Meet Jenny McCall

GAWDA's President and Coach wants us to Get In The Game.

Long before working in the gases and welding industry, my first paying job was in high school working at a pizza place—making the pizzas, taking orders, that kind of stuff. It was my introduction to working as part of a team, and also where I first learned that the customer is always right. When I was in elementary school, I sold candy for school fundraisers, which was my first experience in competitive selling. They'd give us the candy to sell and tell us that if we sold enough we'd get a prize. So I'd go out and sell like crazy just to win that $1 prize.

I got involved in the gases and welding industry because it was our family business. But what really pulled me in was graduating from college with a degree in human resources right around the time when my dad had grown the company to the point that he needed an HR director. I was thrilled to be able to apply the methods I was taught and build a department from scratch. I had unique skills to bring to the table. It was a really challenging and exciting time.

There's no telling how each workday will unfold. I just come to work each day knowing that there will be an insanely long list of duties waiting for me. Which is just how I like it. I'm not the kind of person who can spend the entire day behind a desk. I'm not a very structured person; organization is probably one of my weaknesses. But on the up side, the more pressure I have put on me, the better I perform.

Right now I'm reading The Journey to the Emerald City by Roger Connors and Tom Smith, a book about accountability—how to inspire your employees to account for their actions. I like to read just about anything, but especially thrillers with lots of action. These days it's primarily management books because I don't have the time to read much else.

I like to spend my free time with my family—my husband, Chris, and our two boys, Matt, 13, and Ryan, 9. Every weekend we're either going to the beach or bowling or just heading to the backyard to throw the football around. I have a big extended family—my older brothers, Jeff and Greg; my sister, Judy; their spouses; plus mom and dad and their 10 grandchildren—and we all live within a hundred miles of each other.

I pride myself on thinking outside the box and considering all types of scenarios. To me, no suggestion is a bad one. I take them all in, discuss them with our employees, and ask what they think. I lean on my managers because it empowers them and it makes my job easier.

If I weren't in this industry, I would probably be involved in politics. I'd start off small and run for mayor. I might become a congresswoman or senator. I like the idea of public service to help others, to do what's right.

My advice to women considering a career in this industry is to go for it. Sure, it's a predominantly male environment, but there are all sorts of ways for women to make something of themselves in the business. I love the welding industry. It's a close-knit family. And it's a lot of fun. There is tremendous opportunity for women here.

Being the association's first female president is an awesome feeling. I remember my first GAWDA Convention, in 1994. I was sitting at the back of the room watching the new president—Randy Squibb—coming down the aisle, and I can still recall thinking: What a feeling that would be, walking down that aisle as the first female president of GAWDA. I didn't know how I was going to do it or what it took to make something like that happen. But here I am. Now my plan is to give it my all and to do the very best that I can to make GAWDA a stronger and better organization.

GAWDA is important to me because it is so important for the industry. The bonds members build with distributors and manufacturers couldn't be formed any other way. And the educational opportunities GAWDA offers are invaluable. I'm continually amazed that more independents and publicly-owned distributors aren't a part of GAWDA. There is so much at your fingertips.

I truly believe that the future is bright for the industry. You're never far from welding and gases because the industry impacts everything. You have to weld buildings, bridges, ships, automobiles—the gases and welding industry literally holds the nation together.