Annie Guerra has been a welder for 20 years, and she can count on one hand how many women she has worked with throughout her career.
It doesn’t surprise her. The work is gritty and strenuous, and two decades in, the 43-year-old Guerra still feels like she’s proving herself every day. But when you tune out the noise and focus on the craft, you find a career that’s uniquely beautiful and rewarding, she says.
“I had never in a million years thought I would be a welder,” Guerra says. “But as an immigrant, you have to do basically whatever you can to adapt and figure it out. Jobs are on every corner, but the opportunity to make a career and do the same job for your entire life…it’s like being a doctor or lawyer, right? The opportunity was right in front of me, and I didn’t think twice—the money is decent, and the work is interesting.”
Being a female welder comes with its own set of challenges, Guerra says. Even people she has worked with for years question her merit in the male-dominated space. But she’s not easily knocked down--she knows her own strength.
“[Why wouldn’t I] deserve to be here? The men are working to take care of their families, and I’m doing the same,” she says.
Guerra has been raising her two children, aged 21 and 19, for as long as she’s been a welder. She immigrated to the U.S. from Cuba as a young mother, and for her family, the steel industry represented opportunity and stability. In the early days of her welding career and motherhood, she felt isolated at first from other 23-year-olds, who were getting dressed up to go out with friends while she was coming home tired.
But Guerra was never interested in what she considers a “normal” job--working at a bank or in an office. She always wanted something different, she says, and she loves the career she chose.
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This story is part of Visions in Steel: The People Who Bring Designs to Life, exhibiting through March 11 at the AIA Tampa Bay Center for Architecture and Design. Visions in Steel shines a light on the fitters, welders, machine operators, and other professionals the steel industry relies on every day to bring designs from concept to reality. Interested in bringing Visions in Steel to your city or your fabrication shop? Reach out to Hope Hrabowy at hrabowy@aisc.org.