Jonny Snider (IG: jonnysweld)

Growing up in Southern California I spent a lot of time at the beach, Surfing, skateboarding and snowboarding. I loved these hobbies and around the age of 13 I started my own skate company to try and turn my hobby into a small job.  That lasted a year or so with selling handmade skateboards at swap meets and even had a small skate team. The business and idea lasted a little over a year. I have no idea where I got this small business mindset but it’s embedded in me at a young age. There were a handful of other skateboard related businesses my brother and I tried to start but after many failed attempts to start something successful (I like to think of it as learning what works and doesn’t work) my brother Josh and I got into making our own clothing brand with hand cut wood stencils and spray paint to make our shirts. Our clothing brand was born and this one stuck around a while longer. Once again, I started by selling shirts, pins and patches at swap-meets and to friends. Over time we upgraded our equipment and started to print shirts for other clothing companies and bands. Fast forward many years later, we sold the business. It started in a garage and grew into a 2000sf building with employees, corporate contracts and thousands of dollars of top of the line automated screen printing equipment. It was a great business and I learned so much from that experience.

Way before I ever picked up a skateboard, my dad had a 25’ sailboat and he came up with an idea to fabricate a part on the trailer to help make launching the boat easier. He took the boat and trailer to a friend to be welded and in mid weld I looked at the sparks and watched the welder work and it has always stuck with me, even to this day.

In 2011 my wife and I moved to Pennsylvania  to start a new chapter in our lives. After a handful of jobs and a lot of trial and error under my belt, I finally figured out what I wanted to do in life, it was welding. In 2016 I bought my first welder, it was a Forney EasyWeld Fluxcore welder. With literally 0 experience in welding, the first weld scared me. It was louder than I thought it would be. I was hooked even more and needed to learn everything I could about welding and metal. I spent a lot of time running beads, over and over and over and loved every minute of it. That's when it hit me: “Wait, I’m working hard, it’s hot, I’m burning myself, tired, costing more than I’m making and I love every minute of it?” Yeah, I knew I was on track for what I was meant to do. I would weld before work, after work and any chance I could get while I was working full time. I decided to take it to the next level by getting my first 3G certification on my own. Once I had that I wanted to go to school to learn even more. So I did, I finished at WACTC in Houston, PA with 3 certifications and it was such an amazing experience. I’ve never liked school growing up but once I had an interest in something it completely changed my focus. I was the first one there and the last to leave and what I learned from my well seasoned welding instructor was so valuable. This is where all the backstory falls into place, after school was finished I decided this is what I want to do for a living and I was going to make it happen. With an incredible amount of help from my family, I started an LLC and JonnySWeld was born. It was a slow process but over time I upgraded my welding equipment, buying one new tool at a time and getting what I could afford at the time. There was a day where I couldn’t keep up with my welding work and full-time job, that’s when I knew I was ready to take the leap of faith to be on my own. Starting from a spark, I have grown a small business where I get to do what I love every day. All that hard work in the past made me who I am today and I wouldn’t change a thing!