shop that creates everything from signage, custom furniture, and fire pits.

"It was kind of created on accident because I had all this down time at the end of day," she said. "My friends started asking me to make stuff for them. I tapped into a more artistic side of things instead of just pipe welding."

Her shop now even offers small welding classes for novice welders, hobbyists, and non-welders.

"When I started my school, I wanted to give people a different experience," she said. "The 20-plus students to one instructor isn't a good training environment."

In addition with so many of her students getting involved with the American Welding Society, Hoffman began making waves and connections with AWS.

"I was just letting AWS know they can become more approachable to the welding community," she said. "And out of nowhere I got an email from them asking if I wanted to work for them."

And now Hoffman is in her fourth year working with AWS as a workforce development program manager. She tours the country visiting welding schools to be "an ambassador for the trades."

As her profile through AWS grew, so did her demand. Along side metal sculpture artist David Madero, she landed a gig as a co-judge on the first season of the Netflix reality competition series "Metal Shop Masters."

Check out our other episodes of "Talkin' Shop with Metal Shop Masters":

• Episode 1 with Rae Ripple
• Episode 2 with Luis Varela-Rico
• Episode 3 with Tom Patsis
• Episode 4 with Seven Bailey
• Episode 5 with Ivan Iler