Welder Mai Hooglugt from The Netherlands
SPECIAL FEATURE
Making it in metal
Racing cars and new beginnings
Women in Trade Day (Worldwide) special feature
Whether she’s driving a racing car across Europe, working on a millionaire’s yacht, or reading up on astrology, Mai Hooglugt from the Netherlands approaches life with the same sense of adventure. For Mai, it all started with a childhood where creativity was praised highly and where working with your hands was absolutely something a girl should do.
More than three quarters of a century ago, welding was very much women’s work. During World War II, females were drafted into the heavy industries of the UK and the US, while men were fighting on the front line. Among them was Zaddie Johnson from Mobile, Alabama. As leader of her own welding crew, she helped get a ship ready for battle every day.
The 1983 film, Flashdance, saw Jennifer Beals playing a welder by day and a dancer by night. Yet it is estimated that today fewer than 5% of welders in the UK and the US are women, despite a shortage of skilled workers in the field.
In the Netherlands, one woman bucking this trend is Mai Hooglugt.
“My first job was working in a nursery home aged between 13 and 14. I helped prepare the food and fed the elderly people who couldn’t eat properly and cleaned the living room and kitchen.”
“My passion for fast cars came from my brother, who bought his first Japanese car, a Honda civic Type-R.”
“My favourite car is a Honda s2000 which I restored myself with the help of a painter and currently drive and build for track days.”
“I became a welder because I wanted to make cool things with metal and do something in the automotive industry and work on my own cars.”
“I love what I do because I learn something new every day. I work with the most skilled men in this trade. They teach me lots of new things.”
“The most adventurous thing I’ve done so far in my life is leaving my narcistic ex, and starting a new life at the other side of the country. It was hard leaving the dreamhouse I bought with him in the countryside but, I must say, it was one of the best decisions I made in my life.
I didn’t have a place to go, no option to go back to my mothers place. A good friend offered to share her home near Rotterdam. I lived there for 6 months. I had no income or job. I only had one car to drive, half a tank of diesel and my dog Syvecs.
One week after I ended this relationship, I found a new job. More opportunities started to present themselves to me. And through a friends recommendation an employer took an interest in my resume. He saw a skilled person, with lots of different trades done in the past such as powder coating, welding, experience in different kinds of metal work and working with Carbon Fiber and resin.
He decided to give me a chance and we both have no regrets.
We are a small close team but highly skilled company who work with the aligning and restoring of motorcycle frames, repairing and aligning all kinds of wheels. We also restore metal parts for motorcycles, cars and other vehicles.
I’m really happy and satisfied about my job now.”
“I am inspired by all the experienced tradesmen I have worked with in the past and I work with now.”
“I am helping to encourage more girls into the welding trade by sharing my knowledge and supporting them on social media letting them know that welding and working with metal isn’t boring.”
“My favourite healthy ritual is going out for a walk with my dog in nature.”
“I keep fit by eating healthy, making sure I get enough sleep and do fitness training at the gym 2 times a week.”
“The 3 things I cannot live without are my friends, current partner, and doing the things I love like racing.”
“If I had a superpower I would use it to make more time as my days are too short and time is passing by like crazy.”
Instagram: @maihooglugt
