Steve and Tammy of Baillie Fabricating and Welding

Host Jay Jacobs welcomes Steve and Tammy of Baillie Fabricating and Welding, a 10-person job shop they’ve run together for more than 30 years, discussing how they divide roles (Steve leading operations, Tammy handling accounting, HR, insurance, and risk) and set boundaries to keep work conflicts from following them home. Steve shares why he left a trucking-fabrication career to start the business, the leap to buying a laser in 2015 to better serve thin-gauge stainless and aluminum work, and a major lesson from investing in robotic welding with too much dependence on one customer before demand collapsed after 9/11. They describe what “full service” means from design/CAD through fabrication and subcontracted finishing, and Tammy outlines customer setup, credit checks, and invoice follow-up. Steve also explains developing a stainless retrofit latch/bracket and related guards to combat fuel dispenser break-ins, now sold through distributors and stocked in batches, and he emphasizes hiring for character over skill and outsourcing weaknesses like marketing.

00:00 Show Intro and Sponsor

01:12 Meet Steve and Tammy

03:34 Shop Overview and Roles

05:45 Why Steve Started Up

07:13 Becoming a Real Company

08:08 Big Bet on a Laser

10:24 What Full Service Means

12:38 Tammy Joins the Story

14:36 Quoting Workflow and Software

16:17 Credit Terms and Bad Debt

19:54 Getting Paid Faster

20:44 Work Life Boundaries

25:00 Disagreeing Without Damage

27:43 Mentors for Business Couples

30:27 Entrepreneur Peer Forums

32:41 Building a Security Product

35:54 Prototyping and Best Seller Fix

39:07 Scaling Inventory and Demand

40:42 New Shields Against Thieves

41:20 Failure Lessons From Automation

45:48 Payroll and Vendor Fit

48:12 Hiring for Character

50:51 Outsource Your Weaknesses

54:30 Wrap Up and How to Reach Them

55:32 Final Takeaways and Sign Off